When Life Slams You: My Journey From Frozen to Free

In August of 2024, my sweet dog Sophie was stolen from our yard.In a few minutes—she was just gone.

We did everything humanly possible to find her. We put up posters everywhere, added her to every online site, and offered an $800 reward thanks to generous friends. For months, every drive down every street, I scanned, hoping I’d see her face again.

Eventually, the posters came down.All that remained was one faded photo on the back window of my granddaughter’s truck.But we never stopped looking. Never stopped hoping.

Then on August 27, out of nowhere, my phone began buzzing while I was in a meeting.When I glanced down and saw 24PetWatch, my heart stopped.

“Someone has found her,” the message read. Two counties away.My mind couldn’t catch up with my heart. Could it really be true?

I called the family who found her. We cried together on the phone as we arranged to meet later that night. The mom warned me, “She’s a little rough.”But the pictures she sent didn’t prepare me for reality.

The Reunion That Broke My Heart

I picked up my granddaughter, Olivia, from school and told her the news. She dropped to her knees, sobbing. Sophie had always been her dog, her best friend. The two of us drove an hour and forty minutes, imagining what that reunion would look like—Sophie bounding toward us, tail wagging, leaping into our arms.

But when we arrived, shock replaced our joy.

Sophie was skeletal—29 pounds when her healthy weight is 41.She could barely stand.Her once-shiny coat was dull, patchy, and covered with sores.Her eyes… vacant. Empty.

Olivia was scared of her own dog.I went to Sophie, calling her name, and… nothing. No response.We both wept.

We thanked the angels who rescued her—who scanned her chip, washed her, got her medical care, and most importantly, called us. Without them, she might have died in silence and darkness.

We brought her home.

Five Days Later

As I write this, it’s been five days. Sophie has started to wag her tail again. She’s eating, gaining weight, and the light is slowly coming back to her eyes.But when I pet her, it still feels like touching a skeleton. And it still makes me cry.

Why I’m Telling You This

You may be wondering, “Why is she sharing this here? What does this have to do with mindset or transformation?”

Everything.

This happened just days after I’d returned from spending precious time with a dear friend who was dying of cancer. I came home emotionally drained… and then, Sophie was found.

To everyone else, it was a story with a happy ending. But for me, the shock was brutal.

You see, I had severe childhood trauma. I’ve done years of therapy and deep work to heal—and I have healed. But seeing Sophie, seeing her pain and neglect, ripped open old wounds I didn’t even know were still there.

Add in my grief for my friend and a few other big life stressors…It became a perfect storm. And I froze.

When Your Body Shuts Down

Here’s what I didn’t understand at first: My reaction wasn’t weakness. It wasn’t “just being emotional.”

It was my body saying,

“This is too much. I need to protect you.”

For days, I cried every time I looked at Sophie. My mind went blank. I couldn’t focus. I felt trapped, like I was drowning. People would say, “The most important thing is she’s home. Just focus on that.” They meant well, but they didn’t see the other side of the story.

Because of my trauma history, my body was reliving past pain. My nervous system didn’t know the difference between now and back then.It just screamed: “Danger! Don’t move!”

And here’s the thing:This happens to all of us. Maybe not to this extreme, but anytime life slams you—grief, betrayal, a health scare, financial stress—your mind and body can shut down to protect you. You might misread that shutdown as failure or weakness. But it’s not. It’s survival.

A Simple Way to Recognize What’s Happening

Here’s the tool that helped me climb out of that dark place:

1. Pause and name it.Say out loud:

   “This is my body’s alarm system, not my truth.”

2. Breathe slowly, deeply. Even 30 seconds of calm breathing signals safety to your nervous system.

3. Ground yourself in now. Look around. Touch something solid.Tell yourself:

   “I am here. I am safe. This is now, not then.”

4. Take one tiny step forward. Don’t try to “fix” everything.Just do one doable thing—make tea, text a friend, step outside. Each small step reminds your brain you’re back in control.

   
   

The Takeaway

Life will slam us sometimes. We can’t stop the storms from coming.

But we can learn to recognize when our body is freezing in survival mode… and gently guide ourselves back to safety.

Sophie is healing.I’m healing too. And maybe, if you’ve been feeling frozen or drowning, you can take this as your sign: You’re not broken. You’re just human. And you can come back to the surface, one breath at a time.

“If you’ve been frozen by life’s storms, please know you’re not alone. Healing isn’t about rushing forward—it’s about taking one gentle step at a time. If this story touched you, share it with someone who needs hope today.”