Broken Yet Still Standing

Ever been blindsided by a storm you didn't see coming?

A storm rolled through last night with strong winds and soaking rain. Our sweet corn is now leaning east, our watermelon vines tangled, and one of our trees is still rooted, still upright yet lost a major limb. Storms are part of life in Nebraska. Sometimes they hit one area and leave another untouched. This one found us.

And this morning, when I saw the tree, it mirrored a memory.

At the beginning of this year, an unexpected storm came through my life and left me broken. My long-held role at the university was gone. After 35 years, I found myself cut off from a place I had poured so much of myself into.

But I was still standing.

Why? Because of my strengths.

• Connectedness became a lifeline woven through friendships, texts, quiet coffees, and the incredible coaching community I had slowly become part of over the years.

• Learner gave me motion as my curiosity turned into pages of notes, insights, and energy.

• Responsibility and Activator moved me to act by saying yes, reaching out, joining the Chamber, showing up.

• Ideation gave me options and vision when the path ahead was unclear.

• Belief reminded me: this isn’t just work, it’s calling.

We don’t get to choose the storms, but we do get to choose how we respond.

You may be weathered.

You may feel broken.

But you’re still rooted.

And your strengths are still alive within you.

If you're in a season like that, I want you to know that healing and new growth are possible.

It would be an honor to walk alongside you in the journey.