Girl On A Hill

We all want to be liked - but when we need everyone to like us, we put not only our mental and emotional health in danger, but begin to forget the truth about who we are and where our worth comes from. (Spoiler alert - it’s not what other people think of us!) We get honest about the cost of hustling for validation and talk about the traps of people-pleasing and perfectionism that go hand in hand with a need to be liked. We share hard truths, some tips for loving and embracing who you were created to be.

If we’re being honest, most of us don’t just yearn for control - we love it. We’re control freaks who are using the illusion of control as a way to cope with our stress and anxiety - only, it’s backfiring. Our attempts to control everything and yes, everyone - are exhausting, damage our mental health and relationships, and shut down creativity and new possibilities. It’s time to own up to the fact that our way isn’t always the best way and that if we truly want control, we should start with controlling ourselves. We wrap it up with tips and a hard truth about the link between our desire to control our world and our trust in God.

Why is the past so hard to let go of? Why do so many of us struggle to make forward mental and emotional progress? Leaving our past requires us to not only heal old wounds, but to accept change and appreciate the truth of our present circumstances. It’s a challenge, but a process we must work through if we want to grow, have healthy and fair relationships, and if we want to fully embrace who we are and what we have in our right now. We wrap it up by sharing a few helpful tips and the two things you need to actively look for if you truly want to leave your past behind and love your present.

We've all put decisions on hold, kept ourselves from taking risks, and hesitated to put ourselves out there relationally and creatively because we just want to be sure of how things will go. Today we're letting that go because as hard as it is to accept, we can't always be certain. We're getting honest about how control, fear, and anxiety play a part in our need for certainty, talk about allowing a little bit of room for a little bit of maybe in our lives, and share a paradigm-shifting statement about what certainty really is. As always, we wrap up today's pod with tips, and I share a reminder of the one thing of which you can always be certain.

This week, we’re continuing our Letting Go series by dropping our hurtful narratives - those negative thought loops running through our brain. We talk about how that hurtful inner monologue isn’t just keeping us sad and angry - it’s actually making our decisions and changing the direction of our life. We get honest about why these negative thoughts are so hard to shake and share the truth of why we need to start changing them. We’re changing our lives one thought at a time.

We want life to be fair, and most of the time, if we're being honest, we expect it to be. But as long as we're clinging to the idea that life has to be fair to be good, we'll be living a life filled with discontent, resentment, and chronic unhappiness. Today we're acknowledging that we must change what we can and work to accept the rest so we can learn to love our life, even in the midst of situations and circumstances we didn't choose.

Today we’re letting go of our mistakes - releasing the guilt and shame we’ve been carrying so we can move forward in freedom. We dig into what it means to forgive ourselves, but get honest about why forgiving ourselves is so hard. The guilt and the overthinking isn’t working - but there’s hope. We share tips for forward progress, a life-changing Scripture, and some truths that remind us of the abundance of grace available to us if we’d only uncross our arms and accept it.

We talk ourselves out of a lot of things in the name of being cautious or fully prepared when in reality, most of the time, we're just scared. Today we're kicking off our new "Letting Go" series by dropping our need to feel 100% ready before taking action. We're tired of putting our lives on hold while waiting for fear to subside. We get real about the things that keep us from moving forward in faith and share honest tips and truths that can help propel us out of the waiting zone into action. We're talking initiative, living that carpe diem life, and leaning into God's strength as a source of courage instead of waiting for ours to show up.

In the last episode of our "I Want You To Be Happier" series, we dig into just how important and beneficial it is to serve others. We get honest about why we don't help and get real about how things like selfishness, insecurity, and unhealed pain feature in our excuses for not getting involved. We share tips for starting small and stress the importance of serving who you know where you are. We're working to put love into action as we serve our families, neighbors, and communities.

We’ve all heard the advice, “Just be yourself.” So why do most of us spend our lives trying to fit in and be like everyone else? Today, we’re talking about the fear that holds us back from letting our personality shine, leaning into who God made us to be, and embracing what makes us - us.