What happens when life changes everything you thought your future would look like? And how do you find joy when the challenges keep coming?

At just 21 years old, Heather Hall was diagnosed with an aggressive form of bone cancer. What followed was more than a year of chemotherapy, surgery, and learning to walk again. Years later, she faced melanoma and then breast cancer. Three cancer diagnoses, each leaving a lasting impact on her life.

In this episode of Unstoppable with Paula Swain, Heather shares the moment she stopped asking why this was happening and began asking herself a different question: "What will you choose today?"

That question became her daily mantra, helping her find gratitude, make intentional choices, and recognize that joy and hardship can exist at the same time.

Heather and Paula have an honest conversation about what it means to live beyond a cancer diagnosis, the emotional and physical realities of survivorship, and why being strong doesn't mean doing everything alone.

In this conversation, you'll hear about:

• How Heather's first cancer diagnosis at 21 changed the direction of her life.
• Why choosing gratitude doesn't mean pretending everything is okay.
• How one small decision can help you move forward when life feels overwhelming.
• The importance of trusting your instincts, asking questions, and advocating for yourself in healthcare.
• Why accepting help can be just as courageous as offering it.
• How cancer continues to affect relationships, finances, identity, and everyday life long after treatment ends.
• The unexpected opportunities that can come from saying yes, even when you're afraid.

Heather's story isn't about finding something positive in every painful experience. It's about recognizing that even when you can't control what happens, you may still have choices about how you move through it.

About Heather Hall

Heather Hall is a three-time cancer survivor, yoga teacher, speaker, and health advocate. Drawing from her personal experiences with cancer, she encourages others to use their voices, advocate for their health, and approach life's challenges through intentional choices.

Heather also offers resources to help people navigate a cancer diagnosis and prepare questions for their healthcare providers.

Connect with Heather Hall

Website: TheHeatherHall.com

Instagram: instagram.com/TheHeatherHall_

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/heatherhallwriterspeaker/

About Unstoppable with Paula Swain

Unstoppable is a podcast about women, their stories, and the experiences that shape who they become. Paula Swain brings honest conversations about resilience, identity, courage, relationships, and finding your way through life's unexpected changes.

Because being unstoppable doesn't mean life never knocks you down. It means discovering what comes next.

Visit my website: SoarFromSilence.com

Download the Free Reset Your Life: Get the Life Reset Guide: https://www.soarfromsilence.com/is-this-really-my-life-reset-guide

Read the Soar from Silence Blog: https://www.soarfromsilence.com/blog

Who were you before you became who everyone else needed you to be?

Sarah Shard saw that question play out in an unexpected way through her mother, Pat. After decades of being known primarily as a wife and mother, and then experiencing profound grief after losing her husband, Pat began showing a different side of herself as Alzheimer’s changed her life. Sarah watched her mother become more social, adventurous, and connected to the woman she had once been. It left Sarah wondering whether that woman had been there all along.

🌿 If this conversation has you thinking about what’s next in your own life, download Paula’s free Reset Guide: https://www.soarfromsilence.com/is-this-really-my-life-reset-guide

Sarah’s own life was changing too. Losing her father forced her to question the life she was living, including a relationship in which she had lost sight of herself. She and Paula talk about grief that extends beyond death, including grieving the future you thought you were going to have, the fear of making a different choice, and what happens when you finally begin making decisions for yourself. Sarah’s story is an honest look at identity, caregiving, relationships, and the small decisions that can gradually change the direction of a life.

In this conversation:

• The unexpected way Sarah saw her mother rediscover parts of herself while living with Alzheimer’s
• Why ending a relationship can mean grieving the future you thought you were promised
• The question Sarah couldn’t answer after years of putting other people first: “What makes you happy?”

About Sarah Shard

Sarah Shard is an author and creator of The B.A.S.T.A.R.D. Method™. Her experiences with loss, caregiving, relationships, and rebuilding her own life shaped her belief that change does not always require one enormous leap. Sometimes it begins with one decision that puts your life on a different path.

Connect with Sarah

The B.A.S.T.A.R.D. Method™: www.thebastardmethod.com

Free quiz to help identify what may be keeping you stuck: www.thebastardquiz.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thebastardmethod

TikTok: www.TikTok.com/@thebastardmethod

Connect with Paula

Soar From Silence: https://www.soarfromsilence.com

Free Reset Guide: https://www.soarfromsilence.com/is-this-really-my-life-reset-guide

#LifeTransitions #FindingYourself #UnstoppableWithPaulaSwain

Visit my website: SoarFromSilence.com

Download the Free Reset Your Life: Get the Life Reset Guide: https://www.soarfromsilence.com/is-this-really-my-life-reset-guide

Read the Soar from Silence Blog: https://www.soarfromsilence.com/blog

Some of the beliefs running your life may not have started with you.

And changing the pattern may begin with asking a surprisingly simple question: Is this actually mine?

In this episode of Unstoppable with Paula Swain, Paula talks with Mindy Jackson about family conditioning, trauma, intuition, self-trust, and the patterns we carry through life.

After heart surgery, a postoperative stroke, vision loss, a painful breakup, the death of her mother, and other major health challenges, Mindy began looking differently at healing and identity. She shares how those experiences shaped the way she thinks about old beliefs, emotional patterns, and the process of learning to trust yourself again.

Paula and Mindy also explore Mindy’s perspective on combining psychotherapy with spiritual and energy-based practices as part of her own work and healing journey.

In This Episode

• How to question whether an old belief is really yours or something you learned
• Why family and environmental patterns can shape the way you respond to life
• Mindy’s perspective on trauma, healing, and the nervous system
• How major life changes can uncover deeper relationship patterns
• What it can look like to become the person who chooses a different pattern
• How intuition and self-trust can grow over time
• Why fear does not have to make every decision

About Mindy Jackson

Mindy Jackson is a psychotherapist, Reiki Master, and spiritual coach who uses an integrative approach in her work.

Her own experiences with medical challenges, grief, relationships, and spiritual growth have shaped the way she thinks about trauma, intuition, healing, and self-trust.

Connect with Mindy

Phone: 404-291-1984

Email: mindyjackson886@gmail.com

Psychology Today:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/profile/1298495

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mindy-jackson-8bab90416

Instagram:
@jacksonmindy

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/share/18GnLh4yQK/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Visit my website: SoarFromSilence.com

Download the Free Reset Your Life: Get the Life Reset Guide: https://www.soarfromsilence.com/is-this-really-my-life-reset-guide

Read the Soar from Silence Blog: https://www.soarfromsilence.com/blog