Sometimes Life wipes your slate clean... without warning, without permission. Suddenly you find that you’ve lost "everything." Whether it came from some natural disaster, carelessness or bad choices on your part, what matters now is it’s just you.

How do you get back from scratch?

Count your blessings
Look for the good things that you DO have. There’s actually a lot more "good" than you realize. Either you’ve ignored it in the past or never realized how valuable some things truly were. Re-evaluate everything and see it in a better light.

Get back to basics
You actually only NEED a few things to live – air to breath, food and water to nourish your body, protection from harm, such as clothing and shelter. Make sure you get those first, before all else.

Search for salvage
Typically all you see is the "loss" after something happens, but somewhere in the ashes lies the Phoenix; in there lies your Hope.

Seek help
We actually choose to feel "alone" ... even when we don’t think so. Maybe we’re too full of pride, or we think it’s more dangerous to go outside of what we know; or maybe we just don’t know there’s help out there. Now is the time to actively seek it. Help is closer than you think.

Let go
To move ahead healthfully, you must let the lost stuff go. Dwelling on the past traps you there. It fills up your mind with negative thoughts and leaves no room for future possibilities. Acceptance of your loss is the first step to getting something new.

Build again
One brick at a time. Be patient; be persistent; be unwavering... but lay that first brick and just keep going.

Make it better
You’ve actually been handed a gift and don’t know it. The "bad" is as gone as the "good" and it doesn’t have to come back if you don’t want it to. You have a chance to make it better for yourself. Put goodness into everything new. Take control and make it happen.