My five year old daughter recently asked me why sometimes we ask God for things and she doesn’t give them to us (I secretly love that she refers to God as female, even though we’ve never gendered God in our house). 

As I processed the answer to her question — and thought about all the things I’ve wanted in my life but never gotten — I recorded this episode. 

This episode is an in-real-time, thinking-out-loud kind of an episode. More of a “questions” kind of episode than an “answers” kind of episode. 

But maybe, as I talk out loud to myself about what it means to want something and not have it, you’ll hear something that resonates with you that you can take with you on your own journey of wanting and not having. 

What do you want that you don’t (yet) have? 

The answer to that question might be a powerful invitation on a journey that will change your life forever.

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

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When life is confusing and you don’t have the answers, what is your first response?

Do you get tied into knots trying to figure it out? 

Or are you comfortable with the open-ended nature of things?

Last week I unpacked the power of “I don’t know” and this week I’m continuing the conversation about how life improves when you let it be ok that you don’t know.

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Human beings don’t deal well with uncertainty, which is why a mystery draws you in and why a cliffhanger on a TV show can keep you watching well past your bedtime. 

Your brain is wired for answers. 

Yet life is full of uncertainty. So how do we manage this tension? 

When a story is unfolding and you wonder, “how will this end?” Or when the big questions of life go unanswered and you lie awake wondering, Who is God? What am I here for? What does all of this mean? 

How do we handle not knowing? 

In today’s episode, I want to share a practice I’ve been using that is helping me live with the inevitable uncertainty of life. 

But I’m not just living with it. I’m using it as leverage to unfold into the fullness of myself. 

Check out the episode and I’d love to hear what you think.

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if your life was meant to feel good?

I don’t mean that in a “if you can dream it, you can do it!” kind of a way as much as I mean… what if your life—as it is—was meant to be pleasurable? 

What if you could learn to slow down enough to see every single day, every breath, every new opportunity, every inconvenience, every hiccup, even every heartbreak as an absolutely gripping reminder that you get to be here and to experience this?

If you’re like me, it’s not always easy to get there. 

But I think it’s worth a try, don’t you? 

Come along with me on today’s episode where I discuss this very topic and invite you to practice with me: going slow and finding pleasure in everything.

 

The two books I mention are below: 

Fawning by Dr Ingrid Clayton (Link HERE)

A Rebellion of Care by David Gate (Link HERE)

 

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

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When you’re in the middle of your story and it appears that no resolution is on the horizon, it’s easy to assume that you must be doing something wrong. 

Maybe if you were stronger, wiser, or more "positive" you would be able to find a solution and bring your story to resolution. 

But what if the point of the story is not to resolve the story?

What if the unresolved, chaotic, painful middle of a story is exactly where you belong? 

In today’s episode I’ll talk about our very human impulse to relieve the pain and pressure of our stories, to find resolution, and I’ll also explore what happens when we allow the middle of the story to be exactly what it is: confusing, unsettling, upsetting and painful. 

Are you in the middle of a story?

What would it be like to soften into the middle and let it change you? 

Book mentioned: When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you ever get the feeling like you’re telling the same story over and over again? The details may change (new boss, new partner, new hometown) but the cycle of the story stays the same. In today’s episode I talk about what to do when you seem to be stuck in the same frustrating story on repeat. I’ll share my own experience with finding myself in this rut and talk about how to move when you’re ready to finally make an edit. 

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever felt derailed by failure in your life? 

Perhaps it was the end of a relationship, the loss of a job, a public embarrassment, or a mistake that cost you more than you felt ready to lose. 

Or maybe you don’t experience failure much. It’s possible you tiptoe around failure, making sure that you’re never too far out on a limb so as not to fall. 

In that case, you might feel blocked or stuck, too insulated to experience failure but too protected to receive real freedom or joy. 

In today’s episode I talk about failure: why we avoid it, how we survive it, and how to make meaning of failure in our lives. I normalize it, de-stigmatize it, and invite you to do something that might feel counterintuitive to you; to move toward failure, rather than away. 

What might failure be trying to show you in your life right now?

 

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

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What do disciplining a child, teaching preschool and taking good care of yourself have in common?

The answer might surprise you. 

This week’s episode is inspired by a parenting technique that seemed too simple to actually work. But as soon as I watched this alarmingly unsophisticated tactic have wild success with my four and five year olds—and their friends—I had to ask myself: maybe there’s value in even the adults taking a break?

How long should the break be? Why is this straightforward tool so powerful?

Perhaps it has to do with putting us back in touch with our higher selves, our creative nature, our intuitive voice. 

To learn how taking a short break can combat burnout, calm big emotions and get you unstuck (and even how it can bring order to unruly preschoolers) take a listen and let me know what you think.

Where do you need to take a break?

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you ever feel an inherent tension between the pull of your creative passions and the need to pay for groceries? 

When you think about developing the more creative parts of your life and yourself, do you get stuck worrying if it's selfish, entitled, or unwise to give into these desires? 

Do you feel that your spirit gets deadened or dulled sometimes by the monotony of day to day living? 

Do you sometimes settle for following “rules” that you believe will get you stability, security and ultimately a happy life?

How is that going for you? 

In today’s episode, I unpack the topic of creativity and joy by asking questions more than providing answers. I challenge you to think critically about what it means to be a creative being, what happens when we abandon our true creative nature, and what becomes possible when we embrace our creative selves fully. 

Here’s my previous episode on the rise of AI - Click HERE to listen!

And the episode I mention about thriving in all areas of your life - Click HERE to listen!

 

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than a year ago, someone recommended I read the memoir called How to Stay Married by Harrison Scott Key. It reminded them, in some ways, of my memoir from 2017 about a marriage crisis, called Indestructible.

It took me more than a year to hit “play” on the audible file, but by the time I started it, I also finished in a matter of a few days. 

The speed at which I consumed the book, however, does not necessarily reflect how I felt about the story. There are certain elements that must be present in a narrative in order for it to feel complete. I detail these in my book, Write Your Story and teach the framework in my workshops by the same name. 

Some of these elements were, in my honest opinion, missing from this text.

 

Sign up for a yoga class taught by Ally for free on the MindBody app. 

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.