And just like that, it's time for the weekly pep talk again.

It's Sunday night and these are a little many episodes that we gave you just to get your mind

right. My mom spends about five minutes with you. Give us something positive to get your

week started out. Appreciate you listening to these. And without further ado, my mother and the

pep talk right after this. I finished reading a book that a friend recommended by Parker Palmer

on the brink of everything, grace, gravity, and getting old. And I wanted to share just one

little piece of this chapter with you. And he says, move toward whatever you fear,

not away from it. I try to remember the advice I was given on an outward bound course

when I was frozen with fear on a rock face in the middle of a hundred foot repel.

If you can't get out of it, get into it. If, for example, you fear the other,

get into his or her story face to face and watch your fear shrink as your empathy expands.

I think those are wonderful words of wisdom for us, not only in our own personal lives for

us embracing the fears in our own life. And now I've always had a fear of the water.

I work on that at the lake because I enjoy the lake. I'm getting a little bit fearful of

driving on the, every way now because I see this past week, I've seen ladders flung in the air

and a fender fly off a car and, you know, crazy things are happening out there. But I don't want

that fear to block me from getting in my car and going where I need and want to go because that's

important. But he's speaking specifically about the people in our lives that we fear.

And I'm thinking particularly about political figures right now. There are many of those that I

found fearful for our country and for democracy. And so this week, I'm going to try to look at them

with new eyes. It would be wonderful to sit down and have a face-to-face conversation with them.

And I do recommend that you do that with anyone that you're struggling with or that you're fearful

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