I hear the word “resilience” used a lot these days. I use it myself. And I often wonder what being resilient really means when considering the deeply personal and global experiences of loss and change that are part of life these days.

Current circumstances are proving what has always been true—that we are transformed by the events in our lives. We never actually bounce back. We only bounce forward. Ideally with more wisdom, love, and determination to thrive than we had before our world turned upside down.

Even positive change is a loss of our former status. So how do we deal with the obvious and sometimes subtle experiences of grief that come from the death of a beloved person or pet or any kind of life-altering change?

Answering that question has been the theme of my life since the passing of my husband, Stephen, who died from colon cancer a month before his fifty-sixth birthday. That was more than a decade ago, and I am still learning profound lessons of finding resilience in body, mind, heart, and soul that this and other necessary life transitions have brought me.

More than ever, I believe that loss is for our learning and grief is for our growth. The challenge for each of us is what and how to learn and grow. And how to embrace the positive transformation that can be the result of engaging the unique path that is ours to walk.

When we first learned that Stephen was not going to survive, the Universe threw me a lifeline as an inspiration to write our story. One book eventually led to several more that have allowed me to write my way into healing and empowerment, meaning and peace, and the resilience to continue moving forward on my journey from loss through grief to joy.

Now—for yourself or for someone you know who is navigating the rough seas of dramatic change—I am grateful to throw you a lifeline in the form of these pages that emerged from the very depths of my soul and from the love that I found at the bottom of my grief.

May reading these books bring you the comfort I found in writing them.