This is your week 4 Monday morning pep-talk podcasts designed to kick your week off saying YES to you!
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/user-665991269/soy-week-4″ background=”default” social=”false” ]
Wanna read the full transcript? Here ya go:
Hello, hello! It’s the Summer of YES. This is your Monday podcast.
This week, we are saying YES to RELATIONSHIPS.
YES to intimacy. YES to connection. YES to friendship. YES to making memories with the people you love. YES to honesty and vulnerability. YES to conversations about real shit, not just chit-chatting about the weather. YES to meaningful, deep relationships — the kinds of relationships that enrich your life.
A few months ago, I flew to LA to attend my friend Liz’s 50th birthday party. I booked a flight spontaneously, at the very last minute, and it was all kinda crazy but I just knew, “This is a big day for my friend and I want to be there with her.”
And you know what? I am SO glad I made the effort and got my booty into that room. Because it was a truly special night. Liz was glowing, totally radiant, surrounded by all of her incredible friends — college friends, work friends, friends she’s known for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 years or more. She was literally surrounded with a lifetime of love.
Liz is the type of woman who REALLY prioritizes her relationships. She’s the kind of person who sends hand-written cards in the mail, and gifts on birthdays, and who texts when it’s a big milestone like a business launch or anniversary, and who opens doors for her friends in any way she possibly can. She is so present, so caring, and so generous with her heart — and she has spent the last 50 years investing in her relationships. And it shows! Because now, she’s got dozens of friends who would literally walk across flaming hot coals to help Liz out if she ever needed help, friends who would bail her out of prison, friends who would stay up until 2am talking on the phone if she needed to cry or vent about anything at all. She’s got friends who SHOW UP for her — because she shows up for them, too.
A lot of women crave what Liz has got. A lot of women yearn for that kind of community, for those kinds of rock-solid, deep, powerful relationships. A lot of women don’t have that, at least, not yet. A lot of women feel pretty lonely.
Women feel lonely and isolated for all kinds of reasons. Maybe for you, it’s because you work at home, and you don’t have any co-workers around you, and you don’t get out as much as you used to. Maybe it’s because you recently moved to a new place and you don’t have many friends there yet. Maybe it’s because you’ve made a big life change — like, you stopped drinking, or you launched a business, and you’ve “outgrown” your old friendships and now you feel alone. Maybe all of the above, or something else.
And then, I know a lot of women who already have amazing relationships in their lives… it’s just that they never seem to have enough time to see friends and stay connected. I hear women say, “I have the best girlfriends. Seriously. They’re the greatest. But I can’t remember the last time we all got together for a girl’s night out. We just never make the time.” Or, “It’s so tough to wrangle everybody’s schedule and get everybody together.” Or, people say to me, “I love my spouse. They’re the best. But somehow our relationship never gets enough time… and we forget to schedule a weekly date night… and we never talk about anything deep, anymore. We just talk about laundry and dinner plans and the kids’ schedules. I don’t why it happens like that, it just does.”
This week, we’re going to shift some of those patterns. This week is all about celebrating love, celebrating friendships, celebrating relationships, and making relationships a true PRIORITY in your life and a BIG source of energy and beauty and pleasure — just like my friend Liz does.
Right now, while you’re listening, I want you to think of three people that you love. Three people who matter to you. Three people who make your life better in some way, big or small. Three people. Visualize their faces. Say their names inside your head. Or better yet, write ‘em down if you’ve got a pen nearby.
Sometime today, I want you to reach out to all three of those people. This doesn’t have to be a big deal. It can be a quick voicemail or a text. Reach out and say something like, “I just wanted to say… I really love you, I think you’re awesome, and I’m so glad we’re in each other’s lives.”
Extra credit, share WHY you love this person so much. Be specific. You could say, “I really love how you get SO EXCITED when it’s watermelon season and you go out and you’re determined to find the biggest melon at the store even though it’s almost too heavy for you to carry home.” Or you could say, “I love how you’re ALWAYS up for a hike or a jog with me, rain or shine. You’re my workout BFF for LIFE. Your presence in my life means so much to me.”
Or maybe today, when you reach out, you could use this moment as an opportunity to open up your heart. Be a little more vulnerable than usual, and invite your loved one to be vulnerable with you, too. You could say something like, “I just want you to know… if you’re ever going through a tough time, or feeling tired, or stressed, or need to vent, or just need someone to listen, please know that my door is ALWAYS open to you. I’m a good listener and I want you to know that you can always reach out to me. Anytime. Day or night.”
That’s your mini challenge for this beautiful Monday — just reach out to three people and share a little piece of your heart. Say hi. Check in. Offer some support or a listening ear. Say I love you. Again, nothing complicated here… and this doesn’t have to take very long. Just do it. It will feel so good to do this.
It’s amazing how something as quick as a 4-sentence text message or a 20-second voicemail can make SUCH A DIFFERENCE in someone’s day. Little acts of connection add up. This stuff matters.
Say YES to relationships. Say YES to making the time, making the effort, making the space to give and receive love. And remember that the best way to GET a friend… is to BE a friend, first.
I will see you online for our classes and challenges and prizes this week, as always. We’re going to talk LOTS more about intimacy and vulnerability and courage and I am SO here for all of it! I’ll see your lovely face online soon. Have a beautiful Monday.
