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cover art for Finding the blessings in even the most difficult life experiences

Heart + Soul with Ellen Newhouse

Finding the blessings in even the most difficult life experiences

Season 1, Ep. 38

Alma Lara was born in Mexico and moved to USA 25 years ago. She has three beautiful kids. In 2011 her personal and professional life was transformed after receiving their son’s diagnosis of Autism. Sharing her journey with other families gave her the opportunity to inspire others and be an example of strength and hope. Alma realized that she wanted to help families that were going through what she experienced with her son and decided to become a life coach. She received her certification in 2015. Her learning experience as a life coach gave her the tools to help others as she was able to transform her own struggles with Autism into incredible opportunities of growth; through this process she was able to understand how to enjoy life even in challenging times.

 

In this episode, you will learn how Alma Lara grew and found blessings through her son’s diagnosis with Autism, her daughter’s challenging rehab from alcoholism, her divorce and now recently her other son’s revelation that he is trans. 

 

 

  • Shame is a huge part of why people don’t share the difficult moments (7:15)
  • I feel my mission is to share all of life’s moments so we can also see that these difficult moments are also blessings (7:28)
  • People can see through my sharing that there is another way to view their own struggle, their life (8:02)
  • When my son was first diagnosed, I was very scared. I was not who I am today. I was determined to heal him, but I realized he healed me (8:37)
  • In the process, I realized that there’s nothing wrong with my boy, he has helped me to find my purpose in life (9:40) 
  • What happens if everything is taken away from you? You lose your job, your kid dies, someone gets sick…you lose that identity (10:58)
  • If you get to find out who you really are, what this thing that will walk with your no matter where you go, it completely transforms you in a very positive way (11:30)
  • I’m the one who needed this awareness, I’m the one who needed to transform myself (12:00)
  • Autism is a hard diagnosis but it was a blessing for me and my family (12:17)
  • I think parents who have kids with any special needs is just an opportunity for us as parents to look into ourselves, our faith (13:55)
  • Meeting gay people I worked with changed my life and my relationship with religion and God. (15:51)
  • The more I know about trans kids and their struggles, it breaks my heart as a mother (19:34)
  • It breaks my heart to know that not all trans kids are supported by their parents. It broke my heart to know that is the main reason why they are suicidal or think their life is not worth it (20:06)
  • If a parent can not look into your eyes and you can not feel accepted and loved, the chance of getting support inside is very small (20:26)
  • I think parents need to think about the courage their children are having when they tell you who they are (23:00)

 

 

Connect with Alma Lara:

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