Sunday Shoreline: Gratitude

Finding Gratitude in Hard Moments: A Reflection on the Sunday Shoreline

In this episode of the Sunday Shoreline, Lori Kendall invites listeners to slow down and practice gratitude, especially during challenging weeks. She shares personal stories of loss, hope, and legacy, encouraging honest reflection and recognizing small moments of relief and strength. Whether you're driving, walking, or relaxing at home, this episode offers gentle insights to help you root yourself as you prepare for the week ahead.

Key Topics

• The importance of gratitude for small, quiet moments during difficult times
• Personal story of losing a loved one and finding purpose through legacy
• The role of small gestures, like a shared smile or memory, in grounding us
• How gratitude can soften pain and help us gain perspective
• Listener stories about carrying loved ones' lessons forward
• Practical journaling prompts focused on gratitude to reflect on at home
• The nonprofit work inspired by loss, supporting military families and suicide prevention
• The significance of honoring both joy and hardship as part of healing

Timestamps

00:00 - Welcome to the Sunday Shoreline: taking a breath at the edge of the week
 01:08 - Setting the scene: reflection and compassion for yourself
 02:18 - Introducing the week's theme: gratitude in small moments
 03:47 - Personal story of loss and gratitude for a loved one's smile
 05:25 - Lessons learned from hardship and the winding road of transition
 06:12 - Recognizing gratitude in small, unexpected moments
 07:38 - The significance of small gestures like shaking keys or shared conversations
 08:01 - Navigating challenging moments with gratitude, including tough conversations
 09:12 - Finding signs and comfort in unexpected moments, music, and memories
 09:42 - Reflection: What moments brought relief or meaning this week?
 10:45 - Life's quiet whispers of gratitude and hope
 11:07 - Using gratitude to move forward and release unnecessary burdens
 12:20 - Introducing listener submissions and stories of gratitude in loss
 13:11 - Honoring a loved one through nonprofit work and legacy-building
 14:37 - The future goals rooted in purpose and community support
 15:55 - Listener story: how a grandfather's quiet love shapes today’s kindness
 16:54 - Invitation to share your stories and reflections
 17:22 - Journaling prompts for gratitude: small moments, strength, lessons
 18:16 - Closing reflection: noticing and carrying gratitude into the week
 18:53 - Take a deep breath and settle into gratitude
 19:02 - Final thoughts: be gentle with yourself and return to your shoreline

Resources & Links

• Kole T. Kendall Anchored Navigation Project

Connect with Lori Kendall

• Missing Pieces: The Final Salute Book
• Facebook

Remember, every small moment of gratitude shapes how we move forward, even amid life's hardships. Carry that sense of appreciation into your week, and be gentle with yourself on the journey. Until next Sunday, return to your shoreline whenever you need a moment to pause.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to the Real and Rooted Podcast, where real stories mean grounded healing. I'm Lori Kendall, founder of Reflective Roots, where I work as a grief navigator, a companion for the tough times in life, author of Missing Pieces, The Final Salute, and your host. Each week we'll explore the experiences, the losses, the breakthroughs, and the raw, honest conversations that transform who we are becoming. This is a space to reconnect with yourself, reclaim the pieces that you've lost along the way, and grow in ways you never thought were possible or expected. Let's get rooted and begin. This is the space where we take a break at the edge of the week, take a breath, and let the waves of everything that we've carried begin to settle. If this is your first time here, I'm so glad you found your way. Our Sunday shoreline is about reaching that emotional place where you can gently reflect on the week behind you. Take time before you step forward in the week ahead with a little more clarity, a little more steadiness, and a little bit more compassion for yourself. There's no pressure here, no perfect answers are required, just honest reflection, and a moment to begin to root yourself again. So wherever you are right now, maybe driving, maybe walking, maybe sitting quietly with a cup of coffee or tea, take one slow breath in with me and exhale. This is your Sunday shoreline. Not because we weren't being successful before, but beginning that healing process starts with the small steps. With the things that we feel or maybe we don't see right away. So today, welcome as we step onto the shoreline with a sense of gratitude as our guide. Gratitude is not about listing all of the big blessings that we have, that we know of, that we experience, but it's about noticing the small, quiet moments that hold meaning. Even in the difficult weeks. I know each Sunday I think I welcome you to uh the episode, and for some reason, these past two episodes, I've met you with a heavy heart. Yesterday we said goodbye to my husband's grandfather, a man of great faith, gentle hands, and a smile that, as cliche as it sounds, can light up the room. He had such an amazing smile as he held on to my children when they were tiny newborns, rambunctious toddlers, and even as they walked into their own lives, he was always right there with the most amazing smile, and proud. You could see it. So as we focus on gratitude, I want to give you some backstory. Gratitude invites us to slow down, to see what we often overlook. The gleaming smile, the loving hands, and yet to hold both joy and hardship with open hands is such a blessing. And it's a blessing because I truly believe there are lessons in everything and every experience that we walk through. Loss is hard, and I get that. And to quote my book, our transition isn't a single event. It's a process. A winding road with its own set of challenges and triumphs. It requires toughness, adaptability, and the willingness to embrace the unknown. And I would encourage you to embrace it with a sense of gratitude. Where did gratitude show up for you this week? Maybe it was in a smile from a friend. Maybe it was in the memory of a loved one. Maybe it was simply surviving the day you thought you couldn't. Even the smallest acknowledgments matter. And the one thing I will always do, I will always do what I ask of you. To reflect honestly. This past week met me with graciousness, with a level of appreciation, and with challenges too. I shared a conversation with a coworker, expressed my appreciation for the genuine thought and consideration of myself, of our relationship, of the way we move forward. I smiled when I told her that the small moments that matter to me are the moments where she, as an inside joke, shakes her keys at my office door, oftentimes merely because she would leave without remembering her keys. And in that moment, that small moment, her shaking the keys at my office door offers me a sense of reprief. A moment to take a break, a moment to smile and laugh. Another conversation with a coworker allowed me to express my appreciation for the conversations we get to share, both professionally and personally, and our willingness to seek our own authenticity. Now, as I said, my week also met me with challenges. I knew I wanted to have a tough conversation with my boss, one that I wasn't sure of the end result. And not to get too personal, as I was jumping in the shower and choosing the music in which I wanted to listen to during my break, Lady Gaga, a little pink, somewhere Cole was telling me that he was there with me and that he would sit by my side during those tough challenges. Because in amongst all of that girly music as my uh husband would call it, Billy Ray Cyrus came on and sang Some Gave All. That's not a song on my playlist, but it was a sign from Cole. So I want you to reflect on your week through the lens of gratitude. What moments brought you unexpected relief or comfort? Maybe it was that song that you didn't expect, or the simple smile and laughter that was shared. What challenges reminded you of what truly mattered? And what matters going forward? What did you almost overlook that deserves your attention now? Gratitude is about noticing, even in the hard times, what grounds us and what gives us strength. Life whispers gratitude in small ways. That friend that shakes her keys at the edge of your office door. Maybe one that checks in just at the right time. A memory that unexpectedly makes you smile. Maybe it's an experience that you didn't expect for it to go the way it did. And then the result? You got some laughter and a smile out of it. Maybe it's just the quiet moment on the drive home after a chaotic day. Ask yourself which of these small moments this week deserve my gratitude. Even if life has been heavy, these moments are our anchors that remind us that there's still light. There's still hope. Now let's consider gratitude in a different way. What gratitude can help us move forward? What weight can we release because we noticed it's not serving us? We may honor the blessing and the lesson that came from it, but it doesn't mean that we have to carry it forward. So which moments, memories, or lessons are worth carrying forward into next week? Gratitude doesn't erase the difficulty, but it can soften it, make space for perspective, and reminds us that we're not alone. Now something different for our Sunday Shoreline episode, but I seem to relate it quite well to gratitude this week. I know I've spoken on this before, and with the book getting ready to drop on Tuesday on Amazon, I wanted to implement this. I want to have and recognize listener submissions. So this week's Carry Their Name Forward segment is rooted in gratitude. And I told you I would tell you a little bit about my story, as well as uh include listener stories as well, and that's exactly what we're gonna do this week. So I know I've spoken on it before about finding gratitude in the loss of my son. Cole has given me so much, even though he may not physically be with me anymore. Without Cole, I truly believe that our nonprofit, the Cole T. Kendall Anchored Navigation Project One would not have existed. And though I would take Cole back in a heartbeat, his legacy, his purpose lives on in that nonprofit. We provide scholarships to high school seniors looking to expand their reach, expand their own torch and carry it forward in the military. And we provide scholarships for those entering law enforcement. But that organization we also provide support in times of crisis. We step up when we're asked to provide financial resources to a mom to get to her son's funeral. We step up when our government shuts down and crisis funds are frozen for another family. And we don't do it for accolades. We do it because it's Cole's legacy. He would and did help everyone that he met. I'm gracious for the nonprofit. He gave me purpose and gave me drive to start this podcast. Write a book. And I truly understand that the path forward is endless. Our goals for 2026 don't stop there, and they will grow bigger because my dreams of not only fulfilling Cole's legacy, but because it's necessary, it's needed. We want to provide suicide prevention training for our military members, active duty, our veterans. We want to provide suicide prevention training to their families because as many times as we ask them to advocate for themselves, sometimes they're just not strong enough, and that's okay. Their families should know and have the resources to advocate for them. Now, as I said, I would share a listener's story. This listener wishes to remain anonymous, and that's okay. It's the reflection that matters. Here's the listener's story, and we quote This week I remembered my grandfather's quiet ways of showing love. He always noticed the small things. I realized I carry his attention to detail and care in how I treat others now. And I'm so grateful for that. Thank you for sharing. Notice how for their life can be felt in not just the memory, but they can see it in the way it shapes their future, their steps forward. If you'd like to share a story for a future episode, email me and I'll put the email address in the show notes. You can remain anonymous if you wish. Or share your name and your story all together. Now as in our other Sunday shoreline segments, I always have that rooted reflection moment where we take out our journal or we find a quiet moment in the day, and we sit with some journaling prompts. And these week this week is no different. I wanted these prompts to be gratitude focused. So I'm gonna ask you, what is one small moment from this week that you're truly grateful for? Which person or memory brought you strength? Provided you comfort this week? What challenges are you grateful for? Because it taught you a lesson or s even something about yourself. How can you carry what you're feeling of gratitude into the week ahead? Now remember, there's no perfect answers. It's just your honest reflection. As we close this evening's shoreline moment, remember gratitude isn't about having everything. It's about noticing what's here. Every pause, every reflection, every acknowledgement shapes how we move forward. Even in the hard seasons, there is something to hold, something to appreciate, and something to carry forward. Take a deep breath, let gratitude fill your lungs and settle into your heart. Carry it with you into the week ahead. And until next Sunday, be gentle with yourself. And remember, you can always find your way back to the shoreline. You'll walk through my story of preparing for the service of grief, of resilience, and rediscovery. And along the way, I hope you find space for your own story. This book isn't about being perfect, it's about becoming whole again, even when some pieces feel forever changed. Order your copy of Missing Pieces today on Amazon or at MissingPiecesbook.com. Join other readers who are finding their own story. Encapsulate it within the pages. Gain insights and learn more at Real and Rooted Podcast, where real stories take root and healing grows. Missing Pieces, the final salute, a mother's journey through service, sorrow, and survival. A story of love, love, and becoming whole again.