Single motherhood is hard. It’s a circumstance (not an identity) that can be depressing, agonizing, and down right painful.

For me it was one of the hardest pills to swallow because I never saw myself this way when I was growing up. I was the good little church girl who would never become a single mom.

But it happened any way. Sometimes life throws you curve balls. You either catch it or get knocked out. It took a while for me to accept the curve ball and finally admit that this was my experience.

Before the acceptance I had much resistance, anxiety, and shame. I held my head down and felt sorry for myself.

My life was a mess because of my choices. It was hard to get over the feeling of failure.

But a series of new decisions got me to the point of resolve and resolution to start my life over (with kids in tow) and do what I needed to do to get over myself.

After a few successes like graduating with honors, getting a super cool job with NASA, and buying a house I felt redeemed.

But then I had a few more failures like bad marriages, bankruptcy, and unemployment. I felt like I would break but I decided it wasn’t a good time to give up on life.

I allowed myself to heal, move to another city, and start over…again.

I’m telling you all this because I believe in second (and third) chances. I believe healing is possible and sometimes you have to tell your story to get the healing.

For me it was writing a book because I’m a writer. For you it may be writing a book too (I can help you with that) or it may be creating a film, writing poetry, writing a song, or any number of things.

The point is, you can heal through creative ways.

You just have to decide you are ready to begin.

Samantha Gregory

Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.

Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.

She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.