Maximizing Life in the Middle Podcast

Today's announcement tells you where you can now find us. Tune in and be sure to stop in and visit!

In this episode, we capitalize on a severe rain storm to record an episode for you! Sometimes when your life is already feeling "maxed out" you have to squeeze even a few more drops out of it!

Do you find it hard to juggle things during the summer with your kids? So far this summer, we have found a way to make it all work successfully, where everyone wins! Tune in to find out how!

In this episode, we invite you to join us as we process through the steps to overcome a foul mood and get back to a calmer, happier state. 

This is one of my favorite episodes. We talk about how helpful it is when both spouses are supportive of the things they are doing, individually and collectively. We hope that you find some ideas and inspiration in this episode!

In this episode, we discuss a recent injury Jay has been dealing with and how he has worked to keep a positive frame of mind. We hope this helps any of you struggling with anything out there!

In this episode, we talk about welcoming spring and what the looks like in our home and in our lives. Erin relates the cycle of the seasons to the phases of the moon and the times of the day. We hope you enjoy!

In this episode, we talk about introducing our kids to our passions and whether that is a good idea and if so, how to go about it. We hope we give you some good food for thought in this episode, and we share what we think is the deepest goal for parents.

In this episode, we talk about how important it is to build your tribe in whatever it is you do. It is valuable to find like-minded people doing similar work in the world. This gives you people to collaborate with and bounce ideas off of. It is helpful to organize gatherings with people in your space. We talk about all of this and more in this episode!

Due to a "maximum life" the past few weeks, we recorded this episode while we were on the road again. Finding time to fit things in when your life is full can be challenging, but it is vitally important to make sure you make time for the things and people who really matter to you.

In today's episode, recorded on Sydney's actual 17th birthday, we look back over our lives since she was born and the impact that she made on each of us. We were not incredibly emotional during this episode, but a fair warning that you may want to listen with a tissue, because we can't promise you won't be....

In this episode, we talk about the value of moving our bodies and caring for ourselves. The more full your life gets, the easier it is to let fitness go out the window. But that is the last thing we should be doing. We talk about how to get back on track and take care of our bodies - the only vehicle we will ever truly have!

In today's episode, we talk about our broken hot water heater and how we used it to bring huge amounts of gratitude into our lives and how you can too!

We had so much fun recording this episode after celebrating our Eagles' Super Bowl win this past weekend. We talk a little about aspects of the game, interesting stories that led the players and the team to get to where they are and really inspiring stories that we have heard this week. We hope you have as much fun listening to it as we had recording it!

In this episode, we talk about snow days and how to manage them successfully when you have kiddos. I also share one of my words for 2018 - FUN - and why I chose it!

In this episode, we talked about the power of decluttering to help clear out your physical and mental space to achieve your goals and dreams. Join us!

The new year is a great time to re-evaluate where you are and where you are going. This year, we decided to try a different approach to staying committed to our goals and we wanted to share it with you here!

This 20th show is a milestone for us. We are so excited to have created 20 episodes already! 

In this episode, we talk about the upcoming holidays and being triggered and how they both tie together. 

To continue the holiday traditions or not?

THAT is the question... or is it?

Listen to find out!

In this episode, we talk about how the cyclical nature of being a creative person. There are times when we are called to create and produce, and there are times when we are called to learn and grow so that we can create and produce even better work in the future. And this concept can apply to many areas of life.

In this episode, we talk about the things we are thankful for, in our lives as well as in our "podcast" world.

In this episode, we come back to finish talking about a particularly aggressive soccer game that our son was involved in recently. Jay wanted to ponder what might be going on in the minds of the coaches, players and parents on both teams, so join us as we take this little journey into their minds....

In this episode, we talk about a game that our son played in during last week's soccer tournament. This game illustrated a lot of what is wrong with youth sports today. We talk about many different aspects of the game and the situation, but Jay brings up some powerful questions that are so good, we decided to save them and cover part 2 of this topic in episode 17!

Recently, our son found himself in a situation where he got a chance to utilize one of the things we discussed with him months ago. In this story, we share the value of open communication and why it is so vital to build that line of communication between you and your child.

In this episode, we talk about how easy it is to get distracted when you live a maximized life. How do we manage all the stimuli that is coming at us? And how do we support each other when we do get distracted? This is the ultimate question, right? In this episode, we talk about some ideas to help keep the Monster of Distraction at bay!

In this episode, we talk about the first week back to school and how it flew by and how it went in our family. Sometimes, life goes faster than we can keep up and sometimes it goes slower. That is part of why I am fascinated by time.

In this episode, we talk about Jay's decision to transition from comic book artist to comic book writer and what a surprising challenge that has been for him. But in this transition, he learned a lot about the importance of not attaching too much to our identities, as that can impede our growth. 

In this episode, we talk about our annual camping trip that now includes over 35 people most years and how it has changed in the 20+ years we have been doing it. This has been a great opportunity to watch marriages flourish (or perish), watch children grow and see how lives weave together but uniquely on their own journey.

In this episode, we continue our talk about decluttering, but this time we are not talking about decluttering our physical space. Rather, we talk about decluttering our mind, our time and our lives overall. We asked an important question - how do you determine what is a priority in your life and then how do you go about prioritizing it? 

In episode 5, we talk about our son's freshman year of high school playing on the varsity volleyball team and helping him to see his frustrations with the season from a different angle so that he could see all the good that came out of it. We can apply this technique in all of our challenging or frustrating situations, even when dealing with a serious illness, loss or something similar.

We also talked about a concept we heard about giving 100% of yourself to every interaction you have with another person for an entire day. Could you do it?

Finally, we talk about being vigilant about not making negative or limiting statements. They are so subtle sometimes that we might not even recognize them when we say them.

How do we do all that we do? It takes a village to raise a child and we couldn't do it without Jay's wonderful mom! She is always there to help us with our kids and their schedules. It also takes a good deal of "calendar syncing" to make sure we are doing what we want to do and making sure everyone gets where they need to be. 

One of the most fundamental beliefs we share is that we each chose to spend our lives with the other one of us. Who are we to tell the other person how they should be spending their time? If the activity makes the other person happy and can fit in with our lifestyle, why not? And then, with all that we have going on, how do we not become ships passing in the night?

In episode #3 we talk about a stand that our daughter and her classmates took to be allowed to wear tank tops to school when the weather gets warm. The initial reason years ago for banning tank tops in her school was so that boys would not be "distracted" by seeing girls' shoulders. At what point does it stop being the girl's responsibility to not be a distraction and instead become a boy's responsibility to not be distracted by the girl? We also talk about how each individual is responsible for their own behavior and should not blame their choices on another person. We cannot control what happens in the world; we can only control our own response.

In this episode, we talk about how things might have fit in one phase of our lives but no longer fit or how we would love them to fit but they don’t quite yet. The phrase “have it all” should be changed to “have all that you want” because if you try to have it all, your life will be over-stuffed and stressful and much of “it” is not even something that fits your life anyway. At the end of this episode, we offer our listeners a useful activity they can do to take a good look at their lives.

In this episode, we introduce ourselves and our reason for creating this podcast. How do you live a life where you feel like you have it all without actually needing to have it all? We talk about the main ingredients to a fulfilling life – strong communication, following your passions, finding your tribe, being willing to be vulnerable, deepening your awareness, being open and always willing to learn. In marriage, it is important to have each other’s backs, not take things personally and cheer each other on. As parents, it is important to work together and grow together, allowing your children to show you the way.