Words of Wellness with Shelly

From Perfectionism to Peace: Restoring Balance With Faith, Self-Care and Fun With Vivian Cumins

• Shelly Jefferis • Season 2 • Episode 144

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What if balance isn’t a myth but a muscle you can build with small, faithful choices? We sit down with author and podcaster Vivian Cumins to unpack how a severe burnout became the unexpected path to restoration—and why perfectionism often hides in our most praised habits. From a childhood memory that seeded “never enough” to a life reoriented around faith, stewardship, and joy, Vivian shows how to step off the treadmill of constant striving without abandoning your ambition.

We explore her three pillars for a sustainable life: put God first in your day so priorities flow from peace, practice self-care as stewardship of mind, body, and spirit, and make room for fun because laughter resets your system in ways willpower can’t. You’ll hear real examples—setting a 6 p.m. phone cutoff, allowing “good enough” edits, rebuilding structure after retirement, and navigating empty-nester shifts with intention. We talk people-pleasing, money stress, overcommitting at church and work, and the gentle art of noticing when old perfectionist patterns try to take the wheel.

Vivian also shares resources to go deeper: her devotional Break Down Better, YouVersion plans on balance and goal setting, and a forthcoming guided journal that helps you investigate your why with God—because healing sticks when you address the roots. If your calendar is full but your heart feels thin, this conversation offers clarity, compassion, and simple steps to start restoring what matters most.

If this resonated, tap follow, share it with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review so more people can find Words of Wellness. What’s one boundary you’ll set tonight to protect your peace?

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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_01:

We're not meant to live stressed and burned out and overwhelmed and broken. We live in a broken world, but that doesn't mean that we are going to succumb to that. Um and so, you know, in the book I talk about the three the three pillars of how to have a balanced life. And the first one is to put God first in everything. The second one is to practice self-care because self-care is not selfish. We, especially as ladies, we forget to take care of ourselves because we're nurturers and we take care of everybody and everything else. But self-care is stewarding well what God's given us, and that's our mind, body, and spirit. So that's the second one. And then that third one is the have fun part.

SPEAKER_00:

Do you get confused by all of the information that bars 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 Shelly 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 journeys 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. Welcome back to Words of Wellness. I am very excited to share my guest today. She is an author, a speaker. She also has a podcast of her own called Juggling Life, Finding Balance. And she has a new book coming out titled Break Down Better. And I'm really excited to have this conversation because I know we're going to talk a lot about life, finding balance. And one of her areas of expertise is overcoming perfectionism. And I think that's a very important topic. So, Vivian Cummins, welcome. Thanks, Shelly. I'm so happy to be here and meet you. Thank you. Happy to have you. This is so wonderful. And congratulations on the birth of your book. Thank you. You, I'm sure that's been a long time coming.

SPEAKER_01:

It has. You know, it's funny. It's not the book that I thought I was going to write. Um, it's not the book I started out to write seven years ago, but it's the book God needed me to write. So that there's another one that's kind of hanging out on a shelf in my in my office. Um, that's not done. But that uh it wasn't, it wasn't the timing for that one. So apparently God knew better.

SPEAKER_00:

I love that because I it hasn't necessarily been on the top of my list to do, although it is in the back of my mind to do at some point, potentially. But I could imagine that you start writing and it it kind of leads to another path. And that's kind of what happened, right?

SPEAKER_01:

It is actually, you know, back in December of 2018 is when I felt the prompting in my spirit to write, but I thought I was supposed to write my husband's story. So he has an amazing story, and I've always told him this needs to be in a book or a movie or something. And in December 20 of 2018, I just felt the prompting and I said, Hey, babe, think God's asking me to write your book. And then he says to me, Well, I've been getting that feeling too. I even have a name for the title. So I'm thinking, oh, well, that's confirmation, right? And so I started, you know, doing all the interviews and ancestry.com and doing all the things. And I wrote for three straight years on that book, got 300 pages in, was so excited, and then hit an absolute wall. Just hit a wall. And it was just so debilitating. And then my husband tells me one day, he's like, Hey babe, have you ever thought that maybe God's not asking you to write my story, but maybe you're writing your own story? Because I was going through some stuff. And I thought, oh, you know, maybe you're right. And so, anyways, um now we have Breakdown Better is is coming out on December 30th. And um, so yeah, I guess, I guess that was the path.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, tell us a little bit about the book because I'm fascinated to know what it's all about.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, thank you for this opportunity. So, you know, it's kind of a play on words, obviously. But um, in in 2020, I suffered a severe mental breakdown and it wasn't my first one. Um, I have lived a life of striving, very ambitious, career-oriented. Um, you mentioned perfectionism in the introduction and didn't really understand or know that that was kind of what was the underlying current all of those years. Um, I learned it later when God was kind of working through all of this stuff with me. But um it started from, you know, I was just at a point where burnout had just consumed my life. Um my kids were grown, you know, out of the house and everything, but I was just constantly striving for the next, you know, trying to get promoted at work, trying to be the best at church. I think I was on, oh my goodness, at one point in time, I was like uh leading praise and worship. I was, you know, running a Bible study, I was doing uh work for um human trafficking, I was doing all these things, um, working, going to school. I was doing everything. And um my body just started shutting down, my my mental capacity started shutting down, and I got severely depressed. And, you know, I've I've been a Christian since I was 12. Um, so I knew the Lord, uh wasn't necessarily putting him first, hadn't done that in a long time, but I reached out to him that day and just collapsed in my living room and just said, God, if you don't fix this, then take me home because I can't live like this anymore. And so, you know, I I didn't necessarily want to take my own life, but I didn't want to live anymore. So I thought, you know, if you'll just do it for me, that would save us all a lot of trouble because I can't fix this. I, you know, I knew enough about my own personality and I knew that so much of what I was experiencing was self-inflicted, but I didn't know how to fix it. And so crying out to God, um, and of course, God didn't bring me home, um, but he did whisper in my spirit that day. It was, it was such an audible, beautiful voice, and he just said, hold on. And the word that came into my spirit was I'll restore you. So that word restore. And that's not a word that I, you know, used or really thought about or anything. So I thought that was really interesting that that was the word that God put on my heart was I'll restore you. And so that's what I talk about in the book. And of course, the subtitle, you always have to have a subtitle for a book, and it's 52 Restoring Devotionals for Burned Out Women. And the reason why I said the restoring is because to restore means to bring something back to its original intent. And God never intended it for me or any other person to live stressed, burned out, striving. That that was never his intent for us. And so that's kind of what the what the book is about. It does talk about my journey. I'm a storyteller by nature. I'm from Oklahoma, and I just love a good old-fashioned sit-on-the-porch story. And uh, so so each of the devotionals does kind of walk through uh part of my journey and uh tells an antidote about that and then how God brought me through and the things that he showed me. Um, and it's not, you know, it's it's called breakdown better because it's something that we have to work on, you know, living in balance um is something you have to work on. It can be done. And I know a lot of people don't like, you know, I don't like to use the word balance, and there's no such thing as balance. There is, there is. God intended for that for us, but we we do have that, have to be intentional in it. And so um, and I'll I'll kind of stop there, but I do go in the book about the three things that God showed me to um ensure that I will have a balanced life, and those are the things that I want to share with other women because it's not that hard, but we do have to work at it.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I think you have such you bring up such an important point that we have to be intentional, and I think what happens, and and you you know this, the the world has gotten so loud, and I even think about that in my day-to-day uh routine and journey and life, just being intentional with so many different things throughout the day, just day-to-day life. And it's uh so easy to get caught up uh in what's going on around us, right? And the noise and the chaos. And I even just had this thought this morning, even as I was writing my journal, that I'm gonna take a little break these next couple days with my family and just be really intentional with being present, which I really am intentional with that anyway. But I'm just feeling this need to let's take a little step back during this time. And I don't know that we do that enough. And I read this quote yesterday that I thought was so great, and it is something to the effect of what what what would it be like if we turned off our phones and shut down social media at 6 p.m., just like a job. How would that impact our lives? And I thought, whoa, that's a good one. That's a really, really good one. And I know I I got more into it through the years for business reasons, and it's such a wonderful way to share and also from what we have in common to be able to be a light and a positive light for others. That's really a lot of where my intention is with what I share, and I'm sure I'm sure it is for you as well. And I just I I love that you did this because so many different uh uh circles of professionals that I've been a part of and events that I've gone to, and you hear this common thread about so many, uh mostly women, it's probably men too, but I hear it more from women, having this perfectionist tendency. And so uh how did you? I mean, I know I can imagine writing the book was so such a way to kind of release a lot of that. What do you think really helped you to overcome that?

SPEAKER_01:

The perfectionism?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So, you know, uh to go back to that moment when I was on the floor, um, where God said, you know, hold on, I'm gonna restore you. I I had to make a decision at that point. Uh would I trust him, you know, to to do whatever he needed to do in me to get to that restoration? And so that's when I said, got them all in, do what you gotta do. Um, and he did. It was pretty, pretty rough because it was a big wilderness season because there was there needed to be a lot of work in me. I needed to understand why I was the way I was. And there's a devotional in this book that's called Why God Why? And that was one of the things that I was asking, why God? Why am I like this? Help me to understand why I strive so hard. Why do I make things harder than they need to be? Why do I overcommit? Why am I overworking? You know, and and God started showing me that the thing that he downloaded into me was a memory of perfectionism as far back as five years old. And he brought to my memory this. Do you remember when we were little in kindergarten? So you get to take naps. I don't know. Did you? Yes. And we had mats, you know, little mats or rugs or whatever. And and I, this is what he brought back to memory was me laying my mat down, but I couldn't get it to lay straight. It kept rippling. And so I would like fan it and kick it and fan it and lay it down. Oh, do it over and over. And I just kept doing it. And my second grade teacher, Mrs. Clayton, yelled at me in front of not second grade kindergarten, sorry. She yelled at me in front of all of the kids and said if I did it one more time, she was gonna spank me. And I remember how that made me feel. I mean, I laid down, but I was so infuriated with her because she made me accept mediocrity. I was like, this is not perfect, I cannot accept this. And I remember, you know, I'm laying there, but my little arms and legs, you know, I'm like straightening it out while I'm laying there because she wouldn't let me stand up and do it. But not, I mean, not being able to enjoy the nap time like all the other kids because it wasn't perfect. And so God brought that to my memory. And I believe that he did that for two reasons. Number one, to help me to understand that this goes way back. This this goes way back. And, you know, there's some, you know, my dad's a perfectionist. And so now that I'm an adult, I see it, I understand it. That's what I was I was witnessing as a child. But the other thing was is that I had grown to have such a disdain for myself, and I still sometimes even struggle with that because again, it's self-inflicted, and I don't want to be like that, right? And so as God was kind of working with me through all of this, he brought that to my memory so that I would have compassion for myself as I was going through the restoration process. And it it just brings me to tears because what I remember is a little girl, little blonde-headed girl with ponytails and green eyes. And I just see her with her head held in shame as I'm just like scolding her for her behavior. You know what I mean? And so God brought this vision to me so that I would have compassion for myself and that, you know, you didn't necessarily choose to be this way. It's something that your environment kind of ingrained in you. And it's it's hard to overcome it when you've been like that. I mean, it followed me into, I mean, looking back, I remember I used to have this thing with my hair, and I still get a little weird with my hair. Like if my hair don't fix right, I still like, you know, I just keep on going at it until it doesn't, you know what I mean? And um, but I remember in like junior high and stuff, if if my hair didn't do right, I would get myself so worked up in a frenzy that I'd have a panic attack. And my mom didn't know what to do with me, so she'd call me in sick and let me stay home because I mean I I had made myself sick. And it just went into adulthood with working and you know, just constant, constant, constant. And so to say that I have overcome perfectionism probably is not a true statement because I think it's something that again, it's it's intentional. I recognize when I'm starting to go into those extremes. Like, um, I've had to learn you're a podcaster, so I've had to learn you could appreciate this. Sometimes good is good enough, okay? Sometimes the episode, I can't get it to edit right, or I don't know. Uh it sometimes I just let it go because you know what? Nobody really is paying that much attention to it, right? And so I've had to learn to do that, but um uh it's something that I recognize now, and I can put I can be like, oh, okay, I see what I'm doing here, and then I can back up, I can recalibrate, right? So so I do believe that I'm restored in the sense that I am able to recognize it, and I think that's progress. And I think it's progress to know that, you know, I can I can pull back. Um I I never go too far, I can always pull it back.

SPEAKER_00:

I love this because I I thank you, first of all, for sharing and being vulnerable to share because there are, I'm going to guess, many listeners who are like this or who have experienced a similar path. And I think it's so important to be able to hear someone like yourself share your story. And like you're saying, you you had that memory come to you, and and now you can not just be compassionate for yourself, but to others, I would think too. And you know, it's interesting when you're talking about some of your your little bit of tendencies. I I can see myself certain things that I do that I'm like, okay, same kind of thing, and certain things I'm able to let go, but then there's little things that will just drive me crazy. And I think that it's probably something that everybody has a little bit of. Some people just have a little bit more of it. And I like to think I I think I have a little bit of it. I like to think that I I've overcome a lot of that. But I think for me personally, if I think back to like going back to like my childhood, and my parents divorced when I was very young and I was the oldest sibling. So I think that I probably at some point took on a little bit more of a role of being that that big sister and and maybe stepping in where I didn't need to step in. And I think that might have led to some of my tendencies to want things just right. I'm just guessing, I'm just kind of like just off the top of my head right now. Um, but I I can see it, I can see little things, but I think you're what you're saying is so key is that in any situation, if there's something that we're trying to overcome or improve, that recognition is such key, right? Being aware is so key. And it sounds like you're you've done a beautiful job. I mean, we're in all in all seriousness, we're none of us are perfect, right? That's right. No one, even though we tried. Going back to the podcast, you I love that because there's a gentleman who is an amazing podcaster, Rory Piquette, and I've done a couple of podcasts with him. And he has, I don't know, three, four, five numerous podcasts, but he shared with me one time that he he doesn't edit, he records and he puts it out there.

SPEAKER_01:

And I went, Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00:

Right? I wish I could be like I want to be like that.

SPEAKER_01:

I really do.

SPEAKER_00:

I I know, I know there's times that I think about like what you just said, I'm like, oh, there's maybe a little like noise here. And I try and edit out, and I'm like, you know what, it's fine. But I actually enjoy the editing part. But when he said that, I was like, really? Now I think a whole other level, right? If you had three or four podcasts, you probably have to just put it out there and let it be, right? So I thought that was really a great, that's a great lesson just to kind of remember. And I many times as I'm editing and maybe it's something isn't going as well as I want, I go, oh, it's fine. Like it's fine, let it go. We're always our worst critic, right? We are in in any way, but um, well, I love I love that you're sharing this. And you know, again, I think so many, so many listeners can relate, and we're all, especially at this stage of our lives, we're all even with our older kids. So your kids are are out of the house, right? You said they are so we're in the same situation. We became empty nesters a little over a year ago. However, I feel like there's still like you you your your podcast about juggling life and finding balance. It's so fascinating to me because it still feels like that, even though are the kids out of the house, they're still like this juggling, and it's okay. It's it's great juggling because it usually it it is revolving around scheduling trips and time to go see our kids. So in that respect, it's you know exciting and it's joyful. However, I just feel like it's still uh it doesn't slow down. Yeah, right? I get it. You're gonna go back to being intentional, like I'm really intentional with taking time, quiet time, a morning routine, you know, to to really be grounded, but but it doesn't, it doesn't that doesn't stop.

SPEAKER_01:

It doesn't. And you know, I I just retired from the federal government after 26 years. Um I retired, my official retirement date was in September, but I went on leave in uh March. So from March until now, I'm been retired, and everybody keeps asking me, how are you enjoying retirement? And I'm like, I I haven't embraced that yet. I I don't, I mean, first of all, I'm I'm only in my 50s, and so I got to do an early retirement because of of the government, but so I don't feel like I'm retired and and and and doing kingdom building and God's work, I don't think we ever can use that word and really mean it. You know what I mean? But I have had to figure out my new normal. And my husband said something to me that's very profound. He said, babe, you like structure, and when you had a job to go to, you had structure. And he's like, now, I mean, I'm kind of my own boss, right? I'm I'm well, kind of, I mean, I had to, I had deadlines with the publisher and stuff like that. But yeah, I can kind of do what I want when I want. And I am struggling with that because there are days, Shelly. Sometimes I'm like in here writing something and it's like noon, and I still have my jammy pants on. Like, I don't have jammy pants on right now. I'm I have clothes on. But I mean, I'm like, oh my gosh, I am still in my jammy pants. And I will, I will like go start work my workout like at three o'clock in the afternoon. I'm like, oh my gosh, I used to always get up and get my workout done, and then I'd get ready, and then I'd have the rest of the day. And so I'm like all jacked up and I'm trying to juggle this new routine, and I haven't figured that one out yet. That one's still kind of bugging me, but I think my husband's right. I think I need to put myself on a schedule and stick to it because that that's how I I like that.

SPEAKER_00:

Believe it or not, I like it. Yeah, you're used to that. That's where you thrive. I can relate so much so to what you're saying because I'm in the exact same boat. Like I'm getting my run-in, my workout in at 11 o'clock noon. And I the other day I just said, Shelly, you've got to start earlier. Like it's not bad. I mean, I'm getting it in, but same kind of thing. I'm like, hmm.

SPEAKER_01:

But I don't like being at four o'clock in the afternoon. You know what I mean? Because then my husband comes home and I'm like all gross and everything. I'd like to, you know, I'd like to look pretty. You know, no, but but yeah, so that's the whole juggling thing. And and I think we're constantly doing that, whether you got small children in the house, whether you're empty nesters, whether you're retired, whatever it is, we're constantly having to juggle that. And again, you know, going back to the whole balance piece, it's it is doable. It's just you gotta be intentional and you you gotta give yourself grace because you're gonna mess it up. I mean, I'd mess it up almost every day, but I'm like, okay, let me let me go back and start over.

SPEAKER_00:

It's so key. And that's that's so key. And I I'm building a and growing a community for moms. It's a wellness community, and I that's something I share all the time is giving giving ourselves grace, you know. It's that's a day-to-day thing, and it's it's so important. And I I think back when the kids were younger, again, it's it's a different kind of juggle now, right? So back when they were younger, we were going here, going there, and it was a little bit more of a a structure and busy full schedule. Uh, and I don't think that I personally like thought about giving myself grace because you're just like so like you know, moving forward every day and just on this like train that doesn't stop. I don't know how to even put it right now, but I think it's easier now. I find now it's easier, like I think about that often. Like, okay, you're fine, give yourself grace. And I also share that with so many because I think it's so important, and I think it's so important to give not just ourselves but others that reminder. Yeah, I agree, I agree.

SPEAKER_01:

Ladies, me too, but we gotta we gotta remind each other. I just had this conversation the other day. Um, I went to lunch with a friend of mine, and she was telling me all the stuff that she had going on, and I said, When was the last time you laughed? And she's like, What? And I was like, When's the last time you laughed? And she's like, I don't know. I was like, Well, I'm gonna tell you what, my husband and I, we are going to a comedy. Um, John Christ is gonna be here in town, and he's a hoot, and uh we're we got tickets because I said the same thing to my husband. When's the last time we really laughed? And it's been a while, right? I mean, you can be like hee hee here and there and stuff like that, but I mean a good old-fashioned belly laugh. Well, it's been a while, and so we got to remind each other sometimes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, 100%. No, I love that. I I love that. Laughter is is huge. You you you need it desperately. And it's a good reminder because sometimes we forget. We get caught up in everything else and we forget. So that's absolutely fun. I need to, I need to look into that, getting some comedy tickets. So that that's great. Now you've committed, you've gotten the tickets, and you're going. That's right. We're doing it. We're gonna do it. I love it. So I just oh you're you're just you're just such a breath of fresh air. I love that we're having this conversation. You're beautiful. And where can people find you, Vivian?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, they can go to my website, VivianCummins.com. That's kind of the hub where everything is. I have a blog there. Um, you can also get to my podcast. You can um link over to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and all the places to pre-order my book. Um, it doesn't come out. I can't remember if I said this. It doesn't come out until December 30th, but it's available for pre-order everywhere. Um, also, too, I I write for you version app. I don't know if your listeners are familiar with that, but I've got about five devotionals out there and they can get those for free um on my website. Um, we have little giveaways, we do all kinds of fun things out there, but um, that's the main place, um, social media, Facebook, Instagram. I recently I got a TikTok. Not real good at the TikTok, but I'm learning. Um, and I got a Twitter the other day, um, or X or whatever that is, LinkedIn. Got all the things. I got I'm doing it all.

SPEAKER_00:

Just not good at all of it. Well, and I think that's the thing. We were talking about that before we start recording this. Like, I you know, I learned and have been told we we want to like kind of not perfect because I don't want to use that word, but really kind of focus on one platform, grow that, and then you can focus on another, or focus on two, and then you can add. So I I hear you. I I hear you. It's like you want to really share and get get your message out there on all the platforms, and it can be a little bit tricky, but but you're doing it and your book is coming out. I'm really excited to to get it, to read it. Thank you so much for for writing it and going back to the the Bible version app. That's so exciting. That's part of my morning routine every single morning. I love that app.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, go look me up. I got five of them out there. Um, that mostly on balance and goal setting God's way. And uh my most recent one is called uh uh what is it called? Hidden Grapes. Hidden Grapes is talking about being um seasons of isolation. So I live here in wine country in California and uh got to really uh learn and understand how grapes do their thing and and all that. I just found it fascinating. But it was during this time frame that God really isolated me um to get this book done. And so kind of share, share some things there. So that was kind of a per that one's personal, actually. It's a personal devotional um that kind of got me through that season. But the other thing too, just want to mention really quick for folks to be looking for, um, there will be a guided journal to pair up as a companion to this devotional, and it's called A Better Way. And so it's for those folks that like to deep dive into stuff. And so for me, I, you know, I love diving deep into the why behind things. And uh, this is such an important topic, burnout and trying to overcome and be restored from it, that I think we need to spend a little bit more time with God in that space. And so created this guided journal that's gonna help people get through each of the 52 days, but really dive deep in with God and kind of understand the root cause of maybe that perfectionism or the reason they are burned out in the first place. Um, do some personal assessments in that guided journal as well. So just really wanted to promote. Provide something to help. It's for women, but men can grab a hold of it too. But just really um help us to understand the why behind all of it so that we can overcome it.

SPEAKER_00:

I love it. That's so beautiful. And yeah, that's that's so needed and necessary, especially this time of year, taking that time. Really, really wonderful. Yeah, it'll be great for the first of the year, I tell you. I'm for it myself. For sure. Well, this has just been a pleasure. I would love any uh last minute words of inspiration or words of wellness you would like to share with our audience.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, thank you so much. You know, I kind of said it in the very beginning. We're not meant to live stressed and burned out and overwhelmed and broken. We live in a broken world, but that doesn't mean that we are going to succumb to that. Um and so, you know, in the book I talk about the three, the three pillars of how to have a balanced life. And the first one is put God first in everything. Um, second one is practice self-care because self-care is not selfish. We, especially as ladies, we forget to take care of ourselves because we're nurturers and we take care of everybody and everything else. But self-care is stewarding well what God's given us, and that's our mind, body, and spirit. So that's the second one. And then that third one is the have fun part. We kind of talked about that a little bit. And so that's what I would just love to encourage your listeners is to take time, make God first in everything, put him first in your day, let him help you set your priorities, let him help you make the decisions of your day. I mean, so much easier when you just let God take control and then take that time for yourself, take care of yourself. And and it's not just drink water, eat right, exercise. All those things are fabulous, and and we need to be doing those things. But I'm talking about things that we don't think about, the um good finances, like, you know, when we live beyond our means, it stresses us out. That is not practicing self-care. We're doing, you know, it's that self-inflicted thing, um, people pleasing boundaries, all of those things. So those are my three things. Um, put God first, care for yourself, and don't forget to have fun.

SPEAKER_00:

That's so beautiful. I'm going to have to reach out to you too. About I have an upcoming my group, Moms Who Flourish. I'm creating a mentorship, and it's all about wellness and spirituality is a component of wellness. So absolutely look into and reach out to you about potentially um hopping in one of the days and and sharing because this is just beautiful. Thank you. I would love that. Yeah, you're you're amazing. Well, reach out to Vivian, especially for those of you who might have these perfectionist tendencies, which many of us have at least a little bit of it going on, and keep a lookout for her book, pre-order her book, break down better is the title. And thank you so much for being here today. This has just been really, really a blessing to have you. Thank you so much, Shelly, for having me. Absolutely. And for all of our listeners, take some time for yourself and your wellness and your self-care on this day and have a beautiful, blessed rest of your week. We'll see you next time on Words of Wellness. 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.