Meet Lisa Laniewski

We recently connected with Lisa Laniewski and have shared our conversation below.

Lisa, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

I think I recognize that so many people have faced challenges from which they truly questioned whether they could move forward. My daughter’s death was crushing to me – it was the end of our Earthly relationship, and it signaled the end of every dream I had for her, for our future, for the extension of our family that I was so excited to meet and love in the future. I felt “targeted” – as if her death was a cruel punishment for something I couldn’t comprehend. It took a lot of reaching out to others, challenging my beliefs and trusting that I could still make and share huge meaning from her life. That meant that my life moving through this greatest loss would look different. And it looks very different now. I believe that we are endowed with amazing resilience. We just have to reach deep inside to uncover it sometimes.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My degrees are in teaching and counseling. I’ve been “teaching” and “counseling” in some capacity – sometimes professionally and sometimes personally – my entire life. I’ve always been a person who lent a hand or an ear to others in need, but after my daughter died in 2014, I found myself in desperate need of receiving the kind of assistance I’d always tried to provide for others. Unfortunately, I found that the very people I loved most – my family and close friends – were unable to provide me with the help I needed. They loved me, but they were ill-equipped, based on the their own limited understanding of life, death, grief, etc to acknowledge my pain and even less equipped to help me find my footing again.

I began a deep dive, over a decade ago, to learn more about death (what happens, where do we go, how are we sure…), grief (what helps, what doesn’t, where to find help…), and the afterlife (what is it, where is it, how do we know…).
My journey took me to places that many might consider “fringe”, but over time, I came to challenge many of my previous beliefs and adopt new ones that greatly expanded my understanding of life as an eternal journey of remembering how to love, forgive and serve.

Now, I’m a certified Grief Educator who works with other people (mostly parents) who have also suffered the saddest of losses. Everyone needs to have their loss acknowledged, and being present with another who is in pain without allowing your own discomfort or triggers to take over, is often so helpful to those in grief. I listen and help them determine what next right move might help them as they walk through the pain. Many of them continue talking with me for months; others are able to move forward on the next step with just some gentle encouragement. I don’t charge for this service; it is completely donation-based. I often don’t even mention about donations. This is about so much more than money, and I’m grateful that I’m in a position where the income is nice but not needed.

I’ve also self-published a book entitled God Winks…and Amber Waves: A Mother’s Transformative Journey through Grief, Love and Purpose which details my journey, including the signs and messages I continue to receive from my daughter, Amber, as well as suggestions for others following a grief journey of their own. I’m currently beginning work on a sequel entitled God Winks…and Hearts Heal: Shared Stories of Signs and Messages from Loved Ones on the Other Side.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I think a willingness to be open to the knowledge that I don’t know everything about the world but I could learn more by remaining open was helpful. I could trust that, by remaining open, the universe would put people and events in my path that would help me. And that belief was rewarded.

Learning that being selfish, in the sense of taking care of mySELF, became critical. I was quite used to taking care of everyone else, often at the expense of my physical and emotional health. But I quickly realized I wouldn’t make it without recognizing my own needs…for rest, for communication, for acknowledgment. Taking care of me became important for the first time ever.

Learning that the afterlife is 100% real – not just from a spiritual perspective but from a scientific perspective, has changed my entire outlook. I’ve worked with many spiritual ambassadors over the years, and I no longer believe there is more than we can comprehend…I know it.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

Two books proved incredibly helpful on my journey. We Don’t Die: A Skeptic’s Discovery of Life after Death by Sandra Champlain was a great primer for me. Because I wasn’t shy, after a short time, about reaching out to others who I believed had a small piece of my puzzle, Sandra’s book led me to people who have changed my life.

Surviving Death by Leslie Kean introduced me to disciplines and evidences, throughout history, that most people have never heard of…yet they are well-documented, often witnessed but hidden from us in many ways. I applaud Leslie’s willingness to put her reputation on the line to share these truths.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lisalaniewski.com
• Other: Professional Email: [email protected]

Image Credits

Lisa M Laniewski