4092: Oh, Linda by Josie Michelle Davis on Life Lessons

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[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_00] This is Optimal Living Daily. Oh, Linda! By Josie Michelle Davis of JosieMichelleDavis.com I'm your narrator Justin Malik reading you articles to bring a bit more inspiration, motivation and happiness to your day. A little daily practice that compounds over time. So with that, let's keep compounding as we optimize your life. Oh, Linda! By Josie Michelle Davis of Josiemichelledavis.com

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00] Hiking through the rainforest can be a magical thing. The lush greenery all around, the far-off sounds of birds you've only ever seen in a zoo chatting with one another, the light rain on your face, and the deep smell of mossy rocks. What's not so magical is getting stuck in a downpour under a lean-to with a woman named Linda, who insists on calling everyone she's ever met and loudly talking to them about how her arthritis is putting a bit of a damper on her dating life.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_00] I don't mind rain. For a few minutes, me and Frank stood together under the lean-to, watching the rain fall with only the steady beats of drops falling around us. I love the sound of rain. Probably because I'm a fairly privileged white girl whose only really bad experiences with rain were when it put a bit of a damper on our family's day at Epcot and I had to buy children's large sweatpants because my jeans got soaked through. Seriously though, why does it always rain on Epcot day? I mostly find rainstorms charming and even calming

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00] and was perfectly happy to stand with my husband's arms wrapped around me, watching the rain until it slowed. And then, Linda came. I was standing on the edge of the lean-to looking down the hill when a middle-aged woman came towards me, waving frantically and yelling, I found you! I instantly attempted to hide behind Frank, which doesn't work so well since I'm a nearly six-foot-tall tree of a gal. The woman quickly realized that me and my husband were not the date that she had lost on the mountain,

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_00] but decided it was best to hang out with us under the shelter anyway. I did what I always do in awkward social situations and promptly pretended I'm deaf and mute and have no way of communicating with other humans, so I might as well just face the opposite direction and watch the rain some more and hope you don't insist on talking to me. Linda was not hindered by us not budding up to her though, even though we were thousands of feet up the side of a mountain, she somehow had the teeny-tiniest bit of reception on her cell phone,

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00] which made it possible for her to voice the text, leave rambling voicemails, and call everyone she's ever met. We heard all about her date that presumably had abandoned her and left her for dead in a Puerto Rican rainforest. We heard about how she was aggressively trying to get a co-worker to spend more time with her, despite this woman spurring her advances, her words by the way, and we heard her lament about how tough dating is when you have arthritis in your hands. It was awkward to say the least.

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00] After five minutes that felt more like an hour, we decided to venture into the pouring rain and hike as swiftly as we could down the mountain in fear that Linda might catch up to us and we would be forced to listen to more phone calls and dictated text messages. I couldn't help but think how incredible it is that you would hike through the rainforest and still be unable to put your phone down and enjoy what's around you. But if I'm totally honest with myself, I do that too. Sure, I don't make phone calls unless absolutely necessary.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00] Why can't doctors just text you anyway? And I certainly am not going to voice the text in public when my hands are perfectly free. I mean, come on guys, why even bother texting at that point? But I'm sure way more often than I realize, I'm standing somewhere amazing and beautiful and I'm too busy scrolling through Instagram to even notice. I'm not someone who thinks technology is evil, quite the opposite in fact. I have no desire to get rid of my iPhone or live in some remote cabin without internet. I think all of that stuff is awesome actually.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00] I believe Instagram has truly pushed me creatively. I love that I can check out an ebook or audiobook from my library and read it right on my phone. Heck, without the internet and AIM, I wouldn't have had half my boyfriends. The real question is, am I able to disconnect when real life calls? Am I able to put down my phone and enjoy the sound of rain in the actual rainforest when it's right there in front of me? I really hope so.

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_00] But maybe Linda was there to remind me to pay attention and not miss out on what's happening. So, thanks Linda. I really will try to be more present this year. And also will try my best to avoid arthritis by whatever means necessary. You just listened to the post titled, Oh Linda! by Josie Michelle Davis of Josiemichelledavis.com And I'll be right back with my commentary. Back to school starts now.

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[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00] I think anyone could relate to at least part of this one. Here's someone standing in the middle of a rainforest thousands of feet up and she's on the phone the whole time. It's easy to judge that, but I like that Josie turned it around on herself, admitting she probably does the same thing. Standing somewhere beautiful while scrolling and missing it. So it's not really about Linda. It's about pretty much all of us.

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_00] I'm sure most of us can think of a time we were somewhere amazing and only half there because part of us was looking at the screen. And this one reminds me of an episode I did on my guided walking meditation podcast. We walk and mindfully ignore our screens for a bit on the show, which is nice. I love it if you can check that out too. You can walk along with me sort of like I'm an accountability partner for you. You should be able to find that podcast wherever you're listening to this. It's called Step Into Calm and look for the one from Optimal Living Daily.

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_00] But one thing I'd add is that Josie makes a good point that the goal isn't to throw the phone away. It's just being able to put it down consciously. So maybe today find one beautiful moment, even a small one and leave the phone in your pocket for it. Or again, come join me on the Step Into Calm podcast and we'll definitely do it together. That's a good place to stop for today though, especially if you're ready to walk for 10 minutes or so. Have a great rest of your day.

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_00] Thank you for being here and I'll see you tomorrow where your optimal life awaits. Thank you for coming. We'll see you tomorrow. clogged a little bit of a bit.

[00:08:42] Sghtmyshirt is about 90 minutes. .