2017 and 2018 were extraordinarily devastating times when America was ravaged by fires and hurricanes. Families lost homes to fire and flood – sometimes with very little warning. In the days after the initial blow, families were left to sort through the ruin and make some difficult decisions.
An unusual pattern began to take shape. A mixed reaction began to emerge from families who had lost everything.
Some families were so devastated that they simply walked away. Some were equally upset, but decided to use the situation to make a fresh start. They had new plans drawn up to replace their lost homes. They created new homes that better suited their needs and put their focus on the future, forgetting what was behind them. Some moved away and used their insurance money to start over in a new place.
As they rebuilt their homes, their wardrobes, and collected new personal belongings, they shared that they were more intentional about what they chose and had lost the personal attachment to things, as it were. The storms and fires that had forced change on them became a fresh start with unlimited possibilities.
Here are some ways you can use a setback to make a fresh start for yourself:
- Turn a layoff into a chance to go back to ‘school’
- Turn a divorce into a chance to reinvent yourself
- Turn a medical event into an opportunity to get healthier
- Turn the loss of a loved-one into a non-profit to serve others
- Turn the unexpected retirement into a chance to travel while you are young
- Turn the disability into a chance to become an advocate
Your setback can be a set up for something new and better.
Tackle the righteous anger, sadness, and change that can come with a setback and move forward into a new and fresh start that wouldn’t have been possible without your loss.
The choice to lose things might not have been yours, but how you deal with the loss is totally in your control. Do the thing that makes your heart feel healed and gives you the fresh start you deserve.
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