¶ Reflections on 2023 and Gratitude
Hey friends , welcome to the Problem with Perfect . What is the Problem with Perfect ? It's the myth that if we just do more , be more and have more , our lives will be perfect . I'm Robin May , a journalist , wife , mother and , most days , a faith-filled Christian .
And I'm Denise Bickel , a clinical therapist , educator , mom Mimi and spirit-filled follower . As recovering perfectionists , we promise to be transparent and real and to share the wisdom of trusted advisors and guests .
So pull up a chair and have a seat . There's always a place for you at our table . Welcome back to another episode of the Problem with Perfect . Good morning , denise . Denise , good morning . How are you ? I'm well . It's scary , scary to me that we are at the end of 2023 . I mean , like last week , I kind of quit writing 2022 on checks , like last week .
Did those cat checks bounce or did they go through ?
Well , part of it is I only write like 10 checks a year and five of them are Christmas , but still it was like I don't know where the year went .
I know Now that I'm a bit older , you always hear older people say gosh , the years just fly by and I'd be like no , it's 365 days . I work 40 hours a week and I get two weeks vacation , and now that I have all the time in the world to do whatever I want , it's just I cannot believe how fast this year has gone . Yeah .
Well , I'm glad that you said that , because I certainly feel like that at my age , which is just a little bit younger than you , really just a little bit . But one of my neighbors , dr Mark Saylan , do you remember him ?
No , okay , well , he was a professor at Mizzou and psychology or sociology or something , and he would always tell me that mathematically that makes sense , because the older you get , the day is a fraction , a smaller fraction of your life , so it actually is shorter . And I'm like , yeah , I've never forgotten that .
I'm like , mark , you were right , you were right , your politics you were off . I'm just kidding , but that I think you're right about . So I've never forgotten that . And it certainly feels more and more true every day , like I think , oh , I'm going to clean closets out today .
And then I'm like Robin , if you got a closet or half of the closet cleaned up , you'd be doing well . You know , because the day , just there's not enough hours in the day , so , but I'm excited that we've made it to another , the end of another year , and here we are , healthy and happy .
Yes absolutely , absolutely and it I feel the same way .
In fact , this year I actually kept track each month of both momentous occasions , but also just things that happened that , you know , made an impression in my heart or in my head , and so I was just working on my blog before we started to podcast , because there were just some things that I thought , oh my gosh , I completely forgot about that .
So the year end review is coming out on my blog , but I think it's also a really good time to do a little year end review on the podcast .
I agree , and I think that's such a wise thing that you just said like that you kind of take inventory at the end of every month , which Must have been enlightening . I cannot say I did that , so I'm trusting that it was enlightening and what a great idea for 2024 for me to aspire to .
There you go . Well , I it did make a difference , and you just forget things . You know , I February , the chiefs won the Super Bowl and I came to Kansas City and then I got COVID , all in that order . So that was pretty much my February , really , because Absolutely .
It's a short month , Denise . It is a short month , so I got through that quickly . We're packed full of info . But , yeah , and it seems like so often , you're in reviews they include things like , oh , what was your favorite book , or your movies or your vacations and etc .
And while all of those things are great and actually I would love for you and I to have a virtual coffee and you can tell me your favorites of those things , because I'd love to hear we thought it might be a little more meaningful to look deeper and really recall when our lives were shaped or changed over the past year , times when the curtain was pulled back
and we remembered those experiences that made us who we are today . So how did 2023 changes , basically ? And we went to several sources to find questions that we thought were insightful and truly introspective . So our hope in this , in this episode , is that we'll share some of those , the answers to some of those questions , with our listeners .
But what we really hope is , in the next few weeks , that our listeners will take time to reflect on 2023 , maybe use these questions that we're using today or find your own , but to really decide what you'll be bringing with you in 2024 .
Yes , for sure . So what's your first question ?
My first question to whom or for what might I offer my thanks right now ?
Well , certainly I would say any the people that contributed to my mission trip . That was really , really an amazing experience .
So that first of and foremost , I think , but also when I was really thinking about this question and trying to go a little deeper than surface couple , maybe a month or two ago , I heard on the radio that there's a new drug being released by the FDA for people who have sickle cell anemia .
And back in the day , when I was at the university and working with Mary Cunningham , the palliative care nurse extraordinaire , we met with a young man that had sickle cell anemia and that experience has stayed with me For 20 years . It's a disease that primarily people people of African American descent or Hispanic ascent experience . He was black , he was young .
They have excruciating pain and they have what they call pain crises that actually take him to the hospital because there's no medication . You're going to take pills that are going to relieve that , and I always remember part of his struggle was that people didn't really believe him .
Yeah , as he was young and they thought he was drug seeking , and when Mary and I left the room , I remember just thinking gosh , what a horrible disease . And so to hear that here , 20 years later , the FDA has approved a drug that's really a breakthrough in medical science and that it will help people with sickle cell anemia .
I'm just so very grateful for that and I hope I hope he's still here and I hope he gets to benefit from that drug .
Hopefully he's been in a trial . Yeah , wouldn't that be great ? It would be . Yeah , I so appreciate that . Of all the things you could have said that you're thankful for that , you pointed back to the medical advances that are constantly happening . We don't see them or often celebrate them enough . You know , like it feels like with medicine .
We're constantly saying what we don't like about it , like it costs too much , it's too inefficient , you know , and all of those things can , can certainly be true and are true .
You and I have lived it but not often enough do we sit back and reflect on the advancements in medical care and what do they mean to the people that are going to get them in the future ?
So thank you for pointing that out , because I too have firsthand benefited from medical advances that you know , 30 years ago my son absolutely would not have , his life would not have been spared , Absolutely yeah . So so I appreciate that and it's really exciting , yeah it is very exciting .
So what ? What are to whom or what are you thankful for ?
right now . Well , again , it was really hard to . I wanted to be known that I am very thankful for the things that you would expect me to be thankful for . I'm thankful for my faith and how it anchors me and so I'd be remiss if I didn't say that and my family and my health and their health .
But to dig a little deeper , what I'm , what I want to answer this question with , is two specific people , and that is Kyle Wolf and Rachel Foley , which are , you know , the new additions , kyle being the new addition last year , in 2022 , and then Rachel will officially join our family in 2024 as Matt's wife , and I just so appreciate knowing that my kids have
their people and that , no matter what happens to me or Tom , they're going to have their people . And I see that Kyle and Rachel love my kids so completely . They only do they love them , but they selflessly love them , and that's saying a lot , really .
And so I just want to , yeah , just sit with that for a minute and say thank you , thank you for that gift , because it is such a gift to this mama to see that my kids are loved and I know that they'll be cared for beyond what I can do for their lives , and that's the way it's a post to work . So , yeah , I'm thankful for that .
And I will say they have wonderful parents who have set a beautiful example of marriage and faith and devotion , and so I'm sure that will also contribute to their happiness in the future .
Well , it's funny that you say that we'll get to that . And another question Okay , all right .
Well , I'll ask you Okay , what do you have in this moment that , if it was taken away , you would miss it terribly ?
Okay . Well , this answer is probably one that people go . Of course she said that , but I'm going to say it anyway . Okay , I lost my physical ability to be active Right Like . I know someone here in Columbia who was an avid runner , cyclist .
She rode a bicycle everywhere , she also loves to motorcycle and she was hit by a car and all of you know she's struggling Like she's at the pool , she's swimming , she's doing what she can do .
But I just think about that and I think about , in so many ways , my community , my tribe , my tribes those things revolve around my physical health and my ability to exercise .
So , whether it's coaching at the gym , which I absolutely love and it fills my soul , or if it's running with my friends , you know , at five o'clock in the morning , I would really , really miss that and I would struggle to rebuild a sense of community outside of that . So I'm praying to be healthy in 2020 . That's what I want to take .
There you go , yeah , how about you , denise ?
Well , you stole everything I was going to say . So , really , yeah , I said my ability to exercise and I will say I use exercise as much for depression as I do fitness , especially in the winter months .
I think I've shared before that I recognize I really struggle with seasonal affect disorder in the winter and I've been running , I've been walking because I know the difference that physical exercise makes , not just physically but emotionally . So , yeah , so I think that's why we like each other .
Well , it's funny . I think that this podcast has been built on many me , many me , like Rachel in so many ways , was my many me , or is my many me right ? And I think in so many ways I'm your many me , because so many of the wise things that I hold dearly , you taught me that works , yeah , and vice versa .
You know , I just heard something today on the Today Show that said you should always have friends of different ages , because everyone brings something different to the table . So there you go .
Agreed , Agreed . I went to lunch with a friend yesterday and she has younger girls and it was just so sweet to get to hang out with younger girls . Just remember , even at 10 , what's it like to be a 10-year-old girl , you know .
Exactly yeah .
That's fun . Ok , here was a heavy one for me , so you go first . Oh , OK , something someone said or did that made a difference in your life . Ok , people can't see the cringe on your face , but I did .
Yes , you did . You know , when I was going to go to India , many people who had been on mission trips said to me this is going to change you . You are going to come back changed . And several of us on the trip periodically would say do you feel changed ? Right , no , not yet . Ok , well , we will before it's over .
Well , I really kind of came back and I didn't feel changed and I thought what did I miss ? Or why don't I feel changed ? And so a couple of weeks ago , I was at church and one of the men that was on the trip with us was there and he said how are you ? You know , gosh , do you have your sleep back on schedule , which I don't ?
And he said so do you feel changed ? And I said I don't . I don't know what's wrong , but I don't . And he said , and I quote well , you certainly changed my life .
Denise .
No , and I got just like I am now , got all teary eyed and I said , oh my gosh , thank you , and he goes . No , really he goes . When I left on this trip , it was to try and find a spiritual connection in my life and my marriage was almost over .
And he said , when I spoke with you and talked with you and we did , but I didn't I don't remember anything profound , I didn't , I just listened like man , that is hard , you know those kind of things . And so , yeah , I guess maybe my role was to change the lives of people . That went .
Yeah , it feels like in doing that , it changed you and knowing that , yeah , yeah , I was so surprised by that I really was so that made a difference in my life for someone to say that to me .
And I mean , I'm very blessed that I'm in a position and I have an occupation where I see people's lives improve and get better , and so people have said that to me before
¶ Personal Growth and Resilience
. But for some reason , just the way he said it , and Christmas Eve he and his wife were in church Ah gosh , oh , my gosh , he brought her over to introduce me I do like him , even though he's a Cowboys fan , but anyway and he said you know , we want to take you to dinner . And I said well , you just give me a call .
I don't have a very busy social calendar . So , yeah , so that made a difference in my life .
Well , to me it should make a difference , because what it says to me about you is something I already know . But sometimes we don't know what the rest of the world knows about us . Right , and yeah , your occupation is to be a therapist and to help walk people through . That's your job .
So it's like let me put on my counselor hat and that's go to my job today . But that isn't really the way you do life . The way I view you is that you're constantly just shining a light and encouraging people and that , oh , that nod , that pause , that's hard , that's hard .
And so tell me it's life changing , because I hope , I hope let's just say it at your age , denise I hope that you can feel good about the fact that it's the way you live . It's not just your job .
Well , thank you , those are very kind words , and I'm always so uncomfortable with those kind of things . So tell me , robin , what's made a difference in your life ?
OK , so I'm going to cheat just for a minute , so I have two , so I'll be quick . I have a good example and a bad example , and by the bad example we do oftentimes remember hurtful things that are said and done to us more than the good things .
And so I have been open about the fact that in August , very much by surprise , I got an email that said you need to be on a conference call , a Zoom , a team's call , in two hours , and when I got on that Zoom call , I was on there with 20 other people in my division from across the country no , I lie , 36 people from across the country in my division
and they turned off our cameras , they muted our microphones and they told us that we did not have a job and the fact that someone could take my dignity okay , I'll get back to that by like not seeing my face , not looking at my eyes , not giving me a voice to speak , it just made such an impression on me that there are so many times in life that I bet
a lot of people feel like they're not seen and they're not heard , and and I felt that , and you know , losing my job was one thing , but not being seen or heard and valued enough to be seen and heard , was the part that just wrecked me and the part that I had to , like , struggle with and eventually I had to come to the point where , like , I'm only going
, they're only going to take my dignity if I let them , that's right . And so saying , man , that really sucked , like that really sucked , and people shouldn't be treated that way . So that was my negative experience , and then I'll flip to a positive .
It was probably something that you know some somebody probably doesn't even know that they did but on my birthday somebody put a comment about me being a wonderful person and this is what they said who's changing lives ? One . Who's changing the world , one life at a time .
And I was like , okay , I'm going to go with that , I'm going to put that in my back pocket . So there you go , kind of been my intention , like , whose life can I touch today ?
Exactly , I love it . I love it Well , and I'm just going to throw that previous employer under the bus for a minute and say you trained so hard for that bike ride and many of us contributed financially to that effort , and I think that's just another really big injustice , because I wanted to donate to a charity .
I'll do that , but I was donating that money on your behalf . Yeah , so I hope if they're listening , they look at that spreadsheet and give us our money back so we can donate to whoever we want to . Yeah , yeah , okay .
Yeah , that was really hard for me too , right Cause I felt , yeah . Which does bring us to our next question , which was the biggest accomplishment this year , which my biggest accomplishment really was I'm a cyclist . Yes , you are , I'm going to say it .
I'm a cyclist , you know , and despite the fact that I did not get to execute the bike ride across the country , like I was training for , I learned to cycle and I'm thankful for that , you know , in this weird way , like I hate it but I love it , and so my biggest accomplishment , I think , this year other than , you know , bouncing back and being resilient
from what happened in August was learning to cycle .
Yay , yes , and do it well . You know , like when you were down in Springfield and it was 150 degrees , I can remember maybe not quite that hot , it was hot , really hot , and skidding across a pavement and stuff like that , getting flat fires . I mean , you experienced it . You are a cyclist .
I'm a cyclist and I'm happy about that because it is something long , long term the longevity . When you think about the wear and tear on your body , like I have another way of staying active in my arsenal now , so yes , you do . Yeah , okay . So I've been thinking about this . What would Denise say is her biggest accomplishment of this year ?
And I think I know , but I'll be anxious to see what you say , okay .
¶ Accepting Comfort Zone Challenges and Regrets
It was accepting your offer to co-host the podcast .
Okay , well , I thought for sure you were going to say go into India for two weeks .
No , I shouldn't . Yeah , that was big too , but this is still so really kind of out of my comfort zone to do this . And and , as I've said before , you know , when this all , when Rachel made her decision and then you were , you know , talking about what to do with the podcast , this really wasn't what I had in mind .
I was , you know , I will do research for you and I will contact people to speak , and so it . I feel like I'm I'm finally getting more comfortable .
But , yeah , the fact that I went , sure , let's do it it's not usually , it's not usually how I make decisions much more pragmatic , strategic , you know , kind of think it to death , and not that I didn't do that somewhat on this decision , but just the fact that I said , yes , it was a big thing to me . And thank you for the opportunity .
Well , okay , so I have to give some commentary on that . It is cool that you said that and I I applaud you because it was a big yes . You know , like I have a long like thrown my life out there for people , right , and it's not something that you're comfortable with .
You're comfortable sitting back in your chair nodding your head , saying , hmm , that's hard , and I'm not making fun of you . I love it when you say that . I mean it's very helpful , but to go deeper into it , to give more of yourself , is hard . It's hard and I've seen you grow in that and also , yeah , you trusted me enough to say yes , I appreciate that .
So you're welcome and the head nodding thing has a story to it . We're very quickly grad school . I always sat in the front because you know I just want to hear every single word and take notes and everything . And my friends who listen to this podcast will be laughing because they would go oh , the head nod .
I don't know . The head nod comes with a little mmm and you do something with your eyes . To your eyes go mmm , so yeah all the eye contact , the nodding , you lean it . Yeah , it's all of it . So , yes , if you don't know , I guess you're gonna have to make an appointment with Denise , because that's true .
So our next question is what are you starting to like ? Less and less the older you get .
I really am growing to not like being in a hurry and I don't like to be late . And you know , one can precipitate the other or vice versa . Yes , yeah , yeah , and it just causes undue stress and typically I'm like , if I'm late , why am I late ?
I don't ever have a good reason why I'm late , cause I farted around three minutes longer than I should have , you know .
Or maybe it's because you fill your day so fully , yes , and then I'm like , oh , I'm not going to be late , I'm not going to be late , I'm not going to be late .
Yeah , all it takes is one domino and then things start cascading Right . There's not enough margin , yeah , yeah , yeah . So I always want to have enough margin for people , right , like if someone wants to stop and chit chat on the way in the gym or out of the gym or you know , an important phone call comes in , you want to have time to to take it .
So I want the phone call and my phone If you would持 , do you think I can get a call now ? What is is not , what is not really Cientard , how about you ? Once again , thank you for taking all my words . Feeling over scheduled and rushed ?
Yeah , no , and I have the less of a reason to feel that way than you do , because I have all 24 hours , 10 o'clock , 12 o'clock , 1 o'clock , 3 o'clock , and I think , why do you do that to yours and I'm who schedule those ?
Yeah , well , I think that's a question we should sit with , because to me I think in preparation for this I've been pondering it and I think it's because to me my sense of worth is still tethered to how much I get done , and so I have to learn to still see myself as valuable , still love myself , without my schedule being so full .
Yeah , yeah , I don't know . I mean , I come from a long line of women that are . You never saw them sit down . You never saw them reading a book , which I read the book club book this week , and even when I was doing it , I thought I have been sitting here reading this book for two hours . I need to get up and do something .
I need to get up and do something Exactly .
Yeah . And then I had to say to myself you are doing something , you have reading a book .
Yes , yes , yes ingrained , I know , especially when you got closets to clean .
Maybe , maybe , can you tell that I was on my list of things that I'm not gonna get done .
Yeah , that's okay . Okay , If I wait long enough , it'll be time to switch closets again . It'll be March before I know it . Like at this point .
So yeah , you know , that works too .
Okay , Denise , if you died tonight , what would you regret not doing ?
I still have not gotten a pull-up , and I know that that sounds silly , but you have dreamed of it . You worked so hard I worked . So I have a bar that goes in the door frame and all the color you know exercise bands .
And last in , earlier this year , well , later this year I got all the way to the thinnest band you could get and then I had to stop exercising . So the other day I thought , well , you know , there's muscle memory , it'll come back . And I put everything back up in the door frame and no , it didn't come back . So January one I will be pulling up again .
But this reminded me of one of my favorite stories a patient of mine at Missouri Cancer , who was just , she was lovely and she and I were friends . And then she became a patient and unfortunately she got some really bad news that her cancer was terminal . And so we were meeting and I said well , helen , what so ? What do you think ?
How are you feeling about that news ? And she said well , I guess I don't have to be so anal about flossing anymore . And I said to her you know what that's a life well lived , absolutely yeah , knowing your life is coming to an end . She wouldn't have to floss that much anymore . I just , I always remember her . Just , she was a delightful person .
Of all the things you could have said in that moment .
Well , I guess I don't have to floss .
I love it .
Yeah , no , nevermind , so , yeah . So how about you ? If you died tonight , what would you ?
regret . Well , this kind of takes us back to your comment and I think earlier your comment about Tom and I and the example that we've given our kids . I think if I died tonight I would regret not nourishing and giving my marriage probably the attention that I give everything else in my life .
Head nod .
I got the therapist nod on that , didn't I ? That's right , you did , we can unpack that privately .
That's right , Well , and the good news is for anyone else that just thought , oh yeah still time .
Yeah , actually yeah , and shout out to my husband because by the time this podcast comes out , we will have been married 29 years .
That's right . Are you gonna go to Washington ? Are you gonna go to the football game ?
We are going to the football game , okay , and then we're going to celebrate at a New Year's Eve party . Like I just said , I don't wanna be rushed and hurried and late , but we're going to be rushed and hurried and late to get from the game to back here to a party . But we don't have to be there at any certain time .
But yeah , yeah , oh good Congratulations to you and Tom May .
Thank you .
¶ Memorable Experiences and Self-Discovery in 2023
Okay , this is one of my favorite ones . We stole this straight up . I stole this from Jay Shetty what's the one thing that you spent money on that was worth every dime Easy ?
for me travel . You know , when I looked at my year in review I was like , wow , I'm gonna go to the city . I went to the city of Kansas City and I went to Minnesota where my goddaughter is a TV broadcaster and we got to tour Mayo Clinic and what an opportunity that was for somebody in healthcare to see that .
And of course there's India , and I took my grandson to Oregon . And , yeah , travel for sure how about you ?
I have to say the Super Bowl . Oh , yeah , yeah , yeah , and it was more dollars than I wanted to spend , I will be the first to say , but I think it goes back to what I just said earlier . It's like you know , do I want to spend the time and the money to have experiences with my husband that we'll never forget and that we will treasure ?
And the answer is yes . And so sometimes that means you do crazy , crazy things . Like you know , go to the Super Bowl . I said .
I had lunch with a friend the other day , yesterday , and I was telling her and I've said the story on this podcast before about how the first year we were married , we counted all of our change and we said , if we have enough change and our change jar , we'll buy tickets to the playoffs and so , yeah , so our longstanding joke is we will spend every dime to
go to cheese games . But it's just what we do .
You know that's right and I love that you do it as a family . You know if that's just , your kids will have all those memories . Well , they don't have the Super Bowl memory because you didn't take them .
That is true .
Yeah , but they'll have all those games to remember , so I like that a lot .
Yeah , yeah . Okay , denise , what's the one important thing you learned about yourself this past year ?
You know , I think what I learned is that I can do hard things and there have been many through this year , really , really difficult , disappointing hard things . I hooked up my own modem for internet , I hooked up my own TV antenna . Those were most recent things .
But really , just knowing that yeah , I can do hard things , india was much physically harder than I ever imagined . And even my son , who you know just does hard things every single day , said to me mom , I mean , you are such a badass , that is really hard . Everybody I told that you went to India they were like whoa , that's big .
So it was nice to have that from him . But just that I can do hard things .
That affirmation yeah , of course you can do hard things . You've been doing hard things , where I say you've been doing hard things your entire life , but I did write on here like the advances you've made in technology this year have been impressive .
Well , you forced me to with this podcast . But yes , yes , yeah , yeah .
Well , I get it . I get it . Whenever Rachel decided to move on from the podcast on a weekly basis , I was like , oh my gosh , that means I gotta figure some things out . So I get it . Yes , what is one important thing you learned about yourself this past year ?
I learned that and this is from an assessment that I did that I get very fussy about things being finished , and whenever I learned that , then I could reflect and see how that impacts my life . Okay , so , for example , in August I found out I was losing my job , and for I don't know three weeks did I look for a job ?
for three weeks , I think , at most three , and it was night and day Very much Concentrated effort , yes , concentrated effort , so much so that you were a little concerned about my concentrated effort and I was like , well , I don't know what to tell you because I'm not gonna let up until I finish this , right .
And even though you were like I don't know how healthy this is for your mental , physical , emotional health , right ? Yeah , you expressed your concern and I was like this is just me , this is how I do things , like I'm not letting up until I finish .
And then I started reflecting on other things , like when I start a project in the house , I don't let up until it's finished , or if it requires the help of someone else to get it finished . It creates tension .
Because , then I have to rely on other people , and not everybody feels that sense of oh my gosh , we have to finish this and we have to finish it now .
I don't care if we and there are people , I'm sure , like me that are like , yeah , if it means you stay up all night painting to finish the project , you stay up all night painting , but some people don't , and so when you work with other people , you just gotta know that people approach projects and things differently .
So , whether it's an art in my house or in a work setting , yeah . So there you go . I get fussy about feeling like things are done .
Yeah , we'll go back to that . Nurturing your marriage in another ton , yes , yes , thank you .
Okay , denise , last question of our wrap up for 2023 . What was your favorite episode that we recorded ?
Oh gosh , there really were several , I think , the series episodes that we do . I really enjoyed being able to unpack things thoroughly the end of life and the marriages . You know that was so wonderful .
But I'm gonna go with the back to school series , and not just because my grandson was someone we interviewed , but they were so inspirational and we had somebody starting high school , someone finishing high school and someone starting college and they all agreed that in May we will get back together and we'll get to see .
You know , were the things they were worried about , things that actually happened ? Did they feel more comfortable ? What were their highlights of those very milestone experiences ? So that would be my favorite . How about you ?
Well , there's too many to say this was my favorite , but I will say thank you to each of our guests , because we had amazing guests . We had amazing content . Thank you to you for all the work that you put in to making sure that we have amazing content , and I , too , really loved the series . So I'm just gonna give you a favorite moment , okay .
Okay , when someone contacted me and said , hey , you know , I'm going through this difficult time with my dad he's really sick and my mom and this and that . And I was like , hey , I'm gonna send you this podcast about palliative care and hospice care and , you know , making sure things are in order .
And so my friend listened to those podcasts and was able to call me and said , robin , like , after we listened to that , I was able to explain the difference between palliative care and hospice care to my mom and to my dad . And so what happened is that those episodes changed someone's end of life .
So that was my favorite moment from the years , knowing that we're not just , you know , here . We do love to talk to each other and it's delightful , but they were actually able to , you know , share things that people can learn from and that can ultimately change their lives .
So what a blessing and an honor that people let us do that with their lives every week .
Yes , I agree completely and I'm excited for next episode because , as usual , we'll be talking about the word we chose for 2023 and the word we're choosing for 2024 . So stay tuned .
Stay tuned and get ready to talk about your intentions for 2024 . Happy new year .
¶ Podcast Promotion and Book Club Invitation
Happy new year . Thanks for listening to the podcast . We're honored . You're sharing your day with us .
Do you love a good book , so do we . So join us for the problem with perfect book club . If you'd like more information about what we're reading this month and how to join us for the virtual discussion , please email us at theproblemwithperfect at gmailcom .
Or if you have a topic you'd like us to discuss on the podcast , use that same email , theproblemwithperfect at gmailcom , to send us your ideas or feedback . We love hearing from you .
And if this episode has been helpful , please share it with a friend or a family member who might find it encouraging . Secondly , we would love for you to leave a review on Apple or on Spotify . It's only going to take you a few minutes , but it will really help our podcast grow .
And while you're there , make sure you've subscribed to the podcast so you never miss an episode .
As always , a special shout out to our editor , Jordan Overcamp , for making us sparkle .
And remember , there's always enough grace for you today , so be sure to give it to yourself .