Words of Wellness with Shelly

Wealth Is Health: How Self-Care, Quick Action, and Community Turned A Medical Crisis Into A Powerful Recovery

• Shelly Jefferis • Season 2 • Episode 128

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Sometimes life changes in an instant and forces us to STOP whether we want to or not! That is exactly what happened when our guest Selina Thomas had what she thought to be food poisoning, turn into a life threatening emergency. When her gallbladder went from normal to catastrophic overnight, everything she believed about wellness was tested! What followed was a lesson in listening to your body, trusting your people, and a very grateful heart. 

Selina shares the subtle warnings—upper abdominal pain that wrapped around her back, escalating nausea—and the moment her daughter took charge and dialed 911. From the paramedic who suspected rupture to the ER team that prepped with real-time data, you’ll hear how coordinated care turned a near-septic crisis into a successful surgery and a clear path to recovery. Selina shares practical aftercare choices that worked—hydration IVs, rest, gentle movement, and mindful nutrition—and answers common fears about life post–gallbladder removal. We also dive into the value of tracking changes as we age, why family history can matter more than we think!

Beyond the medicine, this is a testament to a strong community, lasting friendship, and family bonds. Friends and family showed up with meals and messages. Energy came back to Selina as she had been the person pouring it out to others for years. And in a powerful role reversal, her adult children became her advocate, taking the lead and caring for their mom! In addition, Selina's positive attitude and focus on gratitude definitely contributed to a speedy recovery.

The conversation also touches upon the experiences with our children as they becomes adults and enter their new phases of life. If you’re navigating the empty nest, you’ll recognize the pivot: letting our kids build their lives while we repurpose our time toward service, connection, and a deeper version of self-care. Gratitude threads it all together as being the highest frequency you can choose daily that shapes healing, relationships, and day-to-day energy.

If this conversation gives you a nudge, act on it: schedule the check-up you’ve delayed, write down your symptoms, talk to your family, and thank someone who’s been an inspiration to you. If it resonated, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs the reminder, and leave a review to help more people find Words of Wellness.

CONNECT WITH SELINA: https://www.instagram.com/voteforselinathomas

https://6degreeshrconsulting.com/

CONNECT WITH SHELLY:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellnesswithshellyj https://www.instagram.com/momswhoflourish
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShellyJefferis

A few of Shelly's favorite clean products:

High quality, clean nutrition and beauty products: https://shellyjefferis.isagenix

Clean-crafted wine, free from chemicals & pesticides:
https://scoutandcellar.com/?u=healthyhappyhours

Cayla Gray- Non-toxic cologne & perfume: https://caylagray.com/wellnesswithshellyj (10% discount)

JuJu Non-toxic candles & air fresheners:
https://goodjujucandles.com/?ref=mrtgnygh
Coupon code for 10% off: ShellyJefferis

Thank you for listening to the Words of Wellness podcast with Shelly Jefferis. I am honored and so grateful to have you here and it would mean the world to me if you could take a minute to follow, leave a 5-star review and share the podcast with anyone you love and anyone you feel could benefit from the message.

Thank you and God Bless! And remember to do something for yourself, for your wellness on this day!
In Health,

Shelly

SPEAKER_00:

My takeaway is that your wealth is your health. As much as we can accomplish in life, and we have this and we have that, if you don't have your health, I mean, I was like a a bullet train that suddenly had to stop, like derailed, thankfully, like no casualties, but ultimately that could happen to anyone.

SPEAKER_01:

Do you get confused by all of the information that bombards us every day on ways to improve our overall health and our overall wellness? Do you often feel stuck, unmotivated, or struggle to reach your wellness goals? Do you have questions as to what exercises you should be doing, what foods you should or shouldn't be eating? How to improve your overall emotional and mental well-being? Hello everyone. I am so excited to welcome you to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelley Jeffries, and I will be your host. My goal is to answer these questions and so much more. To share tips, education, and inspiration around all of the components of wellness through solo and guest episodes. With 35 plus years as a health and wellness professional, a retired college professor, a speaker, and a multi-passionate entrepreneur, I certainly have lots to share. However, my biggest goal and inspiration in doing this podcast is to share the wellness stories of others with you. To bring in guests who can share their journey so that we can all learn together while making an impact on the health, the wellness, and lives of all of you, our listeners. The ultimate hope is that you leave today with even just one nugget that can enhance the quality of your life, and that you will, we all will, now and into the future, live our best quality of lives full of energy, happiness, and joy. Now let's dive into our message for today. Hello, my friends, and welcome back to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly, and I will be your host. And my guest today has a very special story to share. I want to share that she is our local HR guru. She was the one that everyone goes to for HR advice. And she is such a professional in what she does, and she gives back to the community so much. And she's a huge supporter of our local business community, the employers, their employees. And we, I would say, originally connected because of our children going through similar stages of similar stages of going to college. She has three beautiful, beautiful daughters, and we're going to talk touch on that a little bit. But I am so excited to have Selena here with us today.

SPEAKER_00:

Hi. So good to see you. So good to see you. I'm so sorry I missed your in-person event, but I was so honored that you asked me to join you for you know this part of your um initiative, which I think is so amazing and so needed for our community, not just women, but just our community in general. And I'm always um inspired by your energy and willingness to give that. So thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, thank you. And I just appreciate your support so, so very much and in all that you do for everybody in this community. You you truly are amazing. You're you're one of those people that, oh, Selena's there, Selena's there, Selena's there, she's supporting this, supporting that. And so I know we have a lot to get into today, and you always just amaze me. And I want us to make sure we we touch upon and talk about our children for sure. So we're gonna do that, but I really would love to dive in. One of the big reasons that I wanted to do this episode with you is because of the most recent health scare that you had and so many parts to it. And like we were just saying before we start recording, is that you take such amazing care of yourself, which is why you've recovered so quickly, and quite frankly, probably why you survived what you did. And true, right?

SPEAKER_00:

So absolutely true, and that's really from the doctor's uh assessment of me during, in the middle, and after.

SPEAKER_01:

So I want us to go back, Selena, because I really think this is so important to share with the listeners some of the symptoms that you had leading up to what you experienced. And I know some of it was really subtle, but I feel like getting this message out and just sharing with the world is so important in case someone else goes through what you did.

SPEAKER_00:

You're right. And and really two parts to it. It's it's informative and cathartic at the same time for me. Because I was really, I didn't know what I didn't know. And and and then I was in trouble. And so I guess you should start with what actually happened. So I am recently a survivor of having had my gallbladder actually rupture on September 18th at three in the morning. Um, so just to backtrack a little bit, I, as you mentioned, really uh I'm intentional about my wellness. And so I I eat well, I I'm very physical. If people follow me, they know I'm on the stairs three times a week here in Santa Carita. And I promote that because it's easy, it's local, and it it will make you feel good. And if you're able to do something, it doesn't matter if it's the stairs, if you're moving, that increases and improves your wellness. And so I I I turned 55 this year, and I I went into this year uh with a real um mindset that wellness is going to be a big feature of my life. And so my birthday is in February, and I had long before that stopped drinking alcohol, started the stairs. I think they just finished the stairs in October of last year, and I kept driving by, like, I need to try those. Like, this is like there's a crowd. And so I um started to go with my daughter, uh, who's at University of Portland, and she could do three and four, and I would just be okay, I'm hanging in there. And then I got to the point where I could do seven in a sitting, and it felt really good. And so oftentimes people would see my posts right after working here at six degrees saying, you know, the stairs here have no elevators, no excuses. And so it kind of became a mantra. And so ironically, three days before my gallbladder just completely ruptured, I had done the stairs, done that post like I do every week. And I had was already scheduled to go see, uh, go to a family wedding in Cleveland. Went to Cleveland that that weekend, started to feel bad, but I chalked it up to I just traveled, I had food that I typically don't uh eat because I'm on the run. So I really just didn't pay attention. Came back from the wedding, ate again, felt bad. And bad meaning like I thought I had eaten something that was spoiled or it was food poisoning. Um, and then that Wednesday night, I it was more than feeling bad. Now I'm throwing up. Now I have I have this radiating pain here, all the way around my back. And I thought, what is this pain? Because it's not like an indigestion pain, it's a higher above my stomach pain, but it was it was really pronounced and sharp, and there was no shaking it. Got worse and worse and worse through the night. Thankfully, I have one daughter that's still home, off and on. She has her own company. And I said, I'm gonna probably, she's like, You need to go to urgent care. And I'm just like, I'll try to sleep it off, I'll go in the morning. Middle of the night, I'm now uncontrollably uh vomiting. I'm starting to feel lightheaded. And this is when she was like, I'm calling. This is this is this is way above my ability to even get you in my car and get you to the hospital. And LA County Fire responded within two minutes. I was assessed by a paramedic, and he seemed to know that I was having uh this issue because he he remarked to his partner like that he suspected abruption, rupture. I I'm I'm blurry about it, but it seemed like he knew because that's when things got a little more urgent. He's calling it in to hand me mail. And I'm not realizing that these are like really with Madison, hands in the chain, right? The chain to get me where I need to go. And that's what happened. So I I got there, they got me there very quickly. Uh, they had already called in like my data and stats, and the ER doctor responded with that information, took me to CT. It was very clear in the CT scan uh that I needed um immediate surgery. And then it becomes a blur. But I do remember the surgeon told me uh, you know, you were within hour within an hour of full, complete rupture, which leads to being septic and many more life um changing complications uh to your organs. And just just hearing how close that I got and the the rapid response really kind of had my head spinning, but I was in a lot of pain. And I remember waking up the next day, you were like the first person there, which I'll never forget. Just this smiley face, like, what? I saw it and don't know what happened, but I'm here. And I shared with uh Marley, uh the president of the foundation, and today with uh Patrick Moody that I really wanted to testify about this because it really was a collaboration of care. Like, even if it starts with Madison, who has never had to call 911, I've never been in the back ambulance in that way, I've never been meeting every hand in the chain to respond to what I'm saying and what they're observing. That made all the difference for not just my survival, but recovery. Because recovery was predicated on the immediate surgery. Am I recovering from the gallbladder removal, which is now I'm finding out pretty commonplace, or am I recovering from being septic and in ICU? There's a big difference. And so when people saw me within, I want to say a week and a half, two weeks from surgery at Economic Development, it was like, how are you here? And I'm like, I can tell you how I'm here. It's how I was uh taking care of myself prior, how I was taken care of during and the aftercare. And those three things combined really made a difference, even now, in my ability to within three weeks go to Spokane, Washington to college weekend, which you and I both just had within the same week been able to see our kids, which is for us like the reason why we do what we do and the way we tick. And it it is also the treatment that I got after. So I've had two IVs over at Ice Recovery. Thank you, Troy Udin, for even having that feature in in his business, um, because his nurse uh came to my home right after I got out of surgery, right after I got out of the hospital. So within two days, I had an IV at the at my home. And within another week of that, I was well enough to attend Economic Outlook. And then I had another IV just before my trip to Spokane. And then I'm scheduled for another one. This is the aftercare, right? This is the like recovering from anesthesia, recovering from the trauma of the surgery and the change in just my whole system. And so um I I'm happy to scream this from the top of those stairs in Santa Carita, that it does make all the difference.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I know there was no accident in me. I just happened to see on social media that you had the little wristband that you were in the hospital, and I immediately messaged you like, what's going on? And being able to come see you. And you literally, I mean, aside from you maybe looking a little tired, rightfully so, you looked good, you know. And I just for you to share everything that you experienced, I was amazed that you were functioning like you were, and again, it's just such a testament to the person that you are, the the positive outlook that you have, the huge heart that you have, and also like you're saying, taking care of yourself and your wellness is so huge. And then I think another part of this too is the community that we are a part of. I know you felt so much love, healing, right? It just goes goes to the point, uh, and I always make this point, how important community is for for all of us.

SPEAKER_00:

And that part just overwhelms me to the to the degree that you know my daughter had to drive like what seemed like an entire florist to our home. And then even when I got home, people were sending love and light and food and just well wishes, and and it is true, like our community really um is uh people that are are are always gonna look out for each other, and you sow good seeds. And I think I was able to tell my girls like that was a reflection of not just the seeds that I had sown, but the love and and uh the seeds that they had sown as my three daughters that are like really reflections of me and people wanting to rally around them. It was like, what do you and the girls need? It was people were sending La Cosina, fed me in Madison. You know, I had their amazing healing soup, and Madison had her engelada. You know, it was like Edgar was like, What can we send you? Like, think nothing of it. What do you need? And so it is really a testament to our community. And even yesterday I was getting cards um from people that had seen the story and just said, listen, thinking of you, take it slow. We we get that you are uh, you know, kind of built to to this is kind of how I'm wired. I think we related well on not just our kids, but we're really wired for energy and and um you know the boomerang of giving it out and and it c it coming back. And and so yeah, that was that was a big part of and the reason why I could heal the way that I did. And then when you're healed, it reasonably enough, right? You just want to testify. And that's that's what I wanted to do. And that's that's why when I spoke to Patrick Moody today from uh Henry Mayo, he's like, we're gonna find this fireman. We're I've already found the surgeon, I already know who he is, and I want to get you guys together, and that means so much to me because I've been able to thank the community, but the the the hands in the chain besides my daughter just chokes me up. I I want to thank them because I remember telling that firefighter, like, please don't let me die. I have three daughters, and ironically, like our life is captured, some of it's deliberate, and some of it is just by default. I had a ring app in my living room, and I actually posted a picture of the compassion. Like, you didn't see who this person was. It's somewhat grainy. You can clearly see who I am on the patient, but you saw compassion, you saw humanity, and I think that always needs to be told. And I that's when I when Patrick says, I'm gonna look up the call, I'm gonna, I'll I can work work this backwards and find out who responded, which now we're all like, find this man, because he he listened to me, he listened to my daughter, and he even told her, like, I'm really glad you called 911. And I was struck by that. And if you see the picture, I think I've shared it on Facebook. That's the one that you probably saw after, but he's just touching me, like with nothing but compassion, like hope this this is gonna get better. Makes me joke up right now.

SPEAKER_01:

And me too, I think that how how much stories like this need to be shared. Like there's not, you know, we we hear obviously in the world, it's noisy and there's plenty of negativity, but there's really the good, I believe, outweighs the the bad, but sometimes the bad the bad is just heavier, right? So we we want to always share the good. And so I think this is so beautiful, like you're saying, and you can actually find each person and thank them individually and help them to know that what they did matters and made a difference, it made a difference, and it made a difference in my mindset of just like I'm gonna be okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Like, I no longer needed to tell anyone in that whole process, like, save me, I've got I'm a mother. I didn't have to make that appeal. It was just like, I'm gonna let them do what they do because clearly I'm in great hands. They're they're passing this baton, which is a human being who is a mother, who is somebody that doesn't want to leave right now, and who who just who needs care. And that's all they saw. They didn't see the politics, they didn't see the demographics, they did not see anything other than a human being that needed care. And it was in that week where it was so toxic in our community. And I'm I'm in my bed like looking at like, what is this? Like, I didn't even want to open TikTok or Instagram or any because I I couldn't go there because I had to be healing. And uh the irony was that I had so many people reach out because obviously that's that that's that rises to the top for people like this story versus negative stories that were consuming everyone, and everyone was ready to just it was bad. And I was really glad that I I was actually really kind of tuned out during that time because it it can be suffocating where when I needed oxygen.

SPEAKER_01:

A hundred percent. And you know, again, a perfect example of of the good overcomes any of the negativity that's going on. Now we have to focus our attention on Selena and giving her all the love and the healing and life that we can. And yeah, that that that was just most obviously important uh during that time. You I think that because I want to move on for a minute, but before we do that, I feel like there weren't a lot of warning signs. But if you could tell anyone, and I always say it's better to be safe than sorry. If you're experiencing something that feels off, better to be safe than sorry and get the help that you need or you know, get to urgent care, call 1911, like you you had to do.

SPEAKER_00:

With the biggest do your best not to take it to the edge, Rick. I really kind of gave myself and everyone around me a good scare. Yeah. But I think the big takeaway for me, and I was so lucky that during my uh college weekend at my daughter's, I I had uh um a um a uh a surgeon that was was part of the parents weekend, who's my daughter's best friend's mom, and and really just embraced me and gave me a lot of insight. Um and she said the same thing. She said, You didn't listen to your body. And I have to tell my patients this all the time in the aftermath, because here's your chance moving forward to pay attention. And I get that you're intentional and you're always, you know, considering your wellness and what you eat and then your and your movements, but there is that other part of communication that is bigger than the talking, it's the listening. And you have to listen to your body and you have to give way that you are 55, right? And there are things at this point that um that unbeknownst to you, you could be subject to, right? As much as we can do to try to save off the aging and da-da-da, you still are 55 years old. And there are things that could happen to you. And if you're not paying attention, so there's those preemptive things, right? We I get a mammogram every year for my birthday. Um, you know, I'm really intentional about what I eat. I don't drink alcohol anymore. That those kinds of things, right? But to mitigate. But then there's those things that uh that I didn't even know what a gallbladder, I mean, I kind of knew what a gallbladder does, but I didn't know that it could fail in the way that it did. And I certainly didn't know that um how common it is. So some of the signs for me were were the pain, the upper pain here, and then radiating around my back, which was not indigestion, right? Inigestion is a like lower gut, right? So something high, painful, persistent, or that comes and goes, because that's kind of what the stones do, like or the blockage does, like it, there's real movement in there. And so when that happened and it went away, I just ignored, like, oh, I must be fine. But it shouldn't have never happened. So even if you are, you know, in reasonably good health, which I consider myself, um, you could have those anomalies happening to you, not to be a hypochondriac. And I'm certainly not the Web MD type of girl because then everything would apply to me. So I try to stay away from that. But communicating, communicating to your practitioner, and to I think communicating and tracking any changes in your body, um, you know, as you get older. Like I'm different than I was, you know, at 50, 54, and I know that. And I know I need to sleep, I know I shouldn't be drinking, and I don't. Um, so just tracking changes, subtle as they may be, uh, will make a difference. Someone get has an ear and an eye for something because that's what they do. So you have to talk. You have to write it down and you have to talk.

SPEAKER_01:

That is so good. And I think it's such an important point you make because I I'm with you in the fact that I feel like we feel good, like we're energetic and we're feeling good. And even though the aging process happens, I always say I feel like I'm in my 30s, you know? And I think it's hard to accept that there would be something go wrong because we always for the most part.

SPEAKER_00:

Catastrophic from one day to the next. Right. I I can't emphasize enough how really I was uh my takeaway is that your wealth is your health. As much as we can accomplish in life, and we have this or we have that, if you don't have your health, I mean, I was like a bullet train that suddenly had to stop, like derailed, thankfully, like no casualties, but ultimately that could happen to anyone. And I I I think even with eating well, it can happen. I eat very green, I don't eat gluten, and it still happened. It it happened from zero to 100, like it failed. It there's chronic gallbladder gallstone issues that people have shared with me that they said the eventuality is that it was removed, but not under the circumstances that I had. My doctor said that, like, wow, yours went from working to catastrophic fail.

SPEAKER_01:

So you don't hear that that often. And I think that's the thing too, is to have something go from zero to a hundred, like it did with you. And so it's it's a little bit scary, but at the same time, to your point of listening to your body, any little sign of something not quite right, we have to read it. Don't write it off. Take it in.

SPEAKER_00:

Don't write it off. I think that's what I did. I wrote it off, or I felt like I could sleep it off, and I I can, you know, I my body let me know, like you are as much as you think you're in control of your life right now, I'm actually the one in control. And I think too, the thing that I learned, and and I, and this was a takeaway that that came from stories and testimonies from other people, was that there's family history of it too. So I had two friends that reach out to me that said that they themselves and their daughters. So me and my daughters have had this conversation now that and and one of them is actually my daughter's client. She's like, just so you know, and she happens to know me, she goes, just so you know, I've had mine and my three daughters have had theirs removed. Then I had another friend just yes day before yesterday, had to have hers removed, and her daughter had hers removed. And their daughters are my daughter's ages, 21, 22, early 30s. So that there is a predisposition was another takeaway that I learned. And so it's important to talk about your medical history with your family so that they have some insight about what may or may not be potentials for them.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's a hundred percent. That's amazing. I would have never guessed. That's amazing. And now, I mean, now again, I just, you know, it's unfortunate you had to go through it, but I always so truly feel that, and it's so cliche, but there's always a reason, you know, a purpose. And now you know, and now you can share with your daughters and be that much more villigent and just aware of what the signs could be with them.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, I just and reflection of recovery, I think too. I think people that have testified to me, I'm like, you had it too. And they're completely fine, normal, live great lifestyles in terms of like being able to eat and and and and doing the things they enjoy. Because I think that was the thought too. Like, oh my God, am I gonna be like straddled with certain types of foods or not be able to eat them or have some problems after chronically? And all all the people that have testified to me and said, I'm fine, I'm I'm certainly mindful of what I eat, which I was already, but I I have nothing debilitating happening to me uh in a chronic way. I I'm I'm post, you know, five years post, three years post, and I I I live a great lifestyle. And so I think that was the other takeaway for me is the after, like what's gonna happen after.

SPEAKER_01:

And I remember when I was with you that day, one of the things that you had asked the nurse about that very thing. I remember you were, you know, what is this gonna be like for me? And uh and so yeah, there's gonna be questions and concerns, but I just like I said before we just started recording when when I was there with you and you said that the, you know, when the the fireman said that came and they said that that you would have um if you would have waited, you wouldn't be here with us. And I just that was a hard, that was a hard one for me. And I mean that that that that brought tears to my eyes because just the thought of that, and I get chills now saying it.

SPEAKER_00:

Just the idea of my daughter having to navigate that and having been home with me, and and it just went from bad to uh a really bad outcome. Like I just to think of the trauma that she would have experienced in that, and that, you know, because I didn't listen to I I I take responsibility and I, you know, even into the point where I'm like, I am so sorry. I didn't put you through that part of it, because I should have listened to my body at six o'clock that day when she said, you should go to urgent care. So the other takeaway for us moms that have adult kids now, um, their voice is important and we should listen to them because as much as we don't want to believe that, but the roles are changing. Their roles are changing in a way uh that we should give way to them having some insight and some real wisdom as well. And uh and are partly now like my caretakers. Like it was powerful that my daughter is my power of attorney. I had all my things in a row, and and I had I had to lean on them. And that was a that was a new territory for me, if you could imagine.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I believe that. And that's again just a another just testament to the importance of like you're saying, it is so important to listen to our kids. It's always important to listen to them, but you're like you're saying, they're adults now and and they are quite smart. Well, because we raised them, right? I would like to think that, right? And it's interesting you say that. My daughter actually works uh with children, but she she works in the ER. So she does have that experience in the ER, even though her focus is children. But same kind of thing, like you're saying, they they have they have that different perspective, that different knowledge, that wherewithal, like something's not right here, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, we gotta give them credit for their instincts that we helped shape for them. And I had to really like eat that. Even when I was on the trip with the girls, you know, just like, you know, kind of teasing me, like, you know, you're gonna need the button now, mom. The life alert is coming. Like that might be your Christmas gift. Because, you know, button. I I I want a cute one though. If it's gonna, if I'm gonna wear it, right? I want it to look like bedazzled, like all the other things that I I have going on. And and then I can I'll acquiesce to the idea that you know it's it's it if they're not home, I have a I have a safety net, if you will, to to get help to me because ultimately, you know, they're in the world and in the roles of reverse, like now they're worried about me versus I'm worried about them. And they're like, this is like we're ready.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01:

I see that happen. I see that happen with our kids, especially our daughter is our oldest, and she gets she's more on that, like gets concerned and worried and about things with us. And uh it's you're right. I mean, it's it it's a it's quite something how it starts to reverse the roles. Totally reverse. It's totally it's okay. So I want to be conscientious of your time and our listeners' time, but this is a perfect segue, just briefly, we can share, you know, that we definitely have in common our our kids and all of them going off to college and and adulting and and doing their things. And it's just it's a beautiful thing to see. And, you know, and I even share and I talk about the transition of becoming empty nesters, and it's definitely a challenge at times, and it's sad to say the goodbyes. Um, but we also know that there's a lot of beauty um that comes with what they're experiencing and they're on their journeys, their life journeys, and it's just a beautiful thing to see.

SPEAKER_00:

And yeah, so I have such pride this weekend when I went to college weekend. I know you did the weekend before, and to just kind of see their footsteps and how people respond to them and and being in tow in reverse, because usually when they're here, like, oh, you're Selena's daughter. Well, when I was there, I was like, Oh, you're Morgan's mom, and it was like it was really full circle, it was beautiful. It was nice to see that.

SPEAKER_01:

And I'm so happy you were able to travel and and be with your girls because again, that's just the best, the best feeling.

SPEAKER_00:

And and they are really uh in in an in a space where they get to develop who they are. And I think our kids we relate well to this, they went away from this bubble that that we're in that we created for them. They're like, we're gonna make our own bubble over here. Like you can come, come in, check in, check out. But it is nice to see how they translate in the world. I think that was my biggest takeaway was that not only I know how you translate here, right? You're raised here at your hometown, yada, yada, yada. You build your reputation, but to go and do that somewhere else. And even my daughter Mia, who did that in a whole other country, and I got to see those footprints, then I then you and I can go, okay, mom, job well done. We we did it. They're gonna be fine.

SPEAKER_01:

They're gonna be okay. They're gonna be good. Yeah, yeah. I agree with you. And I, you know, I always will say there's a there's a place for all of our kids, whether they go away to school or they don't. However, to your point, I really do think it's so beneficial when they can get out of their hometown and just experience something completely different. I mean, it's it's been there's been so much growth in my kids, and I know you've seen it too in your daughters. Yeah, it's incredible. And it's not to say they won't come back. Or and I always I always say, I hope that sometime in the future we're in somewhat proximity. We don't have to live from each other, but driving distance, maybe. Um, but you know, what that looks like in the future, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Who knows? And giving them permission, I think is key. I think we've learned that as moms, as kids that we're like, no matter what, we can contain these these beings that have become who they become. And uh the the biggest key for me and what I've learned, especially in my first journey where where Mia went away, was I really needed to give her permission because then she could really cut loose. And that is something hard to relinquish as a mom that's so involved, right? We are we were every travel game, every like right, suddenly fully immersed to I have to let you go. And that was when I really felt the difference. And then that I also had to fly. Like, okay, now it's time to get into the things that you talked about at the top of the show, which was now I can give back and pay forward. There's a lot of time on my hands now that I didn't have because I was traveling with them so much. Now it's like, how do I repurpose that energy? And that's what we've really connected on was being able to repurpose that in a way that still fed our spirits, right? And maternal side and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_01:

It's so true. And I that's a big reason why I started The Moms Who Flourished when I did. Okay, Shelly, now's the time. You have the time. This is something that was placed on your heart. So, same thing like you're saying, it's it's not, you know, we're still our schedules are full, of course, still with our work and our kids, our family. Uh, however, I think it gives way to a new, it's a new, it's a new phase. And I, you know, we talked about Saturday at the event. It's just a new phase of motherhood. And yeah, it comes with ups and downs. And of course, and we, you know, with we're so happy when our kids are all home and then they go back to their places again. And it's just, it's how it goes. But ultimately, it's a it's a beautiful journey to experience and see, see what they they are they are becoming.

SPEAKER_00:

Just to find out your kids too are like really proud of you for what you're doing. Like when my daughter said that to me, it meant so much that you know, they were there when I received a hard award from the school district. I I had two of the three home and them seeing things come full circle. And and I think the biggest remark my my uh one of my daughters had was just how much um outpouring that I received, you know, uh while I was um recovering. It was it it it touched them too. Like, wow, mom, people really care about you. Like, good for you. This was this meant a lot to see uh, you know, beyond us, like how much you mean to people. And and that touched me. It still does. I I go home every day just so thankful.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and you're such a beautiful example, you know. You they they saw that, they saw what you what you contribute and how much you're loved in this community, and that's really, really huge. And you know, I you know, my daughter was able to join our the single mothers outreach event that we had back in May, which was really I I was so happy she could see part that you know, that I don't it's just a piece of what I do, but for her to experience that, it's the same kind of thing just to see be see a little bit of our, you know, peek into our lives organizations.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I'm so proud of you, my friend, that you have, you know, built such a beautiful initiative for women to connect, uh, to commiserate about life because you really find out that you're just not alone, we're not that far apart, we can have different beliefs about things, but really like the universal thing about us in this community, and I know this to be true between you and I, is there's a genuine care for people and a genuine good heart. And um, that's what I always wanted to amplify uh about not just who I am, but just about our community, because we're a collective, we're a collective body of that. And when you see people that are like-minded like that and really amplify it in a tangible way, like you have, you have to give um testimony to that, you have to redirect people to that because it becomes a source, it becomes a resource, another brick in this foundation of this community, and that's what you are. And I really want you to know that, and it means so much to me that I could, in a time of need, lean on that in someone else, even though I really pride myself on being able to be a resource for other people. So you've done that.

SPEAKER_01:

I appreciate you saying that so much. Next time we'll I'll we'll we'll I'll get a date next fall, make sure it works so you can be there because I'm already thinking ahead, already thinking ahead and planning.

SPEAKER_00:

So I love that. I love that. I love you, and I thank you for uh just even featuring the story. And if it helps anybody, uh as much as people have testified to me, and I want to pay that forward.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, well, I I'm just so honored to have you as a friend, and I love you so much. And I like you said, I mean, our our hearts are on this same journey as mama's, and we have the energy that we share.

SPEAKER_00:

And again, there's no there's no accident with that that we were that we were brought together back when we were, and so such a gift to wake up from surgery and see your face, like to just and you have these flowers. You're like, what happened? What happened to you? What happened? Like, I know, goodness, it was a lot. So thank you. Yeah, well, I'm so never forget it.

SPEAKER_01:

Thankful to God that you are with us and you can continue to shine your light brightly everywhere. And I just love you so much. And if anyone wants to reach out to you, yeah, I will put it in the show notes. But how can people contact you?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so I, as you know, I post every day, but I own six degrees HR Consulting. So they can find me at www.six degrees, the number six degrees hr consulting.com. Uh, I am on, I also have an Instagram of the same name, six degrees HR Consulting. And you can also, like old school, just Google Selena Thomas, S-E-L-I-N-A Thomas. Um, I'm often is in the community, but I am learning to strike a balance. And that was the one of the things that I I got from a friend who was saying it from a place of love, like slow down. And so, as much as people will see me continue to do what I'm doing, they'll also see me kind of giving way to the self-care uh more of that. And um, I and I can slow down. And you and I have sown enough seeds to allow us to work at a pace that uh gives us real balance and and the wellness, the wow.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I love that. And so one last thing I will usually ask is if there's anything that you which you just really said it, but any last words of inspiration, or I will say words of wellness that you want to share with our audience.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think um just having gratitude, it is really, and I've learned this over the years, but I really prescribe to this all the time, and and especially lately. Um people should look this up though. It gratitude is the highest frequency that you can uh operate from, which is why that energy comes back. And so if if you're living in a place of gratitude, even if it's just like I have gratitude, obviously, from recovering, but gratitude for my daughters, gratitude, the sun is out. Gratitude, the frequency and your energy is um the most powerful thing that you have at your disposal. This isn't belong to anyone else. This is your yourself, and you generate it um just like the sun generates its own energy, people generate their own energy, and we have to make a decision of what energy and the type of energy that we are generating. And I am intentional about only generating good energy. And so if you're empowered with that, it it extends beyond you, just like the sun. And so, if you can have any takeaway about me uh in this conversation or just in general, um, in terms of what allows me to recover in the way that I am, it is about the energy. So good energy, good attitude, everything.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it, I love it. There, yeah, thank you, thank you so much. Of course, I love you.

SPEAKER_00:

Of course, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

For our listeners, reach out to Selena. Uh, she's just incredible, as you can hear. And I will put all her contact information in the show notes and take time for yourself on this day in your own personal wellness. Take time to have that gratitude. Like she is saying, it it makes such a difference in just your overall mindset and how you're feeling each day. And until next time, have a beautiful, blessed rest of your week, everyone. And we'll see you next time. We'll see you out there, hopefully on the stairs. Yeah, we'll see you on the stairs. Those of you who are local, we'll see you on the stairs. Definitely. Have a wonderful week, everyone. See you next time.

SPEAKER_02:

Bye.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. I hope you gained value and enjoyed our time together as much as I did. And if you know someone who could benefit from today's episode, I would love and appreciate it if you could share with a friend or rate and review Words of Wellness so that more can hear this message. I love and appreciate you all. Thank you for listening. And if you have any questions or topics you would like me to share in future episodes, please don't hesitate to reach out to me through my contact information that is shared in the show notes below. Again, thank you for tuning in to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelley Jeffries, and I encourage you to do something for you, for your wellness on this day. Until next time, I hope you all have a healthy, happy, and blessed week.