Start in the Middle

Finding Joy and Gratitude in Life's Challenges

• Kristi Ballard Falany

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Facing unexpected challenges can often feel overwhelming, but they can also serve as a powerful catalyst for growth and gratitude. I, Christy Ballard-Fellaini, share my personal journey through recent trials, including foot surgery and my husband's health issues, and how these experiences have deepened my appreciation for life and the present moment. Inspired by Matthew 6:34, I found solace in focusing on the blessings of today rather than the uncertainties of tomorrow. Through these reflections, I hope to inspire you to find joy even in life's toughest times and foster stronger, more meaningful connections with those around you.

This episode also marks a unique season of grace and flexibility, where I acknowledge the possibility of not always delivering a weekly podcast. I encourage you to revisit our treasure trove of past episodes for encouragement and inspiration. Additionally, I invite you to connect with me through social media or email to share how the podcast has touched your life. Whether you need a prayer or are seeking personal coaching to reignite your passion, I'm here to support you. Let’s embrace this season together, finding strength in rest and joy in caregiving, nurturing our true selves along the way.

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Speaker 1:

Hi, I am Christy Ballard-Fellaini. I am a certified life coach who found herself at 42, freshly divorced kids off to college and having never dated in my adult life, I was starting in the middle. If you haven't yet hit start on your middle time in life, let's do it together. Let the journey begin.

Speaker 2:

Hello, hello, my friends, I hope that, as you are finding this podcast, I truly hope that you are well. I truly hope that you are living in abundance, that you are living a life of gratitude and that you have your heart and your eyes open to see the miracles that God has for you. So I welcome you back to this episode of Start. In the Middle, I am Christy Fellaini, your host. I am a certified life coach who loves helping women to stop just existing in their lives. So today, as I come to you, I just want to share. I often share bits and pieces of what is going on in my life, because my life and the things that I have personally been through are often an inspiration for many of my podcasts. Because, because, as I am learning new things about myself as showing up as a human in the world, as showing up as a mom to two adult children, as showing up as a friend, as a confidant, as a coach, as I am learning new things I oftentimes share that with you on the podcast. There have been times where I have shared details of my life, and today is going to be one of those times. And the reason that I wanted to share this with you is because there are so many things going on in my life right now that feel really hard. There are things in my life that have been completely unexpected, have felt like they have come out of left field, things that I didn't ask for, and so there is a lot of growth and learning opportunities in the things that we didn't ask for. And so if you have been following me for a while, you know that I had mentioned that I am in a season of rest right now, and so what that means is that I'm taking a pause, I'm taking a breather, I'm taking time to reflect and, to be point blank, honest with you, I'm taking time to take care of myself and take care of my husband. So, as I mentioned, you know, there are a lot of unexpected things that were not asked for that have truly been the theme, I believe, for year 2024.

Speaker 2:

And it started first with my foot surgery that I had back in April, and it wasn't an accident or anything like that. It was what felt like an opportunity, because I had had problems with my foot off and on for several years, and for the last stint of it, it seemed like it was just an ongoing thing. It seemed like it had been quite a while and my foot wasn't getting better, tried doing everything you know to help relieve the pain of plantar fasciitis, and so the opportunity came in, what I saw as a last resort, and it ended up being foot surgery. And I say opportunity because I know that there's restoration, I know that there is healing, and over the last six months my foot has healed immensely, but it does still, you know, give me some problems. I do still struggle with it. And then, more recently, in September, again what started out as an opportunity my husband went into surgery to have his deviated septum repaired in the hopes that it would be the next step into him getting healthier and getting off his CPAP machine. You know, again what seemed an opportunity. And then, just a weird freak turn of events, that one surgery led to some other complications. He actually did take a spill, take a fall, ended up fracturing his hip, which sent him two weeks later, three weeks later, into another surgery. And we have seen complication after complication after that particular surgery.

Speaker 2:

And so, as of right now, as you're listening to this, we are in or actually, as I'm recording it, we are in a season, and during this season our lives have changed. I am his sole caregiver and, for those of you that are sole caregivers, I see you, I understand your struggles, and so those are the things that are going on in our lives right now, and so I want this podcast to be my sharing of reflection time in this, because, right now, my coaching practice does not look the way that it has in the past, and I know that what's going to come out of it is deeper, meaningful connections with my clients, deeper meaningful connections with my future clients, and so, basically, what I want to share with you today is not necessarily a tip or a tool, um, but something that I think that we should be reflecting on often, especially when our lives change, especially when our circumstances change, and we could very easily go into despair, go into why is this happening to me and how am I going to move forward from it. And so something that I do want to offer to you comes from scripture, and that's Matthew 6, 34. Comes from scripture that's Matthew 6, 34. So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today, so it's simply a reminder that we need to live in the present, that we can't get caught up in thinking that we need to know the future and worrying that we need to know what is going to happen next. We need to live in what is happening today, because if we try to predict and worry about the future, we're only going to add additional overwhelm and anxiousness to the current situation that we are in, and so this is definitely one of the practices that I am reminding myself of every day is just take care of what needs to be taken care of today and live in this moment today.

Speaker 2:

And something else that you've heard me talk about before is having a personal gratitude practice and choosing things daily that you are grateful for, because the easiest way to remove yourself or to bring yourself out of anxiousness or worry is to be in gratitude. And so the other day, as I was sitting and spending some quiet, reflective time outside on my patio, I thought about and I made a list of things that are bringing me joy, things that are bringing me joy in this season of what feels hard, because when I think about the things that are bringing me joy when things feel hard, I can choose to revisit these things. I can choose to do some of these things again to bring myself joy, so I wanted to share that list with you today, things that are bringing me joy right now Naps Absolutely. When you're taking care of someone and you are getting up two and three times during the night in order to help them out, a nap will bring you joy, and it's also just a good opportunity for you to give yourself the gift of rest. So naps are bringing me joy. Frank's squished up face If you do not know who Frank is, frank is our sweet, rambunctious, unsettled French bulldog, and just the sight of his cute little squished up face and hearing him snort and hearing him snore is bringing me joy.

Speaker 2:

My morning meeting with God is part of my morning routine and I started this about two months ago as part of my morning routine. The first thing that I do every morning is I step outside, onto my patio. It does not matter to me if it is still dark or if it is in the heat, does not matter to me what time of day it is. The first thing that I do when I wake up is I put my shoes on my slippers what have you? And I step out onto my patio. I take in the breeze, I take in the morning air. The first thing that brings me joy is to open that door and see what kind of day the temperature is that morning. We are heading into fall, and here in Corpus Christi, texas, we don't always get the four seasons, and so when you open up that door and the first thing that you feel is a cool fall morning, that is bringing me joy, but also that first conversation with God and thanking him for waking me up another day.

Speaker 2:

Another thing that's bringing me joy is friends that you know you pray for and that they are will pray for you. Friends who will stop mid-sentence and pray for you. When you're having a conversation with that friend and she stops you and says can we just pray for you right now? That is bringing me joy. Friends who have resources that are willing to share them with you. And when I say resources, what I mean is that during this time I've needed a handyman, and my closest friend, who I've been friends with for over 30 years, offered me a handyman, a lawn mowing service. Friends who bring you meals so that when your feet are killing you too bad from being a nurse or being a chef, you know that you can count on them to offer you a meal so that you can just rest and relax and enjoy that meal with your spouse.

Speaker 2:

Something else that's bringing me joy honey, lemon drop, tea and time on my back porch, and the last one for that day was time to crochet. I'm in the middle of a project that I plan to give as a Christmas gift to someone very, very special to me, and so taking the time to just sit down and spend some time not necessarily trying to be creative in the content that you want to share or being creative in an email that you want to send, but being creative in something that you plan to give to a loved one, plan to give to a loved one these are the things that are bringing me moments of joy in the time when I feel like I really need it. So any of these I can go back to at any time, or I can take the opportunity to sit down and create a whole new list for that day, for that moment. So I encourage you to do that yourself, and I'm also reminding myself that when times feel hard, when I or you are faced with things that you didn't ask for, in order to keep yourself sane and out of the pit of fear, of the pit of resentment or the pit of worry, you've got to look for moments of joy. And the last thing that I want to leave you with is Philippians 4.8.

Speaker 2:

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing eight. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable, and bright and pure, and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me and everything that you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Speaker 2:

So, as I mentioned, this is a very different season that we are navigating, and I know that there is a season of healing and restoration on the way, and so, as much as I would love to say that, yes, I'm going to continue to send you a weekly podcast, I'm asking for grace, because during this time, grace is what's needed, and so there may be times that I have a podcast available for you every week, and there may be times that I don't, but I encourage you if you are new to the podcast, please go back and listen to any one of the other 170 some odd episodes, because I am sure that in any one of those you are going to find the encouragement that you need.

Speaker 2:

Also, I would love for you to reach out to me, either on my social media channels or even through email. I would love to hear how this podcast may have encouraged you, may have resonated with you, and if there's anything that I personally can pray for you for, I would love to be that friend for you as well. So have an amazing week and I'll talk to you soon.

Speaker 1:

Who is your life coach? I would love the opportunity to work with you as you are rediscovering the woman you were meant to be. Visit christyballardfelainicom for more information on how we can work together to ignite that passionate, enthusiastic woman who may have been tucked away for some time. Let's start in the middle together.