ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Have you ever felt stuck, invisible, or like you’re disappearing in your relationships with friends, family, work, or romantic partners? In this first episode of Wait, Let’s Talk About That, Dr. Lee Long and co-host Lila Pond introduce the WAIT Framework, a simple, practical strategy to help you pause, check in with yourself, and start showing up fully as you in every relationship.
Through relatable stories, real listener questions, and actionable takeaways, Dr. Lee and Lila guide you to:
- Notice where you’ve been disappearing or adapting too much
- Understand why you react the way you do in relationships
- Take small steps to reclaim your voice and presence
By the end of the episode, you’ll have a roadmap to stop getting lost in others’ moods and decisions and instead bring your healthiest “me” to the “we.” This week’s challenge? Notice one moment where you tend to disappear and take one small action to show up as yourself.
Pause. Reflect. Ask yourself: Where am I in this?
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The WAIT, Let's Talk About That with Dr. Lee Long podcast is intended solely for general informational purposes and does not represent the practice of medicine, therapeutic and psychiatric services, nursing, or other professional health care services. It also does not constitute the provision of medical, therapeutic or psychiatric advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is established. The information on this podcast and any materials linked from it are used at the user's own risk. The content provided through this podcast should not be considered a replacement for professional medical, therapeutic, or psychiatric advice, diagnosis, or treatment. It is important that users do not ignore or postpone seeking medical, therapeutic, or psychiatric advice for any health or mental health condition they might have, and should always consult with their health care professionals regarding such conditions.
SHOW NOTES 🔗
TRANSCRIPT 🔗
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Why did I do what I just did?
00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:05.519
Where was I in that?
00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:06.559
What was I thinking?
00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:07.599
What was I feeling?
00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:09.119
What was I experiencing?
00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:10.800
What was I believing?
00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:14.720
And that is the cornerstone of wait.
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Where am I in this?
00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:22.399
Hi, I'm Dr.
00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:27.519
Lee Long, and I'm here with my co-host Lila Pond, and this is Wait.
00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:29.120
Let's talk about that.
00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:31.359
Well, it's so great to be here.
00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:35.759
It seems as though the question of how do I get unstuck?
00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:39.679
How do I stop feeling invisible in my relationships?
00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:43.119
How do I find some clarity in my life about me?
00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:46.399
I just compromise so much all the time.
00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:53.200
So I'm excited to hear you present some simple practical tools to change that pattern.
00:00:53.439 --> 00:01:00.240
We're all looking for some hope and a roadmap that's going to help us get to where we really want to be.
00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:01.039
Mm-hmm.
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Before we get into today's subject, I want our listeners to pause and I want you to ask yourself, where am I in this?
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This is the question we're going to continue to ask ourselves all season of this podcast.
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I even wrote a book called Wait, where am I in this?
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And I want it to become something you routinely ask yourself in every situation that you're navigating.
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When your emotions are heavy or you're having a lot of feelings about another person or maybe a situation you're facing, this question is going to change the way you handle those situations.
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I truly believe it's going to cause a positive shift in your relationship.
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I mean, I've seen it in my office.
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I've seen it with the people that I work with.
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It's about locating yourself instead of looking outward or relying on other people to change.
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I want you to take a minute and find yourself on the map today.
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Think about how you're feeling, what you're thinking, what you might be experiencing, what you might be believing, what you're needing to become aware of you.
00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:18.159
Oh, I think that's great.
00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:23.039
I hope everybody will truly pause and do just that right now.
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All right.
00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:25.520
What do you say?
00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:26.719
Should we get into it?
00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:27.439
Yes.
00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:32.000
You know, starting out thinking like, have you ever lost yourself in a relationship?
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Have you ever found yourself staying quiet even when something really matters?
00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:42.800
Do you feel like you really know where you are in relationships at times?
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And do you find yourself guided by the other person's mood, behaviors, decisions, opinions, judgments, etc.?
00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:57.120
Yeah, isn't that interesting that it can take us so off course?
00:02:57.280 --> 00:02:57.680
Yes.
00:02:57.919 --> 00:02:59.520
We lose who we are.
00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:00.719
So true.
00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:04.240
And that's where the acronym wait.
00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:05.039
Ah.
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Where am I in this?
00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:09.599
Now, it's a it's both an acronym.
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Okay.
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Where am I in this?
00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:18.319
But it's also intended to be a pause.
00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:20.000
Oh, that's great.
00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:22.240
We all look for a pause button, don't we?
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Yes, a pause button for sure.
00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:38.560
Because if we can just create some distance between what happened and our response, it gives us such a greater opportunity to respond in a way that is really powerful.
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Because our tendency without that pause, our tendency is to lose ourselves.
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Right.
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We don't ask the right questions, dare I say.
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Because what do we tend to do?
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We tend to get very emotional and we start making statements, assumptions, and all of a sudden we've even forgotten where we're going, much less how we're going to get there.
00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:02.960
Right.
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And the interesting thing is that these assumptions, these statements, are typically not about where we are.
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So true.
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They're typically about where everybody else is.
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So you mean I'm abandoning myself and getting into somebody else's head, so to speak?
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Yes.
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Okay.
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It's the dreaded mind reading.
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It's the thinking that we have control over things that we really don't have control over.
00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:42.160
And it is an externalization, meaning I'm trying to get how many times do you hear in your office, if they would just Oh, it's minute by minute.
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Right.
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And the sad thing is, is that if they would just, we have no power over that.
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Well, we just why we need a map.
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That's right.
00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:56.560
And speaking of maps, I was with my wife and kids at the mall.
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Okay.
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And we got separated.
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And this was during the Christmas season, the holiday season, so it was crowded.
00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:05.439
Did they have the credit card?
00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:07.360
They did.
00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:08.399
They did.
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Indeed.
00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:14.319
So I called my wife and I said, Hey, where are you guys?
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And she said, she right?
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She said, Hey, well, we are at such and such store.
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And I said, I don't have any idea where that is.
00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:24.639
Oh, that's a bad feeling.
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Uh-huh.
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Her next question back to me is, Where are you?
00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:30.560
And I said, Oh, I'm by this store.
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And I had to look around and orient myself in that mall to discover where I was.
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Because where she was meant nothing to me if I don't know where I am, because then I don't know how to make my way to them.
00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:47.680
Great point.
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Oh, well, what do you what do you do though if you can't get to her?
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You know what I'm saying?
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Like if you hadn't looked at a map, what would you have done?
00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:05.519
A lot of times I think what we do is we tend to just walk around aimlessly.
00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:09.600
Uh, and we get upset with the other person that we can't find them.
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Why can't you be found?
00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:12.240
Exactly.
00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:17.360
But in reality, it really needs to come back to where am I?
00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:19.360
Oh man, that's a good point.
00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:26.560
I often think about when we're like on a trail or we're in the mall, we're using the heck out of this mall thing here.
00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:26.959
Yeah.
00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:27.199
Right.
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But everybody's gonna go shopping after this.
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Do are malls even a thing anymore?
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Maybe a few of them.
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Yeah.
00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:52.480
So when you lost your wife and your kids, they were in a place where you didn't know where they were and you couldn't in even envision where they were, then how were you going to get to them if all you were doing is trying to change their location, right?
00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:54.160
They're not gonna change.
00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:54.720
Right.
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But you have to.
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Well, yeah, it comes to a place where we rather than demanding that they come to me, okay.
00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:09.279
I had to look around and I had to decide, first of all, I had to note where am I?
00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:10.879
I'm at this part of them all.
00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:14.480
And I said to my wife, uh, you know, where are you guys?
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Right.
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And and it's making our way.
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I don't know where that is.
00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:21.920
And she said, Well, what about can you find this point?
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Well, here's the thing.
00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:27.519
How does that relate to our relationships and how we navigate those?
00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:30.399
I mean, you can't fix another person.
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Right.
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Right?
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I think all too often we look at people and we say, I need you to be different.
00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:38.160
I need you to change.
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If you will change, then I.
00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:52.079
I can't tell you how many times I've had someone sit in my office, sit down with their partner, and say, if you could change him or if you could change her, if they would just stop doing this, then I could.
00:07:52.399 --> 00:08:00.959
And you think about the loss of power, the loss of autonomy, the loss of all the good things in the relationship.
00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:01.360
Right.
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Because it's solely focused on the other person.
00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:13.600
Well, and even when when we over-identify with feeling as though I'm responsible for your behavior.
00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:14.240
Right.
00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:20.639
So we've now put on the other person, hey, if you change, then I'll be better.
00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:24.160
We put a responsibility on somebody that they can't do.
00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:28.160
So wait sounds like a great idea to me.
00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:34.240
So, what do you do when somebody will not change their behavior and you're working on you?
00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:39.840
You know, with the concept of weight, where am I in this, in this moment?
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What do I think?
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What do I feel?
00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:42.320
What do I believe?
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And what am I experiencing?
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I think that how when we begin to ask these questions, it truly orients us on the map of our life so that we have a better shot of showing up ourselves and having the kind of power and influence in life, in in moments that is truly ours.
00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:09.440
Oh, that is so helpful.
00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:10.799
What do I think?
00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:12.639
What do I feel?
00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:14.480
What do I believe?
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And what do I experience?
00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:18.240
So, in other words, they're all connected.
00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:24.720
And that sounds like that's your, I guess you'd call that like the framework of a house that you're building.
00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:25.279
Yes.
00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:25.919
Right?
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Yeah.
00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:31.519
And that's what weight will help all of us with.
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It will.
00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:34.879
And speaking of a framework of a house, okay.
00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:40.240
I often say to people who sit in my office, what happens to an abandoned building?
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Oh.
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It's filled with rodents, insects, spiders, broken things.
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I don't know.
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I'd rather talk about broken bottles.
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Well, and snakes.
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Ooh.
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Right?
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It's filled with all these things that they're not things that we want to.
00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:01.759
Well, I mean, some people want them, but yeah, I don't necessarily want them.
00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:09.679
They are things that in a building you really can't use and actually take away from the beauty and the usefulness of the building.
00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:10.320
That's right.
00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:10.799
Right?
00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:14.080
Yeah, and it begins to wear down quickly.
00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:15.600
Oh, that's a good point.
00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:26.240
Because what happens is that we often find ourselves living life in other people's front yards, meaning we're trying to change their building.
00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:29.679
We're trying to change their home, and we abandon ours.
00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:31.759
So when we get back, what happens?
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And I find all these things, how would that relate to my internal experience of me?
00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:39.840
I think it it's a it's a cleanup job.
00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:41.360
What am I cleaning up?
00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:47.679
All the things that I've left undone, all the ways that I've focused on everybody else, but missed me.
00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:58.080
I had somebody in my office just a few weeks ago who has lived their life externalizing, trying to change everything else, everybody else.
00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:07.519
If my kids would be better, if my wife would be better, if my boss would be better, if the barista would have just done it differently.
00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:10.080
They finally came back to themselves.
00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:17.440
And Lila, they talked for almost an hour nonstop about all the things that they were having to grieve.
00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:26.639
Oh, that just gives me chills to think that they'd been missing that and yet it was still there, active inside of them.
00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:27.360
Yes.
00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:38.000
And those are all those insects and those rodents and the tearing down of their building because they had lost sight of themselves in the midst of everything going on.
00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:58.559
So if after they started seeing themselves and they came back for subsequent sessions and kind of thinking through the framework of what am I thinking, what am I feeling, what am I believing, what am I experiencing, and pushing that pause button to wait, where am I in this?
00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:06.480
Were they able to show up more authentically, even if it was sometimes a little uncomfortable or unpleasant?
00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:07.039
Yes.
00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:09.440
And sometimes it was just downright painful.
00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:10.080
Ooh.
00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:15.759
Because experiencing what they experienced, they had to experience the disappointment with their kids.
00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:18.799
They had to experience the disappointment with their wife.
00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:20.879
That is a great point, Lee.
00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:22.159
Say more about that.
00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:30.720
You know, when things go in a way that we don't want them to go, there is a sense of grief that we have to walk through.
00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:37.200
Why do we think pain is something we can escape or grief is something we can escape in life, right?
00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:39.440
Yeah, I that's a great question.
00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:44.799
And I think it's something that we don't want to experience negativity.
00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:47.120
We don't want to experience the pain.
00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:50.720
We don't know that that truly suffering has its place.
00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:51.279
Yes.
00:12:51.600 --> 00:13:02.320
And we don't I don't know that I think we've bought the idea that joy needs to come without suffering.
00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:02.879
Yes.
00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:11.200
And do you, I know in my sessions a lot with my clients, I hear the term, I just want them to be happy.
00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:13.759
I just want my kids to be happy.
00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:16.240
I just want my sister to be happy.
00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:17.840
I I just want to be happy.
00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:19.679
We hear that term a lot.
00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:27.200
How would you relate what you're talking about right now with suffering and that statement and how weight would help with that?
00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:32.240
I think that it's that we want them to be happy, but we don't have control over that.
00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:33.120
Awesome.
00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:38.159
We want people to experience certain things, but we don't have control over that.
00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:42.000
But what we tend to do is try to take control.
00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:46.960
We try to give them what we believe is going to make them happy.
00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:47.600
Oh.
00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:54.799
And what ends up happening is we end up in a place that's not ours to be.
00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:56.960
So we're not wanted there.
00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:02.320
Isn't that amazing how that relates to not even knowing where I am on the map?
00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:02.960
Right.
00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:09.919
And then I try to pull somebody else to somewhere I think they want to be, I'm not letting them find themselves on the map.
00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:11.200
That's exactly right.
00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:11.759
Okay.
00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:13.200
That's exactly right.
00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:26.240
I think that this all boils down to, and I'm going to use some some technical jargon here, but it boils down to an intra-personal awareness, which that's just a fancy word for saying self-awareness.
00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:26.960
Yeah.
00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:28.960
It's understanding self.
00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:39.360
That if we don't bring a healthy understanding me to we, meaning the interpersonal, which is that is the between us.
00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:39.840
Right.
00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:52.559
If we don't experience that, if we don't bring a healthy whole self to a relationship, then we can be a little bit of a bull in a china shop.
00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:53.759
That's so true.
00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:55.360
And be totally off.
00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:59.919
It's kind of like a um, I like to use this example quite often.
00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.720
And if it's okay, I'd love to interject it here when we're talking about we.
00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:11.759
And it I just had a funny corny dad moment in my head where the word we is actually in between.
00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:15.360
W-E is in the word between.
00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:16.240
W-E.
00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:17.039
Right.
00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:17.600
Yeah.
00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:33.600
And so between us, if when I was younger, my grandmother took a seed packet of mixed seeds, just random, you know, wildflower mixed seeds, threw it on the table, and she said, Okay, Lila, tell me who what seed is what plant.
00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:36.720
Well, I was totally bamboozled.
00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:37.759
I had no idea.
00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:42.960
Okay, I can get a sunflower seed, I understand that, or a watermelon seed.
00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:46.399
And and I just said, gosh, I I don't know.
00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:47.919
I'm gonna have to learn.
00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:50.000
She said, Well, let me ask you this.
00:15:50.240 --> 00:16:16.159
If you picked out one of those seeds and thought, oh, I want this to be a sunflower, and you put it in the ground and you watered it and you you fertilized it and you did everything to make it a sunflower, and it comes out as a watermelon vine, and you get mad at the plant because it's not what you wanted it to be instead of discovering what it actually was inside of it.
00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:16.879
I don't know.
00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:19.519
Are you are you picking up what I'm putting down?
00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:20.559
Picking it up.
00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:21.759
I'm picking it up.
00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:22.320
Right?
00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:26.799
All too often we want people to be a sunflower when they're really a watermelon.
00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:27.840
Yes, yeah.
00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:34.480
So it's that external focus that I have this illusion of control.
00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:35.600
That's right.
00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:38.960
And then I start mind reading, right?
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:43.200
And then I'm in this pattern loop, right?
00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:44.639
Okay, totally.
00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:47.759
So that's gonna mess up the we big time.
00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:55.360
It does because we can't, we don't allow people to to show up who they are because we aren't showing up who we are.
00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:57.120
Oh, so true.
00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:03.039
I I think that this whole system, the wait, where am I in this?
00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:19.119
Our hope for this is that people could learn who they truly are, what they truly bring to the table, and how they are designed to move through life.
00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:35.039
So that there is a level of authenticity that I can allow, if I understand who I am and how I move through the world, then I can begin to understand how you who you are and how you move through the world.
00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:44.160
And I am not, the hope is that we do not try to force each other, being a watermelon, to become a sunflower.
00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:44.640
Right.
00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:45.680
It's not possible.
00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:49.680
It's just not it and it creates a lot of strife and a lot of pain.
00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:55.519
And our hope is is that people can really discover who they are, right?
00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:02.960
Who we are, so that we can offer who we are to this world, so that we can embrace each other even in all of our differences.
00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:19.759
Lee, what I'm hearing you say in that too is that we leave space for another person to be themselves without us judging that, because we've now occupied the space of me, so I can leave space for you to be you.
00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:25.599
That may sound like a lot of the word space, but I I do think that's important.
00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:36.640
If I'm trying to make everybody be exactly what I think they should be, or there's that word should or ought to be, right?
00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:40.000
But I just wait, just know me.
00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:57.599
That leaves a lot of security and safety within so that I don't have to enter a difficult situation or a difficult person, I don't have to be in the presence of a difficult person with a lot of angst and fear, right?
00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:06.240
Yeah, it's so interesting talking to people that do find themselves being lost in those types of situations.
00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:18.559
And I think when we feel pressured to be something or someone for someone else, yes, I think we look at that as a dashboard light.
00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:21.839
And we say to ourselves, I'm feeling this pressure.
00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:28.960
I feel like I'm being asked to be pulled outside of myself, to be something I don't believe I am or want to be.
00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:37.279
That dashboard light reminds us, come back to me, ask the question wait, where am I in this moment?
00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:37.839
Right.
00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:39.039
What am I thinking?
00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:47.920
I had somebody recently say to me, I have this really good friend and she constantly has a lot of opinions.
00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:52.319
And she tries to pull me into these opinions.
00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:52.799
Right.
00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:54.400
And I don't share them.
00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:55.920
I don't share those opinions.
00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:56.880
What do you do?
00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:01.599
And I asked her, I said, would you ask yourself, where am I in this moment?
00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:03.599
She said, Yeah, I'm disgusted.
00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:05.440
I said, with who?
00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:07.279
She said, with my friend.
00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:10.960
And I said, Is that an external focus or an internal focus?
00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:12.480
She said, It's external.
00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:13.839
I'm focused on them.
00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:17.599
I said, Okay, start there and bring it back in.
00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:20.559
She said, Okay, well, why am I disgusted?
00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:22.720
Because I don't like this.
00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:24.079
Great, stay with that.
00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:25.920
Tell me why you don't like this.
00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:30.880
Because I don't want to participate in running someone down.
00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:35.279
I don't want to participate in talking crap on somebody.
00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:38.319
And I said, Great, tell me why.
00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:42.000
And she said, Because it's not authentically or genuinely who I am.
00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:46.240
It goes against her values, it sounds like that's exactly right.
00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:46.880
Okay.
00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:49.440
And so she said, Well, what do I do now?
00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:55.839
And I said, Well, if you know it goes against your values, you have certain choices.
00:20:56.559 --> 00:21:01.599
You can say, you know, I don't enjoy talking about these kinds of things.
00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:03.039
Could we talk about something else?
00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:04.160
There you go.
00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:07.039
She was like, Well, that kind of feels abrupt and that doesn't fit me.
00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:09.680
And I said, Well, good on you for knowing.
00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:12.799
So, what's another option?
00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:15.279
You can gently change the subject.
00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:18.720
You can get up and leave the conversation.
00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:23.359
You can say, you know, I actually really like so-and-so.
00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:26.480
Or here's something positive about them.
00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:32.640
Or, and this is the one that she chose, hey friend, where are you in that?
00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:33.920
Oh, I love that.
00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:36.640
I said, Wow, that's that's very forward.
00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:40.400
She said, Yeah, but I do want to know because I want to know my friend better.
00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:44.240
So she chose, hey friend, where are you in that?
00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:46.480
Why does that bother you about that?
00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:49.440
Like, I'd like to learn more about you, not them.
00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:51.599
Isn't that brilliant?
00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:53.119
And isn't that kind?
00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:54.960
I think so.
00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.759
Because I think it's it's asking her friend rather than talking about.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.480
All these other people, it's asking her friend to tell me what's the impact on you.
00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:05.279
Right.
00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:15.519
You know, Lee, I can see where perhaps there could be a misinterpretation of where am I in this as though it's self-seeking, self-centered.
00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:36.400
But if you take that phrase, self-centered, and turn it around to center yourself, then you enter, you enter a discussion that's difficult or a conflict in a more adult place where you can be more kind to yourself and to the other person.
00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:36.960
I think so.
00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:40.559
It's a little hard to be kind to other people if you're not being kind to yourself.
00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:41.440
Absolutely.
00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:42.480
Absolutely.
00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:49.279
And so I I think that's where some may ask, well, what do I do when someone won't change their behavior?
00:22:49.440 --> 00:23:01.039
Like in that conversation, when let's just pretend that the friend didn't stop talking about the other person, then there are other options to remain with where you are.
00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:02.559
Is that what I'm hearing you say?
00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:03.200
100%.
00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:03.759
Okay.
00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:04.240
100%.
00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:07.279
Because often the friend won't stop talking about other people.
00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:07.839
Okay.
00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:11.519
Because I'm so glad you brought up the self-indulgent part.
00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:12.240
Right.
00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:27.119
Because I firmly believe that self-indulgence is asking the environment to give me what I want, not seeking what you need internally.
00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:28.480
Oh, that's good.
00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:34.319
And so, yes, self-indulgence is a is something that we want to steer away from.
00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:34.720
Yeah.
00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:37.759
But again, I'm not asking you to indulge me.
00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:47.359
Somebody said, Well, self-indulgence, it's like I my little indulgences is like stop and get, you know, coffee, or I I go do a workout.
00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:49.200
And I'm like, is that an indulgence?
00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:54.559
Or do you mindfully understand that that's genuinely what you need in that moment?
00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:55.039
Yeah.
00:23:55.200 --> 00:24:05.680
I I think that's an important statement is I'm gonna show up as me because I care about, I do care about me, but I also care about the environment.
00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:06.720
I care about other people.
00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:07.440
Exactly.
00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:15.599
And if I am able to live a life where I am me, then I can make space for you to be you.
00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:20.319
I can understand my preferences and that my preferences may not be yours.
00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:24.960
Therefore, we create a true space for us to coexist.
00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:26.559
I love that, Lee.
00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:32.319
Our world, our culture, our country needs that right now more than ever.
00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:32.880
Yes.
00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:38.160
And I think if if if I miss me, then I miss you.
00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:44.960
If I show up rigid, then I'm not open, I'm closed.
00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:47.359
I'm not open to know where you are.
00:24:47.519 --> 00:25:00.640
And and rigidity usually comes out of fear and hiding or shame or wanting to be accepted, but putting up that wall that if you don't, I'm gonna be against you.
00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:09.039
No, that actually works perfectly because I I'm I'm sitting here thinking about in the Christian Bible, there's the story of creation.
00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:17.279
And in creation, you have Adam and Eve who they ate from a tree that they were instructed not to eat from.
00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:20.079
It was the tree of the knowledge of good versus evil.
00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:22.160
I call it the tree of judgment.
00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:32.240
And as soon as they did, God's first question to Adam was, Adam, where are you?
00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:35.920
I don't believe that it was a location question.
00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:40.240
I believe that their GPS tracker was a firmly firmly affixed onto their ankle.
00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:41.519
For sure.
00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:46.640
But uh, I had somebody the other day ask me, like, do you think GPS technology was invented back then?
00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:48.400
I was like, no, I was joking.
00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:49.440
Maybe.
00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:54.400
Um, but it's it wasn't a location question, it's a call to be introspective.
00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:56.640
Why did I do what I just did?
00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:59.519
Oh, that is so powerful.
00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:01.920
Say that again, please.
00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:04.160
Why did I do what I just did?
00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:07.119
It wasn't a location, it wasn't a location question.
00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:09.680
Yes, it was a call to introspect.
00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:11.680
Why did I do what I just did?
00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:13.200
Where was I in that?
00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:14.240
What was I thinking?
00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:15.279
What was I feeling?
00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:16.799
What was I experiencing?
00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:18.400
What was I believing?
00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:27.599
You'll note that in that story, as it goes on, Adam's response was, Well, as they go on, it was you, it was that woman you made.
00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:29.200
He talks to Eve.
00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:31.119
Well, it was that serpent you made.
00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:32.799
It was an externalization.
00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:35.519
Yeah, it was a missing of themselves.
00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:41.359
And that is the cornerstone of wait, where am I in this?
00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:44.400
Sounds like we've been doing that since that moment.
00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:46.880
I think we've been doing that since the beginning of time.
00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:49.759
Avoiding knowing where we are in that moment.
00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:50.319
Right.
00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:55.440
The fear of doing something wrong or being seen as failing at something.
00:26:55.839 --> 00:26:56.240
Yes.
00:26:56.720 --> 00:27:03.680
We fail to speak up in conversations that we need to speak up in because we think, oh, I don't want them to think this of me.
00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:04.400
Right.
00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:16.880
We fail to understand what it is we need, and we go on seemingly in a really martyr sort of sense, saying, Oh, well, they need this.
00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:18.559
I don't need anything.
00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:20.400
We overlook ourselves.
00:27:20.559 --> 00:27:20.720
Right.
00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:25.279
And we don't check in with who we are, with with what we need.
00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:27.680
We don't check in with those things.
00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:30.720
Lee, this is so helpful.
00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:42.240
I am so grateful that you took the time to not just build this framework, but put it in writing so that many, many people have access to it.
00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:44.720
And it it's a difference maker.
00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:47.920
It really is, if we can just learn to practice this.
00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:48.400
Yeah.
00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:48.799
Thanks.
00:27:49.119 --> 00:27:51.279
Because so many of us do feel lost.
00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:52.480
I think we do.
00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:59.119
And I think it's if we can pause and we can ask ourselves, where did we where did I lose me?
00:27:59.359 --> 00:27:59.680
Yes.
00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:05.519
If we can pause and ask ourselves, wait, where am I in this?
00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:07.759
There's so much more to this.
00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:09.839
Thanks for listening to Wait.
00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:10.960
Let's talk about that.
00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:20.559
I hope this episode gave you a moment to pause, reflect, and notice where you might have disappeared in your own life or relationships.
00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:29.200
Remember, Healthy Connection starts with showing up fully as yourself and bringing a me to we.
00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:32.000
That is so important.
00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:42.880
And if you enjoyed today's conversation, please subscribe so you don't miss our future episodes and share this podcast with someone who might benefit from it.
00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:54.400
Until next time, try to remember this week when you're navigating your life and your relationships to take a moment and ask yourself, where am I in this?
00:28:54.880 --> 00:28:56.400
See you next time.