Speaker 1: What's up everybody, Um, Damny and this is Positivity Gave.
Speaker 1: I'm really excited today because today's episode, I have two
Speaker 1: of my really good friends, Wendy Gordon and Sibyl Imani.
Speaker 1: They were both on the show. Last season we talked
Speaker 1: about retirement and then un retiring. Today we're gonna talk
Speaker 1: about getting real and the different struggles that we're having
Speaker 1: with getting older. Wendy and Sybil have been my friends
Speaker 1: for years. Wendy and I met years ago when we
Speaker 1: were both managers at Kaiser Permanente, and then Sybil and
Speaker 1: I have been friends for decades. We are all struggling
Speaker 1: a little bit, I think, and I feel like I
Speaker 1: don't know. I feel like I am really trying to
Speaker 1: embrace aging. But do you guys feel like you're embracing
Speaker 1: it or that the transition is just really difficult for you? What?
Speaker 1: What about you? Wendy? The transition is definitely difficult for
Speaker 1: me because I don't when I hear that number, it's
Speaker 1: hard for me to comprehend that. I'm I've been on
Speaker 1: this earth for six decades, so I've had a hard
Speaker 1: time accepting that fact and recognizing what that really means.
Speaker 1: So yes, I am having some trouble with embracing it.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to change my attitude about it because I
Speaker 1: don't There are ways that I don't feel sixty. But
Speaker 1: on the other hand, I do feel sixty because you know,
Speaker 1: I'm feeling it physically. You know, I had struggles with menopause,
Speaker 1: which I've pretty much gotten that taken care of. Now.
Speaker 1: I feel a lot better about that. But my memory,
Speaker 1: you know, just different things that are occurring that did
Speaker 1: not occur a decade ago. Yeah, what about you symbol? Yeah, Adrian, First,
Speaker 1: thank you for inviting us back to positively gam And yes,
Speaker 1: I am struggling with that inner self, that inner child,
Speaker 1: that youthful spirit that I have. And then recognizing that
Speaker 1: my presentation is sixty four. It's sixty four, and what
Speaker 1: does that mean? How do I abridge that energy that
Speaker 1: I think I have that's in my brain? Okay, because
Speaker 1: it is in my brain, and when I try to
Speaker 1: put things in gear, I'm finding that I can't do
Speaker 1: all the things that I used to do in the
Speaker 1: way that I used to do them. And then you
Speaker 1: talked about menopause. You know, I experienced menopause early, and
Speaker 1: so the residual effects for me is that weight gain
Speaker 1: around the middle. Oh God, nerve, you absolutely hit a
Speaker 1: nerve because let me tell you what it's been. It's
Speaker 1: been like for me too because people and people. I
Speaker 1: know I'm gonna get some feedback on this, I know it.
Speaker 1: But it's not fair. It's not fair because this is
Speaker 1: what happened. Jada put out that that photo of me
Speaker 1: coming out of the water that was five years ago. Guys,
Speaker 1: I was sixty three at the time. I am sixty eight,
Speaker 1: and you know, I don't look like that anymore. And
Speaker 1: that's all people remember. That's all people see. And I've
Speaker 1: been held to the standard of having these fantastic abs
Speaker 1: and that's great, and I did and I still have
Speaker 1: them underneath this little layer of fat nap okay. And
Speaker 1: the thing is, I actually am not mad that I
Speaker 1: have gained a little bit of weight because it gives
Speaker 1: me a little hip, you know, and it gives me
Speaker 1: a little bit more curb. But that's that flat ab
Speaker 1: that I've always wanted and always loved is eluding me now.
Speaker 1: It is elusive and the only way to get it
Speaker 1: because you can't lose weight. You can't lose weight in
Speaker 1: just your abs. There's no such things. So if I'm
Speaker 1: gonna lose weight, I'm gonna lose weight everywhere, and then
Speaker 1: I'm gonna lose that roundness in my hips that now
Speaker 1: I happen to enjoy. But I have to tell you
Speaker 1: that I had this conversation with Rodney the other night
Speaker 1: because I was complaining about the same thing. I cannot
Speaker 1: lose this, you know, this weight around my middle and
Speaker 1: he was like, Adrian, you are sixty eight years old,
Speaker 1: and it's okay, Yes, it's okay. What makes you think
Speaker 1: that you have to be the poster woman a fitness
Speaker 1: for sixty and over? Nobody, nobody gave you that charge
Speaker 1: except for you. You've given yourself right, right, And there's
Speaker 1: nothing wrong with giving yourself. I don't think there's anything
Speaker 1: wrong with giving yourself a charge or picturing yourself in
Speaker 1: a certain way. And it is so individual and individualizing.
Speaker 1: When I listened to you, Adrian, I'm saying to myself, okay,
Speaker 1: flat ass. I don't know that I have experienced that
Speaker 1: since I was in my twenties. To be really you know,
Speaker 1: to be really honest, right, So what first world problems? Right?
Speaker 1: I can't when I look at you, and I know
Speaker 1: we're not supposed to compare ourselves, and I'm not comparing myself.
Speaker 1: But when I hear that's your issue, and then I
Speaker 1: think about what my issue is, I'm like, that may
Speaker 1: never that will never happen. It's just, you know, I
Speaker 1: started going back to the gym and my trainer just
Speaker 1: really this month. And I woke up this morning and
Speaker 1: got on the scale and it was up by two pounds.
Speaker 1: And when I tell you that, that threw me for
Speaker 1: a loop, and I felt so defeated, because as I've aged,
Speaker 1: it's harder to get the pounds off period. It's just
Speaker 1: harder between menopause. I started me menopausal symptoms at and
Speaker 1: just kind of wrapped that up, you know, with my
Speaker 1: doctor at sixty right, just this summer. Okay, So for
Speaker 1: twelve years I was deprived of a lot of things. Okay,
Speaker 1: I was not in a good place mentally or physically,
Speaker 1: you know, in terms of what menopause does. And so
Speaker 1: now I'm trying to get it. I had lost a
Speaker 1: lot of way and then I actually put twenty pounds
Speaker 1: back on. I'm like, who, how does that happen? It's
Speaker 1: not like I'm engorging myself, you know, so that has
Speaker 1: been discouraging and then waking up this morning and dealing
Speaker 1: with that, it was very difficult for me to get
Speaker 1: in my car and drive to that gym and work
Speaker 1: out because it's not easy for me. It's not I
Speaker 1: find it to be very difficulty. You're in a routine
Speaker 1: that you've been in ever since I've known you, which
Speaker 1: I've admired and haven't been able to master. So I'm
Speaker 1: dealing with that also. Yeah, and actually for me now,
Speaker 1: I am not in that routine anymore because I have
Speaker 1: this issue with my hip, so I have not been
Speaker 1: in the gym like I have previously been all year,
Speaker 1: you know, but I have, you know, arthritis in my
Speaker 1: hip that's really bad and I'm actually considering getting a
Speaker 1: hit replacement. And so it is really of a cad
Speaker 1: for me now to you know, I can't work out
Speaker 1: the way I'm used to working out, and it really
Speaker 1: working out was a big part of my life. I
Speaker 1: actually enjoyed it. I know most people don't, but it
Speaker 1: was a really big part of my life and I
Speaker 1: really enjoyed it. So like dealing with that, it's struggling, y'all. Struggling,
Speaker 1: and I'm not happy. Right. These are things that we
Speaker 1: grieve right when our body works against us because I
Speaker 1: have arthritis in my knee and I have to get
Speaker 1: quarterisone shots now and when I go and I'm telling
Speaker 1: the train and listen, I can't be jumping off of
Speaker 1: boxes and all of this kind of stuff and running
Speaker 1: on treadmills. I cannot do that anymore. And you grieve it,
Speaker 1: you really do. It's wow, like I'm not moving the
Speaker 1: way I used to, and that's reality. And when you're
Speaker 1: around a lot of young people that are vibrant, like
Speaker 1: um Sybil was saying, you feel it, you want to
Speaker 1: do it, but the body says, I don't think so exactly.
Speaker 1: And I have a difficult time saying no because I'm
Speaker 1: used to doing it and I think that I still
Speaker 1: should be able to do it, and I end up
Speaker 1: injuring myself. What about you, Sybil? Well, you know, one
Speaker 1: of the things that I believe is that I'm still
Speaker 1: in this transitional period of accepting the fact that physically aging,
Speaker 1: and while things may not actually appear the way I
Speaker 1: would like them too, some of it is workable, some
Speaker 1: of the some of it I can work on I too,
Speaker 1: just scheduled a trainer from when I make it back
Speaker 1: to Baltimore, Okay, to get some things in shape. Quote unquote. However,
Speaker 1: one of the things that I have begun to practice
Speaker 1: is exercises in loving my body and looking at it
Speaker 1: as it is, because those changes that have come, all
Speaker 1: of that extra padding, can be beautiful if I see
Speaker 1: it that way. It goes back to that old saying
Speaker 1: beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, because the
Speaker 1: body image thing as we age, especially if you still
Speaker 1: have that youthful spirit, you're not settled, you're not just complacent,
Speaker 1: you know, can really create a conflict. So I look at,
Speaker 1: you know, all these curves, and and I look at
Speaker 1: famous art and nude art, and you know, back then
Speaker 1: those ladies had curves and they were beautiful. So I'm
Speaker 1: beautiful too, just like I am. You know. It comes
Speaker 1: down to a level of self acceptance for me, you know,
Speaker 1: because the other thing is I don't want to get
Speaker 1: and this is just me. I don't want to get
Speaker 1: caught up into changing my body for somebody else, because
Speaker 1: sixty four is sixty four all day long. It can
Speaker 1: be cute, it can be pretty, but it's still going
Speaker 1: to be sixty four. And as Rodney said, some of
Speaker 1: that comes with that maturing that takes place physically. You know,
Speaker 1: that's one of the things that I really work on. Okay,
Speaker 1: anything that changes as a plus, But as it is today,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna love it as it is today. You know.
Speaker 1: That's one of the things that I look at with agency.
Speaker 1: That's why you're my sponsor. Girl. I needn't hear that
Speaker 1: because I'm not. I haven't been feeling very positive, positively, positively,
Speaker 1: positively complaining ask game, right, But you know that is
Speaker 1: a good that's a healthy attitude to have to embrace
Speaker 1: where we are and and for the most part, embracing
Speaker 1: you know, like recognizing that, Okay, I'm starting from here, right,
Speaker 1: so I am. Really I have no choice but to
Speaker 1: embrace where I am. You know, I have a picture
Speaker 1: in my mind of where I would like to be.
Speaker 1: The main thing for me is to just try to
Speaker 1: remain as healthy as I possibly can and get myself
Speaker 1: into a healthy routine, which is what I struggle with.
Speaker 1: It's the routine of it all. So I appreciate your
Speaker 1: perspective on that because we can learn a lot from
Speaker 1: just self acceptance right with the realities of what is,
Speaker 1: because that's not going to change. What about technology, You
Speaker 1: guys having any issues when it comes to all this technology. Actually,
Speaker 1: that's one of the reasons why. Of course, you know,
Speaker 1: I had the opportunity with red table Talk, and I
Speaker 1: retired because of that. But I was already on my
Speaker 1: way out the door because at the hospital, all of
Speaker 1: that computer I just you know, I was not full time,
Speaker 1: and it just seemed every time I came back to work,
Speaker 1: there was a new form to fill out on the
Speaker 1: computer for the patient assessments, and it just technologically it
Speaker 1: was just becoming overwhelming for me. I couldn't keep up.
Speaker 1: Was spending more time trying to chart on the damn
Speaker 1: computer than I was actually giving patient care. And that
Speaker 1: was problematic for me. I didn't feel like a nurse anymore,
Speaker 1: got it? Everything is everything is computerized. I'm like, where
Speaker 1: is my hands on nursing care? I'm too busy worrying
Speaker 1: about getting all this stuff recorded. My memory can't ship stuff.
Speaker 1: What is happening as somebody else has got to be
Speaker 1: having some challenges with memory, most definitely, most definitely having
Speaker 1: trouble with memory. Putting my phone down and then looking
Speaker 1: all over for it. I lost some money the other night,
Speaker 1: about two weeks ago. I lost an envelope full of
Speaker 1: cash that I never carried, but I had to get
Speaker 1: some out, you know, to tip people at the hair
Speaker 1: salon and all this stuff. Right, So I go in
Speaker 1: my room to get the cash to put in my
Speaker 1: purse to go to the nail salon. I go to
Speaker 1: the nail salona, get everything done, and when I go
Speaker 1: to tip her, there's no money in my purse. So
Speaker 1: I said, okay, I left it home. I come home,
Speaker 1: I can't find the money. I'm all over the place
Speaker 1: looking for this money. Looking for this money, I spiral.
Speaker 1: I'm spiraling all the way down. My husband is trying
Speaker 1: to help me trace your stuff. I'm tracing my stuff,
Speaker 1: I know. So finally that night, probably I was going
Speaker 1: to bed. It was a Friday night, and I was
Speaker 1: going to bed. Maybe it almost midnight. I go in
Speaker 1: my closet to get, you know, my pajamas, and there's
Speaker 1: the money sitting on a shelf in my closet, like
Speaker 1: right there. Hey, And I'm like, what happened? So then
Speaker 1: I thought about it. I said, yes, I did come
Speaker 1: in my room. To get the money out of the drawer,
Speaker 1: but I went in the close it to get my
Speaker 1: flip flops to go to they got the money on
Speaker 1: the shop and completely forgot that step. But it it
Speaker 1: took me out and I started thinking about my great grandmother.
Speaker 1: Back then they called it senility, right, it wasn't we
Speaker 1: didn't have Alzheimer's and dementia. And I'm saying, oh, they
Speaker 1: it skips a generation. So that really means that my
Speaker 1: mother should have it. But she's fine. She's eighty two,
Speaker 1: so maybe now I'm gonna be This is the early
Speaker 1: onset of dementia. I know. I worried, A yeah, I worry.
Speaker 1: I watched my mother live with fear of Alzheimer's and
Speaker 1: dementia because it ran through her siblings, and at times
Speaker 1: I find myself experiencing that same fear. But the thing
Speaker 1: with me is I'm an analyst by trade, and so
Speaker 1: a lot of times that's the window that I see
Speaker 1: things through. You talked about technology and being overwhelmed. Oh
Speaker 1: my god, Okay, I'm just blessed to have three young
Speaker 1: people that I can pick up the phone and call
Speaker 1: them and ask, you know, how do I do this? No?
Speaker 1: You can't tell me. You have to come show me
Speaker 1: because I can't do it. You know, I didn't even
Speaker 1: get an iPhone until one went to college and said,
Speaker 1: you need to get an iPhone because that's the reception
Speaker 1: that we have here and technology is very overwhelming. But
Speaker 1: also remember that with you know, advances and technology, we
Speaker 1: are all on information overload. We are on information overload.
Speaker 1: So when I'm on the phone and I'm looking for
Speaker 1: my phone, yes, I gotta give myself a pass, okay,
Speaker 1: because there are a million other things going on at
Speaker 1: the same time that I'm looking for the phone. The
Speaker 1: same with you looking for that envelope. Your mind was
Speaker 1: going a million miles a minute. Yes, I find myself
Speaker 1: forgetting things that I would not normally forget or second
Speaker 1: guessing did I lock the door? You know, did I
Speaker 1: flush the toilet? You know, those kinds of things. You
Speaker 1: know that it's automatic, but because we're you know, working
Speaker 1: with so much information, we may not focus on those
Speaker 1: little things, you know, and technology, technology adds to that.
Speaker 1: How much time do you spend scrolling? Too much? Probably
Speaker 1: too much because that's easy, because that's what it is.
Speaker 1: It's scrolling, right, You don't have to think about anything.
Speaker 1: I have struggled with technology since technology existed. Really, I
Speaker 1: can learn a system to do my work, but I
Speaker 1: live with a technology husband, so he is way ahead
Speaker 1: of everything. So as soon as I learned how to
Speaker 1: work the television or how to you know, set my
Speaker 1: phone to play my mute, He's moved on. So I
Speaker 1: have to ask him. I depend on him for everything,
Speaker 1: and I own my own business now, which everything is
Speaker 1: done in the computer, and I'm still antiquated with things.
Speaker 1: I'm not even using the technology in my system that
Speaker 1: I use for note taking and you know, for sending
Speaker 1: clients information and getting information back, because it's too overwhelming.
Speaker 1: So I'm still writing things down, sending emails. Someone sent me.
Speaker 1: I sent my clients some paperwork and then they wrote
Speaker 1: back saying, well, can I send this back using docu
Speaker 1: sign So I'm like, yeah, I've heard of that, but
Speaker 1: I said, look, as long as I can print it,
Speaker 1: as long as I can print it, and you know,
Speaker 1: you can said it however you want to. But I
Speaker 1: was like, what is that? And am I going to
Speaker 1: be able to use it? Yes? Technology has not been
Speaker 1: my friend from the very beginning. Okay, so you guys
Speaker 1: have not moved out of the area. Right, I've had
Speaker 1: two moves in my adult years. I've moved from Baltimore
Speaker 1: to Las Vegas back to Baltimore, and now I'm in California.
Speaker 1: Have you guys had any difficulties or experience even the
Speaker 1: need to make new friends and developed new relationships, because
Speaker 1: I find that a bit challenging. And I don't know
Speaker 1: whether that has anything to do with aging, but well,
Speaker 1: I think that I don't know. As I'm aging, it's
Speaker 1: a little bit more challenging to build new relationships based
Speaker 1: on authenticity, you know, people not I'm talking about going
Speaker 1: beyond the superficial, the surface type relationships. I'm finding that
Speaker 1: a little bit more challenging. And I think it's because
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the clock. I'm looking at the true
Speaker 1: friendships that I have that evolved over years, over experiences,
Speaker 1: and so when I meet new people, it's we really
Speaker 1: if we don't click right away, it's a rat because
Speaker 1: we'll have time. Yeah, you know, because yeah, I'm looking
Speaker 1: at the clock. You know, I'm looking at the clock,
Speaker 1: and I'm looking at the change in interest, you know,
Speaker 1: the things that I'm interested in doing, you know, And
Speaker 1: so that requires me to acclimate to a whole new
Speaker 1: group of people in some instances, and it's a little
Speaker 1: challenging because as we age, we are more guarded, they
Speaker 1: are more layers, you know, to get to that real person.
Speaker 1: And I'm like a quick, fast person, and so a
Speaker 1: lot of people get kicked to the side with me
Speaker 1: because I just don't think I have the time for that,
Speaker 1: you know, Wendy, Well, I think I don't know that
Speaker 1: really has anything to do with age. Honestly, I think
Speaker 1: that it has a lot to do with personality. I
Speaker 1: have never really had trouble, you know, meeting people, but
Speaker 1: I've not had an interest in making a lot of
Speaker 1: new friends as as uh Sibol set. You know, like
Speaker 1: even when you and I met Adrian, you know, we
Speaker 1: were both adults and we clicked for whatever reason we clicked.
Speaker 1: I think that has to do with authenticity. You know,
Speaker 1: at the time that we met, I was pregnant and
Speaker 1: Jada was pregnant, and I think, you know, we talked
Speaker 1: on the phone or whatever, and then we actually met
Speaker 1: in person because we weren't at the same center and
Speaker 1: something just clicked. And I think that happens sometimes, but
Speaker 1: not very often. When you think about how old you
Speaker 1: are now, right, do you really have a need to
Speaker 1: meet new people that you've moved And I would think,
Speaker 1: you know, yes, that does have something to do with it.
Speaker 1: So you would meet people doing the things that you love.
Speaker 1: You love to dance, you like to go to the gym,
Speaker 1: so you might meet some people there, but are they
Speaker 1: really friends? Are they acquaintances? You know. I think that's
Speaker 1: a whole different conversation to have about how that whole
Speaker 1: thing works. You have your fanly, so your cup is
Speaker 1: being filled by the people who are already in your life.
Speaker 1: You have to just assess whether or not you have
Speaker 1: a need to meet new people to become really close to.
Speaker 1: So I'm not sure that has a lot to do
Speaker 1: with age or just where you are in your station
Speaker 1: in life, you know, and how you define fulfillment, you know,
Speaker 1: in your relationships. I'm looking more at the quality of
Speaker 1: my relationships versus the quantity at this point. And if
Speaker 1: I ever do leave Maryland and go and you know,
Speaker 1: and move somewhere else to retire, I'm not sure that
Speaker 1: it would be of a lot of interest to me.
Speaker 1: As long as I have you know, my family, you
Speaker 1: know that I connect with on a constant basis and
Speaker 1: the friendships that I choose to maintain because I feel like,
Speaker 1: almost like we talked a lot of it's all been
Speaker 1: like downhill with We're making this sound like it's like
Speaker 1: aging is awful, and it really isn't. It really isn't.
Speaker 1: So so I think we need to say some positive things.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of wisdom, but I'm still having an
Speaker 1: awful lot of fun. I swear to God with all
Speaker 1: my eggs and pains, with all of my you know,
Speaker 1: just you know, dissatisfaction that at the end of the
Speaker 1: day is temporary. If you think that I'm sitting around
Speaker 1: sweating about this little bit of extra fat around my belly,
Speaker 1: I absolutely am not. Okay, absolutely not, because at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, it is what it is, you know,
Speaker 1: And I really am just really trying to focus on
Speaker 1: enjoying my life. Girl. That is really what I'm trying
Speaker 1: to do is enjoy my life. Right. I agree, I'm
Speaker 1: trying to do the same thing. And I am. I
Speaker 1: actually am enjoying my life. And that goes back to
Speaker 1: the quality of my relationships. You know, where I am
Speaker 1: in my marriage, you know, like my grandson in love, yes,
Speaker 1: in love with him. I mean, and you were so
Speaker 1: stressed about them moving to Atlanta, Whendy, and it has
Speaker 1: worked out to ye. Absolutely. It gives me somewhere to
Speaker 1: go and they're probably thing, Yes, they are there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they're very well. We have a place to go, and
Speaker 1: we love it when they come home. They were just
Speaker 1: here this past weekend. And I'm surrounded by a really
Speaker 1: great group of young people that this generation gen excell
Speaker 1: uh millennials. They are doing things gen Z whatever alphabet
Speaker 1: it is, but you know, they are embracing life in
Speaker 1: a different way. And I learned a lot from the
Speaker 1: people that are around me, and that keeps my energy
Speaker 1: going because it's like, yeah, I'm trying to keep up.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to keep up. And my niece told me,
Speaker 1: she said, look when I had a sixtieth birthday party
Speaker 1: and with dancing and carrying on like I was twenty, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it does hit different. Yeah, but I'm still trying. I'm
Speaker 1: still trying exactly what about to simple Well, you know,
Speaker 1: I am loving, loving, loving this aging process. Wendy. I
Speaker 1: love that you talked about family and being surrounded by
Speaker 1: family uh and close friends. And I'm very close with
Speaker 1: my children. I have seven grandchildren and one on the way.
Speaker 1: That is why I am in California right now, Okay,
Speaker 1: to continue bonding with one of my grandkids, the only
Speaker 1: one actually that is not growing up with me, and
Speaker 1: you know, in the same city. Yeah, not growing up
Speaker 1: with me in the same city. And I love that. Yes,
Speaker 1: I'm able to impart some wisdom. But you talked about
Speaker 1: those younger people, and when I tell you, I am
Speaker 1: learning more and more from my daughters every day on
Speaker 1: how to change my perspective, on how to recognize at
Speaker 1: the end of the day that is not even worth
Speaker 1: your energy, you know. And I am just loving my
Speaker 1: life right now. You know, I've aged, I've retired from
Speaker 1: a career. I have a little thing on the side
Speaker 1: that I do when I want, however many hours that
Speaker 1: I want. You know, I'm able to be valued. You know.
Speaker 1: There is a lot that comes with aging that is positive.
Speaker 1: You know. I don't know. I'm happy. I'm happy. I
Speaker 1: wake up every day and the sun is shining. I
Speaker 1: don't care it's shining in me. I don't care what's
Speaker 1: going on out there, you know, And every day it
Speaker 1: is an opportunity to reset, you know, whatever happened yesterday,
Speaker 1: that's gone. You know, I'm blessed to still be here,
Speaker 1: you know, and to be sixty four because you know,
Speaker 1: at sixty sixty four and sixty eight look around to
Speaker 1: your to your left, absolutely, because people don't even believe
Speaker 1: it when you actually tell people your age. Really, yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: And as long as they keep saying that, I'm good,
Speaker 1: that's good that at the end of the day, regardless
Speaker 1: of all the obstacles and minor struggles we maybe him,
Speaker 1: there's more joy in aging than anything. And I whatever
Speaker 1: is going on, I'm glad that I have you ladies
Speaker 1: to share and talk with. I want to leave you
Speaker 1: with the thought I always look at my Facebook memories,
Speaker 1: you know, things that people write are things that I've written.
Speaker 1: And and in March and ten, I don't even know
Speaker 1: where I got this, but I copied it and it
Speaker 1: says there are four things that you cannot recover in life.
Speaker 1: The stone after it's thrown, the word after it's said,
Speaker 1: the occasion after it's missed, and the time after it's gone.
Speaker 1: So we're blessed with time. Right, We're still here, vibrant. Yes,
Speaker 1: we have our challenges, but happy to be here and
Speaker 1: blessed with an abundant life. Right. I think we can
Speaker 1: all say that we are living a vibrant and abundant life,
Speaker 1: and I'm very grateful for that. I'm very grateful for that.
Speaker 1: I'm glad to still be standing here at this time
Speaker 1: in our lives. Thank you for that, Wendy, that was
Speaker 1: a good one. Okay, so we're gonna end with the segment.
Speaker 1: Wouldn't you like to know before you go? Wendy and Sybil,
Speaker 1: I have a couple of questions. We're gonna start with you, Sybil. Okay,
Speaker 1: what book are you currently reading? I am reading The
Speaker 1: six nineteen Project by Nicole Hannah Jones, and it is
Speaker 1: about the presence of the African American here on the
Speaker 1: American soil and how what we've been taught. It's not
Speaker 1: how it was. It's a little suspect. Yes, yes, it's
Speaker 1: very heavy because i'm reading it to it's not an
Speaker 1: easy read. But it is such an important read and
Speaker 1: so we would definitely recommend it for everyone, yes, to
Speaker 1: pick it up, and not just Black Americans. Not it's
Speaker 1: black Americans. It's very eye opening. Okay, what is one
Speaker 1: thing you want to get off your chest? One thing
Speaker 1: that I want to get off my chest is that
Speaker 1: I want to continue to love my body until I
Speaker 1: don't and not feed into the trend of surgery. Mm hmm. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's a good one. Okay. What's a model that you
Speaker 1: live by? A model that I live by that I
Speaker 1: renew every day is love heals all. Okay, I like that.
Speaker 1: I like that. Okay, when do you turn? What are
Speaker 1: you reading right now? Well, I would be lying if
Speaker 1: I said that I was actively reading a book because
Speaker 1: I don't find the time to stick with it because
Speaker 1: of what I'm doing for my work. Do you do
Speaker 1: audio books? No? I don't. We'll see most of the
Speaker 1: time I'm online with people on Zoom all day long,
Speaker 1: so that that puts me on overload. So after that,
Speaker 1: I really don't want to hear anything else and I
Speaker 1: don't have If I start reading, I'll fall asleep. Seriously.
Speaker 1: But what I am reading is it's like a like
Speaker 1: a devotional and it's called Focus, and it's by Claire
Speaker 1: Cherry Reeves and it's how one word a week will
Speaker 1: transform your life. So the whole premise of this is
Speaker 1: to focus on one word a week, So it could
Speaker 1: be anything, kindness, position, determination and it just gives you
Speaker 1: some things to think about. So this started with the
Speaker 1: women's ministry at my church. So that's what I commit
Speaker 1: myself too. You know, just in terms of reading, I
Speaker 1: would like to read more, but I really find it
Speaker 1: difficult to get it in. Most of the time when
Speaker 1: I'm reading, I'm on the play or something like that.
Speaker 1: It's the same for me. I do most of my
Speaker 1: reading on the plane. I don't have I don't know
Speaker 1: how well. I don't have time to just sit down
Speaker 1: and read and be and it I will fall asleep.
Speaker 1: But I do. I read on the plane. I read
Speaker 1: when I take vacation and I'm on the plane all
Speaker 1: the time, by the way, I'm flying all the time,
Speaker 1: or and I love listening to audiobooks, but when I'm
Speaker 1: really trying to learn something that I have to read it.
Speaker 1: What is one thing you want to get off your chest.
Speaker 1: I am such a stickler for customer service, okay, and
Speaker 1: the lack of customer service that continues to exist. It's
Speaker 1: very irritating for me. So I praise people when I
Speaker 1: get the service that is expected. And I'm just finding
Speaker 1: that it's almost a lost art for people. And I
Speaker 1: think we need to pay attention to that because we
Speaker 1: are consumers and there's a human aspect of interaction. I know, technology,
Speaker 1: you know, has taken over and all these things, but
Speaker 1: people I find just don't have patience, They don't have
Speaker 1: what it takes to just serve others. So that's just
Speaker 1: it's just something that's a source of irritation for me,
Speaker 1: and I wish I could teach classes on it because
Speaker 1: it's necessary. It's still very necessary, and every now and
Speaker 1: then when you get a person that is cognizant of
Speaker 1: it and gives you that, it's just very refreshing. So
Speaker 1: that now that's a whole conversation. Actually it is. That's
Speaker 1: a whole conversation because I think people, you know, kids now,
Speaker 1: this generation, this new generation, they're growing up with all
Speaker 1: this technology, and they don't even know how to communicate.
Speaker 1: They don't know how to Yeah, they don't know how
Speaker 1: to engage and communicate, you know exactly, Yes, yeah, all right,
Speaker 1: what some model you live by, The journey of a
Speaker 1: thousand miles begins with the first step. Yes, that's a
Speaker 1: model that I live by. Yes, can't get anywhere unless
Speaker 1: you take the first step, exactly, you know what it
Speaker 1: has been a joy. You guys have really filled me
Speaker 1: up and given me so much today. I love both
Speaker 1: of you so much. Thank you for joining, and we
Speaker 1: love you and we love thank you for even and
Speaker 1: I didn't say it at the beginning of Sybil Step,
Speaker 1: but thank you for inviting me again. Absolute fun. Absolutely
Speaker 1: we'll have to hook up and have lunch when the
Speaker 1: next time I come to Baltimore. Wendy, we haven't Yes, okay, okay,
Speaker 1: And that's it for our show this week of Positively Damn.
Speaker 1: You can follow me online at gammy Narris also help
Speaker 1: us out by leaving a five star review on podcast
Speaker 1: and by hitting the follow button on I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Stay great for y'all, Thank you, and d find a
Speaker 1: new welf you. Positively gam is produced by Red Table
Speaker 1: Talk Podcast and I Heart Radio. Executive producers are Adrian Banfield,
Speaker 1: Naris Balin, Jethro and Jada Pickett Smith. Our audio engineer
Speaker 1: is Calvin Bailiff, and our associate producer is Irene Bischoff Burger.
Speaker 1: Our theme song is produced by d Beats