BONUS 21: Gratitude for Lessons We’re Carrying Forward

What moments shape us the most — the ones we live through, or the ones we hear from someone else’s story?

In this Thanksgiving episode, Mandi, Rachel, and Angie gather around the mic to share the guests who impacted them most this season — the stories that shifted their perspectives, softened something inside them, or reminded them that transformation is always possible.

They also open up about a moment in their own monomyth they’re grateful for… a moment that changed everything.

Join us for a warm, reflective conversation about gratitude, growth, and the unexpected people who help light our way.

🔗 Links & Resources

• Follow Monomyth Diaries on Instagram: @MonomythDiaries

• Listen to past guest episodes at MonomythDiaries.com

Donnell - episodes 18, 19, 20

Nikki - episodes 12 & 13

Tyler - episodes 29 & 30

Stephanie - episodes 21 & 22

Vianey - episodes 25 & 26

📢 Call to Action

✅ We’d love to hear your story — share a moment you’re grateful for at MonomythDiaries.com.

✅ Follow & Subscribe so you never miss an episode — new stories drop every Tuesday!

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Join us every Tuesday, and together, let’s continue the journey!

Transcript

0:00

Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Monomyth Diaries, a podcast where ordinary people share their hero's journey. I'm Rachel. And I'm Mandy, and we'll be your hosts. We're glad you're joining us, because we all have a monomyth to share, and someone out there needs to hear it. Welcome to the Monomyth Diaries, a take what you like and leave the rest podcast where real people share inspiring stories of transformation. No advice, no experts, just connection, growth, and hope. Today, we're pausing between hero journeys to reflect on something that shines through every story that we've shared, which is gratitude. So we're talking about something that we've learned from other Monomyths in past episodes. Yeah. Things I'm grateful for. Things that we're grateful for. So, Mandy, why don't you tell me if there's anybody that you've learned from or a monomyth that has really touched your heart or you felt like has made a difference impact in your life. If I go back and I think about all of our guests, I've definitely learned and taken something away from all of them. But I feel strongly connected to Donnell's testimony, and I think in his episode, he really portrayed that God can use anybody. So I struggled with my faith for years and years. I mean, almost 20 years, if you haven't listened to my monomyth, I was number one, like, episode number one, number two, number three. And I talk about my journey in it. I don't talk a whole, whole lot about my faith, but there's a little bit in there I really struggled with. I had been a sinner, and I didn't feel forgiven. I felt a lot of guilt and a lot of shame. But in Donnell's episode, I realized that God can use the broken. And he said to me in that particular episode, you know, Mandy, everybody's a sinner. And so, as you both know, I now attend his church every single Sunday, which I was never a churchgoer. But you're baptized. I did. I got baptized back in March. Donnell baptized me, and he has truly changed my life, and I am so grateful that our paths crossed. What about you, Angie? Well, for me, it was Tyler's story. Listening to her story made me realize how often I take stability for granted. You know, her story opened my eyes to how much we can grow when we're pushed to our limits. I used to see survival as simply like getting through, but hearing her experience showed me it can also be a transformation. It challenged me to look at my own struggles Differently. Not as roadblocks, but as opportunities to rediscover my own inner strength. How about you, Rachel? Well, I learned so much from Stephanie's episode. I'm deeply grateful for her journey, her experience with infidelity in her marriage, it led her to seek a deeper connection with the Lord. Yeah. And that's something that people don't think about. Infidelity is. It is something that a lot of people struggle with and sometimes think that. That once it's happened, there's no going back and you can't fix it. There's no restoration, there's no healing. It's a powerful testimony to marriages all across the world, including in my own and all of our marriages, that nothing is beyond restoration, that God is a big God and He can repair, he can restore, he can do anything. When he says all things are possible through him, it's true. It's a testament to the transformative power of faith and the possibility of healing, reminding us that even in our darkest moments, there is hope for restoration and renewed love in our marriages. So that's probably something that resonated with me deeply, was the fact that God can move a marriage. He can move anything. Well, let's talk about a moment that you're grateful for right now, one in your own monomyth. And I know you haven't had an opportunity to share your monomouth, Angie, but just knowing your own story. Yes. Tell us one thing that you're grateful for that's come out of your story. Out of my monomyth. I guess I could say that I am grateful for the little everyday moments with my family and friends, the morning check ins, the shared meals. It was a lot easier when the boys were younger. It was dinner time is dinner time, and the four of us are having dinner together. No ands, ifs, or buts. But there's still moments when we do have dinner together. We sit down as a family and it's nice. And I cherish those moments. Even the small arguments that at the end were laughing about. How about you? If I had to pick one moment, I would have to say it was back in January 2005, and it was desperation is what I would call it. I had a moment of desperation that changed everything for me. I think I had reached my breaking point. And I know that we've talked about this on the show, specifically in Vna's episode where she talks about turning your pain into purpose. Yeah. I didn't know that's what was happening. I just knew that I was in so much Pain. I needed to do something different. And I finally got desperate enough to make that phone call to a friend to say, I'm so desperate, I will try anything to do something differently. I want what you have. And I realize the importance now and how important it is to set a good example in the world for other people to say, man, I want what she has. That idea of discipleship that I learned from Nikki's episode where she talks about discipleship, and I didn't even know what that was. I didn't understand it. And even when I started going to Donnell's church, I didn't understand discipleship. And so now I understand, because that's what my friend Diane did for me. She was walking the walk, keeping her side of the street clean, always living with grace and dignity, modeled good relationships and what those look like. And I wanted what she had. Yeah. But I had to get desperate enough to want it. Yeah. The breaking point, to say, I want to do something different. I don't ever want to be there again. Yeah. But today I know that if I get there, my number one tool is pray. In any problem, my first job is to pray before I talk to my husband, before I talk to my friends, before I talk to my mentor, my pastor, anybody. My job is to go talk to God. And I'm so grateful for the gift of desperation. What about you, Rachel? I say my moment was probably in 1992. My story doesn't come out until January, so I'm going to kind of try to not to say exactly what the moment was. But I remember that day like it was yesterday, when I realized what blessings in disguise meant. When I realized, in order for me to appreciate that I would need to forgive. And that's when I learned how to forgive. And I needed to be able to forgive, to be able to move forward with my life. That was a defining moment for me. Understanding what my grandma would always say, that's a blessing. Blessing in disguise. And I. I was just a kid, and I'm just like, whatever, you know, Until I really realized what that meant. When something so horrific can happen to you. But then there's this hidden, hidden blessings. In all life's messes, it really is. There always is. But something so horrific can happen to you, but yet you can be left standing with this beautiful purpose now. And in order to move forward with my purpose, I had to. I had to understand what true forgiveness meant. And forgiveness didn't mean letting the person off the hook or the situation off the hook. It meant for me, moving me forward and understanding that when God says that we're not the ones to judge, there's a freedom in that. There's a freedom to not be the judger. You get the freedom to love, let the Lord judge, and you just move on with your life. And so I was able to cast my judgment away. I was able to cast my unforgiveness away. And I literally broke the chains that propelled me forward into my life to be where I am today. If I hadn't gone through that terrible thing, I don't know that I would have. Would be here today. I wouldn't have this amazing purpose. Sorry. This is, this is a joyful cry. This is being so grateful to God that He is so real and that he. He gives us the gift of forgiveness. It's not. It's not saying you, what you did was okay. It's saying I'm going to be okay now and I need to move forward in my life. Ladies. Well, thank you so much for sharing about gratitude. I really appreciate it. I love talking about gratitude. It's one of my favorite things in the whole wide world to talk about. Gratitude doesn't just live in the big moments. It shows up in the quiet connections, the shared stories, and the borrowed light that helps us find our way forward to our listeners. What light have you borrowed lately? We'd love to hear what you're grateful for and how a story has touched your heart. Thanks for joining us. Happy Thanksgiving from the team of Monomouth Diaries. Thanks for joining us on the Monomyth Diaries. If this episode resonates with you or someone you know, we'd love for you to share it and spread the inspiration. Don't forget to follow us wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube to stay connected. We'd appreciate if you could take a moment and rate and review the podcast. It helps us reach more people with stories of transformation and growth. You can Visit us@monomythdiaries.com or text us directly from the show notes to reach out and keep the conversations going. Until next time, Heroes, let's journey together through our Monomyths.