A Little Bit of Hope Podcast

How do you keep hope when your faith doesn’t look like or follow the church norms? In this episode, I talk about how I found hope outside the four walls of church. It meant leaving a church I loved and losing friendships I thought I had, but the faith I have on the other side fills me with so much hope (and freedom). I hope this episode encourages you wherever you are on your faith journey. Find me on Instagram @megankfish Pinterest @MeganKFish or at themessymingling.com

About balance…

I am a big Peloton rider. I got my bike about four years ago and have been hooked every since. It’s just easy and the community is what I need right now. Every time you get on a workout, the instructor says something thought-provoking or inspirational. I have had some spiritual moments in my workouts. The other day one of the instructors said something I wish I would’ve heard when I first started having kids. This woman is a go-getter. She is doing all the things. It may intimidate some or be a turn-off for others, but I see how her hustle brings her joy () and it’s contagious.

She has a two year old little girl and is expecting again. She was talking about how she had to learn to let go. She had to let other people love on and be the care giver for her daughter when she was working or fulfilling other commitments. She learned she will always be her baby’s mom, but in some moments she has to relieve the love and care for her daughter to someone else so she can step into her “identity in that moment.”

I thought, how wise. She has learned the art of releasing all the many hats she wears so she can be completely present in her current situation and responsibility. I don’t know about you, but when I am writing or creating I can easily be distracted. Like right now. I moved some chairs in our backyard and it is absolutely driving me crazy that they aren’t balanced (hahaha. Funny guy, God). I desperately want to go outside and fix them. The designer in me does not like the look I am staring at through my back window. But the designer hat is hanging on the rack. I am currently wearing my writing hat and that is where my focus must be.

So often we feel like we have to do all the things all at once. We can’t hang up our hats and only choose one. So, we get distracted or overwhelmed and many times paralyzed because we are trying to be all the things all the time.

Hang up your hats, ladies. Put them on the rack. Only wear one at a time. We would look a fool if we walked out of the house with multiple hats on our head. You don’t have to divvy up your 100%. You can give 100% to what is right in front of you right in that moment. Then, hang up that hat, grab another (Just One), and give 100% to that task.

I think the first thing we have to do in order to be successful in this is to name our hats. What are the main things you want to do and the main things you must do each day. Make a list. Name your hats. Draw a picture of them hanging on the hat rack on the wall. That way, you can visualize each specific responsibility and desire as you hang one up and put one on.

The problem isn’t that we have too many hats. It’s that we try to put them all on. You only need one at a time and that way you can have 100% to everything one hat at a time.

What is my identity right now in this moment?

Where does my attention need to go?

Identify your must-do tasks. Think about what you devote your time to.

If you are the type, give yourself a “work” schedule.

If a “work” schedule squashes your creativity, give yourself freedom to devote time when the ideas flow taking off the current hat you are wearing and replacing it with the idea that needs to come out.

Name your hats.

On this week’s episode, I briefly chat about my first experience with renovation. I didn’t choose this experience. It chose me.

You can listen to the full story by clicking the link above.

About five years ago, we had a major flood in our home. Little did I know, that frustration would awaken a passion in me that I didn’t know was laying dormant. When I think back on my childhood and growing up years, I don’t see a girl dreaming of becoming a teacher (that is what I did pre-kids). When I look back on my life, I see a girl who loved to create. Whether it was building a tree house and decorating it with puffy paint and trinkets or moving the furniture around in my room for the umpteenth time, being creative was always something that brought me to life. I loved writing and painting the walls of my room and throw pillows. I didn’t realize that was what I was meant to do; to be.

Sometimes we search and search to find ourselves not realizing that person has been inside us all along trying desperately to get out. We try this and do what they say we are good at feeling meh or half of ourselves. It isn’t until we have a moment of awakening, mine came in the sign of an overflowed toilet, do we realize who we really are and what we should be doing with our lives.

For too long, I stuffed down the person I was always meant to be because I felt stupid. Honestly, I was insecure. I am not a published author, so there’s no way I can be taken seriously as a writer. If anything, I have been rejected every time I have tried to have my writing published, so I convinced myself I couldn’t be a writer. I don’t have a degree in design. I have never been trained in any sort of renovation or design, so who am I to say I know what I am doing when creating a space in our home?

So much doubt.

So much talking myself out of it.

This episode, this podcast, is a compilation of stories of how I went from convincing myself I am not qualified enough to write, design, and garden to stepping into these three things with bold confidence and clarity. This is a place to inspire you to do the same. You have dreams. You know what energizes you and awakens your innermost being more than anything else. Yet, there is something that is holding you back from stepping fully into it. If this is you, this is where you belong.

Take the risk.

Do the thing.

It’s time to live.

Love you. Mean it.

Meg