The Power of Storytelling: How Sharing Your Story Can Change Lives

If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that I have told my story a time or two (or more!)

If you are new here, allow me to reintroduce myself and share a bit about my journey these last 20 years.

-I got married at the age of 23 to a man I fully believed was the love of my life and that we were going to be together forever.

-Together, he and I had two children.

-While married, he and I served in the local church. He was a college/young adult pastor for a mid size church in Southern California.

-I stayed at home to raise our children. I also started a network marketing business in health and fitness in order to make additional income for our family (which worked by the way).

-In 2017, he had a change of heart in his career path and decided he wanted to go into law enforcement. While I had some reservations and a ton of questions, I did support him.

-I went back to work full time at a small family law firm in February 2018.

-The kids and I moved out of the home we were renting, changed the kids schools and moved in with my sister and her husband. He stayed behind, assuring me that he would take care of organizing and packing and storing our belongings as it was near the end of our lease.

-Instead, we got evicted (that is a whole other story in and of itself).

-After several months of back and forth (and catching him being dishonest and unfaithful), he was kicked out of my sister's home and I began my journey as a single mom and filed for divorce.

I had to start all over. Rebuild my life on $13/hr and take care of my kids who were 14 and 10 at the time. I had not financial support from my ex until our judgment was finalized. I scrounged and I prayed and I cried.

It was the most humbling and hardest and painful time of my life.

Thank God things didn't end there. During that season, I encountered so many women who were walking very similar roads. No one gets married believing they will get divorced. Unfortunately, life has a way of kicking you in the ass and you find yourself on the hard ground wondering what the heck happened to the original dreams you had.

I decided to use that time to write, a lot. I documented my journey. I shared how difficult everything was. I shared the good, the bad and the ugly. I made sure to share more good than bad, because I really did believe with all of my heart that things would get better even though it looked really bleak in the moment.

I had countless women sharing with me their own stories. They also shared with me how they were working to overcome and heal from the heartbreak, the trauma, the uncertainty and move forward in their lives. When I saw the outcomes from their time in the trenches, and they were glowing and winning and healthier than ever, we celebrated. Lives were transformed and better than before.

All because stories were shared. We realized that we weren't as alone as we thought we were. There was a whole community of women who were fighting for their very lives and they just needed to be seen. Every single one of us needed to know that someone saw us and was rooting for us.

That is what sharing your story can do.

You don't have to go through a divorce or a tragic loss in order to have an impact. My guess is you have something that you went through or experienced or learned that you know you could share with your people. They are waiting in the wings. They have questions and concerns and fears and perhaps they feel alone.

You get to show them that they aren't alone.

Vulnerability is not easy. It can be downright terrifying. The other reality is that people will have plenty of opinons of what you should share. You can't let them control that. You get to decide what parts of your story you are willing to share in order to serve and help those who are needing the guidance. Those who really matter will stick around. I promise. It will take time. You will have to be brave. You will have to stop overthinking it all. You will just have to do it.

Bet on yourself. Do it scared.

Rooting you on.

Your Dream BuildHer Bestie,

Tiffany Rhea