Choosing Healing Over Suffering: Sarah's Journey from Grief to Empowerment

In a deeply moving and insightful conversation, Sarah Robb shares her profound journey through grief and personal transformation following the loss of both her parents in her 20s. Her story offers valuable perspectives on coping, healing, and finding purpose in the wake of tragedy, providing hope and guidance for those navigating their own paths through loss.

Through her struggles and eventual transformation, Sarah discovered a calling to help others facing similar challenges, becoming a mindset and grief coach. It was such a treat to chat with Sarah, an incredible woman and an inspiration to many - myself included!

Check out the highlights of our conversation. 🔽

Q: Did you have a pivotal moment that transformed your grief journey?

A: “It was about 18 months after my mum had died and my coach at the time, she said something to me that was so confronting, but in reflection was the most transformative thing that changed the trajectory of my life. And she said to me, Sarah, you realize what you're not changing, you’re choosing. She didn't mean it in a way to offend me, but that's a lot to hear when you're in the depths of grief.

It was from that day forward that I decided that I was going to choose healing over suffering, and I was going to choose to let the experience make me instead of break me.

She wasn't saying don't grieve. She was saying you can choose to be the victim of this for the rest of your life and always be known as the girl with the two dead parents, or you can choose to do something phenomenal with your life and help other people along the way.

It brings up a bit of emotion in me because I made that choice that I wanted to not be defined by both my parents dying. I wanted to do something with that trauma and pain and turn it into something that I could then help lots of other people.”

Q: When did you first know you wanted to become a mindset and grief coach?

A: “ I was at a counseling session and I asked her, ‘Have you ever lost somebody that you love?’

I was only 26 and she was about 20 years older than me and she said, ‘I regret to say, no, I haven't Sarah. And I want to be honest with you.’ 

There was nothing against what she said, but it was in that moment that I walked out of that counseling room, I was like, she's 20 years older than me and she has no idea what I'm experiencing right now.

I need to be that person for other people. So that when someone comes into my room and I help them, they can go, she's walked it, she understands the feeling to some degree of what I'm experiencing right now.”

Q: How did the losses of both your parents shift your beliefs about life after death?

A: “ When both your parents in your 20s die, it's a pretty confronting world thinking well, there's nothing happening after death, they're just gone. So part of my healing journey was understanding how to connect with them in other ways. My belief is that nothing can be destroyed, it can only be transformed into something else. 

So somewhere their spirit is still alive, and I've found real comfort in understanding the power of connecting with them whilst they're not necessarily here in the physical, understanding how to listen, how to tune into my intuition, how to be guided by them.

That will be a forever journey. I've got a beautiful relationship with my parents, so just because they're not here in the physical doesn't mean that I'm not communicating with them in another way.”

Q: How do you navigate the on-going nature of your own grief, while also working with clients who are going through hard things?

A: “One of the most important things that I do for myself, and I help clients understand is that we are not our emotions and emotions are just energy in our body trying to be moved.

So instead of when I'm crying, being like, ‘Oh, well, why are you crying? You always cry. It means you're not over the grief’ and creating all these narratives and stories. 

All I say to myself is, ‘allow the emotion to flow through your body Sarah. It's okay.’ 

If I need support from my partner I'll ask that but I don't attach a meaning or a narrative to making it not okay or making it meaning that I'm not coping. I just allow the emotion to process through my body and that alone has been a massive part of my healing journey.”

Q: What advice would you offer to someone who is feeling stuck right now?

A: “ Whether it's on your grieving journey, whether it's on your personal development journey, whether you're experiencing anxiety, whether you're feeling stuck, whether you're struggling with something, the thing that's going to shift you out of that position or out of that space is taking an action.  

Maybe that action is self care. Maybe that action is reaching out to someone for support. Maybe that action is buying a book to learn more. But action is the only thing that shifts reality. 

For me, I could have been the victim of my situation and the reason that I no longer am is because I took action. I decided and made a powerful choice that I needed healing. I needed to work through this. 

I understood that I couldn't just think about it. I couldn’t just think about getting better and getting help. 

The first step is going to be different for everyone, but anyone in a difficult position, what's going to help you get out of there is just taking that first action.”

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Sarah's story serves as a powerful reminder that while we can't control the losses we face, we can choose how we respond to them. Her wisdom offers a beacon of hope for those feeling stuck, reminding us that with each small step, we have the power to transform our pain into something meaningful and impactful.

You can find out more and contact Sarah via her website https://springwithsarah.com/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/springwithsarah/.