Mental and Emotional Flexibility Through Change
Welcome to the Joyful Mom Podcast!
After a break from the mic, Megan is back with a raw, recorded-on-her-phone life update and a lesson she's been living in real time: how to stay mentally flexible when your plans keep changing.
It started with a single question from her husband, Justin, during a car ride in June: "Should we sell our house and rent this one that's available?" Megan said yes on the spot, and within two weeks their house was on the market. What followed was months of what she calls emotional whiplash. One rental fell through, then another. Plans shifted from renting, to possibly living in their bus through the fall, to maybe moving to Utah, sometimes changing within 12 hours of her updating friends on "the plan." Finding a rental for a family with eight kids added its own challenges.
Through it all, Megan leaned on the tools she teaches, and in this episode she breaks down her approach to mental flexibility:
Feel the emotion first. Don't bypass it or tell yourself you shouldn't feel that way. Let yourself be sad, frustrated, or let down. Cry it out, talk it through. Once the emotion has been felt, you're free to change direction.
Focus on what's good about the next path. Megan shares how, just half an hour after crying over a lost rental, she turned to her husband and said, "Okay, I can go to Utah. I can be excited about that." Finding something to look forward to in the new direction helps you move forward.
Drop the "shoulds" and "I wishes." Wishing things had gone differently keeps us stuck in suffering, because we can't change the past. Megan explains why "I can't change it" are some of the most powerful words you can say, and why your real power lies in the choices you make from here forward.
Trust that things work out as they're supposed to. For Megan, trusting that God is taking care of her family, and asking "What if something even better is coming?", makes it easier to stay open when plans fall apart.
Loosen your grip on expectations. The more you accept that things won't always go the way you want, the easier it becomes to change course. Megan describes mental flexibility as "gymnastics in your brain": shifting direction in your mind and body with ease.
And the happy ending? The family landed in the very first rental they'd planned on. It has a pool, a sauna, and a big yard for the kids, and they're settling in and enjoying those beautiful Minnesota fall days.
She'd love to hear your thoughts on mental flexibility and navigating change, plus any episode ideas. Send her a DM on Instagram.
If you want to learn more about how you can clear anxiety more automatically by rewiring how the mind is working and processing things, go to my website www.meganhillukka.com where you can click on a link to register for my free training, where I will show you what you need in order to do this.
