How will you rewrite your story?

Years and years of marriage. Now you're divorcing, wondering if any of it mattered.

In those years, you were loyal. You showed up. You tried.

Now? You're staring at a blank page, wondering what you have to show for it.

When you look around, everyone else seems sorted. Your younger colleagues have their whole lives ahead. Your friends in happy marriages try to be supportive, but they don't really get it.

You're left thinking: Did I waste the best years of my life?

If you've ever felt this way, I want to offer you a different perspective. Not because I have all the answers, but because I've been in that position before. I have also sat with women just like you who've asked this exact question. And what I've learned is this: you didn't waste anything.

The plot twist is your greatest opportunity for rebirth

You gave those years everything you had. You were building a life with the information you had at the time. You were being a good woman, a devoted mother, a committed partner. You showed up every single day, even when it was hard.

None of that was wasted.

What feels like an ending right now is really a plot twist.

Think about every great story you've ever read or watched. The heroine doesn't stay stuck in chapter one. There's always that moment where everything falls apart, where she realises she's been living someone else's script. And that's when the real story begins.

That's where you are right now, right on time for the next chapter of your life. The one where you get to write your own script.

I know, it doesn't feel that way yet. When you're standing in the middle of the wreckage, it's hard to see the rebuild. When you're teaching all day, holding it together for your own child, and navigating the logistics of divorce in a foreign country, it's exhausting just to get through the day.

Perhaps, just try to remember this: The emptiness you're sitting in right now is the perfect blank canvas for your next creation. 

The artistry of reconstruction

So what do you do with this blank canvas?

First, you stop apologising for it. You stop thinking you need to have it all figured out right now. You stop comparing your messy middle to everyone else's highlight reel.

Second, you give yourself permission to explore. What would your life look like if you designed it just for you? Not for your ex-husband. Not for your parents. Not for what people back home might think. Just for you.

What would make you feel alive again? What would make you excited to wake up in the morning?

You don't need to have the answers yet. You just need to start asking the questions.

Third, you find someone who can walk alongside you while you figure it out. Not someone who's going to tell you what to do. Not someone who's going to judge you for where you are. Someone who understands what it's like to be an expat educator going through divorce. Someone who gets that you're not just rebuilding a life -  you're rebuilding yourself.

Take two!

This isn't the end of your story. It's the plot twist. You didn't waste the best years of your life. You were building a foundation. Now you get to build something different on top of it.

If you need someone to walk alongside you as you write this next chapter, I'm here. I work with expat educators who are navigating divorce and rebuilding their lives. Women who are tired of just surviving and ready to start thriving again.

If that sounds like you, DM me to schedule a chat. Let's talk about what your next chapter could look like.