LifeLine 3: You are not alone on this journey – confessions from my own experiences with the 5 preparatory challenges | with Briana Johnson (TLBP#43)

Today is the next installment of the LifeLine podcast series in which I guide you through the process of discovering your own story and illuminating the extraordinary that already lies within you. In this episode I share the good, and not-so-good experiences I had carrying out the 5 preparatory challenges I issued our community in the last LifeLine episode to help you prepare for this process through a sort of self-assessment of your philosophies and behaviors. My goal in sharing my personal experiences is to not just lay out my dirty laundry but to help you with 2 things: #1 to help you realize that you are not alone in the process, that we are in this together and #2 to help you see that we are celebrating the small things, the small triumphs along the way. I share how walking out my front door in the morning and my drive to work are some of the hardest parts of my day and what I do to ward off or diffuse the wave of negative thoughts and emotions that wash over me each morning. I share how knowing the circumstances in your day that consistently leave you feeling negative toward yourself will empower you. I share role music plays as the means of transitioning out of feelings of overwhelm and despair to a place of perspective and reset and mention some of the music on my inspirational and ‘belt out’ and ‘busta move’ playlists. I confess the confines of my comfort zone in how people viewed me and my home in years past and how I pressed to step outside of it recently. I also share why I had been experiencing a disconnect with my Higher Power, my God, and the things that I did not help reconnect and share a portion of a piece of spiritual writing I did on my personal blog called “Hope Works”. I end sharing how the final challenge proved to be the most difficult as I discovered that my thinking was flawed when it came to my personal health and that my actions revealed that I did not believe that my small decisions mattered as seen through my actions. I share the good news about how we can get back on track.

This podcast is perfect for someone wanting to know that they are not alone in the journey to discovering their story or seeing the good in themselves. It is perfect for someone wanting to hear first hand the struggles of another in battling negative thoughts and how they are seeking to work through them. It is also great for someone who needs a reminder that we can celebrate the small triumphs. It is also perfect for someone wanting to see if these challenges are something of value they would like to participate in.

What is this episode about? In this episode you will learn about:

the two reasons I am sharing my personal experiences with these 5 challenges from last month’s LifeLine episode
#1 challenge – observe the way you treat yourself in thought and in word
when one of the most difficult parts of my day is and what I do to combat the wave of negativity thinking that washes over me
asking yourself when the most difficult parts of your day occur and be aware of it so you can be empowered to combat it
why it is ok for you to say good things about yourself out loud
#2 challenge – find that thing you do to transition you out of feelings of overwhelm or frustration and into a place of perspective or reset
the role that music plays in my day – both my drive to work and my drive home
the importance of finding that thing that is an instant mood changer for you
#3 challenge – push yourself a little bit more outside your comfort zone
my confession of having to step out of my comfort zone of how people viewed me and my home
how stepping outside of our comfort zone may feel counter-intuitive but may save us from ourselves
#4 challenge – learn how you connect to your Higher Power and practice it
how I had been going through a period of disconnect with God and how I reconnected with Him
an excerpt from a piece of spiritual writing called “Hope Works” from my personal blog
#5 challenge – examine your philosophy: do you believe by your actions that what you do today matters or not
why we often avoid examining our thoughts or behaviors
my struggle with flawed thinking about my small choices when it comes to my personal health
how we get back on track once we find ourselves not showing that our decisions matter