Do You Believe in Fate or Do We Carve Out Our Own Path in Life?

The change of season brings the sense of leaving something behind and moving toward something new.

Whether you believe in fate, serendipity, or the idea that we each carve out our own path—one truth remains: every step forward is an investment in ourselves.

September always feels like a threshold. With the changing season comes the sense of leaving something behind and moving toward something new. Like the shift between summer and autumn (or winter and spring), every choice we make signals—to others and to ourselves—that something inside us has changed.

That first step matters. It tells us we can. It places us in the path of opportunities and encouragement that help us keep going—one step at a time.

Sometimes, moving forward requires leaving something—or someone—behind. If you’re a reader, you already know this. Stories show us how courage is needed to face the past, how hope makes second chances possible, and how transformation rarely comes without struggle. Characters remind us that we’re not alone in our fears, our wounds, or even in being misunderstood as we change.

And sometimes, it isn’t just about effort. Something fateful—or serendipitous—appears on our path. A meeting, a moment, a word we didn’t expect. It asks us to trust, to step forward, and to have faith.

For me, it was realizing that the planets had aligned, so to speak. I was a stay-at-home mom with a son who no longer needed me quite as much, giving me the headspace to take on the challenge of a women’s fiction series with multiple points of view, layered emotional threads, and cathartic storylines. At the same time, I met someone local who had already walked the path I wanted to follow.

I began by writing from the heart—one word, one edit at a time. Then, as I kept taking steps forward, serendipity arrived. A childhood friend offered to ARC read. An author friend offered to promote my book. Readers began telling me my story had moved them and even helped them understand complex situations in their own lives.

Was that fate? Serendipity? Or carving out my own path? I think it was a little of everything. By walking the road alone at first, I discovered my voice, my stories, and my place in the book world—so that others could join me along the way.

And the same is true for my character, Callie. Was it serendipity that she was sent to Colorado and crossed paths with Dave Woods a second time? Or that her teenage son discovered the hidden letters that forced her to confront her past? Perhaps it wasn’t fate at all, but her choice that morning to move the letters, unknowingly placing them within his reach. Or maybe it was Dave, inspiring Olive to think about partnering with pharmaceutical companies, that ultimately drew Callie back to Jackson’s Bridge.

From Callie’s perspective, it all seemed to come out of the blue—fateful, unplanned, and out of her control. Yet each moment positioned her exactly where she needed to be and with the people she needed most, in order to finally let go of the past and move toward the life she once dreamt of.

Many say one moment can change us forever, but why wait for chance? Taking that first step puts you on the road you want to travel, to the person and place you want to be some day.

So take yours. Toward the person you want to be. Toward the life you dream of living. And when those fate-filled, serendipitous events occur that accelerate you toward your goals—take them and feel gratitude that you have been readying yourself for them all along.

And if you’re ready to see how stories can illuminate that path, my novel Letting Go is a good place to begin. It’s a women’s fiction story about family, resilience, and the courage to start over—layered with emotion and the serendipity of second chances.

Join my newsletter today and start reading the first few chapters of Letting Go for free. Maybe, just maybe, it will be the perfectly timed nudge you need to take your own next step.