Soma Flow

Overcoming Communication Breakdown

• Tabitha MacDonald • Episode 43

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Imagine trying to explain your dream to someone, but they don’t get it. Frustrating, right? That’s how communication failures can feel in everyday life. Whether we’re at work, at home, or in social settings, communication impacts every aspect of our lives. How we express ourselves and listen to others can either open doors or build walls. It’s not just about talking—effective communication is the key to experiencing success, love, abundance, and fulfillment. But how does it work, and why is it so important?

Find out in today's episode of The Mindful Love Podcast. 




About Tabitha
Tabitha MacDonald is an Intuitive Coach and Healer committed to helping people overcome their pain as fast as possible so that they can have the love, success, freedom and fulfillment they truly desire.

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Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome. I'm so grateful that you are taking the time to spend with me today. My name is Tabitha MacDonald. I am an intuitive coach and a healer. I help people unlock their voice so that they can have more love, success, abundance and fulfillment in their lives. Abundance and fulfillment in their lives. I want to tell you a little story about a journey I went on recently. Does anyone here have some kids?

Speaker 1:

I've got two teenagers, and teenagers, in my mind, are an absolute opportunity to do our shadow work. That's my new reframe and I had this place that we love to go. It's called Pacific City in Oregon. There's this huge mountain of sand like huge and I have been taking my children there for years, ever since they were little, and I've watched people climb up that mountain of sand in sheer terror, because I've always had a desperate fear of heights and I wanted so badly to be the mom who didn't sit at the bottom of the hill making snacks. I wanted to be the mom who climbed up the mountain with them, but I was very overweight and I was very out of shape, and it's something that I had struggled with most of my life, and it was about a year ago, maybe a year and a half, my kids asked if we could go to Pacific City for the day. Now, if you're like me and you have teenagers and they ask to spend time with you, the answer is always yes, of course I do. So we drive out to Pacific City and I've actually got like a dress on and like Bergenstocks because I don't even think that it's possible that I'll make it up this hill, and I thought I'll just do what I always do I'll sit at the bottom and I'll cheer them on and I'll be there when they come back down and I'll cheer them on and I'll be there when they come back down.

Speaker 1:

And this day, when I got there, I looked at all these people climbing up that hill and I thought to myself do I really want to keep being the mom who sits at the bottom watching everybody else go up the hill? And I made a decision that I was going to go up that hill regardless, even in my blue dress, and my kids went up before because I was doing some inner work about getting up the hill. And I saw them running up the hill and I saw them struggling. I saw fit grown people struggling, falling and turning back down and returning back to the bottom of the hill, I saw dogs struggling. I mean, like when I saw people struggling, I saw struggle and I just kept asking myself the same question Do I want to continue to be in the struggle or do I at least want to put my foot on the hill? What would it feel like if I got to the top?

Speaker 1:

And now this was like a really gray, overcast day, because if you know anything about the Oregon coast, it's not like the rest of the world where they have beautiful, sunny beaches. Ours tend to come with a heavy dose of overcast weather and it's cold and also extremely beautiful. And I just kept asking myself what would it feel like if I got up to the top of the hill? What would it feel like if I even tried? And so I set out backpack on my back and I said I'm just going to go as far as I can back. And I said I'm just going to go as far as I can and I started climbing up the hill and no doubt about halfway up it got hard.

Speaker 1:

It got so hard, it got so steep, like you couldn't really tell what angle it was at, and I was out of breath and I was thirsty and I was mostly terrified. But I wasn't only terrified of the heights, I was terrified of what it would mean if I didn't get all the way up the hill, if I continued to be someone who quit as soon as things got hard and didn't make it all the way up, got hard and didn't make it all the way up. Can you think of situations like that in your life where you're not really sure how to move forward? And it was so funny because up the hill are my two kids, like they're almost at the top. My daughter, who used to be my biggest cheerleader, who used to be my biggest cheerleader was saying go back, it's not safe, you'll die, like literally those were her words and I was so confused because usually she's the one who's like you've got this, you've got this. And my son, who's always been my inner critic, said you've got this, just put one foot in front of the other, you can do it. So imagine my confusion when the person who's usually telling me to stop is the one to tell me to go and the one who usually tells me to go is the one telling me to stop. And I was so confused and disoriented because I didn't know who to believe, and I don't know if you've ever felt that way about not knowing who to believe, not knowing who to trust, not knowing which direction to take. It's really an interesting place to be at and I want to ask have you ever had your inner critic telling you what you could not do? Like, don't go on a date with that person, they're too good for you. Or have you ever had your inner cheerleader telling you what you could do? Like heck yeah, go on that trip, you deserve it.

Speaker 1:

Why is communication so important? Imagine you're trying to explain your dream to someone. You're trying to explain your dream to someone, but they don't get it Frustrating right. That's how communication failures can feel in everyday life. Whether we're at work, at home or in social settings. Communication impacts every aspect of our lives. How we express ourselves and listen to others can either open doors or build walls. It's not just about talking. Effective communication is the key to experiencing success, love, abundance and fulfillment. But how does it work and why is it so important? And also, why do we struggle to communicate when we think about how? How does communication affect our success In the workplace? Being able to communicate effectively with your team, your clients and managers can make or break your career. Misunderstandings, unclear directions and poor feedback loops can create frustration and block your potential for success. On the other hand, clear, confident communication helps you collaborate, present ideas and navigate challenges, ultimately leading to growth and achievement.

Speaker 1:

When I taught interviewing skills to my students back when I used to be a career coach, they were beginning new careers and I would tell them it's not your hard skills employers are looking at yeah, that's one piece of it, but you all went through the same program. You all know how to do the same things. Employers are looking at your soft skills. What makes you easy to work with, what makes you coachable, trainable, teachable. What makes you coachable, trainable, teachable how you communicate, how you handle difficult situations, are you capable of experiencing compassion and empathy for others? It's the things that you can't teach that make you hireable, basically who you are Now. If that made you feel a little nauseous, it's because there's a part of you that's very afraid of being authentic. Keep listening, we're going to talk about that.

Speaker 1:

In love and relationships, how does your communication get in the way of healthy relationships? I want you to answer that question for a minute. Have you had an argument with a spouse or a kid, or maybe someone in your extended family like your brother or your mother. Communication is the foundation of connection. Without it, misunderstandings, resentments and emotional distance can take over. Sharing your thoughts, feelings and even conflicts in a healthy way fosters trust, love and deeper intimacy. I love the thought of talking about intimacy because I work with a lot of people who are so deeply afraid to communicate their desires and their fantasies with their partner because they don't know how to communicate it and they aren't sure how it will be received. Can you relate to that? Or even with my kids, listening to them and who they want to be in the world not who I thought they should be, but who they want to be. That is a part of communication. When we improve how we speak and listen, we nurture these relationships.

Speaker 1:

Clients come in all of the time because they feel like they are not being heard in their relationships. I was working with a client who was dating someone new and she was very afraid that her explosive communication would ruin the new relationship. You see, every time they got in a specific situation, she would respond by losing it. She knew this pattern was from her 23-year marriage to a narcissist, but she didn't know how to shift it. In just three months, she was able to end that behavior altogether and did improve not only her romantic relationships, but her success at work and her relationship with her own daughters.

Speaker 1:

Now, how does this impact abundance and our ability to manifest? Believe it or not, how you communicate impacts your ability to manifest abundance. When you communicate with clarity and confidence, both with others and with yourself, you align with what you desire. You align with what you desire. This energy creates opportunities, whether it's new financial ventures, personal growth or even unexpected gifts from the universe. Miscommunication, on the other hand, leads to missed opportunities and frustration. If you're anything like me, you've asked the universe to give you something. You've tried the manifesting things that people tell you about. Focus on the thing you desire, listen and be willing to receive.

Speaker 1:

Have you ever heard the story about the man sitting on top of a house during a hurricane and the water is rising above and he knows he's not safe and he prays to God and he says please help me out of this situation. And a few seconds later, somebody comes by in a rowboat and they say hey, you look like you're going to drown. Hop in, I have space for you. And he says no, no, no, it's good, I've asked God to send help and I have so much faith. Help is coming. And so he prays again and again, with all his heart. He prays to God to help him out of the situation. Help him out of the situation. And pretty soon someone drives by in a motorboat and they say, hey, the water levels are rising, it's not safe, hop in, I have room for one more. And the gentleman says no, no, it's good, I'm praying, I've got this. God has my back. And so he prays even harder and even harder. And pretty soon a helicopter comes by and the helicopter throws down a ladder and the man says, no, go save someone else, I'm waiting for God. He said he would help me.

Speaker 1:

Fast forward at the pearly gates. And the man standing there and says to God I don't understand. I prayed, I believed. Why didn't you send any help? And God says I sent a rowboat, a motorboat and a helicopter. You have to be willing to see and I love that story because a lot of the time our communication gets in our way of receiving the gifts of the universe.

Speaker 1:

Usually the response is subtle, it's a synchronicity, it's someone saying something to you that maybe you hadn't heard before. It's someone saying something to you that maybe you hadn't heard before. I remember this one time when I was looking for clarity on whether or not to open my massage clinic. I was standing on the side of a lake and it wasn't really a spiritual person, but I decided to give it a try and I threw my hands up in the air and I said I need to know what to do. Do I stay here in Washington or do I go home and begin this massage clinic? And I kid you not, at that exact moment my phone rang and her name was Julie. She was my very first massage client who was referred to me by an acupuncturist. I had met. Messages like that are so clear. But if I had poor communication with those messages, with what I was asking, with how I was receiving, I would have ignored it and I wouldn't have come home and started Soma Massage, which not only helped me build a life that I dreamed of, but it gave me freedom to be a single mom and still have a lot of money. It gave me the purpose and fulfillment of teaching other moms how to have a flexible income in their lives so that they could support their families and still be there at soccer practice.

Speaker 1:

Our communication is usually wounded when we're young and that wound in your communication needs to be healed, and we'll do that in this program. This part is so emotionally charged for people, and that's fulfillment and purpose. Feeling fulfilled is deeply connected to how well you communicate with yourself. When you articulate your desires, values and purpose, you begin to live in alignment with what truly matters to you. Lack of self-awareness or poor communication with yourself can lead to feeling stuck or lost in life. Clarity of thought and speech, however, leads to taking action on your purpose. I'm always surprised when I meet people who are not actively in alignment with their purpose, only because I feel like my higher self won't let me do it any other way. Talk about an avalanche of boulders. When I'm off track, I mean, I like steer the ship incorrectly and she's like here's a huge boulder, I need you to get back on track.

Speaker 1:

I came here to do something bigger. This was really present for me when I was at a seminar and there was a woman that I was working with and she had an extremely successful life by conventional standards. She had a lot of money, she had a successful career, she owned a home, she had nice things, but she wanted something more, wanted something more, and even saying that out loud made her want to cry. She started crying when we started working together and she couldn't even get the words out of what she really wanted, because she didn't feel worthy of asking for something more, of asking for something bigger. Can you relate? Have you ever had everything like you thought it should be, but you wanted something more. You wanted something bigger? The audacity right Even just admitting that she wanted to pursue her passions and her purpose made her cry. The words literally got trapped in her throat. When we started working together, it was about 30 minutes. We were able to identify the part that was blocking her and integrate it. The difference on her face in 30 minutes just 30 minutes was astounding. Face in 30 minutes, just 30 minutes was astounding. Imagine what giving yourself this gift of communication transformation could do for you. So let's talk a little bit about the what right.

Speaker 1:

What exactly is effective communication? It goes beyond just words. It includes body language, tone of voice and, most importantly, listening skills. Effective communicators are self-aware, understanding not only what they say but how they say it, and they are open to receiving feedback from others. Did you know that body language is 55% of communication, that's, non-verbal communication? The way we carry ourselves speaks louder than our words. Eye contact, posture, facial expressions and gestures are constantly conveying messages to the people around us. Our tone of voice how you say something often matters more than what you say. The same words can have entirely different meanings depending on tone. Think of how I'm fine can mean a dozen different things depending on how it's said can mean a dozen different things depending on how it's said. I'm fine or I'm fine or I'm fine. No-transcript, active listening.

Speaker 1:

Communication is a two-way street. It's not something that's happening to you or to someone else. It's an experience of expressing yourself, but also being involved in another person's experience of them expressing themselves. Listening with empathy and understanding creates connection and trust. Rapport building, how we mirror and match someone else's body language to build trust quickly and effectively these are all skills you will learn when you work with me. The problem is that most people are listening and crafting their reply at the same time, which ironically blocks them from hearing the other person. You will learn how to be present in your communication so that you can actually hear the person you are speaking to Now.

Speaker 1:

I want to talk about something that people aren't often thinking about, and that's energy. How you are energetically matters. Most empaths that I work with say that they can feel energy, and they can feel everything that someone else is feeling, which clutters communication, someone else's feeling, which clutters communication. They feel like other people are happening to them and their experience becomes their own. The truth is, you have control over your ability to take on other people's energy, but you haven't yet learned how to do it. In this course, you will learn how to become impenetrable to other people's feelings. I think this is probably one of the most important things I can teach other people.

Speaker 1:

I was recently doing a two-day shadow workhorse or it was one-day shadow workhorse and I had these two women who we were going through an energy exercise with and we were working on how accurate are you in picking up other people's energy, and it was quite interesting because both of them didn't realize they were actually filtering their empath skills through their own lens which we all do but because they were doing that, they made assumptions about the other person's intentions that were actually really inaccurate. And once we went through this powerful tool which you'll learn when you work with me of learning how to block your energy and to control it, and then also when to let it down and then how to basically use it like an invisible shield, that you're in complete authority of. Other people's energy no longer happens to you. It's no longer something that's out of your control. Now you get to be the manager of your own energy system and also controlling whether or not people's energetic attacks can get through your shield of armor. These are extremely powerful tools, especially if you're presenting at, say, a meeting and you feel someone's negative vibes ruining your experience. Wouldn't it be great if you had a tool where it was no longer going to impact you, where you could just stay focused and present on your own experience without taking on other people's garbage? That is one of my favorite things to teach my students, because I didn't realize. I struggled with that, because, whether or not you want to talk about energy, we all have it, and being aware of something doesn't make it go away. Awareness gives you authority over it, and that is my favorite thing to give people is authority over every area of their life. Now, how does this all happen? Because this sounds magical, right, and I promise you it is. So I'm going to give you a little bit of information about how we do this.

Speaker 1:

Step number one is we're going to decide what kind of communicator you want to be. We will get clear on exactly how you want to speak and behave in any situation. So let's say it's Friday night and your spouse drags you to another cocktail party for the firm and you have to go and socialize and your anxiety is up. Now that's an old pattern, it's an old way of being. We're going to decide how you want to be. Would you like to be able to engage in small chat? Would you like to be present with anyone you're talking to? How would you like to experience it? We're going to get really clear on what that looks like for you because, believe it or not, we're all unique. We have nine distinct, different personality styles that really help us understand how our lens of the world is impacting our experience. So we're going to get really clear on how you would like it to be Now.

Speaker 1:

Step two is we will identify where you are struggling now and what areas of your life are being impacted by communication breakdowns. So if it's yelling at the kids or maybe not speaking up at a meeting, and you know you have the right answer. Or perhaps when you're in a group you start sweating and you get awkward and then your voice gets really high and it's like something takes over. We want to know what that is, because if we don't know what that is, we're not going to be able to resolve it. Don't worry, this is done in a really safe, happy, playful kind of way. And you know I've done a lot of trauma work and I try to make trauma work light and fun because I don't think it has to be heavy. It doesn't have to be painful. I love helping people transform their lives in an easy and impactful way. So step three removing the resistance.

Speaker 1:

I have a tool basket that's gigantic. I have so many tools on how to help you become the person you've always wanted to be. I use neuro linguistic programming. I have tools to help you rewire the unconscious mind. I have you tools to help you heal the inner child and to integrate all parts and aspects of you into one singular choice. I have so many tools bodywork tools, energy tools, mindset tools and, most importantly, emotional regulation tools that help you take charge of your nervous system in any environment.

Speaker 1:

Number four we're going to test in future pace. As with anything, we must test the new structure. Nobody goes and builds a bridge and then sends a whole bunch of people to drive over it unless they've tested it first. We want to do the same thing for you, because with repetition and practice comes mastery, and we want to do that in an environment that's safe, that you can practice being authentic where the stakes aren't so high, and that way your nervous system will already know what it feels like.

Speaker 1:

When I was at trainer's training in San Diego, we literally had a group of people and don't worry, we're not going to do this in my program, unless you really want to and can talk me into it but we had a group of people sit in front of us and we had to tell them what our biggest fear was. They acted it out while we tried to give our presentation. Let me tell you, if anything will make you bulletproof, that experience alone was worth the price in gold. So what we want to do is make sure that you have chances to practice, to test your communication skills in a healthy and safe environment, and you will receive quality feedback from others, like how many times have you been in some place and you wanted feedback Like how did that land for you? And everyone just said it was great, but you knew there was something you were missing. There was something that you needed to help you move to the next level. You'll get that with me. I am such an honest feedback truth teller. I would hate it if someone sent me into the world and was like everything is just perfect the way it is and didn't tell me like.

Speaker 1:

Your inability to like build rapport with people is what's holding you back from talking. That feedback testing and future pacing is one of the things that you're going to get the most value out of when you're working with me in either one of the different settings that we have, and I'll tell you a little bit about a little bit more about that in a few minutes. So you probably have some questions right now, and that's totally natural and normal. If you have a lot of questions and you wanna get on a call with me, I'm gonna put a link below. The easiest way to do it, though, is just to send me a quick message on WhatsApp. I'll put the link down below and say hey, I'm really curious about how this will work for me. Can we set up a time to meet and I'll get back to you pretty quickly. Or you can just book on the booking link below and it just says I want more information and we'll have a quick 20 minute chat to figure out if this is right for you.

Speaker 1:

Other questions that people have when they're looking at improving their communication is what if I struggle with confrontation, like I actually don't have a choice? Many people fear confrontation because they associate it with conflict, but confrontation, when done with care, can lead to deeper understanding and resolution, done when done with care, can lead to deeper understanding and resolution. Practice, gentle confrontation. We're going to teach you how to have a healthy confrontation with someone. You see, many of us grew up in homes where our parents didn't have the communication skills right. I'm like I'm a 75. Like I was born in 75. I'm part of Gen X. We were told to go outside all day and figure it out. We didn't have talks about how we felt. We didn't have communication classes and I'm pretty sure we had like the highest divorce rate because we just don't know how to communicate with other people in a way that's authentic and that's also setting both parties up for success in the conversation. That's something I want to teach you how to do. How does your communication hold you back? That might be another question that you have, and I really want you to think about this.

Speaker 1:

Poor communication can create frustration, resentment and even self-sabotage, whether it's in relationships, in your career, personal growth. Not expressing your needs and boundaries leads to unmet expectations and disappointment. I am a big fan of learning about your attachment style, and it's one of the things that we'll do together, because anxious attachment styles have so much anxiety, and I remember reading the book attached after my divorce and really figuring out how my attachment style was impacting my relationships, and one of the things that I felt most frustrated with was that I didn't know how to get to the magical land of a secure attachment style. I understood it was there, but I didn't feel like I had the magic jet to get over to that island. One of the things we're going to do is talk about how to develop and harness a secure attachment style, and that is going to impact communication in every area of your life. How does communication affect my confidence? And I really want you to think about this.

Speaker 1:

Have you ever had to go to a social situation and chug back a couple glasses of wine so that you could get a little liquid courage before you actually went up and talked to people. That used to be me. I used to have to get drunk or moderately buzzed before I could even talk. To be me, I used to have to get drunk or like moderately like buzzed before I could even talk to new people. I was so scared of just being myself and actually kind of also being bored. Sometimes I'm not really great with small chat or talking about things that aren't interesting to me and that was really impacting my ability to just be in social situations and get out of my head.

Speaker 1:

Your ability to express yourself impacts your confidence. When you learn to speak your truth and communicate clearly, your self-esteem grows. Who doesn't want more self-esteem? Well, and I'm not talking like ego, I'm better than everyone's self-esteem. I mean that deep inner authority and knowing of who you are and who you came here to be. People who communicate confidently are often seen as leaders and are more likely to achieve their goals. So are you ready to start transforming your communication today? I hope so, because I can't wait to meet you. I am so excited that you have watched this video or listened to my podcast and that you're ready, because you're ready to experience more success, love, abundance and fulfillment right now.

Speaker 1:

How would it feel to wake up in the morning and to just feel good, to feel good in your body, to feel good in your life, to feel good in your relationships. How would it feel to just wake up and feel good? That's what I wanna help you do Now. There's a couple of different ways that you can work with me. I do one-on-one coaching, online or in person either one. If you're in person, we'll evaluate your physical blocks. We can work with the actual somatic practices that I do with body work by unlocking your tongue, helping with jaw pain and other pain in your life, and definitely postural alignment that prevents you from speaking your truth. Online, we can have just as much effect. It's just going to be a different way that we interact. I'm going to give you some postural alignment exercises, help you have exercises to unlock your mouth and your tongue, and also you'll get a huge benefit. So don't think that just because we're not going to meet in person, if you choose online, that you won't have just as much of a result because you will.

Speaker 1:

Correcting these physical blocks could be the thing that your voice was waiting for. Perhaps the block that you're struggling with is a mental, emotional or energetic, and many people who struggled to communicate had an experience in early childhood. Let me know if you can relate when bullying or a humiliating social or school experience made them decide to block their voice. Perhaps it was something even bigger, like growing up in a home with an active alcoholic, or maybe there was an emotionally unavailable parent. I have tools to remove all of your blocks. My clients always tell me these sessions were so powerful. It was like 10 years of therapy in three hours. That's what I want to gift you. Is that transformation, unlocking your voice.

Speaker 1:

So we can either work one-on-one in person or online. If you're in person, I'm in Lake Oswego, oregon. I see people in person for one-on-one sessions. You can come to one of my two-day workshops. They're in person and online. Over the course of two days we go deep, we do an intensive, we work through these blocks with like-minded people, we heal in community.

Speaker 1:

One of the biggest fears and frustrations people have is being seen by other people. So wouldn't it be great to be seen by other people who you might never need to see again? Wouldn't that be great to just have a safe place to practice that you could process through these things, to be respected, to have your time respected and to make sure that you are in a container of healthy boundaries. One of the things that I make sure that we do in my workshops is we have healthy boundaries. I hold people accountable to their baggage and I make sure that everyone who works with me is safe. That's my top priority. In person or online, this works. You'll get powerful release work tools to take home with you and instant feedback on your progress. If you're doing an online workshop, we'll have breakout groups where you'll be able to work with another person, to get quality feedback and to have a chance to build connection with someone you just met. Wouldn't it be great if you could always build communication skills and connection with a stranger? How would your life change if you were no longer having social anxiety govern your social life? Are no longer having social anxiety govern your social life?

Speaker 1:

And if you're someone who really wants to go deep, you can join my eight-week intensive and that's where we really take these learnings and go deep over the course of eight weeks. Now, this is for someone who is really wanting to improve their communication. This is not for you if you already think like you're the top communicator and you don't have to improve anything. So if that's you, not the right course, because I am looking for people who are fully committed to doing the inner work so that they can finally break free from the communication prison that has prevented them from having the life of their dreams. So, if that's you, if you're someone who's fully committed, who really wants to go all in on themselves to learn how to release communication blocks and to step into the person that they were always meant to be, I'd love for you to join me for eight weeks. We're going to have really in-depth sessions. We're going to have practice sessions and opportunities to get feedback, and we're going to learn how to build relationships energetically, mentally, emotionally and physically, so that you can have coherence between your head, your heart and your body.

Speaker 1:

How would that impact your life? So I want you to just think about where you're at on your journey. Are you someone who really needs a lot of one-on-one work and you would benefit more from one-on-one? Are you someone who just needs a lot of one-on-one work and you would benefit more from one-on-one? Are you someone who just wants two days solid, we're all in for two days and like this is going to help change your life because you just have one area where it's really impacting you. Or is communication really something you're struggling with and you want to go all in for eight weeks? You want that like community environment. You want to be able to get feedback and practice and grow and keep learning new tools Wherever you're at is perfectly great and fine. I'm so excited that you're going to embark on this journey with me, because when I think about journeys of transformation, I think about that time when I was climbing up the mountain with my son and my daughter and I was at the halfway point and I remember looking up and my daughter is saying turn back, and my son is saying keep going.

Speaker 1:

And I didn't feel like I had it in me and I sat with myself for a moment and I thought how many other areas of your life do you get halfway up the mountain? And then you turn back because you're afraid, because you're afraid because you don't know what's at the top of the mountain. And the truth was there was a lot, there's a lot of areas of my life and I just kept seeing my kids up there and I thought what lesson do I want them to learn today that we give up halfway or that we keep going when things get hard. And I listened to my son and I remember thinking like as I was crawling up that mountain I was literally crawling, I had no pride left. I was crawling up the side of that sand mountain and I don't know if you've ever experienced climbing up a mountain of sand before. But you go up one step and you slide back three. And you go up one and you slide back three, and I just knew that I was going to get to the top. And I just kept holding the vision of me at the top of the mountain and how it would feel when I got there and I remember I'm crawling, literally crawling, and crying and laughing at the same time. And as I got to the last step and I put my foot on the top of the sand hill, I felt like something changed and I knew for myself what that meant and my son and I played and he's 15 at the time.

Speaker 1:

We played, we climbed trees, we took pictures. Some of my favorite pictures that I've ever taken were at the top of that sand hill, of that sand hill, and there was another dad up there and he had two boys teenage boys and they didn't want to take a picture with him and I talked them into it and I was laughing because I was like your dad got all the way up this mountain. He deserves a picture, and it was such a experience of connection and just like this feeling that's hard to describe. Thank you so much for taking the time to join me today. I really value you and your attention, because I know that we all have things that require a lot of attention from us. Check out all of the links below and I really can't wait to see you and to help you on your journey. Take care.

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Tabitha MacDonald

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