When Life Flips Upside Down! What Do You Do?

What do you do when life flips upside down and everything you thought was rock solid, good, or great… stops or disappears?

That moment when nothing makes sense anymore. When you cling to what was… but everything you thought you could control slips right through your very fingers.

I’ve been there!

As you probably know by now and the reason I started blogging, on April 1st, 2010, without warning, I suffered a #brainaneurysm. One moment, I was thriving. Leading teams. Enjoying life. Planning my future with my husband. The next, I was being told I might not live. That my short-term memory was gone for good. That work and motherhood were no longer on the cards for me… at least not within the timeline I had so carefully mapped out.

And I’ll be honest...in those moments...I just wanted my normal back...but that was not on offer! Yet, years later when I am forced to think outside of the box, I realise that there was something else.

I realised…I was being offered an adventure. Not the kind you dream about. The kind of adventure that calls you to be braver than you ever imagined. The kind that transforms you and forces you to show the better and best version of yourself.

Maybe you’re in a place like that right now. Where life feels completely out of control, and even hearing the word “adventure” sounds exhausting. I get it. But what if you could choose to see this moment differently...not as something happening to you… but rather something from within you that is great and is being called out to be display? and the only way out is to uncover this is through an 'adventure'? This is how I have chosen to view things that I have had to go thRough..

Since consciously deciding this...let me share some of my learnings:

1. Your strength appears unknowingly.

You don’t have to have it all figured out. I rebuilt my life with zero guarantees. But I discovered something powerful: Strength shows up in the small, unseen moments, when you take the next brave step into uncertainty. So take it. Don’t look back.

2. You can fear the next twist, or you can get curious.

Fear drains you. It keeps you stuck. BUT, curiosity on the other hand, invites possibilities and opportunities. I started asking myself: What if there’s more ahead than I can see? What if 'the other side' of this is better, greater, or even life-transforming? So I chose to get curious. You can, too.

3. Courage isn’t about feeling ready.

Courage is about moving forward anyway. I didn’t wait to be fearless. I took one step at a time. From hosting virtual summits, to magazine features to presentations to multinational organisations...i refused to stay still...stagnant! I chose to be heard, seen and respected. That choice changed everything. Don’t wait. Be courageous, now!

You may not have chosen this part of your story. But you do get to choose what happens next. You get to choose how you show up and overcome 'it'...