strength Archives - Mandy Hale - Just a single girl with a story to tell

Days Twelve & Thirteen: Rock Bottom…& Rising From It

November 26, 2018CommentMandy Hale

Day 12: In Chapter Nine of You Are Enough, I hit “rock bottom.” Talk about your own rock bottom moment, and how you found the strength and the courage to rise.
Day 13: In Chapter Ten, I talk about how sometimes survival is about whatever gets you through the day. Share what has “gotten you through the day” or held you together during tough times: faith, family, friends, alcohol, food, TV shows…whatever your glue is, don’t be afraid … » Read More

Days Six & Seven: Loving & Losing

November 9, 2018CommentMandy Hale

I’ve been so busy this past week, I’ve fallen a bit behind on the challenge, so I’m combining Days Six and Seven 🙂
Day 6: In Chapter Four of You Are Enough, I share my journey of “Looking for Love,” and how a dating app helped shake up my romantic life. Share your thoughts about online dating or an experience you had while doing online dating that made an impact on your life.
Day 7: In Chapter Five, I … » Read More

It Should Kill You, But It Doesn’t.

January 18, 2016180 CommentsMandy Hale

The following is an excerpt from my new book Beautiful Uncertainty.

It should kill you, being told you’re not loved.

It should kill you but it doesn’t.

It feels like it’s going to.

In the silence, after words like that drop their weight onto your heart…all you can do is struggle to draw a breath and pray that life will somehow magically rewind to the moment before the person you loved and trusted most in the world said them … » Read More

2015 Was a Hard Year

November 30, 2015104 CommentsMandy Hale

It’s been a hard year.

2015 has been a hard year.

I’ve hesitated to write about it in-depth up til this point because I don’t think I was ready to see it all in words, on a piece of paper. I didn’t want to seem negative or whiny or discouraging. I didn’t want to be that vulnerable. 2015 was the year I became less vulnerable, and I hate it. I’m more guarded now…less open, less trusting. And … » Read More

Dash of Sass: Be Who You Really Are

April 30, 20159 CommentsMandy Hale

Today I hereby give you permission to feel exactly how you are feeling without apologizing or stifling or excusing or resisting. I give you permission to drop the politeness and the masks and the sugar-coating and just be REAL. To stop wasting time justifying and rationalizing and analyzing and just say what you mean and mean what you say. To accept yourself in all your brave, broken beauty and to stop trying to pick up … » Read More

Dash of Sass: Changes & Transitions

April 9, 201530 CommentsMandy Hale

I found this quote of mine on another quote page and wanted to share it with you guys today because I feel strongly that this is a season of transition, not just for me but for lots of people. Someone told me yesterday: “I get excited when I see people who are broken because I know the size of the breakthrough that’s coming” and that really inspired me. I don’t know what you’re going through … » Read More

I Told You I Was Strong & Independent. I Lied.

October 27, 201472 CommentsMandy Hale

It hit me yesterday that I talk regularly about how strong and independent I am as a single (and fabulous) woman…

…and yet, it’s all a big, gigantic LIE.

The message in church yesterday was about singleness and how our contentment can only be found in God, not in the safety of marriage or the independence of single life (Thank you, Pastor Trevor Atwood, for BRINGING IT). And as I sat there and listened and let the … » Read More

Dash of Sass: Finding Out Who You Are

August 21, 201416 CommentsMandy Hale

We tend to long for certainty and comfort and ease and structure…but the truth is, it’s in the midst of the uncertain and dark and unclear and broken times that we learn who we really are and what we’re capable of. So if today you’re going through it, know that it’s because you’re being prepared to come out someone entirely different on the other side. No pressure, no diamonds. No pain, no pearl. No cocoon, … » Read More

The Single Woman’s Dash of Sass: August 25, 2011

August 24, 2011CommentMandy Hale

Quote of the Day: “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” ~Unknown The Single Woman Says: Struggle transforms a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly. From struggle, an ordinary lump of coal becomes a flawless diamond. And struggle allows the oyster to transform his biggest trial into one of … » Read More