Life Unscripted: Adulting Uncovered Podcast

The Grief No One Talks About: Mourning a Life That Never Happened

Season 2 Episode 27

Some grief does not come from losing someone. It comes from realizing the life you imagined did not happen. In this episode of Life Unscripted Adulting Uncovered, Brennan explores ambiguous loss, a psychological concept that explains grief without closure and the pain of unmet expectations. This is the grief of the relationship you thought you would have, the career path that felt guaranteed, and the version of yourself who believed life would make sense by now.

This episode breaks down why grief does not require death to be valid and why suppressing it leads to anxiety, emotional numbness, comparison, and the constant feeling of being behind in life. When this grief goes unacknowledged, people stay stuck in misaligned relationships, chase goals that no longer fit, or keep waiting for life to finally start.

You are allowed to feel gratitude for the life you have and still grieve the one you thought you would live. Those truths can coexist. This conversation offers permission to acknowledge what you are silently mourning without fixing, reframing, or forcing optimism.

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