Episode 093: The Grief That Shows Up at Barbecues: Memorial Day and the Losses No One Sees

Episode 102: The Vacation You Cannot Afford And the One You Can

By mid-June, your social media feed has become a slideshow of everyone else's vacations. Italy. Cruises. Beach houses. Matching linen outfits in front of mountains. Meanwhile, you are looking at the grocery total and the gas prices, wondering if your summer is somehow falling short. Here is the thing. The vacation you cannot afford is rarely the trip itself. It is something underneath the trip - and once you can name it, the pressure starts to lift. In this episode, we walk through what is actually driving the urge to overspend this summer, how to tell the difference between a vacation that costs your peace and one that fits your life, and a simple way to give your heart what it is really asking for.  What you will hear in today's episode: •  Why comparison hits harder in summer than almost any other season •  How to spot the trip that will cost you more than money •  What the summers your heart actually remembers have in common SCRIPTURE HIGHLIGHT: Hebrews 13:5 Research note: This episode references social comparison research from Ling and colleagues (Frontiers in Psychology, 2023) and the experiential spending research from Van Boven and Gilovich (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2003). Ready for your next step? FREE 5-Minute Daily Reset (instant download): YourNextBestStep.com  [https://YourNextBestStep.com] Weekly encouragement + practical tips: YouTube @CoachJanetJ [https://www.youtube.com/@CoachJanetJ] Instagram: @janetjjaecks [https://www.instagram.com/janetjjaecks/ ] If this episode resonated with you, please follow/subscribe and share with a friend who needs their next step.   One small step. One day at a time.

BONUS: Anger That Went to Bed Too Many Times (YNBS 101)

The four stages anger becomes when we will not deal with it ---- and what Ephesians 4 actually invites us to do instead. Join us for a full episode where we'll walk you through what your body is doing while you keep the peace, two common disguises resentment hides behind, the question that may tell you everything you need to know, and a three-step practice you can use tonight. "The Resentment You Are Calling Patience" (Ep 101) Ready for your next step? FREE 5-Minute Daily Reset (instant download): YourNextBestStep.com  [https://YourNextBestStep.com] Weekly encouragement + practical tips: YouTube @CoachJanetJ [https://www.youtube.com/@CoachJanetJ] Instagram: @janetjjaecks [https://www.instagram.com/janetjjaecks/ ] If this episode resonated with you, please follow/subscribe and share with a friend who needs their next step.   One small step. One day at a time.

Episode 101: The Resentment You Are Calling Patience

Have you ever finished a conversation, smiled, said something gracious, and then forty minutes later replayed every word and realized you had been keeping a very detailed mental ledger? You may be calling that patience. It might be something else. This episode is for the woman who prides herself on being "the patient one" — and is starting to wonder what it is actually costing her. We are looking at the difference between patience and silence, what happens to your body and your closest relationships when anger gets dressed up as a virtue, and a simple evening practice rooted in Ephesians that can change how you carry the day.  Here is what you will walk away with: • A clear-eyed way to tell whether you are actually patient or holding it in at your own expense. • An honest look at what suppressed anger does to your body, your sleep, and your closest relationships. • A sixty-second evening practice you can use tonight, before your head hits the pillow. SCRIPTURE HIGHLIGHT: Ephesians 4:26–27 (NIV) Research note: This episode draws on Gross and Levenson's foundational work on emotional suppression, more recent research on anger and cardiovascular health (Shimbo et al., 2024, Journal of the American Heart Association), and Dr. John Gottman's relationship research on contempt. Ready for your next step? FREE 5-Minute Daily Reset (instant download): YourNextBestStep.com  [https://YourNextBestStep.com] Weekly encouragement + practical tips: YouTube @CoachJanetJ [https://www.youtube.com/@CoachJanetJ] Instagram: @janetjjaecks [https://www.instagram.com/janetjjaecks/ ] If this episode resonated with you, please follow/subscribe and share with a friend who needs their next step.   One small step. One day at a time.

BONUS: Why THE Question Shows Up Now (YNBS 100)

If you are over forty-five and a question keeps surfacing — What if this is all there is? — researchers have a name for what you are experiencing & what the data says about the women who keep walking through it. Join us for the full conversation in EPISODE 100 of Your Next, Best Step! Ready for your next step? FREE 5-Minute Daily Reset (instant download): YourNextBestStep.com  [https://YourNextBestStep.com] Weekly encouragement + practical tips: YouTube @CoachJanetJ [https://www.youtube.com/@CoachJanetJ] Instagram: @janetjjaecks [https://www.instagram.com/janetjjaecks/ ] If this episode resonated with you, please follow/subscribe and share with a friend who needs their next step.   One small step. One day at a time.

Episode 100: What If This Is All There Is?

That question that wakes you up at two in the morning. The one you have never said out loud: What if this is all there is? It is the secret weight underneath every other midlife question. Underneath the wondering about your body, your purpose, your marriage, your faith. And on the one hundredth episode of Your Next, Best Step, we are going to sit with it together — and walk you through the answer one hundred episodes have taught me. In this episode, I will walk you through: * The two-in-the-morning question almost every woman over forty-five carries, and why it is more common than anybody talks about * What Scripture says when you ask the question — and what the longitudinal happiness research has been finding for thirty years that almost nobody mentions in church * The one small shift that pulls you out of "what I missed" and toward "what God is doing now" SCRIPTURE HIGHLIGHT: Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) Research note: The U-curve of well-being across the lifespan, drawing on more than thirty years of research from Dartmouth economist David Blanchflower and recent qualifications from the 2025 PLOS One literature. Ready for your next step? FREE 5-Minute Daily Reset (instant download): YourNextBestStep.com  [https://YourNextBestStep.com] Weekly encouragement + practical tips: YouTube @CoachJanetJ [https://www.youtube.com/@CoachJanetJ] Instagram: @janetjjaecks [https://www.instagram.com/janetjjaecks/ ] If this episode resonated with you, please follow/subscribe and share with a friend who needs their next step.   One small step. One day at a time.