Building Forward After Grief, Burnout, or Career Loss
✍️ Note from Me:
When I started writing this series, I didn’t know how far it would take me—or how much it would ask of me.
Parts 4 and 5 took longer to share because they hit closer to home than I expected. They were hard to write—because they were honest. And at one point, I wasn’t even sure I’d finish the series.
But what I discovered in the process? That the deeper I went, the more clearly I saw: this isn’t just my story. It’s our story.
Thanks for sticking with me. Let’s finish this together.
If you’ve followed this series, you already know—this hasn’t just been a blog. It’s been a real-time chronicle of my lived experience.
It all started with one raw, uncertain question:
What do I do now?
After my personal crisis. After caregiving. After the layoff.
After watching the version of life that once felt solid slowly dissolve.
It felt like God was leading me somewhere I wasn’t sure I wanted to go—or even could go.
And I still don’t have it all figured out. But I know this much:
I can’t go back. He won’t let me.
So here I am—still in the middle of it—walking through the uncomfortable, the uncertain, and the unfamiliar.
(And yes, the key word is through… we’ll come back to that.)
Somewhere in the thick of that discomfort, I started listening to The Purpose Driven Life by Pastor Rick Warren.
Audiobooks work best for me—especially when my brain is busy, but my spirit is open.
The whole book is powerful if, like me, you’re walking a spiritual path.
But one framework in particular hit hard—and stayed with me.
Rick Warren shares the concept of S.H.A.P.E.
It’s a tool for understanding how you’re uniquely wired to live out your purpose:
- Spiritual Gifts – the divine strengths you’ve been given
- Heart – what stirs your passion and compassion
- Abilities – the skills you’ve developed or come naturally
- Personality – the way you move through the world
- Experiences – the life you’ve lived—the good, the bad, the ugly, the hard, the holy
When I heard that, something clicked:
Everything I thought I lost in the pause? It didn’t erase my shape—it revealed it.
The pain I carried, the lessons I learned, and the gifts I still hold?
They weren’t setbacks.
They were instructions—pointing toward the future I was meant to build.
That’s when I realized:
If I’m going to live a more purposeful, aligned life, I can’t rebuild what burned me out.
I have to build forward—from who I am now, not who I used to be.
So no, I didn’t write these posts from the other side of the pause.
I wrote them from the middle of it.
And now, we’ve reached the final chapter in this series.
But this isn’t an ending.
It’s a beginning.
A beginning rooted in purpose, clarity, and alignment.
A beginning built not on bouncing back—but on building forward.
And in this final post, I’ll share what I’ve learned from walking through the discomfort… and choosing to grow anyway.
How Reflecting on Grief and Loss Helped Me Rebuild My Life
How Grief, Career Loss and Reflection Became My Turning Point
Over the last four parts, we’ve walked through the real, raw process of a life reset:
- Part 1 reframed the pause—not as failure, but as a sacred invitation.
- Part 2 named the emotional toll of career disruption and identity unraveling.
- Part 3 dug into the fear that shows up when you finally stop moving.
- Part 4 helped us face the grief of letting go—and begin to release what no longer fits.
But if I’m honest, this didn’t begin with caregiving or a layoff.
It began with a personal crisis—one I haven’t written about in detail until now.
Let’s just say I was forced to confront long-buried trauma, patterns I didn’t want to name, and behaviors I used to cope when I felt lost, unheard, or unseen.
There was a moment I truly thought I was losing my mind.
But what I was really losing… was the life I could no longer pretend to hold together.
That crisis was the breaking point—and the beginning.
The moment I stopped performing and started healing.
The moment I realized I wasn’t being punished—I was being invited to become who I really am.
That journey led me into the pause.
And the pause led me to this series.
And now? The pause is becoming a pivot.
What helped me begin to move wasn’t just time or reflection.
It was reconnection.
While listening to The Purpose Driven Life, I revisited the S.H.A.P.E. framework—a tool that reminded me I wasn’t starting over.
I was being invited to rebuild in alignment with how I was always wired.
- S – Spiritual Gifts: My ability to coach, encourage, and speak truth into people’s lives wasn’t something I picked up—it’s always been there.
- H – Heart: I’ve always cared about transformation. About helping people live in alignment, not performance.
- A – Abilities: Storytelling, strategy, facilitation—whether in media or coaching, these gifts still matter. The container just changed.
- P – Personality: I’m wired for empathy, depth, and real connection. For a long time, I tried to minimize that part of me.
- E – Experiences: Caregiving, grief, burnout, job loss, spiritual reconstruction—and moments where I turned to unhealthy coping to survive. All of it shaped me. None of it was wasted.
The pause didn’t erase my shape.
It revealed it.
And more importantly, it showed me that even the parts of my story I once tried to hide… are now part of my purpose.
This is what it means to build forward.
Why I’m Not Going Back After Burnout—And What I’m Choosing Instead
Don’t Go Back to What Burned You Out—Build Forward Instead
If this series has taught me anything, it’s this:
You don’t bounce back from a pause like this.
You build forward.
You start with honesty. You move with intention.
You grieve what was so you can create what’s next.
So if you’ve been waiting for the moment when you feel 100% ready—spoiler: that’s not coming.
But courage doesn’t wait for certainty.
It just asks you to take the next step.
And full transparency here: I’ve been hesitating on that step.
Here’s why.
I’ve been operating in survival mode for most of my life.
While I had what I consider a stellar career in the media space—one I still value and may continue in a different form—I realized I’d been doing it all by the “American Dream” playbook.
And let’s be honest: that playbook isn’t built for thriving.
It’s built for surviving.
Even in recent years, with a salary many would envy, I was still living check to check. Not in crisis. But not in peace, either. Not in overflow.
That became unsustainable. Constricting. Limiting.
I was living by rules I didn’t write, in a system that offered me a seat—but not sovereignty.
And strangely enough, it was the layoff that gave me freedom.
While my experience is unique to me, I know I’m not the only one.
I’m not the only one who woke up one day and realized the “freedom” I was sold was actually just a more polished version of survival.
A job that looked great on paper but drained me.
A lifestyle that met expectations but missed my soul.
A script that promised security but left me silently asking:
Is this it?
This year, as the 4th of July rolls around, I found myself reflecting on what freedom really means.
Not the kind tied to fireworks and long weekends—but the kind that changes your actual life.
Here’s the truth:
- Freedom isn’t just about independence from a system.
- It’s about releasing the roles, rhythms, and rules that don’t reflect who you really are.
- It’s about creating a life that feels like yours.
And that starts not with fireworks—but with a decision.
To stop performing.
To stop settling.
To build forward.
So what do you do with all of this?
Once the truth lands—about the grief, the playbook, the freedom that wasn’t really freedom—how do you move from awareness to alignment?
That’s the work I’ve been doing. And if you’re still with me, maybe it’s the work you’re ready for too.
Here are four things that have helped me begin to do exactly that. Maybe they can help you too.
5 Steps to Rebuild Your Life After Burnout, Grief, or a Career Reset
How to Start Rebuilding Your Life After a Major Reset
Before I could build forward, I had to sit with what was broken—my identity, my rhythm, my sense of control.
So, these aren’t just ideas I jotted down in a journal.
They’re steps I’ve taken from the middle of grief, burnout, and uncertainty—practices that helped me stop spinning and start rebuilding from a place of clarity.
If you’ve been asking “What do I do now?”… start here.
1. Interrupt the Old Script
Pause when the old patterns show up—whether it’s reaching for the safety of a past role, shrinking yourself to feel in control, or measuring your worth by output.
You don’t have to have a full plan to make a different choice.
Just interrupt the autopilot long enough to ask:
“Is this choice aligned—or just familiar?”
2. Reclaim What’s Yours
Your values. Your boundaries. Your voice.
The pieces of you that got buried beneath hustle, survival, or performance.
You might not know the whole picture yet, but you do know what no longer fits.
Start there.
Then ask:
“What am I ready to reclaim—even if it’s just one thing?”
3. Design a Rhythm That Supports Who You’re Becoming
This isn’t just about taking breaks. It’s about choosing a pace and structure that reflect the life you want—not the one you left.
Maybe that means redefining your mornings.
Maybe that means saying no to things that once made you feel valuable.
Either way, you’re not managing time—you’re protecting your becoming.
Start with one rhythm shift this week. Make it yours.
4. Name—and Take—the Next Brave Step
Not the perfect step. Not the forever step. Just the next one.
Is it setting up the call?
Submitting the application?
Finally launching the thing?
Courage doesn’t need a 5-year plan.
It just needs your yes.
What’s one brave step you’ve been delaying? Take it.
💡 Bonus: Speak Life Over What’s Next
Don’t just analyze what you’ve lost.
Bless what’s ahead.
Say it out loud. Write it down.
“This next chapter will reflect who I am—not what I had to survive.”
The more clearly you name what you’re moving toward, the less power the old story has over you.
Final Thought: You’re Already Shaped for What’s Next
What I Learned About Purpose, Identity, and Starting Again
This isn’t the end of my story—and it’s not the end of yours.
This is the activation point.
If you’ve made it through the pause…
If you’ve sat with the grief, questioned old definitions of success, and started to reconnect with what’s real—
Then you’re not starting over.
You’re starting from everything you already carry—your gifts, your passion, your pain, your truth, and the story that’s shaped you.
That’s what I’ve had to learn.
I didn’t choose the pause, but I’m choosing how I build from it.
And no—I don’t have every answer.
But I’m taking the next step. With intention. With honesty. With purpose.
And I want the same for you.
You don’t have to be 100% ready.
You don’t need a perfect plan.
You just need to begin—from where you are.
From clarity. From alignment. From truth.
So let me ask:
What would happen if you stopped waiting… and started building?
Not perfectly. Not frantically.
But intentionally.
From who you are—not who you had to be to get by.
Because once you do?
You’re not just surviving.
You’re rebuilding.
You’re stepping into a future that fits.
Ready for What’s Next?
I’m here to help. I’ve created two powerful next steps for this very moment:
🎯 Need structure and clarity?
👉🏽 Join the waitlist for the upcoming 6 Steps to a New You Mini Course.
💬 Need real-time support and conversation?
You’ve done the pause.
Now it’s time to build the pivot.
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