Nothing Is Lost inspiration

by Juliette Marhofer-Dugger

lLauren Stumberg and I have both been told for years, “You need to meet her!”

So, one afternoon we made our way onto the lovely patio of Bakery Lorraine in Boerne. We laughed, chatted, encouraged, asked, listened, leaned into our stories, and finally brought our conversation full-circle with this powerful truth, “God allows nothing in our lives to be wasted.”

There is a point in our lives we must cross over. Crossroads become invitations for us to leave the old to embrace the new. Seasons shift and new chapters begin to bring order amid chaos. We heal and begin to make peace with the pieces that often leave fingerprints as question marks in our stories.

The gift of reflection reminds us that our “curveballs” are no surprise to God and He always has a plan to redeem them as home runs in our lives. All of the hard, all of the loss, every moment we experience disappointment, are all woven together to create a beautiful tapestry of good.

When I consider rewriting our stories of waste and loss, to one of beauty and belonging, it echoes glory like the sun shining while it’s raining. Choosing to live a new narrative, is the process of turning our pain into power! Recounting bits of our stories together, Lauren and I kept returning to a place of gratitude for all of the small interactions in our lives which evolved into big connections. And the truth is, what seems “big” in each of our lives is connected to what we desire most. For both of us we discovered it’s all about relationships, personally and professionally.

Often we find ourselves exhausted from fighting battles never intended for us. Are you ready to release what’s not meant for you, to create margin to fight for what is? You will never know what you want until you want it and you may not be able to see it until you heal it. Power and pain coexist beautifully when we realize our path is connected to our purpose and it was never meant to look like anyone else’s!

We step into conversations as cultural thought leaders, brilliant entrepreneurs, and disruptors in our sphere of genius, but what about our soul as a woman? We don’t often approach the intersection of tension in our soul we experience on the daily with gumption and grit. We find ourselves longing to engage peace while anxiety feels like a nasty, damp draft in the back of our minds. Our creativity and leadership in our life suffers personally and professionally when we leave the condition of our soul up to chance. Until I designed my life around tending to what matters most, all I could see was loss and waste.

Understanding how to handle disappointment doesn’t sound groundbreaking I know, but why is it then that it seems to break us? The truth is I hate to lose, but I see it as an opportunity to be better and do better. As a creative entrepreneur for over twenty years, I want you to know you’re so much stronger than you think and don’t be afraid to fail. Your strength is uncovered in your moments of weakness when you pay attention to your reactions. Failure is an event, it’s not your identity. Talk less, ask tons of questions, and listen more. Walk into the room and own it. Don’t worry about the room knowing you, it’s more important to know the room. If you keep trying to control the outcome, the outcome will own you. We can get so caught up in the process that we forget who we are. And boundaries, for the love of God, have boundaries. “The only people that will be upset about you setting boundaries are the people who benefitted from you having none.” Boundaries say love, share love, and give love. People will take as much as you’re willing to give. Love people, don’t use them and let people love you and not use you. Motivate people not manipulate them and be motivated by people instead of being manipulated. Build relationships with others because you want to give to their life, not solely because you want them to contribute something to yours. Be kind, love well, and be gracious. Do unto others as you want them to do to you.

We all get stuck. The important thing is to not associate being stuck with failing. Life changes in seconds and it’s too short to allow shame to step in and beat us up. Get up and close that door immediately! Take a day of rest. Venture out for a weekend getaway for some inspiration. Grab coffee with the friend who brings you joy. Just do something different to break the cycle. Then, breathe, press pause, and journal! Whatever it takes because it’s your life and who will you have to blame, but yourself. Be bold and do something different. The “new” is awaiting your arrival!

You’ll never regret doing hard things, you’ll only wish you did them sooner. Get good at recognizing the resistance that’s holding you back from creating and begin redeeming those areas of your life that have felt permanently lost. Do the hardest part of unpacking your

• Instagram: @juliettemarhoferdugger soul to build the life you were meant to live! The world is your oyster and there is a glass ceiling meant for you to shatter!

Always remember, when we see lost, God sees found, and where we see ashes from waste, God sees beauty. It’s not cliche to say, “It’s your time to shine”, because light shines in the darkness. We need you to help us light up this world!

• Watershed Warrior: Available on Amazon, Audible, iTunes, Kindle

• Podcast: Yellow Soul on Apple & Spotify

• www.wildwellcompany.com

Juliette Marhofer-Dugger is a mama, published author, life coach, speaker, entrepreneur, and thought leader, whose obsession with Soul Care points others to rewrite their story and not to relive history. After childhood and adulthood trauma caused a collision of abandonment and a longing for intimate belonging in her soul, she created dialogue to radically transform her narrative. She has committed her life to helping others recover their breath in the middle of the war in their soul, not after it ends! Juliette is the founder of WildWell Company—a movement of freeing the mind and healing the body through Soul Care for females affected by childhood and adulthood trauma, systemic cycles and patterns of mental, emotional, spiritual abuse, and betrayal trauma. Juliette is passionate about reframing soul hygiene to disrupt the view of how we connect to faith, ourselves, and others to create a life of wonder!