Christine: You are listening to the Your Empty Nest Coach podcast, with Coach Christine, episode number 52: A Fan Favorite of 2019: Thought Deliveries. Hi, I am excited to share with you that I have a new membership program, “GPS Execs.” This will allow you to become an executive producer of my podcast. I am not kidding. I’m so excited about this. You will become my inner circle. You’ll get bragging rights. You’ll have two Zoom calls available, with me, every month that you are a GPS Exec. We’ll do periodic book clubs, periodic giveaways, just for my GPS Execs. I’m so excited. If you’re interested, go to my website: youremptynestcoach.com and click on “Executive Producers.” All the information is there. Thanks! See you there.
00:00:50
This podcast is for you, a mother who years ago walked away from a career to raise your child. Sure, you’ve been busy volunteering, car pools, maybe part-time work and taking care of everyone. But your main gig, that has been your child. Now, that they are in their later years of high school, the empty nest looms ahead for you and it is freaking you out. I’ve been there and I get it. Together, we’ll turn our freaking out energy into freaking awesome energy.
00:01:20
Hi, my future empty nest friend! You are so incredibly amazing. I want you to repeat after me: I am amazing. Did you say it? Say it again. I am amazing. Oh, you are! Thanks for listening today. Over the next four weeks, I will be sharing episodes that have resonated well with you. You, being my audience of amazing listeners. Funny enough they are the episodes that all have the commonality where in my head, they began in one place and then ended up somewhere else entirely. As some of my friends would say, I was in the flow when they were created. I did feel as more of a vessel for the ideas than anything else, and it has been an honor to watch them enter the world.
00:02:02
Here’s how this episode will work. First, I am going to share with you some thoughts from my listeners and clients, that were shared with me about the episode. Then I will share the primary content of the episode, and finally, I will wrap up by sharing with you any new thoughts that I may have about the topic now that some time has passed. My first fan favorite is episode number 3: Your Thoughts. This is the first in my Empty Nest Prep Series of 5 episodes. As this is episode 3, when I re-listened, I wanted to go ahead and re-record the whole thing but I’ll honor where I was at that time, and leave it as is.
00:02:41
Here’s some feedback from my listeners and clients:
“The thought boxes being delivered resonates with me. Thank you.”
You are welcome!
“I’ve found that I have a particular thought box that is in front of my pile. I’m pretty good at recognizing another box as an option but that doesn’t mean I don’t keep going back to the first one, even though I know better.”
Oh my goodness, this is sooo true.
“I caught some of my thought deliveries today, Christine!”
This makes me so happy!
00:03:07
Here is the original episode:
Today’s topic is your thoughts. This is part one of a five-episode series titled “Empty Nest Prep.” These five episodes are the base level material of everything that I teach. It all starts with a visualization I have to share with you. I’d like you to imagine your mind as a house. This house has rooms in it, of course. It also has a front door and a back door. Let’s start with picturing it empty, nothing in it. Which, as we’ll discover, is not what our mind is like, nor would we want it to be.
00:03:41
You have an image of an empty house. Imagine that you get a delivery. Your doorbell rings and you answer it. You answer the door, are handed a box, you close the door and read the label. I want you to imagine that that label is a thought that you just had. Are you with me? Your mind is the house in this story, and the delivery is a thought that popped into your mind.
00:04:06
You take a look at the thought written on the box, and maybe it says, “I’m proud of my child heading off to college.” You read it and take it happily into a room and place it down. Before you even get it firmly placed on the floor, the doorbell rings again. It is another thought box that popped into your head. You casually go to the door, grab the box, and see it labeled. It says, “I’m going to miss them.” You look at the box and read it and feel not so happy any more. You aren’t sure what to do with the box, so you start to walk into a different room, but then, the doorbell rings again. Another box arrives, it is labeled, “I’m going to be lonely without them.” You have feelings showing up that are starting to get a bit more negative. You’re barely done reading this labeled box, when the doorbell rings again. “I’m going to have no life without them.” Doorbell. “My partner and I have nothing in common any more.” Doorbell. “I have no future.”
00:04:56
The doorbell keeps ringing. You can’t keep up. You try to put the boxes in rooms and organize them, but you don’t have the time. There are way too many. In frustration, you give the keys to your house to the delivery person. For this visualization, just assume that you fully trust them. You tell this delivery person, just put the deliveries anywhere you can fit them in my house. Think about this though. You never once took the time to think, wait, I don’t even need to accept these deliveries. You forgot that they are completely optional. Not only that, the sad part is that you get so frustrated with how many thought boxes are in your house, remember this is your mind, that you tell the delivery person to just take some out when the house is full. You don’t even take a moment to look at what boxes are being removed.
00:05:41
You didn’t notice that some really good ones disappeared. The ones that are labeled “I am amazing.” “I am going to do great things.” “My partner and I will have time to reconnect.” Sadly, those thoughts are gone. Are you with me? Do have the visualization that your life is controlled by these thought boxes, AKA your thoughts? When you think about it, you are being bossed around by these thoughts because you never once considered that they were completely optional. My empty nest friend, I am here to tell you that each and every thought you have is optional.
00:06:20
I want you to spend the next few days, weeks, months ahead, to take time to notice the thought box deliveries that you allow to enter into your mind. When they arrive, and you are able to notice them, observe them. Write them down, and ask yourself, do I like that thought? This may sound odd or silly to you, but it can be life-changing if you get it. We are only beginning to place our toes in the water in this episode.
00:06:50
It has been over ten months since this episode went live. I thought it was going to be a story I use periodically in my work but these thought boxes have turned into the underlying topic in most of my episodes. Over the last year, I’ve been able to flush out this concept in ways I never could have imagined. I’ve been able to build upon this concept and find the additions are assisting others. By noticing thought boxes, I’ve found it is a helpful first step in making friends with now, in being present in the moment. I’m thankful for these thought boxes and I hope you are too.
00:07:23
If you are ready to begin the journey to find future you, and use her as your GPS, definitely sign up for my free program, “The Empty Nest: A Guide to Uncovering My Future.” Episode 13 covers the high-level concepts of that program, if you would like to check it out. To dive deep into the concepts, take my free program, as I provide videos and worksheets to assist you on your journey.
00:07:48
The questions I have for you in this episode are: do the thought box deliveries resonate with you? And, two, how are you liking the deliveries you are allowing in your life? I invite you to fly on over to our Facebook Group to share your answers to these questions with our amazing flock. Our name is Green Popsicle Sticks. Want to know why? Listen to episode number 17. Or head to my website: YourEmptyNestCoach.com/community for links to join our flock.
00:08:18
Oh, my goodness, did you hear? I have an online program: “The Empty Nest: First Steps Towards Success.” I now offer GPS Reset Weekend Retreats, Unplugged and Charged Up, and I am available for speaking engagements. Seriously! What are you waiting for? Visit my website or see this episode’s full show notes. I know that the adjustment to not having your kiddos at home full-time isn’t always easy, but it sure can be a ton more fun with a flock of friends. We look forward to seeing you there. As always, I provide content to make you think, my empty nest friend. My hope is that I am able to provide you with thoughts that positively impact your life. You’ll find the show notes for this, and every episode, on my website.
00:09:03
My next episode’s title is: A Fan Favorite of 2019: GPS (Green Popsicle Sticks). If you aren’t driving and you are able to do a screenshot of this episode and share it on social media to help others find it, that would be super helpful. Be sure to tag me @emptynestcoach so I may thank you. Of course, remember, you are amazing!
