message 343

“At some point you just have to let go of what you thought should happen and live in what is happening.”
Charlie Brown

Good ole Charlie Brown for bringing all my experiences of the second half of 2025 into a refocused perspective.

Another great way of saying control the controllables. If you look all around you, you’ll find so many different ways to express the same thing.

I know I probably talk too much about myself and what happens a to me and i mentioned most of these last week or maybe this Week but this discussion is a more nuanced perspective. I hope that’s
ok.

So what did I have to let go of?

For starters I had hoped I would do great (for me) at vol state. Well as you all know, that didn’t happen. But I learned to accept help that was offered. I wasn’t at the point yet, where i could ask for it but I was able to accept it from several sources. Dr Gilbert, all of you and my guardian angel by proxy- a man named Ray k.

As a result of letting go of those expectations I discovered more about myself than ever via my parts and IFS and writing my book

I thought “ok that’s a fine little bump. Now let’s get back to normal.”

Ha ha. Letting go of the expectation that I could finally finish this nemesis- the 112 mile race over Labor Day. Bang. There went my clavicle.

But instead of trying to prove how strong I was I finally did ask for help and was honored by my friend sacrificing 3 days to rescue me.

Then I had to put all other expectations on hold – doing more podcasts and most of all finishing up my book

Living in the present I took Ramona’s advice and used a speech to text app to get out some thoughts for my book. And I learned a lot about patience and learning something new. I also learned more about the value of gratitude because I knew there are many people out there that would give anything to “just” have a fractured clavicle.

This was followed by a medical procedure that kept me from eating for 2 1/2 weeks. That really went against all expectations. But it also reset some of my food and appetite centers in a way I don’t understand yet.

That should have been it for the not living up to expectations but no. I was planning to use the upcoming race as good kick off training for 2026 vol state. Then I was out of commission for 7-8 days. There went that expectation. So living in the present on that is the fact I will go to have fun and evaluate what my body can do. And use that as kick off training. It’s just a different form but it will be excellent.

I am proud that I’ve been able to respond to each of these things and not react. I’m also happy that I had these experiences and could learn from them and realize that things always do pass if we can sit back and wait for that to happen.

What have you learned from 2025?

Message 341

“Whatever you’re meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible.”
DORIS LESSING

This is kind of funny if you think about it. The conditions really always are impossible….or you wouldn’t even be thinking about it. You’d have already done whatever it is you’re trying to rationalize away.

Don’t wait til you lose weight to start interacting with others more. Don’t wait until you’re rich before you have fun. Don’t wait for anything.

Find a way to do what you want to do now.

Figure out what you’re meant to do, even if it’s just what you’re meant to do TODAY and not for the rest of the world.

We all listen to Dr Gilbert and we know that it’s not just what you want, but it’s what you REALLY want that matters. Once you know that, then you have begun your life’s purpose process. (I did that alliteration intentionally)

But what if you haven’t figured that out yet? Should you just hang out and not do anything?

Should you pray for the “right conditions”? Do you even know what the right conditions are? I’ve given you examples of how I or someone else thought they knew the plan, the way to get from point A to B, thinking they had plotted the shortest route. Only to be “fooled” by the universe and taken to point B via points D, R, M and T on the way. What the heck?

Thats what this quote means when it says the conditions are always impossible.

If you do something NOW, you have a better chance of finding out what you’re meant to do. Everything in life and I mean everything is comprised of baby steps, including what you think your ultimate purpose is. You may be surprised to find out later that getting to point B was not what you were meant to do at all. It was something else. While you’re doing something, the other pieces will fall into place.

Con you be someone else’s Thomas Edison?

Maybe you’re meant to have coffee with someone who’s lonely or had a recent loss.

That’s not curing cancer for the world but it’s being Thomas Edison in that person’s life. You brought light into their life. And with that light came hope.

What are you meant to do today and who are you going to be Thomas Edison for today?

message 340

Brian Cain made me laugh.

You’ve reached Talking with Dr Terrie – 180 seconds to a better you message number 340 snd I’m Dr Terrie Wurzbacher

Brian’s message Wednesday morning was that you should explain things so a 5 year old could understand it. That made me laugh since 4 year olds understand a heck of a lot more than I do.

But it got me to thinking about communication. That message and a package I received from Amazon. I was looking for lights to hang in my van for when I go on trips for some of my races like I will over Christmas and new years.

I opened the package and wondered how the heck you were supposed to connect them. There were wires sticking out but no connection and no power source. I went back to the site and after scrutinizing the pictures and the description I realized that I was supposed to intuit that you had to have some electrical knowledge to use these things.

In the past I would have thought I was stupid for making this mistake. But today I just shook my head and mumbled. “Lesson learned”.

But is it a lesson learned?

I searched for how to read and understand Amazon reviews. There are articles and videos on the subject and of course forums like Reddit.

Don’t worry this isn’t a message on how to read reviews but it is a message on how to choose your method or methods of communication.

Disclaimer. I am not an expert on any of this.

I have had discussions (that’s a code word we use for when talking with someone almost but not quite ended up as an argument) with a friend about reading vs watching videos. He’s not a reader for various legitimate reasons but he also maintains videos are faster.

I, on the other hand, prefer reading. But there is definitely a place for videos. I can read through something much more quickly than sitting listening to people talk about themselves and why they are doing this video and who’s the sponsor and “oh yeah you wanted to know how to do something?”

But many people get that dopamine hit simply from the visual aspect of watching something on a screen. I maintain that they also get a sense of control because they push that fancy button that says “play” – why does it have to be fancy? It does one thing. But these people can control that person on the screen. They can start and stop them talking and they can pause it to coincide with their attention span. They can skip ahead of stuff when they are bored. You can’t do that in a real conversation even though you can in a book.

When I was growing up we conveyed messages via the written word and the spoken word. Presenters had to hone their tone and inflection and all the other skills associated with projecting their voices. Dr Gilbert talks about that when he explains how to tell a story. We were always glued to the radio. I listened to every single Yankees game on the radio. And you have to be good to put that visual in someone’s head.

Learning the art of the Written word was just as important. Newspaper headlines had one chance to catch attention. They couldn’t rely on the dramatic effects of video. They had to create their own drama in readers minds.

We had movies and later we had tv.

I believe that tv and YouTube and tik tok has made people lazy. Those media only serve to feed the bright shiny object syndrome afflicting so many people

The point is that to get a message across, you have to cater to all forms of communication or you will
Miss people. But if you start by using the written word to convey what you are seeing in your mind, you’ll be able to bring those internal visualizations out of your head and to the masses. Your message will be vivid and that’s what will sway people.

Go to YouTube and listen to Earl Nightingale, Napoleon hill. Zig ziglar and any of the other old masters. If you can talk like them, any modalities you choose will be successful.