Betsy GuerraBilingual Keynote Speaker, Psychotherapist/Coach, Author, Leadership Training and Life Coach Certification

Nothing Prepares You For A Tragedy And Yet, You Have What It Takes

31 Jan 2022 · 2 min

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1:37

A short personal reflection by Betsy Guerra recounting how, despite extensive preparation through education (engineering → psychology) and deepened faith, she was unexpectedly devastated by the loss of her child. She explains that although pain felt universal and unavoidable, her training in psychology and her faith sustained her by giving her hope — a crucial element that helped her survive the tragedy.

Chapters

I have spent my entire life preparing for this. I was an engineering major, and I switched to psychology. I strengthened my faith. I went through all these experiences that were preparing me, and yet I was not prepared for such a tragedy. Or so I thought. At the moment. The psychology, the faith, everything seemed to have gone out the window. Because I'm human and I am a mom. And losing my most precious treasure was something I couldn't have been ready for. So when I experienced and endured that pain, I was like, oh, my gosh. Like I am no different than everybody else who hasn't gone through a PhD in clinical psychology or who hasn't spent the entire life building her faith. Because I'm. Nobody is. Nobody can be rescued from pain. But what I realized is that I didn't suffer the way other people suffer because I had hope. And that's what my background in psychology and my faith prepared me for. The hope part. And I think we need hope to survive. It's the one thing that keeps us alive, literally.