I'm Emily P. Freeman and welcome to the next right thing.

You're listening to episode 250.

This is a podcast about making decisions but also about making a life.

If you struggle with decision fatigue or chronic hesitation

or if you just need a few minutes away from the constant stream of information

and the sometimes delightful but also distracting hum of entertainment

you're in the right place for discerning your next right thing.

Well hopefully you know by now that just doing the next right thing

is not something that's necessarily going to protect us from harm, regret, or embarrassment.

But hopefully it can be a practice that keeps us present, moving, and from being too hard on ourselves.

Listen in.

In his book Souvenirs of Solitude, author Brennan Manning tells a story

about having a disturbing phone call right before he was scheduled to speak

to inmates at a local prison.

He writes,

I left the monastery to give a talk at Trenton State Prison

and began with the outrageous greeting.

Well it's nice to see so many of you here.

He writes about this experience saying frequently not inform on top or in control.

That is part of my poverty as a human being

and self-acceptance without self-concern simply expresses a reality.

An impoverished spirit prevents the poor man from being a tyrant to himself.

...