This Empowering Bytes episode delves into the importance of being present and managing anxiety related to future uncertainties. Gaby Mamone shares a personal story about her experience leading up to an MRI, highlighting how the anticipation and "what if" scenarios consumed her thoughts, creating unnecessary fear and stress.

The conversation emphasizes the power of awareness and the realization that many of our worries are unfounded and do not serve us. Gaby reflects on the necessity of focusing our energy in the moment rather than allowing anxieties about the future to distract us from our current experiences.

The episode culminates in a call for self-awareness and a shift in focus towards living in the moment. Both hosts remind the audience that while challenges are inevitable, the energy spent worrying about them is often unwarranted. By fostering a mindset anchored in the present, individuals can alleviate unnecessary stress and embrace the empowerment that comes from being proactive rather than reactive. This episode serves not only as an exploration of personal struggles but also as a powerful reminder of the resilience that lies within each of us, encouraging a community of support and empowerment that resonates with anyone facing their own battles. The heartfelt banter and mutual support between Nkechi and Gabby create an inviting atmosphere that inspires listeners to embrace their journeys with courage and positivity.

Have an empowering story to share on an Empowering Bytes episode? Submit your request, for a chance to be a guest.

Find us online: https://linktr.ee/nkechinwaforrobinson

Great day, amazing human. Welcome to the Empowered in My Skin podcast where our mission is to help 1 billion people in this world think in more empowering ways. Empower humans.

Empower humans. So you are in the right spot to become a lead domino for Empowerment today. My name is Inke Chi.

I'm not only your host, but I am a vibrant optimist obsessed to bring you empowering content.

With each episode, we will be bringing you content alternating between longer episodes with featured guests and shorter episodes called Empowering Bites, where I'll be joined by my co host, Gabby Mamone. So if you're ready, let the show begin.

Great day, amazing humans. Yes. Welcome to the next episode of Empowered My Skin, the podcast. And I'm here with an Empowering Bites with.

I feel like it's been forever that I've seen my girl. The G to the A to the B to the Y. The Mamone. The Gabriella Mamone.

Thank you so much, Madame Waffle Robinson.

So lovely to see you always. And yeah, I'm trying something new with these. These wired headphones because I'm a pretty. I used to wear, like, the over the head headphones.

Yeah.

This is before YouTube came within on our podcast. And now I was like, those over the head headphones ruin my hair. So I was like, I was. I was interviewing with Cher Jones. Just, you know, and.

And I was, I was like, oh, you're wearing like regular earbuds. So I. I was like, okay, I think I'm gonna start to do that. Like, I have a quality mic. I have my Rodecaster, we have Zoom. And.

And all I need to do is hear you. Right. So I love it. I'm trying something new anyway. They're white. They're. I don't even know why I told you. I.

I don't even know why I'm telling the people all that. Like, that is so not relevant for this episode. But I think it's because I'm seeing the white headphones and I think I want black ones. Yeah.

But this.

Oh, I think it's great. And you know what? There's probably somebody listening saying, I don't like my earphones. And, you know, that's the answer.

I need to go back to the, you know, the earbuds. So let you go.

Yes, But. But I ordered some black ones. They just haven't arrived yet. Okay. Okay. So we. I'm going to do something different. I think I'm going to introduce the.

I'm going to introduce the topic.

Yeah.

And I think what I'LL do. In our B roll, we were talking about. Well, so Gabby actually shared an experience. I want to just create the lead in. And it made me.

And immediately I tied it to something that had helped me years ago face my fears in the moment, in the, in, in the moment of the fear. Whereas, yeah, I mean, there are, there are times where I catch myself and I'm like, why am I worrying about that right now?

Because it's like days away.

And so essentially the Coles notes is I was telling her that when she shared the story about what she's going to share in a moment, it remind me of an inspirational story that I heard from Will Smith tell in an interview where he was talking about how he was about ready to go and jump out of a plane. So skydive. And there was so much fear and trepidation that he had leading up to the actual moment.

I'm fast forwarding here, but the actual moment of actually jumping out of the plane. And so he talked about, you know, he, he, you know, he's a great storyteller.

So he got us all, like, into the story to the point where he was strapped in with the instructor. He was at the, at the point of about to jump out of the plane.

And they usually say jump on three, but they push you on two because most people hold on at three. And next thing you know, he was flying.

And the whole moral of the story was up until that point, there was no reason for him to feel all of the fear and the trepidation and the anxiety that he felt leading up to that moment. And it really resonated with me because a speaker, or taking on a job or getting myself geared up to have an uncomfortable conversation.

I realize how many times I get myself caught up in all of the, the what if scenarios, the anxiety in my belly, like, gurgles and, and sometimes it's like, it's, it's like months, it could be even weeks away, and you're thinking about that moment and all of a sudden there's all the. And I know many people feel that.

So, so, Gabby, how about you share what is actually really, really inspiring story and how you work through it and what's the lesson on the other side of it?

Thank you for that opening. I appreciate it. I recently had an mri.

Now it's an annual MRI that I have on my brain in my spinal cord, because for those listening, you may not know that I have multiple sclerosis. So it's being watched carefully annually.

So I went for my annual MRI and Between the MRI and the appointment with the neurologist, it's a waiting game, right? So in this particular case, it was a three week waiting game.

But in these three weeks, can I tell you, I don't know why, because this is my 20th year getting MRIs. I was ruminating, I was feeling like I had a difficult year. My health has been difficult.

I've had, you know, tingling and I've had pain and I've lost some vision in my peripheral vision and I went through all these things and I had some extra stress and I thought, what if I've progressed? What if my Ms. Is getting worse? What if my balance becomes worse? And I kept going through this what if?

And I was noticing that I was paying attention to the concerns or what would happen if I progressed and thinking, how is this going to affect my life? And it was awful. I had so much heaviness and fear and anxiety and all these conscious efforts of the negative side of what if?

So I went for my results three weeks later that morning, man, I woke up, I felt sweaty. I was, you know, fortunately I had a friend that came with me and Roger, shout out to you, Roger Caesar.

Because I needed that person to help me laugh. I needed that person to joke with me. And that's the role that he takes. He just relieves my stress and anxiety.

And, you know, the whole drive there, I was feeling heavy and anxious. And, you know, the neurologist called me and I remember step, like standing up and taking this big deep breath of what is she going to tell me?

Well, she told me that I have new, no new lesions. And she told me that I was doing very, very well. And she congratulated me.

And so there were some concerns with my mri, but it wasn't anything like I had constructed in my mind. And of course, at that moment I felt a big sense of relief. And, you know, as I walked out of that neurologist office, I really realized the.

How important awareness in the moment is because I spent three weeks ruminating and that was a complete waste of my energy, Complete waste of my time, Waste of my energy.

And so the lesson here, the lesson is awareness is paying attention to what's happening right now, Noticing your thoughts, noticing your feelings, noticing the things around you in the moment. Instead of thinking about what if, what happened yesterday, what will happen tomorrow, how is this going to affect me?

All the negative things are not going to impact anything except make it more difficult, right?

So the lesson for me was to put the energy where it's necessary, be present in the moment now, instead of developing this unnecessary fear that served no purpose for me.

Yeah. And I think two things came to mind right away.

And the importance of that is a lot of the times the what ifs are not in favor of, like, exciting us or, like, they're always what ifs in the negative. Like, unless, of course, we're thinking, like, what if I get, like, this amazing news that everything has gone miraculously healed? Like, that's not.

We typically don't what ifs in. In our favor. Um, so therefore, back to your point.

And I think the other thing, too, is when you are allowing something that hasn't even happened yet to disrupt your current moment, then you're actually losing the opportunity to enjoy the current moment for what it is. Right?

Yes.

And. And I don't know if this is the case for you, but I think sometimes misery loves company. That we then bring other people into.

Into all of that as well, and you. We don't take responsibility for disrupting their energy, you know, and to kind of serve our needs at that time. So I. I love that.

I'm so happy for you, by the way. Like, this is, like, absolutely incredible.

And I have been with you for 10 years of this journey, almost 10 years of this journey now, and so really, really proud of you. I mean, the first time I ever heard your story and.

And just kind of watching over the last 10 years how you've worked through it, it's just really, really happy for you. Really, really happy for you.

Thank you so much.

And I think that that's a great lesson for so many people. Right.

Like, it could be about you're getting ready to make a decision to leave a job, you know, a relationship, like, something conversation that you need to have with somebody. It could be, I think, about public speaking. Right.

Like, a lot of times, and even on the reverse side, like, sometimes people ask me, oh, my God, are you excited about your upcoming vacation? And I'm. And I've been very aware, like. Like, as I. Like I'm telling you, ever since I heard Will Smith tell that story.

Even in those moments, I'm like, that day will come. The day for me to get, like, I'm excited it's coming.

Yeah.

But I'm not even allowing that. Like, that excitement's probably carrying me forward. It's nice to have something on my calendar to look forward to. I'm looking forward to it.

But the thought or thinking about it in this moment, it's still distracting me from what I need to focus my energy on in this Moment to be fully present. Right. So, yes.

Yes. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you for allowing me to be vulnerable.

And, you know, we do these podcasts and we have lots of wisdom and we're very positive souls. The reality is, is I feel like I messed up. Right. But I'm okay to say that I feel like, why, why did I ruminate over something that.

That's okay. See, don't even do that. And that's okay.

That's.

Yeah.

And so for anyone watching or for anyone listening, think about what you are going through right now. Is it necessary to exhaust such energy in something that you really not able to control at the moment?

Right.

If you can't control it, why. Why spend time on it? Really be present in the moment when it appears when you need to be. But that's such a hard.

That was such a prevalent lesson for me. Now, again, make no mistake, there were some concerns with my testing and there are some things that I have to implement as a result of it.

And I'm not disqualifying anyone who receives results and they're not as favorable as maybe they hoped. But the reality is, deal with it when you get it, as opposed to creating something that's really not necessary.

Like, what if I had called you the day before? It's like, oh, inc, I can't believe this is going to happen. I'm like, I would have brought you in this misery like somebody. Right.

That's what I was actually.

Right. And you would have like, you know, so I didn't call you. But. And I'm glad I didn't.

I think the other thing too is. And I mean, I want. I do want to wrap up this episode, but I. I have also recognized that as human beings, we create like our thoughts create action.

So the self confidence formula says that just the same way that you can. I see. Look, when my memory needs it, it says that I have the ability. No.

Any desire that I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through obtaining the object back of it. Therefore, I will demand of myself consistent and no.

Therefore I will.

I will concentrate my thoughts for 30 minutes daily upon the task of thinking of the person I tend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture of that person. And so, you know, I think I got the entire. I think it's.

That's impressive.

I missed. I think I messed up two formulas. But.

But essentially it's around.

That same concept is that that if you are going to hold any thoughts in your mind, hold the ones that hold what you Want to yield to happen. Right. Because I do believe we have the power of manifestation. Right. And.

And if you kind of hold in your mind that something bad is going to happen, unfortunately, when that thing that's bad, that's happening. I knew. I told you so. Nice.

I knew it.

What have you created that. Right.

Yeah.

Right.

It's exactly it.

Yeah.

I don't be waking up in the morning, say, oh, I know you're going to have a bad day.

I know, I know. And now I'm so.

Hold on, hold on.

Because for all the listeners, I just want to get this right. There are five self confidence formulas.

The one that I think is really relevant and pertinent for what we're talking about is that any desire that I consistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through obtaining the object back of it. Therefore, I will devote 10 minutes daily to demanding of myself the. To demanding of myself the. The. Oh.

To demanding to myself the development of self confidence so that if there's anything, that's what you should be working on. Every single moment is really like the desire that I have in my mind is about.

It's about bettering myself and not about wishing the worst upon yourself, you know, so.

Oh, I love that so much. For anyone listening, not watching, that was said with eyes closed. So there was no reading here. Like that came from your heart. You internalize that.

Yes. I love the look it up Napoleon Hill self confidence formula. There's five of them and I've memorized them all. Yeah.

So well, girl, we are at the end of this amazing empowering bites and you have truly. I think there's people that are cheering you on. They're like, go another 10 years, Gabby. You got this, girl. Go on, go on, go on.

Keep going and keep rising. My sister.

Thank you, my love. I appreciate it. Thank you to all the listeners. Thank you so much.

Yes. And this is where we say, I'm.

Inc. And I'm Gabby with one B.

And we're out.

Bye.

Bye. There you have it.

I trust you are feeling more empowered in your skin. As the late Dr. Maya Angelou said, when you get, you give, when you learn, you teach.

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