Because every chapter has prepared you for the next. The other morning I poured myself a cup of tea, opened my calendar, and just stared at it.
For years, every square had something in it. School events, practices, appointments, grocery runs squeezed between everything else, and someone who needed a ride. My days were full, my house was busy, and although there were certainly moments when I wished for a little more quiet, I never imagined how I would actually feel when it finally arrived.
That morning my calendar was almost empty.
I remember sitting in my kitchen, taking a deep breath, and realizing that things were never going to be the same. Not in a sad way, just in a new way. The house was going to become quieter, life was going to become simpler, and for the first time in a very long time, I realized the person who needed me most now was me.
That thought caught me completely off guard.
If someone had asked me whether I was happy, my answer would have been an easy yes. I love my husband, I’m incredibly proud of my children, I’m grateful for the life we’ve built, and I genuinely enjoy the work I get to do. Nothing was wrong.
So why did that quiet morning feel so emotional? It took me a while to understand that I wasn’t wishing for my old life back. I wasn’t searching for something different, and I certainly wasn’t trying to become someone else. I was simply standing at the beginning of a chapter I had never lived before. The more conversations I have with women my age, the more I realize how many of us are quietly standing in that same place.
We’ll start by talking about our kids, work, vacations, or the latest book we’ve read. Then someone will pause for a moment and say, “Life just feels different.”
Every woman around the table nods. Not because we’re unhappy. Not because we’ve made bad decisions. But because the lives we’ve spent decades building are changing, and no one really prepared us for the emotions that come with the chapters we once prayed for. That realization changed everything for me. I wasn’t grieving my life.
I was honoring a chapter that had meant so much to me. There’s a difference.
When I look back on my life, I honestly have zero regrets. I wouldn’t erase the difficult seasons any more than I’d erase the joyful ones because every one of them shaped the woman I am today. Every success, every disappointment, every unexpected detour gave me something I needed for this season of my life.
Nothing was wasted.
What has surprised me most is realizing that gratitude and growth belong in the same conversation. I can be deeply thankful for the life I’ve lived while feeling excited about the life I’m still creating. I can miss what was without wishing it back, and I can feel emotional and hopeful on the very same day.
I don’t think those feelings compete with each other. I think they’re evidence that we’re growing.
For so many years, life asked us who we needed to be, and we answered that question with love. We became the women our families, careers, friendships, and communities needed us to be. Those years mattered, and I wouldn’t change them for anything.
But now life seems to be asking a different question. How do I want to live this chapter? I love that question because it doesn’t ask me to start over. It simply invites me to move forward with more perspective, more intention, and a little more grace than I had twenty years ago. That’s why I created The Sweet Spot.
Not because I have life figured out. Honestly, this season has reminded me how much I’m still learning. I created it because I needed a place where women could tell the truth. A place where gratitude and growth belong in the same conversation. A place where we could celebrate everything we’ve lived through while also getting excited about everything that’s still ahead.
Most of all, I wanted a place where women could look across the table at one another and simply say, “Me too.” If you’ve ever looked around at a life you genuinely love and thought, Something feels different, I hope you’ll pull up a chair. I have a feeling you’re going to discover what I’ve been discovering all along.
You’re not the only one. You’re standing at the beginning of a chapter you finally have the wisdom to design.
