Chapter 43

Hello everybody and welcome to The V Spot. I'm your host, Andrea Mancuso, founder and CEO of Intentional Healing and Wellness. I created this podcast because I believe vulnerability is our true superpower, and I want to promote a safe space where we can come together and engage in conscious and courageous conversations to encourage individual and collective healing. In the V Spot, we will choose courage over comfort as we speak our truth and pave the way for others to do the same. For each episode, we will unite in empathy and embrace our superpower as we spend quality time together here in the V Spot. Thank you for tuning in.

Hello everyone and welcome to the V Spot. It's an interesting time to be alive, best described by Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. It was the season of light, it was the season of darkness. It was the spring of hope, It was The Winter of Despair, written in 1902, and somehow those words still ring true today. As I said, it's an interesting time to be alive. Just as the world has changed immensely, I've been reflecting recently on the reality that I have too. It's been a powerful season of introspection, a profound period of starving my distractions and getting in touch with myself. A season of feeling. A season of healing. A season of unlearning. This is 43. I've taken the last couple of months to really look within. I wanted to take a long, hard look at myself, every nook and cranny. It's been tough at times. Beautiful other times, but I have to say, deep all the way through. I realized the power of distractions during this process, why it helps to have so many distractions on deck, all the things that we're not able to access as a result. I really get why people prefer it that way. I'm not saying that I agree, but I understand why people prefer it that way. Feeling the deepest of feelings, it's not easy. It's difficult to take long looks at the most intimate parts of yourself, be real with who you are, let alone talk about it on a podcast. But that's a whole nother story. I told you in episode 1, this journey isn't about being comfortable. So in honor of my 43rd birthday and all the recent life changes I made, I wanted to take a nosedive inward, do a real thorough inventory, identify the limiting beliefs that I possess. Shit, I didn't realize how many there were. But I can't help but think, do they all belong to me? And how can I set them down for once and for all? Things that make you go, hmm. This is 43. And I have to tell you, sometimes I think I'm such a glutton for punishment. Seriously, the way that I've been navigating my life, it's definitely not the easy route, but I really am beginning to realize it most certainly is the rewarding route. So I continue to trust my intuition and go where I feel guided with zero evidence that it's actually the right direction. Do you know what kind of trust that takes for a controller? Seriously, it takes a lot, a lot of trust. But my internal navigation system, it's been pointing me in all sorts of directions, and so I've been following it. And it can't be a mistake. These days I keep getting reminders over and over in different ways: I'm not running late or falling behind. I need reminders like that. Society sometimes has me believing I'm actually very late. Incredibly behind. That's why when songs like "Wait for It" off the Hamilton soundtrack remind me that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, I gladly embrace the message. Messages like that support me in staying the course and doing my work. It's true, they actually allow me to go another level deep, questioning myself further, like, who am I when no one is looking? What do I really want? How will I execute the vision that I hold so clearly in my mind? What's needed to grow a 7-figure global business? Do I possess what it takes to carry out such a vision? Do I possess the traits that I desire in a partner? What about family? Since the window of opportunity is closing for me, what What steps, if any, do I take now? That's a quick glimpse into the questions I've been exploring lately. A day in the life. This is 43, or maybe I should say 40 free. You know, there's no way I can explore such topics and think that I'd be able to come out of the other side the same person. It's impossible. I don't have the answer to the questions that I just shared with you, but I have to tell you, I've absolutely been coming up with various answers. Which has been pretty liberating, to tell you the truth, because it removes the pressure of coming up with only one answer, and instead it allows me to discover, lets me explore these matters with curiosity, wonder, interest. This is 43. So I've been exploring my life out loud these days for the entire world to witness and experience. Talk about trust, vulnerability, courage. You know, I hid for so long. I never thought that this would be possible, but just as the seasons change, people do too. 40, free, and I'm really proud of myself. It's hard to believe I'm actually here, founder and CEO of Intentional Healing and Wellness. Host of the V Spot podcast, mental health counselor in training, former school psychologist, entrepreneur. This, this is 43. So in honor of all my hard work, I'm gifting myself something magical this year for my birthday. Yep, you heard me, magical. You want to guess what it is? Come on, come on, guess. All right, I'll tell you. One full year of intentional healing and wellness, on purpose and unapologetically. I'm setting out on a one-year adventure in the name of freedom, doing the work that I love, doing the work that I believe in. Everything I do this year will be intentional. Designed to strengthen and support my mind, my body, and my soul. Because here's the thing, if the pandemic taught me anything, it's that tomorrow isn't promised. I've said that before. So I want to live for today. I want to live for me. I want to do the things that I believe I should be doing. This is 43. So I plan to travel, create, write, workout, dance, heal, laugh, seek out adventure, spend quality time with loved ones, fine-tune my mindset, take risks, show up and show all the way out, share myself in new and exciting ways, and so much more. This is 43. So I'm burning the boats for this 43rd trip around the sun. There's no going back, no escape route. And let's make a deal: I'll meet you back here on my 44th birthday to share everything that I create during this year of exploration. How's that sound? Deal? Deal. You might be wondering why, and to that I say, why not? This is 43. It's been a long and windy road. I faced a lot of demons to arrive here and be with you in this moment, in this way. I shed so many tears, coached myself in and out of so many different circumstances. I showed up for myself when I didn't want to. Kept going when I wasn't in the mood. I let go of so many things— beliefs, views, perspectives, expectations, pain, even people. Even people. And I would be lying to you if I told you that it was easy, because it wasn't. And you know what they say, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. It's not, but it's worth it, and it's time to level up. I'm up for the challenge. I've been telling myself, looking at myself in the mirror lately, actually saying it's time to turn up the discipline dial, release the remaining distractions that prevent me from my greatness. So I'm going to plug in new supports, invest in myself in new and exciting ways, and reprogram my programming, this time with intention. I already believe it's happening— the vision, love, success. The universe is absolutely conspiring to deliver all of it. It's not something that I need to chase. I already possess it. Now I get to move out of the way and allow myself to receive it. I set down so many things to travel to this moment in time. Florence and the Machine said it best: you can't carry it with you if you want to survive. And that's the thing, the plot twist. I want to thrive. Forget survive. This is 40 fucking 3. The dog days, they're over. And my work continues. But that's my great news. Because guess what? There's no full arrival. This journey that we call life, that's what it is, a journey. And I'm taking the scenic route at 43, following my internal navigation system wherever it's going to take me. Without any rhyme or reason. But I trust the author of my story, and I guess that's reason enough. So here's to you. Here's to me. Here's to 43. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of The V Spot. To be continued. Thank you for spending quality time with me here in the V Spot. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, write a review, and tell a friend to tell a friend to meet us in the V Spot. To stay connected and in the loop about all special events, join the email list at www.intentionalhealingandwellness.com. You can also join the Intentional Healing and Wellness community on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. I'll catch you soon.