Debra Berry

Like you, I have experienced many challenges and changes in my life.

In his book, The Only Thing That Matters, Neale Donald Walsch writes, “You have been told that to be happy in life you need to get the guy,  get the car, get the job, get the house, get the spouse, get the kids, get the better job, get the better house, get the promotion . . .”  These are often thought of as planned and expected life events.  

Many of us, including myself, grew up with plans to get many of these things.  I got my hot sports car. I got my nursing degree and career. I got my husband. I got my little house.  I got my beautiful precious daughter and son. I got an advanced degree and a better job. I got a bigger and better house with a pool.  I got my trip to Hawaii and much more. 

But I also got the unexpected.  Divorce was my first experience of the unexpected major life change.  Divorce was not the end of the unexpected changes in my life.  Not so long ago, within about two years, I experienced a whammy of the unexpected.

My position was reduced to part-time. I was now a middle-aged single woman and depended on a full-time income.   I asked myself, "Now what?    Eventually,  I moved to a new area renting a little cottage tucked away in the woods on a lake, and began a new job in a new town far away from family and friends and the place I had called home for many years.

Three months after my move and starting that new job, I was diagnosed with a major health challenge. I had always been healthy, but suddenly and unexpectedly, I was too ill and unsafe to live alone in the snowy isolated little cabin in the woods.  I had to move closer to work and my health care providers.  

Eight months after starting the new job, and while recovering from my health challenge,  and my mother dying, the job I had moved to was eliminated.  I remember standing in the hallway and asking myself again, “Now what?”

“Now what?” turned out to be finding a new job on the other side of the state.  During this time, my mother died and less than a week after her funeral, I moved in with a family member until I could find a home in the town where my new job was located.

The unexpected continued.  I eventually found a condo to rent near the town where I was working, and I moved once again.  A little more than a year later I found a home to purchase.  My sister died during the time I was closing on the house, I moved the next month into my new house.  The following month my dad died.   

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If you lost count, that's five moves, two new jobs, three family members’ deaths, and a major health challenge.  All unexpected within less than two years!

The unexpected changes I experienced in my life were tough.  I found I was meeting myself coming and going.  I felt disorganized and scattered. I felt like I was running in circles, and often I felt alone in the middle of the circle not knowing where to turn.  I was tired, weary, and stressed to my limits. There was little peace or time for me to engage in the activities I enjoyed. I missed out on connecting with my family and friends.  Things I felt passionate about were put to the side.  I told myself to buck up, get up, and quit whining.  I was holding on and trying to survive.  

The good news?  I did not just survive, but I discovered how to thrive!  

I learned that unexpected life changes keep happening.   I learned how to navigate the chaos that often comes with our life's changes and challenges and to grow and thrive!    

Additionally, I  have over 40 years of nursing experience, including 15 years of end-of-life care, and nearly 20 years of experience as a life coach.  Professionally, I have helped countless individuals and families through caregiving and end-of-life experiences.  In my personal life, I have been a caregiver for numerous family members and friends.

I am here to empower and support you in navigating the chaos of change while thriving and discovering your new beginning!