Welcome to What Would Amber Do with your host, Amber Howard. Each week, Amber dances in conversation with inspirational leaders how to make a difference for what matters most to people. She brings you incredible guests who share their real life experiences of being a leader and what it looks like to live a truly created life of service to others. And now, here is your host.

Welcome back, everyone. Welcome back to What Would Amber Do. It is my honor this morning to be speaking with Michelle Harrington. Michelle is the owner of Outshine Fitness and Health Coaching, an ace certified health coach and personal trainer, a speaker and number one international best-selling author who resides in Marysville, Washington. Michelle's commitment is to be in the service of peace, love, acceptance, and compassion for self and others. Michelle, thank you so much for taking giving your time and being here and having this conversation with me.

Thank you, Amber. I'm really happy to be here.

Yes, and it's we should just do the shout-out. It's American Thanksgiving right now. Well, I'm on Friday. Michelle's on Thursday. So Michelle, just, you know, really um, well, gratitude is, I've just been getting so many reminders of late of how important gratitude is, and just like it's that the ongoing practice of it. So I'm super grateful for for this platform and the opportunity to connect with people and have conversations that make a difference. And uh I'm grateful for just so much in my life. And um, I'm grateful for the people who listen to these conversations and um that I get to meet extraordinary people like yourself.

Thank you. And they've been great conversations. I've been listening to some of your past episodes, and they've really been fun.

Yeah, they're great. So it's Thanksgiving. Where did this all start for you? Because I know you know, from the the little conversation we had before and from looking at your, you know, your your website and stuff, you you came to discovering your purpose and your commitment a little later in life. And so share with me a little bit about share with us what that journey's been like for you. And how did you get to to where you are today creating this incredible business?

Oh wow. Um yeah, it's it's been a crazy road. It really has. Um I started out kind of in corporate America, uh, just doing what I thought needed to get done, you know, pay the bills. I really didn't know for sure uh what I wanted for myself. So just did what I thought it was I was supposed to do. And then when I started to kind of think about what I really wanted for myself, you know, then the floodgates open and there's too much to choose from, right? So I I ended up, I looked at I started writing and studied writing a little bit and then went back to school. And it's like, okay, I know what I want. I really want to speak up for those plants and animals, uh, the trees and the birds and everything that can't speak for themselves. And so I studied, I went to a liberal arts college and got a degree in human studies that was uh strongly peppered with environmental science and public relations. And I did that for more than a decade. And um then I uh decided that I wanted to be a mom. And so I pursued foster care and adoption, uh single lady, and uh got into that. And uh because I can't do anything really half-assed. Can I just wear um anything hurt-ass I took that on with Gusto, not only was a foster and adoptive mom, but worked in the field. I did uh licensing and training of other foster families and uh well, the outreach and placements, and just wore several hats at the agency I was with. And um when things go south, they can go really south. Uh my adopted daughter, I'd adopted a teen, and uh it's she started running away, and all of my uh commitment and and hope for that relationship just triggered her running away, really triggered all of the rejection and loss and and abandonment that I'd had in my life, and I lost it. I you know, I really broke down. Um and while she was gone, um after a a year, I just I had gave up my license, I gave up the job, I gave up everything and moved back up to the Pacific Northwest. But I came back like I said, I I felt really broken and I was starting all over again. And um I took a long break, uh an anger and and uh healing break, and uh found that I I guess one way to for me to have to rebuild and have control was to start taking care of myself better and walking and getting out into nature more. I I lived and worked at a dog ranch, a dog daycare in Kennel because I didn't want to do everything 100%. So I lived there and worked there and um, but it was really just helping out and giving me a lot of space, thank goodness. But yeah, so I started taking care of myself again and finding out what it was that I wanted and needed. Um like I said, I was really really hurting, uh, got back into counseling and just and I seriously turned everything around. I went from complete self-loathing, deep depression, to over a couple of years, I mean it takes some time, uh, to completely loving myself and feeling like, okay, this I'm ready. I am ready to help again. I'm ready to be in the world again. And that's where I am now. I uh decided that I wanted to study and help with others with fitness, so got my certification for personal training and for health coaching. And I really wanted to help my older parents to get stronger. And uh my mom had started falling a lot more. Uh, she had was getting sick with a genetic disorder. And uh unfortunately she passed away before I was able to get my certifications, but uh it was a deathbed commitment for me to follow through and do that. And um it's it's really like I said, it's it's been a journey, but helping others to you know reconnect with themselves and and figure out what they want because whatever it is they want for their fitness, for their health, is what I want from them.

There's so many, you know, really nuggets of gold in what you just shared, Michelle. And and you know, one I first want to really acknowledge you for having the courage to to keep, because you know, my my commitment is that every human being gets to live a creative life of their own design. And, you know, so always love it when a like partners show up on that journey or a partner on that journey, because even though your focus is health and fitness, it's like, you know, those conversations. But one of the things that I'm crystal clear about is like living a creative life is not a one and done kind of thing, and having the courage to keep asking those questions. What do I want now? And now, and and I'm five years down the track. What do I want now? Because it's not this, and having the courage to start again and say, okay, you know, and I'm not gonna be beholden to some notion I had of what my life should look like, but I'm really gonna, you know, and I think it takes courage, it takes an adventurous spirit. And I'm sure that, you know, I've thought about fostering. I have many, I have three of my own kids that I birthed. I have many kids that have come into my life through other parents, you know, like other parents birthed them, but they're they're mine. And I know a family that fostered, and I always thought, oh, it'd be so great. But it's like I kind of one of those things new, like once you get into that, like y'all, you almost don't get out because how do you, how do you stop, right? Because there's always going to be one more kid in the system that needs a great home. And but one of the things that I really heard, and and this was me for a long time too. If I look at my journey around, you know, my success and loving myself or not, like I operated for a long time in my life and, you know, by other people's standards was was successful, but I hated myself. And you would never have known it, you know, the level of loathing I had for myself because, you know, like that was weakness, and no one was that was my biggest weakness, and no one was gonna see that people don't like a loser, right? So there was all of this like distance and space between me and people because I couldn't allow myself to be really seen for all of the parts of me. And and you know, that journey for me started in 2016. And I I can't imagine the heartbreak of giving yourself and adopting this young woman and and opening your heart up to her and really loving her. And but I I think it what I heard in what you were sharing is, you know, her leaving, which wasn't personal really, like it wasn't about you at all. But I mean, it's hard to see that at the time, but really was a catalyst for you to do the work so that you didn't have to keep operating on top of all of the stuff that was already there, that you had an opportunity to really step back and say, okay, you know what? Like, because the journey to fall in love with yourself is um it's not that you can't do good in the world or make a difference or any of those things if you don't love yourself. You know, lots of people do, but but the the quality of your life and the experience of anyway, for me, I can't speak for anyone else, but the quality of my life and the experience of my life on the other side of having fallen in love with myself, um, it's just life is better, you know, like and and the kinds of choices I make about how I spend my time and who I spend it with and and where I am in the world. And um, it's just like a completely different experience of living.

It is. And of course, we can't say what's what's right for other people, but I know like for myself, what I I sought my entire life was connection uh to be known, to be understood, and to be loved, and to know love. I don't know if it was I mean, I I think that I always thought that it had to come from outside. And that was that's the the trick, though, is that you've got to figure out that no, no amount of love from outside is gonna fill you up. It's not, it can't. You have to know it for yourself to feel full, and that was my craving always was to feel feel full. And I do, I do, but I had no idea that that was possible until it finally happened.

It's it's kind of like I I love it. They, you know, um, from some of the other personal development work I've done, they make the analogy of balance and like riding a bike. And it's like, you know, once you you ride a bike, and until you you can't teach someone balance. You can, you know, you can guide them and learn, teach them how to ride a bike. And, you know, but balance is one of those things that you, you know, you don't have it and then you do. And once you have balance, you've got it for life. And and I think this is kind of, you know, like people like you and I, we guide people on journeys about how to access, you know, and what tools that they can use and and guidance on the work that they can do to come to that place. But I do think that, you know, and there, I think like any relationship, there are, because there are still some parts of myself, you know, especially physically, that I don't always love. And I and I love you you have this conversation about acceptance and and what acceptance is and what it's not. And, you know, it's not like acceptance isn't being happy with something, but it's like just being aligned with what's actually so. And and from there you can make a decision. This is what I heard anyway. Um, you can make a decision for something else, but first you've got to stop resisting what what is. And so there are degrees, I think, in any relationship, levels of intimacy and love. And um, but I know the moment that I fell in love with myself and got that I was enough just as I am. Like no one can ever take that away from you once you get that.

Right. Right. And I really needed, I needed outside help to get there. I had to, and and I don't know if I can plug uh an app or not, an insight timer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, whatever, whatever tools worked for you, people want to hear about them, please. A free meditation mindfulness app, um, insight timer. And there are some teachers on there that are just incredible. And one woman in particular, Sarah Blonden, just pulls my heartstrings. She she's sing, you know, her her voice soothes me, her ideas comfort me. She says all the right things. And it it has just been a lullaby. It has been exactly what I needed to hear, what my heart and soul needed to to know to finally align with itself. And so big shout out to Insight Timer because it's made a huge difference for me, and I've suggested to my clients as well if they are in the mood for you know, some really interesting and some really interesting teachers that are not so great, but it's it's an amazing, it really is an amazing app. And she's great. So you know, whatever it takes, yeah, for you to get there. And that was one thing for me was to hear it from outside and to hear it in a particular way. And I think that's one thing, one reason I'm I'm a little more confident, happy to use my voice for these things is that you never know how what you say might might help someone. And if you keep quiet, they may be looking a lot longer to find that thing. Because sometimes we need just an idea from someone else to and that we can then make our own.

Well, and yeah, it's so good, right? Because I think, you know, I love this idea that right now someone's praying for you to show up in their life, right? And and they don't even know who you are, or and you don't know who they are, but out there, and for those of us that do this kind of healing work, whether it's you know, and and guiding people, coaching people, um like sometimes I think we get into this space, especially as entrepreneurs, it's like, oh, like there's so many coaches out there, or there's so many people doing this kind of work. And it's like, yeah, it doesn't matter. Your people will find you. And just like on Insight Timer, there could be, you know, 50 coaches or you know, gurus or whatever spiritual leaders that you don't really align with, but you find the one that really uplifts your soul and and is speaking, kind of speaks to you where you're at at that point in time. And and so I think that's really important to remember um exactly to what you were saying. Like it's important for us to use our voices and and know that the people that need to hear, because I I've seen that time and time again in my life. The the right mentors or guides show up when I'm ready for them. And um, and if those people weren't talking or speaking, then you know, I mean, that there would have been maybe things would have taken longer, or you know, because I think we are also interrelated as human beings. Yeah, and those connections are so important.

Yes.

So one of the things that I really loved that I saw in your content, Michelle, is this this idea of you know that that our relationship to food and and and our bodies is not a moral one that, you know, and and I think for me, especially if I look at my, you know, there's never really been a time in my life where I did not experience my relationship to my physicality in some kind, inside of some kind of like it should be some other way than it is. And and even like when I look back at pictures of myself when I was younger, before I had my kids, I had my kids when I was my youngest, my eldest son when I was 16, you know, I mean, by society standards, I was thin. And yet when I look back at my life's experience, I don't ever have an embodied experience of being thin. I think there were, and I the more I talk to other women, especially I'm sure men deal with this as well, but maybe aren't as vocal about it. It's like no matter what their body size is or their body composition is, for the majority of human beings, like it's not good enough, or there's some other way it should be. And so I I would love to hear from you your thoughts on this, because it's clear that you've discovered something for yourself, at least in terms of your relationship with food, your body, your physicality, that you're guiding other people in conversations around it. And and and what was that journey like for you to discover that you could frame it differently than perhaps the way you were taught to frame it as a child, right?

Right. Well, I do think, I mean, you brought up a really good point as far as I mean, this is something that, gosh, I don't know who doesn't deal with it to some degree, you know, and it's it's been part of our uh moral workload is to work on our physical selves, you know, that our parents, I mean, I don't know if yours did, but my parents dieted off and on, you know, all of the advertising and the the uh fat-free or the locale or the diet-friendly or Weight Watchers approved or you know, just all of the different messages on food products in magazines. I grew up with, you know, Teen magazine and 17 magazine and started yo-yo dieting and really restricting my food intake at 14 years old because that was the one thing I could control. Whereas, you know, being called six foot zit, I'm very tall. Six foot zit in the hallway, was I couldn't change my skin. I could wash it as much as I want, and it didn't make the acne go away. So, but I could make myself, if not shorter, at least smaller in other ways. So just a way of controlling, you know, and yes, you know, you Arnold Schwarzenegger was coming on the scene and weightlifting and bodybuilding, and you know, just changing yourself has always been everywhere in advertising and in magazines and on the you know, so it's everybody's job to look better and to you know have brighter, whiter teeth and thinner bodies and everything. And I you know, we haven't discussed my age, but I'm almost 60 years old. It's been a constant throughout my life, you know, from the 60s, 70s on. And we are taught that it's you know that that fat is bad, that it's morally wrong for and that's that's not accurate. It's not true. And then we're also taught that it's uh unhealthy to be overweight, you know, and that however many doctors agree, you know, you should have a certain BMI or it's or you're overweight, or you know, just these different guidelines and rules that are not accurate. They don't, you know, you may have a higher chance of developing some illness, but it's there's no guarantee that you will. Uh, there's also people who are very thin and very unhealthy. So it's it's they don't equal one another, you know. So starting to unlearn and and detach weight from beauty and even physical requirements of symmetry and everything else or makeup or whatever to beauty, none of that, you know, I think everybody's beautiful. And when you finally start to think of how interesting we are without all of that, with all of without all those messages and without all of the the products and everything else, you know, just how much more exotic and interesting we are. And we don't all look the same. Isn't that wonderful? It's beautiful. But we really are, you know. I know I was taught that I needed to try to look like everybody else and you know, bleach the hair blonde, and you it just it's exhausting. It's really exhausting.

It is it is exhausting, and I feel like for me, This is still an area of my life where, you know, especially like um like there's so much comparison that happens, right? And then constantly comparing and comparing myself to other women to what I look like, you know, like um, and this is like this is a very old network of conversations, I think, in my life, in most people's lives, around just like, you know, even the idea like that you could accept yourself just the way you are and and and love yourself just because to me, love is really acceptance. You know, when I think about what it is to love, like it really is granting something being just as it is and just as it's not, and allowing it to to you know be in your presence. And and and then I think about how much easier it's been in my life to to grant acceptance and to other people versus myself, right? And in, you know, I I get I've been all over the map on this one, you know. When I was a teenager, it was anorexia and bulimia, you know, when throughout most, you know, there were periods of my life I remember saying once too, and my view of self has always been, you know, for the most of my life, very distorted, the way I view my body versus what other people say about it, or you know, it's like it's it's it's difficult when your eyes will even lie to you. Yeah. Right. Because what you're you're not actually seeing a true reflection of what you look like. And and um I do a lot of work in mindset. And I think this is probably an uh one of the biggest challenges is when we come from that moral frame about good, bad, right, wrong when it comes to food and our relationship with food, it doesn't necessarily change what we eat or consume, but we're literally eating shame, right? Like from a mind point of view, you know, if you think that eating cake is bad or eating this is, you know, when you eat those things, you've the guilt and shame and make wrong that you have of yourself, you know, all of that energy around it. And and I you're 100% right, Michelle. I mean, I remember watching the older woman in my life, you know, that there was always on some kind of diet or trying to fix their body, and and and no matter what they did or how much weight they lost or what they look like, they were never happy. And I think that just as a young woman, that becomes, you know, you talk about rebelling against what we've been taught, uh, which I really love that idea, but you know, that was just everywhere in as a young woman growing up, and you know, like in terms of the relationships with the woman that I had in my life, none of them were ever happy with their bodies, no matter what they look like. Yeah.

It really does become like the air we breathe around that, you know. It's just it's something we're consuming in our via our brain all the time. And so making that that change to actually enjoy making that change, yeah. So yeah, making that uh change um to enjoy and uh savor and and be okay with um that opens whole new doors. It's not easy though, and I can't say that I'm a hundred percent fixed. Like I along with you, I had bulimia in high school and and beyond that into my 20s. Um I gained and lost a hundred pounds. I can't tell you how many times. And it's there's almost comfort and ease in the restriction, but you can't stay restricted, or I can't stay, you know, that's why diets fail, is because people can't just restrict themselves all the time, you know. That's you're it's not healthy to do so, you tend to lose a lot of muscle. Um and it's not natural. You know, you've got you've got feasts, you've got all of these things. We we enjoy food that's part of our celebrations, it's part of our cultures, it's it's part of life, you know. And so to make it distasteful or, you know, take the fat out or different things so that it's we can meet one type of goal, you know, with our body, but we don't get to meet all those other needs of of satisfaction, it's not gonna succeed. You know, that's not gonna succeed. So where is the balance? Where is and I still play with some of those ideas, you know, like okay, counting calories or not counting calories, or uh intuitive eating, what does that look like? What does that feel like? Um to complete body acceptance, to you know, all of the different iterations of it and what's diet and what's not diet, you know, and there's some a lot of people that uh look at that even more closely and more beautifully than I can express it here because I'm I still feel like I'm um learning. I'm in a constant evolution, I am, but I'm very, very happy to work with people wherever they're at on their journey. I don't have the answers. I think we each have our own answers and what's gonna work for us. But I try to help people look at well, what has worked, what has not worked. You know, if if you've lost weight before and that's what you want to do, if that's your journey, that's I'm I'm here to support you. What's worked, but how has that not worked in the past? Because you're here again wanting to lose weight. So how does that how you know what is that dynamic for you? And and would you be happy? Could you be happy? Can you see this way of being? And is isn't movement maybe more important than weight loss? Isn't functionality more important than? But it is it's hard to shake those those images of what we think we should look like.

I think you know, one of the things that I am hearing and and from the people I know in my life who who you know kind of thrive in this area, they're you know, I've got this wonderful friend of mine, um, and she just signed up for an Iron Man for next year, which is like extraordinary. She's in her, I think she's in her early 50s. And um, but Lisa runs because she loves it. She doesn't run to work out or exercise, she just loves the activity. And I think it's about like if we could what I what I'm present to right now and this whole idea of accepting where we're at and deciding from there, um, is like if I could just be with myself as I am right now, and and you know, then I could make some choices around, well, what is it that I really want? Right, not what I should be doing or what I but like what are the activities that I really like, you know, that we really like to do and and enjoy and and fill up our cup and are satisfying, you know, without all of the, yeah, that feel good, that are enjoyable, right? And I think that's very powerful. But I am curious, right? So for you, those early stages of you know, coming to terms with these conversations and and giving up the morality, what were some of the uh actions that you took or things that you did to to really start that journey? Because I get it's a it's a process and it takes time and there are different depths and layers to it. But if someone were to, you know, listening to this at the beginning of that journey who's still really in a place of loathing, and what were some of the things that you did, Michelle, that that helped you take those first steps?

Right. One of the, and this is this is directly related and not directly related because it was something that I had to do for me anyway, and it opened so many other doors. Um I stopped my negative self-talk. And I mean, I'm not gonna say that it doesn't revisit every once in a while and and say, Oh, that was dumb, you know, or something, but pretty pretty quiet and pretty mild compared to what I grew up with and had this insanely negative punishing voice that made sure that I was unhappy and punished all the time. So I had to stop the negative self-talk and stop uh looking at myself and feeling that way about myself. And so initially what it was it was stopping shame and guilt. And then going from there, all of the other ways in which I negative self-talk would beat me up. And so that had been so freeing. I mean, you mentioned earlier about um you didn't say self-censure, but you know, really holding yourself back and making sure that you fit and that you didn't uh share or or let people know too much about how you were because they might, you know, judge or not accept or whatever. So yeah, that that self-censure and and self-critic was something. And then really getting in touch and with feeling okay. It the the radical self-acceptance of uh super cliche and wonderful to me phrase of it is what it is, it is what it is. This is where you're at. And once you can just be where you're at, you don't have to change anything. Just be that that idea uh stops all that other noise if you if you can let it, if you can let it. And I think I really also started to let go of of some of the morality of all of that. Um I mentioned that you know my mom passed. That was that whole experience of her death and letting her go and really feeling and accepting her love. This was the last, you know, uh time, I guess, in her presence to do that, to really accept and feel her love and know that it was always there and know that it would it would always be here for me in my heart. That idea that um life is short, and what's really what really matters, and the only thing that matters to me truly is love, and so the everything else just kind of started to fall into place. And really wanting I want to love and I want to see beauty everywhere because there is beauty everywhere. There's also a lot of pain and a lot of other negative things, but you're gonna see what you look for, and I wanna see I want to see beauty.

Yeah, I just so getting in this conversation and and and how and it's interesting, right? Because when we do we've done like I've done a lot of work on myself over years, right? And and but I can still see how I really um engage with this notion that there is a standard of beauty and that like and it's not that I believe it, but I still can see where I'm I use it to determine and compare. And you know, even things like I I think in one of your posts, Michelle, you talk about like um you talk about um fully embracing your body, the body you have and doing what you want with it. Like, you know, I'll engage in conversations like, well, you know, people don't want me to wear certain clothing, you know, because I don't have a flat stomach or six-pack absorb, you know, my arms, like I'll, you know, people don't want to see my body, you know, because like if they people want to see a woman in a bikini or something, they want to see like a body, you know. So, and it's like no one's ever said that to me, but it's like I engage with that like it's some truth. And and I love what you said because I really do believe you get what you focus on. And and so I'm really gonna take that on as a practice in my own life of just really like embracing the beauty in all people, because that that is consciously what I want to believe. But I also am clear that I've got a still got uh quite a bit of subconscious patterning around um, you know, this this notion of what it is to be a beautiful as a human being. And um and so just thank you so much for that gift. And and I just like when you were sharing about your mom, just present again to this, like, you know, the the inner child work and the conversations we have around like that, like we would not talk to a child the way that we do ourselves, right? Like we just wouldn't. And um well, I think most people wouldn't, and and those who would, you know, they've got their own trauma and stuff that they've dealt with. But um it is about, I think the important thing for me anyway, for anyone listening to this conversation, is just acknowledging it's a practice. You know, you're not gonna go after, you know, a lifetime 20 however long that is, 25, 40, 50 years of, you know, internally beating yourself up and and shaming yourself to all of a sudden, you know, falling in love with yourself. But it does start with the willingness to acknowledge you know, to accept, if you're willing to try it on, that the voice in your head and what it's saying to you isn't the truth. And and and then from there you can start to interrupt it and say, okay, well, this is what it's saying. What do I want to believe? What do I want to have my focus on? What makes me feel good? And what do I, you know, all of that stuff and what is it that I want versus responding to um, you know, that that mechanism inside us as human beings that's, you know, in some ways trying to help us survive and protect us, but really coming from ingrained patterns and and beliefs and networks of conversations from the past.

Yeah. And it, I think you can well, you you have to disrupt it, absolutely. And you can shut it down. Sometimes you can't, maybe you're not ready to replace it yet, but just tell it to shut up. Tell up. Just stop. Just stop. Stop with the shame, stop with the negative, don't go there, focus on something different. Um if you can replace it, fantastic. But if it's maybe separate from um the negative self-talk, as long as it's it's you know, if it's just this thing that's uh, I'm just not satisfied, you can work with that. But I'm thinking of and coming from this place that was was absolutely haunted by negative voice that I had to shut down. And I had to essentially scream at it to shut up repeatedly. And yes, it starts like a hundred times a day, you're telling it to stop, and then moving into the the 20 times a day, and then the five times a day, and whatever. But it takes absolute concentrated work, it's not gonna go away if it's ignored or if if it's if it's allowed to stay, I guess. Ignored is a good thing, but listening to it and allowing it to stay and believing it truly don't work.

Yeah, well, I think that's a big part for me, right? That was a big part of my journey is you know, there was a long time in my life where I didn't even, you know, one, I I didn't know that that voice was not me, right? For a long time I thought that voice was me. And and so there was no, and then this like Michael Singer's you know, idea of being the observer, right? That ability to step outside of yourself and and and look and see. And and I'll never forget, I just had a conversation with my first coach and a you know, I did a leadership program back in 2017, and we got on our call, our first coaching call to get related, and and he and I gave him like kind of the 30,000-foot view of Amber, like who I am and my life, and kind of you know, the cold notes of what I'd done and been through and blah, blah, blah. And and he said, like when I was done sharing, he said, Wow, you're like incredible, like all of the things that you've overcome and dealt with and and created, like you're in you're extraordinary. And he could immediately sense that I just couldn't be with that acknowledgement. And um and and and and he said, Well, if you saw a woman walking down the street who had done all of the things that you'd done and accomplished everything that you accomplished, what would you say about her? And it was literally the first time in my life that I got that I could step outside of my own subjective experience about me and look at me from a place of objectivity. And that was really, you know, the laying the foundation for you know, that continued journey of really acceptance and love of myself. And and and I think like any of it, there's layers to it, right? Because and and you know, there's there's acceptance of your internal self and and acceptance of your past and the choices that you've made and or didn't make, and then there's acceptance of your physical body and and you know, in in this conversation, just still acknowledging that this is an area that that there is still for me personally to do some work on. And I'm just so grateful for this conversation with you because I got access to looking at something newly. So, Michelle, just thank you so much for being someone who can, you know, a partner in you create living a creative life, but also being a guide for other people to do that. I acknowledge you for just doing the work because I know it takes something. And and there are these many moments of dying into oneself to be born into something new. And I think that, you know, that you have the courage to do that. And and you're also now guiding other people and how to do that in their own life is just, you know, we need more people out there in the world shining that light. Uh so just thank you so much, and thank you for being here and having this conversation with me today.

Well, thank you. I really do believe that we're all doing the best we can with the tools and and skills we have in the moment. And so, you know, whenever we can add a new tool or uh just take a look at things differently, you know, we have a chance and opportunity to do something a little bit different. And that's that's the hope without shine, is always being able to renew, evolve, and and be a little more of who we are every day, every moment.

I love that message of being our authentic selves. And uh just so for anyone listening to the show today, if you want to connect with Michelle and and and find out all about the amazing things, buy a copy of her book. You go be able to find out all about that in the show notes. Thank you so much for being with us, and I will talk to you next week. And I love you.

Thank you so much for joining us for this week's episode. For more information on the show and our extraordinary guests, check out what wouldamberdo.com.