47. Happy New Year!

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I really appreciate your support . Hello everybody , I've been missing for a few weeks . Again , I do that from time to time disappear and then reappear . This time I've just I've been working really hard on some renewal and tying up some loose ends here and there , and now I'm back , for now , until I disappear again .

On Thursday , june 20th , I celebrated my second Happy New Year of the year , the first , of course , being January 1st , when we all celebrate .

So , yes , on June 20th I decided I need to do over and Happy New Year to me this is the second half of 2024 or the first half of whatever goodness is going to come right now , but I just I needed a do over , so I decided to do a whole Happy New Year .

I chose the 20th because it was the summer solstice and also I had a really awesome gig that day that I'm going to tell you about in just a couple of minutes . Really awesome gig that day that I'm going to tell you about in just a couple of minutes .

I needed a do-over because I , the first half of this year , I've just been consistently and considerably stressed out and I have , you know , done the things to try to eliminate or reduce that stress and it just hasn't really worked and it's been a pretty frustrating first half of the year .

Some of some of the things that have been frustrating are things that you already know about , because I've already shared , and some of the things that have been frustrating I haven't shared with you all , and I'm I'm still not going to , at least not now , because it's just not appropriate , but it's just been a really , really challenging time and I just I needed

a refresh . I also really haven't been doing the things that I want to be doing , like podcasting , like writing , like painting , like seeing some friends , like seeing some friends . So my solution , or partial solution , to this problem , besides just giving myself a do over happy new year , is to go part time from my full time job .

My full time job is actually two separate jobs mushed together into one job . So it was actually pretty easy to say , hey , I'm going to go part-time and this one job I'm not going to do anymore and this other job I am going to do and I start part-time in just a couple of days . And so I've been spending some time prepping for that .

And if I've learned anything from my full-time job at Alive and Kickin , I've learned a lot and truly it's been an honor to work with this organization . But one thing that I've definitely learned from the cast members at Alive and Kickin is that if I want to do something with my life or in my life , the time to do that is now .

Don't wait until you're 70 , 80 , 90 . Do it now , while you have the time and the energy and the funds and all of that . And so that's another reason why I want to go part-time is just I need more time to do the things that I want to do .

So so I decided on June 20th as my rebirth , renewal , happy New Year day and , as I said before , it was the summer solstice .

But also it was kind of a big day for me because I had been asked several months ago to be a speaker at something called Sisterhood Summit , which is a part of the networking group in which I belong I've talked about it quite extensively Polka Dot Powerhouse . I was asked last fall if I would be a speaker at this summit .

There were going to be three summits this summer . One was in Lancaster , pennsylvania , one was in Altoona , wisconsin , that's where I was , and then one is virtual in about a month or two , and it's a way for dots to get together . Besides our annual convention , which is called Celebration that I've also talked about in October , we have Celebration in October .

So it's a way for us to all get together outside of our normal chapters , and it was a huge , huge honor to be asked to do this . The um president and CEO of polka dot powerhouse sent me a Facebook message one day hey , we're going to do this summit . I want you to be a speaker . Are you in ? Hey , we're going to do this summit .

I want you to be a speaker . Are you in ? I was like yeah , for sure , I am yes , please , yes , yes , yes , yes , yes . And she said great , hold on a couple of months . I'll give you more info .

So the only info I had was that it was going to be a June 20th in Altoona , wisconsin , which is about an hour and a half away from where I live right now in the Twin Cities . Altoona is a suburb of Eau Claire and in about January or February I got my topic .

I was told that I would be speaking on the topic of the power of welcoming others into your life , which I love . I love that . I love talking about welcoming people in and the difference between inviting and welcoming , and I've just been really excited about it and it's been on my calendar for months , so I decided .

This is my happy new year day , no matter how this speaking engagement goes . This is the first day of an incredible time , an incredible life , and it really was a wonderful , wonderful , wonderful time . My talk went well . Just now , I sounded like maybe a question mark . It went well . No , it went well . I saw it just now .

I sounded like maybe a question mark . It went well . No , it went well and I really enjoyed the subject . So usually when you're speaking you have your own subject that you talk about , and what I've been working on the past couple of months .

My keynote is on empathy , so it was a little unusual to say we want you to talk about and what I've been working on the past couple of months .

My keynote is on empathy , so it was a little unusual to say we want you to talk about this other thing and I loved crafting it , I loved working on it and I loved the performance for lack of better words aspect of it , and you know I forgot a bunch of stuff For this particular gig .

They wanted no notes , which great , I shouldn't have notes but they also wanted no slides and I am used to working with slides , so that was just a little bit different . For me , it wasn't an issue , it was just a little bit different and it just different . For me , it wasn't an issue , it was just a little bit different and it just it went .

It went well and I think I'm going to rework it . It was , it was very focused on the dots and I think that there's a way for me to rework the talk so that it would work for any organization , and so it was really fun to discover that .

I met some new people and although I don't love meeting new people , I do like meeting them when they're in the dots . I don't know , I just if you're a dot , I just trust you right away . Mostly the attendees were from wisconsin , wasa , eau claire , madison . There were a couple that came in from the colorado area .

There was a friend who came in from the boston area , so it was just a really nice day . Plus , I treated myself to two nights in a hotel , and I don't know if I've ever talked about this before , but I love staying in hotels . I think it's so much fun , so that was a bonus for me .

Plus , the area in which we were located was just this really fun walkable area . It was just , it was really great , and I found a dollar in my pocket that day , so that's good luck to you .

So what's happened since the 20th it's just been about 10 days is naturally , I have found myself falling into some pre-June 20th habits , mostly complaining and venting about things that I deserve to complain and vent about .

However , the things that I've been complaining and venting about things that I deserve to complain and vent about , however , the things that I've been complaining and venting about for the past several months , are things that I don't really have any control over and I don't think that they're going to change .

Therefore , if the situation's not going to change , I need to change how I deal with the situation change . I need to change how I deal with the situation . So when I have noticed myself falling into those patterns , I don't want to say I've been quickly able to reroute all of that , but I have said you know what ?

We don't need to think about that stuff anymore . It's taken care of . We're at a happy new year and I probably have that conversation with myself a handful of times every day , but it does make a difference . I'm like you know what that is old stuff ?

It's stuff that I talk about with my therapist so I can save all that venting and complaining until I see my therapist again but that's old stuff , until I see my therapist again , but that's old stuff .

And that's been really helpful for me and for my mindset , especially because it's summer and I love summer and I really have been pretty grumbly so far this summer and I just don't want that for myself and I don't want that for my family and I don't want that for the people around me .

The point of all of this is that I needed a do-over and so I took it . I actually planned it out in my calendar . This is the day that I'm having a do-over , and I'm choosing this day because it already has a lot of light and positivity surrounding it , even though I hadn't gotten to the day yet .

And you , dear friend , you can have a do-over whenever you want to . We get to start over whenever we want to . We can take a moment to pause whenever we want to . Isn't that lovely ? I just love that and , as someone who values renewal , I do it several times a year .

You know , new Year's , my birthday and right around the end of the year are all big reflective times for me . Probably you as well . Also the time around my mom's death , which is February 6th , and the time around my mom's birth , which is August 26th . I get really reflective . And this year I decided to add June 20th . And you know what ?

My last 10 days have been pretty dang good , because I allowed myself the space and grace to say this isn't working , I don't like it . How do I get myself out of this ? Fuck , I know I'll have a new holiday this year Dude 20th , do over day . Happy New Year day .

Dear listener , if you need permission and I , you certainly don't need permission from me to do anything at all , you could just live your life , love . But if , for some reason , you need permission to have a do-over , I give you permission to have a do-over . If you are looking for a sign for renewal , this is your sign . I'm giving it to you right now .

This is your sign . This is your permission to start over whenever you want to . Five , four , three , two , one . Happy New Year . This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal , health or professional advice . I am not responsible for any losses , damages or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast .

This podcast is not intended to replace professional medical advice .