Episode 93

BETTER OR BITTER With Corinne Keith

Episode Summary – LIFE IS HARD BUT WE SHALL OVERCOME! In Episode 93 of the Shining Brightly Podcast Show (links in the comments), titled “BETTER OR BITTER” – please me Corinne Keith. She is a woman who faced sexual abuse from her father growing up as a little girl she carried with her decades and had to bear witness to the death of her 22-year-old son and his fiancée killed by a drunk driver. So much grief and pain she turned her life over to Jesus Christ and has been on a healing journey ever since. She teaches others via her coaching and book “Chosen For Victory” Come listen, download, share and review this powerful episode. Keep Shining Brightly!

Mentioned Resources –

About the guest –  

Corinne Keith is first a Child of God in addition to being the only child of her parents. She raised 4 children, has 12 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. She and her husband Gill will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary in July of this year. Corinne began her journey of mind renewal as she sought healing from her own trauma of being sexually molestation by her dad. She realized she had believed lies about God, sex, men, guilt, condemnation, performance and her value. By learning her "Identity in Christ" brought Corinne emotional and spiritual healing which has been pivotal all her life. Forgiving herself and others has been a lifelong journey that has become crucial to obtaining victory and freedom. This was especially true when she was dealing with grief over the death of her 22-year-old son at the hands of a drunk driver.  Corinne's business "Chosen For Victory" summarizes the life she has In Christ.


About the Host:

Howard Brown is a best-selling author, award-winning international speaker, Silicon Valley entrepreneur, interfaith peacemaker, and a two-time stage IV cancer survivor. He is also a sought-after speaker and consultant for corporate businesses, nonprofits, congregations, and community groups. Howard has co-founded two social networks that were the first to connect religious communities around the world. He is a nationally known patient advocate and “cancer whisperer” to many families. Howard, his wife Lisa, and daughter Emily currently reside in Michigan, and his happy place is on the basketball court.

Website

Http://www.shiningbrightly.com

Social Media

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/howard.brown.36

LinkedIn - https://wwwlinkedin.com/in/howardsbrown

Instagram - @howard.brown.36


Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast app so that you do not miss future episodes. And while you are there, it would help us get the word out to more people if you could leave an honest review.


Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe to your favorite podcast app.

 

Leave us an Apple Podcasts review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.


#chosen #victory #trauma #abuse #drunkdriving #books #author #religion #jesuschrist #coaching #motivation #education #inspiration #podcast #listen #download #share #shiningbrightly 


Transcript
Howard Brown:

Hello, it's Howard Brown. It's the Shining Brightly

Howard Brown:

Show. And we are going to shine really brightly because I have

Howard Brown:

Corinne Keith in studio. How are you Corinne?

Corinne Keith:

I'm awesome. Thanks for asking.

Howard Brown:

I know you're just off for vacation, so you're all

Howard Brown:

energized and ready to go. So I want to share a little bit about

Howard Brown:

current, just a short bio and things like that. So first of

Howard Brown:

all, you identify yourself as a child of God, and you're an only

Howard Brown:

child to your parents. But you've raised four children, you

Howard Brown:

have 12 grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren, you got a

Howard Brown:

beautiful family. And you and your husband, Gail, we're going

Howard Brown:

to celebrate 56 years in July, I'm going to celebrate 30

Corinne Keith:

It's actually 55. Today, Oh, happy

Howard Brown:

anniversary. I'm sorry, I read that wrong. I'm

Howard Brown:

gonna be 30 July 24. So Oh, my God, it's really great. You you

Howard Brown:

start your bio with family. I love that. So but your journey

Howard Brown:

began, you know, really with some trauma, we're going to talk

Howard Brown:

about that with, you know, some sexual molestation, and lies

Howard Brown:

about God's sex men. All that and your value. And you're a

Howard Brown:

deep woman of faith. And your emotional spiritual healing has

Howard Brown:

been pivotal as far as how to get your life together, and

Howard Brown:

others and it's beautiful. You're gonna talk to us about

Howard Brown:

forgiveness. And that's really been part of your journey. It's

Howard Brown:

really how you obtained your what you call victory and

Howard Brown:

freedom. And it's really true when you're dealing with grief,

Howard Brown:

and death of your 22 year old son, at the hands of a drunk

Howard Brown:

driver. So you have a beautiful book called chosen for victory.

Howard Brown:

We'll talk about that as well. And I can't wait to get started.

Howard Brown:

But first, first, how do you shine brightly every day?

Corinne Keith:

You know, I am going to let your audience

Corinne Keith:

decide whether or not my answer is true. Because the way I shine

Corinne Keith:

brightly is by my smile. I have been told multiple times, what

Corinne Keith:

an awesome smile I have. So let your audience vote.

Howard Brown:

Well, for those that are listening, she has a

Howard Brown:

beautiful smile. And so I would agree that you are shining

Howard Brown:

brightly through your smile. And smiling is actually great

Howard Brown:

because you lift people up when you smile at them. So it's right

Howard Brown:

in line with the show. So it's really good. So let's first talk

Howard Brown:

a little bit about some of the hard stuff about your background

Howard Brown:

and growing up. And let's just share it share of what you want

Howard Brown:

to share about the really the hardship that you've been

Howard Brown:

through.

Corinne Keith:

Well, my dad molested me early on, I was

Corinne Keith:

about four, maybe five. And I was not even aware of it until

Corinne Keith:

and like I said, we're going back 55 years because this is my

Corinne Keith:

honeymoon tonight. I was not able to concentrate my marriage

Corinne Keith:

with my husband. And I didn't know why. I saw him naked after

Corinne Keith:

he took a shower just shaving and preparing for intimacy. And

Corinne Keith:

I ran out of the bathroom onto the bed and nothing but weep.

Corinne Keith:

And I had no clue why. I was literally in my 40s before with

Corinne Keith:

some counseling, I discovered that I had been molested. And I

Corinne Keith:

had buried it all those years.

Howard Brown:

Yeah, that's I mean, how do you know? And then

Howard Brown:

you've carried that with you. And now then you had to now you

Howard Brown:

finally discover it and have to process it. So I'm so sorry.

Howard Brown:

You've been you've been working at it and you are working at it

Howard Brown:

and you have a beautiful marriage. So hopefully that

Howard Brown:

that's you got a good man there. Gil. He's a good man he stuck

Howard Brown:

with I

Corinne Keith:

definitely do. I mean, what brand new husband

Corinne Keith:

waits for three days for his wife to be able to consummate

Corinne Keith:

their marriage. I have a very special man. Very

Howard Brown:

graceful and very patient and all that. And then

Howard Brown:

the heartbreak with your son, please share.

Corinne Keith:

Paul was on his way home from Bible College. He

Corinne Keith:

was engaged to his fiancee who is filling out their wedding

Corinne Keith:

invitations in the car, when they were hit head on by a drunk

Corinne Keith:

driver going the wrong way down. I 90. All three of them were

Corinne Keith:

killed. Paul was resuscitated at the scene as a result of it.

Corinne Keith:

Paul was always about life. And whether that meant salvation,

Corinne Keith:

whether that meant being a lifeguard and saving people

Corinne Keith:

there, whether that meant organizing blood drives, he did

Corinne Keith:

it all. And so part of his goal was always to be an organ donor.

Corinne Keith:

And we got to meet his heart recipient, who is a mother of

Corinne Keith:

five children. Her baby was five years old at the time. This has

Corinne Keith:

been 24 years ago and we have a relationship with them?

Howard Brown:

Well, first of all, what was the fiance's name?

Howard Brown:

Amy? Amy, so I just want to just take a second and just may their

Howard Brown:

memories and I know you honor them. But may their memories be

Howard Brown:

only for a blessing for all I knew and loved them, because so

Howard Brown:

young, I have a 22 year old daughter, I couldn't even

Howard Brown:

imagine losing heart right now. And to lose both of them and

Howard Brown:

donate his organs and, and make his life you know, for good and

Howard Brown:

all that. So this is something that I don't think it never,

Howard Brown:

ever heals. But do you ever talk to Paul and Amy? A little bit?

Howard Brown:

You know, see what's going on up there? No,

Corinne Keith:

I know, we'll have an interesting conversation

Corinne Keith:

when we are reunited, I will tell you that.

Howard Brown:

It's a beautiful thing, organ donation, and it's

Howard Brown:

just a human sacrifice. And, and that is shining brightly in its

Howard Brown:

core. So it's unbelievable. And then you also had your own

Howard Brown:

battles with kidney cancer. Correct?

Corinne Keith:

I did. I was diagnosed with kidney cancer in

Corinne Keith:

December of 19. March, while we went on a six week long trip,

Corinne Keith:

and the doctor told me that I should be able to go ahead and

Corinne Keith:

go when I did. Guess when we had COVID.

Howard Brown:

That's right. And how are you doing? How are you

Howard Brown:

doing now?

Corinne Keith:

i It was a miracle. Literally. I had, it's

Corinne Keith:

totally and completely self contained. I needed no

Corinne Keith:

chemotherapy, and I needed no radiation. And so God literally

Corinne Keith:

worked a miracle. And I didn't have it taken out until May of

Corinne Keith:

2021. Oh, 2020 Excuse me, it's been four years.

Howard Brown:

Wow, that's awesome. That's absolutely

Howard Brown:

incredible.

Corinne Keith:

I'm telling you the love that you have and the

Corinne Keith:

support that you have from people. Okay, my daughter took

Corinne Keith:

pictures for our 50th wedding anniversary, we had a family

Corinne Keith:

cruise with 27 of us. Nobody could visit me during COVID.

Corinne Keith:

Right. So she had a blanket made with all of the pictures of

Corinne Keith:

everyone that I could take with me in the hospital. So I had a

Corinne Keith:

home of them are

Howard Brown:

like a quilt as of like a quilt or something. No,

Howard Brown:

it was

Corinne Keith:

it was a blanket with nothing but pictures on it.

Corinne Keith:

She does all that kind of creative stuff. Oh, okay,

Corinne Keith:

talking about a shiny. I mean, I could hold and cherish that. It

Corinne Keith:

was like holding them as well.

Howard Brown:

Yeah, wrap yourself up in that blanket.

Howard Brown:

Beautiful. That's all. Oh, that's really, really nice. Now,

Howard Brown:

I wanted to go through three types of things. And first, I

Howard Brown:

want to talk about grief. I know that you have some expertise and

Howard Brown:

training there. So tell me how you grieve and how you help

Howard Brown:

others. Well,

Corinne Keith:

the primary thing about grief is that everybody

Corinne Keith:

grieves differently. And when they taught that grief was

Corinne Keith:

linear, they like to you. Grief is not linear I, I actually

Corinne Keith:

created a what I call a figure eight. And it actually shows how

Corinne Keith:

people it's it's in my book as well. It shows how people go

Corinne Keith:

through grief. And it's constant motion. I am looking for that

Corinne Keith:

put up so York people

Howard Brown:

see that? Yeah, well, we'll go by the book, and

Howard Brown:

they'll see it. But it's for those that are listening, I just

Howard Brown:

showed the figure a diagram in the book,

Corinne Keith:

right. And it shows that we go from the

Corinne Keith:

recovery side. Okay, and what that looks like, both externally

Corinne Keith:

and internally. And we can see the progress that we make from

Corinne Keith:

the struggles inside as well as what people see outside. And you

Corinne Keith:

know that you're making progress. Because you can see

Corinne Keith:

how much time you actually spent in recovery. But the key part is

Corinne Keith:

allow people to grieve in their own way. Because everybody has

Corinne Keith:

different triggers. Everybody has different timeframes. And so

Corinne Keith:

it's okay to grieve in your own way.

Howard Brown:

And you can grieve for lots of reasons to this

Howard Brown:

doesn't just have to be you know, someone passing there's

Howard Brown:

there's lots of things to grieve about. Process and things like

Howard Brown:

that. So it's natural to be able to do that. For

Corinne Keith:

Nobody can do it. Yeah,

Howard Brown:

they associate it sometimes only with death and

Howard Brown:

that's just not the case. There's grief and sadness that

Howard Brown:

you can take with you in many forms and things like that it's

Howard Brown:

a natural thing. And to go through that, as well, and

Howard Brown:

sometimes it stays with you a long time. You know, I still

Howard Brown:

grieve and memorialize my great grandparents and grandparents as

Howard Brown:

well. And I tried to think of the good things, right? You try

Howard Brown:

to think of the special times, learnings and things like that

Howard Brown:

as well. Take us through the next step.

Corinne Keith:

Oh, breathing can also be okay. Just memories and

Corinne Keith:

sharing them with somebody else. Exactly. Healing.

Howard Brown:

It can be I agree. Take me through forgiveness.

Howard Brown:

Wise, oh, oh,

Corinne Keith:

my, okay. Forgiveness I learned isn't just

Corinne Keith:

from the head. Forgiveness has to be from our heart. And by

Corinne Keith:

that I mean is we have to address the emotional side of

Corinne Keith:

forgiveness. Okay? When I was dealing with the trauma of my

Corinne Keith:

dad's molestation, okay. I've tried to rationalize his

Corinne Keith:

behavior, because I knew my mother did not meet his needs.

Corinne Keith:

And that was very evident a couple of days before my wedding

Corinne Keith:

when she was telling me about sex. But if I rationalized his

Corinne Keith:

behavior, I didn't deal with the hard for fact, okay, of the pain

Corinne Keith:

that I endured, because of his choices. And it messed up my

Corinne Keith:

head. And as you mentioned, in my bio, okay, it messed it up

Corinne Keith:

about man, it messed it up about sex, it messed it up about God

Corinne Keith:

about myself, because I saw no value in that. Also, I had a lot

Corinne Keith:

of negativity and criticism in my household, and so worth in

Corinne Keith:

value. I didn't know what they were. So I had to forgive the

Corinne Keith:

fact that the demeaning, that came externally, I took

Corinne Keith:

internally, and I believe those lies about myself. So who did I

Corinne Keith:

have to forgive, I had to forgive God, I had to forgive

Corinne Keith:

myself, I had to forgive various people. And those are all

Corinne Keith:

necessary. But I'll tell you something else about

Corinne Keith:

forgiveness. It's like an onion, what I tell people is that the

Corinne Keith:

forgiveness has to be as deep as the wound. So if a wound only

Corinne Keith:

occurred once, it doesn't take a whole bunch to forgive that. But

Corinne Keith:

when you constantly have it wrapped around over years, and

Corinne Keith:

repeated incidences all the time, that has to be unraveled,

Corinne Keith:

in a similar way, that it was wrapped up.

Howard Brown:

I love that, thank you for sharing forgiveness was

Howard Brown:

such an important walk that we need to take, for many reasons.

Howard Brown:

individually and in group. I agree. So and you've been

Howard Brown:

through a lot, so you're doing that. So basically, something

Howard Brown:

that's been bonding for you has been your faith. So tell me how

Howard Brown:

you rekindle your faith you forgive God and, you know, now

Howard Brown:

your your your faith is what kind of leads you are correct?

Corinne Keith:

Well, for me, my faith is relationship. And by

Corinne Keith:

that, I mean, God's just not somebody way out there. I have a

Corinne Keith:

personal relationship with him. And I am able to write, hear

Corinne Keith:

from him interact. It's a full fledged honest relationship, the

Corinne Keith:

same like I can have with my husband, that communication is

Corinne Keith:

very, very important. And yes, I do journal. And that's one of

Corinne Keith:

the ways in which I not only share my heart with him, but I

Corinne Keith:

hear what he shares with me. And what he tells and reveals to me.

Howard Brown:

I want to share with you that, you know, I since

Howard Brown:

I had 1989 and 9091, there was no internet or cell phones or

Howard Brown:

computer use of for the most part, that when I got stage

Howard Brown:

three, the metastatic stage four in 2016 and 17. And 18. I will

Howard Brown:

tell you that prayer, people prayed from all religions, and I

Howard Brown:

felt it and I think that was part of you know, I face very

Howard Brown:

long art odds. And I think it helps and I have to tell you

Howard Brown:

that there is a greater power than us out there. And so I

Howard Brown:

don't care what religion they weren't, but they were praying

Howard Brown:

and, and that energy was felt. And I do attribute that part of

Howard Brown:

my healing. It's hard to explain how the hell I'm here right now.

Howard Brown:

So otherwise, but I think it was a part of it, and I'm grateful

Howard Brown:

for that. It was really, it did. So I think that was quite

Howard Brown:

important as well. Now, we're gonna call this episode better

Howard Brown:

or better. How come Why do you think we should title it the

Howard Brown:

episode? Better or better? Right. That was very interesting

Howard Brown:

in our greenroom conquer decision in our prayer talks.

Corinne Keith:

Well, I think we have a choice. We can't control

Corinne Keith:

what happens in our lives. But we have a choice as to what our

Corinne Keith:

response is going to be. And so it can make me a better person,

Corinne Keith:

I can grow, I can learn, I can change, I can forgive, those

Corinne Keith:

things might be better. Or I can hold on to resentment, and

Corinne Keith:

anger, and bitterness, and hatred, those things make me

Corinne Keith:

bitter. And so we don't like the word, responsibility. A lot of

Corinne Keith:

people shy away from that. But the life that I'm living right

Corinne Keith:

now, I live by the choices that I make. And so that's the better

Corinne Keith:

or better, I get to choose.

Howard Brown:

I love it. I love it. It's incredible. So also, I

Howard Brown:

want to hear a little bit about what went into your book. Okay.

Howard Brown:

Beyond a broken heart. It's available on Amazon. And what

Howard Brown:

were you What were you thinking? Is this it? Was this your first

Howard Brown:

book? It is that you've written? Okay, so I was always interested

Howard Brown:

from the author, what you decided to take what you have

Howard Brown:

inside you and put it words on paper. And, you know, I have a

Howard Brown:

friend that talks about, you know, the the word energy, the

Howard Brown:

spoken word, energy, but the written energy in their pages.

Howard Brown:

So tell me about your book process and what that's meant

Howard Brown:

for you.

Corinne Keith:

Well, I may be very unique in this, as I told

Corinne Keith:

you, I do journal. My book was a compilation of 18 different

Corinne Keith:

journals that I drew from, you see, our memory can play tricks

Corinne Keith:

on us. But when it's actually written down, you know, where

Corinne Keith:

you were at at the time. And so I drew my memories from what I

Corinne Keith:

had written in my journals. And I knew I needed to share the

Corinne Keith:

story. I shared the story of the molestation, I showed the story

Corinne Keith:

of Paul's death. And I shared how my forgiveness in the grief

Corinne Keith:

and how I overcame those things. You see, there's a reason that

Corinne Keith:

my business is called chosen for victory, because I am

Corinne Keith:

victorious. And that's why I wrote the book was to share that

Corinne Keith:

it's not just for me, it's for other people as well. And I'm a

Corinne Keith:

coach. So guess what I do? I ask questions. And my book also has

Corinne Keith:

questions on it. Because it isn't about me, it's about your

Corinne Keith:

journey. And it's about how people are going to process

Corinne Keith:

their own unique experiences. So I asked questions to help them

Corinne Keith:

in that process journey.

Howard Brown:

I love it because we are victorious and others can

Howard Brown:

be too. So absolutely incredible. So I have to tell

Howard Brown:

you that we have a short show. So I'm going to ask you to do

Howard Brown:

something. Put on your sunglasses right now. Ready to

Howard Brown:

go. Ready? You got some good ones? Oh, yeah, you're coming

Howard Brown:

off vacation. So we are now shining brightly, our light is

Howard Brown:

shining off of each other and into the world. For everyone to

Howard Brown:

feel the kindness, please tell everyone how they can get a hold

Howard Brown:

of you. And then share some inspiration with me. So we can

Howard Brown:

close up the show.

Corinne Keith:

Hey, first of all, they can reach me at my

Corinne Keith:

first name is c o r i n n e out chosen for victory.com. And the

Corinne Keith:

inspiration I would like to leave with people is the

Corinne Keith:

responsibility choice that you have to live the life. We don't

Corinne Keith:

blame. We take ownership for what we want to see and have

Corinne Keith:

happen. So my hope and prayer is for everyone to have the victory

Corinne Keith:

that they desire in whatever area they want.

Howard Brown:

We'll give you a huge amen on that. So thank you

Howard Brown:

for that. Also, I want to make sure that it I will certainly

Howard Brown:

put in the show notes. But your website is chosen for

Howard Brown:

victory.com. And so people can reach you there and find you on

Howard Brown:

Amazon as well and on LinkedIn. So we'll make sure that they can

Howard Brown:

find you as well. So you've been listening or watching the

Howard Brown:

shining brightly show, you can reach me Howard Brown at shining

Howard Brown:

brightly.com. And there you'll absolutely be able to find out

Howard Brown:

about my book, my memoir and the other books that I've written

Howard Brown:

and been involved with some collaboratives and the speaking

Howard Brown:

I'd be glad to come and speak at your event or fundraiser and

Howard Brown:

motivate, educate and inspire. And then lastly that my advocacy

Howard Brown:

is so important. So I work very strongly in the cancer world.

Howard Brown:

Don't go get cancer go get screened, and if you do let me

Howard Brown:

know and we can help walk with you along that path and into

Howard Brown:

survivorship hopefully, and then also my interfaith relations at

Howard Brown:

my mentorship and entrepreneurship. So my advocacy

Howard Brown:

means a great deal to me as well. And this podcast is just

Howard Brown:

blowing up right now. Lots of people listening and looking for

Howard Brown:

that inspiration. And Corinne, you added great value today, a

Howard Brown:

great victory. So thank you for being here, as well. It's been a

Howard Brown:

great show. Lastly, I just want to thank some of the people that

Howard Brown:

have gotten me here. So my book publisher is front edge

Howard Brown:

publishing. And we are having a beautiful spiritual newsletter

Howard Brown:

that goes out every Monday to lots of people called read the

Howard Brown:

spirit.com. And my podcast finishing house is the amplify

Howard Brown:

you network. They make me look great every single week. And

Howard Brown:

then also a sponsor, the diamond beauties magazine is I was on

Howard Brown:

the cover of may and it's just a beautiful piece that comes out

Howard Brown:

as part of this show as well. So again, Karina, back from

Howard Brown:

vacation, all charged up. Thank you for being here. Wonderful

Howard Brown:

show. And we'll see you soon. Thank

Corinne Keith:

Thanks, our loved our time.

Howard Brown:

Me too. Thank you.

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

About the Podcast

Show artwork for Shining Brightly
Shining Brightly
Shining Brightly every day does make the world better place! Be prepared to be inspired!

Listen for free

About your host

Profile picture for Howard Brown

Howard Brown