What do you do when the life you’re living looks nothing like the one you thought you would have by now?

There comes a point when you can look around and realize that some of the things you thought would be settled aren’t, certain plans didn’t unfold the way you expected, and parts of the life you spent years building don’t feel the same anymore. It can leave you trying to make sense of the distance between where you thought you would be and where you actually are.

In this episode of The Confident Woman, Rachel Brooks opens up a conversation about unexpected life changes, midlife transitions, feeling stuck, and what happens when you don’t know exactly what comes next but you’re beginning to believe there could still be another way.

The conversation grew out of something Rachel noticed while walking and thinking through the transitions women around her have been talking about: divorce, empty nesting, grief, changing careers, changing bodies, relationships, identity, burnout, isolation, purpose and fulfillment. The circumstances may be different, but the question underneath so many of them is familiar: What do I do when this isn’t the life I thought I would be living?

In this episode:

• Why unmet expectations can carry their own form of grief
• What happens when today’s circumstances start feeling permanent
• Why not knowing how something will change doesn’t mean it never can
• The difference between solving your entire future and allowing yourself to imagine one again
• How women can lose sight of possibility during long seasons of survival and uncertainty
• What Proverbs 16:9 reminds us about making plans while trusting God with the steps we cannot see yet

This isn’t about blowing up your life or pretending starting over is easy. Sometimes the circumstances keeping us where we are are very real, and there may not be an immediate answer.

The shift Rachel is noticing is much smaller: she is beginning to see options again, and right now, options are hope.

The question to sit with this week is:

What have you stopped allowing yourself to imagine because somewhere along the way you started believing this is simply how your life is going to be?

Continue the Conversation:

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Read the companion essay on Create Your Own Story and subscribe to continue the weekly conversation. https://iamrachelbrooks.com/substack

Scripture referenced: Proverbs 16:9