Here are seven steps to help you let go of what is finished and embrace your new beginning:

1) Acknowledge the loss - Feel the feelings - Express your emotions - Shock, Panic, Denial, Suspicion, Anger, Resentment, Fear, Sadness, Grief, Uncertainty, Confusion, Overwhelm (Support groups are helpful to process emotions.)

2) Surrender the fight to resist change. Let go of the past - It is gone. Refuse to become a victim. Make the decision to survive and then commit to thrive.

3) Turn and face the unknowns that your future holds - one day at a time. Stay focused in the present. Concentrate on how to make it through one day. When you have mastered one day, plan how to get through one week. When you have mastered that, expand your planning to include two weeks, then three, then a month, and so on.

4) Strip away your negative beliefs. "Things aren't as they first appear." Your life plans may have been destroyed, but your life does not end because of the changes that were forced on you. Don't buy the lie that you don't have any choices. Consider your future to be filled with possibility. Believe your life has a purpose. Believe in miracles.

5) Step out from behind your mask of limitations. "Things don't always go as planned." ASK for help and accept it with thanks and appreciation. Develop systems and strategies to compensate for deficits. Continually seek new information and new ideas. Learn to use playful curiosity to experiment with life and learn from experience. Take risks.

6) Develop flexibility and resiliency. Practice the "Serendipity Advantage" - Look for the good and quickly turn a disruptive event or adversity into a desirable development. Create a survival kit full of "Secret Weapons" for replenishment from life's ups and downs. Call on your sense of humor to cushion you from the blows life delivers and to help you regain a positive perspective.

7) Discover the treasures in your trials. Open yourself up to new experiences. Discover your new identity, and embrace your new self. Develop your intuition. Look for the lesson - your adversity will provide opportunity for maturity, insight and wisdom. You will gain a deep understanding which comes only from experience and your life will take on new meaning.

Adjusting to a major life change takes time. Believe that God has a purpose and a plan for the rest of your life. Never give up or lose hope. When you least expect...Wonderful things still happen!