Free Resource for Moms Feeling overwhelmed and like you’ve lost yourself in the chaos of motherhood? You’re not alone. And you don’t have to keep feeling this way. I created this FREE guide for you: 🎁 The Overwhelmed Mom’s Guide: 10 Small Changes to Start Feeling Like You Again Simple, realistic shifts you can start making today without adding more to your plate. 👉 Click here to download it now Episode 44: Navigating Change with Grit & Gratitude with Laura Bratton Change can feel terrifying especially when it arrives without warning. For many women, unexpected loss, health challenges, or major life transitions don’t just disrupt daily routines; they shake identity, belonging, and the future we thought we were building. In this episode of Let’s Get Real, I sit down with Laura Bratton, author of Harnessing Courage and founder of UB Global, for a deeply honest conversation about grief, fear, faith, and what it really looks like to move forward when life no longer looks the way you imagined. Laura shares her personal story of losing her sight as a teenager and the years of denial, depression, anxiety, and grief that followed. Instead of a polished “everything worked out” narrative, this conversation stays rooted in the real middle: the fear, the doubt, and the slow, day-by-day work of healing. When Change Hits Before You’re Ready Laura was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition as a child, but it wasn’t until her teenage years that vision loss began to impact every part of her life. At first, denial took over, believing it wouldn’t be permanent, that life would somehow return to normal after graduation. When reality finally settled in, it brought an overwhelming wave of grief and fear. As a teenager navigating identity, friendships, and belonging, Laura described being caught between the sadness of what she had already lost and the anxiety of an unknown future. One question kept surfacing: “Do I still belong?” The Quiet Truth About Grief and Depression One of the most powerful moments in this episode was Laura’s honesty about her internal dialogue during those years. Rather than anger or “why me,” her dominant thought was simple and heavy: “I can’t. This is too hard.” That sentence became her nightly prayer and her first thought each morning. This part of the conversation matters deeply to me, because so many women feel isolated in their grief, believing something is wrong with them for struggling. Laura named what often goes unspoken: depression, anxiety, and fear are not signs of weakness or failure. They are normal human responses to loss. When those realities aren’t talked about, people stay stuck believing they’re alone. Why Support Systems Matter More Than We Realize Healing didn’t happen overnight and it didn’t happen in isolation. Laura shared how her parents became a steady anchor during those years. Instead of asking her to imagine an entire future, they helped her narrow the focus: Eat breakfastGet to schoolMake it through one classThat was enough. Over time, “day by day” became “hour by hour,” and slowly, life became more manageable. There was no dramatic breakthrough—just repetition, patience, and people willing to stay. Sometimes, healing looks like someone else holding hope for you until you can hold it yourself. If this conversation resonated with you, I encourage you to share it with another woman who might need it. You are not alone in this. Connect with Laura Bratton You can learn more about Laura’s work, her book Harnessing Courage, and her coaching and speaking at LauraBratton.com. Her work is a powerful reminder that grief, fear, faith, and
