The More Than Enough Podcast hosted by Coco O'Connor: Recent Episodes
Coco O'Connor
Do you ever feel like no matter what you do it’s never enough? Coco O’Connor , shares her daily insights and inspirations to encourage you that you are in fact , “More Than Enough”. If you are looking for a little faith and a little grace this podcast is for you.
Hey, everybody. Thank you for joining me on today's podcast. I'm going to be talking about my grandmother, as well as her arthritis and what she taught me. So, stay tuned.
Do you ever feel like all of your efforts and everything you do is simply just not good enough? Well, join me, your host, Coco O'Connor, where I share insights and inspirations to let you know that you are in fact more than enough. So, if you're looking for a little faith and a little grace, this podcast is for you.
Thanks for choosing to spend some time with me today. I know you're going to be inspired by this episode and take home, hopefully, some bits of wisdom. So I was thinking the other day about my grandmother, because what had happened is I haven't been on a really long run in a while because my husband was out of town, and my daughter got sick a couple of days, so I had to stay home with her.
I hadn't really had a chance. And I also had a lot of meetings that were just coming up, just a ton of stuff. So I didn't get any time. Now, a few days ago, I was not really feeling like a long run, but I decided I'm just going to go with this. And if I make it to three miles and I'm done, then I'm done. And I'm just going to move on, and just go home and call it a day.
So I was running and all of a sudden it felt so good. The breeze, it was really cool. The breeze hit my face and I just was so glad to be back. And even though I didn't really feel, or I didn't even really think I could do the run, I wound up running an extra mile.
So I ran it, and normally, my long runs are five miles, but this one was six. And I was like, wow, this is crazy. And so about in my fifth mile, I started thinking about how sometimes you just got to move. You got to just do it. You got to go and do it, and not be so concerned about the outcome.
And I was thinking about my grandmother. I lived with my grandmother from the time, I think, I was about 13 or 14. My mom had to sell our house, after that my parents got divorced and we moved in with my grandmother and I lived there, well, I lived there for at least, I don't know, five years, six years, maybe, when I was a teenager until I graduated high school.
And we always lived with her off and on, even after I was out of school and I stayed with my mom in my late teens, even early twenties until we actually moved to Nashville, when I was in my early twenties, I moved with my mother up to Nashville.
We lived with my grandmother and I always, I mean, we pretty much lived with her anyway, because I would live with her during the summer because my mom worked, growing up, all of my life. I was going over there to her house and I was there for dinner. My mother didn't ever cook a family meal for us except for Friday night pizza.
And she'd make the Chef Boyardee pizzas. Do you guys know those pizzas? I don't even know if they still make them, they're pizzas in a box, but that was my treat. That was Friday night pizza night. That was what my mom cooked.
And my mother was a great cook, but she worked. So she was so tired I think by the time she got out of work, which I can't blame her, that my grandmother always, you know, my grandmother was home. So she always had supper. So we always had supper around five, when we got home. And every night we ate with my grandmother, even when we lived in my mom's house, before the divorce, we always ate dinner with my grandmother or supper. We call it supper in the South.
So anyway, I was thinking about her and I used to sleep in a bedroom in the back. She had a bedroom in the back. I was a kid. And I remember when she got a new mattress and a new bed and a new headboard. And that was like a big deal, because it costs a lot of money for her.
I mean, a lot of money for her. She lived on $300 a month, which was her social security check. So the bed was like 300 bucks or the mattress or whatever they got it. But this headboard used to bang up against the wall, every time she would move in her bed.
And what my grandmother did is she didn't sleep at the head of the bed. She slept at the foot of the bed because that's where the window was. So the breeze, the air would come in and she didn't have air conditioning in the back of those rooms.
She only had a window air conditioner, which was in the living room, which was at the front of the house and she slept all the way in the back of the house. She slept at the foot of the bed, always. Even during the winter, it was, I don't know. Did she sleep? I can't remember.
Seems like she, maybe not in the winter, but in the summer she would because of the window and the breeze and she had a little fan because those Alabama nights can be really, really hot, some of them. And sometimes they can be really cold.
I always remember that headboard banging against the wall. I don't know why they never, my mother and her brother never took the time to fix that for my grandmother. But she didn't complain, she never did complain. I guess she didn't seem to be bothered by it. And it didn't affect her sleeping any so, there you have it. She didn't complain.
But what she taught me was this, she was a little bow legged. And I remember her saying, "You know, Coco," her knees were bad. They hurt her because they had arthritis in them and she loved to garden. And she had a big old garden. I mean, she would walk the garden, I guess this garden, I mean, it was the size of a good half of a football field.
I mean, it was big and she grew the best vegetables and she grew the best tomatoes and we'd can them in the summer. We'd put up the corn, we'd cream the corn and all that good stuff, we'd freeze stuff. I'd pick blackberries with her, I'd pick strawberries with her, wild strawberries.
My childhood was awesome because of her, for all the pain I had, she made it awesome because she was just wonderful. She was the salt of the earth. She had little hands that would look like shovels and her little fingernails were all cracked and they had the earth in them. So she was just something else.
I really treasure those memories of my summers with her and helping her and I remember going out and picking corn or peas or whatever, shelling peas, I'd harvest potatoes. You have to dig in the ground, get the potatoes and I'd pick those up like 10 pound buckets. And those were heavy, but I'd get out and do it.
And it was good. It was good for me. And I'm proud of it. I'm proud I learned that stuff. It builds character and I'm so proud of that. So what I want to talk about mainly what she taught me, I mean she taught me a ton. So this could probably be a two hour episode, but we're not going to make it that I'm specifically talking about her arthritis.
She said, "Coco, now this is what I do." She says, "I lift my legs up every morning, before I get out of bed and I do my exercises and I pull them to my knees and I push them up and I push them down and push them up, like up in the air, push her feet up and down so that her knees would move because she said, "If you ever stop moving, you got to keep moving because if you ever stop, that's when you get stiff."
So her philosophy was if she just kept moving, even though it was painful and kept going, kept doing it, just was active, then she would press on through. And that was much better than just stopping or in my opinion, quitting and doing nothing.
See momentum is key. And she always kept that up. Even if she was just, even if it's a simple little tiny thing in the bed before she got out, to get out of bed in the morning, she just, she did that.
I think that little small action step. It reminded me because of my little small action step. I wasn't thinking I could do the run. I wasn't planning on a long run, but once I got into it, once I got moving, I couldn't stop and I didn't want to stop.
And I thought of my grandmother and I thought she would keep pressing on and I didn't sleep good the night before I had a headache. I mean, I was not up for it, okay. But I just did it. And I thought of her and I thought of her arthritis and how she kept on, because this is the thing, she loved to garden. She loved to be outside. She didn't like to be inside sitting watching TV. She didn't like any of that. And you know what? She never spent a day in the hospital.
My grandmother had one scar across her belly where they had removed her appendix when she was younger. I guess she's probably in her twenties or thirties. And back then, let me tell you that was like being cut. There was no like stitches and good surgery. She had a huge gash in her stomach because of having her appendix removed.
It was not that becoming, but that was the only time she ever spent in the hospital. I mean, she took Advil for her arthritis pain. I remember that. She'd take one of those, pretty often, maybe daily, maybe, but not, not a lot. Not all day long, maybe one, but she'd make it through the day. Maybe take one for a night's sleep or something like that. She never stopped. And she never let that arthritis, and she was 93 when she finally went home to be with Jesus and her husband in heaven.
I just remember her keeping moving. And that was her key. That was her key to success in life. She got to keep gardening. I mean, she kept a garden up until the summer she passed away. She canned, she had so much food that we ate it as a family for five to seven years I believe, after the fact of her passing.
And I remember it was probably about five or seven years after she had passed. I think it was seven. And I went in her can house because that's where she put all... My grandfather had built her a can house, oh, many moons ago. 70 years ago and that little can house and it's still there. She had all her canning, whatever she caned, she put in that can house because it was dark and cold. That was her storage because she didn't have any storage in the house. She had a can house.
I remember going in there, she had been gone for about seven years and I went in and found some tomato juice and I said, "Well, this is going to do one of two things. It's even going to give me botulism or it's going to be the best tasting tomato juice I've had."
And sure enough, I opened it up, poured a glass, it was the best tasting tomato juice I ever had. It tasted so good. I didn't get sick or anything. It was amazing. And just tasting that and remembering that and being there, it was just like, oh, my granny. She was so, she's just so awesome and taught me so much.
So I am sure there will be many more episodes of me talking about her because she was a huge influence in my life. She was someone I so respect and quite frankly, they don't make them like that anymore.
So I hope you've enjoyed this. I hope you'll be thinking about just little actions, even if you don't feel like it. I just want to encourage you if you don't feel like it, just go ahead. If they're acts of kindness, maybe somebody has been mean to you and you need to be good to them or something like that.
You just go and do it and get moving. Just get moving, let the thing, work it out for itself and just keep on going. But the important thing is to even if you don't feel like it, know that it's so important to keep on going, keep that momentum up, keep moving. So you won't be forced to stop.
Hey everybody, thank you for joining me for the More Than Enough podcasts. Listen, if you like the song that we play as our theme song for this podcast, you can get that song plus nine others by going to world.cocooconnor.com, that's world.cocooconnor.com. And I will send you a free CD signed by me. I'm just asking that you help out with shipping and handling. So go to world.cocooconnor.com and grab your free CD today.
Hey everybody. Thank you for joining me today. I'm really excited about the episode because I am going to be talking about a new season and a new you. So join me on today's More Than Enough podcast.
Do you ever feel like all of your efforts and everything you do is simply just not good enough? Well, join me, your host, Coco O'Connor, where I share insights and inspirations to let you know that you are in fact more than enough. So if you're looking for a little faith and a little grace, this podcast is for you.
Hey, you guys, today, I am so excited to share with you some thoughts about just getting into a new season and how it can bring about a new you. I am in the process, or earlier today, I actually had to update my LinkedIn profile because of some partnerships I'm involved with and some new things that are on the horizon. I noticed I was being extremely hesitant about updating my profile because I had all of this stuff listed of what I ... It was LinkedIn, it's like ... I don't know, it's like tooting your own horn kind of thing for the professional or whatnot. But I just had to do this because I needed to. I was hesitant. I was excited, but then I thought, oh, maybe I should copy and paste it and save it in case this new thing doesn't work out.
I thought, you know what? .Red flag that is setting myself up for failure, nothing more, nothing less, because I'm not going in fully committed, fully believing, full of faith. I am just holding on to the past. While the past has been good to me, and I've gotten a lot of great opportunities, and I've done a lot of great things, we serve a big God. God is big. We have a big creator. I found myself thinking small. I consciously, most of the time ... If this had been two months ago, I would have probably copied and pasted my profile about section and put it on Google Doc so I can save it to my hard drive. If this thing didn't work out, I could always change it back. But I began questioning myself saying, what am I doing? What am I doing?
I either am going to go with this for this season because this is what I'm going to do and what's the opportunity set before me, or I'm going to hold onto the past, dip my toe in the water, not be full ... It's not that I wasn't fully committed. It was just to really wipe it clean and completely change your bio, or about section, or whatever, it represented a new me. I was still attached to the old me, right? I was having this problem, but after I sat there and debated in my mind and my heart, I thought, you know what? I can't hold onto the past if I'm going to move forward. I can't keep an old profile picture. I can't keep an old profile bio, or about section, or whatever. If I'm in a new season or a new place, a new partnership, I've got to just think about the present because there is no future.
There is no past. There's only the present, only today matters. That's what Jesus said, concern yourself about today because tomorrow has enough trouble of its own. So he was the greatest teacher in being present. He could not have done all of those miracles if he were not present. When he is healing the sick, raising the dead, feeding the multitudes, he was completely present and one with the Father, one with the creator. That enables him, because you can't be thinking about breakfast, lunch, or dinner if you are feeding the multitude. You have to be feeding the multitudes, because if you are experiencing a miracle, you have to be present to get that miracle, right?
So with the changing of the seasons, it's coming into a different season where we're at. I've just felt inspired to talk about that and to talk about what my struggles were with stepping into a new season in my life and a new me, so to speak. It's not easy and it's scary. But if you have enough support around you, whether it's ... maybe it's this podcast, or some people you follow on the socials, or some inspiring people, get your support or your family. Fortunately in this new endeavor, my husband's very supportive. My husband's been very supportive of all of my crazy endeavors. So he is definitely going to have stars in his crown because of being with me.
But I want to encourage you, find a friend, a family member, somebody to come alongside you and be supportive of a new season in your life, or a new you, or something you want to try. I'm not talking about like, oh, I want to completely change career paths in an instant. I'm not saying you shouldn't do that, but I'm saying, this is interesting I just said that. What I really noticed about that, just what I said about changing career paths, I think part of me was concerned because I was erasing part of my history in order put this new about section up.
It was concerning me, but then I went ahead and I did it, and I felt very free afterwards. It was very freeing. It's like, wow, this really ... It felt just like some chain has broken off. It felt empowering. It was very strange, but I didn't expect that. I did that, and right after I did it, I had to update some of my other profiles and things like that. I found myself, as I was updating, because I was concerned there would be a disconnect, because I just said, you don't have to change, do a 360, or change your career, or 180, or whatever and be completely different. You just turn and boom, you're something completely different. It has no relation to your history or your backstory or anything, but that wasn't the case.
What I found was actually the opposite, by doing the updating of my about section and putting out the new partnerships or whatever I'm doing. It was interesting because as I updated the other profiles, it all connected. I could see the connection happening. Even though I felt like I was doing something that was a little more on the opposite or not relatable, I guess I was afraid it wasn't relatable, but guess what? It's relatable because it's you. Whatever you've done, whatever your experience is, whatever roads you've walked, whatever job you've had, a career, or business, or whatever, whatever you've created or do, it's you. It's a part of you, and it's a reflection of you. It's a reflection of God that is within you, and it all will relate.
That was the aha moment when the light bulb goes on. I was so, like I said, free. I just felt free. I felt at peace, and I thought, oh wow. I thought, yes, I see what you're doing. I see what you're doing, God. You are, like your word says, you're orchestrating, designating my steps. Your word is a lamp. You're showing me the way even though I can't see it. Even though just a few minutes ago, I was really concerned about putting up some things that were a little different, some things that were a little new for me, and I was concerned about leaving the past behind. I guess, probably never in my lifetime than in this day and age, and I'm speaking from a 30,000 foot view, never in my life have I seen people want to hold on to the past like nowadays and not for the right reasons, or look to the past, focus on the past, and all of it pretty much was a lot of negativity.
That's not how you move forward. That's not how we move forward. That's not how anybody moves forward. You have got to take today at today and worry about tomorrow. Not even worry about it tomorrow, just know that it's going to come and it's going to have enough problems on its own, but we have to be present. We have to. At that moment, I deleted it and put something new in the box and moved to another profile and started and updating. As I did, I could see all the dots connecting, and then I could see, okay, yeah, here we go.Then it's like you get in the seat and you buckle up and you're ready for the new adventure. You're ready for the new ride.
So if anything, I want to encourage you today, if you are feeling a new season, because it is a new season ... Even as I'm recording this, we're going out of one season, we're headed into a new one in nature. It's exciting. There's going to be change because everything changes, but it's growth. New growth is going to happen. Change brings about growth. I'm hoping wherever you are spiritually, mentally, physically in your business, career, whatever you're doing, your job, whatever it is, I'm believing that there is a new season and there is a new you that is going to emerge from that new season.
Thank you for joining me today. God bless you. I am so thankful you choose to spend your minutes with me whenever you can. Know that I treasure that and I really, really am honored. So thank you for listening, and I will see the new you in a new season and a new episode later. Thank you.
Hey everybody, thank you for joining me for the More Than Enough podcast. Listen, if you like the song that we play as our theme song for this podcast, you can get that song plus nine others by going to world.cocooconnor.com. That's world.cocooconnor.com, and I will send you a free CD signed by me. I'm just asking that you help out with shipping and handling. So go to world.cocooconnor.com and grab your free CD today.
Hey everybody. Thank you for joining me. On today's podcast, I'm going to be talking about outta sight, outta mind.
Do you ever feel like all of your efforts and everything you do is simply just not good enough? Well, join me, your host, CoCo O'Connor, where I share insights and inspirations to let you know that you are in fact more than enough. So, if you're looking for a little faith and a little grace, this podcast is for you.
I don't know if I will get through this recording of the podcast because my daughter has her best friend over and they are having a play date. So, at any moment, one could come running in calling for the mama. But, hopefully I will, because I was thinking about, we are back in Tennessee at our little farmhouse. I was actually cleaning off the salt shaker. It occurred to me how I started thinking about how we were gone for so long because of this whole lockdown pandemic thing. And, I realized that certain things that were out of my sight, I really didn't miss. And when I came back to the farmhouse, it was a lot easier for me to let go of some stuff that I needed to just let go of, like old clothes or clothes that my daughter had grown out of, or things that were just sitting around for no good reason.
And, I have really found that throughout this whole ordeal, if there's anything positive that has come out of it, it's easier for me to simply let go of things quicker, better, faster, and not be so attached to things. Because I thought about how we were removed from a certain place, and we were placed in another place for many months, and it wasn't like we planned to go someplace for six months and I was able to take stuff, and prepare, and bring stuff from here to there, or whatnot. We were thrown into a whole different new normal, if you will. And I hate using that because it seems so kind of defeating to me. So I really try to refrain from using the new normal quote anytime I can. But, I'm just using it for this moment in describing that we were just thrown into something that was new, unplanned, difficult, uncomfortable, inconvenient, at least for me, I don't know about you.
But, I realized now that I'm back and things are slowly but surely kind of easing up to normal, let's just do that, let's speak positive here. Things are kind of easing up. Now that we're back here, I realized, wow, there were so many things that I didn't even think about when I was out in Santa Fe for all those many months. There were things I didn't use, things I didn't need, things that I found out I could live without. I realized, for some reason, today, during my daughter's play date, that yeah, there were things that were removed from my life for a season and I didn't even miss them. So, it's kind of like if they're out of sight, they're out of mind, right? And whereas if I would have planned to go for something for six months, if I would have packed and everything, I would have still come back to the same things, and probably wouldn't have gotten rid of stuff I needed to get rid, of or clean out stuff I needed to clean out.
And I think that's so important for us to do, not only in our physical surroundings every once in a while, but our mental state, our emotional state, our spiritual state. Sometimes we just need to get put back into a place where we once were, and we realize, hmm, I've kind of grown. I realize that certain things, or certain thoughts maybe I used to think, I don't really need to think them anymore, because I'm changed. I've changed for the better, or I've made it through.
And if anything, I just want to encourage everybody that we're making it through. It's still not, and it never will be I don't think, it never will be like it was, but that's okay. I realized the biggest thing was, yes, out of sight, out of mind, but because I've come through this, because we have come through this, because we as people are going through this, and as a world, as a nation, as everything, as business owners, as artists, as moms, as dad's, as parents, as kids even, we're going to come out and we're going to come out better, some way somehow.
I really feel very free in knowing in the fact that I was out of sight, out of mind in certain things, and I'm not bothered by it anymore. It's easy to let go. And I think that maybe somebody else needs this now, and that my season for this was over. And I'm having that as the changing of the seasons are coming around, and fall is coming around on us, and sneaking around on us, summer's pretty much officially over, I'm realizing that there's changing in seasons. And there's changing in myself and my physical surrounding, in my emotional state, my spiritual state, and things I choose to serve in, things I choose to do. And I've learned through this thing, going through these hardships, it's okay, and they don't last forever. What is it? Tough times don't last, but tough people do. Something like that. I think my grandmother said that.
My grandmother, I think about her, she lived through the Great Depression. Everybody has some kind of thing that happened. There's some thing in your life. A lot of people live through World War II. A lot of people served in World War II. My husband has a lot of relatives that have medals and were war heroes. And, it's just amazing to me that I guess I find in this technology age, it's like now everybody's just so, ooh, my gosh, this is happening to me. Whoa, my gosh, it's the lockdown, or whatever. You think about it. Every generation probably has some, the Vietnam War. We all, as generations, have things that we go through. And we go through as a world, or we go through as a nation, or we go through as a people, or people group. It's just that's what's happened, all through history.
I feel like sometimes we think we're entitled to ... I think in the information age what it is, is this. We have so much information, so we instantly feel smarter because of Google or whatnot. And really, I think unless you do a delete and a hard drive reboot in your brain, you just get all too much information in there, and you get information paralysis where you don't know what to do. And, yeah, knowledge is power. I agree with that. However, I think we, in this information age, in the technology age, we seem to have this entitlement of like, oh well, I have so much knowledge. I have so much technology at my fingertips, nothing bad is ever going to happen to me. Or, I shouldn't have to go through this. We shouldn't have to go through this. But, that's just not the case because that's not life. Technology, tools.
My grandmother, I think my grandmother saw the first car come into existence, from a horse and buggy to the automobile age. I remember my grandfather actually having a mule, and still plowing the field with a mule, with his mule. And I remember that as a kid, and I am probably one of the last people of my generation, of Gen X, to have that kind of experience. My husband definitely didn't come for that. But, thank goodness where I was raised, it was about 20 years behind everybody else and we didn't have technology to make everybody aware of things. It was just a very different way of life and I'm thankful for it, because I think it did make me appreciate things. And, like I said, my mother picked cotton. I'm just one generation away from that, so I have a lot of respect for people who work hard and worked the land, because I'm very close to that. Those are my people, so to speak.
But, with technology and with all this stuff we have, and like I said, information, I sense that sometimes, especially during this whole thing we've been going through as the world goes through this thing, it just feels like that we're thinking we don't need to go through any kind of hardships like this. But, for some reason we do. And that's the thing is that, when you do go through the hardship, if you are going through it, it's been very difficult for me, this whole lockdown thing. I really have not been proud of my behavior sometimes, but I made it through. I feel like I guess I'm getting on the other side for some reason. Maybe it's just the changing of the seasons or whatever. It just feels different. Things feel different and they feel different for the better.
I hope this is encouraging. Like I said, outta sight, outta mind. If you have something that you feel like is just hanging around, or like with me, you've had a pantry that needed cleaning, or whatever it is, just go ahead. If it's been out of your sight and you haven't used it, worn it, or seen it in three months, six months, or a year even, then get rid of it. It's an ebb and flow. You get rid of it, you'll get something replaced that'll be even better if you need it. And if you don't, great. You'll get more freedom. You'll feel freer, just like I do.
So, I hope this helps. Well, I guess I made it through. So, I'm going to take this time to say goodbye, because I did get this recorded, and I will see you on the next one. Thanks for joining me.
Hey, everybody. Thank you for joining me for the More Than Enough podcast. Listen, if you like the song that we play as our theme song for this podcast, you can get that song plus nine others by going to world.cocooconnor.com. That's world.cocooconnor.com, and I will send you a free CD signed by me. I'm just asking that you help out with shipping and handling. So, go to world.cocooconnor.com, and grab your free CD today.
On today's More Than Enough Podcast, we are going to be talking about expanding and how when you are expanding or growing in your life, you just cannot stay in the same place. So stay tuned. I'm excited about this podcast, and I know you're going to get something very useful out of it.
Intro:
Do you ever feel like all of your efforts and everything you do is simply just not good enough? Well, join me, your host, Coco O'Connor where I share insights and inspirations to let you know that you are in fact more than enough. So if you're looking for a little faith and a little grace, this podcast is for you.
Begin Episode:
I am excited to talk to you about expanding today. How when we are expanding in any area of our life, we are going to be moved to a place that can hold us growing or expanding in a better way. And it's not always in our best interest to fight and try to stay in the same place where we're at, because our expansion, our bigness of life at the particular place we're at, it can't hold us anymore.
So I was talking on the previous episode about how I was kind of having this mini identity crisis and not really feeling like I had... I was just feeling like there was more, and it was interesting because I thought to myself, I was like, well, creatively, I'm rehearsing with the band. I got a show coming up. I've been writing songs a lot even during this whole crazy time of the world that has shifted. And I've been doing... The creativity has kept up, but I've still felt like there was something going on. So I was thinking, oh, well maybe it's this identity crisis I was talking about. But I realized that I don't think that's it at all.
I think I'm just expanding, like for instance, doing this podcast, this has been something that I've had in the back of my mind for a very long time. And not only that, I actually used to, I have cassette tapes of me as a kid recording me being a DJ. So I used to play songs. I used to record myself acting like a DJ. And it's kind of crazy to me that I did not jump into this podcast thing earlier, but I think the reason I didn't, and there's a perfect timing for everything, I probably wasn't ready. I probably really didn't have anything to say and I didn't have even the song. I had to write the More Than Enough song because that's the theme song and that's the whole theme of the podcast, right?
So I'm glad that didn't happen. And also, I had to get out of my head that I had to do this big production and everything had to be perfect. It's interesting. Sometimes we think things that are big, like for instance, a big production, I have to make a bedroom into my house into a studio to get this done or whatever, the lighting has to be perfect. The sound has to be perfect, the whatever. I think we sometimes think in human terms of that's the bigness and really we miss the whole point of, that's not the bigness, the whole production, the bigness is the message. It's the content, it's what you're putting out.
So I was able to understand by listening to mentors and studying other people and how they did their podcasts, like, hey, this doesn't have to be that hard. Okay? It doesn't. I'm usually just sitting here talking into my iPhone and you can tell because sometimes I'm in the mountains and sometimes you hear birds chirping, and sometimes you probably hear my computer pinging when I forget to turn it off as far as the emails go, but it's just that kind of thing. We so in our minds, we think so differently than what the creator thinks. And I think the creator is thinking so much bigger of course, than we are and we get focused on those details.
So I was having this, as I said, the mini identity crisis or so I thought, and then I realized, you know what, no, I'm recognizing this as just, I'm expanding, I'm growing. I'm doing this podcast. I'm not only rehearsing for a show or writing songs, or collaborating, or making partnerships with people who are launching brands, which I'm very excited about, by the way, that's going to be coming up where I'm going to hopefully have a coffee that I'm going to be putting out, which is really exciting, I'm really excited about that. There is expansion going on. So when there's expansion, I think that that becomes uncomfortable. Not necessarily because of me, but because I'm expanding and where I'm at mentally, maybe physically, sometimes physically or spiritually even, I can't be contained anymore.
And that's so beautiful because it just means that I am expanding into who God really created me to be. I'm drawing near to him. I'm focusing on good things and letting things happen as they should, and not getting so wrapped up, like I said, in my own little mind thinking, oh, I need this to be doing this or that to be doing this. Or I have to have this in a particular manner or what not. It's just, I'm becoming more certain about where I'm at and what I'm doing and what I feel like I'm being contained or I'm being expanded, or I'm growing out of where I'm at. It's kind of like, I guess you could think about it when your kids are growing. Right?
Like yesterday, I go to pick up my daughter and she is going to have the same problem that I have and my best girlfriend, Rebecca, we always joke about how we have really long legs. If we buy pants that are big enough for us lengthwise or long enough, then they're too big around the waist. And if we buy them that fit in the waist, then they're too short and we look like we have high waters on and we're ready for a flood. So my little daughter, she's the same way. She's going to have the same problem, I can already tell. So I pick her up and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, your little jumper is so short." I don't know how I can notice it when I pick her up from school and not notice it going to school. It's amazing.
Or maybe she grew during the day, who knows? But she had her little jumper on and it fits perfectly. And she's pretty particular, she likes it to fit really snug. She doesn't like oversized or big stuff. She's kind of particular in that way. But so this fits her to a T everywhere, but her legs are so long that it looks really short and they have, of course, the requirements. So I'm always a little nervous around uniforms in school or whatever. So far so good, nobody said anything, but I was just thinking about that and how she's growing. And she's just outgrowing the jumper she has on. It may fit most of the places, but it's getting way too short. So it's not even going to be something that she can use anymore.
And that's how we are when we start growing as people, when we start... And I don't care what it's doing. If you're learning an instrument or if you're learning to grow a business, or you're growing a business, you have a business, or you have a career, or you're at work, wherever you are. I think it's so important to one, recognize that, hey, this space that I'm in, if I'm constantly drawing near to God, seeking God, because God is expanding all the time. Have you ever noticed that? God just expands all the time. And the grass grows, especially here in Tennessee, it's always growing and it just gets, he's just always expanding. Everything is. Innovation is.
My husband and I have this conversation, because my husband's a car guy. Okay? And he says, "You never think cars can get better. How can they possibly get any better than they are now?" But he's always amazed at somehow, some way, man is always making a car better than the previous version. And it's true. Think about it. If we're able to do that in our little minds and with our hands, and with inventions, and innovation, technology, things like that, what is God capable of doing? And how much bigger is he capable of expanding or making things greater? Because that's what's happening. He is making the world greater. He is making provisions greater. And that's what he's done in my life. I look back on it and I can see how from where we started, my husband and I, when we were first married, where we are now, and now we have a child.
And it's just all this expansion and all this growth that's happened. So I want to encourage you today. If you are feeling, maybe you are feeling like I am or were the previous episode, just know that maybe it's not an identity crisis. Maybe it's actually, you're growing, you're expanding. And the space that you're in can't contain you anymore. And I want to encourage kind of like my daughter's jumper, right? Or her uniform. She is growing and it can't contain her. It can contain her in some areas, right? But in other areas it just doesn't fit anymore. And that may be where you're at today. You may be in a position, you may be in a career. You may be in a business. You may be in a creative situation.
You may be in a parenting situation, or a volunteer situation or something. And you may be feeling like a little uncomfortable, like yeah, it fits in some ways, but it doesn't fit in others. And what I want to do is encourage you to not just leave or just quit. I want to encourage you to really analyze it, take a look at it. Say, "Hey, is this position working for me where I'm at spiritually maybe, emotionally? Is this working for me? And what can I do? How am I outgrowing this in a way that doesn't necessarily push aside or push away other people, but how can you offer expansion to them and possibly take them along? And some people you may not be able to, but if you are conscious and you recognize that, hey, I may be in a situation where I'm growing.
And that's not like if you're in a position, you might just feel like you need to do a little extra work over in an area that is more comfortable for you. And that might be a way for you to expand in that area. And then that will push aside and you will be pushed into a situation, a relationship, a business, a position, whatever it is, you will be pushed into a place that is a perfect fit. And then the cycle will start all over again. You'll be able to spend a season there and then you'll be growing and expanding, and you'll be moved on to better things.
So thank you for listening. I hope you will be blessed by this, and inspired, and encouraged. Thanks again. And I will see you on the next episode.
Thank you for joining me for The More Than Enough Podcast. Listen, if you like the song that we play as our theme song for this podcast, you can get that song plus nine others, by going to http://world.cocooconnor.com, that's http://world.cocooconnor.com. And I will send you a free CD signed by me. I'm just asking that you help out with shipping and handling. So go to http://world.cocooconnor.com and grab your free CD today.
Hey everybody. Thank you for joining me. Today, I want to talk about a mini identity crisis. That's what I feel like I'm going through at the moment. So I have been re-reading a book that I read many years ago, but it's interesting when you go back and read a book that really helped you understand some things or changed your life maybe, and you re-read it a decade later. I was re-reading this book yesterday and then I downloaded it today so I could listen to it. Because it's interesting there as well, you get a different perspective. Like when I was listening to it, I was getting some things that I really didn't get as I was reading it. And it was really good. So I was thinking about it on my run today. I did a long run. I like to do a long run at least once a week.
And by a long run, I mean, I'm just running five miles, that's it. That's my long run. Not like I'm running 10, or training for a marathon or anything. And so, in between meetings, I'm taking my late morning run. I'm getting in the car. And I'm thinking about this book. I'm thinking about what it's talking about. And I'm like, I feel like I'm just having a mini identity crisis. Like the reason I'm not moving forward is because I don't really know what I want. And that's the first thing. I got the record deal. I really wanted a record deal. I got that. I really wanted to make great music, write great songs, I did that. I feel like I've done that, or I do that. It's not that I'm looking to do something else or just throw that by the wayside, but there are a lot of things that I've accomplished.
And I guess I'm asking myself, "Well, now what?" And I was thinking, well, maybe it's because... I reflected on growing up how there's a statistic that says, if your father's not around you, most of the people who grow up in homes with absent fathers, I mean, there are a lot of issues, but one of them is like an identity crisis. They never can figure out who they really are. I don't necessarily think I have that. But I do have something of, I'm a little fearful of really doing or believing for something that I really want, because I feel like, well, maybe it's going to disappoint God or he didn't really make, I don't know. It's weird. I really want to please God. I don't want to get to the end of my life and have the Lord say, "What did you do?"
Coco O'Connor:
And me saying, "Well, I did this or I did that." And He's like, "Depart from me." I don't want that to happen. So, I think it's an unhealthy type of fear in a way. But I was praying and I said, "I'm kind of having this mini identity crisis. A lot of things have happened, a lot of good things are happening, but I just don't feel like I'm where I want to be. Or there's this that I want, I don't know. I'm just kind of at this tug of something that I can't really put my finger on to be quite honest with you." And I told Him, I said, "There's a statistic that says, blah, blah, blah." And I thought though, as I was recording a couple of these, this is my fourth take on this podcast.
But I thought, I don't have to be a statistic. Right? I mean, I'm a child of the Almighty God, I don't have to be a statistic. And just because those statistics, they may be factual, and they may be correct, but that's okay. I don't have to be one. Right? I can press in. I can pray. I can meditate. I can do what I need to do. I can change where I'm at, if I need to. And I don't have to be one of those statistics. And that's what really helped me figure out, I think the issue is just simply not knowing what I want, maybe. And maybe, I'm the kind of person too that needs to discover stuff. So, I need to jump in. And my friend Nina is like that too. I always remember Nina. She's the wife of my pastor in Santa Fe. My church that I go to when I'm in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
And she'd say, "Well, I've tried the nursing home ministry. I've tried this ministry or that. And I really just felt like the women's ministry was where I needed to be. And that was what was the most comfortable for me." But she said, "I had to experience a lot of different things before I figured that out." She's like, "I'm the kind of person that has to get in there and get my hands dirty and figure out, Oh, wait, my hands got dirty on this. I do like it or I don't like it." That's the way I am. I'm a very, let's just jump in and experience it. Because I don't sit around and analyze stuff like, "Oh, well I enjoy this. There's this thing. I don't check off anything.
So, I was thinking about that. Like, I think I'm having a little mini identity crisis. However, after some prayer and some thought, I thought, you know what? It's okay. We all have different stages in our life. We all are going through different things at different times. And especially, coming out of the season that we've been in, I mean, it's been crazy. And I really think it's made a lot of people stop the busyness, the distractions, and change. Make some pivots, make some turning points in their lives that they actually needed to make. So, I will keep you posted as to how this mini identity crisis all pans out. I think it's going to be fun. It's already pretty much over.
I'm already well on track with what I feel like I need to do. It's really cool, because it's just making me run toward God and draw closer to Him. And just like the scriptures says, "If you draw near to God, He will draw near to you." So, I hope you'll be encouraged by this. I believe you'll be encouraged by this. And if you, like myself, feel like you're some kind of statistic or could be a statistic, just know you don't have to write that ticket. You don't have to sign that off. You cannot be a statistic because you are something so much more than that. You are a child of God. So again, thank you for listening and I will see you on the next episode.
Thank you for joining me for The More Than Enough Podcast. Listen, if you like the song that we play as our theme song for this podcast, you can get that song plus nine others, by going to http://world.cocooconnor.com, that's http://world.cocooconnor.com. And I will send you a free CD signed by me. I'm just asking that you help out with shipping and handling. So go to http://world.cocooconnor.com and grab your free CD today.
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