Resetting, Embracing Your Season, and Walking in Grace

Silencing the inner critic and replacing shame with the language of grace.

There are times in life when everything feels like it’s moving at lightning speed. The emails never stop, the bills keep coming, the children need you, and your heart is carrying more than you ever thought it could. Then there are other times, quiet, uncertain seasons, when nothing seems to move at all. The plans you made fall through, the prayers you prayed feel unanswered, and you find yourself sitting in the in-between.

I’ve been there. And I know what it is to want to push, force, and rush myself out of the discomfort of the unknown. But what I’ve learned, and what I want to share with you, is this: there is power in the pause.

The Weight of Uncertainty

When life takes us through uncertain seasons—layoffs, health challenges, heartbreak, or simply transitions we didn’t expect—we often respond in one of two ways: we either hustle harder, trying to outrun the pain, or we shut down completely, drowning in fear.

But neither response gives us the healing we truly need. Hustle without clarity leaves us exhausted. Hiding without hope leaves us paralyzed.

The truth is, uncertainty is not punishment. It is a holy invitation. It is the universe, God, or life itself saying: Be still. Listen. Reset.

I remember a season after a painful breakup when I could barely recognize myself. I thought if I just worked harder, filled every hour with tasks, and distracted myself enough, I could skip the grief. But the grief followed me into every room. It showed up in the middle of the night and in the middle of meetings. It wasn’t until I paused, truly paused, that I started to hear the gentle whisper: You are not broken. You are becoming.

The Grace to Reset

Resetting doesn’t always look like a grand gesture. Sometimes it looks like getting out of bed and brushing your teeth when depression wants to keep you under the covers. Sometimes it looks like walking around the block when your mind is swirling. Sometimes it looks like deleting the social media app that makes you compare your valley to someone else’s highlight reel.

The grace to reset is not about doing everything. It’s about doing the next small thing.

I’ve counseled women who thought their reset had to be dramatic, a brand-new job, a move across the country, or a radical diet overhaul. But more often than not, the most powerful reset comes in small acts of self-compassion. Choosing to drink water instead of another soda. Choosing to journal instead of scrolling. Choosing to call a friend instead of isolating.

Every small step is a seed. And every seed carries the possibility of new life.

Embracing the Season You’re In

One of the hardest truths to accept is this: you cannot rush a season. Just as winter must give way to spring in its own time, your life will bloom again but not by force.

I’ve had seasons where I tried to drag summer into winter. I wanted harvest without planting. I wanted joy without mourning. And all it did was leave me frustrated.

But when I learned to embrace the season I was in, to stop fighting it and start learning from it, everything shifted.

If you are in a season of waiting, embrace the waiting. There are lessons there. If you are in a season of pruning, embrace the pruning. Something better is making room to grow. If you are in a season of abundance, embrace the abundance with humility and gratitude.

Every season has wisdom. Every season has worth.

The Challenge of Slowing Down

Let me be honest, pausing is not easy. We live in a world that worships productivity and shames stillness. If you’re not hustling, people assume you’re lazy. If you’re not busy, people assume you’re falling behind.

But hear me clearly, busyness is not the same as purpose. And stillness is not the same as stagnation.

When I first started honoring my pauses, I felt guilty. I thought, I should be doing more. I should be further along. But slowly, I realized that the pause was not robbing me of progress. It was preparing me for it.

The hardest part is silencing the inner critic. That voice that says you’re wasting time, that you’re behind, that you’re failing. To quiet that voice, you must learn to speak a new language, the language of grace.

Let Grace Be Your Fuel

I think of the times I’ve planted flowers. For weeks, nothing happens. The soil looks the same. But beneath the surface, life is stirring. Roots are forming. The unseen work is preparing for the seen beauty. That is grace. And that is what your pause is doing for you.

Grace says: you are allowed to be human.

Grace says: every step, no matter how small, is progress.

Grace says: even in your pause, you are growing.

See Preparation in Every Season

Years ago, one of my good girlfriends who had just lost her job was terrified, ashamed, and convinced her life was falling apart. “I don’t even know where to begin,” she told me through tears. I said, “Begin with one thing.”

Her first small step was updating her résumé. Then, it was sending out one application. Then, it was going for one walk each morning to clear her mind. Those small steps became momentum. Within six months, she had a new job that paid her more than the one she lost.

But the real transformation wasn’t in the job, it was in her spirit. She learned that she could face uncertainty with courage. She learned that her worth wasn’t tied to her title. And she learned that pausing, resetting, and giving herself grace were not signs of weakness but of strength.

Solid Wisdom for Uncertain Seasons

Here’s what I know to be true:

1. You cannot heal what you refuse to face. Let the pause bring you clarity. Sit with your feelings instead of numbing them.

2. Small steps create big shifts. Don’t despise the days of small beginnings. Every little act of courage compounds.

3. Comparison steals peace. Your season is yours. Someone else’s spring does not make your winter meaningless.

4. Grace is fuel. You don’t need shame to motivate you—you need compassion to sustain you.

5. Every season is preparation. Even when it looks barren, something inside you is being strengthened for what’s ahead.

Face What You Feel

If you take nothing else from these words, take this, the pause is not the end of your story. It is the intermission that prepares you for the next act.

You don’t need to have it all figured out today. You don’t need to leap tall buildings or move mountains in a single bound. You simply need to pause, breathe, and take the next step with grace.

The season you’re in is not wasted. The pause you’re in is not wasted. You are being refined, renewed, and reset for something greater than you can imagine.

So give yourself permission to rest. Give yourself the courage to reset. And most of all, give yourself grace for every step, no matter how small.

Because even in uncertain times, even in seasons of waiting, you are still becoming. And that, beloved, is a reason to hope.