117 Transcript: Finding the Light After Depression (with Maria Paz)

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J: You're listening to the Vibrant Happy Women podcast, episode number 117, all about finding the light again after depression. Stay tuned.

Intro: Welcome to the Vibrant Happy Women podcast, stories of vibrant women living happy lives. And now, your host, Jen Riday.

J: Hey there, welcome back to Vibrant Happy Women. I'm your host Dr. Jen Riday and this is the place to be if you want to find you again, if you've given everything for everyone else and you feel like you're on a hamster wheel, running and running and running and you want to stop and see where in the world you're even trying to go and to understand what your purpose might be; what you might be born to do on this earth, and just to feel a little more balanced doing it. So welcome to the show. Last week, I have the honor and privilege of chatting with Gretchen Rubin, author of ‘The Happiness Project’ and ‘The Four Tendencies’ and so many other great books, and we had a blast talking about the four tendencies and what that means in families. My family is made up of Questioners and rebels and that means our family life can be a little more challenging than those of you who might have obligers in your family; sometimes I'm a little jealous, I'll be honest.

And before we get to this week's guest, I want to remind you, the Vibrant Happy Women Club is still open for enrollment, but only for a couple more days. The club is kind of like book club on steroids, except we are discussing the Vibrant Happy Women podcast as members of the club. You'll get to meet virtually with about a dozen other women from around the US and around the world and discuss podcast episodes, discuss what it means in your life, and especially to hold each other accountable so you can take action. When you're in a group of like-minded women, your growth happens much more quickly because you know someone is there paying attention to whether you're going to do what you said you're going to do, and you get to reflect and hear that, “Hey, you're not alone in your struggles. These other women have similar struggles in so many ways.” Maybe struggles with a toddler who has tantrums all day or a teenager who has tantrums all day or what it feels like to be an empty-nester; any number of things that can really affect us. But especially I love that it's a place where we remind ourselves to put ourselves first. To put ourselves first, why? Because when we take care of our own happiness, we help others to feel happy too, because happiness is contagious. We model for our loved ones, especially our kids, what it looks like to take care of ourselves. So if you're feeling frazzled and burned out and like you're running on a hamster wheel, take a moment today to head over to vibranthappywomenclub.com and learn more about how the club will make your life better.

Did you ever pause to consider that our ancestors are waiting with bated breath, wherever they are, you know, (in the beyond) to see if you might be the one that will break the unhealthy patterns that have been carried down through the generations? Whoa! Right? The Vibrant Happy Women club will help you learn those healthy habits that will break those negative patterns of victim thinking and negativity and family conflict and lack of forgiveness and burning ourselves out especially. And you can learn how to provide that example of balance, positivity, calm, feeling more in control of your life and time and modeling what it looks like to be a vibrant and happy woman. Again, to learn more about the club, go to vibranthappywomenclub.com.

And I'm honored today to be talking to Maria Paz all about finding the light again after depression. I know so many of listening have struggled with a low mood or depression at some time or another; maybe you are just struggling with that now. And so Maria shares her story of being in that pit and looking up, figuratively looking up, and feeling like she was viewing her life from within a dark pit and how she took a few steps to get herself out of that place and find that light and joy and vibrance again. So let's go ahead and dive into this interview.

Maria Paz is a mom of 5 boys, ages 17 to 26, and she works as an assistant manager at a bank in Chicago. Maria has always loved helping people, and in her free time, she likes to do some volunteering with her kids and to spend time meditating. Welcome to Vibrant Happy Women, Maria.

M: Hello.

J: So glad to have you be here.

M: Happy to be here. Yes, very happy to be here.

J: And let's start out with your favorite quotes that helps you to be a vibrant happy woman.

M: You know what? I think I had one that kind of stuck to for a while there, it was, “Your mind is your instrument, learn to be its master, not its slave.”

J: Ooh!

M: Yeah.

J: So how does that one help you in life?

M: Well, you know, I started practicing mindfulness, which I learned from you, so thank you very much.

J: (Laughs). Oh, thank you.

M: And I had to catch my mind, you know, whenever it was thinking negatively or whenever it was, you know, trying to put me down, you know, like when my thoughts were going to, “Oh, it's horrible day,” or, “Oh, I'm feeling horrible today,” or, you know, just trying to catch those negative thoughts and just letting them go, getting rid of them and replacing them with positive thoughts so that every day could be a good day for me, you know? Life is not perfect and I know that things happen, but I think that when we control our mind and our thoughts, it helps us to move forward and not stay stuck in whatever it is that we are going through.

J: Mm-hmm, that's perfect, I love that. Well, Maria, before we began recording, you were telling me how you had this series of unfortunate events with a job loss and your husband being sick and one of your kids having some struggles at school and you hit this really low point. Tell us about that low point and then your journey out of that pit that you described to me before we started.

M: Well, you know, when I lost my job I tried… you know, the company was downsizing they were, you know, getting rid of certain positions. And so my position was one of the ones that they discontinued, and of course the company had offered me to move somewhere else; they were very gracious. But I would be traveling like an hour in 15 minutes to work and an hour and 15 back home every day; that was a little too much for me. So I decided not to take that offer and my thought was, “Well, I'll stay home with… you know, with the boys for the summer and I'll eventually find something.” But little did I know that this even would start a downward spiral for me that year.

J: Yeah.

M: So after my job was discontinued, I stayed home. Then unfortunately, my husband had an accident at work and he was out of work for about, I would say, almost a month and a half, I would say. So of course that created, you know, financial stress for us, but, you know, I still try to remain, you know, as positive as I could; trying to manage our finances as best as possible. Then my boys, my twins, began freshman year in high school, and one of them had a really, really hard time with adjusting to the new school and, you know, there was over 4,000 kids and it was rough on him; he had a really rough start. So by the end of the year, you know, my thoughts were very negative, I lost my job, you know, financially we weren't doing that well, my son was having issues, you know, and I started just beating myself down and, you know, “I'm not a good mom. I'm not a good wife. I lost my job. I can't even contribute financially.” So it was just a downward spiral and, you know, I think that if back then I would have had the tools that I currently have that I have learned from being part of the Vibrant Women Academy or club now, I think that I would have been better off, you know, the mindfulness part of it; you know, catching my bad thoughts and putting myself down, you know, just taking a different approach to the situation I think would have been better. But I didn't have these tools available to me, so I myself started getting depressed. I would, you know, worry about our financial situation. I would worry about my son and then I couldn't sleep. You know, physically, I started not feeling very well because I wasn't getting enough sleep. I was hardly eating. Sometimes I would just, you know, have a cup of coffee in the morning and that was all I had.

J: Mm-hmm.

M: You know, and for dinner, of course I would have a little bit to eat. But, you know, I can now see how I did it to myself where, you know, I was just focusing on these negative thoughts and just completely lost complete focus of myself, you know?

J: So how would you describe what it was like at that low point? What did it feel like?

M: You know what? It felt like they a lot of hopelessness; it was hopeless. I wasn't going to be able to find a job anymore, you know, I couldn't do anything to help my son other than to his doctor and, you know, try to help him that way. You know, I thought that I wasn't going to find a job, that it was going to be really hard because everyone was… you know, all the companies were downsizing. And it was just these things, these negative thoughts that I was just… you know, all these stories that I was creating in my head…

J: Mm-hmm.

M: About, you know, how horrible the situation was.

J: Mm-hmm.

M: Instead of, you know, thinking positively and trying to help myself, I was kind of punishing myself, you know?

J: Right, right. And you… you describe to me the pits and can you describe what that was like being down in that pit and looking up and seeing the sky? I love how you say that.

M: Yes. Actually, I mean, that's, you know, just to create a vision of how I felt. You know, I felt as if I was in this dark, cold, black, wet hole, you know, and if I looked up, I could see the sky, I could see the sun, I could see the trees. I could see, you know, what… what was out there and what I wanted to get to, you know? But in that moment, I was down deep in this dark, cold hole, you know? And I just didn't know how to get up there; how to get out of this terrible hole that I had gotten myself into.

J: Yeah, and I'm sure so many listening have been there. I think we've all probably been there, but so many listening or might even still be there. What would be your first piece of advice to start to climb out of that hole; how you did it?

M: Well, what I did is, using the tools that you provided for us, you know, one of them of course mindfulness, you know?

J: Mm-hmm.

M: Catching those bad thoughts and getting rid of them, taking care of yourself before you take care of anybody else because, you know, you need to be able to show up to others as your best self. And at that moment, I was not my best self; physically, emotionally, spiritually, I was not my best self. So I knew that I needed to get myself to a point where I could show up as who I truly was. So practicing the mindfulness, the… absolutely taking care of myself. I set up an appointment with my doctor, I went to see my doctor. I started taking vitamins. I started doing the meditations. I started sleeping better, thankfully after I was practicing all these things and… and utilizing all these tools. You know, so I started feeling better physically, I started feeling better emotionally. And, you know, again, practicing the mindfulness, practicing the meditation. I knew that I needed to get my mind to a different place; I knew that I needed to shift my mind to help me to get out of this rut that I was in.

J: Mm-hmm! And if someone else is in that rut right now, I know that place feels really unmotivated, you just feel so tired, how did you develop that motivation to want to change your thoughts and to want to get out?

M: Well, first I didn't understand, you know? I didn't understand that that was what was happening to me,.

J: Ah, right

M: You know, “What is this?” you know, “What is this place where I'm at right now?” And until I realized that I was depressed, you know, that I was beating up myself, that this is what it was; that it was in my normal self, I was, you know, like I said, I was depressed, I was speeding up by myself. And then I realized, you know, “I need to get out of this so that I can continue moving forward. I can't stay stuck in this place because it's either going to get worse or that's it,” you know, “I'm going to start gaining more weight.”

J: Yes, right.

M: And, you know, “I'm going to get sicker,” you know? I was already feeling physically sick, you know, “I'm going to get worse. I'm going to have a heart attack or…” you know, my thoughts would take me until these things where, “I'm going to have a heart attack and I can't…” you know, “What's going to happen to my kids?” and, “My kids need me.” So it was actually, you know, me thinking, “My kids need me, I need to get out of this.”

J: So you were in that place, how did you…? You mentioned you came across the Vibrant Happy Women podcast, I'm curious, where did you hear about it?

M: I didn't hear about it. (Laughs). I was… you know, one of my… my son's girlfriend actually said, “You know what? I'm going to create a Facebook for you; a Facebook profile for you so that you could go on there and just, you know, spend your time on something,” right?

J: Yeah.

M: Because I wasn't doing anything.

J: Right.

M: So she created it and, you know, I just started going through it and, you know, seeing what other people were doing, and then I found you; you just happened to come up on there for me. And…

J: Wow.

M: And that's when I started following you and I listened to some of your… you know, your podcasts that you had going on. And that's how I started actually; that's how I, you know, started listening to other women's stories and, you know, that I wasn't the only one. I wasn't the only one that was struggling with something, you know?

J: Right, right.

M: We all struggle with different things at different times in our lives. And so, me realizing that I wasn't the only one, that I wasn't out there by myself, you know, helped me. You know, and listening to these women of how they did it or what they did to get out themselves of this situation where they were in, you know, motivated me; motivated me to try to do something…

J: Mm-hmm.

M: … for myself.

J: Yeah. “Feathers can shift out of that place, so can I,” that's what a lot of people say, right.

M: Yeah.

J: So you were in that dark place and you started changing your thoughts, and you found the Vibrant Happy Women club and the podcast. And just tell us more about that journey what it looked like to shift out of there and where you are now.

M: Well, again, I started with the mindfulness, the meditations. I visited my doctor I got, you know, physically better so that I was able to have the energy to do, you know, different things. You know, and I got to the point where I wasn't feeling as negative as before, I was just isolating myself from everyone. So I started creating a tribe for myself. I started reaching out to my friends because I had stopped; I had stopped, you know, talking to my friends.

J: Uh-huh.

M: So I started reaching out to my different friends and, you know, I started talking to them and living; living again is actually what…

J: Yeah.

M: … what it was, you know?

J: Mm-hmm.

M: So that's how I started. I continued with all of your programs, you know, which had helped me. One program that we did, I remember the wheel of… oh my god, what do you call it? The wheel of…

J: Wheel of happiness.

M: Yes, the wheel of happiness, where, you know, there's these focuses that have and then we work at least one at a time. So I printed it out, I cut it up and I put it in my room right by my door, so when I'm exiting my bedroom, you know, I saw this wheel of happiness, and I started focusing on the different thing one by one. And, you know, that's one thing that helped me. You know, for example, mind, you know, creativity, learning, fun, you know, that was the way that I cut it up in the way that I put it; mind was on top and that's, again, how I started.

J: Mm-hmm.

M: Helping myself, working… you know, getting my mind where I needed to get it.

J: Mm-hmm.

M: You know, my emotions, the awareness, the self-worth, the self-talk, my mood, “What mood am I in today,” you know? I started realizing the different moods that I was not in and then I would change it. If it was a bad mood that I was in, I would change it.

J: Nice. And so it just sounds so empowering because you realized, “Oh, I can choose how I want to feel.”

M: Yes.

J: “If I do small little steps, changing my thoughts, healing my body, seeing the doctor, focusing on what boosts my mood,” that's so great. Well…

M: Yes. And so then I went on to spirit, you know, meditation, prayer; I, you know, got back to my prayers. Journaling, I began journaling. I found this book that I bought and it just tells you, you know, “What are you grateful today?” So it has the… it has the questions in there for you because the first journaling was hard for me, it was just a blank page; you know, “What do I… what do I write?” you know? So this journal helped me because they had questions that I kind of could fill in. So that was focusing on spirit, you know, contribution, focusing on my talents, my purpose, my career, relationships. Then I started focusing on love and my family and my friends on my community, outdoors, enjoying the outdoors the sunshine. Now, I'm driving to work sometimes and I really am grateful and I really appreciate that I noticed, you know, how beautiful just looking at a tree is.

J: Yeah!

M: You know? (Laughs)

J: Yeah, it’s so true.

M: Yes. I mean, I'm driving and I see these really pretty flowers, you know, they're blooming; so, you know, the outdoors. And I think the other one was resources; you know, I started paying better attention my finances, organization, time management. And now I have a sense of control where I was able to get back and start saving money again and getting my… my emergency fund back where I needed to get it, you know? So today, I can say that my finances are a lot better than where they were 2 years ago, you know?

J: Hmm, that's so great. And when you were in that pit, all you could see was, “I don't have a job and my husband is sick and my son isn't doing well,” you were so focused on everything that was wrong that you forgot all of these amazing areas that you mentioned from the…

M: Yeah.

J: … wheel of happiness that help you live a really full life. So I guess it's true, you really did start living again, and then all of that darkness fades away. And I guess they just said on a recent episode, I really believe this more and more, “As we focus on the light, that's what pushes out the darkness,” and that's exactly what you did, I think.

M: Yes, exactly. Yeah, I do remember that recent podcast that you did and that was exactly where I was at; you know, you need to focus on the light. And when you do that, you know, everything will be better. And… and, again, you know, just having this wheel of happiness and… you know, helps me get to where I need it to be. You know, the last one on the wheel of happiness, I think was body; and that's where I'm at right now. I am at a point where I need to take care of, you know, my body. I need to, you know, watch what I eat. I need to look at the food that I eat. I need to exercise. I need to make sure that I sleep, and I need to make sure that I hydrate. Because, before, it was like, “Oh my god, I don't have time to sleep,” I could survive in three hours or four hours of sleep. You know, I have to be the supermom and I have to be, you know, the Wonder Woman. I have to, you know, be the super wife, and I have to be the super sister and the super daughter. And, you know, I was doing everything for everyone and completely forgetting about myself.

J: Mm-hmm.

M: And now, it's the opposite. I first think about myself. I first take care of myself so that I am able to show up as my best self with my parents and my sisters and my husband and my children and my friends, you know?

J: Yeah. And have they noticed a change in you?

M: Oh, absolutely.

J: What do they say?

M: Absolute… my birthday was in April and, you know, my kids give me a gift and, you know? For Mother's Day, they'll cook breakfast for me and give me flowers and everything. But this year, my son actually gave me a card and he wrote me a letter, and he said, “Mom, I am so grateful for everything that you do,” you know, “You're my role model, I see this in you and I'm learning from you,” and it was amazing. It was amazing that they can see the changes that I've made in myself, and so I'm sitting an example for them, you know?

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(Interview resumes) [22:50]

J: And how has changing yourself changed your relationship with your husband?

M: You know, just… you know, just the other day he told me, he said, “You know, I like you now.”

J: Oh! (Laughs)

M: “What are you talking about?” He goes, “Yeah, I didn't like you when you were just sitting on the couch, just swiping away on your Facebook.”

J: Oh! (Laughs)

M: He goes, “Now, you're doing stuff, now I like you. You're a little bit more sophisticated,” I'm like, “Oh my god!”

[Laughter]

J: So that’s funny.

M: “What are you talking about?” But, yeah, you know, everyone notices. You know, I remember when I was managing at the other place, one of my manager said, “You know, Maria, sometimes you're too nice, you need to be a little bit more rough on your staff.” And so that in itself kind of made me kind of want to change who I was and manage differently.

J: Mm-hmm.

M: You know, manage people differently.

J: Mm-hmm.

M: And not take into consideration a lot of things, you know, like, “Be a mean boss,” you know, “Be a mean manager, sort of,” you know?

J: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

M: And now, I'm with a manager that is very… you know, he's very strong, he's a very educated person, but he is also very… you know, I don't want to say nice, but he sees the human aspect of our staff; you know what I mean?

J: Ooh, nice!

M: We all have a story, we all have issues that we are going through, and we can't just say, “Okay, you were late today because,” you know, “you're old,” you know, “car broke down or because you got a flat tire because you haven't replaced your tires in 2 years because…” you know what I mean?

J: Yeah.

M: We're looking at the personal aspect of each individual and not just saying, “Okay, well, you were late, I don't care what happened.”

J: Right.

M: You know, “You have a job to do and you have to do it.”

J: Yeah, he humanizes everybody.

M: Yes.

J: Respects you; yeah.

M: Yes.

J: Oh, I'm so glad.

M: So I'm very grateful to have, you know, the manager that I have. I'm telling you, Jen, sometimes things happen for a reason, right? (Laughs)

J: Yeah.

M: So, yeah, I'm really happy where I'm at right now.

J: And what's your vision for your future as you continue living a vibrant happy life?

M: You know what? To continue seeing my children fulfill their own dreams and their own goals, and absolutely not imposing my beliefs in them, but helping them and supporting them to create their own beliefs, you know?

J: Mm-hmm.

M: And to live their lives with their own purpose.

J: Hmm, helping them find their purpose. Do you feel like you're on track and you're living your purpose or moving closer and closer to what you want that to be?

M: I think I am moving closer and closer to what I want that to be, yes. I am definitely not there. I think there's no such thing as perfection. I think that growth is perfection. As long as you continue growing, you know, you're going to be perfect.

J: Yeah.

M: Right?

J: Yeah, I love that, “Growth is perfection; forward is perfection.”

M: Yes.

J: Right.

M: Yes. So as long as you continue growing, no matter what age you are, I think that you will be perfect. And that's my goal, to continue, you know, my working, my career, you know, to continue any personal growth goals that I have, whether that's educating myself in books or educating myself in life.

J: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

M: You know, continue growing and learning from other people and listening to podcasts. I love listening to podcasts because we learned so much, and a lot of it is free, right.

J: Yeah, yeah.

M: We don't even have to pay for it. So…

J: Right. Well, I know you like to volunteer. Tell us more about what helping others means to you and how that ties to your purpose, or so as far as you understand your purpose at this time.

M: Well, you know, at school, they give you those tests of, you know, what type of person you are and what type of career you would, you know, be best at, you know. And, you know, mine has always shown that I like helping people or I like working with people. So, you know, that's kind of the career that I chose, working with people; with a lot of people. And helping people gives me a lot of personal satisfaction, you know? I try to have my children do the volunteer work; we’re volunteering with Feed My Starving Children. I wish that we could do it more often, you know, because volunteering, a lot of people think that it's, “Oh, you know, because I'm helping. I'm helping feed these, you know, starving children or I'm helping, you know, other people,” but in reality, you're helping yourself; you know, you're getting that satisfaction of being able to help people, you know?

J: Mm-hmm, yeah. And I always say… I'm starting to see that as we love other people or as we help to heal other people, it comes back and it ends up helping us love and heal ourselves.

M: Yeah.

J: It's all one big collective pot of love and healing. So I love that.

M: Yes, yes.

J: Well, let's have a quick break for a sponsor and then we'll come back and talk about some of your favorite things.

M: Sure.

J: Okay, so welcome back, Maria. Let's talk about your favorite things, starting with your morning routine. What helps you to start your day on the right note?

M: Well, right now, I'm listening to music. I have forgotten how wonderful listening to music is. (Laughs)

J: Mm-hmm.

M: So, you know, I wake up, my kids are always listening to music, my husband, oh my god, he… you know, he's in the shower and he's singing, he's cooking and he's singing, he's… you know, he's always singing. So, you know, I love listening to music, but I didn't do it myself as much as they do. So now you have a happy, music listening, singing family in my home.

[Laughter]

J: That’s so great! I love that!

M: Yeah. So I started listening to music in the morning. I started an exercise routine, which I love. At first it was so hard, but, you know, I was catching myself saying, “Oh my god, this is so hard! Oh my god, this is so hard!” and I needed to change that, right? I needed to get out of that mindset; so I did. I… you know, I changed my mindset because I honestly thought like, “Oh my god, I'm going to give up one of these days because…” you know, my… my body was sore and, you know, sometimes the kids needed to go to school earlier so I didn't have time to exercise. But I'm to make it a priority, you know, even if that means I have to get up earlier to do it.

J: Right. That's so smart.

M: So I exercise and I absolutely have to have my cup of coffee every day in the morning. (Laughs)

J: Mm-hmm.

M: So, you know, and then I head out.

J: Yeah.

M: Head out to work, yeah. And… well, I think of what I'm going to cook for dinner for that day before I leave and I, you know, kind of try to start prepping for that. So I have a crock-pot that I use or a slow cooker that I use to help me prep. And then in the evening, I get home and… and I, you know, finish dinner.

J: That's so smart, I love crock-pots.

M: Oh yeah.

J: What's your favorite easy meal for the crock-pot?

M: Well, you know, soups. It depends on… you know, I just throw some chicken in there and let it cook and then I'll shred it at the end of the day when I get home and, you know, whip something up. Or if I'm not using the slow cooker, then I'll just have some chicken breasts and just throw them in the oven with some vegetables and roast everything and, you know, bake the chicken, roast the vegetables and then… and that's the meal.

J: Yum, perfect.

M: Yeah.

J: What's your favorite way to relax?

M: My favorite way to relax; definitely reading a book.

J: Mm-hmm.

M: I… you know, I love the feel of holding the book and just reading it; just sitting down, you know, outside in my backyard, I love taking in the sun. So on my days off, sometimes I will make at least 30 minutes of my day to read a book.

J: Oh, that's great. What's your favorite book?

M: Just most recently, I read Braving the Wilderness from Brené Brown.

J: Uh-huh, uh-huh. And what did you learn from it? What was your favorite…?

M: I loved it. She talked about vulnerability, about true belonging, about, you know, showing up as your best self.

J: Mm-hmm.

M: You know, so the true belonging, you know, the way that she spoke about true belonging, you know, was amazing to me. So I really enjoyed her book. You know, vulnerability, the vulnerability piece of it, you know, a lot of times, we hide our true feelings or we hide who we truly are.

J: Mm-hmm.

M: You know, because we're afraid of being vulnerable and getting hurt. You know, so she talks about how brave it is to become vulnerable and truly show up as your… your true self, you know, with your spouse, with your friends, with your family, with your children, with your coworkers, you know? So I really enjoyed the vulnerability piece of it too.

J: Mm-hmm. And so what is your favorite way to boost your mood when you do feel low; to keep your vibration high your energy or high?

M: Exercising and listening to music, absolutely. (Laughs)

J: Yeah, you’ve nailed it down. And I like that. And I like that I can ask this question to every woman and we all have a different answer because we are all different.

M: Yeah.

J: And for some people, it might be sitting still in complete quiet.

M: Mm-hmm.

J: And for you, that's music and movement. And so, perfect, I'm glad you figured that out for yourself.

M: Yes, I love that.

J: So what does it mean for you, Maria, to be a vibrant happy woman?

M: It means to… you know, like I said, truly coming out and showing myself to the world as who I am. You know, I think I'm a very loving and nurturing person, you know, so not hiding that aspect of me because, you know, sometimes people , “Oh, you're too nice,” you know, “People are going to walk all over you,” and just embracing who I am and showing up to the world…

J: Hmm.

M: … you know, as who I am; I truly.

J: Yeah.

M: And embracing that, I think, you know, helps me.

J: Authentic, being authentic.

M: Yeah, yeah.

J: Yeah.

M: Yeah, because, like I said, you know, I'm not hiding my emotions, I'm not, you know, holding back on anything, this is who I am.

J: Yeah, and you're amazing. (Laughs)

M: Thank you. (Laughs)

J: Well, let's have a challenge from you to our listeners before we say goodbye.

M: I would like to challenge everyone to practice mindfulness and truly, you know, catching those bad thoughts and just getting rid of them and replacing them with good thoughts.

J: Perfect. Thank you so much for being on the show. Everyone, we’ll have the show notes, we'll have a link to Maria's book, and you can check that out at jenriday.com/117. Maria, this is amazing. I am so honored you would be on the show. Thank you.

M: Thank you. Thank you for having me, I have really learned a lot, you know, through the Vibrant Happy Women club and… and it's amazing. It has allowed me to create a tribe of women that are like-minded or that, you know, need the support, need the help, need the tools to lead better happy lives.

J: Awesome. Well, I'm so glad you’re a member; you make it an even happier place. Your example and your success story is so inspiring for me and so many others, so thank you.

M: You're welcome.

J: I wish you could know Maria in person; well, or at least virtually like I do in the Vibrant Happy Women club because she is a ray of light and excitement and enthusiasm, so much so that I can hardly believe she had a time when she was depressed. But, you know, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I too had times in my life when I was very, very depressed. I think we all have moments like that. Also, don't forget that the doors to the Vibrant Happy Women club are closing this week. This is the place to come if you want to find your tribe; women who, like you, listen to the Vibrant Happy Women podcast, who want to grow and find themselves again, who want to heal their hearts in their relationships and move forward on the path or journey of happiness. You can learn more and sign up for the club at vibranthappywomenclub.com. I hope to see you inside and I will be back later this week with happy bit, until then, make it a fantastic week; you deserve it. Take care.

Outro: Thanks for listening to the Vibrant Happy Women podcast at www.jenriday.com.