EP 87 MINISODE: From Excuses to Action: Lessons from a Legendary Jedi Master

So in prayer the other day , I was thinking about all the things , actually all the excuses that I have that keep me from doing the things that I know I should do , the things that I want to do and the things that I know that God is calling me to do , and so I've been trying really hard to make a conscious effort to look at these excuses , pick them

apart and see what is really behind them , Because sometimes it's things like fear , it's things like fear , it's things like distrust , it's things like I just don't really want to do that right now . I have to get really honest with myself .

Sometimes it's just the time of day I am trying to figure out , like what time of day works best for me to do certain types of work of day works best for me to do certain types of work , and you know , I think we all have excuses for all different things . It's not just me , it's not just you , it's a lot of us .

So after I had been praying about that actually I had done my Bible study and I was doing a little journaling about it and I don't know why but I got on my phone and I started looking some things up and I came across an article that had a bunch of different quotes from Yoda . Now , I don't know if you're a Star Wars person or not .

I know there's like people that like Star Wars , people that like Star Trek , people that don't like either one . I am somebody that really does like Star Wars I don't like . There's some of the movies that I don't like , which I guess are one , two and three , which aren't actually the first , second and third .

They're the newer ones , so not like the ones with Han Solo and Princess Leia , like the original three , it's like the three that came after that . Anyway , if you are a Star Wars fan , you know what I'm talking about . If you don't , if you're not a Star Wars fan , you probably don't even care about this stuff . I'll just stop talking .

Anyway , I came up , I wrote in my journal these things , these quotes from Yoda . Yoda is a little green Jedi master that I think most of you should be familiar with If you don't know who he is , just Google him and he had these wise sayings . He talked in a weird voice , kind of like a Muppety voice .

I will not be saying any of these in a Yoda voice , but anyway there were like seven or eight of them . I wrote them down and I thought , hey , maybe we'll chat about some of these sayings from Yoda . Okay , Actually , now that I'm looking at my notes , I remember what got me on the path down the rabbit hole , if you will , of looking up Yoda quotes .

I was thinking of excuses and then all of a sudden in my head popped the saying that I kind of remembered of Yoda saying like are you trying or are you doing , type of thing . So I looked it up and what he says is do or do not . There is no try .

And that kind of reminded me of something that I've heard other people say , like decide and then don't decide . So that means once you've decided , you're doing it . And the same can be true when we are trying to make positive changes in our lives .

I'll hear people say I'm trying not to drink that much , or I'm trying to stop drinking , or I'm trying to add in more exercise . I am super guilty of this . I say this all the time when it comes to stuff . I'm trying to eat less sugar , but trying is kind of like , okay , I'm trying , but am I doing ?

And there's a definite mind shift for me between I'm trying this or I'm doing this . And so when you are ready to reduce or eliminate alcohol from your life , you'll know , because your mind shift will be from I'm trying not to do this to nope , I'm doing it now . And that's when people come to me for coaching , for one-on-one coaching .

They've waded through , they've tried , they've done all these things to try not to drink , to try to moderate , to try you know this , that and the other . But by the time they come to me and they're willing to spend the money to get coached , they have moved from I'm trying to I'm doing .

And honestly , if someone is not in that mindset from I'm trying to I'm doing , then it's really hard to work with them . Now , just because you are in that mindset shift of doing does not mean that you're doing it perfectly right . It just .

It just means that you've gone from oh , this is a great , this might be a good idea to I am going to really focus on this and pour myself into it . So that's kind of the difference there . Okay , the other thing he says is you must learn what , you must unlearn what you have learned .

And I think that this is very applicable to trying to reduce or eliminate alcohol . Because we have been conditioned , we have been taught , we have seen whether that's in our families , movies , TV , music , pretty much everywhere that alcohol needs to be part of , like everything , or is part of everything .

It is just woven into the fabric of everything , Like you cannot get away from it , it's everywhere .

And what we have to do is try to unlearn that , Unlearn that mindset of I need alcohol to celebrate , I need alcohol to sleep , I need alcohol to connect with others , to appear , you know , social , Whatever that is , whatever you have learned , we need to unlearn that .

And so when you are looking to reduce or eliminate alcohol , again there is that mind shift of needing to unlearn that , to be like no , you know , I can actually celebrate quite well without alcohol . I feel a heck of a lot better .

The next day I can actually go to a very fine dining restaurant and get something that is non-alcoholic , I can order a mocktail , I can have some sparkling water , I can have a nice tea , I can have water with lemon in it .

But we have to start to unlearn those things and , believe me , it took me years because even when I had stopped drinking and I was very at peace with my not drinking , when I would go to certain situations , many situations or events or whatever there was drinking involved , and still in my mind it was like , oh , I kind of need that to celebrate when to me ,

I'm like that's ridiculous , because to you , Christy , alcohol is poison and it makes you be who you're not . Say what you don't want to say , do what you don't want to do . So for you , girl , it is not good .

But that's something that I've had to work on , that mind shift , that self-talk and reminding myself of why I made this choice and why I'm sticking with it . Another thing that Yoda said is Named must be your fear Before banish it you can . So he kind of talks a little riddly . So named must be your fear before banish it you can . Now , how true is that ?

If we just don't call it out , if we don't look that fear in the eye and we just kind of pretend it's not there , it still has its claws in us . It still has a rope tied around our wrists leading us around and keeping us stuck .

But once we shed light on that , on that fear like so many , so many people I talk to their fear is how other people will perceive them if they reduce or eliminate alcohol altogether . That's a real fear . That's , you know , something that comes up time and time again and it's definitely worth looking at , examining and talking through .

And once we do that , once we shed light on that and all those other little fears running around , they lose their power . So , Yoda , you are wise . You are wise , my friend . All right , then let's see . I keep having to put my glasses on because I'm not many years old now . Okay , fear is the path to the dark side .

Fear leads to anger , Anger leads to hate , Hate leads to anger , Anger leads to hate , Hate leads to suffering . So this is saying our fears not only impact us , but they impact everyone around us , Because would we let those fears take hold ?

When we give into those fears , when we let those fears control us and keep us stuck , then we can feel very dissatisfied , we can feel , you know , angry and frustrated and , as you can see from this quote . It just kind of spills out into the world and into our interactions with others . Okay , now this one Yoda tells Luke Luke Skywalker .

So you probably know who that is . I don't think I wrote it down properly because I feel like I'm missing something , although Yoda does speak strangely but I wrote down that Yoda tells Luke Luke Skywalker . That is why you fae , but I think it's that is why you have no faith , because I did write some notes after that that I want to share with you .

So when Luke doesn't believe in the force , it's like when we doubt God's goodness , when we are not steeped in his word through sacred scripture , when we aren't attending mass or regularly receiving the sacraments .

We aren't attending mass or regularly receiving the sacraments , and these things fortify us and they also enable us to hear God's voice more clearly and they enable God's grace to pour into us deeply and abundantly .

But then when we turn to the comforts of this world instead of to him , that is just showing a lack of faith , Because God is the one who knows us best and loves us most . I'll say that again God is the one who knows you best and loves you most , and he doesn't want you distracted . He does not want you distracted .

And when we lack faith , instead of fruits like peace , joy and patience and self-control , we reap fruits like ungodly self-reliance or impulsiveness . Faith , and really not just believing , not just having faith that there is a God , that he loves you , but also having that trust and faith that he is there and he wants to help you . He wants you free .

He doesn't want you tied down or shackled by any comforts of this world or anything else that is keeping you from him . He wants you free so that you can live the beautiful life that he destined for you . Okay , and then another one is the greatest teacher is fail . So you are not starting from scratch , my friend .

When you have those missteps , when things don't go quite as you had planned , that is not failing , that is learning . And that's what . That's what wise Yoda is telling us that the greatest teacher is fail . And then the last one is pass on what you have learned .

So I mean this is so important we try to pass on our we work really hard to pass on our faith to our children . We try to pass on information that is going to help them , our families , our friends , our community and others .

That's what I'm trying to do right here , because I know what it's like to be shackled and chained by something , be stifled stifled is like the word just to be stifled by this thing , this substance thing , the substance . Now , the substance in and of itself is neither good or bad , it's just a thing .

But if we are misusing it , then it's going to keep us stifled and stunted and we are not going to grow and go where God wants us to go and be and see and hear and say , because we are distracted and we're just numbing out .

So I hope that you learned a lot from Master Yoda and , even if you don't like Star Wars , I hope that you listened and that you were able to glean some wisdom from him .

And you know , if you have any other Yoda quotes that you want to share with me , feel free to send me a message . I would love to hear them . Well , that wraps up today's episode of the Catholic Sobriety Minisode . Thank you so much for joining me and please be sure to subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss a thing .

And remember I am here for you , I am praying for you , you are not alone .