STUCK or STILL: How Do You Know the Difference?

Being stuck doesn't always mean your whole life has stopped.

Sometimes life keeps moving while one part of you keeps circling the same question.

In Episode 132 of Bounce Back, Black Woman!, Coach Del shares a personal story from her marriage to explore the difference between being stuck and intentionally being still.

She also offers a glimpse into the kinds of questions coaching can bring to moments when you know something needs to change but can't seem to get clear about what comes next.

In this episode:

Your Bounce Back Challenge

Choose one area of your life where you've been waiting and ask:

What's happening inside the waiting?

What is staying here costing me?

You don't have to solve everything. Start by getting curious about the answers.

What's REALLY Holding You Back?

If something is keeping you from where you want to be but you aren't quite sure what it is, take Coach Del's free What's REALLY Holding You Back? assessment.

Visit BounceBackBlackWoman.com or use the link provided with this episode.

Join the Kitchen Table Conversation!

Our next live Kitchen Table Conversation is:

Monday, September 21, 2026

REGISTER HERE (or visit BounceBackBlackWoman.com to register)

Stay Connected with Coach Del

🌐 Website: CoachDel.com

🎙️ Podcast: BounceBackBlackWoman.com (Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms)

📱 Follow on Instagram & TikTok: @BounceBackBlackWoman

💼 Follow on LinkedIn: HERE

Episode 131: Why We Eat, Shop, and Scroll When We're Stressed

You've had a DAY.

You're stressed, lonely, disappointed, overwhelmed—or maybe you simply feel off.

What do you reach for?

Food?

Amazon?

The remote?

Social media?

Work?

A drink?

Or maybe...that person you KNOW you have absolutely no business texting?

In this episode of Bounce Back, Black Woman!, Del explores the everyday ways we reach for comfort—and why the behavior itself may not be the most important part of the story.

Food isn't inherently the problem.

Shopping isn't inherently the problem.

Watching television isn't inherently the problem.

The deeper question is:

What job are you asking that behavior—or person—to do for you?

In This Episode

Comfort vs. Numbing

Comfort says:

"This hurts, and I'm going to care for myself while I'm experiencing it."

Numbing says:

"I don't want to experience this. Give me something that makes it disappear."

Sometimes the exact same activity can be either one.

The question isn't simply what you're doing.

It's the job you're asking it to perform.

A Reminder From This Episode

Sometimes we're trying to remove the solution our brain found without addressing the problem it was trying to solve.

Instead of immediately asking:

"How do I stop doing this?"

Try asking:

"What does this do for me?"

What feeling does it give you?

What feeling does it help you avoid?

What need are you trying to meet?

And is there another way to meet that need without creating another problem?

Faith Reflection

Psalm 46 reminds us to:

"Be still, and know that I am God."

Sometimes stillness is difficult because it creates room for the thoughts and feelings we've been trying not to experience.

Instead of immediately reaching for something to change how we feel, sometimes we can create enough quiet to simply tell God the truth:

I'm lonely.

I'm scared.

I'm angry.

I'm disappointed.

I'm exhausted.

I'm grieving.

I'm overwhelmed.

Stillness doesn't require us to solve the feeling.

Sometimes it simply helps us recognize it.

Bounce Back Challenge

This week, catch yourself reaching.

You don't even have to stop the behavior.

Just pause long enough to ask:

What am I feeling right now?

What am I hoping this will do for me?

Will this comfort me—or am I trying to escape myself for a little while?

Then make your choice.

The goal isn't perfect behavior.

The goal is noticing.

Because awareness creates choice.

Kitchen Table Conversation LIVE

Join us on September 21st for the first Bounce Back, Black Woman! Kitchen Table Conversation LIVE.

This live virtual gathering will create space for honest conversation, reflection, laughter, and connection.

Follow @BounceBackBlackWoman on Instagram and TikTok and visit BounceBackBlackWoman.com for registration information.

I'd love to have you at the table.

Stay Connected with Coach Del

🌐 Website: CoachDel.com

🎙️ Podcast: BounceBackBlackWoman.com

📱 Follow on Instagram & TikTok: @BounceBackBlackWoman

💼 Follow on LinkedIn: @delphinesmith

Episode 130: What REALLY Breaks When Your Heart Gets Broken?

We use the phrase "broken heart" to describe many different kinds of pain.

The death of someone we love.

Divorce.

Infidelity.

The end of a friendship.

Abandonment or estrangement.

Losing a job.

Rejection.

These experiences aren't equivalent—but pain is still pain.

And sometimes the obvious thing we've lost isn't the only thing that needs healing.

In this episode of Bounce Back, Black Woman!, Del explores the less visible things that can be wounded when something—or someone—we counted on is suddenly gone or fundamentally changed.

In This Episode

A Reminder From This Episode

Your pain doesn't have to be the worst pain in the room to deserve your attention.

Someone else's suffering doesn't invalidate yours.

You can have compassion for another person's pain without abandoning compassion for your own.

And healing doesn't require pretending the loss didn't matter.

What REALLY Broke?

Sometimes the answer isn't simply "my heart."

It may have been:

Once you can name what was wounded, you can begin asking what that part of you needs.

Faith Reflection

Psalm 34:18 reminds us:

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

God doesn't require our pain to reach a certain level before it matters.

And faith doesn't always prevent our hearts from breaking.

Sometimes faith reminds us that we aren't alone when they do.

Bounce Back Challenge

Think about something that hurt you—recently or years ago.

Instead of focusing only on what happened, ask:

What did this break or wound in me?

Then ask:

What would rebuilding THIS actually look like?

Choose one small action that could begin tending to that specific part of you.

Because sometimes we keep trying to heal the event.

But the event has already happened.

What we can tend to now is what happened inside us because of it.

Kitchen Table Conversation LIVE

Join us on September 21st for the first Bounce Back, Black Woman! Kitchen Table Conversation LIVE.

This virtual gathering will create space for connection, reflection, honest conversation, and community—the kind of conversation that's difficult to have through a podcast microphone alone.

Registration details are coming soon!

Follow @BounceBackBlackWoman on Instagram and TikTok and visit BounceBackBlackWoman.com to stay connected.

Stay Connected with Coach Del

🌐 Website: BounceBackBlackWoman.com

📱 Follow on Instagram & TikTok: @BounceBackBlackWoman

💼 Follow on LinkedIn: @delphinesmith

Episode 129: The Strong Black Woman: What Does Carrying It ALL Cost You?

Being called a Strong Black Woman can feel like a compliment.

You’re capable. Dependable. Resourceful. You figure things out. At work, at home, in your family and friendships, people know they can count on you.

But what happens when strength stops being something you have and becomes something you believe you must constantly prove?

In this episode of Bounce Back, Black Woman!, Del examines what it can cost us when “I can handle it” quietly becomes “I have to handle everything.”

This isn't about becoming less strong. It's about questioning whether we've defined strength in a way that requires us to carry too much—and recognizing that being capable of carrying something doesn't necessarily mean we should.

In This Episode

A Reminder From This Episode

Competence is not capacity.

You can be completely capable of handling something and still be too physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually depleted to carry it well.

And:

Just because you CAN carry something doesn't mean you SHOULD.

You have already proven you're strong. You don't have to keep exhausting yourself to maintain the evidence.

Faith Reflection

In Exodus 18, Moses tries to carry the responsibility of leading and resolving the people's problems largely by himself. His father-in-law, Jethro, sees what's happening and warns him that the work is too heavy for one person to handle alone.

Moses was capable.

He was called.

He was leading.

And still, the load was too heavy for one person.

Sometimes God's provision isn't giving us more strength to carry everything ourselves.

Sometimes the provision is other people.

Bounce Back Challenge

This week, identify one thing you're carrying that doesn't have to be carried by you alone.

Maybe it's something practical you can delegate.

Maybe it's an emotional burden you need to share with someone you trust.

Maybe it's asking your partner, friend or family member for help instead of waiting for them to notice.

Maybe it's paying for help if you have the resources.

Maybe it's simply allowing something to remain undone.

And before you automatically say, “It's easier if I just do it myself,” ask:

Easier for whom—and at what cost?

The goal isn't to prove you can carry everything.

The goal is to build a life in which you don't have to.

Kitchen Table Conversation LIVE

On September 21st, we're taking the Kitchen Table Conversation LIVE!

This virtual gathering will be an opportunity to connect, reflect, and have the kind of honest conversations that are difficult to have through a podcast microphone alone.

More details—including registration information—are coming soon.

Save the date: September 21st.

Stay Connected with Coach Del

🌐 Website: BounceBackBlackWoman.com

Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms

📱 Follow on Instagram & TikTok: @BounceBackBlackWoman

💼 Follow on LinkedIn: @delphinesmith

Episode 128: Too Busy? Why It's Time to Rediscover What You Enjoy

When life gets full, the things we do simply because they bring us joy are often the first things to disappear.

Sometimes that's because life became painful. Sometimes it became demanding. And sometimes life became full of genuinely good things—careers, relationships, children, businesses, responsibilities and opportunities.

But when was the last time you asked yourself:

What do I actually enjoy doing?

In this episode of Bounce Back, Black Woman!, Del explores why enjoyment deserves a place in an intentional life—even when it produces absolutely nothing.

You'll hear about:

A reminder from this episode:

You don't have to be good at everything you enjoy. And you don't have to make money from everything you're good at.

Faith Reflection

Ecclesiastes 3:12–13 (NLT) reminds us that enjoying the fruits of our lives and our labor can itself be a gift from God.

Bounce Back Challenge

Do one thing this week simply because you enjoy it.

It doesn't have to make you better.

It doesn't have to make you money.

You don't have to share it.

And you don't have to be good at it.

Enjoyment is reason enough.

Stay Connected with Coach Del

🌐 Website: CoachDel.com

🎙️ Podcast: BounceBackBlackWoman.com

📱 Follow on Instagram & TikTok: @BounceBackBlackWoman

💼 Follow on LinkedIn: @delphinesmith

"If they would just listen to me..."

Whether it's a spouse, best friend, sibling, parent, or adult child, watching someone you love make choices you don't understand can be incredibly frustrating—especially when you believe you can see exactly what they should do differently.

But what if the answer isn't finding a better way to "fix" them?

In this episode of Bounce Back, Black Woman!, Del explores what we really mean when we talk about wanting to fix someone we love—and the important difference between recognizing genuinely destructive behavior and simply wanting someone to make the choices we would make.

And that's where the conversation shifts from fixing them to understanding your choices.

You can decide how you communicate.

You can decide what support you're willing to offer.

You can establish boundaries.

You can decide what behaviors you will participate in.

You can choose your proximity.

And sometimes, you can decide whether to stay or go.

You may not get to choose whether they change. But you do get to choose your proximity to what they're choosing.

Loving someone deeply doesn't require taking responsibility for becoming the author of their life.

Galatians 6:5 (NLT) reminds us:

"For we are each responsible for our own conduct."

We can help carry one another's burdens without assuming responsibility for one another's choices. Sometimes faith means doing what love requires of you—and trusting God with what belongs to them.

Think about someone you love whom you've been trying to help, change, rescue—or maybe even "fix."

Ask yourself:

Did they actually ask me to solve this?

What part of this situation genuinely belongs to me?

What choice is mine to make now?

Maybe it's listening instead of advising. Maybe it's asking a better question. Maybe it's establishing a boundary. Maybe it's offering help and allowing them to decide whether to accept it.

Whatever the answer, remember:

Their choices belong to them. And yours belong to you.

🌐 Website: CoachDel.com

🎙️ Podcast: BounceBackBlackWoman.com

📱 Follow on Instagram & TikTok: @BounceBackBlackWoman

💼 Follow on LinkedIn: @delphinesmith

What does it really mean to bounce back?

For many of us, the goal after heartbreak, disappointment, loss, or failure is to get back to who we used to be. But what if that's the wrong goal?

In this concluding episode of the five-part series on Awareness, Connection, Compassion, Courage, and Resilience, Coach Del offers a different perspective. True resilience isn't about returning to your former self—it's about carrying forward the wisdom, strength, faith, and perspective you've gained through every challenge you've faced.

Because every difficult season leaves something behind.

Not just pain.

But wisdom.

Not just tears.

But perspective.

Not just loss.

But strength.

That's what it REALLY means to bounce back.

"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation."

Romans 5:3–4 (NLT)

Think about one difficult season you've already survived.

Instead of asking,

"Why did this happen to me?"

Ask,

"What did this season teach me?"

Write down three things you're carrying forward because of that experience—whether it's wisdom, stronger boundaries, deeper faith, compassion, or courage.

Don't leave those gifts behind.

Carry them into every chapter that comes next.

Because that's what it REALLY means to bounce back.

🌐 Website: CoachDel.com

🎙️ Podcast:

What does it really mean to bounce back?

For many of us, the goal after heartbreak, disappointment, loss, or failure is to get back to who we used to be. But what if that's the wrong goal?

In this concluding episode of the five-part series on Awareness, Connection, Compassion, Courage, and Resilience, Coach Del offers a different perspective. True resilience isn't about returning to your former self—it's about carrying forward the wisdom, strength, faith, and perspective you've gained through every challenge you've faced.

Because every difficult season leaves something behind.

Not just pain.

But wisdom.

Not just tears.

But perspective.

Not just loss.

But strength.

That's what it REALLY means to bounce back.

"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation."

Romans 5:3–4 (NLT)

Think about one difficult season you've already survived.

Instead of asking,

"Why did this happen to me?"

Ask,

"What did this season teach me?"

Write down three things you're carrying forward because of that experience—whether it's wisdom, stronger boundaries, deeper faith, compassion, or courage.

Don't leave those gifts behind.

Carry them into every chapter that comes next.

Because that's what it REALLY means to bounce back.

🌐 Website: CoachDel.com

🎙️ Podcast: BounceBackBlackWoman.com (Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms)

📱 Follow on Instagram & TikTok: @BounceBackBlackWoman

💼 Follow on LinkedIn: @delphinesmith

(Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms)

Episode Summary

Compassion changes how we see people. Courage changes what we do next.

In this episode, Coach Del explores why compassion and courage aren't competing virtues—they're complementary ones. While compassion helps us understand the stories behind people's behavior, courage empowers us to respond with truth, healthy boundaries, responsibility, and faith.

Through practical examples and personal reflection, you'll discover five places where courage consistently shows up in our lives: relationships, self, career, money, and faith. Because every meaningful chapter of life eventually asks us to step into the unknown.

And while fear may always be present...

it doesn't have to make the decision.

In This Episode, You'll Discover

Faith Reflection

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."

2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

This Week's Bounce Back Challenge

Identify one place in your life where courage has been replaced by comfort. Ask yourself, "What's the next courageous step?" Then take that one step this week. Remember, courage isn't built in one giant leap—it's built one faithful step at a time.

Stay Connected with Coach Del

🌐 Website: CoachDel.com

📱 Follow on Instagram & TikTok: @BounceBackBlackWoman

💼 Follow on LinkedIn: @delphinesmith

Episode Summary

In a world that often encourages quick judgments and short tempers, compassion invites us to slow down and look deeper.

This week, Coach Del explores why everyone is carrying something—even if we can't see it. Through relatable stories and biblical wisdom, you'll discover how compassion allows us to respond with both grace and truth, without sacrificing healthy boundaries or personal responsibility.

Whether it's a struggling family member, an overwhelmed spouse, a child making poor choices, someone experiencing homelessness, or even the person who unintentionally hurt you, compassion begins when we choose curiosity over assumptions.

In This Episode, You'll Discover

Faith Reflection

"Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience."

This Week's Bounce Back Challenge

The next time someone frustrates you, pause before reacting. Ask yourself, "What might they be carrying that I can't see?" Let that question shape your response, and see what changes—not just in them, but in you.

Stay Connected with Coach Del

🌐 Website: CoachDel.com

📱 Follow on Instagram & TikTok: @BounceBackBlackWoman

💼 Follow on LinkedIn: @delphinesmith

Episode Summary

Many of us have been praised for being independent, capable, and strong. But somewhere along the way, we may have started believing we have to carry every burden alone.

In this episode, Coach Del explores why meaningful connection is essential for healing, growth, and resilience. You'll discover the difference between healthy solitude and unhealthy isolation, why asking for help isn't weakness, and how community can help us navigate both life's celebrations and its hardest seasons.

If you've been trying to do life on your own, this conversation is your reminder: you were never meant to carry it alone.

In This Episode, You'll Discover

Faith Reflection

"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble."

This Week's Bounce Back Challenge

Take one intentional step toward connection this week. Reach out to someone you've been meaning to call, ask for help if you need it, or encourage someone who may be carrying more than you realize. Remember, healing isn't meant to happen in isolation.

Stay Connected with Coach Del

🌐 Website: CoachDel.com

🎙️ Podcast: BounceBackBlackWoman.com (Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms)

📱 Follow on Instagram & TikTok: @BounceBackBlackWoman

💼 Follow on LinkedIn: @delphinesmith