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What Sustains You When Life Gets Hard · Living & Learning with Aundria McMillan Humphrey

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: hello and welcome this is living and learning
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: with wendria mcmillan humphrey this is episode 26 what sustains you
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: when life gets hard well i can tell you that what has sustained me this morning
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: when this particular recording that i did last week would simply not upload
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: to Substack what sustained me was mindset mastery
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: being absolutely determined, and a sense of stick-to-itiveness until it is done.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, on with the recording! Lately I've been thinking about what sustains us when life
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: gets hard. On Monday my conversation with Amber Chan in the new Visual Conversations
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: the screen froze the technology froze the conversation seemed to disappear
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: into thin air for a moment i didn't know what the audience could see
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  SPEAKER_00: or hear i didn't know if they had vanished if my guest had vanished or
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  SPEAKER_00: if i had vanished there was nothing to do but take a breath leave the studio
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: and come back again and try it again fortunately everything came back to life
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: we finished the conversation shared a few laughs about technology and ended on
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: a high note later as i reflected on the experience i found myself asking
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: a different question altogether what sustains us when life gets hard
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: when things don't turn out the way you expect them to
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  SPEAKER_00: at first i thought there should be one answer but the more i thought about it
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  SPEAKER_00: the longer the list became
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: for me family sustains me knowing that my sons and granddaughters are
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: in my life sustains me knowing that there are people who love me worry
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  SPEAKER_00: about me cheer me on and occasionally rescue me
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: from my technological adventures these things sustain me friends sustain me not just
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: the friends who show up for celebrations but the ones who show up
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  SPEAKER_00: when life gets messy the ones who tend
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  SPEAKER_00: the ones who send a text the ones who listen the ones who remind me who i am
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: when i've temporarily forgotten kindness sustains me both giving it and receiving it
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  SPEAKER_00: a smile from a stranger a thoughtful note an unexpected act
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: of generosity small things perhaps but small things have carried me
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: through many difficult seasons gratitude sustains me
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  SPEAKER_00: not because gratitude makes life's challenges disappear but
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  SPEAKER_00: because it helps me notice what is still here a roof over my head a friend on
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  SPEAKER_00: the phone a beautiful garden connections friendships excellent health
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  SPEAKER_00: and emotional agility meditative tai chi walking
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: when we pay attention life continues offering gifts even
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: on difficult days something else sustains me too
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: my ability to step outside a story that no longer serves me i think this comes
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: with age and experience there was a time when i believed every feel for thought
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: that wandered through my mind now i know better i know
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: that thoughts are not always facts i know that a difficult chapter is not
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: the whole story i know that setbacks are not necessarily failures
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: sometimes we simply need a new perspective sometimes we need to take a breath
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: and ask is the story true or is there another way to see this
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  SPEAKER_00: that ability has sustained me more times than i can count my connection
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  SPEAKER_00: to something larger
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: than myself sustains me call it faith call it spirit call it life's great mystery
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: the older i get the less certain i am about many things and
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: the more comfortable i am with wonder i believe in miracles like the one
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: that just happened so that i could record this for you it is
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  SPEAKER_00: a miracle not necessarily the dramatic kind but i believe in the miracle of healing
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  SPEAKER_00: the miracle of forgiveness the miracle of unexpected friendships the miracle
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: of finding strength we didn't know we possessed
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: life continues to surprise me and that surprise sustains me but
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  SPEAKER_00: if you spent any time
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: with me you know i would be leaving out something very important
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: if i stopped here laughter sustains me in fact i can't believe it took me this long
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  SPEAKER_00: to mention it sometimes when i've been writing for hours and my brain needs
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: a break i'll pull up an old carol burnett show and simply laugh
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  SPEAKER_00: not analyze not study not produce just laugh there is something wonderfully healing
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  SPEAKER_00: about laughter it loosens our grip on worry it reminds us not
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  SPEAKER_00: to take ourselves too seriously and if i'm being honest here some
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: of my biggest laughs come at my own expense i've learned that
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: if you live long enough you'll eventually accumulate a collection of stories
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  SPEAKER_00: that are far funnier in hindsight than they were in the moment
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: thank goodness and yes sometimes what sustains me is surprisingly ordinary
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  SPEAKER_00: a beautiful conversation a walk with a friend a piece of music dancing fresh flowers
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  SPEAKER_00: on the table a great mushroom risotto a plate of fettuccine alfredo and on occasion
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  SPEAKER_00: a shot of mezcal don't even get me started i could go on and on the truth is
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  SPEAKER_00: when i look back over my life i realize that
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  SPEAKER_00: i've never been sustained by one thing alone i've been sustained
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  SPEAKER_00: by tapestry love friendship gratitude laughter purpose wonder resilience kindness
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  SPEAKER_00: faith and countless ordinary moments woven together have carried me forward
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  SPEAKER_00: so perhaps the question isn't simply what sustains us when life gets hard perhaps
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: the question is
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  SPEAKER_00: what are we noticing that sustains us right now from moment to moment
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: because chances are even in the middle of
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  SPEAKER_00: a difficult season something is holding you a person a memory a belief a dream
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  SPEAKER_00: a laugh a moment of beauty a reminder that you are loved and sometimes
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  SPEAKER_00: that is enough to carry us one more step forward
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  SPEAKER_00: so until next time keep noticing let gratitude be your anchor
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: this has been living
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: and learning with aundria mcmillan humphrey thank you for listening and
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: if you've enjoyed these monday moments together
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: as i am enjoying them you can subscribe and have each episode delivered right to you
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: and don't forget to share
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: if you know of anyone who might enjoy these meanderings of mine thank you
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: until next time which will be monday of next week stay open stay curious
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  SPEAKER_00: and stay kind to yourself