You can’t tell from her petite frame and positive disposition, but for four decades Diane Burton carried a 200-pound memory on her heart.


It was a memory that kept her in fear. When Burton was in high school, she topped the scale at nearly 220 pounds. People were cruel to her, some of it was intentional and some of it was simple ignorance, but it cut her just the same.


She smiled on the outside but was withering away emotionally.


The last semester of high school, Burton began to exercise, eat sensibly and shed pounds. By the time she went to college, she had lost the weight and has kept it off for 45 years. Despite the fact that she was fit, she still saw herself as “a fat girl” and kept a high school picture of that girl tucked in her wallet as a constant reminder.


She tried every diet trend to ensure she’d never gain weight. It wasn’t until decades later while attending training to become a certified grief coach that she was able to let that anchor of a memory go. That moment shaped her future as part of Burton’s mission is to help others with their struggles.


“I will take my mess and make it my message and that is what I’ve been doing,” she said. “At my 20th high school reunion, I got the award for most changed. I want people to know you can keep the weight off. So many people expect to gain it back but I’ve kept it off.”


A devoted Christian and minister’s wife, in 2014 Burton published a book to help guide people with their struggles, “The Master’s Masterpiece.” The book serves as a 10-week devotional journal to seeing yourself as “God’s masterpiece.” There are 10 chapters and each chapter is a question with four answers, so the book can be used as a 40-day devotional or as a study for a bible class. The last third of the book has more in-depth questions and refers the reader back to earlier chapters


A devoted Christian and minister’s wife, in 2014 Burton published a book to help guide people with their struggles, “The Master’s Masterpiece.” The book serves as a 10-week devotional journal to seeing yourself as “God’s masterpiece.” There are 10 chapters and each chapter is a question with four answers, so the book can be used as a 40-day devotional, or as a study for a bible class.


6 Living Well i March/April 2017


Want to learn more?


The Master’s Masterpiece is available on her website www.themastersmasterpiece.com; at Nature’s Way Health Food & Café, 18 E. 7th St, Mountain Home; or online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. You can reach her at: coach dianeburton@gmail.com or call (870) 405-0849. She offers a free consultation. Fees charged by a grief coach range from $75 to $200 per ses- sion, depending on the coach’s experience.


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