Grief 2 Growth Is The #3 Grief Podcast In The World | EP 443

You know you need something, you're just not sure what. You've been listening, you're doing the work, but there's still this feeling that you're circling the same place, like you're waiting for the thing that finally moves you. Now maybe you've thought about working with me one-on-one. Maybe something's held you back, the timing, the money, or you're just not sure you're ready yet. I get that. And I want you to know there's still a place for you. I built a resource for exactly this moment, guided meditations for when the waves hit and you just need to breathe. Workbooks to help you get out of your head and onto the page, ebooks on what near-death experiences tell us about the people we've lost, and whether they're really gone, a full course for widows and widowers who are ready to find their way back to living, and a full course for the evidence of the afterlife. And all of it is available for pay what you want. Nobody gets turned away because of money. I think these resources are valuable, but I don't want to hold them back because you don't have the money to pay for them. You don't have to wait until you're ready for coaching. The next step might be a lot smaller than you think. To find out, go to grief2growth.com/store. That's grief, the numeral 2, growth.com/store. And check out the resources I've made for you. From Heartbreak to Hope: How Grief to Growth Became a Top 3 Grief Podcast. The email I almost ignored. It was mid-morning, I had finished my walk and my workout and I made my way to my desk. My desk was cluttered as always, half-finished notes for the next podcast episode, things I really need to put away. And on my computer, a reminder in my inbox that I have 3,101 unread messages. Yeah, that's a real number. I just wanted to power through and clear some of those out. Now most of them were the usual suspects, promotions, newsletters, reminders that felt more like to-do lists. My brain was already tired, my shoulders were slumped. So I started going through the new senders list. And these are people who haven't been approved as senders. It's nice to have them all lumped together because the quickest way to clean out my email list is to reject those first. And even so, there were more than 300 of them. Now one subject line caught my eye, even though I didn't recognize the sender. I saw it said subject line, Grief to Growth featured in Feedspot top 100 grief podcasts. I smirked a little, I thought, yeah, okay, sure. I've seen these lists before where you're buried down in the '90s sandwiched between podcasts that released one episode in 2018 and never came back. But still, I clicked and I landed on their page. The top 100 grief podcasts are listed there from 1 to 100. So I started scrolling looking for Grief 2 Growth. Of course, I wasn't number 1, and I wasn't number 2. But there it was staring back at me in bold and tight. It wasn't number 96. It wasn't even number 48. I was number 3. I just for a moment, I just sat there. I was like, wow, wait, what? And there I was right behind Grief and Happiness, Emily Thoreau Threatt, who have actually been on my podcast. So the heart behind Grief 2 Growth, when I started this podcast, it wasn't a course to chase downloads or rankings. It was really born from a deeply personal place, a desire to navigate life after devastating loss and help others do the same. After Shayna passed, I had to do something with my grief, so why not share it? Grief to Growth is a space for the brokenhearted, for seekers, and for those who feel like the world will never make sense again. It's for those trying to find a reason to keep going. We discuss pain openly, but we focus on healing. We talk about how the very thing that shatters us can also shape us into something deeper, stronger, and more compassionate. But I'll be honest, and I always want to keep it real with you guys. Sometimes this work feels lonely. My podcast isn't reaching millions of people. It's not even in the thousands per episode. It's in the hundreds. In a world obsessed with viral reach and massive followings, that can mess with your head. There are days I sit at my desk, record an episode, hit publish, and I don't hear anything back. No flood of comments, no spike in numbers, just silence. And it's easy to wonder if my voice is just echoing into empty space, if any of it is really making difference. But then I have to remember, grief isn't a mass market message. It's intimate. It's personal. It's sacred. You don't measure healing by the millions. It happens one heart at a time. If even one person out there presses play and feels less alone, if one parent finds the strength to make it through another night, then it's worth it. And that's why I keep going. Not for fame, not for the charts, but for that one person who needs to hear in that exact moment that their story matters, and that they're not walking this road alone. The people who make this real. Each week I sit down with remarkable human beings, grief counselors, spiritual teachers, scientists studying consciousness, authors, healers, and everyday people, near-death experiencers. And these people, their courage takes my breath away. I'm in awe of the humans I've spoken with, and the human spirit that animates us all. They share their stories, they share their insights, and they share their hope. And together we try to answer life's most challenging questions, not always with tidy conclusions, but with open hearts. There's a legacy that I'm carrying. Service runs in my blood. I'm a descendant of Thomas Jefferson, a man whose words and ideas helped shape this nation. My grandfather was a pastor who poured his life into caring for his community. But I don't stand in pulpits and I don't work in marble halls. I sit behind a desk and I speak into a microphone. But I like to think that I'm following in their footsteps in my own way, using my voice, my platform, and my heart to walk alongside people in their hardest seasons. So why this number 3 matters? This ranking isn't just a number. It's actually a reminder for me. It reminds me that someone somewhere is finding comfort in an episode they stumbled across at midnight when the grief was too heavy to carry alone. It reminds me that the work matters, even when the path feels long and the results aren't instant. So to every listener who's tuned in, shared an episode, or sent a message, you're the reason this podcast exists. You've given me a reason to keep going. So to think I almost ignored that email, I just, I'm just about to delete it. I almost clicked right past it in my rush to clear out the noise. But tucked between all the other clutter was a reminder that my voice is being heard, that the ripples are reaching farther than I realized. It's easy to forget in the quiet seasons that all the seeds we plant are still growing, often out of sight. That email reminded me that the work we do and love never truly disappears. It finds its way to the hearts that need it most, exactly when they need it. I love to hear from you. What's one episode or moment from the podcast that stayed with you? Your stories keep me going on the days I need it most. So head on over to my Substack and make a comment on this article. Here's to grief. Here's to growth. And here's to walking the road together. Hi there, I'm really excited to tell you about my latest ebook. It's 4 lessons that you can learn from the near-death experience without going through all the trouble of dying to learn them. I've been studying NDEs for several years now. I am completely convinced that not only are they 100% real, but that there's some very universal wisdom that we can get from the near-death experience. And I've distilled that down in this book into 4 short lessons. And I've also given you all the reasons why I believe that NDEs are absolutely real. So go to www.grieftogrowth.com/NDElessons to pick it up for free. www.grieftogrowth.com/NDElessons. I hope you enjoy it.