107: Mini solo episode: The Comeback is Coming

Embracing Change and Finding Strength in Uncertainty

Listen in as I reflect on a pivotal moment triggered by a quote from the Mel Robbins podcast, leading to the tough decision to pause the Hotflash inc newsletter and podcast – and the easier decision to bring it back. 

00:00 Facing Fear and Making Tough Decisions

00:33 Personal Struggles and Overcoming Challenges

01:22 A Life-Altering Event

02:18 Finding Strength and Moving Forward

03:00 Reviving the Newsletter and Podcast

03:57 A Balanced Approach to Menopause

04:42 Gratitude and Moving Ahead

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Transcript

Yeti Stereo Microphone & FaceTime HD Camera: 0:00

I know you're scared to stop. I'm scared too. No Robin said that on the Mel Robbins podcast and I was standing in my kitchen. Late last year when I heard it. I immediately burst into tears. And then I knew what I had to do. I used this quote in the last sub stock I wrote to you in December explaining that I had made the tough decision to pause the hot flash Inc newsletter and podcast. I heard from many of you, but that decision. People who said it gave you strength. And I'm really glad about that because it gave me strength to, to choose myself like that. In truth. I had no other choice. After three and a half years of having a job in a side hustle of going through menopause and losing a job of ending romantic relationships and platonic relationships. Of so much change. So many other things I can't even get into of trying to unravel a lifetime habit of overfunctioning to earn my place in this world and the favor of my own self. Of being just so overwhelmed and fragmented and disorganized. I just could not keep going with hot flashes ink without taking some time to look at the bigger picture. And as Mel said on that same episode of her podcast, sometimes we need to assess where we are and what we're doing, because we need that to have a clear vision of where we want to go. So that's what I did. And my plan was to come back after a few weeks of planning and organization. And then in February, I had my own personal black Swan event. My healthy 80 year old father. Larry died suddenly. I never think I thought about anything turned upside down. I went viral in February more than 2 million views on Tik TOK for a video about anticholinergic drugs. In my last conversation with my dad, the conversation I didn't know would be my last conversation. He asked me how I was going to capitalize on that momentum. I listed the many things I wanted to do. And I knew by the silence on the other end that he just wished I would focus on one. He was a businessman and he liked to call me a kabod crane who apparently was famous for driving off on his horse in all directions. I was never able to share with my dad that I'm embarking on the process of getting an ADHD diagnosis. Mostly just so I can understand myself, but also maybe so I can explain myself to my family. Anyway. After going through menopause, making some changes, taking this break, I felt like things in my life were on the upswing of that. You, everyone talks about from that study in Oconomowoc did concluding 47.2 is the unhappiest age to be. And it gets better from there. As I told a friend on the phone a few weeks after my dad died. I just kind of thought I would have four minutes to enjoy it. She laughed. She's a neuroscientist young and very wise, and her answer was, are you new here? Look, there've been times in the last four months that I thought I would not be able to go off and even one direction much less make something to eat. Or get myself out from under my weighted blanket and upright and in my car on the way to work. Reviving this newsletter and the podcast of the same name seemed impossible. But a few things happened that made me feel that I not only could, but that I should. I was interviewed for an article in entrepreneur middle east, and the writer was so lovely and thorough and did such a good job. I had my faith, restorative, my craft. I was contacted by middy health to sponsor the podcast. I wouldn't partner with just anyone in this space and it helps that they're a leader and that they take a holistic view of this transition, kind of like we do here. So if you're in the ass C join middy.com, J O I N M I D i.com for what I'm talking about. I had a couple of amazing people contact me to see if they could come in the podcast. I had tried to get them on before, and this just blew me away. You're going to love them. I kept watching the menopause space and it's clear, we need moderate voices more than ever. And I've had more than one sign for my dad that I should keep going. Look, it's easy to find someone to tell you that every woman needs to be on hormone therapy, that it answered all their problems. And we'll answer yours too. And if you're not on it after menopause, the risks outweigh the benefits. It's easy to find someone who will tell you that hormone therapy is not only unnecessary, but possibly even bad for you. You won't find any of that ideology or any of those narratives or any of that judgment here? Here. We look at the big picture, incorporating scientific evidence, knowing we don't have nearly enough of it and adding human experience and expert opinion and whatever else helps tell our whole story. We ask questions, provide lots of context and bring his little confirmation bias as possible. We constantly remind ourselves. And when it comes to menopause, we don't know what we don't know. And that is a lot. So for everyone who's back listening. Thank you for hanging in with me.