"You've played the foreigner card long enough!"

The word stung, but rang true. After all of those years living In Nazareth, Israel, my adjustment to Stateside life was taking longer to settle into than I had hoped.

It was my good friend, Pat, who after listening to my endless stories and my pining away about my loved Nazareth, said in her matter of fact way,

"You’re going to have to move on from this, you’ve played the foreigner card long enough."

At the time, it hurt, but the truth sank in deeply, as I was suspending my current reality, living off of yesterday’s know-how and glory days.

The truth is, I felt like a fish out of water in the US. The Middle East, and it’s communal way of living, was far more suited to my temperament and vibe.

But I was not in Nazareth anymore. We now lived here and we were not going back. I had to stop playing the foreign card and just decide to live as fully here as I did there.

What at that time felt like the end, I learned was just a new beginning. It was not the end of a book, just the end of a chapter, and it was high time I started writing new chapters.

What new chapters do you need to write?

What feels like the end is really a chance for a new beginning. Are you willing to stop playing the foreigner card, holding on to what was and how it used to be? Are you ready to embrace new possibilities and opportunities that waiting for you? You can and you must, if you want your life to reflect the desires of your heart.

If I had not done this myself, I wouldn't have believed it was possible. And it was not only Nazareth, but then the end of my almost 25 yr marriage, that I had to imagine rising up from so that I could finally move on and live again.

Loss can seem to be relentless, kicking us in the head and telling us this is all there is. It will never be different, better, more joyful. But that is a lie. Time does heal. Trust is imperative. Moving on from what was, to all that is, can fuel your heart and infuse your soul with hope.

Stop playing the foreigner card. Step into all that is waiting for you to discover and BE.

It is more liberating than you can imagine. I look in the mirror and think I’m different now, better is some ways for the loss, but wiser for sure.

So, onward I go, writing new chapters, getting ‘writers block’ here and there, when doubt crouches to pounce and take me down. But I quickly recover, knowing it is my choice to think beyond--to the place where my best self lives, to days that are full of joy and connection-- and that is here, TODAY.

Let's continue to be courageous and encourage one another to write new chapters. Don't let me play the foreigner card.

Hold me to a higher standard and I'll do the same for you.

We need each other's wisdom and insight that will only come as we're brave enough to fully embrace our purpose and create a body of work that will outlive us.

Let's write chapters that will be read long after we're gone that encourage other midlife women, Sage Sisters, just like us, to keep writing theirs through all the years of their lives.

Here's the the SAGE Life! I am honored to be counted in your number!

To your success,

Donna

Photo credit: Paul Pruitt Photography