December 23, 2024 • 32 mins
Previously Recorded
Michelle is checking in with your plans for the new year! Michelle prepares us for ways to make ourselves better in the year to come. Guided by an article written by Zee Krstic for Good Housekeeping, she shares some possible New Year Resolutions we could all benefit from. CHECK IN to this episode if you need some guidance on how to kick off the new year!
For the full article referenced in this episode, visit: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/advice/g985/achievable-new-year-resolutions/
Make sure you’re following Michelle on social media!
Instagram: @MichelleWilliams
Twitter: @RealMichelleW
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Checking In with Michelle Williams, a production of
iHeartRadio and The Black Effect. Hey, y'all, welcome to another
(00:20):
episode of Checking In. I have fun doing solo episodes,
and I'm sure that they take on a different tone
from when I have a guest. I feel when I
do my solo episodes, I don't have to be on
my best behavior, although I still must be tactful and kind.
(00:45):
Well I'm that anyway, So let's get right to it.
First of all, I want to say that we are
ending the second year of Checking In December twenty second.
Twenty twenty two marked the second year of Checking In.
Today's the twenty seventh, but I just wanted to acknowledge
(01:08):
the second year of Checking In, and it looks like
we'll be going into a third season of Checking In.
I am excited. Thank you all so much for tuning in,
listening week by week, sharing the episodes with your friends
(01:29):
and loved ones or somebody you want to be petty
and you want to like kind of sub tweet them
and be like, you need to listen to this episode.
I know I'll be hearing what y'all be doing. I'm
just thankful that y'all just keep tuning in to hear
what your girl has to say. I don't take it
(01:50):
for granted. I'm blessed. I am so so so thankful
that you guys keep tuning in and check it in.
So thank you again. We made it to two whole years,
two seasons of checking in, and we're just getting started.
(02:13):
I've got some cool plans for the third season. I
want to well, you'll see, literally you'll see. I also
want to acknowledge the positive responses of the episode last
week on Grief around the Holidays. Wow, it was so
(02:36):
many people that sent dms and comments on my Instagram
and my Facebook, and even for the people that DM
I sent them to my mother and she was just
so thankful. Matter of fact, I will read one of
her messages. She said, Ah, such a sweet message. I
(02:59):
don't know her him, but I loved them already. So
that's from my mama. And so she thanks y'all for
the love. She loves to be loved and we all do, right,
So it was kind for you guys to keep her
in your prayers. My siblings, actually my dad, I think
he only had two other first cousins. One just passed
(03:23):
and if my dad were living, he'd only have one
other first cousin. So I want to acknowledge our cousin.
Her name was ruth Nolan, and I'm trying to figure
out why we called her Aunt ruth Anne, and it
dawned on me, probably spent some years, but I said,
(03:46):
Aunt Ruthanne is really our cousin. Why we been calling
her Aunt Ruthane all these years? But because she was
I guess older and I'm like all these years, she
never corrected us to say, y'all, don't have to call
me Aunt Ruthie. I'm your cousin, all right, Rest her soul.
She was a firecracker, meaning she said what she said.
(04:09):
She wasn't like loud with it. She was just firm.
She would cuss you out, like literally, this is my
dad's side of the family. It ain't gonna be too
much cussing out on my mama's side well lately. Yeah,
So back to my cousin and Ruthan. Aunt Ruthan was
(04:30):
somebody that you could go to if you feel like, hey,
I need you to give me perspective on something, and
she did. So that was my dad's first cousin. Like
I said, my dad had two first cousins literally and
one has passed away. So I just wanted to acknowledge that.
(04:51):
That being said, again, thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you, and hopefully since that episode, you have been
taking stuff step by step, day by day, hour by hour,
minute by minute if you have to. I know we
say one day at a time, but depending on where
you are around the holidays. But I want to share this.
(05:12):
Someone was saying they lost their dad some years ago
and how they are. They still find themselves in a
depression when they think of him, And I don't know
if it's necessarily depression or grieving specific moments that you
(05:34):
do not have with that loved one anymore. You know
what I mean. That's a different type of adulting. How
we can actually grieve this is beyond loss of a
loved one. As an adult. You will grieve decisions that
you made that may be detoward you. You'll sit and
(05:57):
you'll grieve time, law lost. You'll sit and grieve opportunity wasted.
But I believe when you acknowledge that and you make
right with certain situations, God will redeem the time. What
(06:18):
does redeem the timing? I believe that it's like God
steps in. It's like, I know this happened, but there
is a time and a place for everything. And I
feel like sometimes in life, if ways Google Maps or
(06:39):
whatever GPS system we use, if that app can get
us back on the right track, even if okay, you
lost some time, but to me, time is redeemed when
you get to the destination. So I feel like, if
an app can do that, why can't our creator do that?
(07:00):
Why can't our creator? And he has get us back
on the right path from whatever mistake we made, whatever
thing we did that hurts someone, or we took advantage
or took for granted time like oh I got time,
I'm fine, And then before you know it, you're forty
years old, fifty years old, thirty years old, and you're like, oh, man,
(07:23):
So I just wanted to acknowledge how sometimes we can
grieve differently. Grieving is not always the loss of a
loved one. Grieving can sometimes be man, what would my
life be like had I not done this? So what
happens is you have that thought and you wallow in
(07:44):
it sadness, anger, frustration, confusion, And I was sharing with
someone I believe you project that which you did not
do you project fear of someone else doing what they
want to do with their life to to embark on
something amazing. You project your fears on them, or you
(08:05):
project jealousy on them. You don't want them to have
it because you don't have it, and you feel like
their life is going to take on a different path,
or you'll feel like, well, what is my place going
to be in their life once they do their thing?
So I know I went down a rabbit hole, but listen,
(08:27):
it was a good one. But I'm going back to
me making sure that you feel like you are taking
things a day at a time as best you can,
and how grieving takes on so many different forms. Next,
I want to say that I did a thing. I
(08:49):
did a thing. Who can dn me and tell me
what I did? I don't know what I'm going to
do for that person who condemn me and tell me
what I did. But I did a thing. I'll say this.
It required me to travel a long distance and then
(09:10):
come back home. And that's just what I'll end it with.
So use your good senses. Call Ms Cleo if you
have to, call God if you have to, and see
if you can figure out this thing that I did. Okay,
(09:36):
all right, I'm excited to see who can get that.
So listen, we are still in the throes of the holidays.
Christmas has just passed. We got New Year's even coming
up in New Year's Day. So how have your holidays been?
I will say that my holidays have been pretty chill.
I like to chill. I don't do a lot of
(09:58):
pomp and circumstances over the holidays. I rest, I sit
in gratitude, and I look forward to the possibilities of
the new year.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
That's what I do.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
I don't get stressed out Christmas shop and I go
online and do what I need to do. God's been
good all as well. I'm all right, but I do
love going online and getting gifts for folks. I'm doing
the hustle and bustle. I've never really liked the hustle
and bustle. Y'all hurt me say year of the year.
(10:31):
It's not that I'm being by humbug. I just don't
like the hustle and bustle of being in traffic. Now,
y'all know Christmas comes around every December twenty fifth. Now,
some of y'all say, you know what I think I'm
gonna start Christmas shopping in October, right after Halloween. Well,
I guess right after Halloween would not be October. It
would then be no November. But some of us do say,
(10:54):
you know, I might just get stuff bit by bit
throughout the year and just put it in a hand
tree or put stuff, you know, in the back of
my closet. So I just, you know, start Christmas shopping early.
That way, I'm not rushing in these streets stressing out.
You know, I've done that, y'all. I've stressed out about
(11:14):
Christmas so much that I even forgot to get gifts
for people. So there is something to be said about
starting your Christmas a little early, especially if you have
a lot of people to shop for. I'm so thankful
that I have family members who just like money. And
I don't mean that in a bad way. I just
(11:35):
mean like, I don't have to like get gifts for them.
I have family and friends who like, girl, just get
me a gift card somewhere, and I'm like, say, less,
here's a gift carp You get a gift carp. You
get a gift carp you get a cash app. I
just know what Christmas does to people I know the
stress that people are in. I participated in a toy
(11:56):
drive here in Atlanta. My church is called Change Church,
and we did a toy drive. Y'all. People they came
in not knowing, probably that week prior, not knowing if
their family would have a Christmas And so I always
keep that in the back of my head. I get it,
(12:19):
you want your children and loved ones to have a
gift under the tree. I get it. But y'all know,
there's been so much emphasis placed on like gifts, and
it stresses people out. It makes people feel horrible if
they're not able to provide a humongous Christmas. So for me,
I didn't put up a tree this year. I did
not put up a tree. I lit a candle. I
(12:41):
didn't do nothing this year. Plus my home is still
in the process of being decorated, so deliveries keep coming
in for that. So there's a box here or a
box there, or I gotta wait till this is painted
before I can put this decorative piece up. I just
didn't feel like putting a tree up. Doing all that
and being overwhelmed with cardboard boxes that I got to
(13:05):
break down and I just not this year. But next year,
I'm going to make sure that I act like God
has been good and put up a tree some Christmas
decorl outside. We'll get there. We'll get there. So, like
I said, I like to look forward to the possibilities
of a new year. Speaking of the new year, does
(13:31):
anybody still do resolutions? Do people still do them? Let
me think I haven't done a resolution in years. Well,
let's figure out what is a resolution. A resolution is
a firm decision to do or not to do something.
(13:53):
A firm decision to do or not do something. That
is the definition of resolution. Let's check out some of
the top resolutions. I Am going to go through them
to see which ones I'll do, and maybe some resolutions
(14:17):
I might list and name off, or maybe something that
you feel like, Hey, you know what, I'm gonna do
that with you, Michelle, I won't leave you hanging now.
According to Goodhousekeeping dot com, this says, create a list
of attainable New Year's resolutions that allow you to make
healthier lifestyle tweaks every day. You'll start the year with
(14:42):
a stronger, well nourished body and an enrich mind. If
you adopt any of the daily objectives, we are sharing here.
Our resolutions help you calm down, ease stress and anxiety
while taming the crazy ebb and flows of daily life,
featuring some of the best tips and life saving tricks
from our Good Housekeeping Institute experts. So listen, this time,
(15:08):
it's time to put you first, all right, twenty twenty three,
Put yourself first, according to Goodhousekeeping dot Com, build a
better budget. Okay. I always feel like you know, I'll
have a moment where I feel like, Okay, pipe down,
syst save, and I do it. I follow my intuition,
(15:30):
I follow as the spirit leads, and so I'm not
gonna do anything crazy. But I worked really, really hard.
Don't we always say that when we want to spend money.
I worked hard. I should be able to buy this.
And guess what you might be right? Is it something
you need or is it something you want? Oprah says
(15:50):
now when she was still on air, she said, if
you can't get your mind off of it, do it?
Is that what she said? She say, if you have
to think about it twice, Lord Jesus, see, that's why
I need to stick to the budget. All right. Practice mindfulness.
I love practicing mindfulness, being more self aware Sabrina Romanov says,
(16:17):
practicing mindfulness means doing everything you can to be grateful
for what you have in the moment, where you are
in life, and who you are right now. So if
we can be grateful for what we have in the
moment and where we are in life, guess what, we'll
also be able to stick to our budget. Okay, this
(16:39):
one says cook something new each week. Now, My mama
threw some shades some weeks ago when she said, I
want to come to your house for Christmas because I
want to break in your stove because I know you
ain't gonna use it. That's exactly what she said. She said,
because I know you ain't gonna use it. I was like, Shade,
(17:02):
I can't commit to that. I cannot commit to cooking
something new each week. I know me, So I'm not
even gonna Yeah, I'm good. Read more books now. I'm
going to say this. I think earlier this year I
said I was gonna get off of social media and
I'm going to read more books. That didn't happen. But
(17:25):
because I'm singing this right now, I am going to
read more books. I don't need to get off of
social media totally. And I'm so glad for things to
come in twenty twenty three so that I can spend
less time trying to create content that's not my strong suit.
And we thank the Lord for gifting people here on
(17:49):
earth that do it very well. Create a cleaning schedule
you'll stick to. Oh that's me, I can do that.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
I love a cleanhouse. I don't like clutter. Something about clutter,
by the way, when you want to keep a clean
bill of mental health, create a cleaning schedule. I love
that I get up every day and make up my bed.
There was probably only maybe maybe one day this year
(18:18):
where I got up and didn't make my bed the
entire day. Now, I'm not saying that for brownie points.
I'm just saying that that is something that I have
been sticking to for four years now, and it's been amazing.
First thing, get up, straighten up the sheets, make them
(18:39):
look nice, and I put all eighty pillows back on there.
It's something about, you know, even if you might have
clothes to fold or something, it's something about the bed
being made. That's the biggest piece of furniture in your room.
So if that's all clutter, that's also maybe one of
the first things you look at when you walk into
your bedroom. So I prefer that. So, yes, create a
(19:03):
cleaning schedule. I love cleaning. See now, listen to my
future husband. I just want you to know I might
not cook all the time. The babae, your house gonna
be clean. You hear me, It's gonna be clean. So
this is a resolution I can stick to create a
cleaning schedule. I don't need to create a cleaning schedule
because I just like to clean. Okay, And doing the
(19:26):
cleaning schedule, they say that it doesn't suck up endless
hours of time on weekends anymore. So some people are
so overwhelmed. So if you do one room at a time,
I've read that for years, where you do one room
at a time, don't overwhelm yourself by trying to say,
you know, on Saturday, I'm gonna get up and clean. No,
(19:47):
cause you don't know what kind of week you're gonna
have at work or at school. You just don't know
what it's gonna be like in Saturday. That might be
your day to just rest. Okay, so do something bit
by bit, day by day. Just let me know. Woo.
This says drink less alcohol that's easy, breezy. I don't
even drink like that, So y'all know me. I love
(20:11):
red wine. So all right. It says if you drink
less alcohol, it can improve your mood, sleep, skin, and
your immune system. All right. Number eight Weekly meal prep Planner.
Now there's sixty five of these resolutions, honey, and I
just don't know I'm gonna do all sixty five. Commit
(20:32):
to a healthier sleep routine. Now I'll say this. I
notice that when I go to sleep earlier and I
wake up earlier, this is the person you want to
be with. Okay. Now, don't talk about me when I'm
sleep by ten o'clock at night, ten maybe eleven, and
(20:55):
I get a good six seven hours in. You can't
tell me nothing I would say, do that. Join a club.
Quit smoking? Okay, some of y'all might say quit smoking.
Learn to love vegetables. Oh mg, I love vegetables, y'all.
What y'all? I have a confession. I am addicted to
(21:21):
many sweet bell peppers. Yes, many sweet bell peppers. They
come in a bag at the grocery store. There's a
certain brand that I like from a certain store. They're
crunchy and great water content. So learn to love vegetables.
I've learned to love blackberries. I didn't love blackberries. I've
(21:44):
come to love blueberries. I didn't like blueberries. What people like, Ooh,
give me blueberry pancakes. I'd be like, ugh, butter, milk,
me honey, with just butter and syrup, but blueberry. I'll
eat the whole plastic container of bla blueberries along with
the bell peppers. So yes, it could be something that
(22:06):
my body was craving. The bell peppers, the red ones.
They're very high in vitamin C. Bell peppers are high
and if I'm thinking right at the top of my head,
vitamin C, D and K. All right. Another resolution, prioritize
your annual health screenings. Ladies. We got to get our
(22:30):
pap smears. We've got to get up pep smears in
the year. Get that Ryan, all right. I don't know, ladies,
get your pap smears. I know they say you do
not have to do your pap smears yearly if you
are not sexually active. I say, do your pap smears
(22:51):
yearly anyway, all kinds of cancers, ovarian uterine. Come on,
let's do our pap smears. Sorry, guys, sorry, that wasn't free.
But let's make sure that our reproductive health is good.
Make sure your sexual health is good. Ladies. If you
(23:12):
realize that your periods are heavier, painful, those aren't normal.
Periods are not supposed to be heavy or painful. Just
because we saw mama with a heating pad and she
would take medication, that's not normal. You might have pcos,
you might have endometriosis, you might have fibroids. Not normal,
(23:35):
not normal. That's a whole other podcast. But please, please
please mammograms, colonoscopies. Whatever age you're in, y'all, there have
been people younger and younger and younger getting colon cancer.
So please get your teeth clean. Yes Lord, yes, Lord, hallelujah.
Get your teeth clean and treat yourself. Get your teeth whiten. Okay,
(23:59):
I know I'm going to going crazy. Exercise your brain.
That's another resolution. Okay, become a plant owner. Okay, let's
do that. Take the stairs. Do yoga with your partner. Ooh,
some of y'all that got a party, you might, all right,
let me talking about you started off doing yoga and
(24:20):
then all right, ooh, this is my kind of resolution.
Plan a vacationt plan a vacation head to a day spot.
These are attainable. Vacation day spa, eat vegetables, budget clean,
make time for cuddling. It says cuddling just for fun
(24:45):
can fight stress and improve both of your moods by
increasing oxytoastin hormones, which research ads may also bolster blood pressure. Ooh.
When you're regularly physically affectionate with your partner, they're more
likely to see you as trustworthy and likable.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Ooh.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Jessica o'riley's sex and relationship expert. Okay, this kind of
attraction doesn't always need to result in sex or erotic exchanges. Okay,
can you just cuddle? Okay, let's see how many of
y'all can do that make that result? Can you just
cuddle and not end up thirty minutes later in regret?
(25:24):
All right, water, this is what I gotta do. Ooh, jesus,
I'm dehydrated as we speak. Hold up, I mean take
a sip of water. Hold up. Yes, this says you
know you need to hydrate, but it's especially important. When
you get only six hours of sleep or less. You
are more likely to be dehydrated the day after a
(25:46):
disrupted night of sleep because a hormone that regulates your
body's water conservation is released during later stages of sleep.
So down some extra water on those days if you can,
and remember that too much water can be tricky for
your gut too. Baby, I need all the water I
can get. Another resolution, chill out, let go of all
(26:06):
that anger. Y'all know what that means. I don't have
to do it. It says chronic anger can induce headaches, anxiety,
digestion problems in high blood right sure, all right, if
you want to let go of the anger, let me know, Michelle,
I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna release this anger, jump
start a new career. Shout out to Good Housekeeping. This
is amazing. Ooh. Another resolution, consider therapy all right. I've
(26:30):
done enough. I think I've done a good list. It
says you don't have to leave the house to start.
Some of the best digital offerings are absolutely free. Start
by checking out a few apps on your phone. But
if you're ready, reach out to a care provider with
the help of our guide right here. So this was
found on Good Housekeeping dot Com number twenty four. Consider
(26:52):
therapy all right, So how exciting. Is this volunteer regularly
get in a body positive mind? Said lift weights? Ooh ooh.
How many of us said we gonna work out at
twenty twenty three? And how you ain't gonna be able
to tell me nothing? Try a guided workoutter class. Now
I'm gonna tell you this. There is a place here
(27:13):
in Atlanta called Kika Kika. They do guided stretching, So
instead of yoga, it's guided stretching. And I promise you
like you grow like an inch or two by the
time you leave there the first day. I know I
did it, y'all again, they are like sixty five of these.
Add more citrus to your grocery cart. Wait a minute, now,
(27:36):
wait a minute. Oh okay, I see this says bathed
for a better sleep, take a hot bath. It helped
people fall asleep about ten minutes earlier and have a
better quality snooze. The best time to do it about
an hour or two before bed time. See I thought
when I take a hot bath, I thought it raised
(27:57):
my blood pressure up too high and it got me
a little too so a shower to me was best.
That's me okay, Now this is good housekeeping. They may
know what they talking about. But I thought from my experience,
I would like just soak in a nice salt bath,
but not to induce sleep. Ease stress with kindness. Oh,
(28:21):
get artsy, make your home more fragrant. Yes, I've got
candles lit as we speak. Candles that have some lavender
in it or peppermint can boost energy and lavender can
zap stress. All right, And number sixty five says make
over your daily routine. All right. That has been a
(28:43):
few resolutions. Which ones will you be doing? Y'all? This
has been such a fun episode. I had a blast
going through some of these resolutions. When I am done recording,
I'm gonna go back and look through here so I
can remind myself which ones I said I would do
(29:04):
like I said, I just don't necessarily call them resolutions. Also,
your body will tell you what it is that you
need to do. If you're a spiritual person, your spirit
will tell you what you need to be doing as well.
Follow your gut. I'm excited for y'all for your twenty
twenty three. Thank you so much for rocking with me
(29:26):
this entire year of twenty twenty two. I can cry
right now because I am in awe and belief that
we really are at the last week of twenty twenty two. Y'all,
it really is the end of twenty twenty two. I
(29:46):
pray that if this year didn't go the way that
you wanted to go, I pray that twenty twenty three
blows your mind. I pray that twenty twenty three let
you know that your prayers have been heard. I pray
that twenty twenty three you have joy, you have peace,
(30:07):
you have love, that you got a little less stress.
I pray that you're able to discern who or what
could possibly be in your space, your life, and your
environment that could be causing you or hindering you from
having one of the best years of your life. I
(30:28):
don't ever want to say, you know, twenty twenty two
was the best year of my life. No, we still
got a lot more living to do. Twenty twenty two, yes,
was one of the best years of my life, one
of the best years of my life, and I'm so
thankful that you guys have been a part of it.
Week by week, you give me an opportunity to share
(30:49):
with you. You help me to create a safe space
to record and come into your home, your car, your
air pods, your ear pods, however you listen to my podcast,
I'm truly, truly, truly thankful and grateful for you. Please
have an amazing, safe rest of your holiday and we'll
(31:13):
check back in. Looks like we'll check back in January
third of twenty twenty three. I love you so much
and there's nothing you can do about it.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Bye bye.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Checking In with Michelle Williams is a production of iHeartRadio
and The Black Effect. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
Welcome to Checking In with Michelle Williams, a production of
iHeartRadio and The Black Effect. Hey, y'all, welcome to another
(00:20):
episode of Checking In. I have fun doing solo episodes,
and I'm sure that they take on a different tone
from when I have a guest. I feel when I
do my solo episodes, I don't have to be on
my best behavior, although I still must be tactful and kind.
(00:45):
Well I'm that anyway, So let's get right to it.
First of all, I want to say that we are
ending the second year of Checking In December twenty second.
Twenty twenty two marked the second year of Checking In.
Today's the twenty seventh, but I just wanted to acknowledge
(01:08):
the second year of Checking In, and it looks like
we'll be going into a third season of Checking In.
I am excited. Thank you all so much for tuning in,
listening week by week, sharing the episodes with your friends
(01:29):
and loved ones or somebody you want to be petty
and you want to like kind of sub tweet them
and be like, you need to listen to this episode.
I know I'll be hearing what y'all be doing. I'm
just thankful that y'all just keep tuning in to hear
what your girl has to say. I don't take it
(01:50):
for granted. I'm blessed. I am so so so thankful
that you guys keep tuning in and check it in.
So thank you again. We made it to two whole years,
two seasons of checking in, and we're just getting started.
(02:13):
I've got some cool plans for the third season. I
want to well, you'll see, literally you'll see. I also
want to acknowledge the positive responses of the episode last
week on Grief around the Holidays. Wow, it was so
(02:36):
many people that sent dms and comments on my Instagram
and my Facebook, and even for the people that DM
I sent them to my mother and she was just
so thankful. Matter of fact, I will read one of
her messages. She said, Ah, such a sweet message. I
(02:59):
don't know her him, but I loved them already. So
that's from my mama. And so she thanks y'all for
the love. She loves to be loved and we all do, right,
So it was kind for you guys to keep her
in your prayers. My siblings, actually my dad, I think
he only had two other first cousins. One just passed
(03:23):
and if my dad were living, he'd only have one
other first cousin. So I want to acknowledge our cousin.
Her name was ruth Nolan, and I'm trying to figure
out why we called her Aunt ruth Anne, and it
dawned on me, probably spent some years, but I said,
(03:46):
Aunt Ruthanne is really our cousin. Why we been calling
her Aunt Ruthane all these years? But because she was
I guess older and I'm like all these years, she
never corrected us to say, y'all, don't have to call
me Aunt Ruthie. I'm your cousin, all right, Rest her soul.
She was a firecracker, meaning she said what she said.
(04:09):
She wasn't like loud with it. She was just firm.
She would cuss you out, like literally, this is my
dad's side of the family. It ain't gonna be too
much cussing out on my mama's side well lately. Yeah,
So back to my cousin and Ruthan. Aunt Ruthan was
(04:30):
somebody that you could go to if you feel like, hey,
I need you to give me perspective on something, and
she did. So that was my dad's first cousin. Like
I said, my dad had two first cousins literally and
one has passed away. So I just wanted to acknowledge that.
(04:51):
That being said, again, thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you, and hopefully since that episode, you have been
taking stuff step by step, day by day, hour by hour,
minute by minute if you have to. I know we
say one day at a time, but depending on where
you are around the holidays. But I want to share this.
(05:12):
Someone was saying they lost their dad some years ago
and how they are. They still find themselves in a
depression when they think of him, And I don't know
if it's necessarily depression or grieving specific moments that you
(05:34):
do not have with that loved one anymore. You know
what I mean. That's a different type of adulting. How
we can actually grieve this is beyond loss of a
loved one. As an adult. You will grieve decisions that
you made that may be detoward you. You'll sit and
(05:57):
you'll grieve time, law lost. You'll sit and grieve opportunity wasted.
But I believe when you acknowledge that and you make
right with certain situations, God will redeem the time. What
(06:18):
does redeem the timing? I believe that it's like God
steps in. It's like, I know this happened, but there
is a time and a place for everything. And I
feel like sometimes in life, if ways Google Maps or
(06:39):
whatever GPS system we use, if that app can get
us back on the right track, even if okay, you
lost some time, but to me, time is redeemed when
you get to the destination. So I feel like, if
an app can do that, why can't our creator do that?
(07:00):
Why can't our creator? And he has get us back
on the right path from whatever mistake we made, whatever
thing we did that hurts someone, or we took advantage
or took for granted time like oh I got time,
I'm fine, And then before you know it, you're forty
years old, fifty years old, thirty years old, and you're like, oh, man,
(07:23):
So I just wanted to acknowledge how sometimes we can
grieve differently. Grieving is not always the loss of a
loved one. Grieving can sometimes be man, what would my
life be like had I not done this? So what
happens is you have that thought and you wallow in
(07:44):
it sadness, anger, frustration, confusion, And I was sharing with
someone I believe you project that which you did not
do you project fear of someone else doing what they
want to do with their life to to embark on
something amazing. You project your fears on them, or you
(08:05):
project jealousy on them. You don't want them to have
it because you don't have it, and you feel like
their life is going to take on a different path,
or you'll feel like, well, what is my place going
to be in their life once they do their thing?
So I know I went down a rabbit hole, but listen,
(08:27):
it was a good one. But I'm going back to
me making sure that you feel like you are taking
things a day at a time as best you can,
and how grieving takes on so many different forms. Next,
I want to say that I did a thing. I
(08:49):
did a thing. Who can dn me and tell me
what I did? I don't know what I'm going to
do for that person who condemn me and tell me
what I did. But I did a thing. I'll say this.
It required me to travel a long distance and then
(09:10):
come back home. And that's just what I'll end it with.
So use your good senses. Call Ms Cleo if you
have to, call God if you have to, and see
if you can figure out this thing that I did. Okay,
(09:36):
all right, I'm excited to see who can get that.
So listen, we are still in the throes of the holidays.
Christmas has just passed. We got New Year's even coming
up in New Year's Day. So how have your holidays been?
I will say that my holidays have been pretty chill.
I like to chill. I don't do a lot of
(09:58):
pomp and circumstances over the holidays. I rest, I sit
in gratitude, and I look forward to the possibilities of
the new year.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
That's what I do.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
I don't get stressed out Christmas shop and I go
online and do what I need to do. God's been
good all as well. I'm all right, but I do
love going online and getting gifts for folks. I'm doing
the hustle and bustle. I've never really liked the hustle
and bustle. Y'all hurt me say year of the year.
(10:31):
It's not that I'm being by humbug. I just don't
like the hustle and bustle of being in traffic. Now,
y'all know Christmas comes around every December twenty fifth. Now,
some of y'all say, you know what I think I'm
gonna start Christmas shopping in October, right after Halloween. Well,
I guess right after Halloween would not be October. It
would then be no November. But some of us do say,
(10:54):
you know, I might just get stuff bit by bit
throughout the year and just put it in a hand
tree or put stuff, you know, in the back of
my closet. So I just, you know, start Christmas shopping early.
That way, I'm not rushing in these streets stressing out.
You know, I've done that, y'all. I've stressed out about
(11:14):
Christmas so much that I even forgot to get gifts
for people. So there is something to be said about
starting your Christmas a little early, especially if you have
a lot of people to shop for. I'm so thankful
that I have family members who just like money. And
I don't mean that in a bad way. I just
(11:35):
mean like, I don't have to like get gifts for them.
I have family and friends who like, girl, just get
me a gift card somewhere, and I'm like, say, less,
here's a gift carp You get a gift carp. You
get a gift carp you get a cash app. I
just know what Christmas does to people I know the
stress that people are in. I participated in a toy
(11:56):
drive here in Atlanta. My church is called Change Church,
and we did a toy drive. Y'all. People they came
in not knowing, probably that week prior, not knowing if
their family would have a Christmas And so I always
keep that in the back of my head. I get it,
(12:19):
you want your children and loved ones to have a
gift under the tree. I get it. But y'all know,
there's been so much emphasis placed on like gifts, and
it stresses people out. It makes people feel horrible if
they're not able to provide a humongous Christmas. So for me,
I didn't put up a tree this year. I did
not put up a tree. I lit a candle. I
(12:41):
didn't do nothing this year. Plus my home is still
in the process of being decorated, so deliveries keep coming
in for that. So there's a box here or a
box there, or I gotta wait till this is painted
before I can put this decorative piece up. I just
didn't feel like putting a tree up. Doing all that
and being overwhelmed with cardboard boxes that I got to
(13:05):
break down and I just not this year. But next year,
I'm going to make sure that I act like God
has been good and put up a tree some Christmas
decorl outside. We'll get there. We'll get there. So, like
I said, I like to look forward to the possibilities
of a new year. Speaking of the new year, does
(13:31):
anybody still do resolutions? Do people still do them? Let
me think I haven't done a resolution in years. Well,
let's figure out what is a resolution. A resolution is
a firm decision to do or not to do something.
(13:53):
A firm decision to do or not do something. That
is the definition of resolution. Let's check out some of
the top resolutions. I Am going to go through them
to see which ones I'll do, and maybe some resolutions
(14:17):
I might list and name off, or maybe something that
you feel like, Hey, you know what, I'm gonna do
that with you, Michelle, I won't leave you hanging now.
According to Goodhousekeeping dot com, this says, create a list
of attainable New Year's resolutions that allow you to make
healthier lifestyle tweaks every day. You'll start the year with
(14:42):
a stronger, well nourished body and an enrich mind. If
you adopt any of the daily objectives, we are sharing here.
Our resolutions help you calm down, ease stress and anxiety
while taming the crazy ebb and flows of daily life,
featuring some of the best tips and life saving tricks
from our Good Housekeeping Institute experts. So listen, this time,
(15:08):
it's time to put you first, all right, twenty twenty three,
Put yourself first, according to Goodhousekeeping dot Com, build a
better budget. Okay. I always feel like you know, I'll
have a moment where I feel like, Okay, pipe down,
syst save, and I do it. I follow my intuition,
(15:30):
I follow as the spirit leads, and so I'm not
gonna do anything crazy. But I worked really, really hard.
Don't we always say that when we want to spend money.
I worked hard. I should be able to buy this.
And guess what you might be right? Is it something
you need or is it something you want? Oprah says
(15:50):
now when she was still on air, she said, if
you can't get your mind off of it, do it?
Is that what she said? She say, if you have
to think about it twice, Lord Jesus, see, that's why
I need to stick to the budget. All right. Practice mindfulness.
I love practicing mindfulness, being more self aware Sabrina Romanov says,
(16:17):
practicing mindfulness means doing everything you can to be grateful
for what you have in the moment, where you are
in life, and who you are right now. So if
we can be grateful for what we have in the
moment and where we are in life, guess what, we'll
also be able to stick to our budget. Okay, this
(16:39):
one says cook something new each week. Now, My mama
threw some shades some weeks ago when she said, I
want to come to your house for Christmas because I
want to break in your stove because I know you
ain't gonna use it. That's exactly what she said. She said,
because I know you ain't gonna use it. I was like, Shade,
(17:02):
I can't commit to that. I cannot commit to cooking
something new each week. I know me, So I'm not
even gonna Yeah, I'm good. Read more books now. I'm
going to say this. I think earlier this year I
said I was gonna get off of social media and
I'm going to read more books. That didn't happen. But
(17:25):
because I'm singing this right now, I am going to
read more books. I don't need to get off of
social media totally. And I'm so glad for things to
come in twenty twenty three so that I can spend
less time trying to create content that's not my strong suit.
And we thank the Lord for gifting people here on
(17:49):
earth that do it very well. Create a cleaning schedule
you'll stick to. Oh that's me, I can do that.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
I love a cleanhouse. I don't like clutter. Something about clutter,
by the way, when you want to keep a clean
bill of mental health, create a cleaning schedule. I love
that I get up every day and make up my bed.
There was probably only maybe maybe one day this year
(18:18):
where I got up and didn't make my bed the
entire day. Now, I'm not saying that for brownie points.
I'm just saying that that is something that I have
been sticking to for four years now, and it's been amazing.
First thing, get up, straighten up the sheets, make them
(18:39):
look nice, and I put all eighty pillows back on there.
It's something about, you know, even if you might have
clothes to fold or something, it's something about the bed
being made. That's the biggest piece of furniture in your room.
So if that's all clutter, that's also maybe one of
the first things you look at when you walk into
your bedroom. So I prefer that. So, yes, create a
(19:03):
cleaning schedule. I love cleaning. See now, listen to my
future husband. I just want you to know I might
not cook all the time. The babae, your house gonna
be clean. You hear me, It's gonna be clean. So
this is a resolution I can stick to create a
cleaning schedule. I don't need to create a cleaning schedule
because I just like to clean. Okay, And doing the
(19:26):
cleaning schedule, they say that it doesn't suck up endless
hours of time on weekends anymore. So some people are
so overwhelmed. So if you do one room at a time,
I've read that for years, where you do one room
at a time, don't overwhelm yourself by trying to say,
you know, on Saturday, I'm gonna get up and clean. No,
(19:47):
cause you don't know what kind of week you're gonna
have at work or at school. You just don't know
what it's gonna be like in Saturday. That might be
your day to just rest. Okay, so do something bit
by bit, day by day. Just let me know. Woo.
This says drink less alcohol that's easy, breezy. I don't
even drink like that, So y'all know me. I love
(20:11):
red wine. So all right. It says if you drink
less alcohol, it can improve your mood, sleep, skin, and
your immune system. All right. Number eight Weekly meal prep Planner.
Now there's sixty five of these resolutions, honey, and I
just don't know I'm gonna do all sixty five. Commit
(20:32):
to a healthier sleep routine. Now I'll say this. I
notice that when I go to sleep earlier and I
wake up earlier, this is the person you want to
be with. Okay. Now, don't talk about me when I'm
sleep by ten o'clock at night, ten maybe eleven, and
(20:55):
I get a good six seven hours in. You can't
tell me nothing I would say, do that. Join a club.
Quit smoking? Okay, some of y'all might say quit smoking.
Learn to love vegetables. Oh mg, I love vegetables, y'all.
What y'all? I have a confession. I am addicted to
(21:21):
many sweet bell peppers. Yes, many sweet bell peppers. They
come in a bag at the grocery store. There's a
certain brand that I like from a certain store. They're
crunchy and great water content. So learn to love vegetables.
I've learned to love blackberries. I didn't love blackberries. I've
(21:44):
come to love blueberries. I didn't like blueberries. What people like, Ooh,
give me blueberry pancakes. I'd be like, ugh, butter, milk,
me honey, with just butter and syrup, but blueberry. I'll
eat the whole plastic container of bla blueberries along with
the bell peppers. So yes, it could be something that
(22:06):
my body was craving. The bell peppers, the red ones.
They're very high in vitamin C. Bell peppers are high
and if I'm thinking right at the top of my head,
vitamin C, D and K. All right. Another resolution, prioritize
your annual health screenings. Ladies. We got to get our
(22:30):
pap smears. We've got to get up pep smears in
the year. Get that Ryan, all right. I don't know, ladies,
get your pap smears. I know they say you do
not have to do your pap smears yearly if you
are not sexually active. I say, do your pap smears
(22:51):
yearly anyway, all kinds of cancers, ovarian uterine. Come on,
let's do our pap smears. Sorry, guys, sorry, that wasn't free.
But let's make sure that our reproductive health is good.
Make sure your sexual health is good. Ladies. If you
(23:12):
realize that your periods are heavier, painful, those aren't normal.
Periods are not supposed to be heavy or painful. Just
because we saw mama with a heating pad and she
would take medication, that's not normal. You might have pcos,
you might have endometriosis, you might have fibroids. Not normal,
(23:35):
not normal. That's a whole other podcast. But please, please
please mammograms, colonoscopies. Whatever age you're in, y'all, there have
been people younger and younger and younger getting colon cancer.
So please get your teeth clean. Yes Lord, yes, Lord, hallelujah.
Get your teeth clean and treat yourself. Get your teeth whiten. Okay,
(23:59):
I know I'm going to going crazy. Exercise your brain.
That's another resolution. Okay, become a plant owner. Okay, let's
do that. Take the stairs. Do yoga with your partner. Ooh,
some of y'all that got a party, you might, all right,
let me talking about you started off doing yoga and
(24:20):
then all right, ooh, this is my kind of resolution.
Plan a vacationt plan a vacation head to a day spot.
These are attainable. Vacation day spa, eat vegetables, budget clean,
make time for cuddling. It says cuddling just for fun
(24:45):
can fight stress and improve both of your moods by
increasing oxytoastin hormones, which research ads may also bolster blood pressure. Ooh.
When you're regularly physically affectionate with your partner, they're more
likely to see you as trustworthy and likable.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Ooh.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Jessica o'riley's sex and relationship expert. Okay, this kind of
attraction doesn't always need to result in sex or erotic exchanges. Okay,
can you just cuddle? Okay, let's see how many of
y'all can do that make that result? Can you just
cuddle and not end up thirty minutes later in regret?
(25:24):
All right, water, this is what I gotta do. Ooh, jesus,
I'm dehydrated as we speak. Hold up, I mean take
a sip of water. Hold up. Yes, this says you
know you need to hydrate, but it's especially important. When
you get only six hours of sleep or less. You
are more likely to be dehydrated the day after a
(25:46):
disrupted night of sleep because a hormone that regulates your
body's water conservation is released during later stages of sleep.
So down some extra water on those days if you can,
and remember that too much water can be tricky for
your gut too. Baby, I need all the water I
can get. Another resolution, chill out, let go of all
(26:06):
that anger. Y'all know what that means. I don't have
to do it. It says chronic anger can induce headaches, anxiety,
digestion problems in high blood right sure, all right, if
you want to let go of the anger, let me know, Michelle,
I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna release this anger, jump
start a new career. Shout out to Good Housekeeping. This
is amazing. Ooh. Another resolution, consider therapy all right. I've
(26:30):
done enough. I think I've done a good list. It
says you don't have to leave the house to start.
Some of the best digital offerings are absolutely free. Start
by checking out a few apps on your phone. But
if you're ready, reach out to a care provider with
the help of our guide right here. So this was
found on Good Housekeeping dot Com number twenty four. Consider
(26:52):
therapy all right, So how exciting. Is this volunteer regularly
get in a body positive mind? Said lift weights? Ooh ooh.
How many of us said we gonna work out at
twenty twenty three? And how you ain't gonna be able
to tell me nothing? Try a guided workoutter class. Now
I'm gonna tell you this. There is a place here
(27:13):
in Atlanta called Kika Kika. They do guided stretching, So
instead of yoga, it's guided stretching. And I promise you
like you grow like an inch or two by the
time you leave there the first day. I know I
did it, y'all again, they are like sixty five of these.
Add more citrus to your grocery cart. Wait a minute, now,
(27:36):
wait a minute. Oh okay, I see this says bathed
for a better sleep, take a hot bath. It helped
people fall asleep about ten minutes earlier and have a
better quality snooze. The best time to do it about
an hour or two before bed time. See I thought
when I take a hot bath, I thought it raised
(27:57):
my blood pressure up too high and it got me
a little too so a shower to me was best.
That's me okay, Now this is good housekeeping. They may
know what they talking about. But I thought from my experience,
I would like just soak in a nice salt bath,
but not to induce sleep. Ease stress with kindness. Oh,
(28:21):
get artsy, make your home more fragrant. Yes, I've got
candles lit as we speak. Candles that have some lavender
in it or peppermint can boost energy and lavender can
zap stress. All right, And number sixty five says make
over your daily routine. All right. That has been a
(28:43):
few resolutions. Which ones will you be doing? Y'all? This
has been such a fun episode. I had a blast
going through some of these resolutions. When I am done recording,
I'm gonna go back and look through here so I
can remind myself which ones I said I would do
(29:04):
like I said, I just don't necessarily call them resolutions. Also,
your body will tell you what it is that you
need to do. If you're a spiritual person, your spirit
will tell you what you need to be doing as well.
Follow your gut. I'm excited for y'all for your twenty
twenty three. Thank you so much for rocking with me
(29:26):
this entire year of twenty twenty two. I can cry
right now because I am in awe and belief that
we really are at the last week of twenty twenty two. Y'all,
it really is the end of twenty twenty two. I
(29:46):
pray that if this year didn't go the way that
you wanted to go, I pray that twenty twenty three
blows your mind. I pray that twenty twenty three let
you know that your prayers have been heard. I pray
that twenty twenty three you have joy, you have peace,
(30:07):
you have love, that you got a little less stress.
I pray that you're able to discern who or what
could possibly be in your space, your life, and your
environment that could be causing you or hindering you from
having one of the best years of your life. I
(30:28):
don't ever want to say, you know, twenty twenty two
was the best year of my life. No, we still
got a lot more living to do. Twenty twenty two, yes,
was one of the best years of my life, one
of the best years of my life, and I'm so
thankful that you guys have been a part of it.
Week by week, you give me an opportunity to share
(30:49):
with you. You help me to create a safe space
to record and come into your home, your car, your
air pods, your ear pods, however you listen to my podcast,
I'm truly, truly, truly thankful and grateful for you. Please
have an amazing, safe rest of your holiday and we'll
(31:13):
check back in. Looks like we'll check back in January
third of twenty twenty three. I love you so much
and there's nothing you can do about it.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Bye bye.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Checking In with Michelle Williams is a production of iHeartRadio
and The Black Effect. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to
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