The Sharp Edge of Success

When grief shows up when things are going right

Success has a sharp edge when you are leading while grieving.

No one tells you that.
They don’t tell you that in moments of professional wins, it can remind you who is missing in the same way a wedding day can.

Last week, I was on the West Coast preparing for a national panel.

It was a quiet morning. Eggs on the table. Notes spread out in front of me. The kind of preparation I’ve done a hundred times.

And then it hit me. Not during the panel. Not in front of the audience. But in the quiet moment before.

I couldn’t call my mom.
I couldn’t send her a picture afterward.
I couldn’t share the moment with her the way I always had. She would always want an immediate download after every professional milestone.

It hurt.

I wept quietly while reviewing my notes on the 30th floor of a conference hotel with immaculate views. None of that mattered.

I wanted to call my mom.

That’s what I’ve come to understand as the sharp edge of success.

The part no one talks about. The reality that as your life continues to expand, your grief doesn’t stay behind. It comes right along with it.

Because the more your life grows, the more moments there are to miss them in.

---

What changed for me

Now that I am two years into leading and grieving, I plan for these moments.

Because I know they can come even if they don’t always.

Before any major presentation, trip, or milestone,
I build in time for the grief. Not because something is wrong
but because something meaningful is missing.

Sometimes that looks like:

• Sitting in silence for a few minutes

• Letting the tears come if they need to

• Playing instrumental music that slows everything down

• Saying a quiet prayer

• Simply allowing myself to feel the weight of the moment

It’s no longer something I try to avoid.
It’s something I make space for.

---

What I’ve learned

Grief doesn’t only show up in the hard moments.

It shows up in the good ones too.

In the promotions.
In the travel.
In the milestones you wish you could share.

This is the part of leadership no one prepares you for.

You are expected to show up at your highest level
while carrying something no one else in the room can see.

---

A question for you

Have you experienced the sharp edge of success?

A moment where everything was going right
and yet something in you paused
because someone you love wasn’t there to witness it?

And if so, what have you learned to do in those moments?

Hit reply to let me know. I read every response.

---

Until next time,
Carolyn’s Daughter