269. A Single Candle — Love, Loss & Living Fully in a Life You Didn’t Plan with Becky Galli

Welcome back to Girl, Take the Lead! — the podcast where we explore real, raw, and remarkable stories of resilience, healing, and what it means to live and lead with courage through every season of life.Today’s guest is Rebecca (Becky) Faye Smith Galli — author, columnist, and thoughtful observer of the human experience. Becky writes about love, loss, and healing, drawing from a life shaped by profound, unchosen challenges. Her journey includes the death of her 17-year-old brother, her son’s degenerative disease and passing, parenting a daughter with autism, divorce, and—just nine days later—paralysis caused by transverse myelitis, a rare inflammation of the spinal cord.Rather than turning away from grief, Becky has transformed her lived experience into a body of work that reminds us: life can still be good — not perfect, but good — even when it doesn’t go as planned.In this deeply moving conversation, Yo and Becky explore wisdom drawn from Becky’s books Morning Fuel and Rethinking Possible, along with reflections from her popular Thoughtful Thursdays newsletter.In this episode, you’ll hear about:🧋 The Milkshake MethodA story about Becky’s father and a failed ice cream experiment that became a lifelong lesson in optimism, creativity, and seeing possibility within the limits of the present moment.🌲 Unchosen Paths & Patterns of CopingHow Becky has learned to recognize her own patterns when navigating grief and major life disruptions — and why understanding how you cope can bring comfort, patience, and self-trust.💛 Practicing Gratitude as a Daily ResetWhy gratitude isn’t about denying pain, but about shifting perspective — and how noticing small moments of goodness can change how we move through difficult days.🌸 Beauty in What’s BrokenBecky shares how turning shattered dishes into mosaic art mirrors the healing process itself: gathering broken pieces, allowing messiness, and discovering unexpected beauty along the way.🕯️ A Single Candle (Holiday Reflection)A powerful reading about grief during the holidays, the love that remains after loss, and how lighting a single candle can help us focus on love instead of darkness — especially when traditions must change.This episode is especially meaningful for anyone navigating grief, major transitions, disability, caregiving, or the emotional complexity of the holiday season. Becky’s words offer companionship, perspective, and hope — like a steady candle glowing when the world feels dark.About Becky Galli💌 Rebecca (Becky) Faye Smith Galli is an author and columnist who writes about love, loss, and healing. Her unexpected but prolific writing career emerged from surviving multiple life-altering losses and transitions. Her website, BeckyGalli.com, features more than 400 published columns, and she continues to write Thoughtful Thursdays—Lessons from a Resilient Heart, a beloved newsletter that shares reflections on staying positive and grounded when life is hard.📚 Books: Morning Fuel | Rethinking Possible💌 Email: [email protected]🌐 Website & Free Resource: “Seven Strategies to Stay Up When Life Is Pulling You Down”👉 https://rebeccafayesmithgalli.com/📰 Thoughtful Thursdays Newsletter Signup:👉 https://rebeccafayesmithgalli.com/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chairwriter/🐦 X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/chairwriter Connect with Yo & Girl, Take the Lead!🎧 Listen & Subscribe on YouTube Music, YouTube, Spotify & wherever you get your podcasts💬 Join the Girl, Take the Lead! Facebook Group🛍 Explore the Heartfelt Card & Gift Shop🔗 Connect on LinkedIn & Instagram