E 385: When Life Knocks You Down: The Power of Taking One Step Forward with Renea Linsom

What do you do when something happens that changes your life so completely that you don't even recognize yourself anymore?

At just 21 years old, Renae Linsom suddenly lost her mother.

One day they were talking about the future. Then everything changed.

Renée describes the years that followed as one of the darkest periods of her life. She couldn't find a reason to be happy and says she actually lost her smile—something that had always been such a big part of who she was.

But somewhere inside that darkness, something began to shift.

Renée realized that even though she had been knocked down, she still wanted to live. She still wanted to thrive. And there was still something she was here to do.

In this episode of the Adult Child of Dysfunction Podcast, Renée and I talk about grief, faith, writing, the power of our words, finding purpose after loss, and what it really looks like to begin moving forward when you don't have everything figured out.

For Renée, part of that journey meant returning to church. Another part meant going back to school and finishing what she had started—not only for herself, but as a way of honoring what her mother had poured into her.

And I love something that came out of this part of our conversation:

Sometimes when you can't believe in yourself yet, you have to borrow somebody else's belief in you.

Renée also discovered another powerful tool along the way:

Writing.