What to Do When All the Rules Have Changed (w/Artist, Author & Entrepreneur Desirae Ofori)

Do you find yourself adapting to a “new normal” every single day? Are you ready for a fresh approach? In this episode, we find our sense of balance and our sense of normalcy as we steer our family dynamics, our finances, and our faith forward. Desirae Ofori, also known as Sincerely Mrs. Mommy, uses her gifts as an author, lifestyle blogger, and former counselor to show us creative ways to stay strong with a bold new faith to conquer this bold new world.

Imagine Yourself knowing what to do what to do when all the rules have changed.

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Imagine Yourself is hosted by Lanée Blaise and Sandy Kovach. Lanée is a TV writer and producer, motivational speaker and podcaster. Sandy is a radio personality, voiceover artist and podcaster. They come to you from the Detroit Metro area and invite guests from all over the world to help encourage you in your health, career, faith journey and more!

Transcript

Sandy Kovach  [00:00:00]:
Through hard times and happy times, we at Imagine Yourself want to be here for you. During this challenging time we're specializing in hope and coping tools. Once again, we ask you to imagine yourself.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:13]:
Thank you for joining us at Imagine Yourself. I'm Lanee.

Sandy Kovach  [00:00:16]:
And this is Sandy. And what do we have for our imaginations today?

Lanée Blaise [00:00:22]:
We have lots of things all at once to imagine because every one of us is out here facing lots of stuff all at once. True. So we're gonna imagine today holding it together, holding our family dynamics together, and holding on to the faith through all of this. And, Sandy, we are very grateful to have a guest with us today who has a range of expertise to help us through.

Sandy Kovach  [00:00:50]:
Alright.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:51]:
Her name is Desirae Ofori. She is also known as sincerely missus mommy.

Sandy Kovach  [00:00:57]:
Oh, she's the sincerely mrs. mommy of sincerely Mrs. mommy fame.

Lanée Blaise [00:01:02]:
Yes. Because this is the thing. She's a wife. She's a mom of 2 young boys. She's a mom lifestyle blogger and podcaster like us, and she can really help us kinda wrap our brains around family dynamics at this time. But, also, she has this other side. She's a creative entrepreneur. She's an artist, the Kellis Art Studio owner, and she can help us bring our creative side.

Lanée Blaise [00:01:30]:
You know, there's lots of people who are stuck at home now Lanee. They can enrich their creative side. Mhmm. And then finally, Desiree Ofry has a master's degree in mental health counseling, and she has just released a new book, Her Bold Faith. So in this part, she can help us with that whole keeping it together and keeping the faith through all of this.

Sandy Kovach  [00:01:52]:
Desirae, you sound like an impressive young lady. I can't wait to hear what you have to say. Good morning or afternoon.

Desirae Ofori [00:01:58]:
Good afternoon.

Sandy Kovach  [00:02:00]:
When we first started this discussion, Desirae, Lanee and I, when she told me that she knew you, and I had been to your blog before. And she told me that you had this new book. One of the things I thought that we could talk about was the family dynamics and how they have changed so much in the COVID 19 crisis. Like, whether it's people that we're actually quarantined with or people that we miss that we're having to keep in touch with via technology.

Desirae Ofori [00:02:28]:
It is a big adjustment to the family unit, and it changed quick. Usually, for example, if you were about to have a new addition to your family, you usually have, like, several months to wrap your mind around it and prepare for it if there's going to be a job change. You have that period of time. But with the pandemic and COVID 19, in the beginning, it's kind of like, okay. This might be for a few days. It might be for a couple of weeks. But as time has progressed, it's gone on longer. Mhmm.

Desirae Ofori [00:02:59]:
And it forced families to have to do things differently. For example, I work from home. My kids, I had them in day care because I knew that having them at home, I would not be able to really focus and get much done.

Lanée Blaise [00:03:14]:
Right.

Desirae Ofori [00:03:14]:
And so having them come home for the 1st couple of weeks was, like, okay. It's kinda like playing house, playing school. Yeah. We can get through this. We've got our materials and whatnot, and I can readjust my schedule. But as time continues to go on, it was like, oh, wait. I didn't sign up for this. I already knew that I could not handle this, and it became very overwhelming.

Desirae Ofori [00:03:39]:
My heart goes out to the families who have to still work, or I would rephrase that, have the opportunity to still work because so many people have lost their jobs and have children at home or have elderly parents or disabled family members at home that need care, and they're not able to get that assistance anymore.

Lanée Blaise [00:03:58]:
I feel like flexibility is the key because every day, I get new information about what our world looks like. And every day, some people who have lost their jobs or some people who have now become the main breadwinner in the family. Sometimes people who are used to having caregivers come into the home to help out don't have that luxury anymore. Flexibility is something that, I guess, we're all getting a big lesson in now.

Desirae Ofori [00:04:31]:
Yes. And I thought the same thing. I liked being able to work from home because I felt like I my flexibility was on my term. If my kids were sick or something, I still had that flexibility to pause what I was doing and go pick them up and take care of them and rework my schedule. With this, it's not necessarily flexibility on our own terms. We have to be flexible with what comes and figure out how to adjust not just physically, but, you know, emotionally and mentally as well.

Sandy Kovach  [00:05:03]:
It's like being on all the time. You don't know what's gonna take your attention. Like you said, you could pause your work before. Now if you have to take care of your child or if you're he has or she has an assignment if they're older. Or what about teenagers? They're having a lot of issues. Now my son's a college student, but matter of fact, he's already finished with his final exams at home. But I think about, like, just a couple years ago when he was a senior, I could not imagine this happening and all of the activities that they have. Plus Right.

Sandy Kovach  [00:05:36]:
They're so focused on their peer groups. Right?

Desirae Ofori [00:05:39]:
Right. For the most part, you don't really care about your family. It's all about, like, your friends That's your family. Out and doing things. And even though a lot of them are on, like, social media, still being able to come to school and still connect with each other in person and go and do fun activities, that's still a big part of their life. Their friends are their family. It's not just about I didn't get to go to school. It's about, like, I don't get to be with my family, my core group.

Desirae Ofori [00:06:09]:
The people who make me happy, who make me feel alive, who get where I'm at in life. We think as parents or adults, like, oh, I've been there, done that. But their world is a lot different than what it was when we were their age. So them being able to connect with others in their age group who understand what they're going through and the things, the challenges that they have, it's, like, taking away that support system for them. I'm just thinking, like, I can't even imagine having worked so hard to get this far in school, and then it just canceled overnight.

Lanée Blaise [00:06:47]:
You go to class, and then the very next day, you are not in class. And sports Yes. Dreams were canceled and getting ready for championship games and things like that. Oh my gosh. So much. You know, within the high school kids and the college because it's just so rough.

Desirae Ofori [00:07:01]:
And prom and grad night.

Sandy Kovach  [00:07:04]:
All the fun stuff you did as a senior. Or even now, Lanee son, you he just entered high school. Right? How is he taking everything?

Lanée Blaise [00:07:12]:
Thank goodness. So he's a freshman. And I tell you, since we're talking about family dynamics, this did do a shift. We are a closer family circle right now because of this. And I am really, really pushing him and my daughter too to do a better job of reaching out to my parents, his grandparents. Because they are home Lanee. And aunts and uncles and things like that too, in a way, it is forcing him to connect with the older generation. He is spending a little bit more of his downtime because he has a lot of school work, but he has a lot of downtime.

Lanée Blaise [00:07:53]:
Reaching out to my mother, my father, my stepmom, my uncle, my aunt, and that's good for the old boy too.

Desirae Ofori [00:08:01]:
So that's the positive route. Idea.

Sandy Kovach  [00:08:04]:
Yeah. So do you think that's going on in a lot of places?

Desirae Ofori [00:08:06]:
I think so. And I think it's horrible and hard as this pandemic has been and as isolated as people can feel. It has pushed us to be more intentional about reaching out and about connecting with our family, our extended family. We may have taken for granted, oh, I'll see them at the next big family event, but not connecting on, like, a day to day basis. For my family, we're kinda spread out. We grew up really close together. Everybody lived within 5 to 10 minutes of each other. But as the cousins grew up, and now most of us are now adults, we have often said, oh, we miss being able to be together and having family get togethers.

Desirae Ofori [00:08:47]:
A lot of us don't really know each other's personal lives outside of what we see on social media. But we had actually 2 different virtual meetups. We've never even thought to do virtual chat, and it was awesome. It was a lot of fun. And for my son, his grandparents, we don't live in the same cities, but throughout the year from time to time, there will be visits. And right now, they can't. And my son, he was having a hard time. My family had the idea of, like, let's call him and just take turns calling him, doing the face chat and doing the video chat, and it radically changed his mood.

Desirae Ofori [00:09:23]:
It really, really helped him. I started seeing improvements in his behavior. We think the little ones don't feel it because we're so wrapped up in our eyes, but they feel it the same way too. They miss their friends and their structure that they were used to going to school and having time away from mom and dad because they need time away from mom and dad as much as we want time sometimes too.

Sandy Kovach  [00:09:44]:
Right. And you said a big word there, routine. I mean, it's important for kids, but I think we get latched on to our routines as grown ups too. And that when that gets thrown out

Lanée Blaise [00:09:55]:
Yeah.

Sandy Kovach  [00:09:55]:
All you know what can break loose. Right?

Lanée Blaise [00:09:57]:
Yes. Because, see, you have me thinking of another aspect too. During this period, you mentioned routine. I wonder if we need to start incorporating some brand new routines once this is all over and everything opens back up because I love the part about getting more in tune and in touch with family members. Also, another part of you is you're an artist, an author. Have you found any new insights into how you can expand other parts of your life and use that for even after this is over.

Desirae Ofori [00:10:34]:
Yes. I'm just so glad that I have that outlet that I already was tapping into before. I always knew that creating pretty much anything was therapeutic. People like to go to, like, the painting with a twist or, like, you where you bring in your own wine or your food and you go to a place and you paint and have, like, paint parties. I've been seeing a lot more of that done virtually, which is really cool because being creative accesses a different part of your brain from everything that's logical and you have to be analytical about things, and it kinda lets you just be, like, free.

Lanée Blaise [00:11:07]:
Mhmm.

Desirae Ofori [00:11:08]:
And tapping into virtual paint parties is good or even just being more into inspirational things. Because sometimes what we're watching and looking at on the TV and on social media, it doesn't really always have our best interest at heart. It could be very draining and very discouraging and very daunting. Yes. Taking in so much of that, you need to have, like, a break. So listening to positive podcast like you guys and other places that uplift you and make you think about other things outside of just the issues and problems that are surrounding you is very helpful.

Sandy Kovach  [00:11:47]:
And getting your kids involved with that too, Lanee, if you're a parent. Kids are creative naturally, and they wanna play, and they wanna do things. But is there anything special Lanee that they can be doing, whether it's with you or virtually through some of these free offerings on YouTube?

Desirae Ofori [00:12:02]:
Yes. I like how right now there's a lot of zoos who are doing virtual tours, and they have virtual classes where you can kind of take field trips. That is very helpful. We did one of those with my kids, and it was the Cincinnati Zoo. And they loved it because they saw animals that they normally wouldn't see. Even doing crafts at home, there are a lot of different crafts that are easy to do or do a collective project together as a family and have that up on the wall. It it would just be something great to have as a reminder of, like, this time of it wasn't the best of times, but it's still we made the best out of it. And we were able to do something together and connect with each other.

Sandy Kovach  [00:12:46]:
Making precious memories. Right.

Lanée Blaise [00:12:48]:
That's a good way to look at it because now again, in this one, I kinda have to promote your book. Desiree, you wrote a book called Her Bold Faith. The book is part devotional, part guided journal, and pure inspiration, but you mentioned something about how we can practice retraining our mind so that we go to the positive things more than the negative things, and we can practice flipping negative experiences into positive life lessons by retraining our brain muscle, that is an example

Desirae Ofori [00:13:27]:
of Yes.

Lanée Blaise [00:13:28]:
Is that why you wrote the book because we need it more now than ever?

Desirae Ofori [00:13:32]:
I actually started writing this back in October of 2019, so way before we ever had this going on. So the release of it is really spot on. Oh, great. I call it a god thing because none of us knew any of this was going to be happening. But having the mental health counseling background, I love the study of the mind and how it works and what makes people think the way they do. And something that I have Lanee, not necessarily in my studies, but over time reading different articles and watching different videos from experts is that our mind is very powerful, and it says it in the Bible too. As you think it, so are you. When we think negative, it actually does have a effect on our brain and our neuro pathways and the way that our brains function.

Desirae Ofori [00:14:22]:
There was a study done where it shows that the brain actually deteriorate with the negative thinking, but the positive thinking usually helps to heal it, to heal the heart.

Sandy Kovach  [00:14:33]:
You said it deteriorates literally?

Desirae Ofori [00:14:36]:
Literally. There are studies done that show that the brain actually does deteriorate with the negative thinking. And so if we're constantly negatively thinking, you know, it also has an effect on your body because that causes stress, and then stress has a negative effect on your body. You become more sick. Your immune system can decrease. It just wreaks havoc.

Lanée Blaise [00:14:59]:
Yeah.

Desirae Ofori [00:14:59]:
So it not only is just about saying, oh, I don't wanna think negative. It affects your brain, your body, your mood. It affects everything, your total human existence. Understanding that and knowing the power of speaking more positive and thinking positive, knowing how that could have a positive effect on my body, I wanted more people to understand this and start practicing it. It's easy to say, oh, just say positive affirmations or just think more positive. But with the journal, you get to have, like, it's guided. Every day has its own affirmation and it's inspired by scripture. So you can make it a devotional if you want to by looking at the scripture that is associated with it.

Desirae Ofori [00:15:43]:
It also has prompts for you every day to practice gratitude, to flip those negative experiences of the day and turn them into life lessons, and to have a space for you to pray in a mindfulness approach, which is causing you to not just blurt out things that you want and wish to happen or you're frustrated about, but to really, like, zone in and practice what I call pause, reflect, assess, and yield, which is yielding your issues to God.

Lanée Blaise [00:16:14]:
Wow.

Desirae Ofori [00:16:14]:
Each day is the same format, but that's allowing you to keep practicing every day. They say it takes 21 days to form a new habit. Well, in 31 days Yeah. You should be able to, like, okay. I'm getting into the repetitious idea of thinking more positive and looking at what I'm grateful for instead of, like, what I'm complaining about. And your life lessons, like, today was really challenging. Yes. This COVID 19 is horrible, and it forced us to change our family dynamics.

Desirae Ofori [00:16:45]:
It forced us to get out of our routine. But on the flip side, allowed us to be more intentional and to connect with each other and to have more time together where before we were pulled in so many different directions. I am thinking, like, it was meant for this time. Yes. I started it months ago, but it was meant for right now.

Sandy Kovach  [00:17:04]:
So can you go over that again, just those four things?

Desirae Ofori [00:17:07]:
Prayer, pause, reflect, assess, and yield to God.

Sandy Kovach  [00:17:12]:
I love that because you're a mental health specialist and you're also basing this on scripture. It's like you've got the process to help anyone to go through this, and how perfect right now.

Desirae Ofori [00:17:23]:
Because I think that that

Lanée Blaise [00:17:24]:
pause is really happening. Yeah. That's happening.

Desirae Ofori [00:17:27]:
So who who had time

Sandy Kovach  [00:17:28]:
for the pause before you?

Desirae Ofori [00:17:31]:
And that idea actually came to me during my own quiet time. I was reading the Bible and just praying. I feel like that was God given to me. That pause, reflect, assess, yield. It's like, that is really the way that you would want to pray or even the way you wanna handle any circumstance. Like, when you get that bad news, our immediate reaction might be to, like, freak out or Yeah. To, like, get immediately sad. But it's like, wait.

Desirae Ofori [00:17:58]:
Hold on. Let me take this information. Let me process. How do I feel about this? What is true? Am am I tapping into anxiety and thinking about the worst that can happen instead of thinking, like, okay. What good could happen from this? Or how can I look at this differently and not such a negative way, but in a positive way? There are lots of things that are not easy to be like, oh, I'm just gonna think the positive of it. Like, if you were to get a diagnosis of cancer or get a diagnosis that you have COVID 19, you're not immediately going to wanna think positive about it. Right. But it helps you to pause and, like, okay.

Desirae Ofori [00:18:36]:
Let's just take this one step at a time. Let's not throw ourselves into, okay. I'm dead. There's a lot of steps that can happen before then. That may not even be my destiny. And allowing yourself to breathe and relax and to take that in before you just think the negative.

Lanée Blaise [00:18:55]:
That's so crucial. And being grateful for everything that happens to be going right. You know? Some people's lives, maybe not a lot is going right, but there's got to be a few things to still hold on to and still have gratitude for and make sure to not take for granted as well.

Sandy Kovach  [00:19:13]:
Yeah. Yeah. It sounds like this book is a great way with the journaling and pausing, all of it to help you remember that. So you have this book, the different ways that you can get it probably digitally and, old school?

Desirae Ofori [00:19:26]:
So I was gonna make it just digital, and then I want it paperback. And then I do so many things, and I see so many different walks of life and different types of people that I'm like, I want it to be accessible for a lot of people. Not just for moms, not just for wives, and not just for women. I want teens and college students to be able to tap into it as well. You can get it the old school way paperback, which a lot of people still like to journal on paper. I'm in the same way. So it's available on Amazon, and it's fully colored. You know, I'm the artist creative, so there's color throughout.

Desirae Ofori [00:20:00]:
Every day has a different color because color also affects your mood. Oh. And then you can get it digitally as a digital download, and it's available as a fillable. So if you don't want to print out or you don't have a printer at home and you wanna be COVID 19 safe, you can do it on your phone, on your computer, and download it and actually type in your journal entries.

Sandy Kovach  [00:20:21]:
Nice.

Lanée Blaise [00:20:22]:
I just love the way that you've personally lived this out because I do know your personal story, Desiree, and you actually did use bold space and positive thinking to go from your traditional 9 to 5 job to becoming a full time entrepreneur, artist, author, blogger, and I really respect that as well.

Desirae Ofori [00:20:42]:
Thank you. It was more than, oh, I don't like my job or I don't like what I'm doing. It became really crucial for me to, like, have a lifestyle change through my career because I was having panic attacks. I was nervous that I would have a nervous breakdown. And so it was, like, do I keep fighting these things that I know bring me joy and fulfillment? Or do I keep fighting to do, like, the logical thing, like, staying the 9 to 5? This is the traditional thing to do. This is the route. You went to school all this time. You you got student Lanee.

Desirae Ofori [00:21:15]:
Or am I gonna think positive and just hope for the best and just push forward? Thankfully, so far, it's been working. It's been 2 years, and I can't believe I've made it this far.

Sandy Kovach  [00:21:25]:
That's awesome. Trying to make that kind of a change is huge leap. And so I'm wondering if what you had to go through, the mental gymnastics you had to go through, the faith gymnastics that you had to go through, is that poured out in your book and maybe now helping other people?

Desirae Ofori [00:21:41]:
Yeah. I believe so. I hear people people that I don't even know, especially since this book has come out, people that I didn't think were paying attention because they don't comment, they don't like, they don't reach out to me. But I had one person in particular. She commented on my post that I did for the launch. She said, those of us who are silent, we need this. Please keep doing it. And so that was really encouraging to me because it was like, okay, you don't always have to hear feedback.

Desirae Ofori [00:22:12]:
I'm a words of affirmation type of person. That's my love language. If you're familiar with the love languages, 5 love languages. Sometimes, like, in my mind, I think, does any of this make any sense? Is it worth it? Am I just doing this just because? Am I shooting out in the wind? Just getting those confirmations from people saying, you know, I see everything that you do, and it's just really encouraging and really inspiring. And me being able to pour that into to this book, some of these affirmations I've shared over the past few months here and there as, like, quotables, I know that it's helped people, and there are things that I have lived out and things that I have had to remind myself of. So it's not like something I just made up and, like, here you go. Here's some affirmations. Here's some words.

Desirae Ofori [00:22:57]:
But it's actual things that I've actually lived out, and I'm still living out, and I'm still using the affirmations for myself. I couldn't wait to get the journal out because I was like, I need this. I need this really bad for myself, and I can't wait to get it in my hands so I can start using it myself. So as excited as I was for the world to get a hold of it, I was a little bit more excited for myself.

Sandy Kovach  [00:23:23]:
That's awesome. That's why it works so beautifully. So you've got the book. You say across the board, all ages and stages. But if people are moms, they can also go on your website, which is amazing Yeah. By the way. Sincerely, missus Mommy.

Desirae Ofori [00:23:39]:
Thank you.

Sandy Kovach  [00:23:39]:
Now is that particularly for moms of kids of all ages, or is it geared more towards littler kids like you? Or how do you usually tailor that?

Desirae Ofori [00:23:48]:
Typically, more geared towards moms with younger children, but because I started out from my own personal experience after my first son, kind of out of the need to find a place to not only just express myself, but I was doing a lot of research. I call myself a research junkie. No. And so I was learning a lot about motherhood and natural birth and all the they would call us granola mom type things. As I would share a little bit of that on social media, I would get people asking, where did you learn that? Or, you know, asking questions. So I'm like, I need a place to, like, put all this together. The foundation is moms with younger children, but I had a vision that it would be for moms of all stages. And I do hear from moms with kids who are older and even moms who are emptiness.

Desirae Ofori [00:24:40]:
Right. They tell me too that they enjoy reading the stuff that I came out with, and they share it with their grandchildren or their daughters, and they're learning a lot. Because I don't just have stuff about motherhood, I have stuff about womanhood and marriage as well. I pull from other women to collaborate, and they write or they're on my podcast to share their experiences and their tips and advice. But, yeah, most people just call it a mommy blog. And for a while, I was like, no. It's not just a mommy blog. But then I had to be like, Desiree, once they get on, then they'll see it's more than just a mommy blog.

Lanée Blaise [00:25:12]:
Well, I like to the connection between generations because we talked about family dynamics, and you wanna make sure that, like you said, there are some people who are grandmothers who are reading things to make sure that they're up on the latest things, and they can use a little bit of the stuff from the way we used to do things along with some of the newer way of doing things. If anyone wants to reach out to you or take a look at it, it's sincerely missusmommydot com.

Desirae Ofori [00:25:38]:
Yeah. And Mhmm. And you

Lanée Blaise [00:25:39]:
have the social media platforms.

Desirae Ofori [00:25:41]:
Instagram, Facebook, a YouTube channel, and they're all under the same name. Sincerely, missus Mommy.

Sandy Kovach  [00:25:47]:
Yep. And you have your links and podcast. Everything is linked up there. And probably information about your book too, just in case. Now we're gonna put all of the information, links to your website, and links to where to purchase your book as well on imagine yourself podcast.com. And, boy, this has been an amazing episode, and I cannot wait to dive into your book.

Desirae Ofori [00:26:09]:
Thank you so much for having me.

Lanée Blaise [00:26:11]:
Thank you for coming. This has been a packed one. Desiree, we always have takeaway time at the end. It's almost hard to break it down because we've talked about family dynamics, faithfulness during this pandemic and beyond, how to build ourselves up. I mean, the takeaway, I wonder if we almost simply do imagine yourself. If you imagine ourselves, everyone listening, just pretend like we're gonna take a virtual field trip to the future. Imagine your future self speaking to your present day self and saying, wow. If I knew then what I know now, I would have done some things differently.

Lanée Blaise [00:26:46]:
I would have been a little bolder. I would have been a little kinder to my family members and loved ones. I would have been more intentional with my choices. I just hope that everyone can take a minute and just think about some of those things that your future self might tell you and allude to, and try to boldly make those changes now instead of having to wait and wish that you had. Is that fair enough?

Sandy Kovach  [00:27:11]:
I like that.

Desirae Ofori [00:27:11]:
Yeah. That's good.

Sandy Kovach  [00:27:13]:
Being real with yourself. Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:27:15]:
Yeah. So, overall, is there anything else that you have for us to take away, Desiree?

Desirae Ofori [00:27:19]:
I just wanna encourage you guys. One of my favorite phrases is grace yourself. This is a really hard time for many, many people for many different reasons. The challenges may look different, but we're all feeling it very similarly. I know there's a lot of pressure out there to either use this time to be more productive and to produce, or there's the pressure of, well, just relax. Just calm down. Just chill. You know, enjoy your family.

Desirae Ofori [00:27:47]:
Enjoy this time. I just want you guys to grace yourself. Whatever feels the best to you and what is realistic for you and your season during this time, do that. Allow yourself to have the grace to know that you're doing your best. You're still breathing your hair, and you deserve a lot of grace because this is a challenging time none of us have ever been through, and we're all just doing our best. So give yourself more grace. You're doing better than you think you are.

Sandy Kovach  [00:28:16]:
Grace yourself. I love it.

Lanée Blaise [00:28:17]:
We need it. Well, we thank you again, and I just wanna say for everyone listening, imagine yourself counting your blessings that you do have, loving the ones that you're with, holding on to as much faith and grace as possible as we all eventually ride through this storm. Blessings to everyone.

Sandy Kovach  [00:28:41]:
Thanks for listening. We'd love your feedback. Go to imagine yourself podcast.com to send us an email or connect with us on social media. Take care of yourself and join us again next time when we'll have something new to imagine.