Rising Above Life's Challenges: Finding Strength When Plans Are Derailed
Hi everyone,
I want to share a recent chapter from my own life and what I’ve learned about navigating life's unexpected storms.
Life's challenges are unavoidable. While most daily obstacles can be managed with our usual coping mechanisms, occasionally we face events that overwhelm even our best resilience. These profound disruptions don't arrive with warning or permission—yet they need not devastate our lives forever.
When Plans and Reality Collide
Last year, my colleague Melissa and I embarked on an exciting new venture. After years of working together and coaching authors, creatives, and business owners, we decided to launch The Austen Pathway—a comprehensive program to help authors and creative individuals become savvy business owners.
The timing felt perfect. With more than a decade of experience with the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation, my background as CEO of a large marketing agency, and years running my coaching business had all converged toward this new chapter. We crafted a meticulous timeline: three months to build our offer, three months to refine it, followed by a targeted marketing strategy.
Two months into our journey, life intervened. My husband Roger was diagnosed with tongue cancer.
When the Unimaginable Arrives
Initially, I approached this news pragmatically. I informed Melissa immediately but believed I could maintain some momentum throughout Roger's treatment. As we learned more about his diagnosis and treatment plan—including daily radiotherapy and weekly chemotherapy across seven grueling weeks—reality came into sharper focus.
The good news was his prognosis: with proper treatment, Roger had excellent survival prospects. The challenging reality was that we faced three intense months that would require all my attention, energy, and presence.
I'm not going to delve into the finer details of the treatment and its impacts, as that is Roger's personal story to share, but it was an unimaginably difficult journey that surpassed anything I had expected.
As the gravity of our situation became clearer, I noticed my usual capacities beginning to slip away. Strategic thinking, concentration, creativity—the very skills essential to building our business—became increasingly difficult to access.
Accepting the Present While Protecting the Future
Facing this profoundly challenging circumstance, I made a pivotal decision: We had a very difficult chapter ahead, there was no other option, but I would not allow it to define our future. Like a phoenix rising from ashes, we would emerge renewed.
As I felt my normal functioning diminishing, I established a framework before it was too late:
1. Adjusting Professional Commitments
Paused The Austen Pathway launch, rescheduling for January
Delegated Jane Austen Literacy Foundation events and operations to my volunteer team
Cancelled speaking engagements and appearances
Postpone plans to finish and publish a follow up to my memoir Jane & Me: My Austen Heritage
Indefinitely postponed plans for a U.S. speaking tour in 2025 (planned to celebrate Jane Austen’s 250th birthday year)
2. Creating a Support Network
Reached out to my fitness group for advice and support
Arranged weekly coffee with a local friend—my sole respite
Established an open line with my mother in the UK for emotional support
Identified a neighbor for emergency assistance
Reconnected with my former counselor for weekly sessions
3. Practical Preparations
Organized financial and legal affairs
Prepared our home environment for Roger's recovery
Cleared our calendar of all commitments
Researched and acquired necessary medical supplies
Committed to daily journaling to process my thoughts and feelings
The Other Side of Difficulty
Recovery doesn't happen instantaneously. Roger’s treatment finished six months ago, and my cognitive functions took a couple of months to fully return. During this period, I prioritized fundamental well-being: exercise, adequate sleep, daily communion with nature, and the patience to take each day as it came.
The daily journal I maintained throughout those three difficult months proved invaluable—a cathartic practice that helped me process my thoughts and feelings in real-time, ultimately easing my transition forward when the crisis passed.
The experience was undeniably challenging—perhaps the most difficult chapter of our lives—but the outcome made it worthwhile. Roger was declared cancer-free before Christmas.
Finding Renewed Purpose
Looking back across my life, I recognize that defining moments often emerge from the greatest challenges. These periods force us to recalibrate, to discern what truly matters.
While I would never have chosen this path, the experience has crystallized my purpose with greater clarity. My experience as a CEO taught me a lot about how to build and market businesses. After dedicating the last decade to building the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation and my coaching practice, I move forward with renewed determination to share this hard-won wisdom with authors and creatives seeking to build sustainable, flourishing businesses.
In Jane Austen's immortal words:
"There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me."
Life's profound challenges will arrive uninvited. With intentional preparation, support, and the courage to protect our future vision even in difficult present circumstances, we can emerge not merely surviving, but with deeper purpose and clearer direction.
For all of you facing your own difficult challenges, whatever form they may take, my thoughts are with you—may you find the strength, support, and resilience to navigate this season and emerge with renewed purpose.
Caroline Jane Knight
The Austen Pathway is a unique space where literary heritage meets modern business skills. Work with Caroline Jane Knight (Austen descendant and international businesswoman) and Melissa Makarewicz (The Literary Assistant) to:
Build a solid foundation with our signature 6 Steps to a Sustainable Creative Business
Drive your sales with our Storytelling Framework
Turn social media platform shifts into your competitive advantage with our Social Media Trend Report and workshops
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