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Finding Your Best Self Podcast

My name is Tracey Lewis-Stoeckel and things haven't always gone my way. I have gone through some crazy obstacles on my road to finding happiness. Every obstacle has taught me something about myself and I want to share my story with you, and share the stories of other women who are going through or have taken themselves from crappy to happy. By sharing, I hope that we can lift up and support one another, so we can each find the positive and find our own best selves in the process.
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Dec 5, 2018

When relationships end and the two people have been living together, it's an obvious fact that someone is going to have to move out.  I know that here in Minnesota the courts like to see the mother remain in the home with the children whenever it is possible, which I admit is not always fair.  I am not sure what it is like in other parts of the world.  Initially, in my case, my husband, despite wanting to be with a different woman than the one he was married to (although I was still in complete denial about that at the time) and supposedly hating my stinking guts and telling anyone who would listen that I was a terrible mother...no my husband wanted me to stay in the house with him.  From the moment he declared his hatred of me, he had been relegated to the mattress in the basement.  My kids were small, and we bought our house because of the proximity of the master bedroom to the kids' rooms.  I was not going to sleep two floors away from them.  Gary liked this arrangement just fine.  I paid the bills every month.  He gave me a set amount of money, which left him some cash left over for fun.  I was working full time and making a good income, and he liked that too.  Gary likes money.  And, I think his primary focus in wanting us to "live in the house as friends" was that we could remain a dual income household, and also, perhaps, more importantly, he would not have to pay any additional money for the support of our children.

But Gary had trouble lying.  He would disappear for hours on end and come home with the can of tuna he went to the store to get, and when I tried to talk to him at all, he yelled.  My kids had heard enough yelling in that month to last them a lifetime, and it was time for someone to go.  He refused to leave.  He suggested not so kindly that I leave, even going to the point of putting my clothes in trash bags and throwing them into the front yard one evening while I was at work.  When I started looking for a place to go, I really wanted to move back to Wisconsin near my family.  That was a no go for Gary stating that the primary reason is that he wanted to be able to coach Sam's baseball team someday and be there for all of the things.  I kind of understood that but also knew that a home to rent in Wisconsin would cost me a third of what one would cost in Minneapolis.  Gary tried to help by circling trailers for rent in the paper for me.  Now, don't get me wrong...a couple of my best friends have beautiful homes in trailer parks, it's not that I am opposed to a trailer...but when the man who is forcing you and your kids out of your 2800 square foot brand new home suggests this 1994 single wide trailer might make a nice residence...well, it gets you a little fired up.  Eventually, I found a shitty old house to rent that I could afford...we called it the poopy brown house, and we lived there until the crazy landlord pushed me over the edge.  Next came a big gorgeous house we couldn't afford and then my parents bought a house and allowed me to pay the mortgage to build my own equity and a future.

Although we did our best to make homes in each of those houses, there was always something missing for us.  The house my parents bought, we lived in for nearly 7 years, and it was home for sure.  But it had a strange layout with both kids' rooms a floor below mine, a small living area that we didn't really all fit in, and even dining together was uncomfortable and cramped.  I wanted to find a different place, maybe something with a little land for a pony or a goat, and my then boyfriend and I started to look.  When it became really apparent that our priorities were not aligned and that relationship ended, I started looking more seriously on my own.  Then I lost my job.  So I stopped looking.

Because of my many streams of income from self-employment and my part time job that I love, I wasn't too worried about finding a new full-time gig.  In fact, if it were not for the health insurance, I would have been happy to live that life forever.  I was pretty choosy about finding a new gig and when the chance to work for a local ambulance service in their education department came along, I was unsure.  I was very interested in the work, but the pay kinda sucked, and I didn't want to end up being a secretary and allowing all of my medical experience and expertise to go to waste.  At the time I was taking a course with the lovely and talented Lauren Frontiera called Re-Inspired (check out her Grit and Glitter podcast on iTunes) and in one of my one on one calls with her I was telling her how conflicted I was about giving up my dream of working from home and taking this job even though it wasn't necessarily what I wanted to be doing and Lauren said something magical to me that I will never forget.  She said, "I think you will find that there is a reason that you needed to take this job right now."  A few days after that call, I was driving through my old neighborhood and saw the for sale sign in that yard...in my yard.  And I knew what that had to mean.

Within a week after starting my new job I put my house on the market, started doing as many improvements as I could with my meager savings and girl-level skills...and a couple of months ago, a week after completing my graduate degree in education...yep, I bought the house!!  On a 70 degree day in Minnesota in February (tell me that this wasn't completely meant to be!!) I moved my children back into our home.  When I tell people, some of them think that I am crazy.  Why would I ever want to live in that house again?  Doesn't it remind me of my husband? And that life?  Doesn't it make me sad? And the answer is a big fat, nope!  When I think of living in that house, I don't even think of him.  Shit, he traveled for work all of the time anyway...he was never around.  I don't think about him.  At all.   I think of running my daycare there, and the children that I loved (who are now nearly all adults--don't even get me started on that) and I think of the long happy days that I spent with my own babies, being a joyful threesome, being able to be home with them as they grew in our beautiful warm home.  In the weeks after we moved, nearly everyone I know has asked me "how is it being back in the old house?" Some of them ask from a place of love and acceptance, and I know that some of them are expecting me to confess that I might have made a mistake.  I answer the same way to each of them.  "It is awesome!"  This house is our home.  The last owners made some changes to it. They finished the basement, added a bathroom, took out some carpet and glammed up the kitchen...despite the fact that I keep getting confused because I must have had the silverware in a different drawer than it is in now... it still feels like home...and every fiber of my being responds to that feeling the moment that I walk in the door.  I wonder when that sensation of complete and utter joy that occasionally bursts into my consciousness and screams "I LIVE HERE" will wear off.  I hope it never does.  And I also hope that you, my dears, have the opportunity to experience the immense feeling of accomplishment that comes from knowing that you have done your best, worked your hardest, and have achieved everything you desired.  And I can't wait to hear about it.

 

Don't forget, you can support the podcast simply by visiting www.findingyourbestself.com/support and visiting vendors you would shop from anyway. 

Nov 28, 2018

Check out the All Girl Shave Club at

www.findingyourbestself.com/shave

 

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Jan 24, 2018

In Episode 8 Tracey talks about her initial attempts at coparenting with Gary and how things didn't really go as planned at all.

To learn more about Tracey and the podcast visit the Finding Your Best Self website.  Once there you can opt in for access to special episodes and updates, and join the Finding Your Best Self Facebook page, a special community just for women who are striving to find the best versions of themselves. 

You can also support the podcast by shopping with one of our many affiliates.  Each time you make a purchase through an affiliate partner, they make a contribution to Finding Your Best Self which helps us to keep producing podcasts for you.

Do you love what you are hearing so far?  Leave us a review on iTunes!  It is the best way for you to help others find the podcast.  Also, Tracey loves to hear your feedback.  Just click here to leave feedback, ideas for future episodes, or to share your personal story.

Show Notes: 

 

Co-Parenting

I was recently interviewed on a podcast about loss and grief Check it out here!.  During the interview, the lovely podcast host asked me if it helped to write about what happened to me all of those years ago when I went through the terrible loss of my marriage and the way of life that I thought would always be mine.  And the truth is, it really does help, but all of that stuff that I have talked about, all the stuff that has happened between Gary and I is really so long ago that I am over it.  Sure I get riled up telling the stories, and it churns me up a bit when I have a friend or one of my besties from my Facebook group contacts me and are going through the same thing, but overall, I have come out the other side.  I’m good.  Really.

There is one exception to that rule though.  The part that isn’t behind me yet is the part that pertains to my kids.  Although my marriage was dissolved in a courtroom after two and a half years of battle almost six years ago now, I am still the mother of these two amazing people, and he is still their father.  And co-parenting with Gary, well it has never been easy.  I have been putting off talking about this, because it is still really real, and really raw.  And while talking about everything else is easy, it’s old news, talking about my kids and what they are currently going through is fresh, and it’s painful.  I can be somewhat impartial with the rest, but with this stuff, this is not something I feel magnanimous about…I will do the best that I can.

Custody situations can vary.  I was lucky enough to be awarded sole physical custody of my kids and only joint legal custody.  Legal custody relates to decisions surrounding healthcare, religion, and schooling.  So a few years ago when my son was being brutally bullied in school and I wanted to pull him out and let him do school online, I was vetoed and there was nothing that I could really do about that.  But the sole custody part was a huge bonus for me.  And a real life saver, which I will explain here in a moment.

But first let’s go back to 2009.  The very first weekend after we moved over the river and through the woods to the poopy brown house, the kids had their first “visitation” weekend with Dad.  I was kind of a wreck and couldn’t wait to get them back.  And before I even went to pick them up I got a call from my then best friend, who lived across the street and had spent some time with my daughter when she had come over to play that day.  She warned me that I was going to hear some news from the kids that I wasn’t going to like.  While the two little girls were chatting and playing, my daughter, Samantha, had told hers that she had “had a sleepover “ at daycare.  Which, if you will recall, means that she spent the night at Carol’s house.  I didn’t think too much about it because Carol, if you will also recall, was married.  My friend, we will call her Janet, wanted me to know, and I thanked her.

So when I picked up the kids that evening, the first thing they both blurted out was that they had spent the WHOLE weekend at daycare.  I called Gary.  We talked civilly.  I explained to him that I felt it was important for the kids to spend some time getting used to living in two homes before he started diverting their attention with Carol, if that was what his future was going to hold.  He assured me that there was nothing going on with Carol, but in the end, he agreed that the kids should have some time to adjust first.  When I tucked the kids in to bed that night, my son, age 9, said, “Mom, I think Carol is going to be our stepmom!”  And I cheerfully agreed that “maybe she is”. 

I should mention, that I was not unhappy that he would choose to start a relationship with Carol after we split.  And I also was not yet clear that she was the catalyst of the split.  Carol had been our daycare provider for a number of years at that point. She knew my kids and I believed that she cared about them.  They knew her and they trusted and cared for her as well.  My guard would have been up had she been a stranger…but she was Carol…I felt okay about the idea that if the kids wouldn’t be with me, they would be with someone who understood my parenting style and who also cared about them.

Two weeks pass and the kids are back with Dad for another weekend.  They spend another weekend sleeping over at Carol’s.  During the weekend in between her husband had been given his walking papers and he was now moved out.  My kids would continue to spend almost every night spent with their father in sleeping bags on her basement floor until we got to court over a year later and I got the judge to assert that he would not have visitation with them unless they had beds to sleep in.

So we got off to a rocky start parenting together from the very beginning.  The first agreement that we make on behalf of the kids is violated when he doesn’t keep the kids separate from his “friendship” with Carol.  But things are weird all the way around.  He barely seems like the same person.  And the kids start to notice.

When we were together, Gary would play video games with our son, Jake, and it was kind of their “thing”.  Jake loved that time with his Dad and they played games that I didn’t always think were appropriate for Jake’s age group but my boys were happy, so I was happy.  Jake loves guns.  Both Gary and I are from an upbringing that hunt and guns are a part of our culture.  Jake had toy guns ranging from a realistic cap gun to Nerf guns.  He also had a fascination with knives and had his own pocket knife that he had been taught to handle safely.  Once Gary started spending all of his parenting time at Carol’s all of the rules changed.  Jake was not allowed to have any guns as toys there.  Carol did daycare and she would not allow it.  When I did daycare we kept my kids’ toys separate—guns were for the weekends or after all the daycare kids had left.  They weren’t outlawed.  Jake was told that this was not an option at Carol’s and to leave the guns at Moms.  Knives were definitely not allowed, which was understandable.  But what poor Jake did not understand though, was that suddenly the rules around video games changed.  First, Dad no longer wanted to play video games with him.  He was busy hanging out with Carol.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, Jake was no longer allowed to play any of his games that he was used to playing with Dad.   The M rated games were all gone.  And he wasn’t allowed to play the T rated games either.  It was G rated or nothing, and I watched as Jake’s love of video games died off.  The following Christmas Jake asked for a bunch of games and got a couple of them from myself or grandma.  When Gary saw them he was livid.  Why would I buy our child T rated games when he said no?  Well, because you used to let him have them…and no one understands why that has changed.

Another thing that changed after Gary and Carol started hanging out is that he started going to church.  When Jake was a baby, Gary’s parents pushed for us to get him baptized.  Gary and I dragged our feet.  Although we identified as Christians, we didn’t go to church and I wanted to find a place that we liked before we baptized our baby there.  I asked him repeatedly to go with me to check out the churches in our town.  Gary could not be bothered to get up early on a Sunday to go and attend church services with me.  Well, once Carol was in the picture, they were going twice a week.  AND requiring the kids to go with them.  Our kids had never had to sit through a church service other than a random funeral or wedding and suddenly they were going twice a week when they were with Dad.  Jake didn’t like it.  He doesn’t believe the way that we do and I accept that he has his own opinions.  His father does not and it has caused problems between them.

Then there was talk of having Samantha baptized at Carol’s church…but not really to me, rather around me.  That still hasn’t happened yet, but I am fairly certain I won’t be invited when it does.  And yes, doing that behind my back is a direct violation of our court order.

There are more tales of parenting woe like when Gary decided to take Samantha to get her ear’s pierced and I said no but he did it anyway, because he said Carol deserved to have that special time with MY daughter.  Or like the times that he and Carol would decide to go out of town and leave the kids with Carol’s mother instead of allowing them to just stay with me.  Or the dozens of times they took my two kids and her one child and left the three of them in a hotel room at the casino overnight so they could gamble on the casino floor all night long, a nine year old in charge of two other kids 6 & 4. Or how he stopped bringing them to visit his parents as much or accommodating his parents vacation schedules so that I had to deprive my kids of time with their beloved grandparents or give up my own time. You know the answer to that one…I give up my time over and over again so that they can continue to have a wonderful relationship with their grandparents.

 Or there was also the time when he essentially kidnapped my children on a Friday night that happened to be Jake’s birthday because he said he was sick of dealing with me and he would not be bringing them back until a judge ordered him to.  And I cried and cried until Tuesday, when the kids reappeared.  As if by magic. 

And don’t even get me started talking about child support.  I could go on and on.

Now those of you who have gone through a divorce or are going through one are probably screaming at me right now that I need to document this and tell the judge.  Well, I did just that and although the judge sided with me on every issue and made notes to that effect in her court order.  Enforcement of that court order is something else entirely and the reassurance that the judge agrees that my kids being left in a hotel room is not safe does not help me keep them from ending up in that hotel room when they are in their Dad’s care.   Yes, I could have him found in contempt, but that all costs money and time, which are two things that I don’t have ample quantities of and I would rather spend what I do have on these kids.

Parenting with an ex is hard.  Parenting with an ex who cannot be wrong and does not ever see the error in his ways or apologize for anything…well, I am going to go out on a limb and say that it is impossible.  I sure haven’t been successful at it.  Throughout all of this abuse, I never badmouthed this man to his children.   Until recently—when for reasons you will discover in a moment, it could no longer be avoided. I will talk about the perils of bashing the ex in another episode, but it’s just a terrible idea on all fronts.  Don’t do it.

Jake is 17 now.  He is a smart, creative, sensitive young man and he makes me proud in a myriad of ways every single day.  He also makes me want to strangle him on occasion but I love and respect the human he is growing up to be.  His Dad has a mold that he would like Jake to fit into.  You see, Jake has never really liked school, and as a result he is an underachiever by society’s measure.  He isn’t incredibly social, doesn’t put a ton of energy into chasing girls, and doesn’t play sports.  Jake didn’t get his driver’s license right when he turned 16…or 17.  Part of that was that I couldn’t afford drivers ed because well, his dear old Dad doesn’t help out too often, but also because he doesn’t really care if he gets a driver’s license and he recognizes that there are financial ramifications to doing so.  And he has no interest in getting a traditional job—both because he does not incur expenses, and because he hopes, and is working towards making a living online doing graphic design for video game designers.  He is very good at it.  All of these things add up to “not good enough” for his father.  So a few months ago, the two of them had a discussion, via text message about his father’s expectations and Jake decided that rather than change himself to avoid disappointing his father, he would just NOT.  His father expects an apology that Jake has opted not to give.  So he doesn’t see too much of his Dad anymore.  He is starting to stand his ground and to speak up when things seem unfair, and that doesn’t go over well with a man who cannot be wrong. 

Then there is Samantha.  She is such a radiant soul and has always been Daddy’s little girl.  But the stuff happening with her brother upset her.  Hearing Carol talk trash about her brother got to her even more than listening to them talking trash about me for all of these years.  Sweet Sammy started hardening herself, suspecting that if she didn’t jump through all of the hoops that she would be next.  That time came sooner than she expected.  While camping with some cousins and Gary’s parents, her step-brother Charles became upset claiming that Samanthaand Jake were teasing him.  He was in tears, and wanted to go home so he called his Mom.  She immediately set out for the northwoods to retrieve him and Gary sent a text message to me and an email to his mother that he was going to bring our kids home too.  Well, when Carol showed up at the campground, it was only Samantha who had to go home, and after words were exchanged between her and the grandmother a tearful fourteen year-old girl was driven away against her will.  She was devastated and swore that she did nothing wrong.  Her story was corroborated by her grandmother and every adult at the campground, and after a day and a half when I was finally able to see her, I mentioned flippantly that I had half a mind to drive her back there.   After consulting with and getting approval from the grandparents, we hatched a plan… and back to camping she went.  Of course she was punished the next time she went to Dad’s for defying his orders, but we believed that we had stood up for what was right.  And even after trying to talk to him with the help of her therapist, he refuses to believe that he did anything wrong or that his forcing her to leave her cousins and grandparents was anything less than “good parenting”.   He also bought her expensive concert tickets the week that this therapy visit was scheduled, because he had to know that she had grievances to air.  And his doing so, as per his plan in my opinion, pushed her complaints to the side.  At least for now.

Samantha is a bit more aware of the tenuous nature of her situation now.  She knows that one wrong step will put her right out of her father’s favor.  But she also cares less.  People always say that kids are smart and they figure stuff out for themselves, and that is certainly true with my kids.  They get it now.  They certainly are nobody’s fools.

And here’s the big moral of this whole story.  While these tales and woes do not necessarily involve me…it is incredibly upsetting to comfort your child when they are hurt by one of the two people who should love them most in the world.  Just like them bashing me to the kids though, it works slightly in my favor.  My kids are more aware now than ever before that my love for them does not have conditions.  That they don’t have to fit a mold for me to love them.  And that they don’t have to hide their feelings or pretend.  We can talk through the tough stuff. They are welcome to have and share their opinions.  Just as I am allowed to play the parent card and overrule them.

Gary and Carol like to say that we don’t have any rules in our house.  But we do have rules.  Well, maybe just one rule.  Love and respect each other.  I strongly believe that if we do that, there are no additional rules required.  While I wish that things were different and that their father and I could work together to be better parents to them and to remove so much of the awkwardness that has happened and is bound to continue to happen when we have to attend things together, I am feeling pretty okay with what I am accomplishing on my own.  These are good humans.  I must be doing something right.

Until next time.

 Don't forget to visit the FB group Finding Your Best Self FB Group--The Home for Badass Besties and share your motivational thought or phrase from Episode 7.

Don't forget to pop over to the website and check out the many ways that you can support the podcast.  Do you shop on Amazon?  By using our link, a portion of each purchase you make at Amazon.com will be donated to help us produce this podcast.  Thank you for your support!

Jan 23, 2018

In Episode 7 Tracey talks about her inner mean girl and the value of positive self talk.  She issues you a challenge to talk nice to yourself and see what happens!

To learn more about Tracey and the podcast visit the Finding Your Best Self website.  Once there you can opt in for access to special episodes and updates, and join the Finding Your Best Self Facebook page, a special community just for women who are striving to find the best versions of themselves. 

You can also support the podcast by shopping with one of our many affiliates.  Each time you make a purchase through an affiliate partner, they make a contribution to Finding Your Best Self which helps us to keep producing podcasts for you.

Do you love what you are hearing so far?  Leave us a review on iTunes!  It is the best way for you to help others find the podcast.  Also, Tracey loves to hear your feedback.  Just click here to leave feedback, ideas for future episodes, or to share your personal story.

Show Notes: 

 

I talk to myself.  Don’t you?  I don’t think there is anything wrong with it.  I talk to my dogs as if they are going to respond, so I certainly should be able to pull off talking to myself…I mean, at least I answer, right?  Oh wait, is it not good when you answer yourself? Well, anyway, I know that I am not alone.  I have heard plenty of people talking to themselves, and that doesn’t even count the many years I spent as a bartender.

What Are You Saying?

We aren’t so different, you and me.  And even if you don’t talk to yourself out loud, you talk to yourself inside that beautiful head of yours all day.  Every day.  So what are you saying?  More often than not, that internal chatter is negative.  I do it myself. Every time I forget something, drop something or smack my elbow (what? I have really bony elbows!) on something, I say the word stupid to,and about myself.  When I ran my daycare stupid was as bad as any swear word, my kids couldn’t use it.  So why do I feel so eager to use it on myself.  It has become an involuntary reaction to whatever stimuli brings it on.  I don’t actually believe that I am stupid, but when I tell myself I am stupid, it makes me feel bad anyway.  And what does that do to my subconscious mind?  No, seriously, I am asking, I am not a neuroscientist, what does it do?

So What’s the Deal?

Why do we feel like we can get away with talking poorly about ourselves?  We likely wouldn’t let our friends or family members do it to us, but we happily do it to ourselves?  Yep!  If it is what we have always done, it probably feels pretty natural to us by now.  But here’s the thing…  Your self-talk changes the way you think.  It changes the way you feel about things.  It changes what you will achieve!  Don’t believe me?  When was the last time that you started a diet, and maybe the first day, maybe the next day, maybe a few days in you decided to “treat yourself” and have a donut.  I bet it was delicious!  But then you realized that you “cheated” on your diet plan.  You “blew it”.  And then you decided that you had already messed it up so you might as well quit.  Am I right?  It was one donut, and you let it, and the way you talked to yourself about your perceived failure, convince you that you didn’t deserve to fit into those jeans on your closet shelf. That you didn’t deserve to feel sexy in that new dress for that big occasion.  You let yourself talk to you like that…over a one donut.  Rather than tell yourself the truth, it was just a donut, it doesn’t really matter that much, I will do 10 extra minutes of cardio or an extra thousand steps to make up for it.  Nope, we tell ourselves that donut brought about our epic and complete failure!  Does that make any sense?  I am not just talking about diet and weight loss.  That negative self-talk has beaten you down about lots of other things too.  You have likely told yourself that you are not pretty enough, not smart enough, that you are too this or not enough of that, that you don’t make enough money, that you don’t deserve to be happy, blah, blah, negative blah…toxic self-talk, that just makes you feel…well, crappy!

Flip It Around!

How many times have you heard the suggestion that you should write your favorite motivational saying on your bathroom mirror?  Do you know why so many positive happy people suggest it?  Because it works!  Yes, reminding yourself of something positive repeatedly throughout the day changes the way your brain works.  YES!  You can train your brain to talk nice to you.  Post a sticky or write on your bathroom mirror in lipstick…whatever it takes.  Just a phrase as simple as “Hello Beautiful” can change the way you start and end your day.  If you have a repetitive negative thought bouncing around your pretty head, write down the anecdote to that thought and keep it somewhere that you can see it. My planner (www.ErinCondren.com) for 2015 had a cover that stated “there are so many beautiful reasons to be happy.”  That saying became so meaningful to me after looking at it for 365 days that it became the driving force behind my Finding Your Best Self blog and Facebook group!  The back cover of my planner also had an awesome picture of me with my two best friends on it.  Talk about always having something in front of me that reminded me to be happy! The messages that you tell yourself matter!  Remember Stuart Smalley from Saturday Night Live in the early 90’s?  Let me refresh your memory with this video . Well, that was my Senator, Al Franken!  His mantra, “I am good enough, I am smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me,” has stuck with many from my generation.  We might laugh when we see him now, but his repeating positive affirmations into the mirror is exactly the practice that those of us with “stinking thinking” need to undertake.  And there is no time to delay.

I Challenge You…

Here is my challenge…  Choose your favorite inspirational phrase or a series of them (don’t beat yourself up because you can’t decide).  Post it somewhere that you can see it and maybe even read it aloud to yourself several times throughout the day.  Pay attention when negative self-talk creeps in and recognize it.  Talk NICE to yourself for 3 days.  That’s it, 3 days!  And then let me know if you feel any differently.  I am willing to bet you that you feel more positive, lighter, more motivated, and more optimistic after only a few days of watching your thinking.  Then make it a habit by committing to it for 30 days.  Subscribe to my email list for help in staying motivated, check out some podcasts on the subject, and be nice to yourself!

Let’s talk again soon!  But in the meantime…why not post a comment to this blog and tell me what your inspirational-motivational-you-are-amazing-positive-thinking phrase is going to be.  Here’s one to get you started, “You are a beautiful person, and I appreciate you!” 

 Visit the FB group Finding Your Best Self FB Group--The Home for Badass Besties and share what your motivational thought or phrase is going to be.  

Don't forget to pop over to the website and check out the many ways that you can support the podcast.  Do you shop on Amazon?  By using our link, a portion of each purchase you make at Amazon.com will be donated to help us produce this podcast.  Thank you for your support!

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