Ep: 21 Roma Flood - One woman's journey from trauma, grief and loss to wholeness, hope and joy

The Full Life Podcast with Melanie Lynam

Roma wrote a book to give people hope. But first she had to live through unspeakable pain.

Roma is a person who has had to walk through grief, trauma and loss, four fold. The pain and grief that she carries is not evident in the smile on her face or the calm and easy manner with which she shares her story. Roma hasn’t carried her grief on her own. She says, “If I didn’t have Christ I would not have got through the traumas and the tragedy.” And somehow, despite the odds, Roma has found a way to reach outside of her own pain to help other people who are grieving to find healing, wholeness, joy and hope.

In this conversation Roma shares her story of how she lost her Mum when she was 16, her daughter to murder, her grandchildren kidnapped, and then years later lost her husband and granddaughter in a tragic plane accident. We talk about what grief is like, and Roma shares some keys that have helped her to heal. She says, “No matter what you go through you can come through it healed and whole.”

So here’s my conversation with Roma Flood.
Roma's book ‘Despite The Odds’ - www.romaflood.com

Provides simple everyday keys to ease the pain.

Follow @romaflood on Instagram.

Some take aways:

“There’s no time frame on grief.” “Every person does it differently.”

“Ever present emptiness that you can’t escape.” “No-one can prepare for it.”

“No matter what you go through, you can come through it healed and whole.”

“If I didn’t have Christ I would not have got through the traumas and the tragedy.”

No matter what you go through God is with you.

It’s absolutely okay to not feel okay.

Have an honest conversation with God.

People don’t know what to say but it’s just important to just be there.

It’s therapeutic to talk about the deceased and bring up memories of them.

“Stay in today.” Taking stock of what you’re thinking of. Is this benefiting me? “Think about what you’re thinking about.” Get up and do something different. Change what you’re doing.

Night before predetermined what she would think about in the morning because she knew that first thought can “set you up to utterly enjoy your day or destroy your day.” You have a choice. It makes a huge difference.

“Pain is inevitable but misery is optional. So you have to choose to step out of that place.”

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