Karen Millsap on Turning Pain into Purpose
“I realized that I wanted to use my pain for purpose. The first thing was, ‘I’m not going to be defeated by this. Caleb’s not going to lose both of his parents.’ But then I think as I started to work through and surrender to the journey and say, ‘Well, okay, but how can I use this?,’ because then it would actually honor my husband’s life and his death wouldn’t be in vain.”
— Karen Millsap
I’m so excited to bring you my discussion with Karen Millsap this week. I mean, you’ve got to love someone with a TEDx talk called “Use your tragedy to change the world,” right?
Karen’s husband Richard was murdered when she was just 29 years old. Her son was 2. After seeing her dreams shattered, and spending the first year in a fog, she realized that she had the power of choice…the power to decide that she was not going to let her life be destroyed by her husband’s death. She also realized that how she handled her husband’s death would have a direct impact on her son’s life and character.
Karen and I talked about so many fascinating topics, including:
Getting herself out of the victim mindset and the “pity party”;
The four pillars of practical empathy;
The HEAL method;
Teaching your kids how to use confidence checkpoints
Transitioning back to work after loss
Using her experience to help others
How in the midst of losing everything she found herself; and
Her plans to help her son turn his pain into purpose as he gets older
I hope you enjoy my discussion with Karen Millsap.
Links & resources for this episode
Karen on Good Morning America Thriver Thursday with Robin Roberts
Karen’s TEDx talk: “Use your tragedy to change the world”
Karen’s video: “I am what I choose to become”
Karen’s free ebook “The Transition Back to Work,” and other awesome free downloads
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck
More links for listeners
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