Episode 44: Melanie Dale

Melanie Dale joins me for Episode 44. Some of you may know her from the blog world as Unexpected Mel. She is an author of two books which we talk about in the episode and has a podcast called Lighten Up with Melanie Dale. Melanie is a self-professed minivan mama and total weirdo who stinks at small talk. We start our conversation with a lightning round which captures her personality and also exposes a crazy reoccurring dream from my past. I'm slightly embarrassed that I didn't edit that part out. But I'm going to be unbiased in my editing for your sake.

In our conversation, we talk about important things like the struggle of math, how parenting is much like death therapy and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit via Snoop Dog. Y'all, the opening of the show is deep.

On another note, we talk about the difficulty of finding friends, advice for what to do when relationships end and how to love the life you didn't choose. 

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I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Melanie. One thing I love about Melanie is that we can talk about things that don't matter in one breath and then dive deep into things that do. I particularly enjoyed her advice about what to do when life is less than you imagined. I know that for me, I can easily choose to wallow and invite others to my pity party. But instead @@maybe we can notice the good in life rather than focusing on what isn't@@. My challenge for us this week is to do something for yourself--something that makes you smile and laugh. Do something that feels nearly extravagant. Order a venti of your favorite Starbucks drink. Go to a movie during the day. Or use your fine china for dinner tonight. Do something that you enjoy.

Melanie's friends over at B.A.R.E. Soaps wants to help you indulge. They are offering Surviving Sarah listeners 15% using the coupon code SURVIVE15 at check out. So go by the nice candle and treat yo self.

And you decide to purchase something that we mentioned on today's episode, please use the link provided via amazon. That way the show will get a small kick back. Its an easy way to help support the podcast.

Links Mentioned:

Survival Kit:

Connect with Melanie: twitter // Instagram // Facebook // Podcast // website

Takeaways From Our Conversation:

  • Finding friends when you are an adult is difficult. We are guarded and afraid to be ourselves. I particularly liked her advice on what to do when you experience a break up in friendships. If it is a good friend, you need to deal with it, but deal with it with kindness. @@Remember why you loved that person in the first place@@. Pray for the right timing and the right words to say. Fight fairly.
  • @@Even though relationships are difficult, they are worth it.@@ @@We make each other better@@.
  • What do you do to cope when life is less than you hoped for? I mentioned earlier in the notes how we need to treat ourselves so that we can notice the good. But I also loved her @@advice on helping your children when life is hard@@. Affirm their feelings. Make sure they know that they are allowed to feel this way and encourage them to talk to God.
  • @@Sometimes the deepest joy we can feel comes through the deepest pain@@. The hard part is the unknown--not knowing how long a hard season will last.
  • Some days are easier to talk about hope. Maybe my prayer should be, "Lord, help me hope." Don't be afraid of what the light will expose. The light brings healing and relief. 

What did you enjoy about this episode? What was your takeaway. Let's continue the conversation  on Instagram or Twitter or you can send me an email here. 

Thank you for following along life with me. I love being apart of your day. And as always, I hope this show helps you survive a little easier.

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Podcast, Relationshipssarah bragg