Good Grief | Bouncing Back After The Break Down!

Good Grief | Bouncing Back After the Breakdown

In this powerful episode of "Moe or Less," Maurice, also known as Moe, takes you on a heartfelt journey through the challenging process of dealing with grief and finding the strength to bounce back after hitting rock bottom. 

As a single father of three who has faced profound loss, Moe shares his personal experiences and the coping strategies that have helped him navigate the darkest moments of his life. With his characteristic blend of honesty, empathy, and wisdom, Moe delves into the emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of grief, offering listeners practical advice and profound insights on how to heal and rebuild.

Key Highlights:
- Understanding Grief: Exploring the multifaceted nature of grief and how it affects us emotionally, mentally, and physically.
- Finding Strength in Faith: How Moe's faith and spirituality have played a crucial role in his healing journey.
- Practical Coping Strategies: Tips and techniques for managing grief, from mindfulness practices to seeking support from loved ones.
- Building Resilience: Transforming pain into purpose and finding the inner strength to move forward.
- Inspiring Stories: Real-life examples of resilience and recovery, highlighting the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity.

Join Moe in this deeply moving episode as he opens up about his own experiences and provides a compassionate guide for anyone facing the challenges of grief. Whether you're currently struggling with loss or looking to support someone who is, "Good Grief | Bouncing Back After the Breakdown" offers valuable insights and encouragement to help you on your path to healing and resilience.

Transcript

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I would be disrespecting her memory if I didn't continue the ministry, if I didn't continue doing the things that she set in place. If I didn't continue to build what she worked so hard supporting to help me build, right? Okay. Okay. Welcome everybody. I'm so excited to be here for another episode of Mo or Less where I'll show you how to get more out of life. So you're not left here with less. I want you guys to tap in today because we're talking about strategies to bounce back after a season of grief. Sometimes it takes months, it takes years, it takes decades to bounce back. A time that you might never get back and we have to bounce back. Always what defines a person really. Is how they respond to life, how they go through a situation, how they triumph, how they overcome. And so for you, I want you to tap in to that. I want you to understand that you can do anything. I tell my kids all the time, three, four times a day, whenever they ask me a question, daddy, what do you think about me being a spy? What do you think about me being an adventurer, an explorer? I'm like, you can do anything you want to do in life. All you got to do is believe in yourself. Cause I believe in you. There's no limitations. So I'm teaching my kids at a very young age that there's no limitations. And so I want you to understand that as well. Hold up. Yeah. I want you to understand that as well. And there's no limitations in And so what I want to focus on specifically today is strategy for bouncing back after a time of grief. I'm starting this podcast off because one, I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to have hit play and record. I'm excited and grateful that God has put me in a position. Where I can now share my story and positively impact those around me. I believe what's helping me through this time of grief is releasing it through story, through trials, through honesty, through transparency. And now. We are triumphant. Now we are overcoming. And not to say that like the grief is done and gone with, no, I'm literally recording this podcast here on July 4th is when I'm recording it. And in the back of my mind, I'm reflecting on how much my wife loved fireworks, love just being out cookouts, barbecues. And then at night, we would just enjoy fireworks. That was like, One of the things she just loved the most just being with family watching fireworks That was like her thing like no matter what if I made if I got her to some fireworks She loved me for it But this year it's the first year that we're doing fireworks without her and being able to say that, you know without getting Choked up without getting, caught up in the moment and being able to reflect like those were great times. I was grateful for those memories. I was talking with my kids earlier about like other 4th of July memories, other memories where we had where we was like down at Disney or other places having fireworks and remembering that, but it takes growth, it takes pursuit, it takes effort to get to that place. Because sometimes we can look back on reflection and think back to those that we've lost and get choked up, get caught up, just break down and cry. There's nothing wrong with that at all. Fully embrace it. You're going to hear me talk about riding the waves. When those moments happen, ride the waves. But what I want to encourage you today is to get to a place of triumph so you can have less of the tears and more time of reflection, more time of gratitude, more time of gratefulness, honoring, and remember those people that we lost. So the first thing I want you to do is go back and listen to my episode of Grace to Grief. Grief to grace and that grief to grace. We talk about the five stages and how to navigate that Appropriately once you listen to that and if you listen to that already kudos to you in this episode We're going to focus on the road to Overcoming the first thing I want to lock in on is your mindset is your key to life Your mindset is your key You To life. I'll say that a third time. Your mindset is your key to life. The Bible teaches us, let this mind be in you as it was in Christ Jesus. It also teaches us, give us this day, our daily bread. The Bible always teaches us. Renew our minds daily. There's a lot of different scripture that points to how we must manage our mindset. We must make our minds new in Christ every day. We must make an effort daily to put our mind in a state of Christ like mentality. Now, what does that mean? When you think about it, Christ is the creator. Christ is the beginning and the end. Christ is the one that knows all. Christ is the one that can see the bigger picture because he is the bigger picture. And when we have a mind of Christ, we take off our emotion. We take off our personal view and we become just a vessel. Now, this part is so crucial because in our flesh, we have a right to respond emotionally. We have a right to feel how we want to feel, but then you get to a certain level of mentality where you rise above that, where you don't neglect or push off, but you recognize emotion. You recognize these things. These certain values in life, these certain principles of life, these certain happenstances in life that everyone's appointed a time, the ecclesiastics teaches us, everyone's appointed a time to die it teaches us there's a time to mourn, there's a time to rejoice, it teaches us that there's a time for this and a time for that, right? And once we understand that and break that down, And we understand that God has orchestrated everything for his plan and his purpose. And then we dig deeper and we understand that everything in life happens for a reason. Then we can sit back and look at our situation and say, yes, even though I was spiritually, emotionally, physically attached to this individual, there's so much more to be had. When I step back and reflect and think about the life my wife lived, she was an amazing woman. She was a woman at the God's own heart. She was a spiritual, dominant individual. Her presence can't be replaced. So I know the life she lived, I know she's in heaven. And when we really think about this life that we live as believers, We understand that at the end of the road, our goal really in life, more important than being wealthy, being rich, having all these accolades, having all the, this great name for ourselves is having a great name in the book of life, having a great name with the father saying that he knew us. And I believe my wife went on to glory and the Lord said, well done, my good and faithful servant coming to the kingdom for I knew you, right? And so we look at that big picture. Okay, I have to take a time to step back and reflect because what are we living this life for? We know we're not going to be here forever. I've come to that reality a long time ago. All of us are appointed a time to die. I've come to that reality a long time ago. So when we really understand the realities of life like Christ did when he went to the cross and he said let this cup pass for me, that's Nevertheless, let not my will, but yours be done. And he went to the cross. He died for us. His roles in three days, preach for 40 more days. And then went up to glory and he sits on the right hand of God. He knew everything that had to conspire up to that moment, even death. And he rose again. And we believe on him. We have that opportunity to rise again with Him in glory after it's all said and done. I say all that to say this. We must recognize first the bigger picture when we talk about mindset. What is your mindset in this life? Do you want to live here forever or do you understand that we all have an appointed time to die? That we all have a greater purpose than ourselves. That we all have a great duty to be everything that God has called us to be. What is your mindset in life? What is your mentality? Some of the greats have gone on to glory. Some of the greats have passed away, but they left breadcrumbs. They left their mindset. They left their mentality. The name that keeps coming to mind right now is like Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant was a goat in the game of basketball, but everyone always talked about the mamba mentality, even though. They call Michael Jordan a great, they call LeBron, arguably one of the greatest of all time. And they have that goat conversation when it comes to mindset, when it came to mentality, they weren't talking about Jordan. They weren't talking about LeBron. They were talking about Kobe Bryant and his mindset when it came to the game, how he was unmatched, how he was like no other, your mindset can shift everything. Your mindset can shift the world around you, right? And when you have that mindset, you can get through any situation. I started this year off doing a mindset shift. I was devoting my time a day to prayer, studying more like doubling down on the word of God I took in doubling down on my prayer life, making sure it worked out at least two times a day. Making sure I had intentional time with my kids, right? And for some reason lord put this on me this desire this passion Excuse me this desire this passion to lock into this new mindset I've read over 200 books on personal development mindset and success And I wanted to find out what made people different this year. I went on a quest to discover How can I apply these things to my life and it produce results? Not knowing That putting myself on this routine daily will position me for the most unthinkable, unimaginable thing. Because I was on this journey, I knew my resource, I knew outlets were taking time to get to know God more, working out, finding my places of release. And then, tragedy hit. My wife passes away. And if I had not put myself in this routine, I would not know where to go, honestly. People don't know where to turn people go try to find all these different outlets these different routines But I had a routine already I fell off of it a little bit But as soon as I got back on it my whole being Changed I was able to be available To be honest and transparent with myself and others. I was able to be available to my kids, being able to say, Hey, daddy's not having a good day today. I'm missing mommy today. I'm not feeling good. Being able to call my brothers, my sisters, my parents and just say, Hey, today is not the day. Because I was able to find in that process of routine accountability. Transparency and openness within myself that I'm unashamed. I can sit up here and tell you about all the sins I've had everything that I've been forgiven for total openness and transparency because I've understood That this body is a borrowed body that this vessel is just temporary that life and death is appointed It's time to every individual and once you get into a space of mentality that allows you to see the world for what it is You can embrace it fully you can embrace it fully with respect to the creator's design what do I mean by that? Embracing I guess this will be number two, embracing reality. Once you have your mindset established, and we can talk more about mindset as this podcast develops, but embracing reality, understanding that our belief system shapes the world around us. Embracing the reality is okay, I understand that my wife's passed away. I understand that I'm now a single dad. I understand that I have responsibility to my community and they have a responsibility to me. And it's up to them. To take up that responsibility. It's up to me to take up that responsibility. It's up to me to carry out the work that the Lord has for me. It's up to me to hold true to everything that I worked for, right? Like I could have folded, I could have gave up, I could have fell into sin. I can fall into old ways. I can fall into old habits, but I didn't. I was like, look, my wife and I were married for nine years, approaching 10 years. No infidelity, no cheating, no, backwardness. Like our worst day, some people will say what other people's best days. And that's to say everything was good. Like we had our share of arguments, like any couple we had a share of disagreements, but like it was real, it was honest, it was pure. And. Like I said, even on our worst days, we didn't go to bed angry. I'm sure that I was like, my thing is you ain't gonna be bad at me. Like I, you ain't gonna be going to bed upset. No, that was like my thing. Our kids got to see they got to see what real love was like embraced. I'm so glad I got to see that. And so now it's I look at life, like my wife had a conversation with God while she was in the hospital for a time, almost Lord, do this thing for my family. I'm just saying, this is just my personal feelings. Just feel like she was like in a bargaining with the Lord and say, do this for my family, but I'm ready. I think the gain is greater on both sides. And I'm ready to come home to be with the Lord. If you do this for my family and though her presence is not here, her presence is here. I still hear a voice, in the back of my ear, saying, Hey baby, doing a great job. Hey, talk to the kids this way. Do this, do that. Try this out. Even the kids, they do little things. That's a indicator that they feel their mom's presence. They hear their mom's presence. And I'm so grateful for that. And being able to embrace that reality that she's no longer with us. You got to embrace the reality that person is no longer with you. That might sound cold, but at the end of the day, they're not coming back. They're not. So what are you going to do to honor that person, to respect that person, embrace the reality of life. You can waste years. Wishing that person was still here. They're probably in heaven. They've gone on. They're probably wherever they are, wishing that you will go on with your life, wishing that you will press forward, wishing that you would still honor them, but live your life like that's real love. It's being able to go forward and not forgetting that person, not disrespecting their memory, but honoring their memory, honoring their lifestyle by living for them. I guarantee you, my wife wants me to put myself in the best position possible because she believed in me so much. She was my biggest supporter. Of course my family was, but like my wife was my biggest support, like behind the scenes, the way she held me down, big support and a lot of people, they didn't understand. They didn't make, maybe they didn't see it, but she was my biggest supporter. She's the reason why I decided to cam up and get my podcast going. I would be disrespecting her memory if I didn't continue the ministry, if I didn't continue doing the things that she set in place. If I didn't continue to build what she worked so hard supporting to help me build, right? A lot of people see things on the surface, but they don't see what's happening on the back end. And on the back end, my wife wasn't like that. She was in her prayer closet while I was camming up. She was, giving me ideas, showing me things that, that what y'all see me doing. My wife was in the background working with me, right? So who am I to stop the show? Who am I to stop the pursuit? Who am I to shift my reality? Because my reality shifted. That's just a process of life. And how we overcome is really fully embracing that. Is accepting the reality of life. Accepting I gotta have a better mindset. I gotta have a better outlook on life. Who am I really? Am I living the life I want to live? Or am I living the life in reflection of what's happened to me? Am I responsive to life? Or am I, Not responsive, my apologies. Am I proactive to life? Or am I reactive? Do, does life happen and I just respond to that? Or, do I take life by the horns? Accept life for what it is? Who are you going to be when tragedy hits? How are you going to bounce back? There are people that, you could take two people that have gotten the same sickness as someone fights back mentally to shift their body, to bounce back and overcome. Some people succumb to that and pass away. Right now i'm not saying that's how my wife passed away at all. I'm just saying the fact of the mindset shift You know where somebody you know could have a leg injury and they'd be out forever Maybe never bounce back from that leg injury, but there's some people can have the exact same leg injury But they have the tenacity the will the drive to put in that work and that leg be back brand new It's your mindset. It's your embracing of reality It's how You Attack life being proactive and not reactive. So my question to you is how will you respond? How will you shift your mind? How do you view your reality? Is your reality yours or someone else's? Are you living your life or are you just living life and allowing it to be whatever it is? Or are you making it happen? Cause I could be doing this podcast a year from now. I can be sharing my testimony years from now. I can be doing whatever I'm doing here, inspiring. Like I'm speaking. I've already started speaking something that I've been wanting to do for a long time. Speaking on stages, share my testimony, inspiring others. That could be something that's happening years from now, but I decided who I wanted to be. Where I wanted to be and how I wanted to be and so it's up to you to make that choice here today Who will you be? How will you be? What will you do? Are you gonna give your life more or are you gonna give it less? Are you gonna be more? Are you gonna be less? Are you gonna live for those? That have gone on or are you going to just sit and wait around until it's your turn? What are you going to do with your life? I'm not even going to ask you i'm going to tell you do something with your life Embrace your life Live your life while you have time to live it give it everything you got Take it by the horns, embrace it fully, and be all that you can be. Leave nothing. Leave nothing. Let it all out. Leave it all on the court, as it will. And be more, nevertheless. Thank you again. Catch you on my next episode. Okay. Okay.