When the Impossible Becomes Possible — Amy Sheridan

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What do you do when life suddenly looks nothing like the one you thought you were living?

A year ago, Amy Sheridan was hit by a rogue wave while on holiday with her family in Australia. In a matter of moments, her life changed completely.

In this episode of Finding Foundations, Amy shares what happened next. The physical recovery, yes, but also the much less visible experience of trying to keep going when everything feels overwhelming.

We talk about what happens when your way of coping is to put everything in a box, say “I'm fine” and move on. Why some of us are so good at pushing through difficult things but find it much harder to slow down, be vulnerable or ask for help. And what happens when the thing that made you resilient also makes it difficult to admit when you're struggling.

Amy talks about the small moments that began to change what she believed was possible. About focusing on the one thing she could do rather than everything she couldn't. And how, when the whole road ahead felt too much to contemplate, she learned to concentrate on what came next.

We also talk about how to cope when life doesn't go to plan, dealing with things you can't control, finding hope when things feel impossible, emotional resilience, the pressure to be okay, and learning to be more present rather than constantly looking towards what's next.

And perhaps most importantly, the people who stand beside us when life falls apart — and the love that difficult moments have a strange way of making impossible to miss.

Because sometimes the thing that feels impossible today doesn't stay impossible forever.

You don't always need to know how you're going to get there.

Sometimes you just need to find the next possible thing. 

Amy is an Australian Public Servant who has worked on human rights in the Attorney-General's Department and civil-military affairs in the Department of Defence. For the past decade, Amy has served as an Australian diplomat, completing postings in Bangladesh, Iraq and the Solomon Islands.  Since joining the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Amy's career highlights have been leading Australia's humanitarian response to the Rohingya refugee crisis, steering the transition of Australia’s bilateral aid program with Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul, and working with the United Nations on stabilisation efforts in Iraq.  Amy is passionate about gender equality and amplifying women's voices in humanitarian action and post-conflict reconstruction.  When not working, Amy can be found bushwalking in the Blue Mountains, cooking pasta, and singing in international diplomatic cover bands including world renowned Band-la-desh.