Wendy: I wanted to kick things off with this solo episode, and talk about this idea of what it means to show up for ourselves. And I want to do three things, I want to talk about what I learned about myself this summer by taking a little break. I want to talk about what it means to show up for ourselves and why that's so important. And I want to end with three questions for you to noodle on about showing up for yourself because that is the best thing that we can do when we show up for ourselves. Anything is possible, especially when it comes to read adventure.
Welcome to Reinvention Rebels, stories of brave and unapologetic women, 50 to 90 years young, who have boldly reimagined life on their own terms, to find new purpose and possibilities. I'm your host, Wendy Battles. Ready for a dose of inspiration? Let's get to it.
Hey, everyone. Welcome to Season Four of the Reinvention Rebels podcast. I am your host Wendy Battles. And I am so excited that you are here joining me. So excited that you're here to help me kick off what I can't believe is already Season Four of this fabulous podcast, full of inspiration. If you are a first-time listener, welcome, welcome. I am so glad you're here. This is the place to come for inspiration about reinventing ourselves. We talk about how we can reinvent ourselves at any age or any stage. It does not matter what decade we are in. It doesn't matter if you've reinvented yourself already four or five times before. We can always do it again in a way that works for us.
On this podcast, I focus on women between 50 and 90, who have reinvented themselves in bold, brave and inspiring ways. But the truth of the matter is that the topics that we talk about on the podcast, the conversations I have with guests, and the solo episodes that I share, the themes are universal. Even if you're in your 20s, or 30s, even if you are not 50, it really doesn't matter because I believe there's something for everyone in these episodes, to get us thinking about our own Reinvention Rebel journey, because the truth of the matter is, we all have an inner rebel, we just need to bring him or her out to shine, and to stand in the light, and to see that anything is possible. That's what I help you to do. So, I'm very excited that you're here. And I can't wait to share a whole lot of inspiration this season.
I actually ended up Season Three in mid-June, I was planning to take a brief hiatus for about a month. But I have to tell you, I really needed a break. And it was summer, and I leaned in and really started enjoying myself. So, what was going to be a one-month break, it turned into a two-month break. And then I thought, "You know, I'm having such a good time taking a break from the podcast that I'm going to take the whole summer off." I just gave myself permission to do that, and I am so happy that I did. It was so worth it to just have some time to unwind, relax, and also get more into my creative flow, which I can't do when I'm busy all the time and stressed out because I do have a full-time job. I'm a part-time podcaster. It's my greatest passion, and I love it so much. But I'm always trying to balance doing that with all the other things of life. So, it was really good for me to take a break.
Today, I wanted to kick things off with this solo episode and talk about the idea of what it means to show up for ourselves. I want to do three things. I want to talk about what I learned about myself this summer by taking a little break. I want to talk about what it means to show up for ourselves and why that's so important. I want to end with three questions for you to noodle on, about showing up for yourself, because that is the best thing that we can do when we show up for ourselves. Anything is possible, especially when it comes to reinvention. So, here's the thing, I often-- I don’t want to say often, but I sometimes don't show up for myself. I don't do what I need to do to take care of myself. And showing up for ourselves, to me is one of the keys of our ability to reinvent ourselves, to put ourselves first to make ourselves a priority because of what we want, what we desire, what we dream, it does matter. And showing up for ourselves means we're more likely to make that happen.
When I say I wasn't showing up for myself, what I mean is, I was burning the candle on both ends. I get up every day during the week at 4:45, which seems incredibly early. But that's how I can fit in podcasting before I exercise and start my day job, but I have to tell you I was so burnt out getting up so early on a regular basis, and also not going to bed early enough. So, I wasn't getting enough sleep and then I was getting up really early, had me feeling scattered. I was doing a lot of running around. I wasn't as clear-headed as I wanted to be. And I realized I just needed time and space to just be, to tune into Wendy, and to let up on that crazy pace because I found you could only do it for so long. Until your body is like, "What? Hello? You got to take care of me."
We want to reinvent ourselves, it requires time and space to do that. It requires this idea that it's not just running on a hamster mill. But that we do get more-quiet, that we do give ourselves some space, that we do lean into just being because we can continue to reinvent ourselves. And I think we can have reinventions within our reinvention, which is certainly true for me, because I reinvented myself about three years ago as a podcaster, and I still continue to reinvent myself. Though there's a reinvention within my reinvention. But I need to take a little time for me to continue to do that in a fun, authentic, productive and inspiring way.
When I show up for myself, it looks like I'm having more fun, I'm more relaxed, I'm going to the beach, I'm seeing friends. Those are things I've been leaning into all summer, by having more time. I spent more time with my husband. We went to the Saratoga Jazz Festival in June, which was a blast. It was a perfect summer weekend. The weather was gorgeous. It was so much fun. I just totally leaned into it. I leaned into not having to be on that crazy schedule that I was on. So, I felt more freedom.
I took a week off in July, and just hung out, we did some day trips,s that was really fun. So sometimes the ease of not having to plan like a big trip was great. At the end of July, I had one of those really special moments. I saw my three best friends from high school. And we hadn't been together all four of us in, believe it or not, 39 years, since high school. Our high school graduation had been that long. One of my friends, Mickie, her daughter is a Ballerina. She was studying in Boston this summer and she came out to pick her up, because I went to high school in Minnesota. I just don't get to Minnesota that often. I don't have any relatives in Minnesota, so it had been forever. Mickie and Amy came out, and another friend just doesn't live that far from here, Jill, and we rented the cutest Airbnb in Newport, for only three days. It was an amazing three days.
It was joyful, it was blissful, it was like we hadn't missed a beat, even though we hadn't seen each other in all that time. We had so much fun. It literally was a magical experience. And it was one of the highlights of the summer. Just leaning into being with people who know you and care about you and the laughter. I'm realizing, even in high school, we went through so much and came out on the other side. So, getting together was awesome. So that is showing up for myself. That kind of leaning in, having more fun, it was pretty amazing.
All that to say that I have done that a lot this summer. I've also gone to the beach a bunch. I love the beach. I'm not a water person, per se, unless it's in the Caribbean. I'm not even a big sun person. I always just get underneath my big umbrella and just relax and read and look at the water, and listen to all the sounds around me, and I find it so relaxing. So, we've had a whole lot of beach days, gotten together with family, seeing friends I haven't seen because of the pandemic, that's been joyful. So, all of those things are about showing up for myself. And it is so key, and I now feel so much more relaxed, rejuvenated, energized, and ready to roll, and that is such a key thing about reinvention.
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I want you to picture this idea. You might have an inkling about some way, you're not even sure how, but there's something that's niggling at you about reinventing yourself in some way. Maybe it's because something's missing. Maybe it's because you have a big dream, or a small dream, or something you really want to do, or something you wanted to do for years, and you haven't done it. And maybe you feel unsure about it. Can you actually do it? That's how I felt when I was starting the podcast. I was unsure, yet I was excited, and I also had a knowing, and I just did it anyway. I felt the fear and I did it anyway.
I also know that we get super busy, and we have many priorities. So, finding the space and time to reinvent ourselves is no easy task. You might be in that mode of, "Someday I'm going to get down to the business of doing what I really want to do," or following that dream. It might feel like it's one step forward, two steps back. That's a common feeling that many of us can have. So, the question really gets to be, when you have these dreams, you have these ideas, you have this inkling, there's something more, and yet you're not taking action, are you really showing up for yourself?
Showing up for ourselves means we've decided that whatever that thing is that we want to do. It's important enough that we find a way. I found my way by getting up every day at 4:45 to work on it. That may not be your way. You probably have lots of other ways that you would show up for yourself when you think about reinvention. But it's really key to figure out, how can I show up for myself. What does that look like for me? Because it says, I'm making my life, my dreams, my ideas a priority. It means you're being intentional about what it is you want to do or be or achieve. And that makes all the difference when we're reinventing ourselves. We just have to think a little bit about that. What does that look like for us? When you decide you matter, your life matters, and your dreams matter.
Reinvention is an ongoing process. And the truth is there are many different ways to do it. However, we choose, we want to do it in a way that honors ourselves, that works for us. How you create space for yourself and choose yourself and show up for yourself, may be very different than the way I do it. But what matters is that you're doing it in a way that works for you, that honors you and your needs.
Do you remember my friend Natalie from Season Two of the podcast? Natalie who has reinvented herself in so many interesting ways. Natalie who retired early, downsized her life because she had a big goal of moving to Portugal. Natalie, who made a bunch of different sacrifices to make this happen and is now literally in the process of moving there in the next few months. She had this idea.
Remember, she went around the world with her carry-on bag for three months, having all kinds of adventures and she went to Portugal for a month because she had an inkling that would be a place she liked? She ended up loving it and finding a great place, a great town where she wanted to retire. But it's not that simple to retire in a foreign country. There's tons of paperwork you need to do and things you need to do. So, it takes planning, it takes time. Often it means learning another language. But she has figured it out. She has consistently shown up for herself, as she has continued to reinvent herself. And that's what this is really about. It's in this case, on her terms, figuring it out on her terms, in a way that works for her.
I'm actually going to link to that in the show notes because this episode is amazing. And I know you will totally love it, and I want you to check it out. But she is a great example of what it means to show up for ourselves. So, I want to ask you three questions to get you thinking about what it means to show up for yourself. Again, this idea, it's different for all of us. So, for me, it means having more fun, carving out time to do nothing, literally just doing less, being more still, just being. It may be totally different for you. But I want you to think about this question, what does it mean to show up for yourself?
I want you to write down every way that manifests for you, because that helps give us clarity. What does it look like for you when you show up for yourself? Especially in the context of reinventing yourself, what does that look like? So that's question number one.
Question number two, how does showing up for yourself help you? In what way does this help you when you actually do this? What do you gain from showing up for yourself?
Question three, what's at stake if you don't show up for yourself? What can happen? Will you be stressed out? Will you be disappointed in yourself? Will you feel depressed? Will you feel uncertain? Will it manifest as having less confidence in yourself? There are endless things that could happen. It's different for each of us. But I'd love for you to think about you. What's at stake if you don't show up for yourself in the way you want to?
No matter where you are in reinventing yourself. What does that look like if you don't? So again, the three questions are? What does it mean to show up for yourself? Number one. Number two, how does showing up for yourself help you? Number three, what's at stake if you don't show up for yourself? I'd love for you to noodle on these questions. And I want to leave you with this final question.
Why not you and why not now? Why shouldn't you lean in and show up for yourself more often? Why shouldn't you go for your dreams? You should. You should totally reinvent yourself in a way that works for you. Showing up for you in a way that makes sense and honors who you are. I want to leave you with those thoughts, as we kick off Season Four of the podcast.
I will tell you that there are three interviews in store for you this season. I'm so excited. Next week, you'll have the chance to listen to my first guest interview with the fabulous Rachel Peru. Rachel has an inspiring reinvention story about how she started modeling in her mid-40s. Started modeling, bathing suits and lingerie in her mid-40s. When often, if we're thinking about our bodies at that age, and we're not too pleased with them.
And it is such a wonderful story of unfolding of getting to know herself, of seeing new possibilities and going for it. So, it will definitely inspire you, and I can't wait for you to listen. I'll just mention that if you are noodling on this idea of reinvention, you're feeling a little unsure, like, "I don't even know where I'd begin." Which is a pretty typical thing. Like, "I don't know where to start, what do I even do?" I would love for you to pop over and sign up for my free audio. 5 Questions to Spark Your Curiosity and Inspire Your Reinvention Rebel Journey. I've got some great questions that will get you thinking about, "Hmm, what could that look like for you? And how do you go from unsure to getting started?" So, it's really helpful and it's fun. A short audio to get you in the mood. I'm thinking it's back to school time, so why not get back to our reinvention dreams?
Until next week, keep shining your light. The world needs you and all that you have to offer.
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