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May 27, 2020

S1E2 - How to Help Courage Meet Your Fear (with Elmora Evans)

S1E2 - How to Help Courage Meet Your Fear (with Elmora Evans)

When was a time when YOUR Courage met your Fear?  How did you feel? How did you overcome that fear? Wait....did you overcome it?  Hmmmm, worth the pause right? 
In this episode, I bring you #COACHING (Minute 2:35) via an exercise and a story of fear at my 1st TEDx talk! ahhhhh, #COCKTAILS (Minute 17:55), as we celebrate your wins, and #CONVERSATIONS (Minute 18:25), as we listen in to Elmora Evans, a front-line nurse and survivor of Covid19, who returned in to work 21 days!  WHEN COURAGE MEETS FEAR!

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Coaching, Cocktails, & Conversations:  The Podcast with Lolita E. Walker

Grab your CC&C Journal at https://www.lolitawalker.com/podcast to take notes, jot down actions, and do a bit of reflection during and after this episode!

In this episode, I referenced:

 

Please don't forget to leave a 5-star review, IF you gained anything from this episode.  I'd love to read it during the cocktails portion of the upcoming episode. AND, Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your journey,

Lolita E. Walker of lolitawalker.com

Transcript

S1-EP2-WHEN COURAGE MEETS FEAR 

The Coaching, Cocktails, & Conversations Podcast with Lolita E. Walker

**This blog is a transcript of an episode on the podcast, verbatim.  Read it and imagine Lolita pouring into you.  Should any nuggets resonate with you, please subscribe to Coaching, Cocktails, & Conversations and write an amazing review so that others can also be inspired to hear and feel what you did.  Thank you so much!

Our affirmation for today is, I am allergic to average and will no longer hide from fear. Grab your affirmation, deck at lolitawalker.com /shop

Welcome to Coaching, Cocktails & Conversations with Lolita E Walker. The podcast that coaches you up while meeting you exactly where you are. Grab your water, tea, or something stronger and allow this podcast to help you feel the power in your pause. Come on in and join the conversation. Let’s go. 

It's episode number two and we’re back. We are talking today, When Courage Meets Fear.  Juicy, right? I know.

So, Hey, change agents. How are you today? Listen, if you have been here before, I already know you have already pulled up your comfortable seat right here at this kitchen table. I know. And if you're new, I just want to say welcome and thank you so much for stopping by. This is where we break things down into three layers. The first layer is all about coaching, helping to shift your thinking just a little bit so that you can get out of your own way and keep it moving. Next, we're going to have some cocktails. This is where we celebrate all that you are, not only when you show up to this kitchen table but when you show up and show out to any table that you step to, okay? And then finally we're getting into some good old-fashioned conversations

Now, sometimes the conversations are just going to be with me one-on-one, where I dig deep into our topic of the day. Some of them are going to be with an invited guest. And today we have a very special guest. We are welcoming Ms. Elmora Evans. Ms. Elmora is a nurse helping us on the front lines during this COVID-19 situation. But during this time she contracted the virus from being at work, doing that job that she loves so much. She fought through it. And I'm so pleased to say that she is a survivor. And we recognize that there are so many who did not survive. What a blessing it is for us to have somebody on the front lines to talk to us about when coverage meets fear. So I know her story is going to be so powerful and I cannot wait. 

But first let's get into some coaching. It was September, 2019, and I had been preparing for this moment for six months. Okay. I've been pouring myself into writing, revising, making recommendations, and then me rewriting again. Okay. I had been rehearsing for this moment right here. And then finally, two days before, I was in Youngstown, Ohio. I was there to give my first TEDx talk. 

Side note, super shout out to the entire Youngstown TEDx team. I mean, they were hashtag amazing. Okay. The support that they gave us from the beginning to the end was absolutely remarkable. I'm forever grateful for that, I digress. But up until that point, I hadn't felt any butterflies at all. I had no anxiousness. I wasn't stressed. I was feeling good about my talk. But two days before I entered into that auditorium. And I stood on that stage for the first time. And in that moment, all I did was close my eyes. I was in front of that red circle and I had that microphone in front of me. But what I saw when I closed my eyes was my vision board. I kid you not. There was this picture of this blank auditorium. And I didn't know how, I didn't know what it was, but I wanted to be on that stage in front of this huge auditorium. And in my mind, it was at the Apollo. That's what it looked like; this picture that I had on my vision board and I'm standing there. And when I tell you that those butterflies that I didn't feel before, that were like on hiatus, they were gone. No, no, no. They all came back. They knew that now was the time and they were in full flutter in my stomach. But I remember standing there and I'm looking out at over 600 seats that filled this space and there’s a large print counter at the bottom of the stage in front of me on the left-hand side. And it had this 12-minutes marker on it because our goal was to stay within 12 minutes. 

But fear began to crack my foundation right in that moment. You know, you never can tell from the outside with some people, but inside, you're cracking all up. Have you been there? I remember that moment. I remember that moment about my foundation. And if you want to know more about your foundation and how to strengthen it, you’ve got to listen back to episode one, where I talk about strengthening your foundation. But I remembered this voice. I remember this voice saying to me, what are you doing here? Are you good enough? What are people going to think? What makes you an expert in this space? You know, those limiting beliefs that's in front of you. I mean, there was so many doubtful thoughts that were coming into mind. So many questions that filled my mind. And I swear it was as if it was me standing in front of me and I could see me. I couldn't make all of me out, but what I did see was this big red stop sign, okay. With the white letters that go across the stop sign as my head. And it was telling me to stop where you are. It was this shadowy figure that kind of was glowing red right there. And I remember it standing in front of me. It was kind of like an out of body experience. And I remember looking at the stop sign because I could literally see it. 

You know, fear; fear can cause all of those type of cracks to be seen. Fear could cause you to feel doubt; that imposter syndrome, right? All of these negative thoughts and limiting beliefs that were seeping right through, right as I stood on that a stage. And what's crazy is that I'm feeling all of this, and I was in that moment right now. My speech was about talking about how you are standing right here, right now. So I'm saying, “Lolita, you have got to get this thing together, honey.” So let me fast forward a little bit because I was feeling as if I was this imposter (syndrome).  Like, what am I doing here? But I knew, I knew that I was stronger than what I was feeling right now. 

Now on the day of, probably about three people before me; so three more people are about to go before I go on the stage. And in this moment, fear is just all over me. My coach, the coach that was helping us with the speeches is down backstage so I can't grab her. But there's this other powerful coach upstairs. And I pull him in a room with me and I say, Hey, Hey, guess what?  I want to make these changes to my speech. I like it. What do you think? What do you think?  I'm talking all fast. I'm just out of myself. He says to me, “Take a deep breath.” 

He looked at me for what I felt like was ten minutes, but likely it was probably only seconds. And he says to me, “Lolita, your speech is very good, are you sure you want to make these changes? It’s very rare that anybody would make these types of modifications before they go on stage. Are you sure?” So he recommended this voice technique for me. And I even think that I called in a voice coach who also was doing a TEDx talk. But right then, fear had me shook. Now that I'm thinking back, I was actually paralyzed in that moment. He left me in a good space and he said, “you got this”.

So I want to invite you for a second to think about one thing that you’re fearful of right now. Okay. Only one. What if I asked you to describe that fear to me? What does it look like? Where do you feel it in your body? Where's fear just penetrating you? And what is it saying to you? Better yet, what are you saying back to it? 

Can you speak? For me, remember I told you that there was this big shadowy, tall figure in front of me. But what I did see and can definitely make our still to today is this red head that was a stop sign with this white writing. It was bully big. Like it was a bully standing in front of me telling me all of these negative thoughts. It was aggressive. I felt as all of though---like, remember those butterflies I talked about? It was eating away at my stomach. So for you, what does it look like? And what does it feel like for you? What if I said to you that fear, that bully that's standing right in front of you is an emotion? It's an emotion. Now knowing that, what does that Image look like? 

I would guess that, that fear, that emotion that’s standing right in front of you, is likely shrinking a little bit. It's likely thinning out, right? The color might be coming a little more dull. Like, my red stop sign was now turning pink. It was fading away. It might even go all the way away. But I challenge you to look at your fears once you've articulated them as an emotion, as the emotion that it is and talk to it. When you fear, it handcuffs you. Talk to those limiting beliefs that are shouting out at you. What are you saying back to it? You're standing on the strong foundation and talking back to that emotion and helping it diminish, now. Okay. What if I told you that the kryptonite to that emotion, wait for it, is courage. Come on now. What if I told you that the kryptonite to that emotion is Courage? Hash tag bam. 

Now stick with me. Okay. What if I told you that that courage was right beside you? Go ahead and look on down. That courage is right beside you. Come on now. Who needs an S on their chest when they have a C right there, right beside them? That C of courage is real big. Is this armour vest that is sitting right beside you, grab it. Go ahead look on the side, Go ahead and grab it, pick it up. What If you outfitted yourself with that C armour? And that courage filled you up and gave you that power, that supernatural power. What if I told you that fear was standing right in front of you right now? And now you had that C on your chest. How are you feeling? And now what are you saying? 
What If I told you that that courage is actually you? Come one now. What if I told you that Courage was you? When courage meets fear. Right? 

Well fear, according to our best friend, Google: is this unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that something or someone is causing you danger, pain, or even a threat, right? For me in that moment on that stage, my moment of fear that I shared with you today had me feeling all the way threatened. Okay? I told you it was Billy bull, bully big. Did I say Billy bull? It was big, like a bully. It was super aggressive. It was threatening me. It was threatening my reputation, my being, how I showed up and who I was. Right? It was threatening all of that, but how dare I allow that to do that to me? How dare I allow that in my space? Not when I'm standing on my foundation of strengths, not when I have faith. Absolutely not. Not when I had coaches for six months, not when I'm talking in my pure passion. No, no, no, fear, you do not get to do that. 

When courage meets fear, then there courage. Let's talk about it. According to Google, courage is this ability to do something that frightens you. Say that again.  It’s the ability to do something that frightens you. And then I'm going to go deeper and give you Coach Lolita's perspective right here. Because where are we? At this kitchen table, yeah? We tell it like it is. I say that courage is your will, it’s your drive, it is your trust. You're trusting you, you’re trusting that you're standing on a strong foundation. Your foundation that is going to propel you to leap. And then what do we talk about in episode one? Yes, we affirm that we leap because our faith and our strengths have wings. They have wings that will protect our fall. You hear me? If you are new to this, then go back to episode number one. Because I want you to remember the foundation that you stand upon. Okay? I attest that when courage meets fear, there is absolutely no stopping you. When coverage meets fear, you are standing tall and now you're bigger than life. You hear me. You are this giant that is armed with a supernatural power, oh kay? One that is like no other. Remember that fear that you imagined earlier?  Guess what? It is diminishing now. Because one, remember that, that fear, guess what? It is an emotion. You hear me? It is an emotion, baby. Let it go. 

Secondarily, do you remember what foundation you're standing upon. Hello? And then now number three.  

 

You have an S on your chest that has transformed to a C. You are this giant that is armed like no other. You are carrying that big, bold C. You are in your element and have shifted to the best version of yourself. You hear me? You are magnificent, spectacular. You are mind blowing. Who is that power house? Come on now. That is you. That is you standing right there. Who needs an S when you got C right there? Look down and grab it. We are not going to let fear overtake us. Absolutely not. We have too much to do, too much greatness to grab, too much endless possibilities that are right out before us. We have too much work to do, you hear me? This is you. I want you to always remember when courage met fear. When your courage met your fear, what happened?

 So, let me give you a little bit of soul work, right? We can’t do everything right here. I want you to have time to unpack all of the greatness that is right here. You need some time for reflection. So your soul work is to say aloud, one fear that you thought of during this episode right now, one fear. 
And then I want you to write it in your CC&C journal, which you can download at lolitawalker.com/downloads. 

Now, if you're one of my clients or you've been to my women or my corporate retreat, then you know this next step, you already know. Yep. I want you to dig down, how many times? Three times. And listen, please do it again because every time you come back to this exercise, you have new experiences. You have new fears, you have new things that have popped out. And so this is always going to be different. But this is the real work. I want you to dig down and get the root cause of the belief that is holding you hostage and handcuffing you. 

So, what does this look like when you do the exercise? Right? I'm all about examples. So remember in my example, I was fearful and I felt threatened of going out on that TEDx stage. I felt like it was taking all of me and I allowed myself to feel the magnitude of where I was and all of these negative and limiting thoughts to get inside of my head, remember? But why was I fearful? Ah… Are you good enough? Is your message relatable? Is it witty? Is it even deep enough? Remember that is that first level. But why was I so fearful of that? Right? Because I was wondering if my message would have an impact. What? But that's level two. We're not going to judge you. Okay.

But then why was I fearful of that? It’s because I had now heard other people's talks and now I was questioning what I was bringing to the table. Now I was questioning, should I be doing more? Uh, that's number three. There it is right there, comparison. We'll talk about that on another whole episode. But why would I think that?  I hear from folks all the time about the impact that my words have on them. I know the impact that they even have on me when doing things like this and doing my own exercises, I had evidence that showed me differently. Like you, you have evidence that is to the contrary of that third layer. So I want you to ask yourself, when courage met your fear, what happened?

Now some of you are not going to do the work, and hey, that is absolutely fine. Sometimes it's a lot, right? Sometimes it's a lot to uncover and rediscover. But some of you are ready to dig in and move differently. You want to allow your courage to meet your fear face to face. And if this is you, this exercise is only the tip of the iceberg. You hear me? When you are ready to dig deeper, and leap further and farther into your greatness, I'd love to coach you. So reach out to me at lolitawalker.com/coaching, to get your consultation. I want to help you dig in because when you dig in, you rediscover and reconnect.  This is you becoming your best you. Ooh. I mean, I feel good. How do you all feel? 

Are you ready for some cocktails? I know I am. So what are you celebrating today? What are you celebrating today? Well, me, I'm celebrating just being vulnerable. There is power in your voice and your voice is power. The same way mine becomes power when I talk to you through these podcasts, they just light me up. So what about you? I'm also celebrating you recognizing that there is a fear that is standing before you right now. And that is okay.

So let's go ahead and get into some conversations. 

Lolita Walker: Well, Hey, Ms. Elmora Evans. How are you? 

Elmora Evans: Great. How are you doing? I'm so glad to be here today, on being the first guest of your podcast series. 

Lolita Walker: Yes. Well, welcome to Coaching, Cocktails & Conversation. And welcome to this kitchen table right here, girl. Well, I've already shared with our guests, who are also here with us, that you are a nurse out here in these COVID-19 streets on the front line. And how appreciative that I know that I am and all of us are that you are just standing in and helping people that can't help themselves right now. It has to be just so scary, right? 

Elmora Evans: Yes. Seeing people who are sick and ill and you can do but so much about it to help them. And then at the same time knowing that you've been through it and you know how it is. But what you went through you felt like, in my case, I felt this was the worst that I've ever been sick in my life. I never had the flu. I never felt this way before. But then when I go into the hospital and see patients with COVID, I see that they've been through worse than I have. You got people on a trach. You have people who are on life support. It wears a lot on you because the less you know, as the saying goes, you know, there's always someone else out there worse than you. But it just shows me how blessed that I am, through God's will I conquered it and I'm still here. And I'm able, especially as a nurse when you can relate to the patient, because the patient can feel like they're not alone. And to actually, as a nurse, tell your patient, you know, I had it too. I was down. But look at me now, I'm here. I'm back at work. I got through it. It gives them hope.

It means a lot to be able to come back to work after all of it and to take care of my patients. Because I feel like it's a part, it's a piece of the puzzle that they need to get through their illness in spite of what's going on. 

Lolita Walker: Yes. Oh my goodness. As you said that, it just triggers so many thoughts inside of me. One to say, thank you for going back, but just that relatability to your patients. That hope, that will, that courage. Today is perfect because we're talking when courage meets fear, how you show up differently. And that will drive that walk. So I want to get into the fact that not only did you contract the virus, but then you returned to the same place twenty-one days later. So this is perfect for you to be the guest.

Before we get into it. Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do. 

Elmora Evans: So, I’ve been a nurse since 2008.  I've been doing all the types of nursing from your regular med surge nursing to mental health and dialysis. When it came to this virus, it was a lot going on when you have patients with the virus, you're caring for them and you don't want yourself to present to your patients as having fear. As a nurse, I love what I do. I don't regret it. Even through the illness, you know, I was just praying, had others praying for me. And I'm just glad to still be here, to be able to still care for other people. Just glad to be alive. 

Lolita Walker: Yeah. So let's talk this COVID-19 a little bit. So you survived it. There's so many that did not survive it. There's so many that’s still, as you said, on trachs or in the hospital getting care. I mean, the whole gamut. Some people don't even know that they have it. How did you know you had contracted the virus? What did it feel like? 

Elmora Evans: Well, honestly, I'd say that the symptoms probably started, I'd say about a week and a half to two weeks before I was even diagnosed. I thought it was, honestly, because I get allergies so I thought maybe it was allergies or just some type of cold. I had very bad nasal congestion. And then I started having a fever, and I had a fever for about a little over a week. And then I just got weak. Very, very, very weak. I just like, I couldn't even stand. Just to think now back on it, you just think like, wow, like that's where I was. But it was rough. You know, all I wanted to do was just lay down. One thing I did remember, being a nurse, and what I told my patients who do have it, you let them know, okay, well you breathe, do deep breathing exercise because you don't want to sit there, you know, make things worse for your lungs because the disease, it attacks your lungs. And the room that I was in, I just moved around in circles. When I did get a little strength day by day, I would walk around a little bit. 

Lolita Walker: Do you remember how you felt in the moment that you said, okay,” Something’s not right?” You went to the doctor and then you got your results of being positive? 

Elmora Evans: I knew something wasn't right when I kept having a nasal congestion. And then I couldn't breathe. Like, I was at work. But it was hard for me to breathe because I had so much nasal congestion. And then I had a fever that I knew----That's what triggered me, was the fever, I had a fever. But the thing about it is when I was told that I had the virus I really wasn't shocked. Some people may be shocked and afraid, but I guess as a nurse, you work in it. And I always, you know, me and my co-workers used to tell each other, you know, if we don't have it, we're probably, you know, carriers of it because we're in the midst of it. So when I was told that I had it, it didn't shock me. 

The only thing that I was concerned about was what was going to happen now. Because you know what it does to people.  You know it does more than it does to others, it affects more than it affects others. Some people don't get any symptoms and some people get the whole, you know, they’re on life support, they’re on a trach. So I just didn't know. Okay, now that I have it, what's it going to do to my body? That was what I was concerned with. Not the fact that I had the virus. I wasn't shocked because I mean I'm working in it. So that was bound to happen probably. Anyway. 

Lolita Walker: Is it fair to say you were fearful of the unknown? 

Elmora Evans: Yeah. 

Lolita Walker: Yeah. So now it's been your fourteen day quarantine, was there fear of the unknown sitting in your body anywhere? 

Elmora Evans: It sat in my body to the point where I was wondering if I'm going to get worse, if my health status would get worse. Because I felt---symptoms would change by the day, I could feel the discomfort in my lungs, you know? So I always wondered, like, what's going on? Am I going to be, you know, am I going to wake up? The nights were the worst because I was always fearful. Am I going to wake up in the morning? Because I couldn't go to sleep. It was hard for me to go to sleep. I had a lot of body aches. And you know, when I did go to sleep, you just don't know. So every time I saw daylight, I just thanked God that, okay. I made it another night and made it to another day. One symptom you felt like, okay, I don't feel it any more.  Then another symptom will come on. It was just the fear, like you said, of the unknown. I just didn't know what tomorrow was going to bring or even what tonight was going to bring. 

Lolita Walker: So let's talk courage. You shared with me already that you had to get two negative tests before you were able to go back to work. Your job is calling and saying, ”Hey, it's time for you to come back.” What was going through your head? 

Elmora Evans: Some of my co-workers, when they went to get retested, they were still positive. So the fact that I was negative, you know, for the two tests I was very happy about it. My job, I guess they you know, they're happy that you're doing well and everything, but they need you back at work to care for those patients. Because they don't have anybody else there to care for them, you know, to take your place. So, as nurses, I can't speak for all nurses, but I can speak for myself when it comes to being a nurse, they just want you to be a working. That, I wasn't shocked about that they wanted me to come back to work. But the key is that when they wanted me to come back to work.  A lot of people, when the job wanted them to come back to work, they weren't up to it. Like they were still going through the symptoms, they were still testing positive. So I felt better and stronger enough to say, I'm able to come to work.

 And when I went back to work, I felt like that was the closure of being back to me. I'm back at some of my routine. And that's when I honestly, that 90% turned into 95% and a 100% And now I just feel better because I feel like I'm back doing what I normally do. You know, versus just not being me. But physically I did feel better. I felt better, but it was over time that I felt like it was 
for me to be a 100%. 

Lolita Walker Okay. Okay. When courage meets fear. Before you met us here at this kitchen table, I shared this visual of, imagine you standing there facing your fear. So, facing your fear of the unknown and this is sitting with you. This may be looking like a shadow or whatever it is that it is looking like for you. When you describe what this fear is to you and where it sits inside of your body. But then looking down right beside your feet is this armour. And then you lean down and you pick it up. You're armed with this courage and you're facing your fear. How would you describe courage? The courage It took you to go back to work and face the unknown of, I don't know what I don't know, if I can get this again. Because it's not enough data out there. What does that courage mean to you? 

Elmora Evans: Courage meant a lot of prayer, I prayed more than I think I ever prayed. That helped me with my courage to get over my fear of the unknown. And also the courage of going back to work. I just felt like I had more purpose of going back to work, that motivated me and pushed me to go back to work because I just felt like I just needed it. You know, it's the shortage of nurses, places. And another thing is, you know, you work side by side nurses, we need encouragement. So, to be able to come back to work and to be able to encourage the other nurses that we're going to get through this. I went through it. I came out of it. I'm here. I feel stronger mentally because of the fact that God was able to bring me out. And I also had courage because I had so many people praying for me, people that I didn't even realize would pray for me. People that I didn't even know was praying for me. So that right there was just courage to lift me up and to go. Because like I said, I felt like I had purpose. People need you. They want you, so let's get up and let's do this. You know? 

Lolita Walker: Oh, I love that. I love that. Because you know, you talked about so many things, right there.  You talked about the will.  You talked about motivation.  You talked about prayer, all of those things. I want our guests to recognize that, that is courage. When you pick up that armour with that C on there, you're motivated, right? There's something that's motivating you. You have that drive. You have that will.  You have that ability to now do things differently, right? You have the ability to now face the fear. And so this is all of that inside of you. And I talked to them about standing on your foundation and how strong it is. And one of your foundations that you just talked about was just prayer, right? Just the power of prayer. I love that. It gives me goose-bumps inside.

So, as we're rounding out, whenever we have guests at the kitchen table, I like to ask a couple of questions. I call it, come as you are. You come as you are final rounds. So just say the first thing that comes to your mind, okay? 

Elmora Evans:  Okay. 

Lolita Walker: Why is the work you do so important? 

Elmora Evans: I'm impacting someone's life and I'm helping them. Sometimes the healing and the nourishment that people need, they need it from special people. And a lot of times people will tell me, I don't know how you do what you do. It’s because, as nurses, we have that heart. So I love to do what I do because when people, when patients come to us and then they leave from us, they get discharged in a different way. Even if their health isn't better, but mentally they feel better, mentally they appreciate it. It let you know that you are doing something. Because sometimes it's your heart that needs the help more than your body.  So, to say that, you know, I really appreciate everything you've done. You now. I may still have the illness that I have when I came in here, but I feel at peace. So that is why I do what I do.

Lolita Walker:  I love it. What is one strength that you bring to the table at work that you didn't always recognize was so powerful?

Elmora Evans:  I would say listening. I listen a lot to my co-workers, to the patients. And a lot of my co-workers would tell me you got the patience of Job. Because I take the time to listen to even sometimes, the most difficult patients, I'll take the time to listen to them. And as a nurse, you're so busy doing all this other stuff, but you really don't have time to stop and listen. So I would say listening to patients and being patience is a strength that I have that I at times don't recognize, but I've had people tell me that. 

Lolita Walker:  Yes. I love that. How powerful is that? Right. All right. What's one barrier that is sometimes still in the way of you leaping beyond where you stay in today? 

Elmora Evans:  Ooh. A barrier. I don't know. That's a hard one. I would say being more versatile. Just stepping out the norm to do something different that will impact where I want to be. Sometimes you got to take that extra step or go the extra mile. And you don't know where to start or you don't know if you can do it, so you don't take it. So, I would say, at times, I feel like I do it certain times, but it's not a strength to be able to have the courage to do things out the norm to make that leap. 

Lolita Walker:  Okay. So I'm going to remind you, grab that C that's right beside you on that armour and take that leap. And then, what is one self-care tip or routine that you want to leave with everybody here at the kitchen table? 

Elmora Evans:  Meditation, day and night meditation. So my home is in Virginia and in my home I have a meditation corner. I work in Washington D C. so I stay with my aunt while I'm here working. And when I moved up here to stay with her, while I'm working. I put a meditation corner in my room that I have at her house. So wherever I'm going to lay my head, if I know it's going to be, semi-permanent, I create a space where I can meditate day and night. And that meditation, whether, you know, you're spiritual, as far as whatever your beliefs are in. You can make it however you want to make it, whatever you want to believe in. You just meditate on that. So for me, I do a lot of prayer time in my corner. I converse with God in my corner. I read my Bible, my devotions. I do it day and night because it gets me through the day and it prepares me for the next day. So I'm a strong, strong believer in meditation. A lot of people here and there are like, ah, you know, you think about sitting down Indian style and humming or something. But I'm like, no. Meditation is just focusing on one thing and meditation is food the soul. 

Lolita Walker:  Yes. Before I let you go. This is our last thing that we do right here at the kitchen table.  I want to give a final cheer for this episode number two. If you had to choose one parting toast, what would you cheers to?

Elmora Evans:  I would say cheers to the upcoming courage that you’ll use to fight that fear that you've been fighting. Cheers to you.  You’re about to be courageous, about to have more courage than you ever have.

Lolita Walker:  Well, thank you so much for being here today. Your story has been just food for thought. At least for me, it definitely puts me in a different mind-set of gratitude of reaching down and grabbing that C. Tomorrow is not promised, so it is worth the leap. When we look at fear and we're facing our fears, right in our face and fear staring at you right back. When you put that C on your chest and you have that will.  You have that determination.  You have that drive and motivation, and guess what? You, too, will conquer fear. So, thank you so much Elmora. 

Elmora Evans:  Thank you. Thank you. 

We have concluded another episode of, Coaching, Cocktails & Conversations with Lolita E Walker. Connect with me at lolitawalker.com for speaking, coaching and my book, The Intersection of You & Change. Next time, bring a friend.

Cheers.

 

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**Lolita is a single mommy of a school-aged son.  She is the owner of Walker & Walker Enterprises, a personal and professional coaching and consultancy that helps busy women and teams to truly feel the power in their pause.  Through certified coaching, speaking, courses, her book, podcast, women and corporate retreats, and empowerment products, Lolita meets you where you are to journey you to where you want to be.  Please visit lolitawalker.com for additional information and please do not forget to gift a 5-star podcast rating if you were able to take any amazing nuggets from Lolita or any of her podcasts guests.  It helps her grow organically and....also feels great to read and celebrate that win!  Thank you for listening, sharing, and reviewing.

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Elmora Evans

COVID Survivor & Nurse