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A Minute With Mindy, Joplin, MO (2025)

09/28/2022

People who are “helpers,” this one is for you. Helping others is one of life’s greatest joys. It feels amazing and is so gratifying. We can get hooked.

But here’s the deal…..
We won’t have it all together all of the time. And it sucks. It feels so bad that a lot of us suppress this and literally con ourselves into believing we are fine. Even when it couldn’t be further than the truth.

So it’s up to us to pause long enough to pay attention to a small voice inside. Whether it’s our own self-talk or the Holy Spirit, the words repeating are “You don’t have to go at this alone. Ask for help.” There’s no guilt or shame in being the “helpee.” In fact, it allows others to feel that fantastic feeling of helping you. Don’t deny anyone that opportunity. .

09/14/2022

My life has recently been going through some changes. Better stated, some of the people that I love the most have had some life changes. I’m just here to love them and be supportive. I even try to be there to help out when they need me.

Change is inevitable in life. Nothing stays the same. However, our attitude about it can either be “I don’t understand this, but here goes” or it can be “I hate this and refuse to accept it.” Either way, I assure you, the change will happen. In other words, change can be painful, but suffering is optional.

Are you or someone you love experiencing a huge life change or a series of smaller life changes? Don’t be afraid to reach out to your supportive people. If you need professional insight, don’t be afraid to contact a mental health provider.
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08/31/2022

Let’s face it. We all have things that happen from time to time that trigger us to remember something. Hopefully that’s a pleasant trigger, ie. the smell of baking cookies triggers you to remember being at your grandma’s house when you were young. Our sense of smell is the fastest track to remembering.

But what if you’ve survived a massive car accident in your past and seeing collisions now triggers you to panic and drop whatever you’re currently doing and get to your house asap. Not great and super inconvenient.

Most people try to avoid these triggering episodes as much as humanly possible. What would happen though if we were to ask ourselves, in curiosity, “Wow! This feeling is awful! I’m not in danger at this moment, but it sure feels like it. I need to take some deep breaths. Maybe I’ve never dealt with that past trauma. Hmmm.”

Avoidance of triggers isn’t healing. We need to walk through these past traumas and work through the discomfort. It’s not necessarily fun, but it’s so good. Don’t be afraid to do this with a mental health professional.

08/15/2022

We will all have seasons in our lives that seem especially tough. In fact, you may be going through such a time right now. Let me state what might be very obvious here. It won’t last forever.

One of the difficult things about living in the valley is that it’s tough to realize when things are looking up right away. With our eyes fixed to the ground and our backs turned toward the wind, it can seem like it’s never going to end. We will discount any small rise in the landscape as a fluke.

In order to really experience the rise, we have to keep our eyes on the hills. We have to be ready for relief from the climb. We have to be expectant for the turn for the better. Let’s live life in a state of hope.

08/08/2022

A mentor of mine once told me that the only way to be fully alive was to “play full out.” Playing full out is to be fully present, stretching yourself even when you risk looking like a failure, and giving your best effort, even you’re tired and ready to give up. Playing full out is being “in it to win it.”

So this might seem like sound advise if you’re playing a sport or if you’re trying to be a top salesman somewhere. That’s true enough. But … This concept applies to all of us and here’s why.

It’s the best way that I know how to be fully present. When you’re in full out mode, you have no time for regrets, fears of the future, or being distracted. You have the potential to reach your goals. You have a noticeable positive impact on the people around you. They can’t help but notice and want to be a part of it.

I can apply this concept to so many things in my life. When I lose focus, things are dull and less meaningful. I am just going through the motions. Playing full out reminds me that I matter and what I’m doing is worthwhile and important.

What about you?

08/01/2022

I’m back. I restarted my 5:30 am kickboxing class this morning from having been out for two weeks. Two weeks! I was 100% dreading how bad this was going to hit me. The good news is that I didn’t really throw up, I just thought I was going to after conditioning, the “500 Challenge.” Really, Ray? 😆

What was really frightening to me though was that, even though I have done this for almost three years, it would have been really easy to just stop. I could’ve hung up my barely used new pair of gloves and no one would’ve blamed me. At almost the big “six zero,” I doubt anyone would’ve even been surprised. I just couldn’t go out like that though. It’s just not me.

So even though I hadn’t hit that bag for two weeks, I am reminding myself that I did not really have to start over. Two weeks is the longest pause I’ve had since the pandemic lockdown, but I am not really a beginner again. I just have to get back into the swing of things and I will continue to get better again. The important thing is that I am back.

07/11/2022

Do you ever think you might sabotage your positive changes because you worry what people might think? I’ve definitely had my experiences with shrinking myself in order to make other people comfortable. Let me tell you — it’s not fun.

We all have heard that change is inevitable. Change is the only constant. However, there are certain things you can control about yourself. Most people just fail to do them.

We can control what we eat, when we eat, and how much we eat. We can increase our water consumption. We can move our bodies more. We can stop consuming substances that hurt our body. We can become more outspoken. We can reduce our worrying about what others think about us. We can read more. We can look more at positives. I could go on and on.

There are a ton more positive changes. These are just a few. What are some positive changes that you have made? We’re you worried about the haters? We would love to see your ideas in the comments.

07/08/2022

When I was a little girl, I remember that my sweet Grandpa Miller hummed a lot. He hummed when he was concentrating or driving or while he just walked around. What my Grandpa didn’t know, I’m sure, is that humming does some pretty amazing things. Humming stimulates our vagus nerve.

Our vagus nerve connects our brain to our bodies. It runs through our body. This system allows us to do simple tasks. It is a major factor in how our bodies and brain function together.

The vagus nerve runs right through our larynx and pharynx in our throat. Creating vibration in this area of our body can be healing. Humming, chanting, or gargling can be used to calm down nausea, aid in other matters of physical health, and best of all to me is that it calms down anxiety.

The vagus nerve system acts to counterbalance the fight or flight system when we are anxious. Stimulating it produces a calming effect. So I think we should all try this technique of regulating our emotions when we become anxious. It’s simple, can be easily remembered, and we always have access to it.

07/06/2022

There are two things that you need to know about me for this post to make sense. First, I hate feeling cold. Hate it. Air conditioning makes me want a blanket. Secondly, I am a total sucker for a challenge. If someone wants me to work harder, all they have to do is call it a challenge and I’m there.

With these things in mind, I am completely torn about the cold challenges that are popular right now. And by popular, I don’t mean tiktok, even though I’m sure they are in there. These are cold showers / ice bath / plunging your face into ice water trends. The most intriguing part is that it is supposed to be amazing for mental health.

The word on the streets is that being extremely cold stimulates our vagus nerve. There are supposed to be dozens of things that cold showers are supposed to help with from male fertility to resetting your metabolism. I’m mostly intrigued though by the idea that this will improve both anxiety and depression.

You don’t have to start with ice baths. You can begin by putting ice on your chest or putting your face into ice water. You can start with a lukewarm shower and then switch the warm water off for 60 seconds of freezing cold.

If anyone out there has done any of these freezing activities, I’d love to know about your results. Even though I detest being cold, this may be worth a try. Especially if you call it a challenge.

07/01/2022

When I was a child I read everything. And by everything I mean most of the encyclopedia Brittanica. I read the yellow pages. I read self help books at the ripe old age of ten and wrote a book report on the book, “I’m okay. You’re okay.” in fourth grade.

There were no books that I wasn’t allowed to read. Honestly, my parents didn’t know half of the books I read, but they couldn’t have kept me from reading them. So when I hear about book censorship in America in our day and age, I’m blown away. Has our fear of exposing our kids to different ideas taken over our common sense?

In my opinion, banning books that our children might read is not protection. The fear that our children will be harmed by books that we find offensive is overprotection and won’t work in the long run. After all, these “questionable” books won’t be banned everywhere.

I have a great idea though. What if we as parents read the books on the list to be censored? What if we read them together with our children? Let’s use them to bring up topics that we may disagree on. Who knows? Maybe they will open our minds.

06/29/2022

It is so difficult for me to get past being misunderstood. I’m not talking about the haters here. They are always going to be there. I’m referring to people that you do life with. People you choose to love. Their disapproval can feel physically painful.

It’s also difficult to get in there and “rumble” as Brene’ Brown would say. Trying to come to a reasonable discussion about what you believe can be terrifying. Everything can be telling you avoid avoid when the most logical thing would be approach approach. Resolution is needed.

Fear of confrontation is not my favorite trait about myself. Walking into a conversation with people who look like they want to cut you down isn’t easy. The higher degree in which you want these relationships to continue could be your deciding factor on whether or not to risk the confrontation.

Do you choose love over fear?

06/27/2022

Just in case you haven’t noticed lately, calling yourself out publicly as a believer in God has become increasingly unpopular. To say this is to risk receiving unfavorable comments and jabs. Following Christ might not be the most currently fashionable belief. Nonetheless, it is mine. I am one of those people.

My belief in God is not immature. It is well thought out and firmly set. It is the belief of someone who has been in tough places and watched God come through time and time again. I might not have always been fond of God’s timing in situations, but I’ve always believed that He was with me.

Impossibilities happen in the name of Jesus. I’ve experienced this first hand. Allowing myself to have faith in His power, allows me to see greater things happen. When God shows up in a big way, I’m still blown away. It really never gets old.

Do you believe in something that is totally unexplainable? Only through belief, things change? Wanna share your experiences? I’m all ears.

A Minute With Mindy