Episode 101 | Creating Breathing Room with Rachel D. Baker

LWH Closing: That's a wrap for today's episode of Lead with Hope. Remember, the world needs your leadership and change starts with you. your life with HOPE, embrace purpose, and shine your light for others. If this inspired you, I'd be so grateful if you could take a moment to give us a five-star rating and share it. ⁓

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speaker-0: What if creating breathing room in your life could change everything for you? In today's conversation with Rachel D. Baker, we explore what it means to slow down, live with intention, and make space for what matters most. So if you've been feeling stretched thin or in need of a reset, this episode's for you.

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speaker-0: Welcome to the Lead with Hope podcast, where we explore the power of hope in leadership.

Brandi Kelly: or on the Spark Hope website. Thank you, Convissary, for supporting the Lead with Hope podcast. and deeply aligned with who they are. If you've ever felt the nudge to write a book, refine your message, or build a brand that actually reflects your values, not just your resume, Conversary doesn't rush you or box you in. They walk alongside you, helping you shape your story with intention and integrity.

speaker-0: life and personal growth. I'm Brandi Kelly, an educator, coach, and speaker, passionate about helping overwhelmed leaders create healthy priorities, find clarity, and build lives with more breathing room. After more than two decades in education, I felt called to go deeper. That calling led me to start this podcast and to start my own business so I could help leaders move from overwhelm to intention and lead with more purpose More peace and a lot of hope. So Rachel, I am so honored to have you on the show today. And you know, I believe that every story has a face, so why don't we start our conversation today by you sharing a little of your story with us.

Brandi Kelly: A big thank you to Craig Williams and Convissary for being a legacy sponsor of this podcast And for investing in stories that matter because when we share our stories with clarity and hope, real change happens.

speaker-1: Yeah, I am thrilled to be here, Brandy. Thank you so much for asking me on. I listen, how much time do you have? No, we'll make it short. at I'm a teacher. I have my bachelor's and master's in early childhood special ed. And I in that field for several years. I've done early intervention, developmental therapy. ⁓ I taught third grade for five years. I've worked online and done, you know, I taught online before it was cool, you know, not cool, but so many people started teaching from home. I started doing it back in 2017, ⁓ it was because of health stuff. So health struggles are another really big part of my story. So 2017, by the end of that school year, I was teaching from a wheelchair, ⁓ was rough. My classroom was on the second floor. It didn't work out very well. So there's ⁓ there's just a lot of teaching and health struggles woven throughout my story, I would say. And all of it has led me to where I am now. I went online, ⁓ discovered there were a lot of other people who wanted to also learn how to teach online. ⁓ I found a platform to start creating my own curriculum and teaching those classes. And then other people wanted to do that. So that led me more to not say teaching adults, but I was coaching. I was coaching people how to figure out what it was they love and turn it into a class so they could teach that to other people while also making money from home. In the process of all that, everybody's drowning and overwhelmed wondering ⁓ we can balance, listen, that word I'm gonna do like quotation marks all the time, balance our lives. ⁓ because we're trying to do all the things for all the people all the time. And this is not sustainable. And this is, you know, people who are trying to lead in a classroom, lead their families, lead ⁓ their finances. There's just all these different positions where we feel like we have to wear the hats and lead the way. And they were drowning. So ⁓ ended up getting ⁓ ⁓ ⁓ partner with Asana, which ⁓ people know Asana is a digital. project management system. I love it. I use it. I teach it. and I got to a point where people would say, can I just give you my life ⁓ you set this up for me and teach me how to use it? And so I was doing ⁓ weeks where I would do just that. Give me all your info. I'll create the system. Here are your training videos. I'm here for help. ⁓ it so it's just developed teaching in different ways. leading in different ways, but always wanting to help and serve people who are just trying to do their daily best, aren't we all? Yeah. Right. also these were things that even though I couldn't be in the classroom anymore, ⁓ could still be living in my skills and my strengths and in that way. And that's something I think we get kind of stuck in sometimes. It this is the way to do the thing. ⁓ So was very blessed to figure that out pretty early on. So 2023, ⁓ we're we're almost caught up here, I started feeling called to talk more about why all of these things mattered. Why do we need to create breathing room in our life and ⁓ get time management under control? And, ⁓ you because the initial thought was I just need to be more efficient. I need to get more done. There are too many things in the day. And I need, you know, I'm gonna read all the productivity books, I'm gonna watch all the videos, I'm gonna and I felt that in my bones for years. You know, I wanna get as much done as possible. I've got two kids. I did the single mom life for a while when my first husband left, and then there was remarriage, and there are so many ups and downs in life, and we're still trying to get everything done. And it's always too much. I mean, like, can I get an amen? It's always too much. We always take on. We always take on more than we need to. And so that heart, you know, like we've got to create some breathing room. We've got to come up for air. ⁓ It matters. Why does it matter? People need to hear why it matters. So I started my podcast, which is called How's All That Working For You? and that's a question I ask a lot of my coaching clients when they are Well, they have to do this and this and this. You know, well, how's all that working for you? It's not, you know. Okay, that's a starting point. Let's figure it out. became a certified life coach. ⁓ another way I'm walking with people and ⁓ those skills. ⁓ I ⁓ love, love now working with women who feel that overwhelm. They feel like they can't get their head above water in all different walks of life. We're we are everywhere, ⁓

speaker-0: Right.

speaker-1: ⁓ ⁓ I love helping women healthy ⁓ priorities, healthy boundaries. The B word that feels so hard. so that we do have little breathing room and have a fulfilling life where we feel like we are living in our purpose instead of just running on the hamster wheel.

speaker-0: There's so much there, Rachel. But you know, you talked about helping women create fulfilling lives. And we both come from education. We've we've stepped out of, the brick and mortar school, but we're still educators at the core. And I love that that we have that in common. But when you think about education, we're conditioned that way. We have the countdowns.

speaker-1: Yeah, me too.

speaker-0: We count down to Friday, ⁓ Count to Easter's right around the corner. So spring.

speaker-1: Yeah. Any break that's coming up, we're counting down.

speaker-0: All of the countdowns. And when you take a moment and you just pause and you reflect, what are you doing? You're wishing your life away. And what I noticed, and one of the reasons that I stepped out and and started doing life differently was because, like you, I was having some health issues brought on by stress. I stepped out and that stress decreased dramatically. And Imagine this, I got better. Things got better with my health. Yeah. It's not perfect. You're always going to have those obstacles, but your stress ⁓ living a life you love. But one of the things you talked about is you know what your strengths are. You're a self-aware leader and you know what your strengths are. And I'm just curious because I've heard it said before that if you want to know what really fuels your passion, go back to childhood. And think about your play. Because for some reason we become adults and we forget to play. We forget to do those things that really nurture who we are. And so I'm curious, what did what did you do in play as a child?

speaker-1: Yeah, well, you know, I had a little sister. We were just two years apart. we were also raised in the church. So we were playing church ⁓ we were playing school. Sometimes we would, you know, craft a zoo of some sort, you know, like make our own zoo. And we play with dolls and things, play family. But ⁓ I was always the teacher. If we're playing school, I'm teaching. If we're, you know, having church, I'm teaching a lesson or I'm leading singing. I'm all I also was a classical singer. And so I'm I'm in charge. You have things to learn from me. I am the eldest. of those things are very much ingrained in me. So that's a natural piece of me. But I will tell you, Brandy, you know, you mentioned this self-awareness. ⁓ Girl, didn't have that for so long. I didn't ⁓ I it took I wasn't gonna create the breathing room for myself. I wasn't sit and rest. I was gonna keep running on the hamster wheel. a lot of times you don't it's an you don't notice it in a negative light. You're just doing life. Yeah. This is life. I am doing life. It feel ideal, but what else are you gonna do? Yeah. And when it does also get to the point where you're like, I can do this, I can fix this. Everybody get out of my way. I've got this, you know. ⁓ That the moment for me when I think God was like, that's cute.

speaker-0: Yep.

speaker-1: Little pat on the head, you know, how about you sit down? if don't, you know, you see the memes going around or the quotes that float around of if you don't, you know, rest your body, it will rest for you, you know, whether you want it to or not, it's gonna shut down. Kind of like you're talking about, stress wears you down. For me, I mean, I have multiple autoimmune diseases, so ⁓ it's a bit just stress is bad.

speaker-0: Mm.

speaker-1: But stress definitely makes it worse. so for me, ⁓ didn't stop and listen. ⁓ we don't. ⁓ push through. ⁓ only have so many sick days, ⁓ this thing is too important. I can't miss that, even though I'm running a fever or whatever it is. And we don't stop, we're gonna get stopped. And that's what happened for me. And that breathing room that was given to me then kind of had me going, if I can't go back to the classroom, if I can't go back to what I know and I've done for so long, do I do now? You know, going through the divorce, who even am I? What do I even like? I don't like I know. It kind of takes those disruptors ⁓ we don't do it proactively. ⁓ really a lot of what I do in coach now ⁓ I had to go through this the really long and hard way. Can I please help get you there faster and easier?

speaker-0: We are perfectly positioned to help the person that we once were. And I had a coach whenever I was in the superintendency. And he and it would annoy me sometimes, just being fully transparent. Yeah. You would say, Brandy, what do you want? Think that question. What do you want? ⁓ And you don't spend time asking yourself you want,

speaker-1: It's hard. It's a hard one.

speaker-0: We have to know what we want. ⁓ And my goal all these years was ⁓ to be a superintendent. got to that point. And it was hard for me to admit that I wasn't happy. Now I can't tell you if it was the job, it was me, was. The district, maybe a combination of all of those things, But the first question I had to answer for myself is what do I want? And then I left. And the amazing thing about leaving is that I want so much. So many opportunities and possibilities. And I want to do all of the things, Rachel.

speaker-1: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But you gave yourself permission to stop and think about it. And that's there are two parts to that. One is you have to stop all the things you're doing all the time for all the people. this is not like take a day out in a cabin. Like it doesn't have to be a big ordeal. ⁓ sit for a minute. Like, what I want? And in selfish way, but if we are not the things that fill our cup, that that are within our own God given strengths and skills and passions. A lot of that is what I I coach on is I do time management coaching. I do clarity coaching because we don't stop and ask these questions. So I'm gonna stop you and ask them if you know Yeah. Exactly. Come in with my with my SAS and we're gonna have a conversation. but the stopping just for a hot second. Yeah. Be like, what I even ⁓ good Yeah. What do I like to do? What's fun? What comes naturally to me that is not so easy for other people that maybe I didn't even realize. And what could that look like? that just opens up, like you said, there are all there's like all these things. Didn't even know. ⁓

speaker-0: Exactly. Yeah, so many possibilities. And sometimes whenever we are in, public education and you're ⁓ you know going there every day and your routine. I mean, that was the first 24 years of my professional life. And in some ways we become quote unquote But we get focused sometimes too much on what other people think, what other people want, what other people need. We we want to help people, we want to see people grow and become the best version of themselves. But sometimes that comes at an expense to us. And so I'm curious how do you give yourself a permission slip for grace, give yourself grace so that you can those things that are fueling your passions and your purpose.

speaker-1: Mm-hmm. Well, you just used a lot of my favorite words. Yeah. I'll just I am the queen of permission slips. I do a lot of verbal permission slips on my podcast. I've even created some free printable permission slips because sometimes it feels silly to write some things down on a permission slip. That's like a school thing, you know, but sometimes you just need it in your eyeballs where you can see like I do have permission for whatever it is that feels silly. But It's helpful. so that, first of all, ⁓ all about the permission slips. And second of all is the so that everything that I say this is needed, this is important is so that. ⁓ I not ⁓ I a lot about self-care. And I ⁓ love love self-care, but not what you typ like the bubble baths and the spa days, and like that can be part of it. That's nice. But filling up your own cup, serving yourself, your own needs, so that you can keep pouring into other people. Cause if you are bone dry and have nothing left to give, you can't do that for anybody else. So as you were talking, I was just like, ⁓ that's my I use that phrase. So just I'm give you a few things. of how I do that. But just for a little more background, I do have autoimmune I have lupus, I have rheumatoid arthritis, I have chogrins. I have two now teenagers, both neurospicy, one ⁓ has and ADHD. and my oldest is graduating in like a month. I have all the fields right now. Well, there's a lot going on. ⁓ my podcast, my ministry, we're it's There's a lot. So as I speak into all this, just want say it's not like I have more than other people have, but I trying to do all the things for all the people while also trying to keep your head above water. ⁓ Absolutely. And me, of the biggest things I've had to learn ⁓ are I've got plan ⁓ for. ⁓ fluctuation in my schedule, not perfection. Yeah. especially this year, ⁓ my 15-year-old son who has autism, like you don't even know what the day's gonna bring. I can have all the lesson plans. I can have it all. So like this is what we're doing today. ⁓ is how did he even wake up?

speaker-0: Mm-hmm.

speaker-1: How did I wake up? How is my body today? Right. You don't even know what's gonna happen. So I love a good plan. I love a good checklist. I have my digital calendar and you know, I'm a certified partner with Asana, all these things. that's again, that's cute. Make plans, but you've got to have room to monitor and adjust. And if you don't have that room or that ability to have a little fluctuation, a little flexibility. systems that can flex. gonna break and you're gonna break and everybody's gonna be sad and crying all the time. ⁓ I know this because I've been there and done it and it feels awful. And a lot of it is live and learn. So hopefully if you haven't lived and learned this yet or you have and you're tired of it, I hope you can hear me say you've got to have some space in there or the The willingness to go with the flow a little. and I think a big, big part of that that I have to do every single day is ⁓ define my minimum ⁓ day. Like I gotta decide what's my bare minimum, what has to get done today. ⁓ have a list of 15 things I would like to get done before noon. You know? Again, cute. Right. ⁓ it would be lovely if and when that were to happen. for the entirety of this day, what are the top three things? What are the if ⁓ I'm juggling all these different balls, which ones are made of glass and which ones are like plastic or rubber and could bounce a little if they fell? They're gonna shatter. Knowing that all the difference in how you go through your day. and so A lot of what I do every single day, I start my day looking at all the things I'd like to get done. And I pick out the top three. They're urgent, they're important. Everything else is bonus. Yeah. And when I get them done, kind of has to flex the day. Which so counterintuitive to this seasoned teacher and mom. And I mean, the bottom line is your capacity's gonna change. For me, living with autoimmune disease every single day isn't like, I don't know what's coming. don't know. Is this a flare up? Did I eat something weird? Is the weather changing? It I don't know. But whether you have that or not, your capacity changes. And assume you have the same capacity every single day without fail, you are setting yourself up. Too fail.

speaker-0: Absolutely.

speaker-1: So, but something, you know, I'll probably reiterate more than once is our capacity but that doesn't mean your worth changes. Yeah. And I had to make that mental switch. That one took me a hot second because your productivity a lot of times feels linked to how valuable you are. ⁓ Yeah. have to get all these things done or. ⁓ Somebody's gonna be disappointed in me. I'm not gonna be seen as valuable anymore. They're not gonna wanna keep me around. I mean, we're getting into a little high recovering codependent territory here. But you know what I'm saying? Most people, regardless of your job, right, feel that if I'm not getting enough done, we don't value Right. If I have to rest, if I have to sit, if I just like look at that lazy girl, get up and do something.

speaker-0: Yeah, it productivity, your salary. Mm-hmm. Opinions of other people. I mean, that list is going to be a little bit different depending on who is looking back at you in the mirror. But if we're honest, the way that we define our identity is where we get our worth. And what the mindset shift that I made in that area is. Kind of a simple mindset shift, Rachel. It was who am I and who am I becoming? Well, first and foremost, that's rooted in my faith. as important as who I am becoming as it is whose ⁓ am. So I'm a child of God. And because I'm a child of God, I have worth. Yep. It starts ⁓ there, but I don't think it ends there. We have to consistently become the person that God created us to be. So for me, that mindset shift was, whose am I?

speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah. It's a really important question. And and when you get to that point where you are allowing yourself to ask those questions and think about it, have that breathing room, want to know who am I at my core, you at created in God's image, his image bearer, who what are my skills, my God given strengths, skills, passions, ⁓ what those within me versus who other people expect me to be? Yeah. Or what do other people expect from me? Now it's not that's not necessarily to say it's bad to other people expect this and I ⁓ want meet that. Right. But it depends on the why behind it. Yeah. Does it align? Right. So there's a there's a lot more you can get into with that. But I think bottom line, just knowing. Your capacity is your capacity. Nobody else knows what that is. Right. You have to be honest with yourself and with others about it, which is where the priorities and the boundaries come in. And your worth is not based on that. So owning it, knowing it, living it out. Yeah. It's a really big deal.

speaker-0: I talk with the clients that I coach a lot about identity and just getting clear. You know, are you? Whose are you? Who are you becoming? It's a continual process of improvement. And I know that some of the people that are listening to this episode right now, they're probably thinking, okay, that all sounds great. That sounds great.

speaker-1: Yeah.

speaker-0: But you just don't understand. I am the only one that can do this. am feeling very overwhelmed and stuck and stretched in, but there's nobody else. ⁓ have to do all these things. So for that listener or those listeners, what is a meaningful place that you would recommend that they start to cultivate greater purpose and hope in their life? Mm-hmm.

speaker-1: The first thing I would say is like alert, kind of. But there's nobody listening right now ⁓ is anyone else's ⁓ Yeah. And that's like it sounds it sounds kind of harsh when you say it like that, but that was something that I didn't realize I was living. I would have said it like that. Like you need me. I will save. I am the one who can do the things. But we absolutely put ourselves in that position. We do. Everything you just said, nobody else can. I'm the only one. If I don't do this, like what the world's gonna set on fire. I don't know. I don't know what's gonna happen. But we absolutely feel that way. And it's good to be needed and wanted and important for people and helpful. at the end of the day, you're nobody's safe here. So just put a pin in that one, let you sit with it a minute. one the most helpful things and the place I have a lot of my clients start is with brain dump. I know it sounds real fancy, but ⁓ we everything around in our heads. And it feels completely when it's up there. You can't see it, you can't do anything with it. It just gathers up there. And then somebody else comes in. Hey, I need this. And somebody else, hey, don't forget about this date. And da-da-da-da-da. And it just becomes this cacophony chaos. There's some alliteration for you. Didn't plan for that. But it ⁓ is that's when the drowning ⁓ in. There's much and I can't do anything with it. I don't know where to start.

speaker-0: I love it though.

speaker-1: You can figure out where to start you can see all of it with your eyeballs. Because then it's it's a tangible thing. When you and I mean, I sit down ⁓ do this at least once a week because otherwise I lose my mind. But it is personal things, professional things. church related things, things with my friends, things that are happening today or tomorrow and things that might be like three years from now, but we're thinking about this trip that we need, of it goes on paper. Because then I can see it and can do something with it. And the thing I do with it, once I see it all, I can see ⁓ what actually urgent ⁓ because all feels urgent. It all feels important. But when can see it, Like, okay, that's been floating around in my head all week long, but that's a trip we're not taking until three years at, you know. Maybe like start squirrel squirreling away some money, but I don't need to be thinking about that all the time. this an appointment that's already on the calendar. We literally just have to show up. I don't need to keep thinking about it all. It's just things like that that ⁓ you them, you can do something with them.

speaker-0: Right, right.

speaker-1: Right. Either it goes on the schedule this week, it's on my to-do list. I put it on another list for later, on my calendar for later. My favorite ones are like, you know what? Somebody else could do this. I don't have to be the one to do this. ⁓ grocery delivery is one of the f my favorite things in the whole world. Whoever came up with that, I love you because the amount of time and energy from my body it takes to go.

speaker-0: That yes.

speaker-1: And shop the groceries in the grocery store, that'll like put me out for the day. for that's a Yeah. I will pay the five extra dollars in tip for someone to bring me or whatever it is, you know, ⁓ bring me groceries. And the last that love to find or think, like, why was that even in there? Why was that in my in the first place? Right.

speaker-0: Huh? Yeah.

speaker-1: And I get kind of mad at it and I cross it off real late, but then I don't have to think about it anymore. got it out.

speaker-0: You're prioritizing, right? You're you're focusing on what matters most. And the thing I love about this, Rachel, is it reminds me of scriptures are repeated over and over and over. You know, the Lord's prayer, give me this day my daily bread. Focusing on today. Mm-hmm.

speaker-1: Yes.

speaker-0: We don't need to be worrying about things that are three years down the road.

speaker-1: Tomorrow has enough worry of its own. Don't borrow from tomorrow. Yes. But don't we do it? And I also I explain it, you know, it's a little bit more drawn out explaining everything that way. But I feel and have noticed that when we just say, if you were just to come to somebody who feels like they're absolutely drowning, overwhelmed, like, well, you just need to prioritize everything. Yeah. Just get your priorities straight. What does that even mean? you think I don't have my priorities straight? I know it's important. Okay, but Every little thing that's swirling up here be addressed while it swirls. It's like trying to, you know, you watch like Twister or something. It's like trying to reach into the tornado and grab a cow like by the leg. No, it's gonna keep swirling. It's gonna drag you in with it. And by that time you don't even know which ways it's up anymore. Absolutely. That's what happens. ⁓

speaker-0: Absolutely. And when you think about that pause that it takes to dump everything out from your brain, get it all out, put it on paper. That time, that space that you're creating for yourself, there's so much power in that. I I think back to specifically when I was a principal during COVID. All of the things were changing all of time, and there was uncertainty. At every corner. Yeah. The more I push through, the more I just continue to keep my head down and work, the more out of control things got. Sometimes just giving yourself that time and that space to put everything down and then really look at it and cipher through it and determine what matters most here. What do I need to focus on today? And what am I going to do? That's that's powerful.

speaker-1: Yeah. Well, and it doesn't I also want to say it doesn't all have to be done at once because it you can also think like, well, I don't have an hour to sit. I've led workshops where I talk about the brain dump, I explain what it needs to entail, get it all out of your head, and I'll set a timer. I've done a timer for one minute, when everybody's quiet and r feels like forever. Forever. Yeah. But we always get to the end of one minute and No doubt people have more. So I've done it for five minutes. Usually five minutes people can get a lot of stuff out of their head and onto paper. Yeah. Get it out. And if that's the time that you had, if you had five minutes to spare, walk away. Yeah. You now have it out on paper. You can come back to that, set another five minute timer just like, what is the junk that actually I don't even need on here? This the things that are like, why was that even on my list? ⁓ don't even need or. Somebody else could handle this. Yes, my toilets do need cleaned. Can I outsource that outsource that to a husband, a kid, a friend? Like when you're drowning, phone a friend. Right. There is no shame. Yeah.

speaker-0: We weren't meant to live this life alone. I say that all of the time. And I think sometimes whenever we're drowning, whenever we're stressed, we're overwhelmed, that's when we isolate. When we need people the most tends to be when we isolate. And I don't know if it's guilt or it's shame or or it's just

speaker-1: Both. No, it is. It absolutely because we we like to think for some ridiculous reason that everybody else has it all together and it's just us. Why can't I have my life together like she does? She's got it so together. And we won't even talk like social media, highlight reels. That's a whole vibe. We won't even go there. But just for all the reasons life gets hard, there is guilt and shame because the first thought is ⁓ I should be able to handle this. Yeah. Or so and so would be able to take care. You know, there's just so many ridiculous thoughts come in. And I'm I just want to tell you that little voice of criticism, that is not the Holy Spirit. ⁓ ⁓ not. Quit listening to that. says in the mirror to herself on a daily basis, you know, it's hard. ⁓

speaker-0: It is. It it is a struggle. And that struggle is real. And love that you said this, Rachel, but we all face it. We all face it. And if people say that they don't, they're not being honest and maybe not being honest with themselves because guess what? ⁓ lie to ourselves.

speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm gonna call that mess out all day long. Don't bring that to me. I will call you out.

speaker-0: We lie to ourselves. And we've got to get honest first and foremost with ourselves. And then, as I said before, we're not meant to do this life alone. So find those people, maybe five people that you can count on in your circle to be grace givers and truth tellers. if you can find five people who are going to tell you the truth, but do it in grace. You're blessed. So start naming the things in your life that you're grateful for because that activates more of that in our brain when we're focusing on what we're grateful for, the blessings in our lives. in our brain stem, I believe it's it's called the reticular activating system. It's the way God created us, and what you focus on grows. So cultivating that gratitude and that optimism in your life. And when I say optimism, I don't mean the sugar-coated kind. I don't mean the toxic positivity that people complain about, but the kind that helps you to foster resilience. Because need it. It's not if bad things happen. It's it's when they come. So for you, Rachel, how do you cultivate?

speaker-1: Coming. Yeah.

speaker-0: Hope and optimism in in those hard times.

speaker-1: Yeah, well, I ⁓ I don't know if you how much you talk about Enneagram here or if you know, I'm listening full full on Enneagram too. ⁓ you know, in case you couldn't already tell, with a strong three wing, but connection's my biggest thing, like just like we were talking about. but it's connection. I've got to stay connected with God, which means I have to have breathing room in my day to spend time with God. ⁓ with him, reading my Bible.

speaker-0: Yeah.

speaker-1: I have to stay connected. When I'm not, my day goes completely different it would have otherwise gone. So that's a big piece, but also with other people who do love and support me. ⁓ I'll say, you know, you mentioned, you know, find five people. If you don't have five people around you that you feel could fit that bill, holler at me. Like I have made so amazing connections virtually with other women who ⁓ I'm I we had a little book group at one point. There were just four of us that got together. in California, ⁓ in North Carolina, one in Texas, and I'm in central Arkansas. Like we're all over. We years we've stayed in touch and encourage each other and check in and pray for each other. ⁓ if you don't those people near you, holla, ⁓ holler me. ⁓ I love to either be that person or connect to those people. Together.

speaker-0: And Rachel, I'm glad you said that because that brings me to another thought. there are a lot of amazing people in this world. And I have met ⁓ so many amazing people. ⁓ And Sometimes when you look at at maybe the the people you spend the most time with, those people aren't lifting you up, they're not encouraging you, you don't feel like they believe in you, as you said, find new people. ⁓ you and I met virtually. And I'm grateful for that connection. it was a connection made to me through Bethany Reese, who is also a mutual friend.

speaker-1: ⁓

speaker-0: Amazing. She is such a joy to to know and to have in my circle of women that know just lifting each other up and supporting each other. That's what we want. Those five people should make you better. And holler at Rachel, holler at me. ⁓ I love to connect with you because we need each other and we at least five people in our circle that are going to encourage us and believe in us and hold hope for us when we can't hold hope for ourselves. so I love that you made that point. I think that's a very important point to make on this show.

speaker-1: Yeah. Well, and you know, as awful, awful, like there's not enough that can be said about the awfulness of the pandemic. Yeah. This has been a blessing that has come from it. the connections worldwide, you know, it it's r like literally worldwide. I can think off the top of my head, five people in different countries that I'm connected with now that we keep in touch and ⁓ been amazing. I never would have done that before. Never ⁓

speaker-0: Well, and this is another example of how we put limits on ourselves, right? We put limits on ourselves and we need to be br be dreaming big God dreams. that are so big that in and of ourselves we can't accomplish it. ⁓ with God, all things are possible. And makes me think of a book that I just finished listening to on Audible that I want to recommend to you, the listener. It's called The Circle Maker by Mark Patterson. One of the best books I've read in a while. And I didn't read it, I listened to it. But I will say spoiler alert, Rachel, I did buy the book because it was so good on Audible, I have to have a tangible copy in my hand to go back through and to mark up and to highlight and you know I I

speaker-1: It counts. It counts. I'm the exact same way. I'm the same way. I and even if I get it, if I have it on Kindle, I may read through it on my Kindle app on my phone because that's what I have with me in doctor's offices and whatever. But if I need to like be making highlights and reference it again, you better believe I'm getting the hard copy.

speaker-0: I'm old school in that way. And Rachel, I think that you and I could probably spend the rest of the day on this show talking about hope and optimism and resilience. But it is time limited.

speaker-1: Other people don't have all day to just listen to us.

speaker-0: I know, I know. I but I always want to ask this last question to my guests right now in this world with wars, with rumors of wars, with financial strains, gas prices going up. ⁓ I could go on and on about the stressors that we're dealing with in our world. Yeah. But what's giving you hope in the world right now?

speaker-1: I hopeful when remember ⁓ that doesn't measure ⁓ any us by what doing, by our productivity, that our daily is enough. And I know that seems a little disconnected from all the really hard, scary, awful things, but with that. Some one day, someone's daily best may be excessively kind. You get to witness excessive kindness. You know, somebody in the drive-thru at Starbucks is paying for somebody else's coffee, and that lifts their spirits. And moments are still out there too. ⁓ just don't get the attention that all the hard stuff gets. And Whatever my daily best is, whatever your daily best is, it's gonna be different every day because our capacity is different every day and our heart focus is a little different every day. But whatever it is is enough. And holding on to hope we will be with Jesus in the end, that I don't have to earn that keeps hope. ⁓ Yeah.

speaker-0: So much truth in that in that statement. And I just recently released a children's book.

speaker-1: Yeah, I'm so excited about it. It's adorable.

speaker-0: Yes. I I love the book for a few reasons, but one reason is because it was inspired by my first two grandsons, Jensen and Rhett. Yes. And you hit on that and and what's giving you hope right now. You know, obviously that connection with God is important, but that connection through acts of kindness. can always be kind and we don't know. We might make up a story in our mind of what somebody else is going through. But we don't know. And the most unlovable people, they are the ones that need your kindness and your love the most. So dig deep be kind to somebody today. ⁓ that person needs to start with you. Maybe you need to be kind to yourself today. So you can be kind to others. as we close out this show, I want to give you an opportunity to share with the listeners how they can get in touch with you. Maybe they want to continue this conversation.

speaker-1: Yeah, let's go. Obviously I can talk all day long. So come on over. about everything you could find, whether it's contacting me, listening to the podcast, whatever you want, is on my website, which is just racheldbaker.com. ⁓ is spelled normally. There's no extra letters, vowels, R-A-C-H-E-L. You know, people like to add in extra letters there. So it's just normal. So the website, I am also over on Instagram a little bit. And there it's rachel.d dot baker. we gotta shake it up. There's so many people on that platform. So I love, love with people, whether it's through the website, email, on Instagram, show up in my DMs. ⁓ I it. I love connecting.

speaker-0: Well, thank you for being here today. Thank you for sharing. you know, your story is powerful, is and it reminds us that we can always ⁓ choose lead with hope. So again, thank you for being here with me today.

speaker-1: Thank you, Brandy.