Ep 26. Sara’s Story: In Sharing Your Truth, You Open Yourself to Joy

An Unexpected Launch

At 17 years old, Sara was raped and became pregnant. Unbeknownst to Sara, the woman counseling her through her pregnancy made plans for Sara’s baby to be fostered and ultimately adopted. Sara fought for her son and called the foster family to inform them that she was taking her son home. At a young age, Sara learned the power of truth, your story, integrity, and the importance of walking through your pain.

Sara met and fell in love with her husband in college. They married and had two more sons. They were a happy family of five...until Sara realized that her husband had been living a double life. He had been sleeping with men for 14 of their 17 years of marriage.

Throughout their marriage, Sara’s intuition whispered, “He’s gay.” Each time Sara questioned her husband, he reaffirmed his love for her. Sara ignored her intuition. Through her healing work, Sara has learned to trust and listen to herself.

After her husband disclosed his betrayal, Sara grieved deeply the loss of the life and future that she thought awaited her. As she’s come to learn more about forgiveness and grief, Sara has realized that there is never closure. Instead, we are confronted with many openings. Deep, personal, inner growth can help to navigate grief. It begins with acknowledgement of living your life differently than you thought and seeking the possibilities.

Sara believes deeply in the power of nature. Being present in nature allows you to get out of your head and forces you to drop into your heart. Meditation, breath work, and nature allow you to drop into our heart, where the healing and deep connection occur.

Loneliness is a universal experience to those experiencing trauma and grief. Three words guided Sara’s recovery through loneliness: truth, inspiration, hope. Owning and speaking her truth, finding inspiration every day even in the little moments, and hope for herself helped Sara overcome loneliness.

From the age of 17, Sara knew that she would write a book that would help others feel less alone. Her debut book, Walk Through This, is a guide through traumatic experiences and the journey to forgiveness. Her goal was to create a resource that she didn’t have and wished she had during her trauma recovery.

Sara openly shares her story, including thoughts of suicide, because she knows what it was like to be in a story and feel as though no one else was there. Sara intimately knows pain and wants to spare others that pain. She wants others to see themselves in her words and know that they are not alone. In sharing your truth, you begin to understand yourself and open yourself to possibilities and ultimately freedom.

Sara’s inspiration for her journey came from immersing herself in nature, a support group, and being present with her boys. Through her journey, beautiful unexpected gifts have appeared. She’s appreciated inspiring conversations, and seeing people embrace and be excited by her body of work, including her book.

Resources

Sara Schulting Kranz, Website

Walk Through This: Harness the Healing Power of Nature and Travel the Road to Forgiveness, book

Walk Through This. A Story of Starting Over, Documentary

We Need a New Definition of Forgiveness, TEDx Talk

Unexpected Launch, Podcast and Videos