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Have you ever thought about the fact that plants not only are healthy for us because of oxygen and beauty, but plants also could teach us something about needing the right environment for really the best growth and about fighting off problems and predators.
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Well, today we're gonna talk about that.
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And I think you're gonna be fascinated.
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Here we go.
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Welcome to Mind Your Midlife, your go-to resource for confidence and success, one thought at a time.
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Unlike most advice out there, we believe that simply telling you to believe in yourself or change your habits isn't enough to wake up excited about life or feel truly confident in your body.
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Each week, you'll gain actionable strategies and, oh my goodness, powerful insights to stop feeling stuck and start loving your midlife.
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This is the Mind Your Midlife podcast.
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Here we are.
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It is another Changemakers episode.
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And today's Changemaker has really done something very cool from a situation that she did not want to happen in her life at all.
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And you know that that hits us in so many different ways.
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For her, it was professional.
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It could be professional, personal, it could be so many different things.
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She has really found something cool.
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So my guest today, Mary Rothwell, is a licensed therapist.
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She is also a podcast host of the podcast No Shrinking Violets.
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And I was a guest on her podcast.
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You can look for the episode called From Complaints to Confidence and go check it out.
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I'll put the link in the show notes.
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She is also a speaker and an author who helps women honor their essential nature and live in alignment with their true purpose and strength from within.
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Now, what we're going to be talking about today is how she went from working in higher education and mental health to launching a book very soon called Nature Knows Growing and Thriving Through the Wisdom of Plants.
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What an amazing transformation.
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I'm excited for you to learn from Mary's experiences.
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Welcome, Mary.
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Thank you for joining me.
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Thanks for having me.
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I'm looking forward to talking.
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I am too.
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I am too.
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And I already know a little bit of your story.
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So I know this is going to be a great conversation.
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So we are here doing a change makers conversation with the idea of really sharing with anyone who's listening that you can make major changes, do what you want to do.
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And it doesn't matter if you're in your 40s, 50s, or 60s at the time you do it.
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So tell us the story of how you ended up doing what you're doing now.
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Okay.
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So it started with something totally unexpected.
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And I think that's some of my when I hear other people's stories, that's like my favorite part because you don't see it coming.
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So I worked in higher education in mental health for probably 32 years.
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And I loved my job.
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I worked at a major university and I was part of the counseling center.
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And I loved young adults.
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It's it was my favorite thing to do.
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And I had a lot of freedom.
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So I got to sort of build programs, but also do individual counseling.
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And I was just in the sweet spot.
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And there was a staff change.
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And what that meant was I had a new supervisor.
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After having someone who was in the field for a long time, he was very respected, was one of those people as a boss that would tell me, like, encourage me to do whatever, do whatever I want.
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He was very encouraging.
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Even if I said I'm going to go stand on the street corner with a sandwich board, he would be like, Well, if you want to try it.
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Just that support was great.
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The change was like whiplash, created a department I didn't recognize.
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And it became a situation where I knew in my body something wasn't right.
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But I think when we encounter situations like this or people like this, your brain is trying to catch up.
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And I think, especially as women, we're like, wait a minute, I must be able to do something different to make this better.
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And when we have somebody in our life that doesn't treat us the way we treat other people, I think we often think that has to be me.
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So it got to the point where it had been months and I started to recognize like I was sick in my stomach, I was getting headaches.
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It was just not good.
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So I just made the choice, I have to leave the job.
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And so what I ended up doing, because I had been in public schools, so I had a good retirement system.
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In that system, you can retire a little bit early and still get an annuity.
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So I decided I'm gonna retire and then I'll figure out what I'm gonna do.
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Well, you know, my whole identity was gone.
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And I also was just in a I was in a situation where I was just ready to get married again.
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So there's a whole other change.
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So a lot of things were shifting.
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Yeah.
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I tried to keep doing what Haya had been doing.
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So tried to find another part-time position at a college, which I did, it was fine, and then kept trying to create a business that in the way that other people did.
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Well, as a therapist, you don't really ever get paid what you should.
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So when you're put in a marketing situation and you know, you're trying to ask people, it was just really uncomfortable.
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It didn't feel right, it was a mismatch.
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So I went through a lot of iterations of what I wanted to do.
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And I think what ended up happening is somebody said at one point to me, you might have to abandon the identity that you had.
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And that was really hard because 32 years as this person.
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Yeah.
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But gradually that's what I did.
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And so now I'm on quite a different path, combining my love of nature and that I understand that if we connect with that part of ourselves, then we just can move into this next phase of just recognizing who we are, because we used to know that before society came in and told us who we should be.
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Looking to, this is gonna sound crazy, but looking to the world of nature and plants to actually help us figure out how to stay well, create boundaries, and all of that.
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So that is the path I'm on, which is so different than where I was three and a half years ago.
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Fantastic.
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Oh, there's like 10 different ways I want to go from that.
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So let's just kind of circle back for just a second on the previous situation because you said a couple of things that I think I want to make sure that people really hear.
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Number one is that it sounds like one person can really make a big difference.
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Unfortunately, this was a negative one.
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And then you trusted yourself to realize it wasn't you, even though you said something along the lines of we often blame ourselves.
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And I I just want to stick with that for just a second because I fully agree with you that when things go wrong or different than we thought, often our first thing is to try to figure out what we did wrong, right?
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Yeah.
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And I imagine it was a challenge for you to get through that or get past that.
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It was a huge challenge because here's the other part of that.
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I think we already know in our body that we're not wrong.
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But we've been so socialized to think, oh, it must be me.
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So what happened was I I sensed it in my body first.
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That's when I started to like dread going to work, feeling sick.
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But what was happening at work is I would keep trying harder.
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And so it was this conflicted message.
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Here's what I want you to do.
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And I was a doer.
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Give me the steps.
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I'm gonna do it.
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I followed the steps.
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And at the end of that, it was, this isn't what I asked for.
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And I was like, I've been successful for 32 years.
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I know that this is not me.
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But at the same time, I kept trying harder and harder to figure out what I should be doing until I realized, like, this is this is insanity to keep staying.
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It was like a treadmill.
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I was never getting anywhere.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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And I actually have a very personal identification with what you're saying because my very first job out of grad school, I had multiple bosses.
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I worked in a firm where there were partners that would lead projects, but the one I always kept getting assigned to, I mean, truly, truly was horrifying.
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And it was the same thing.
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Like I would do what he asked and it would be wrong.
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And then I would do it again however he asked, and it would be wrong.
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And I left that job after about a year and a half.
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And it took me, I would say, years to get over the anger and just the I don't even know what to call it, the stress from that.
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It was really, really hard.
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And I I feel like you're sort of describing the same thing.
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Yeah.
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It took a long time for me also.
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And I will tell you that not that long ago, I had the opportunity to interact with this person, and I intentionally did because I wanted to see what it felt like.
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And I realized I had moved through it because I felt nothing.
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So yeah, you can get there.
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It just, I mean, I went to therapy for sure to process it.
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Yep.
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Very good, healthy choice.
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Absolutely.
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And and so the lesson really is I think we need to trust ourselves.
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And you said you you kind of knew it in your body, and I think we do.
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And then we don't always listen to that gut feeling or you know, whatever, however, we feel it in our body, it's different ways for different people.
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Okay.
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So I was gonna ask you as you were starting to revamp into your current focus on nature, and we'll talk more about that too.
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And you're a podcaster as well.
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What were some of the struggles and the worries that you went through kind of during this change process?
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I think one of the big ones, I had always supported myself my whole life, even in my first marriage.
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He was an organic farmer.
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So I was the one really making the income.
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Well, when you start a business, and for me, I'm gonna say it was floundering, even though I think if you look from the outside, I did a little private practice on the side to kind of keep things going, but I wasn't making the money I was.
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So I think there was a lot of insecurity around that, even though my new husband was like, it's our money.
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And I'm like, but no, I have my own career.
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So I think that was my first struggle.
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And then there's no rule book to have your own business.
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And when I worked for someone else, it was very clear how to be successful.
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When you work for yourself, the competing messages of you have to do this on social media or you have to do this with your email list.
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And all of it felt so disingenuous that I just felt like I was in one of those mazes where you're like, oh, this is the way, and then you hit the wall, and then you turn around and you go, I must have done that 17 times.
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And I think what ended up happening that was if I trusted what I felt, then it worked.
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Also, I think people tend to give you the idea that it happens overnight.
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We see these people that are successful, and that's what we see, but we don't see all the, I'm gonna say failures, because to me, a failure is just a learning experience.
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So I think it was also this idea of if I'm good at this, I should know just how to do it.
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But I never built a business before.
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So there was also a lot of self-judgment.
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Yes, the shooting on yourself.
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I should know how to do it.
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I should be able to build it fast.
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Yes, yes, yes.
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So how did you how did you get through that then?
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Just continually trying, pop, propping yourself up, trying again.
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I think that really was a big part of it, but I will say that my husband was very encouraging because he would be my sounding board.
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He's in the world of business.
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So he never really told me, I think you should do this, but he would listen.
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And at one point, I was trying to build an online course.
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I taught for most of my life as part of my work.
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I can teach.
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Can I build an online course?
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Yeah.
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Do I really want to market that?
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No.
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And he was actually the one that said, the more you talk about this, the more it sounds like it's not what you want to do.
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And so I think that message just sort of kept coming from different directions that if you trust what you're good at and what you like, you're gonna get there.
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And so it was just a matter of kind of whittling off the pieces that I felt were I tried it, didn't work.
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And I think forgiving yourself, because sometimes you buy a course to learn something and you get partway through it and you're like, this isn't helping me.
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As my husband says, that's a sunk cost, right?
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You got to let it go.
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So I think along the way, there was a lot of sort of forgiving myself for running into those walls.
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And because I love to create and I really love to impact the lives of people, I just started to look at these different ways.
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And now I feel like I'm finally on the path that actually leads through the maze.
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So inspiring, really.
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So inspiring.
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I mean, I knew our story was going to feel kind of similar, but I think for every I saw this thing on social media the other day.
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I don't know who shared it, so I can't say who it was, but it said something like every successful woman entrepreneur either has a supportive spouse or partner or doesn't have one.
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And I was like, I guess that's true.
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It does matter.
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It does matter.
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And so the fact that he was supportive of you the whole time and helping you through this is so powerful.
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Yeah, I agree with that because I'm very I'm I'm a person who I like a lot of solitude.
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And like I said, I always sort of made my own way career-wise.
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So it was different for me to have a spouse that was supportive.
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That wasn't my experience the first time.
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So I could see if you had somebody who was questioning your choices, we already question our choices, right?
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So he was just very steady, very consistent, and let me sort of find my way there.
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So I can totally see that if there was no one, it would probably be harder, but you could you would just have to sort of work with yourself or find your peer group.
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Yeah, an unsupportive spouse, I think, or partner would that's sort of a recipe for not being able to get there.
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Yeah.
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I fully agree.
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The other thing that was coming to mind was that you have a little bit of an advantage, maybe, over some of us who are trying to make a change and sort of make our way in in some type of new world, because you do have this mental health and therapy background.
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Because for me, when I left the safety net of always having somebody tell me what to do, which I heard you mention, and I went into now I have to figure it out myself and I have to make goals and I have to get myself to do it and think bigger.
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That was the time when I started looking at self-development and mindset and all of that.
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Before that, I thought all that was ridiculous.
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So I'm thankful for you that you at least had that to fall back on.
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Maybe it made your path a little bit quicker.
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I don't know.
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Well, so in one sense, having being able to sort of have a little private practice on the side and get some income, yes.
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But I don't, I think I would say anybody, mental health therapist, psychologist, everybody struggles with the same mindset issues, the same imposter syndrome.
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So, you know, I think there was still that part of it.
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But yeah, I think having something that right now, especially someone with a license in, you know, counseling, we can we can get an income.
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But I think then it becomes don't for me, it was like, well, don't just do that because you can keep trying to do the next thing and let that just be one of the supports for you.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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I very well said.
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I like that.
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Because you want to do the thing that really lights you up.
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Absolutely.
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And so on that note, you have a book coming out.
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And so tell us a little bit more about what you're doing now, what it looks like, where you're headed.
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Okay.
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So I was a master gardener for 15 years, and I just I am a plant geek.
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I just love it.
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So there was a time when that world and my life as a therapist started to be like one of those Venn diagrams.
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It started to cross more and more because I would see plants struggle and I would start to think about what is it that they're missing?
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So if you have house plants or you look at any even a tree in the landscape and it's not doing well, first of all, you can see that, but you never think, my God, that is a lazy plant.
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It's not trying hard enough.
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But when we think about ourselves, the first thing we do is, as we talked about in the beginning, we blame ourselves.
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So I started to think about this and I started to think more about how we're like plants.
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And the more I thought about it, the more I started to use examples with my therapy clients.
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And after I left my job in the college, my private practice is really women in midlife.
00:20:43.859 --> 00:20:54.579
So this was a very different type of no pun, well, pun intended, soil to kind of fertilize because you could, there were so different analogies I could use.
00:20:54.579 --> 00:20:56.339
So I think it started to resonate with them.
00:20:56.339 --> 00:21:04.819
So if I would talk about light as being, you know, hot and really intense, and that can be sort of like life as an extrovert.
00:21:04.819 --> 00:21:11.459
Like some people really like a lot of that heat or they like a stressful environment because they function better.
00:21:11.459 --> 00:21:16.019
But then there's a shade person where they like kind of coolness, maybe some distance.
00:21:16.019 --> 00:21:17.619
And I think about roots.
00:21:17.619 --> 00:21:27.619
You know, there's all different kinds of roots, and some of them are deep, some of them are shallow, but it they pull in the nutrients if they're healthy, or the soil that we're living in, or the climate.
00:21:27.619 --> 00:21:33.219
You know, you can't plant a plant in a place where the the winter is so cold it kills it.
00:21:33.219 --> 00:21:39.379
But yet we try to survive in these environments that we're not built for that.
00:21:39.379 --> 00:21:52.339
So I just started with all these ideas and came up with this idea of essential nature, because even two daisies or two sunflowers or two ferns, same species, different plant.
00:21:52.339 --> 00:22:00.499
They're gonna they're gonna thrive differently because their genetics have been impacted by whatever their seeds came from.
00:22:00.499 --> 00:22:08.979
So we can look at our family and think they're all thriving doing this job or in this town, and we feel like, what is wrong with me?
00:22:08.979 --> 00:22:11.059
Well, you just need something different.
00:22:11.059 --> 00:22:15.539
So our essential nature comes from who we really are.
00:22:15.539 --> 00:22:22.739
Like when you're a kid, you know what you like until somebody tells you that's weird or what's wrong with you.
00:22:22.739 --> 00:22:29.139
And so that's where our environment comes in that tempers sort of that essential nature we're born with.
00:22:29.139 --> 00:22:42.019
But if we can connect and really think about that, and I do that eight ways in my book, we talk about climate and light and soil, and we also, there's also a couple chapters on pests, you know, insects.
00:22:42.019 --> 00:22:46.659
And how do we then create boundaries in the same way a plant does?
00:22:46.659 --> 00:22:54.179
Because a plant doesn't apologize, it sends out volatile organic compounds which repel the pest.
00:22:54.179 --> 00:22:58.099
It also alerts its friend plants that there's something wrong.
00:22:58.099 --> 00:23:04.259
So the plant world just naturally creates or tries to find a place it can thrive.
00:23:04.259 --> 00:23:13.619
And I think if we can just think more like that or live more like that, we don't need to apologize and we don't need to question why we're made the way we are.
00:23:13.619 --> 00:23:20.499
Then we can just start to really pull what we need from our environment and fully thrive.
00:23:20.499 --> 00:23:24.019
So that's fascinating, truly.
00:23:24.819 --> 00:23:26.099
I love plants.
00:23:26.099 --> 00:23:33.859
And I'm sure if you're listening and you have a house full of plants like I do, all of a sudden your attention is peaked because I have plants in every room.
00:23:33.859 --> 00:23:39.379
I believe plants are really healthy, but I never took it into this metaphor.
00:23:39.379 --> 00:23:40.339
Is that fair to say?
00:23:40.339 --> 00:23:41.379
Where we're sort of looking.
00:23:41.379 --> 00:23:49.219
Looking at ourselves as a living organism that can be learning from all these lessons.
00:23:49.219 --> 00:23:50.419
I'm fascinated.
00:23:50.419 --> 00:24:00.179
How are you incorporating now your book and all of this that you've you've learned and you've created into your business?
00:24:00.339 --> 00:24:01.539
What does that look like?
00:24:01.539 --> 00:24:03.539
Well, the business now is quite different.
00:24:03.539 --> 00:24:12.499
I will be closing my private practice because I don't know if people know, but when you're a therapist, you can only work with people that you're licensed to work with in your own state.
00:24:12.499 --> 00:24:16.099
And I started to build coaching, which I love.
00:24:16.099 --> 00:24:20.579
And so the book is sort of the basis of keynotes.
00:24:20.579 --> 00:24:24.339
Like I do training for corporations and nonprofits.
00:24:24.339 --> 00:24:30.659
And, you know, using this idea, I do workshops where everybody gets a little plant and we sort of use that.
00:24:30.659 --> 00:24:36.019
But also I have a three-month membership right now called Build and Burn.
00:24:36.019 --> 00:24:49.539
And the reason I call it that is because when you when something burns intentionally, like Native Americans would burn prairies, because what allows that to happen then is seeds that were dormant get a chance to grow.
00:24:49.539 --> 00:24:57.539
So if you burn and then build, it's like, let's take out all the things that aren't serving you and then let's build the next thing.
00:24:57.539 --> 00:25:07.379
So I do some coaching, speaking, and of course, once my book comes out, I'm hoping to do just some book tours and talks on that too.
00:25:07.699 --> 00:25:08.979
Fantastic.
00:25:08.979 --> 00:25:13.459
I I didn't know that about dormant seeds.
00:25:13.459 --> 00:25:21.379
I did know that burning is not always necessarily a terrible thing for cropland, but I didn't know how.
00:25:21.379 --> 00:25:22.819
So that makes perfect sense.
00:25:22.819 --> 00:25:24.419
Yeah, absolutely.
00:25:24.419 --> 00:25:25.699
Okay.
00:25:25.699 --> 00:25:30.979
So what is your favorite part about what you're doing now?
00:25:31.459 --> 00:25:39.139
Oh, my favorite part is that it takes people a minute to be like, what are you talking about?
00:25:39.139 --> 00:25:40.019
Like plants.
00:25:40.019 --> 00:25:48.419
And we're, but then when they start to make the connection, what I love about that is I can often see them just expand.
00:25:48.419 --> 00:25:51.619
Like, okay, like I am nature.
00:25:51.619 --> 00:25:54.499
And I also just love nature in general.
00:25:54.499 --> 00:26:02.019
So I think the more we can get people connected to that, the more I think is good for not just us, but the world.
00:26:02.019 --> 00:26:04.979
And I'm actually certified in forest therapy too.
00:26:04.979 --> 00:26:12.819
So I think being out there, even when you talk about your house plants, you know all the chemicals coming off those are so healthy.
00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:14.979
That's one of the we don't even know that.
00:26:14.979 --> 00:26:23.779
So I think the more we can get out of tech, away from screens, back to nature, and connect to just that part in ourselves.
00:26:23.779 --> 00:26:25.299
That is what I love.
00:26:25.299 --> 00:26:30.499
That I'm just doing what I really believe in and I can see that it makes a difference for people.
00:26:30.819 --> 00:26:32.259
That's fantastic.
00:26:32.259 --> 00:26:46.499
And I'm going to take a little swerve here and ask you to tell us a bit more about forest bathing, because I heard this term when I was speaking with someone about grounding, and we were more focused on grounding.
00:26:46.499 --> 00:26:50.579
But forest bathing sounds a bit odd, but it's really not, right?
00:26:51.059 --> 00:26:57.379
No, I think we literally take that term bathing, but think about it as immersion.
00:26:57.379 --> 00:26:59.379
So forest immersion.
00:26:59.379 --> 00:27:11.139
And basically, when you are in nature, and you don't have to go into the middle of the woods, I want to say that first because I think a lot of us now have a little bit of this unease with nature.
00:27:11.139 --> 00:27:17.619
You can find your favorite tree on your way to work or in the park or in your backyard.
00:27:17.619 --> 00:27:20.979
You can start with just putting your hand on the bark of the tree.
00:27:20.979 --> 00:27:33.219
Being connected in your senses, that's a little microcosm of forest bathing because you're starting to connect to a being that goes deep into the earth.
00:27:33.219 --> 00:27:40.019
And the other part of it is if you aren't near a forest, you're already forest bathing, Cheryl.
00:27:40.019 --> 00:27:43.139
You're doing that because you have plants in your house.
00:27:43.139 --> 00:27:54.099
And that is one of the ways you can, quote, do forest bathing if you're in an urban setting, or maybe you have a situation, maybe you're in a wheelchair or you have mobility issues.
00:27:54.099 --> 00:28:03.059
You may not be able to get into the middle of a forest or to a tree, but you can do some of these things because those phytochemicals, you still get the benefit.
00:28:03.059 --> 00:28:22.979
So it's basically being in nature as much as you can be, observing, touching, smelling, like just being in that experience because the research is there's realms of research that it helps ADHD in kids, it helps us focus, it immediate lowers anxiety.
00:28:22.979 --> 00:28:28.259
Even if you have a tree you can see out your window at work, it's going to help your anxiety.
00:28:28.259 --> 00:28:31.219
So there's just so many benefits to it.
00:28:31.219 --> 00:28:37.939
And you can sort of immerse yourself to the degree that you're able or you're comfortable and then build from there.
00:28:38.419 --> 00:28:39.379
That's fantastic.
00:28:39.379 --> 00:28:44.739
And I actually do have a tree right outside my office window that I look at all the time.
00:28:44.739 --> 00:28:45.779
So there you go.
00:28:46.019 --> 00:28:46.579
Yes.
00:28:46.579 --> 00:28:48.739
See, we instinctively do it.
00:28:48.739 --> 00:28:54.179
We just don't know or we think, you know, it's we're so tech oriented now.
00:28:54.179 --> 00:29:02.739
We think nature is like we're gonna get stung by a bee or all these things, but really we are drawn to it if we actually let ourselves recognize that.
00:29:02.979 --> 00:29:03.379
Yeah.
00:29:03.379 --> 00:29:04.019
Yeah.
00:29:04.019 --> 00:29:05.859
And I I think everybody knows.
00:29:05.859 --> 00:29:15.219
Well, I don't know if everybody knows, but I think most people probably know that plants absorb carbon dioxide, they produce oxygen, which is why I know they're good to have inside a house.
00:29:15.219 --> 00:29:20.979
But you're saying they're giving off more compounds as well that are good for it.
00:29:21.219 --> 00:29:21.619
Yes.
00:29:21.619 --> 00:29:23.539
Especially evergreen trees.
00:29:23.539 --> 00:29:30.179
So if you have a choice, there are different phytochemicals that come from like pine trees, evergreen trees.
00:29:30.179 --> 00:29:37.699
But the more you can just be in um a situation where there might be a lot of different species also.
00:29:37.699 --> 00:29:40.179
And again, look at the ground.
00:29:40.179 --> 00:29:41.539
Like look what is down there.
00:29:41.539 --> 00:29:42.579
What are the mosses?
00:29:42.579 --> 00:29:43.859
What are the other things?
00:29:43.859 --> 00:29:50.579
But I think a great place to start is just put your hand on the tree bark and just feel that.
00:29:50.579 --> 00:29:54.899
Some people say you can feel like sort of the energy in that tree.
00:29:54.899 --> 00:29:58.499
And I know that sounds really woo-woo, but we are nature.
00:29:58.499 --> 00:29:59.619
We're all nature.
00:29:59.619 --> 00:30:04.019
And nature does not exist in a vacuum, it's a community.
00:30:04.019 --> 00:30:08.259
And that's why we need community, our hormones, oxytocin.
00:30:08.259 --> 00:30:10.259
We want to create a community.
00:30:10.259 --> 00:30:11.939
So we all need each other.
00:30:11.939 --> 00:30:19.939
And I think it's just that's my tree hugger, granola, nature geek, that you know, just do those things.
00:30:19.939 --> 00:30:27.619
But there is, I love that you're pointing out there's science to it when we can measure the air, and the most basic thing you said is oxygen.
00:30:27.619 --> 00:30:30.099
That's why we want a lot of plants around us.
00:30:30.339 --> 00:30:31.939
Yeah, fantastic.
00:30:31.939 --> 00:30:33.699
And it's just so easy.
00:30:33.699 --> 00:30:39.939
I thank you for making it easy because not everybody can just walk over to some woods and go through them.
00:30:39.939 --> 00:30:41.059
But exactly.
00:30:41.059 --> 00:30:42.259
I love that.
00:30:42.259 --> 00:30:43.299
Okay.
00:30:43.299 --> 00:30:50.899
So, how can people find you online, find out more about your business, and maybe about your book lunch?
00:30:51.219 --> 00:30:55.459
Okay, so right now my website is being totally revamped.
00:30:55.459 --> 00:30:58.019
It's maryrothwell.net.
00:30:58.019 --> 00:30:58.819
Okay.
00:30:58.819 --> 00:31:07.619
And I have, I'll have one there about my burn and build membership and, you know, my speaking engagements and my options for keynotes.
00:31:07.619 --> 00:31:15.939
But if you want to get connected now, if you want to be on my launch team, and what that means is I just periodically send you fun stuff about my book.
00:31:15.939 --> 00:31:20.819
I just sent two cover designs designed by an artist for people to vote on.
00:31:20.819 --> 00:31:23.379
I'll send you audio of my book.
00:31:23.379 --> 00:31:28.659
So that is maryroughwell.net forward slash launch team.
00:31:28.659 --> 00:31:30.499
Perfect.
00:31:30.739 --> 00:31:31.379
Perfect.
00:31:31.379 --> 00:31:34.819
And I love the idea of a launch team for the book.
00:31:34.819 --> 00:31:35.859
That's fantastic.
00:31:35.859 --> 00:31:38.659
I did that when I relaunched the podcast a year ago.
00:31:38.659 --> 00:31:42.979
Had a little team of people who are listening and sharing and all of that.
00:31:42.979 --> 00:31:45.299
So even better to do it with a book.
00:31:45.299 --> 00:31:53.939
Okay, so the last thing that I always ask is the one thing that you really want people to remember.
00:31:53.939 --> 00:31:57.219
Because we all listen to podcasts while doing something else.
00:31:57.219 --> 00:31:58.899
We can't remember everything.
00:31:58.899 --> 00:32:05.619
So, what would you say is really the key thing that somebody listening should take away from this episode?
00:32:06.579 --> 00:32:15.619
I would say the key thing is that you have an essential nature, just like everything in nature, you are nature.
00:32:15.619 --> 00:32:24.259
So the way you were created is unique to you, and you are fine just the way you were created.
00:32:24.259 --> 00:32:29.379
You just need to reconnect to that knowing that you had.
00:32:29.379 --> 00:32:33.539
Like when you were a kid, you knew what you wanted to do, you knew what you liked.
00:32:33.539 --> 00:32:35.219
And it's okay.
00:32:35.219 --> 00:32:39.299
However, you were created, you are just as valid.
00:32:39.299 --> 00:32:43.139
You, your existence is just as important as any other being.
00:32:43.139 --> 00:32:59.379
So I think being able to connect to that and give yourself permission to explore what you truly need, and then live that so that you can thrive either where you are or you will create the environment that you really need to thrive.
00:32:59.379 --> 00:33:00.579
Fantastic.
00:33:00.739 --> 00:33:01.059
Yeah.
00:33:01.059 --> 00:33:02.659
Perfect thing to leave people with.
00:33:02.659 --> 00:33:04.899
Well, Mary, thank you so much for joining me.
00:33:04.899 --> 00:33:06.019
Yes, I loved it.
00:33:06.019 --> 00:33:06.979
Thank you, Cheryl.
00:33:06.979 --> 00:33:08.339
Let's be honest.
00:33:08.339 --> 00:33:12.499
I always love every guest's one thing to remember.
00:33:12.499 --> 00:33:13.859
I always love them.
00:33:13.859 --> 00:33:15.539
And this one I love as well.
00:33:15.539 --> 00:33:35.859
This is an extension of the idea that we, if we really pause and think about it and feel what's going on and listen to the stuff rolling around in our heads, that's what being mindful and paying attention to our intuition is.
00:33:35.859 --> 00:33:46.819
And that doesn't mean we're not going to make a mistake, and it doesn't mean maybe it's not going to work exactly how we thought.
00:33:46.819 --> 00:33:56.419
But trusting ourselves and continually trying what we really feel good about is so powerful.
00:33:56.419 --> 00:33:58.819
And I love that that's what Mary said as well.
00:33:58.819 --> 00:34:03.699
I hope that helps you in where you're headed along your path right now.
00:34:03.699 --> 00:34:29.460
And if you're trying to figure out what's going on in your life, I encourage you to grab my free resource, the story cycle, because if we can understand the emotion we're feeling at any given time, we can kind of go back behind that and figure out what are the thoughts running in our heads that are creating that emotion, then we have the power to adjust if we want to.
00:34:29.460 --> 00:34:32.900
And that's what this starts walking you through.
00:34:32.900 --> 00:34:37.539
So go to CherylPFischer.com slash storycycle if you want to grab that.
00:34:37.539 --> 00:34:39.059
I'll put the link in the show notes.
00:34:39.059 --> 00:34:43.940
And check out Cheryl Pfischer.com slash coaching if you want to take it even a bit further.
00:34:43.940 --> 00:34:52.500
And in the meantime, keep remembering that midlife is your time to take just a little bit better care of yourself.
00:34:52.500 --> 00:34:58.420
Just a little bit better on the inside and on the outside.
00:34:58.420 --> 00:35:00.420
Makes all the difference.
