This Most Unbelievable Life!

Episode 39: Learning the Hard Way

As you may have noticed by this point, we're both college professors. Our perspectives are often heavily informed by that profession and signs of our day job show up, regularly, on this podcast. Whether we like it or not, our experiences in that realm shape who we are and how we navigate the world!
This episode is no exception. In this one, we talk through a topic that we watch our students work through, up close and personally, year after year. But you know what? It’s also something we are not immune from experiencing within ourselves!  What is it?  Well it comes down to this: there is pain and discomfort, oftentimes significantly so, in learning, growth, and change. Simply put: learning, growth, and change can be really hard!
But does this have to be the case? Every single time? Certainly, looking back at our own educational experiences, not ALL lessons were so "hard won." For example, memorizing state capitals... repetitive, challenging, but not what we would call transformative. Other learning experiences, however, are transformative. And we notice that it’s the transformative ones that hurt!  When deep, profound lessons are learned, it opens up a new way of seeing, of interacting, of being. The old ways can die hard, and it can feel like they take part of us with them. As we learn new ways, we abandon and lose the old, to allow a new unknown future —one which we might not fully understand —to arise within and before us.
Give a listen to this one, folks, and let us know what you think! How do you negotiate the discomfort that comes with learning and growth?  Is change worth the pain? Maybe there are lessons learned in this one, maybe not. Let's find out!
P + C
Social Media Links
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Email
Support the Podcast!
We'd love your support! If you would like to help out, here is the link to our Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/thismostunbelievablelife

Episode 38: Coping vs. Thriving

Hello listeners! How are you doing today? We're about nine or ten months into this pandemic, and we're wondering... how are you coping? Would you say that you are actually coping, or would you say that you are finding ways to adapt, and thrive? In this episode, Paul and Cheri talk through the concepts of coping vs. thriving, and, even in these challenging times with the holidays coming up, find that we do have avenues in which we thrive.
Of course, this isn't to say that we're not still doing some coping. We actually start this conversation by talking about ways in which we cope, either by taking up a hobby, learning a new art or skill (like podcasting, for example!), or even in how we arrange our environments. Do you find comfort in how your things are arranged and, in that arrangement, do you find peace?
Thanks all!
P + C
ALSO… there’s still time to sign up to join Paul and Cheri for the 2020 Holiday Survival Guide Workshop! What is this offering, you ask? It’s simple! We meet, we talk, and we turn inward. Together we will explore strategies to meet this holiday season with all the grace we can muster. Starting on November 22nd and running through December 31, this guided workshop will challenge us to investigate the root causes of the most challenging parts of holidays, and will provide a community with whom you can safely explore the contributing factors that drive holiday stress and tension… in short, come with us as we ask: what really are the causes of our suffering during this special time of year? Check it out at the link below.
https://www.thismostunbelievablelife.com/holiday-survival-guide
Social Media Links
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Email
Support the Podcast!
We'd love your support! If you would like to help out, here is the link to our Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/thismostunbelievablelife

Episode 37: Unresolvable, Oppositional Dichotomies

Hey folks! Here’s a question for you: what do you believe about yourself that you know isn’t actually true? If you made a list of those beliefs, how long would it be? Do you ever feel like you hold two completely contradictory ideas about yourself in your head at the exact same time? Are you able to notice when things register in your body, and, as is sometimes the case, when what you feel is different from how you think you "should" experience something? Well, it turns out that life is surprising, and how we react and respond to it is surprising too. Even when we have what we think is a clear sense of ourselves, we can be surprised by our reactions and ideas in quite a number of situations. Even when we do know ourselves and our tendencies, sometimes we struggle with our own responses, as well-worn and familiar as they may be.
In this episode, we talk through some of our histories with unresolvable, oppositional dichotomies. Are they explainable by our histories, causes, and conditions? Or are they just one more example of our infinitely irreconcilable human complexities? Give this one a listen! We may, or may not, answer these questions to satisfaction, and that's ok! Or is it?
Thanks all!
P + C
Social Media Links
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Email
Support the Podcast!
We'd love your support! If you would like to help out, here is the link to our Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/thismostunbelievablelife
 

Episode 36: Being "Enough"

Being "Enough"
Here are a couple of questions for you, folks: Do you do things so they will get you somewhere? What good is all of this intentional busyness? Where does the drive to "succeed" take you anyway??? When we struggle, when we're challenged to perform at our best, and to do the things that many of us see as the "right thing to do," who are we doing it for?  Do we ever pause and ask ourselves where our benchmarks for success come from? And why are our sights set where they are? Too often we derive what we "should" be doing by comparing ourselves to others who we see as equivalent or even ideal. This, we suggest, may not be a productive thing to do.
So then what does it mean to be "enough," and how do we decide when we're there? Can we avoid the call to join the cult of perfectionism? In this episode, we talk through some moments from our lives. We explore how we related to whether or not we saw ourselves and/or our contributions as enough, and what was behind our intentions in the quest to thrive. How we make decisions now sometimes is quite a bit different than how we made them "back then." We'd love to hear your thoughts on "what is enough," and the remedy that we propose here.  Is our takeaway “enough” for you?
Thanks all!
P + C
Social Media Links
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Email
Support the Podcast!
We'd love your support! If you would like to help out, here is the link to our Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/thismostunbelievablelife

Episode 35: An Unexpected Conversation about Hope

Hey folks!
If you’re looking for a podcast episode on hope, you’ve come to the right place! I mean, who doesn’t like a nice, uplifting, conversation about hope, what with the holiday season coming fast? 
Except: we’re not sure that’s what we ended up recording...
We’re really interested to hear what you think about this one, wherein we really take a dive into the nature of hope, what it means, and when it is gained and lost. We have to say, it went into some pretty unexpected directions! It certainly went places Paul wasn’t expecting when he decided to toss this topic out for him and Cheri to bat around for this episode!
For as awesome and great a thing that hope seems to be, is it always a good thing? What does it mean for your current state of affairs if hope is what you’re relying on to get by? And while we’re at it, let’s consider this question: what is the relationship between hope and joy? Does one happen at the expense of the other? Can you have both hope and joy at the same time? 
All this, and more, in this episode of This Most Unbelievable Podcast!
We hope you find this one as interesting to listen to as we did when recording it. Let us know what you think! What is it that brings you joy, and when do you rely on hope? How do you relate the two?
Cheers! 
P + C
 
Social Media Links
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Email
 
Support the Podcast!
We'd love your support! If you would like to help out, here is the link to our Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/thismostunbelievablelife

Episode 34: Paul and Cheri Take a Personality Test!

Well, it's happened! After months of consideration, stalling, excuse-finding, and just plain ol’ resistance, Paul has finally taken the personality test that Cheri has been waiting to see: the Strengths Finder Assessment. Unlike many of the other personality and trait assessments and tests you can find on the internet, this one isn't free - it costs a few bucks to take it, but Paul has had an exam code for this test for a year, so it's become harder and harder to rationalize not taking it. Cheri has known her results from this assessment for a few months and has been finding it really useful to think about how she operates in the world, not by that which she’s most insecure about, but the things that come naturally to her. So here you go, folks! In this episode, we walk through the three strengths we have in common according to Strengths Finder 2.0, and then the pair of traits that distinguish us from one another. Before you listen, which 5 of the 34 Strengths would you guess rank high for the two of us?  Do you know how you’d score? 
 
As an aside... what are we to do with the results of these personality and trait exams and assessments anyway? Once you know your Strengths, your Myers-Briggs type, your Love Languages, your Tendencies, your Enneagram, your Zodiacal sign, and the current status of the planet Mercury as it orbits the sun, what are we to do with it? Do we really understand ourselves better for having taken these assessments than we did previously, or does it all just represent a distillation of whom we already know we are? 
 
All questions, asked, some answers, possibly known, all in this episode! Check it out, and let us know what you think!
 
And...for the record, neither of us, nor this podcast, is endorsed by any of these assessments. We're just trying to find out who we are, just like everybody else.
 
Thanks folks!
 
P + C
 
Social Media Links
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | E-mail
 
Support the Podcast!
We'd love your support! If you would like to help out, here is the link to our Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/thismostunbelievablelife

Episode 33: The Episode About Connection!

Hi all! In this episode, we come right out and finally have a talk dedicated exclusively to the nature of connection. We've talked about connection many times in this podcast; yet, we thought it was finally time to dedicate a whole episode to it. The timing, however, is sketchy... what is there to say about the nature of connection in the middle of a global pandemic? Clearly, many folks are feeling disconnected these days, so is it wise to even bring this up while so many people are suffering such a great sense of disconnection? Wise or not, we felt the need to venture into the weeds on this one! We explore not just in our sense of connection with others, but also the connections we have with ourselves, our experiences, our growth, and who we are becoming.
What is it that makes connection, and what is it that breaks connection? We chat it out on this episode, and we hope that you can connect to what we have to offer on this one!
Thanks for listening, everybody!
P + C
Social Media Links
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | E-mail
 
Support the Podcast!
We'd love your support! If you would like to help out, here is the link to our Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/thismostunbelievablelife

Episode 32: What's Your Inspiration?

This episode opens with Cheri getting Paul to sing some Chicago! Can you guess which song before you hit play? Although the song isn’t exactly in Paul’s vocal range, it did open up space for a wide range of conversational topics!  Where do we go on this one?  Well, we take a look a shower tunes, the sacred ritual that is singing, and how our best ideas come to us. Ultimately, we look at when and how inspiration come to us and who we look to for our inspiration. Where do you draw your inspiration from? What things, places, and people can you best rely on to find inspiration?  We’d love to know what...well ... ”brings meaning to your life.” What’s your inspiration?
Thanks for listening, everybody!
P + C
Social Media Links
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | E-mail
 
Support the Podcast!
We'd love your support! If you would like to help out, here is the link to our Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/thismostunbelievablelife
 

Episode 31: Why Are You Like This?

Here's a question for you... WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS???
Here's a fact, folks, and there's no escaping it: The events, causes, conditions, and histories of our lives shape who we are, how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we show up for folks around us. Often, the things that we pay the most attention to when investigating why we are the way we are center around traumas - maybe trauma as a child, maybe as an adult, maybe even sometime last Thursday. For some reason, we don’t seem to focus on the good things that happen when we think about what’s made us who we are. It seems to be the more difficult things, and how we responded (or continue to respond) to them, that we credit for making us who we are today.
But... what if...?
What if we told you that you could call on those events, those experiences, and the sum total of your life with those traumas as an offering that you can make to others? While we recognize trauma is difficult, we’ve also noticed that we gain something from our most challenging experiences. As others work through pain, suffering, and trauma, what if we could be there to hold that space with them with compassion and wisdom, presence and support? That might change how were relate to our own traumas, or maybe that could change everything! In this episode, we ask, "why are you like this?" Well, why are you like this? What answer would you give to this daunting question? Let's explore it together, shall we?
P + C
Social Media Links
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | E-mail

Episode 30: Persistence

Welcome to Fall, everyone, and welcome to season 3!
Let's have a conversation about... persistence. Last week, we talked about how we show up for people, and what we bring when we do. This week on the podcast, we go one step further and we ask, "What keeps us, or anyone for that matter, coming back, especially when things get a little challenging?" In other words, what is the nature, and the basis, of persistence? Is it just the result of motivation, or does it require a little more than that? How does a sense of purpose, clarity of intention, and discipline fit into the persistence equation? In which activities, and with what intention, do you persist, and when is the word "persistence" used over another word. We'd love you to give this episode a listen and let us know what you think, and thank you for your persistence!
P + C
WORKSHOP JUST ANNOUNCED!
Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation
This workshop, hosted by Paul, runs for six consecutive Wednesdays, with the first meeting on October 7th and the concluding meeting being held on November 11th. The workshop runs from 7:00PM to 8:30PM on each meeting day. Click on the title of the workshop above for more information and to sign up!
 
Social Media Links
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | E-mail
 
Support the Podcast!
We'd love your support! If you would like to help out, here is the link to our Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/thismostunbelievablelife