In January of this year, approximately 24 months after the end of my marriage, I walked into my coach and therapist’s office, plopped myself down, and looked at him and said,

“Ok, I’m ready to start dating.  How do I set this up so I don’t get hurt?”

To which he responded, “Sarah, dating is a contact sport.  You’re going to get hurt.”

I almost fell off the proverbial couch.

I laugh whenever I share this story because it is funny, but I promise that when I asked that question, it was with utter seriousness.

Most of us want to know that if we walk out on a limb, it won’t break beneath us.  But sometimes it does.  Sometimes when we take a risk and put our hearts out there for something that really matters, we don’t get what we want.  We may not get the dream job, the person we desire, or the outcome we were hoping for.  And it’s painful.

But so often it’s not the end of the story.

My first dream job was as a flower farmer.  Talk about risky — I was armed with a philosophy degree and not much else.  The first year, I scattered organic fertilizer over the entire crop of 1000 seedlings, and proceeded to kill 800 of them.  The only thing that saved the remaining plants was the hard rain that night that washed away just enough of the fertilizer to preserve their fragile growing points.  Walking the field the next day and seeing the damage, I was heartbroken.  Months of work and hope were gone.  Overnight.

But, after licking my wounds, I realized that there were still 200.  And, I wondered about the possibility of re-sowing some seeds and having a new crop of plants before the end of the season.  As it turns out, the original survivors went on to produce gorgeous flowers, and that second crop began cranking out blooms just when the first grew tired.  Succession planting was born.  And that was the key to continuous revenue production, market niche, and a competitive advantage that drove a business to success.  I lost 800 plants, but I gained something far greater than I ever could have imagined.

Sometimes when a limb breaks beneath us, it’s a gift, even if we can’t see it at the time.

The next Transforming Sludge Into Shining Brilliance group coaching program begins January 24th.  If you’re ready to create a phenomenal new life post-divorce, visit the Registration page and get ready to rock!

And, if you want to live a more fabulous, more authentic, more YOU kind of life, join me for 1:1 life coaching.  Email me sarah@sarah-levitt.com to set up a 30 minute complimentary session.

Whatever you do, make sure to cultivate possibility.