Leveraging Loss and Turning Endings Into Evolution

Written by Aviry Reich, PhD, Wellness & Performance Consultant

Aviry Reich is a counselor and consultant with an MS and PhD in Counseling & Counselor Education. She is the founder of Courage at Every Crossroad, where she empowers individuals and organizations to navigate life's pivotal moments with confidence, guiding them toward success, fulfillment, and alignment.

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You’ve lost something. Maybe recently, maybe quietly, maybe so gradually you didn’t notice until everything felt different. Not just grief in the traditional sense, but the loss of who you were, what you believed in, what you planned for. And now you’re standing at a crossroads, not sure who you are or what comes next. This is the space between. And while it may not feel like it yet, this space holds power. Because loss, when we learn to listen to it, becomes leverage.

Loss goes far beyond death or heartbreak. Loss is life’s most honest teacher, showing up in quiet transitions, identity shifts, ruptured dreams, and existential reckonings.

You lose the career that once defined you.

You outgrow a version of yourself you thought would last forever.

You leave a city, a marriage, or a worldview.

You realize time won’t wait for your someday.

You lose control, certainty, direction, and sometimes, your sense of meaning.

These are the kinds of losses no one prepares us for. They’re not always visible. They don’t come with sympathy cards. But they’re real and they ask everything of us.

Here’s the paradox: what we call loss is often life’s invitation to evolve. It’s not just something to get over; it’s something to leverage.

3 ways to turn existential loss into a powerful turning point

1. Let the illusion fall: Accept what’s gone and what was never yours to keep

Loss, in its purest form, reveals the illusion of permanence. It strips away the false sense of control and exposes how much of life is borrowed, brief, and beyond us.

This can feel terrifying, or it can feel liberating.

When we stop resisting what’s leaving, we create space for what’s becoming.

Instead of asking, “How do I get back to who I was?” ask, “What was I holding onto that was never truly mine?”

Write it out. Let it go. Make space. Whether it’s an identity, expectation, role, or version of success, when we release the illusion, we begin to root into truth.

2. Reclaim meaning on your terms

Existential loss often comes when old sources of meaning no longer hold. A role ends. A belief cracks. A purpose fades.

But meaning is not a static object; it’s a living, breathing process. We don’t find it; we make it. We shape it with every conscious choice.

Choose one area where life feels hollow or uncertain. Ask yourself, “What does this mean to me now, and what could it mean if I brought my full self to it?”

This might lead to a new passion, a mission, or a simpler shift in perspective. Reclaiming meaning is how we move from disorientation to authorship.

3. Create from the void

In the space that loss leaves behind, there is vast creative potential. The void is not empty, it’s unformed. You get to decide what grows there.

Loss makes us more available to what’s real. More present to our values. More attuned to what matters now.

Choose one small thing to create not out of who you were, but from who you’re becoming.

Start the blog. Redesign your schedule. Launch the website. Make the art. Speak the truth. The creative act is a declaration that you are not finished. That the loss did not end you, it expanded you.

Final thoughts: Loss as a portal

What if loss wasn’t just something you survived, but something that shaped your soul’s curriculum?

What if every time you lost something you thought you needed, you found a deeper version of yourself?

Leveraging your loss means saying yes to the unknown. It means standing at the crossroads, not with fear, but with fierce curiosity.

You are allowed to mourn the life you thought you’d have.

You are also allowed to build something even more aligned in its place.

So if you’re standing in the space between what was and what’s next, take heart.

You haven’t lost your way. You’re standing at the threshold of a new one.

Let it reveal you. Let it renew you. Let it lead you home.

For more info, follow Aviry Reich on Instagram and LinkedIn, and visit her website!

Read more from Aviry Reich, PhD

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Aviry Reich, PhD, Wellness & Performance Consultant

Aviry Reich is an entrepreneur, thought leader, and hope specialist who believes in the transformative power of turning fear into courage to cultivate a meaningful, connected, and abundant life. Her business, Courage at Every Crossroad, draws from her personal journey of embracing and overcoming both personal and professional challenges with bravery and authenticity. Aviry is passionate about empowering individuals by offering the internal and external resources needed to navigate pivotal transitions, big or small, and step into the best version of themselves with courage and confidence.