We all have secrets. Truths that are too painful to face.

Marcie J. Keithley, Author of "The Shoebox Effect: Transforming Pain into Fortitude and Purpose," knows this all too well as she, herself, attempted to put all of her past worries into a proverbial (and literal!) shoebox. Just waiting for the time when she would have the strength to examine and process them.

The reality, though, is that the only way to move forward in life is to face your past head on.

Her book chronicles her journey of opening her "shoebox" and learning how to navigate loss, grief, divorce, death, adoption, and all of life's adversities, and transform them into fortitude and purpose.

An accomplished professional, speaker, writer, and emotional resilience coach, Marcie is amazing guest to have on any podcast. Full of hope, even in the face of challenge.

She has made it her life's mission to be open and honest with her personal story, in hoping to give others the permission release their own pain that they carry, and move forward with purpose.

Here's our chat.

Marcie Keithly
https://marciejkeithley.com/
@TheShoeBoxEffect

Poem Referenced in Podcast:
Choices
By Marcie J. Keithley

If you were given a second chance
To step back into time
And change a wrong and make it right
I wonder what you’d find.

For God has chosen a special path
For all of us you see.
Would you correct the mistakes you made?
Or would you let them lbe?

As I look back on my own life
The choices that I made
Were ones that help me grow up strong
None were made in vain.

Regardless whether wrong or right
Each one helped me to see
That only when we fail to choose
Our lives can never be.

You have a choice to start each day
With happiness and joy.
Or you could choose to stay in bed
Depressed, removed and void.

You have a choice to share your life
With friends and family.
Or hide away within yourself
And miss your destiny.

You have a choice to take a chance
Or let it walk on by.
But you will never  taste success
Unless you reach and try.

For failures teach us many things
And are not meant to be.
A way to give up on a dream
And hand away the key.

So when you choose, choose carefully
And look within your heart..
For only when we fail to choose
Our lives can never start.