Looking Forward to What Lies Ahead

New growth is exciting!

We might feel odd to find ourselves all alone--a tingling sensation making us want to shiver--maybe for the first time in our life. We probably went from our "Drive-in Movie" high school days, Homecoming football games, and living with our parents to anticipating the fun we would have bunking with three other college roommates four states away. Suddenly before we could blink an eye, we were madly combing all the wedding magazines looking for the perfect dress, best flowers, and honeymoon destinations! 

Let’s face it—most of us at that point had never been totally alone and on our own. Sound familiar? Fast forward to today and here we go again! We might call this the "Season of Survival" in more ways than one and it’s scarier than jumping out of a plane into the unknown for the first time. What if we panic? What if our parachute doesn't open? What if the pilot missed the designated spot and we land in the depths of the ocean weighted down and no way out? All the What Ifs rushing into our brain at once can overload our circuits! 

Are We Strong Enough to Survive?

In the wild, the survival of the fittest is the rule. There are many, many fascinating TV documentaries from National Geographic that shows this harsh reality. Even though we may cringe and have compassion for the smallest babies of the jungle, we surely know it can be no other way. Thankfully, our reality is probably a bit tamer! 

It would be an indisputable fact that if we have made it this far as a single-again woman and are reading this week's blog, we have already moved through at least a few (if not numerous) phases of survival. Congratulations! In case no one has pointed it out yet, we ARE strong enough to not only exist as a strong and determined woman (think of Scarlett in the classic movie, Gone With the Wind) but to continue to live and prosper on your own if that is our choice.    

Choose a survival place

We are among the many who have had a little taste of the unknown and are still here to tell about it. That's a big deal indeed! And now we can positively continue figuring out all the different angles of how to make our lives the best they can be without a hint of giving up. There's no room for that nonsense anyway, right? No matter what our age right now, what could we say is the next most important survival change? Consider the following question.

What do we want to see happen? (Hint: it will be different for each woman, so just take the time to really sit and think about this one, make notes, and come up with a workable answer.)

The Beginning, Middle, and the End

Yes, this really is the Beginning of our new lives in every way possible. It is our choice to make it a great one or let it become stale and unproductive which will prevent a Middle from happening. Then it follows there will be no room left for a legacy at the End. Think about it. 

The truth is, only God knows exactly what our Beginning, Middle, and End look like. He can see it all because He created us for a purpose and is not willing to let us go. We can only see a small portion of our life because blinders block much of the view. Our only choice is to ask God how to survive in the first place and follow His direction. We only have questions. God has all the right answers! 

"I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection...No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead" (Philippians 3:12-13 NLT).