In the Moment

Two quickies for the week

Quick issue this week after the five essays last week. I have two items.

First, coming out of The Body Issue, Julie Browne recently interviewed me for her podcast, Bold Becoming. Julie is a friend from Seth Godin’s altMBA, a Certified High Performance Coach, and author of a forthcoming book on Forced Identity Transitions after a major life disruption. You can learn more about her work and tremendous impact here:

Courage-Ignite Breakthrough Institute

Here’s Julie’s introduction to our conversation:

How a Heart Defect Impacted the Trajectory of Russell’s Life  

Russell’s heart was missing a valve. He had surgery at twelve-days-old, and a few more over the years. This condition kept him from doing many things kids do. He had strength and endurance challenges. He lived with fear of getting hurt. His physicality revolved around protecting his chest and not damaging anything internally. His identity loss was the form of an identity nipped in the bud. Instead of the weak, slight kid with some academic confidence, he’ll never know who he would or could have been, had he been born with a normal heart.

The flip side is a man fully engaged with life. Russell views life more broadly, values it more deeply, and believes he may experience more joy than the average person. Listen to what it’s like to live in a body that holds you back. Learn how he faces obstacles and challenges and endures the grief of lost opportunities. Find out how he dealt with comparison with others. Discover how he went from not being able to run on the basketball court for more than a few minutes to now doing strength training and rucking events, even though he can never build extra muscle. What role has experimentation played? What keeps Russell motivated to keep working so hard and continually discover what’s possible?

I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed speaking with her! Again, you can listen here. 

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Second, I’ve received so many beautiful responses to my survey on Prayer, Meditation, and Spiritual Practices. If you have had a chance to respond, I would truly welcome your insights on your own practice. 

Respondents have shared so kindly and openly about their practice, its evolution and its meaning in their lives. I feel so much gratitude for their openness and thoughtfulness. 

You can find the survey here. 

Again, I will compile replies for an upcoming essay. Thank you.

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Images created by Midjourney.