CHAPTER 117: Take what serves, leave the rest
Hello lovely readers,
Thank you for your patience as I’ve DIY’d a new website design and focused in on health recently. I miss writing these blogs, and I hope some of you are still finding them helpful, or interesting, or just a bit better than one more Prime Day email spam.
This month, I had the incredible opportunity to sit down with Bryan Piatt for his podcast, “Take What Serves. Leave the Rest.” How perfect is that name?!
This conversation was just one of many gifts I continue to receive in return for a life rocked by cancer. Through this, I have met people (like you!) from all over the world. I’ve made friends in countries I have not yet visited, created shared connections with people I would never have met through my day-to-day, and found inspiration from fellow thrivers.
When Bryan reached out to me via social media (one of only a few reasons I continue to use these dreadful platforms), it took me a while to respond. Humbled and honored to receive an invite, I had to give myself time to think over a question that has become more and more important in my life -
Should I say no?
For years, I never even contemplated saying no to professional opportunities, first in medicine and later in the writing/public speaking realm. Although my CV tripled in size over the past few years, my passion towards these accumulating “accomplishments” did not. If anything, an inverse relationship developed.
Now, I see the power in saying no. I feel a powerful, purposeful connection to the activities I choose to say yes to. Rather than doing the bare minimum to check a box, I try to only commit to opportunities that I can be fully present in. I’m far from perfect at this, but the gentle reminder that “no” is an option is freeing.
Learning to take what serves and leave the rest is more than a podcast; it is a motto to live by.
This podcast episode is not at all about the idea in this blog, so take a listen for some new content! Saying “absolutely, yes!” to Bryan’s podcast was the right choice.
Listen Here! (or anywhere you enjoy podcasts)
Fondly,
Courtney
©️ CB2023