Revised, 2/14/25

Life doesn’t always follow the script we imagined. Sometimes, it hands us chapters we never asked for—unexpected loss, change, or uncertainty.

In those moments, we stand at a crossroads, faced with a decision: do we shrink into what we’ve lost, or do we step boldly into what’s still possible?

It’s easy to believe that the best parts of our story are behind us, that what we had was the pinnacle, and that anything after will only be a shadow of what once was.

But what if that’s not true? What if the greatest love story yet to be written is the one you create for yourself?

What if, instead of searching for something outside of you, you realized that you are your own Chapter 2?

What if your next chapter is not about replacing what came before but expanding it? About taking everything you’ve loved, learned, and survived and using it to build something even richer?

Your story didn’t end. You are still here.

And that means you have the opportunity to create a big, messy, beautiful life—not in spite of what happened, but because of it. You are living proof that love, resilience, and possibility can coexist. That loss does not mean the absence of love—it means love is asking you to carry it forward in a new way.

This is the ultimate permission to live. To honor every past version of yourself by choosing to keep going, by writing a life that is full, meaningful, and entirely your own.

You are your own Chapter 2, and you get to write it.

Writing mine,

Julie

P.S. Part of writing your next chapter always involves having the courage to go back to the life you left. Living in a world of widows is a balm for our souls… for a while… but it can create a prison of its own making.

That’s why I created a Facebook group for all women called The Women’s World Domination Society (in pajamas). When you are ready, I encourage you to join me there and see what ALL women are doing to support each other.