Finding Peace in the Middle of Unfinished Stories

When Everyone Needs You - and You're Running on Empty

I’d love to hear from you- send a text! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2505139/fan_mail/new] What happens when everyone needs you, but you are running on empty? In this episode of Life of Joy & Purpose, Vicki Gardiner, LPC talks honestly about chronic depletion, midlife responsibility, menopause symptoms, gratitude, and the quiet emotional weight many women carry every day. If you are the woman who keeps showing up for everyone else while ignoring your own exhaustion, this conversation will help you slow down and listen to what your body, nervous system, and heart have been trying to say. Vicki discusses common menopause and perimenopause experiences like hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disruption, mood changes, brain fog, and the frustration of navigating real physical changes while responsibility keeps demanding more. This episode also explores gratitude in a grounded way, not as toxic positivity or a reason to silence yourself, but as a gentle practice that can help you notice goodness without denying what is hard. With a little body-awareness and emotional-energy language, Vicki invites you to ask, "Is this mine to carry?" and "What do I need today?" You will learn the simple G.R.A.C.E. Check-In ritual: Ground. Recognize. Ask. Choose. Express gratitude. This two-minute daily practice is designed to help depleted women reconnect with themselves before they pour themselves out again. You can be grateful and exhausted. Responsible and supported. Needed and nourished. You do not have to carry everything alone. This episode is educational and supportive and is not a substitute for medical or mental health care. Please consult a qualified healthcare provider for menopause symptoms, disruptive sleep, mood changes, or any bleeding after menopause. #hormones #menopause #perimenopause #GRACE #stuck #tired #exhaustion Thanks so much for joining me today on Life of Joy & Purpose. If this episode spoke to you, I’d love for you to subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a friend who’s on the journey too. You can connect with me on Instagram @vickigardinerlpc. [https://www.instagram.com/vickigardinerlpc] Sign up for my monthly newsletter filled with encouragement, practical tools, and soul-aligned inspiration for midlife women who are ready to live with clarity, joy, and purpose.  Click here to sign up! [https://stan.store/vickigardinercoaching] Until next time—take a deep breath, stay true to yourself, and remember: joy and purpose are already within you. You’re just uncovering it—one step at a time. 🎧 If you loved this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone you love.  Free 2 Min Check-In: The CARE Map Inventory [https://stan.store/vickigardinercoaching/p/the-care-checkin-free-guide-xhb4kp1r]

Feeling Stuck? How One Micro-Alignment Can Bring Joy Back.

I’d love to hear from you- send a text! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2505139/fan_mail/new] DO YOU FEEL STUCK, EVEN THOUGH NOTHING IN YOUR LIFE LOOKS OBVIOUSLY WRONG?  IN THIS EPISODE OF LIFE OF JOY & PURPOSE, VICKI GARDINER, LPC EXPLORES WHY JOY DOES NOT ALWAYS REQUIRE A BIG LIFE CHANGE. SOMETIMES IT BEGINS WITH ONE HONEST ADJUSTMENT. VICKI SHARES A TENDER UPDATE ON HER GRANDDAUGHTER GOLDIE, WHO DID WELL WITH HER FIRST CHEMOTHERAPY TREATMENT AND WILL HAVE HER NEXT TREATMENT THIS UPCOMING WEEK. FROM THERE, SHE OFFERS A GROUNDED, EMOTIONALLY HONEST CONVERSATION ABOUT STUCKNESS, MIDLIFE RECALIBRATION, AND THE RETICULAR ACTIVATING SYSTEM, THE BRAIN'S AROUSAL AND ATTENTION SYSTEM THAT HELPS SHAPE WHAT WE NOTICE. THIS EPISODE IS NOT ABOUT MAGICAL THINKING OR PRETENDING LIFE IS EASY. IT IS ABOUT LEARNING TO ASK A BETTER QUESTION: "WHAT IS ONE HONEST ADJUSTMENT AVAILABLE TO ME RIGHT NOW?" YOU WILL LEARN A SIMPLE MICRO-ALIGNMENT PRACTICE CALLED PAUSE, NOTICE, ADJUST, PLUS PRACTICAL WAYS TO SHIFT YOUR TIME, ENERGY, WORDS, BOUNDARIES, ATTENTION, BODY, ENVIRONMENT, AND FAITH ONE SMALL STEP AT A TIME. IF YOU ARE A HIGH-CAPACITY WOMAN WHO FEELS TIRED, STUCK, OR DISCONNECTED FROM JOY, THIS EPISODE WILL HELP YOU STOP WAITING FOR A DRAMATIC LIFE OVERHAUL AND BEGIN RETURNING TO YOURSELF IN SMALL, HONEST WAYS. FOLLOW OR SUBSCRIBE TO LIFE OF JOY & PURPOSE FOR GROUNDED CONVERSATIONS ABOUT MIDLIFE, EMOTIONAL HEALING, NERVOUS SYSTEM REGULATION, FAITH, JOY, AND PURPOSE. Thanks so much for joining me today on Life of Joy & Purpose. If this episode spoke to you, I’d love for you to subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a friend who’s on the journey too. You can connect with me on Instagram @vickigardinerlpc. [https://www.instagram.com/vickigardinerlpc] Sign up for my monthly newsletter filled with encouragement, practical tools, and soul-aligned inspiration for midlife women who are ready to live with clarity, joy, and purpose.  Click here to sign up! [https://stan.store/vickigardinercoaching] Until next time—take a deep breath, stay true to yourself, and remember: joy and purpose are already within you. You’re just uncovering it—one step at a time. 🎧 If you loved this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone you love.  Free 2 Min Check-In: The CARE Map Inventory [https://stan.store/vickigardinercoaching/p/the-care-checkin-free-guide-xhb4kp1r]

The Invisible Load Midlife Women Carry (And Why It's So Heavy)

I’d love to hear from you- send a text! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2505139/fan_mail/new] Why do so many strong, capable midlife women feel exhausted even when they are getting everything done? In this deeply personal episode of Life of Joy & Purpose, therapist and coach Vicki Gardiner, LPC explores the invisible mental and emotional load women carry: remembering, anticipating, caregiving, managing emotions, preventing problems, and quietly holding everyone together. Vicki also shares tender family news about her six-month-old granddaughter's early retinoblastoma diagnosis and the single photograph that led to immediate care at St. Jude. This experience offers a powerful reminder that life does not change through one perfect plan. Often, it changes through one honest, aligned choice at a time. You will learn how chronic stress, cognitive overload, attachment patterns, the inner critic, and nervous system survival responses can shape identity and fuel overfunctioning. Vicki guides you through a calming emotional reset and a practical weekly exercise: name the load, decide what is yours to carry, share, or release, and put down one responsibility. This episode is for the woman who is always the strong one, the caregiver, the problem-solver, and the person everyone depends on. You can care deeply without abandoning yourself. You do not have to carry everything alone. Follow or subscribe to Life of Joy & Purpose for grounded conversations about midlife, emotional healing, nervous system regulation, identity, faith, joy, and purpose. This podcast is educational and supportive and is not a substitute for medical or mental health care. Contact a qualified provider with questions about your health or a child's health. Thanks so much for joining me today on Life of Joy & Purpose. If this episode spoke to you, I’d love for you to subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a friend who’s on the journey too. You can connect with me on Instagram @vickigardinerlpc. [https://www.instagram.com/vickigardinerlpc] Sign up for my monthly newsletter filled with encouragement, practical tools, and soul-aligned inspiration for midlife women who are ready to live with clarity, joy, and purpose.  Click here to sign up! [https://stan.store/vickigardinercoaching] Until next time—take a deep breath, stay true to yourself, and remember: joy and purpose are already within you. You’re just uncovering it—one step at a time. 🎧 If you loved this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone you love.  Free 2 Min Check-In: The CARE Map Inventory [https://stan.store/vickigardinercoaching/p/the-care-checkin-free-guide-xhb4kp1r]

Have you ever looked around your life and wondered, "How did I get here?"

I’d love to hear from you- send a text! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2505139/fan_mail/new] Have you ever looked around your life and wondered, "How did I get here?" In this powerful episode of the Life of Joy & Purpose Podcast, therapist , Vicki Gardiner, LPC, sits down with home and lifestyle expert Kim Costa to explore the surprising connection between your home environment, mental health, nervous system, personal growth, and sense of purpose. Many women reach a season where they feel exhausted, overwhelmed, disconnected, and unsure of who they are beyond their responsibilities. They have spent years caring for everyone else while quietly losing touch with themselves. In this conversation, you'll discover: ✔️ How your home affects your mental wellness and emotional health ✔️ Why so many women feel stuck during midlife transitions ✔️ The connection between your nervous system, environment, and emotional well-being ✔️ How clutter, stress, and overstimulation impact your energy and clarity ✔️ Practical ways to create a home that supports joy, peace, confidence, and purpose ✔️ How to know if you're in a season to stay, move, or renovate ✔️ Why healing often begins with reconnecting to yourself and your surroundings Whether you're navigating an empty nest, caregiving, burnout, menopause, career changes, identity shifts, or simply feeling called toward something more, this episode offers encouragement, practical wisdom, and a fresh perspective on creating a life that feels aligned from the inside out. Because a life of joy and purpose isn't just about what you do. It's about creating an environment that supports who you are becoming. You can find Kim on Instagram here [https://www.instagram.com/kim.e.costa/?hl=en]. Thanks so much for joining me today on Life of Joy & Purpose. If this episode spoke to you, I’d love for you to subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a friend who’s on the journey too. You can connect with me on Instagram @vickigardinerlpc. [https://www.instagram.com/vickigardinerlpc] Sign up for my monthly newsletter filled with encouragement, practical tools, and soul-aligned inspiration for midlife women who are ready to live with clarity, joy, and purpose.  Click here to sign up! [https://stan.store/vickigardinercoaching] Until next time—take a deep breath, stay true to yourself, and remember: joy and purpose are already within you. You’re just uncovering it—one step at a time. 🎧 If you loved this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone you love.  Free 2 Min Check-In: The CARE Map Inventory [https://stan.store/vickigardinercoaching/p/the-care-checkin-free-guide-xhb4kp1r]

You Are Becoming—And That Is Enough

I’d love to hear from you- send a text! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2505139/fan_mail/new] You Are Becoming—And That Is Enough Feeling overwhelmed by life changes, emotional exhaustion, or pressure to have everything figured out? In this deeply supportive therapy and life coaching episode, Vicki Gardiner, LPC explores why so many high-capacity women feel disconnected from themselves during seasons of transition. Through the lens of nervous system regulation, emotional healing, identity shifts, and embodied awareness, this episode offers practical encouragement for women navigating burnout, overthinking, emotional overload, caregiving stress, midlife transitions, and self-discovery. You’ll learn: * Why your nervous system feels overwhelmed * How emotional patterns shape identity * The hidden cost of overfunctioning * How the inner critic keeps women stuck * Why midlife is a recalibration—not a failure * How to make one aligned choice at a time This episode includes grounding practices, reflective journaling prompts, emotional healing insights, nervous system support, affirmations, and a calming closing prayer to help you reconnect with yourself and move into your next season with clarity and peace. If you’re the woman everyone depends on, this episode is your reminder: You can care deeply without abandoning yourself. Thanks so much for joining me today on Life of Joy & Purpose. If this episode spoke to you, I’d love for you to subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a friend who’s on the journey too. You can connect with me on Instagram @vickigardinerlpc. [https://www.instagram.com/vickigardinerlpc] Sign up for my monthly newsletter filled with encouragement, practical tools, and soul-aligned inspiration for midlife women who are ready to live with clarity, joy, and purpose.  Click here to sign up! [https://stan.store/vickigardinercoaching] Until next time—take a deep breath, stay true to yourself, and remember: joy and purpose are already within you. You’re just uncovering it—one step at a time. 🎧 If you loved this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone you love.  Free 2 Min Check-In: The CARE Map Inventory [https://stan.store/vickigardinercoaching/p/the-care-checkin-free-guide-xhb4kp1r]