When You Don’t Feel Like Yourself Anymore | Finding Your Way Back Gently

Sometimes life changes in ways we didn’t expect, and somewhere along the way, we stop feeling like ourselves.

In this episode of At the Counter with the Baking Pastor, Laura reflects on the quiet disconnection that can come after seasons of stress, loss, or transition—and offers a gentle invitation to reconnect with who you are becoming. 

Show Notes

Episode Summary

There are seasons where life narrows—where the focus becomes simply getting through the day. And when things begin to open again, we may realize we don’t quite feel like ourselves anymore.

In this episode, we sit with that experience and explore what it means to gently find your way back. 

Soul Care Questions

• Where do you feel a little disconnected from yourself right now?
• What part of you might be asking to be noticed again?
• What small moment of noticing could help you reconnect today?

Scripture / Reflection

“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

Next Steps

Listen gently. Reflect slowly. Carry what stayed with you into the day ahead.

If this conversation feels like something you’d like to keep sitting with, Laura’s book At the Counter and the companion Soul Pause Journal offer space for deeper reflection at your own pace.

And if you ever find yourself wanting company in that process, you’re welcome to explore Laura’s coaching work at https://daretoliveagain.com whenever it feels right.

From the Counter

If this episode resonated with you, you may find a similar kind of space in Laura’s book:

At the Counter: Spiritual Recipes for Faith in Everyday Life 👉https://amzn.to/4c4RSIv

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to At the Counter with the Baking Pastor. I'm Laura. Pull up a chair. There's no rush here. This season we're sitting with the hard days. The ones that don't resolve quickly, the ones that change us in ways we we didn't ask for. Here at the counter, nothing needs to be fixed. You don't have to have the right words. You don't have to have it all figured out. You can just come as you are and stay a while. This is hard days at the counter.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Today the counter feels a little quieter, not empty, just different.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

And wherever you are right now, whether you're driving, folding laundry, chasing kiddos, or sitting with a cup of coffee, just take a moment and notice. You know, those days when you walk into a room and everything is the same, but something inside you feels off. The same routines are there, the same responsibilities, the same rhythms, but you don't quite feel like yourself in them anymore. And sometimes that feeling is hard to explain because nothing dramatic has happened. Nothing you can point to and say, that's the moment everything changed. And yet, something has shifted. So today's question is a gentle one. When you don't feel like yourself anymore, what do you do with that? There are seasons in life when we feel grounded and familiar to ourselves. We know what we enjoy. We know how we show up. We recognize our own voice. And then there are other seasons when something feels disconnected. Maybe life has changed, a loss, a diagnosis, a transition, a relationship that has shifted. Or maybe it's more gradual than that. You've been carrying things, showing up, doing what needs to be done, and somewhere along the way you stopped checking in with yourself. Not because you didn't care, but because there wasn't space. I remember a season in my life when everything became very small. Not simple, just small. At that time I was going through cancer treatments, and I didn't even have the energy I used to have. Even the most basic things felt like they took everything I had. I had a chocolate lab named Kalua then, and there were days when I was so tired I couldn't even stand up long enough outside with him while he went potty. So I'd open the door, let him out, and go lay on the couch. And I would just listen, waiting to hear his paws come back up the ramp to the porch. So I could get up, open the door again, and let him back in before going back to bed to rest. That was the rhythm of my day, not the life I had known before, not the version of myself I recognized. Just doing the next small thing. And in that season, I wasn't asking big questions about identity. I was just trying to make it through. But later, when life began to widen again, that's when the questions came. Who am I now? Because the version of me that had lived before that season didn't quite fit anymore. And maybe you've had a season like that too. Not the same story, but the same feeling of life narrowing. And when things begin to open up again, you realize something has shifted. Not just around you, but within you. And that's when the question begins to surface. Who am I now? Because the truth is you haven't disappeared, even if it feels that way sometimes. You've been shaped by what you've walked through, by what you've carried, and by what you've had to learn just to get through the day. And sometimes it takes time to become reacquainted with the person you are now. Let's pause at the counter for a moment.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

Take a slow breath in and let it out.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

You don't have to figure anything out right now, but just notice this. Where do you feel a little disconnected from yourself right now?

SPEAKER_00 6:00

No judgment, no fixing. Just noticing.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Feeling disconnected from yourself doesn't mean something is wrong. It often means something has changed. And change, even meaningful change, necessary change, can take time to settle into. Think about when you bake and how the dough changes as it rests and rises. It doesn't look the same as when it started. But that doesn't mean it's lost. It means it's becoming even if you don't recognize what it's becoming. Before you move on, just set for a moment. What part of you might be asking to be noticed again?

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Again, not fixed, not rushed, just notice.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

And that reconnection rarely happens all at once. Sometimes the way back to ourselves is not through big decisions or dramatic change. Sometimes it's through small moments of noticing, a preference, a feeling, a quiet yes or no. And over time, those small moments begin to reconnect us to who we are becoming. Before we close, take one more breath with me. As you inhale, say God of presence. And as you exhale, I am here. If the conversation feels like something you'd like to keep sitting with, you may find a similar kind of space in my book at the counter and the companion soul pause journal. They were created for these same quiet moments of reflection in everyday life. My friend, hear this blessing. As you return to your day, may you be gentle with yourself in this season of change. May you trust that even when you don't feel like yourself, you are not lost, just becoming. No need to rush past it. And if you need a place to pause, reflect, or simply breathe, you can find more at daretoliveagain.com. Until next time, take a breath, notice what's in front of you, and remember, you're always welcome here at the counter.