What happens when the life you thought you were building suddenly changes?In this special re-release of the very first episode of Bent Not Broken, I’m revisiting my conversation with Dr. JC Doornick—a friend, mentor, entrepreneur, health transformation coach, and founder of Make Sense Academy.This episode has always held a special place in my heart because JC took a chance on me when Bent Not Broken was just beginning. He gave me his time, encouragement, wisdom, and support when I was still finding my voice as a podcast host.Today, this conversation has an even deeper meaning.JC is currently facing stage 4 renal cancer, a heartbreaking reminder that life can change in an instant. We make plans, build careers, raise families, and assume there will always be more time. Sometimes life has other plans.I’m sharing this episode again to honor JC, thank him for the role he played in helping me launch this podcast, and give listeners another opportunity to hear a conversation filled with lessons that remain just as relevant today.Rebuilding Your Life After DivorceIn our conversation, JC opens up about his own divorce and the beliefs about marriage he carried from childhood after watching his parents' marriage end.He shares how his determination to never get divorced influenced the person he chose to marry—and how he eventually realized that choosing what felt safe wasn't necessarily the same as choosing the person who was right for him.We talk candidly about growing apart, recognizing when a marriage is no longer working, and the guilt that can come with being the person who ultimately decides the marriage needs to end.For JC, that guilt followed him well beyond the divorce. He describes spending years trying to take care of everyone else while forgetting to take care of himself.Putting Your Children FirstJC also shares an important perspective on co-parenting after divorce.Having experienced his own parents' divorce as a child, he was determined to do things differently with his two sons. That meant keeping communication open, refusing to badmouth their mother, and continually reminding his children that they were loved.Even in what he describes as a relatively amicable divorce, there were still challenges involving resentment, finances, loneliness, and rebuilding a new life.His message is an important one: divorce can be difficult even under the best circumstances, but parents still have choices about how they communicate and how they protect their children from unnecessary conflict.From Guilt and Loneliness to Rebuilding YourselfOne of the most powerful parts of our conversation is JC's honesty about what happened after the divorce.He struggled with guilt, anxiety, loneliness, poor sleep, dating, and feeling as though he had failed. Eventually, he realized he needed to stop trying to control everything

When Life Changes in an Instant: Dr. JC Doornick on Divorce, Identity & Starting Over

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