The Possibilities of Recreating Yourself

Written by Barb Greenberg

“I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.” Lily Tomlin

Divorce gives you a chance to be “specific.” Your life has changed forever, and you can create a blessing from this chaos… when you are ready! We are always creating and recreating ourselves. When I was still married my husband and I went on a road trip. Little did I know that the women I met would remain examples for me of the unlimited possibilities life offers. One of our stops was Sun Valley, Idaho. Exploring the area, we walked into a lovely art gallery filled with beautiful paintings priced way beyond our budget. The gallery manager explained that twenty years earlier, a young woman, also on a road trip, had stopped in Sun Valley, fell in love with the beauty of the place, and wanted to stay, but she had no way to support herself. So she bought herself an art book, taught herself to paint, and started this gallery. A few hundred miles later we were at a ranch in Montana, getting ready to go for a horseback ride in the mountains. One of the ranch hands shared that she had worked in high-powered corporate job and developed serious health issues she was certain were due to stress. She had visited the ranch on previous vacations, loved it, and decided to quit her job and work full-time with the horses. She was feeling better than she had in years! Then we attended a conference where two women stood out. One was the first person in her family to graduate high school. She went on to college, then law school, and became a district court judge.The second woman, also a judge, had been a single mother on welfare. Whenever I doubt my dreams, whenever I doubt myself, these women beckon to me, smiling, and nodding, and I keep on.