Today's podcast revisits and builds upon a previous episode that was about when we unconsciously follow a script from the past. However, this topic is expanded today to how we can create new unhealthy scripts or narratives in the present without realizing it is happening. A stressful time can lead to negative self-dialogue that can become a habit. It can create a new procedural memory of how we relate with ourselves. It can even become a way of self-soothing in a very unhealthy way.

Today's podcast focuses on the importance of being able to be honest with ourselves and be able to say we are not okay during times of struggle. More of life sticks to us than we realize. The paradox is that when we can acknowledge we are not presently okay, then we know we will be okay. Denial is costly and far more damaging than we realize.

Today’s podcast offers a brief meditation on certain experiences that drive home the reality that our lives will not always be as they are now. Also, how the most significant moments in our lives are often the ones we take for granted and gloss over. We often proceed in the space of assumptions; assuming there will be time down the road to say certain things, or to ask for forgiveness, or to forgive. However, we know that the only guarantee is now.

Today’s podcast answers a question from someone who is trying to make sense of whether it is them or others that’s the cause of broken family relationships. Sometimes when we are in the face of unreasonable and unhealthy behavior, we can doubt ourselves and begin to even question our own sanity. However, sometimes it can be a little bit of us and sometimes a lot. Today’s podcast discusses being able to discern between the two. Also, as we progress on the healing work and our insight and self awareness grows, we must also make sure that our mercy grows as well.

Today’s podcast helps someone who is navigating a toxic situation in a parish setting. Some feel it is never an option to leave a parish and then there are others who treat leaving a parish too flippantly. A healthy parishioner-parish relationship is sustained by a healthy synergy; where one protects, nourishes, and sustains the other. When that synergy is broken, a change is sometimes needed.

Today’s podcast speaks about how a key component to a peaceful departure from this world is traveling lightly. Specifically in the form of not carrying emotional baggage any longer than we have to. Sometimes, when we have had profound unmet needs, a part of us can linger back at an earlier time, and we can wait a lifetime for something to come around that never will in the form we are seeking. When this happens, it can make our departure from this world much more difficult. Learning when it’s time to turn the page and move on, and how to do that, is the focal point of today’s discussion.

Today’s podcast speaks to the importance of being able to acknowledge and recognize when we’ve had a measured or healthy response to something. Both accountability and mercy are important for spiritual health. The second half of the podcast focuses on being careful what we expose ourselves to on social media. If we were not had an event then we don’t need to insert our ourselves there retroactively by watching traumatic videos of that event. We have to maintain balance both within and without.

Today’s podcast answers a question from someone who is disheartened and confused as to why they keep experiencing powerful triggers and emotional reactions to certain situations when they thought they did all of the healing work. We often don’t realize, that a part of our brain didn’t get the memo, that it’s OK to react differently to things and that we have the power to choose how we respond to something and what we make it to be. Once the heavy lifting of the healing work is done, we have so much more freedom to change the old script we have been following and to write a new one.

Today’s podcast answers a question from someone who’s been through a very difficult ordeal in their parish setting. Often times in these situations, confusion and hurt abound. Knowing when it’s okay to walk away and start new somewhere can be a difficult decision. Traumatic experiences are profoundly disempowering. Part of the healing process is becoming empowered. It’s okay to use God’s gift of free will and follow our dignity.

Today’s podcast is a brief discussion on how traumatic experiences can be passed down. Often those on the healing path have gone to great lengths to make sure their children never experience what they did. However, often to our dismay, we might notice our kids showing the same struggles we did. This is because our painful experiences can get passed down genetically. This can be a painful realization for a parent. However, there are also positives. What is passed down can be changed.