Latest / Why Not Today? with Leslie Kane / Why Not Today? Season 1 - Episode 23 with Tammra Hellemn, RN BSN works as a Quality Assurance Manager for Aveanna Healthcare

Transcript

Why Not Today? Season 1 - Episode 23 with Tammra Hellemn, RN BSN works as a Quality Assurance Manager for Aveanna Healthcare · Why Not Today? with Leslie Kane

• 0:00
  Hi, my name is Leslie. I am the host of the Why Not Today podcast. This is a podcast where
• 0:07
  we celebrate people who have been courageous and said, Why not today? I started this podcast
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  in honor of my father, Patrick Kaye, who often said, Why not today? I'm based in Reston,
• 0:18
  Virginia, a planned community right outside of Washington, DC, and thanks for joining
• 0:22
  us today. And I'm excited to have my guest today and it's Tamara Hellam, who is a friend
• 0:28
  of mine, known her for several years, but she's been doing some fun things, being courageous.
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  So as she's been sharing her story and what she's doing, I'm like, you need to be a guest
• 0:38
  on my podcast. So before I start, I always like to talk about connections. You just never
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  know where you're going to meet somebody. So this podcast is not about Mary Kaye, and
• 0:46
  somebody pointed out one time, but that seems to be my world. So Tamara and I actually,
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  we did meet because of Mary Kaye. She is a Mary Kaye consultant and we met at some conferences
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  and then she lives in Florida. So I was privileged in the last couple of years to spend time.
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  I think we spent time together every year for a while because I went there myself and
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  then with my mom and sister and I went there since 2020 several times. And so you build
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  those relationships and connections with people. And Tamara has been a great friend. And as
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  I said, she's been doing some cool things. So Tamara, let's, would love to hear from
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  you. And before we go into your story and everything, tell us a little bit about you
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  and fascinating fun facts that somebody might not know.
• 1:33
  Okay. Well, first of all, I just want to thank you so much for having me on your podcast
• 1:37
  today. Like Leslie said, we met through Mary Kaye, we were in leadership together and we,
• 1:43
  I have to give some kudos and props to Leslie because Leslie is my fun friend. We found,
• 1:47
  we met through a mutual friend who claimed that I stole her, but I did not. We're all
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  really good friends now. And she's my adventure buddy. And we have traveled together and done
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  crazy and fun things. And I like to surround myself by balcony people, people who pull
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  you up. And Leslie is one of those people, Leslie, you make me better. So I just thank
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  you for that.
• 2:07
  You are welcome.
• 2:08
  Yeah. So, okay. So a little bit about me. I do live in Florida. I live in sunny Bradenton,
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  Florida, which is just south of Tampa on the West coast. I'm a Jersey girl. I'm originally
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  from New Jersey. I will always be a Jersey girl at heart, but I love the Florida lifestyle.
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  So yeah. So honestly, Snow TV is great and it's good to stay there. Professionally, I'm
• 2:28
  a registered nurse and I work from home as a quality assurance manager, which sounds
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  very boring, but it's actually interesting to me. So we're from home health company.
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  Personally, I'm an entrepreneur. I run a successful drug sales business like Leslie. I'm also
• 2:44
  a full-time caregiver for a family member who's going through a health crisis and fun
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  facts. Let's see. I love to travel. I've learned to scuba dive, belly dance. And while I was
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  building my business, my team and I earned seven company cars, which is something kind
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  of fun and cool. So that is awesome. Congratulations. Yeah. And you know, I love that you're a registered
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  nurse and that got you to Florida. And then you, because you were a traveling nurse and
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  fell in love with it and stayed and then discovered your direct sales business and pursued that
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  and left nursing and then went back to nursing and been able to do both at the same time,
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  which I love that, you know, this is something we can do alongside things and teach us. I
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  know you've mentioned many times what you learned in Mary Kay has helped you with the
• 3:30
  other jobs. So this podcast about courage and giving people hope and people being able
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  to say, you know, me too. And, and do the things they're kind of afraid to do. So first,
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  before we start talking about your story, tell me what the word courage means to you.
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  Courage to me means stepping outside of your comfort zone and doing things that are uncomfortable,
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  but stretch and grow you. And I would say that courage takes faith. It's not always
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  loud faith though. Sometimes it's the kind of faith that moves you. It's a quiet faith.
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  It just moves you to take the first step because that's the most courageous step. And then
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  you just have to trust God for the rest.
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  Absolutely. Totally agree. It's interesting. Everybody's got their own definition of faith
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  of courage and it kind of circles around the same thing, but it's always a little different.
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  One of the projects I have on my to do list this week is create courage cards with everybody's
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  definition of courage to be able to share and encourage each other. So, all right. So
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  what have you done in your life that took courage? And I don't know if you want to
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  pull some things from the past or just what we've been talking about recently with living
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  your life and vision and your health and fitness and...
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  Couple things.
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  Let's talk about all those things. And I thought those would be a perfect episode to talk to
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  you now. This episode will air on December 24th of 2022. And as we wrap up the end of
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  the year, so those of us that are goal oriented, we wrap up the end of the year, we kind of
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  start looking at things in the new year. And I know we've been trained a lot about goal
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  setting and visions and manifesting things. And so I think this is a great topic and I
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  know you're going to talk about fitness a little bit too, a great topic to kind of end
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  the year and start have people start thinking of things for the new year. So share some
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  courage stuff with us.
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  Okay. Well, I did kind of dig a little deep because that's kind of a broad question. Like
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  what have you done in your life that takes courage? Well, I mean, I'll give you a couple
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  examples. When I was young, I put myself through nursing school. I have made unpopular decisions
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  throughout my life to change careers or employers at times where it didn't necessarily make
• 5:43
  sense on paper, but they were the best choices for me. So I followed my heart and my own
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  vision. What else did I do? I recently applied for and was accepted to pursue my master's
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  degree, which is something I have now doing at one of the busiest and most unlikely times
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  in my life. But again, you kind of got to dig deep and I realized that this is something
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  that's been on my heart for a long time and why not now? I also, also, go ahead.
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  Let's talk about that for a minute. So I know a couple months ago, you said that you need
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  to start living and you did a vision board. I did things that are on your vision board
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  are coming to fruition and you did it not even that long ago. And I think you said two
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  out of the three things on there have already manifested. Talk about your education piece
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  and how that kind of happened and manifested and from the vision board to, I think there
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  were a lot of God-wing coincidences, things that just had to line up exactly right.
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  Yeah. Okay. So I kind of had a revelation, I would say probably about six, seven months
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  ago, just one of those moments, you know, where you get quiet and you realize, you just
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  realize some things. And I realized that I think the pandemic changed all of us. I went
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  through a lot of things personally and professionally that just caused me to pause or things to
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  change. And without realizing it, I had stopped setting goals. And I've always been a goal
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  oriented person. I think that time, like Leslie said, I know this podcast is not about Mary
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  Kay, but being in business in a direct sales business, it did teach a lot about goals and
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  I learned how to set them. It became part of my life. And so, I think too with COVID,
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  we went into survival mode, like, okay, how am I going to survive this? And we stopped
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  dreaming and stopped setting goals and stopped paying attention to our vision because we're
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  just trying to survive. Yeah. And that's very true. And the more people that I talked to,
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  the more I realized that's been a commonality. But you know, I could tell you, I could tell
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  you what's going on in Virgin River on Netflix, but I couldn't tell you about my goals. And
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  so it was just time. And so, you know, I kind of went old school. It's been a while since
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  I've done a vision board, but if you've never done one before, it's a very cool exercise
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  to do. I remember the first time I ever made one, I thought it was stupid. I went kicking
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  and screaming like, why am I cutting out these pictures of things?
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  That's what a vision board is. And obviously I know it.
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  Yeah. Well, a vision board or some people call it, you know, like a goal poster, a vision
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  board is really, it's actually there's, there's neuroscience behind it. I'm having a healthcare
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  background. I like science and all that stuff, but your brain cannot tell the difference
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  between what's perceived and what's real. And so when you take those things visually
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  and you put them out there and you look at them, it actually helps you manifest them
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  because you will work towards them. And so what I realized is that I needed something
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  new and visual. I needed to take old stuff down. I needed to put new stuff off. And I,
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  it gave me, I gave myself permission to think about what was important to me and what would
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  make a difference now. And so in doing so, there were a couple of things I put on there
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  that were self care related, because it's very important for me in my life, right? At
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  this moment, I think it's important for all of us, but especially it's something I have
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  recognized they need to be mindful of. And so I put them on there and that's where my
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  fitness came, came from. I've always enjoyed being outside. It's not like I just woke up
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  and started exercising. I've always exercised, but I used to have specific fitness goals
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  and I had gotten away from those.
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  Well, and you, you in the last couple of years have become a caregiver. As you mentioned
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  with health issues. And I know what I've seen with health, with healthcare or caregivers
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  is you put caregivers usually put themselves last and helping everybody else. So what I
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  admire about you is you finally decided like, I got to live my life and take care of me.
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  It's that whole airplane adage, you know, put them oxygen mask on yourself before you
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  do something else.
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  Yeah, absolutely. And that's really important. It's really easy for, I think women too, especially
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  not to, to be whatever gender specific, but we're kind of designed that way. You know,
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  whether you're a mom or whether you professionally are in a role where you take care of people
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  or whether you're taking care of aging parents or a spouse or a friend or whatever, but it's
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  easy to, to, to push yourself last. And actually if you, it's not selfish to put yourself first,
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  because when you do, you, you're then able to give the best of yourself to those around
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  you. And so I put that on my poster and then in doing so, I realized I need some other
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  tangible goals and things that were not so big that I couldn't obtain them, but that
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  stretched me. And so it had been since 2019 that I had run a race. I'd actually had picked
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  up running six years ago. I had a personal trainer that taught me how to do it. And I
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  went kicking and screaming because I said, I'd never do this, but I realized once she
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  said your goal oriented and this will give you something to, to track. And I think it
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  would be very good for you. Well, I, I found that I actually liked it. And so, but I put
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  it down. And so again, it was one of those things I thought, you know what, this is tangible.
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  Like I remembered, I went back to that place that when I put those shoes on and I had a
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  race and I had something that I was working towards that, that gave me a win. And it was
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  something I could work on along the way. So I put a, I put a race on my, on my poster.
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  And then the other thing that I, there's a couple other things that are on there, but
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  the one big thing that just came out while I was looking at things. And when you create
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  these vision boards, again, you're cutting out pictures, you're, you might pick words
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  that apply to you. And so I had just kind of started, I kind of made a list of what
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  was important to me. And then I started looking for pictures that, that spoke to me. And so
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  when I did that, what was interesting was that I had kind of dug deep and thought about
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  the fact that once upon a time I wanted to go get my master's degree in nursing. But
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  again, as Leslie said, I had changed careers. And so I had put that down for a while. My
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  entire focus of my career has changed because I'm now no longer at the bedside. I've developed
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  a different skillset. And so what's available now that has evolved as well. And so that
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  came back on the table, like, wow, I, you know, I'm in a different place now. My life
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  is different. I work at home. Like I might be able to do this. Why, like, why not today?
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  So I put it on there, but not, it was kind of in the periphery. It wasn't something that
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  was going to happen right now, but that's kind of the power of your, your vision board
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  because things started to, to come up and made me think about it. And so it's almost
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  like being a woman. Like I remember when green was like the color of the season and I had
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  this green purse and I never really paid attention to green purses before until all of a sudden
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  I had one and everybody had a green purse and I could see it everywhere.
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  How they're reticular activating. Yes. And often or often kind of associated with like
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  red cars. Like if you're looking for a red car, all of a sudden you see red cars everywhere.
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  So if you're looking, if something's in your, in your brain and your reticular activating
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  system, all of a sudden you start seeing it and it starts manifesting. Yeah. So that's
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  kind of what, that's kind of what happened with the whole, with the whole education thing.
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  So, but it's not really a likely time. Like if you, it'd be very easy for me to say, well,
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  now it's not the season and I've done that for a long time, but why, why not? I know
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  you kind of did some, like it kind of came out of nowhere, like very quickly. So you
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  put it on your vision board, which was maybe a month ago, two months ago, two months ago.
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  Yeah. And then it started showing up. So you applied. I applied. I had a conversation.
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  I had a conversation and then I started to look into it some more. And then what I realized
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  is sometimes what we tell ourselves versus what's real are two different things. And
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  the more that I investigated it, I realized it was obtainable because it was something
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  I could, I could set a goal kind of like my fitness and work at it at bite-sized pieces
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  and make it manageable for me. So the thing about setting goals is you want to set something
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  that, that stretches you, but something that you could still, that you still have the passion
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  and the wherewithal to, to devote the time and energy to it. Cause otherwise you'll just
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  be frustrated. And what I recognize like with this, I could, you know, it was one class
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  at a time every eight weeks for a year and a half. And I thought I can do that. Right.
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  And then, you know, you found the school and you applied and pretty quickly you got in
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  like a week later, maybe week, like a week and a half. I mean, it just, it just moved.
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  Yeah. And then you said you talked to your boss and they're on board with it. Yeah. Yeah.
• 14:43
  So very supportive. Are you getting scholarships? Have you figured that out? Are they providing?
• 14:48
  No, no, there, there's, I mean, different employers have tuition reimbursement. I'm
• 14:53
  looking into that, you know, which is a possibility, but even so, you know, it just, things are
• 15:00
  just starting to align, which is, which is very, very cool. Yeah. Yeah. Excited for you.
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  You start in March, March. Yes. March. And that's the thing. That's, that's my, I'll
• 15:09
  talk about that a little later, but that's my, my goal is to start in March. The college
• 15:14
  kept saying January and I kept saying, no March, you know, so you set your goals are
• 15:18
  your goals. So you, you want to, you want to make them, you don't want someone else
• 15:23
  to change what's best for you. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And you know, often too, we look at
• 15:29
  things in life that we want to do complete start around those zero birthdays. And I know
• 15:34
  you have a zero birthday coming up. My goal when I got my master's degree was to finish
• 15:40
  by the time I turned 30, which I finished two months after I had my 30th birthday. And
• 15:46
  ironically started my Mary Kay business the year I turned 30. Also, so those zero birthdays,
• 15:52
  you start thinking, okay, how do I want, you know, all birthdays are beginning of the year.
• 15:55
  We kind of evaluate our life, but I think those zero birthdays, as we get up to higher
• 16:00
  zero birthdays, we start looking at, okay, what do I want my life to look like? And I
• 16:04
  think after COVID, I think it's a good time to evaluate. So as we end the year and look
• 16:09
  into the new year, like spend some quiet time. And if Tamara and I were just talking beforehand,
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  one of the things I'd like to do with, then they're all week is to do some planning, reflecting
• 16:20
  and goal setting. But I had to get rid of some of the clutter first before kind of had
• 16:24
  to clear the decks of all the loose ends before I could start. And I do want to do a vision
• 16:28
  board because like, Tamara, I haven't done one in a while. I actually had one up for
• 16:32
  years. And it's a bulletin board that says dream in the middle. And I had all these pictures
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  posted. And last year at some point, I just took them all down. It's just been empty.
• 16:42
  Like it's time to look at what those things are. And that gives you hope. Yeah, yeah,
• 16:48
  it gives you hope. And that's one of the things I want this hotline to do or hotline, this
• 16:52
  podcast to give people hope. And one of the subjects I would love to have if somebody
• 16:57
  listening wants to share about is, you know, it's kind of talked about a little bit with
• 17:02
  you, but the role of a caregiver, and what that looks like. And as we are getting older,
• 17:08
  the kind of world I'm swirling in, there's a lot of discussion about elder care, what
• 17:13
  does that look like? Some subjects to kind of talk about that a lot of us are in that
• 17:18
  boat to give people hope. So okay, so let's go back to your running. Okay, because that
• 17:25
  was a cool little path. So you're gonna run, you decide it, you signed up for race, you
• 17:30
  got that goal, you had that deadline. And then what did you do? I mean, I know the steps,
• 17:36
  but let's talk about you got prepared. I did. Well, first of all, I, you know, I decided
• 17:42
  that that was that was an obtainable goal for me. And I picked, you know, if you are
• 17:49
  going to pick a goal, pick something that stretches you, but that's not something so
• 17:51
  crazy big that you that you can't reach it reasonably. So I like that you had a shorter
• 17:57
  time frame to I did, I did not super long, I just I've been reading a book called the
• 18:02
  12 week gear and talks about when you have a year long goal, you rally at the end of
• 18:08
  the year at the beginning of the year, like, it's got a long way to go. But when you have
• 18:10
  a shorter time frame, you're more apt to rally from the beginning and not be able to say,
• 18:16
  Oh, well, start that later, later. Yeah, this was nine weeks, it was nine weeks to train.
• 18:20
  And I picked a 5k because I hadn't run and I had run in a race since 2019. And so put
• 18:27
  that I remember having a conversation, you're like, Oh, I did that before, but I really
• 18:31
  don't like running and I'm never going to run it again. Yep. Because what we say, right?
• 18:35
  I did, I did. But you know, I went I went to a place where I had to put it down because
• 18:40
  I wasn't I've been there done that. And then you you you you kind of have to be ready for
• 18:45
  things and I recycled it because, you know, I was in a different place in my life. And
• 18:51
  I realized that this was something that didn't require I mean, didn't require a lot of equipment
• 18:56
  and just my shoes and, and new shoes, though, right? I actually bought two pairs of new
• 19:02
  shoes. Yeah, you know, two pairs of shoes. I bought running lights. What did I do? I
• 19:07
  treated myself to some new clothes and new workout clothes. I think that the biggest
• 19:11
  thing that I did was once I decided I was going to to to do this that I that I signed
• 19:17
  up right away. So I have something to hold my feet to the fire. And then everybody's
• 19:21
  different. But I need accountability, like, and be careful who you share your lot of people
• 19:26
  do. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I do. And so I put it out there because I friends that run.
• 19:31
  And I said, Hey, I'm running again. I'm going to do a race. Is anybody running it? Because
• 19:35
  I thought, hey, it might be fun to have people to do it with. And so a neighbor of mine had
• 19:41
  commented that, hey, I belong to a running club, you should you should join, come join
• 19:45
  us, because it'll be a great place for you to train. And I thought, oh, boy. So I looked
• 19:50
  it up and they're 530 in the morning. But that was the biggest catalyst for me, because
• 19:55
  if you're really going to commit to something, what are like, there was a million reasons
• 19:59
  why I could have said I wasn't going to do this, like, I'm too busy, I'm taking care
• 20:02
  of someone else, I have these other responsibilities, I'm tired, it's, you know, and in the past,
• 20:07
  when I had stopped, it was because I hadn't reframed things and figured out how to fit
• 20:11
  it in. But at 530 in the morning, nothing else is going on except for me. So why not?
• 20:16
  And to get out out again around some positive people. So I went and I, you know, I fell
• 20:22
  in love with it. And so going there, he actually made relationships and connections with people.
• 20:28
  And then I surrounded myself people with like minded people who are not going to let me
• 20:32
  off the hook. I also, you know, shared with several people that were important in my life
• 20:36
  that I was doing this. So then they're asking me about it. So it really helped me stay on
• 20:40
  track. And the fact that I knew that I had a finish line across in nine weeks, and I'll
• 20:45
  just tell a quick story, my last race that I did before, that was kind of the reason
• 20:48
  I put it down for a while, I did not prepare for it. And I did not publicly share that
• 20:53
  I was doing it. And I didn't really, I had some days doing it with but she was, it was
• 20:58
  fun for us, but there was no accountability. And so I let myself off the hook and my outcome
• 21:03
  was, it's very funny, but it was terrible. And so this time, I was, you know, came in
• 21:08
  last, I was, I was the last one, the last one. In fact, the sweepers came and they picked
• 21:13
  up the cones, I didn't think anybody else was running. But at that point, we had, we
• 21:15
  were walking and we said that we were going to walk. So it was not about achieving anything.
• 21:20
  But I realized that that may have been fun to a degree. But I think we were both a little
• 21:25
  frustrated with it. And so, you know, again, have something that's that's gonna hold your
• 21:31
  feet to the fire. And so for me, that that was it. And so I, you know, I trained for
• 21:37
  it. And my running club only needs three days a week. And so on the off days, then I got
• 21:42
  myself into a pattern. And so the days that I wasn't with the club, then I would go to
• 21:45
  the gym, because it became I really started tracking my miles, I started tracking how
• 21:51
  fast I was going, which I'm not fast, but my goal was just to, to finish and to do the
• 21:56
  to run the whole thing. And so it was good as it was measurable and obtainable. And I
• 22:02
  think that was the really great thing about it. Yeah. And you know, you hit all goals
• 22:09
  setting one on one topic. You know, our goal. But you know, first, you came to like you
• 22:16
  had that aha, like, okay, I stopped dreaming, I stopped visualizing, you did your vision
• 22:21
  board first. And then from there, you put you broke it down to the goal of what was
• 22:26
  important to you getting your master's degree running a rate. You gave yourself a deadline,
• 22:31
  which is important, instead of just someday and someday isn't a time you get had some
• 22:38
  accountability buddies, you joined a club, you did it joined like minded people that
• 22:42
  motivated you. And you knew your limitations. And I know you said there were some women
• 22:47
  that ran like crazy and very diligent. There was one lady that kind of held back and ran
• 22:53
  helped you and ran with you. Yes, you connect with them. You have scheduled the time to
• 22:59
  fit into your world. And I think that's so important. You know, when you make a decision,
• 23:03
  you've got to figure out how is it going to fit in your world? Instead of like, oh, I'll
• 23:07
  do it sometime? No, you got to schedule it. And that's why I exercise in the morning too.
• 23:12
  I have a new neighbor that keeps texting me in the middle of the day, the end of the day,
• 23:15
  do you want to walk? Do you want to? I'm like, no, like I do it in the morning. First of
• 23:19
  all, I like to exercise in the morning, because it gets my day started. So not only am I exercising
• 23:23
  when I'm getting fresh air outside, I'm listening to something positive, I'm getting my head
• 23:28
  right for the day. So I know you had mentioned with running how that just made you feel good
• 23:33
  and exercise releases endorphins and makes us feel good. And then, you know, hold your
• 23:37
  feet to the fire, having that goal, that deadline, but not only that, but you were tracking it,
• 23:43
  you were having measurable things like how far you ran and your speed. So all those things
• 23:49
  go into account. So I think, you know, as we end the year, I think it takes some reflection.
• 23:54
  I was talking to somebody earlier about it. And, you know, look at where you were last
• 23:58
  year. And then what do you want to do this year? What how much more do you want to do?
• 24:03
  Do you want to make more money and or be healthier or happier? I heard a podcast the other day
• 24:10
  and the gentleman said, you know, as we get older, people start talking about retirement
• 24:14
  and, you know, slowing down all this stuff. And he said, there is no reason why every
• 24:18
  single day you can't get healthier, wealthier and happier. I'm like, I love that. Like,
• 24:23
  you're not done. And I'm not ready to throw in the towel. So all those things just tie
• 24:29
  into it. I'm so proud of you and all that you've done in spite of a lot of life going
• 24:33
  on behind the scenes that you're living. You can't change what's going on in your world.
• 24:38
  There's there's things that you can't control, but there's things that you are, you can.
• 24:42
  And so I've I've made a choice, an intentional choice to control the things that I can. And
• 24:46
  I choose positive things. So how are you feeling about your goals and what you're achieving?
• 24:52
  I feel great. I mean, I'll be honest with you. I mean, when I first set the goal, it
• 24:57
  was motivating. Like I was motivated. You know, I mean, I'm motivated to start school.
• 25:02
  I'm I was motivated to to run the race after I ran the race, which was last Sunday and
• 25:09
  across the finish line. I felt empowered and confident. I mean, the feeling that you get
• 25:16
  when you set a personal goal and you reach it, it's just priceless. It's personal achievement.
• 25:20
  And I'll tell you, and I thought this was interesting when I went, there was a lot of
• 25:25
  people that were there like me just doing it on their own. There are people in groups,
• 25:29
  but there's a lot of people just doing it on their own. You could tell they were doing
• 25:31
  it just for them. And so I didn't need a big bunch of people cheering for me. In fact,
• 25:37
  I had strangers cheering for me, which was fine. I crossed the finish line myself. And
• 25:41
  that's because I chose to do it. And that that felt that felt great. So sometimes the
• 25:45
  things that you do behind the scenes for yourself when no one is watching are the things that
• 25:52
  mean the most, you know, and that's your scripture about that. You know, do those things. Don't
• 25:58
  boast about it, but do it. Yeah, I can't put scripture, but I know there is one. And I
• 26:04
  did share about it on social media. And I've had like all these, you know, friends of him
• 26:08
  the crowd were going to congratulate me, but I didn't do it to boast. I just, I just wanted
• 26:11
  to share my story. What I, what I did, cause it was, it was really fun, you know, and you
• 26:16
  know, and that's what we talk about. Where can we give people hope? So let me ask you
• 26:19
  this question is what encouragement would you give somebody else to say why not say?
• 26:25
  I would just say, ask yourself, what's the worst thing that would happen if I did this
• 26:31
  and what's the best thing that would happen if I did this and then think about what would
• 26:34
  happen if you didn't. So, you know, when I was making decisions, I kind of think of those
• 26:39
  things and then, you know what, and then take the first step. That first step is courageous.
• 26:44
  And then once you take that first step, then take, take another step, you know, you matter
• 26:49
  and, and you're, you're capable of a lot more than you think you are. And like Leslie said,
• 26:54
  don't wait until January 1st, 2023 to set goals for the new year. I mean, the week between
• 26:58
  Christmas and New Year's is a great time and great time to take inventory of what's important
• 27:04
  to you and to take your first step. So how, how cool would it be to wake up on January
• 27:09
  1st, 2023 with clarity and something to be excited about, you know, and one of, one of
• 27:14
  my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29 11 and says, you know, God says, I know the plans I have
• 27:20
  for you and that's plans to create a hope and a future, you know, and you're just going
• 27:23
  to trust that God has, has good things for you. You know, if you pick something that's
• 27:26
  the wrong thing, he's going to direct your path. You're all good. Let's get out there.
• 27:30
  I love the time between Christmas and New Year's because things do kind of slow down.
• 27:34
  I remember when I was in grad school and you didn't have to do school and, or even in college
• 27:40
  and you know, work slow down. I usually take time off between Christmas and New Year's,
• 27:45
  hated work at then. But it was time to clean out, rethink, get rid of the clutter, plan,
• 27:51
  visualize. I know one of my most memorable New Year's and actually I interviewed my friend
• 27:59
  Mary on this podcast. We talked about it. The two of us, I think we went to the movies
• 28:04
  and went back to her condo and maybe had one drink, but not much. It wasn't like, I'm not
• 28:09
  one of those big party on New Year's Eve kind of girls, but we made goal posters to end
• 28:14
  the year. And I love waking up January 1st, just ready to run and just a clean slate,
• 28:21
  ready to go. And I'm super excited about that. So connection to my dad, I always try to connect
• 28:29
  back to my dad with everybody. And people are like, well, I never met your dad, which
• 28:34
  you didn't, did you? I don't think you did.
• 28:36
  I did not meet your dad, but I feel like I know him through talking with you and talking
• 28:41
  with your mom and the stories that you told, you know, your dad, from what I understand,
• 28:47
  you know, Pat was very innovative and he left a legacy for his community. And I can relate
• 28:52
  to you in many ways because I have a very strong relationship with my own dad, who I
• 28:56
  think is similar to your dad in many ways. And so I can appreciate and understand your
• 29:01
  desire to honor him and to carry on his work through your podcasts and things that you're
• 29:05
  doing in your community. So, and, and flat pat is with me all the time. We got my flat
• 29:13
  pat right here.
• 29:14
  Well, I love that the people are following you and they encourage you. I know you said
• 29:18
  you took your, why not today cup with you to the race to encourage you. And it's just
• 29:22
  a one off day. And so, you know, you did not know my dad, but you are Golar in which he
• 29:28
  was. And, you know, one kind of connection is he did as a city planner, he did work in
• 29:33
  the Florida area, Sarasota right there where you live and clear water. So have that connection
• 29:38
  to him. And he loved the sun and he loved the beach. And I know you do too. So we could
• 29:44
  talk forever and ever, but I want to thank you for joining me. And I hope we've given
• 29:50
  people courage and motivation to start something new in the new year or finish strong in the
• 29:59
  end of the year. One of the things that I am finishing strong, I know Pam and I were
• 30:02
  having conversations about finishing and I looked at my to do list and the thing that's
• 30:07
  been on my to do list, probably may is to do a website for the why not today podcast.
• 30:12
  So it is getting finished right now and it will launch before the end of the year. And
• 30:16
  I'm excited to have that clean slate. So you can find the why not today podcast on Spotify,
• 30:22
  Google, Apple, iTunes, any place you can find it. But one of the things I'm starting to
• 30:28
  look at is if you listen to it, review it, share it with somebody, rate it. Maybe do
• 30:35
  some contests and things the new year about that, because I was kind of looking at the
• 30:39
  algorithm. I was surprised at how many people follow my Facebook group, but I don't know
• 30:44
  who's listening. Let me know if you're listening. Share, comment, as I said, review and share
• 30:51
  the why not today message with somebody else. I do have cups and I have vinyls that you
• 30:55
  can get and t-shirts, long and short sleeves. And so, you know, spread that why not today
• 31:00
  message. So thanks again, Tamara, for sharing your story and your courage. And just remember,
• 31:07
  say why not today. Thanks again for joining us.