Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hi there, and welcome back to the Midlife Happiness project. I'm Sarah, and I have a really interesting guest today. Her name is Debbie, somebody that I think you're really going to want to meet and hear about. And today we're doing something a little bit different. This particular episode is about giving yourself permission, license to do just that. Try something different, reinvent yourself, if that's what does it for you, try new things. And again, just give yourself permission to make yourself a priority. And this is something that Debbie can certainly speak to.
Hi, Debbie. Thanks for joining us.
[00:00:52] Speaker B: Thank you so much for having me, Sarah. I'm excited to be here.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: Absolutely. Okay, so let's get down to it. Tell me a little about yourself, your story, because it is very compelling.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: Well, when I was 17, I became a caregiver to my dad, who had just turned 46. Actually, it was days before he turned 46. He had a massive stroke. Stroke and survived, but was permanently disabled. And soon after that, my parents divorced, and I became my dad's primary caregiver for the next 30 years. He never lived with me, but I was his person. You know, I was his advocate with money, with a places to live. When he was hospitalized, illnesses, just basically everything. So I learned a lot of stuff in my twenties that most 20 year olds don't have to know and that, like I said, carried on. He said he lived for 30 years. And then when my oldest son was born at two, he was diagnosed on the autism spectrum. So that kind of took being a mom down a different path than I also have a younger son. And then my husband, probably the last five or ten years of his life, really started to become debilitated due to a combination of both physical and mental illness.
And out of the blue, unrelated to either or any of his diagnoses, was diagnosed with a blood cancer, which for him was incurable. And he lived for six months. And I basically stopped working and stayed home and took care of him for the six months until he died. And so my life, you know, never. Nobody ever.
Well, I guess if you want to be a professional caregiver, right, a nurse or a doctor or a therapist, something. But I wanted to be an accountant, so that was definitely not my calling. However, that's how my life turned out. And I would say that, you know, I started off feeling needed and excited, especially as a young girl who, as, as a younger girl, I didn't like to be seen. I have always had a weight issue. Felt like I was always being judged, so wouldn't speak. So in hindsight, the caregiving allowed me to find my voice and my purpose.
But I got to tell you, by the time I was into midlife and I had the son who had autism and the younger son, and I had four employees that I was responsible for and a business and a husband who kind of was like a third child, in a way, I had had it.
And when I turned 50, my friends insisted that we go away for a weekend to celebrate my birthday. And I thought, I can't leave. I can't leave them alone. What's going to happen? They said, it's only two nights. It'll be fine. And I got on that plane, not even on the plane. We met at the airport, and the laughter started, and I pretty much forgot the name of all my relatives.
I never wanted to talk to them. I couldn't care less. And it was just the most amazing time. And during that weekend, I realized that I had literally forgotten who I was as a person. Something came up about my laugh, and I said to them, did people used to comment on my laugh? And they looked at me like, you know, incredulously. And they said, yeah. Like, I didn't remember that. That was a big part of who I was. You know, everyone used to say, oh, you always know where Debbie is, because you hear that laugh, that cackle somewhere is going off. And it was like I lost my laugh. And I.
When they asked me, what do you want to do? It's almost like I'm looking over my shoulder. Who, me?
And it wasn't like I don't want to say, you know, the heavens opened up and music came, and I said, oh, I'm having this aha moment.
But I think in retrospect, for me, it was something about the number 50.
It made me really start to think about my mortality, and not that I would ever change taking care of all of my family members. I would do it again, but I would do it differently because I did it at the sacrifice of myself.
I thought that's what I had to do. To worry about myself was selfish. There was a long list of people I had to think about before I ever got to me, and I never did get to me.
And when I kind of started this journey of changing that attitude, starting to take care of myself in different ways, small ways, kind of snowballed. And over the last decade, I have been on a journey of self discovery and prioritizing myself. And even while I'm still caring for others, because this December 30 will be two years since my husband passed away. So I've been well, on that journey when I was, you know, really in very difficult caregiving for the last six months of his life, but I still managed to make sure that I took care of myself while that was going on. And I don't think it would have survived.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: Your friends, it sound like, played a vital kind of role in this because they kind of kicked you in the ass and said, we're doing this party. And I love that. Cause obviously, us women, we love our friends and we depend on them. And sometimes they tell us stuff that at the time we may not wanna hear. But the point is, you were open to it.
And so let's talk about you now. Are at this point in your life, as you say, so to speak, a light went off and you've decided, enough of this. I need to sort of focus on myself or make myself a priority.
What was the first thing you did for yourself?
[00:07:45] Speaker B: Yep. So, as I mentioned, I have always had a weight problem. And just like anyone who's had a weight problem, and like I said, mine's lifelong. Literally from the time I was a little girl, I have memories of being three and five and people saying things and feeling uncomfortable. So it's been that, you know, yo yo, dieting, roller coaster, you're good, you're bad, you're on, you're off. And that defined me. That defined my, my sense of worth. And I had been on every diet there was, but weight watchers for me was the one that made the most sense. And I decided at that point in time, I wasn't at my heaviest, but I needed to lose 100 pounds, not an insignificant amount of weight.
And I didn't feel like it. I mean, if I'm being honest, I was like, oh, gosh, I have to go back to restricting myself and counting and the whole thing. Oh, I don't. I'm just not feeling it. But yet I knew how important it was and I said, you know what? Here's what I'm going to do.
Instead of going back to weight watchers and saying, oh, gosh, three months. I have to lose 25 pounds in three months or by my birthday or by the summer. Otherwise I'm a failure.
I'm not doing that this time. As a matter of fact, I am not even going to care if I lose weight. The only thing I'm going to focus on is attending that meeting every week. That's it. And that's what I did probably for two plus months, and I didn't lose any weight. But I went to that meeting every week and that was my only goal. And then once I got that down, I added something else. You know, I am going to pay attention to what I eat 50% of the time. You know, small, small milestones along the way, which kind of took the pressure off. And even though a lifestyle change is a buzzword now, it wasn't then. And all of a sudden, I realized my whole life, I felt like a victim of my circumstances, of my caregiving circumstances, of my weight. I have all these skinny girlfriends from the time I was a kid. Why are they so lucky? Why can they eat ice cream? Why can they? You know, I would see people out, and I'd be looking at all the skinny people. What are they eating? Oh, see? She's lucky. She's lucky, she's lucky. I can't do that.
And I realized they're probably not eating that all the time. You know, what was I thinking? And even if they are, so what? It doesn't matter. I can have this mentality of, I'm good, I'm bad, I'm on, I'm off. You know what? Some days I might want to eat ice cream. And if that's what I feel like, and I want to do that, that's fine, nothing's going to happen.
That doesn't mean that I can't make the next best choice the next time.
And it kind of just took the pressure off myself. I said, since this is a lifestyle change, it doesn't matter if it takes me ten years to lose this weight.
And it took me about three years to lose 90 pounds.
[00:11:07] Speaker A: Wow. That's amazing.
[00:11:09] Speaker B: Yeah. And. And since then, I have, you know, maintained it for the most part. I've gone up ten. Sometimes I went up 15, but I caught it, and I've never been able to do that before in my life. And I no longer beat myself up. I no longer look at things as bad and good, and it just. It changed everything. And when I realized that it was.
Wasn't that weight watchers changed. I mean, they change a little bit every couple years. It had nothing to do with that. It was just the way I approached it. And it was just that, that little mindset shift that, oh, it's such a little thing, but it's such a big thing.
[00:11:57] Speaker A: So what I'm hearing from you is that when you decided to embark, I don't want to say on a new life and be overly dramatic, but a new chapter of your life and making yourself a priority. You did things in baby steps, which I think, you know, we can all appreciate, but the other thing that I think is really interesting and worth delving into is this idea of having goals for yourself. I think that this is really important because I think what I hear a lot from people just in general that want to start doing new things. They like talking about it, strategizing about it, kind of having maybe a plan, maybe it happens, maybe it doesn't, you know, but it's all about setting goals and executing on those goals. And it is so personally rewarding to feel like you've checked that box. In your case, one of your goals, of which you have many, was losing weight. And it's so empowering when you have a goal and you're like, I did it. Now you're really fired up to do. What's the next goal? I just have a dear friend, and his goal was to do this enormous hike of half dome at Yosemite. And he trained and he trained and he trained, and he just did it last weekend took him in the neighborhood of 14 hours to complete. And I said, my God, aren't you proud of himself? And he said, yeah, but you know what? It's all about I'm ready for the next challenge. And I thought that's it's almost like it becomes addictive. You have a goal, you achieve it, and then it's, well, what's next? What's next? Can you relate to that?
[00:13:56] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. Completely. Because you get on, you feel that high. You know, even just going to the meeting, I felt great about myself. I set a mini goal and I achieved it.
And, yeah, then it was, oh, I was able to do that, and I made it something like small and easily doable. Right.
It wasn't that hard, but it still took effort on my part.
And then you think, oh, well, if I could do that, maybe I could do this, and maybe I could. Exactly. And, yeah, and then it just builds. And for me, looking back in retrospect, I never in a million years would have ever thought, you know, where that would have led me thus far. And, you know, who knows the rest of the journey.
[00:14:49] Speaker A: So about your journey. I mean, this step of you losing weight, that is only one part of it, as we can see with your good stuff you got going on behind you there. Debbie is very much an entrepreneur, so let's delve into that. I mean, this is yet another thing that you've embraced, and this is a big thing. So tell us about it.
[00:15:15] Speaker B: Well, I have to tell you, this is like. Comes from a dirty little secret.
I had money problems and nobody knew my training. I was a CPA for ten years, practicing for ten years. And for the last 29, I had my own small insurance agency. All to do with numbers. I know the right thing to do with numbers, but. And it's a long story, and I do have the excuses why it happened, and some of them might be valid.
I was getting myself, and I shouldn't just say myself. My husband and I in a lot of trouble. He had nothing to do.
He didn't want to have anything to do with it. And when I would try and broach the subject with him, because he did suffer from anxiety and depression, it would set him into, like, a state. And so I couldn't deal with that. So I decided it's just better to swallow it and keep it to myself. And my girlfriends didn't know either, because I was mortified.
And one day, right before COVID lockdown in February of 2020, Oprah was doing, like, this nine or ten city tour in conjunction with Weight watchers. And in each city, she would have a different celebrity guest. And by me, I'm in New Jersey, in Brooklyn, she was having Michelle Obama. And I said to my cousin, you know, I, we have to go. We just have to go. It's Oprah, blah, blah, blah.
So we go, and it's this amazing day, and at the end of the day, you know, 16,000 people. But Oprah comes out and she turns down the lights because it's at a big stadium, you know, a basketball arena and stuff. And the lights come down. And she tells some really personal story, and she says something like, you know, not what's your secret? But there has been times you have a secret. It's something you don't want to think about. It's a problem. It starts as a pebble. It expands. If you don't address it, it will explode, erupt like a volcano, and then you might have no control. Whereas even if it's difficult now, you're still better off. And I started crying.
And, you know, my cousin didn't know. I think she thought it was probably something to do with my husband, right? And right there and then I said, that's it. She is right.
This sucks. I am. You know, enough with the excuses.
Just like, you know, every woman eating ice cream isn't lucky. And I got to figure this out. And again, I started with baby steps. Again, it was the same thing. It was when, like, Facebook marketplace wasn't as big a deal. I didn't know how to do it. I don't do any of that. And the next thing you know, I'm, like, running around my house finding things, pictures, the whole deal. And I would get so excited if I sold something for $2. I mean, I wound up really getting my whole family into it, you know, everyone I would leave to go to the office, and I'd be like, okay, put the little red thing where I get the money. Put that out at 02:00. The person's coming, you know, leave them all the instructions for the. And they're like, you got $2? I go, I know. And I put that $2 an envelope, and eventually that's gonna pay for all our haircuts, you know, and it that's how it started. And so I said, okay, you know, how do you attack this problem? I know, how what are all the different ways you can either, you know, limit your expenses, increase your income, and that's how it all started. And so at the time, I said, well, how can I make more money? First, I looked at my insurance agency, and I thought, okay, here's how I can do it. Do I want to do it? Nope, I don't want to do that. All right, what's my other choices? And I decided that I was going to. There was some supplement I had started taking that I really enjoyed and felt strongly about, I'm going to do this, but I don't know anything about network marketing. You know, it's different than selling insurance. So I had been listening to podcasts, yada, yada, and the woman talked about this mastermind. She was in this mastermind. I'm like, what is a mastermind? I had no idea.
And the next thing you know, I'm clicking the link for a lot money. A lot of money. Here I am, and I'm thinking to myself, you're doing this to get out of debt, and now you're putting yourself in more debt.
But that decision opened my eyes to a world I never knew existed. This whole online world of entrepreneurship and what people are doing and just connecting with people from all over the world that are so inspiring.
That's where it all started. And from there. I have had so many turns in the road since then, and I've stopped and started a lot of different things trying to figure out, well, what is it? What is the thing that is going to allow me to achieve my goal of helping as many people as possible? Because what I did realize through that journey is that if it took me 50 years to realize that regardless of all these things that have gone on in my life, that I have the power to change it. I wanted to make sure everybody else knew that, because there must be other people out there like me who I consider myself halfway intelligent, and I made it over 50 years and never put this together.
I want to make sure that everyone else knows that.
And how is the best way to do that. And that's what I've been on, you know, kind of trying to figure out since my journey started.
[00:21:52] Speaker A: And this journey involves, oh, I don't know, writing a book. Can you tell us about that?
[00:22:00] Speaker B: So through all the stops and starts, one of the things that kept coming up is my story. Oh, well, you should write a book. Oh, gosh, you have so many, so many different things that have happened to you. And I said, well, okay, first of all, this is a limiting belief that I was trying to get over.
I'm a regular person. My story is not one of incredible, you know, I scaled mountain with one leg and, you know what I mean? Like, thank goodness I don't have some horrible, horrific thing like that. So that's the first thing. So who cares about my ordinary person life?
And I don't know how to write. What the heck? I did everything in college to not take classes that involved a paper.
So I'm gonna have to hire someone. If I really do this, then I'm gonna have to hire someone.
And then one day was listening to a podcast, and it was a podcast I was an occasional listen listener to, not an avid listener.
And she had on a woman who helped first time authors get their stories out there.
I thought, okay, looking over my shoulder, who's sending me this message, this is clearly meant to hear. And I. I connected, you know, I really liked the woman listening, and I got in touch with her and really, you know, told her my story and just loved her and felt very comfortable. And she was about to launch a group for first time authors, helping them, you know, twelve week group together, go through the process. And I knew that if I was ever to do it, I was never going to be able to do it on my own, because I had no idea what to do. I have always enjoyed groups. You know, I like the. I've always found support groups really helpful. Anybody together for a common cause, I find helpful.
But I was mulling it over, and then my husband was diagnosed with the blood cancer, and I was speaking to my therapist and I said, well, I'm embarrassed to even say that. I'm a like, kind of still thinking about joining this group at a time like this. Like, it's ridiculous. I don't know what's going to happen. And what am I even thinking?
And she said, I disagree with you. She said, I think this is the perfect time for you to join this group because you're going to need something during this difficult time just for you. And I said, well, what if I can't make it? What if there's homework and I don't have the homework? And she said, who cares?
Well, yeah, I guess you're right. I guess I have a good excuse, like, who cares?
And so I joined, and I didn't, I have to say, I still didn't believe that I was really gonna do it, and not because of my husband, just like the whole idea of writing a book, like a book.
And it did save me because what I wound up doing was once I was able to kind of, you know, I was a little inspired by the other people, if we went on together, and it was like, what's your goal for next week? Well, I'm gonna write, you know, this many words. And I'm thinking, well, I don't want to be the only one who shows up again. Not that anybody. I had, unfortunately, the best excuse going.
And once it took me a little while to kind of be clear on my direction and what I was doing, but once I was, then I was committed, and then I was able to say, if I have to get up tomorrow at 06:00 before and start be writing by 06:00 before Gary, my husband, gets up, that's what I'm going to do. If Gary's in the hospital, then I'm bringing my computer and my drinks and my food. I looked like I was moving in. Every day. I'm bringing it, and I'm writing when he's sleeping. You know, I really tried to write most days of the week, even if it was just for a short amount of time. And it was hard, not just finding the time. It didn't come easily to me because it's not. It wasn't my thing. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't something I was comfortable with. So, you know, it was challenging. And when he died, I was three chapters shy of finishing.
[00:26:57] Speaker A: Well, I have to say, there are two themes that I'm kind of getting from your story, and one, which I love that you've said quite a few times, and it really resonates, is this idea of time and that often people don't embark on something because they think, oh, it's going to take so long to actually become proficient at that or finish this or whatever, and it's so daunting and overwhelming. That it just never takes off because of it. And I like your attitude about who cares? You attack something with baby steps and if it takes you six weeks, six months, six years, you are all in with the journey and that there is value and you find happiness in the journey. It is not all just cut to the end result. I think really that message we cannot sort of punctuate enough, because I know for myself personally, you know, if occasionally I think of setting a goal for myself, and it's almost like the minute you sign up for something, there's this little voice that's talking yourself out of it, oh, my gosh, this is going to take forever.
You weren't thinking this through and then it just takes the wind out of your sails. But if you can convince yourself, hey, there's no rush at the end of the day, if your goal is just to do it and you don't put tremendous pressure on yourself to get it done by a certain time, just start.
It's like if they say you're training for a marathon, it's all about 1ft in front of the other. The other thing that I think is really, really interesting about your story, and I think that a lot of people listening and watching today will really benefit from, is this idea of doors. You have had many doors or opportunities that present themselves to you, but you are smart enough, you're wise enough, you're motivated enough that to recognize that there's an opportunity here. Be it your visit to the Oprah show or you hear about something else, about weight Watchers, it's all fine and, well, people have opportunities and doors that could be open, presented to themselves all the time, but they don't see it as that and they just move on. I think that it's one thing to take advantage of an opportunity, but it's quite another to recognize that there is an opportunity.
[00:29:59] Speaker B: I couldn't agree more. And, you know, when you're saying about how it doesn't matter how long it's going to take, it makes me think of when I got started with this and actually, I guess I had written the book and this acquaintance I saw at the gym, it's not someone I see regularly or anything.
She said, you know, she said, I'm so impressed with what you did. She said, I happen to notice this project that I started three years ago and found it collecting dust on the shelf and thought to myself, well, why didn't I ever do that? And, you know, the three years is going to pass anyway, right?
[00:30:47] Speaker A: Right.
[00:30:48] Speaker B: What? Isn't it better off, even if you're 10% further down the road.
[00:30:54] Speaker A: Mm hmm.
[00:30:55] Speaker B: And I don't know the exact statistic, and it's like 80 something. 83% of people want to write books, and I was not one of them, by the way, but, like, 3% do. Why is that?
[00:31:11] Speaker A: Mm hmm.
[00:31:14] Speaker B: Because it's a daunting, like you said, it's a daunting task.
And, yeah, you've got to the people.
[00:31:24] Speaker A: That seize the day and those that don't. But we can all appreciate living with regret is not something anybody wants to do. And obviously, you starting a business and becoming an authorization and engaging as an online entrepreneur for a lot of people, that in itself is far too overwhelming. But to your point earlier, it's hardly about what it is. It's just finding your thing, whatever that might be, creating something, taking control of your finances, losing weight. These are all goal driven activities that if you succeed, you get such a feeling of accomplishment. And, like we keep saying, that's only going to push the ball forward more with you wanting to just keep doing that, keep challenging yourself, keep. Keep making sure you're always feeling inspired and busy, which is a huge thing, you know?
And so I through your story that that definitely is. Is coming out in spades, without a doubt.
[00:32:47] Speaker B: No, I agree. I think that, you know, and you said before about the happiness part, and it sounds so cliche, so I really hate to say it, but it is all about the journey, because it's such a journey of self discovery. If, like you said, it's like, you listen to the whispers that the universe is giving you and you so can easily walk. Right? Bye. Right? And just like, there is no way that someone was not knocking me over the head when I happened to turn on that podcast to hear that woman speak about first time authors. And that's what I thought to myself, seriously, if you don't do something now, you're a fool.
Just see where it leads you. I mean, like I said, over the past three or four years, I have, like, stopped and started several things. I tried something. Not for me. Does that mean nothing is for me? No, this wasn't for me. So let me try another path. Right. It's so each. It's not a failure. It's giving you information. Right. Okay, I can check that one off the box. That's not the way to go next.
Instead of just letting it stop you dead in your tracks and say, see, this was ridiculous.
Why?
[00:34:21] Speaker A: And all those. And all the things that didn't work out, it just fine tunes.
What it is. You want. I hate to use this analogy, but let's just say it's a lot like dating. You know, you meet somebody, you say, well, that was a waste of an hour. I just had dinner with this guy and, well, that's never going to work out. Well, no, because now you have, again, you've just sharpened your sense of what you're not interested in, which helps define what you are interested in. So I think that's, that's, that's very true. I love your attitude, your outlook, and that anything, truly anything, is possible and manageable if you just break it down into steps as opposed to seeing it as this overwhelming wall that you have to somehow climb over. And obviously, you know, the theme of this show, we are all about being happy. So obviously, you know, when I talk about challenges and setting goals for yourself, all this is part of the happiness journey. It's, as you pointed out. You know what's interesting? I use this analogy. I like to entertain a lot. And as my husband will tell you, I love the process of getting ready for the party. The list, the decorations, what are we doing for entertainment? All of that is literally as fun as the event itself. So much so that when the party actually happens, I often look back on it and say, I wish I could just, like, plan the whole thing all over again.
It's as much about the process as it is about the result. And I've thought about that a lot. I guess, in the terms of life being a party, I don't know whether I'd say life is a party, but I think about that a lot. So just the build up, the journey, the process, whatever word you want to use, that can be as much a part of sort of your happiness as the end result, too.
[00:36:38] Speaker B: You know, when I started the entrepreneurial journey, you know, if I am working at my insurance agency, which, like, it's not a bad thing, it's fine. I'm not. It's not like I wake up in the morning and go, oh, I can't believe I have to go there. It's not that feeling. But yet, do I want to, like, be working till seven or 08:00 at night? Not really. Do I want to go there on the weekend? Absolutely no. And what I found was, when I started this whole journey, what are you doing this weekend? Well, I'm working on Saturday. I have a lot to do on Saturday. And then I think I'm probably going to have to do this and this on Sunday.
And I was loving that it wasn't a job it wasn't a chore, and it still isn't.
And that's how I know that I'm on the right path.
[00:37:32] Speaker A: You are 100% right. And I love it because I think, again, not to beat it over the head, but it is really, really important to recognize that you are certainly somebody who can, we can all really learn from, because, as you said, nobody is lucky. Nobody just has it in spades. You are somebody who has dealt with tremendous loss, tremendous challenges, and it would have been just as easy, probably easier, for you to just be so exhausted and just say, you know what? This is what I do for a living. I'll just keep the status quo, keep doing what I know to do, and just sorry, as you put it, just sort of feel sorry for yourself. And nobody would have blamed you for that, by the way. But you were an advocate for yourself and said, nope, that's not going to happen to me. I have every right to be as happy as anybody else. The only difference is this is going to be on me to make it happen, having lost a partner. So I so commend you. I think you are an amazing person. And for anybody listening or watching today, it's Debbie Weiss. Feel free to look her up. And do you want to talk about a little bit about your business, your online business?
[00:39:05] Speaker B: Sure. Thank you for those compliments. But honestly, I'm not amazing.
And the reason I'm saying that is because I did think I was a victim for, like I said, at least 50 years. On the outside, I didn't, by the way. I always kind of had an upbeat, bubbly personality. But on the inside, I did. And I was also not the kind of person to do any of these things that I have been doing. And so the reason that I say that is that I just want people to know that I'm not anything special. I'm not extraordinary. All I did was say, crap, I'm 50.
I see my parents. I saw my father live with regrets. I see my mother live with regrets. Just like you said earlier, I don't want to be that person. Like, I don't want to wind up that way and look where I am now. And if it's. If I died today, I would be that person.
And it was scary. I think that idea scared me into thinking I got to start thinking differently. So I just want to say that because, no, I'm nothing special.
Just like everybody else. We're all special. But you know what I'm saying? So thank you. So, Debbie, rweiss.com is the best place to find me. That's my website. And so I do have a memoir called on second thought, maybe I can. That is just, that's the book that I wrote when my husband was dying. And I finished it, um, two weeks after his death. And I did write, uh, about three months after he died. I wrote an epilogue about. About the day he died, just as a real upbeat there, you know, seller. Oh, gee.
And in November, I'm coming out with my next two books. Uh, it's called the Sprinkle effect, a guide to living a more colorful and fulfilling life. So how to sprinkle little things, little changes, little ideas into your life to start making these changes. And then I have an accompanying workbook that goes along with it.
[00:41:32] Speaker A: Okay, well, I encourage everybody, go out there, seek this out. Debbie is obviously a wonderful voice and something that I think you're just sort of saying things that I think, you know, we all kind of get, but we need to be reminded of. And on that note, again, Debbie, thank you. Thank you so much for being with us today. Really appreciate it. You're clearly a very authentic person. I love that about you. Thank you so much for being here today.
[00:42:05] Speaker B: Oh, thank you, Sarah. It's been great.
[00:42:07] Speaker A: Oh, I'm glad.
And with that, thank you for joining us on the Midlife Happiness project. And please remember to subscribe. It's only when you subscribe that we can continue to bring you this exciting podcast. And we love doing it, and we just want to keep doing it. So please, please, please remember to subscribe. Thank you so much. And again, join us next time for the midlife Happiness project.
