I'm staying with friends whose older dog resource guards. We kept the food and toys put away, and he was still growling at my dog over nothing.

So I read about it late into the night and learned there's a third thing dogs guard: closeness. The person they love. And I recognized it, because I've felt that same quiet math start up at a dinner table when an old friend of mine pulled up a chair for a newer one.

This is an episode about why we keep score with the people we love, and what the fear is actually telling us.

Question to carry into your day:
Where are you keeping score, as if there isn't enough love to go around?

Want to work together? Me too! Book a discovery call and let's talk about whether the Stop Starting Over System is right for you. https://link.mollycarmel.com/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall

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An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

I spent five days with my godkids, which I love. And I came home steady, present, and not crashed. That had never happened before.

The difference? I included myself in the circle of care before I left.

This episode is about the line between caretaking and overgiving, why what we call love is sometimes just fear, and why your steadiness is actually your greatest act of generosity.

Question to carry into your day:
Where in your life are you overgiving in the name of love, and what would it look like to include yourself in that same circle of care?

Ready to do this work with real support? Book a strategy call and let's talk about whether the Stop Starting Over System is right for you. https://link.mollycarmel.com/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall-organic

Let's Stay Connected:

• Subscribe on YouTube
• Instagram: @mollycarmel
• Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront

An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

I hadn't been on a date in seven months, and those were good months. I wasn't hiding, I just wasn't called to it. Then, packing for a few weeks in the mountains, a quiet thought arrived: maybe I could date a little there.

See what I'm even like dating as this person, because I've done a lot of work and I'm not who I once was. So I did some love cardio.

Three hours, a wonderful man who lives a few states away, no expectations at all. And I called my friend from the car and said, this guy is an omen. The good things are coming for me, I can feel it. It wasn't the whole meal. It was a foretaste.

Today's reading is from The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn, on the "signs of land" that always arrive before the thing you're waiting for.

This is an episode about why we refuse to practice the things we most want to be good at, and how to recognize a taste of what's coming when it shows up.

Question to carry into your day:
What have you been calling nothing that might actually be a taste of what's coming?

Want to work together? Me too! Book a discovery call and let's talk about whether the Stop Starting Over System is right for you. https://link.mollycarmel.com/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall

Let's Stay Connected:

• Subscribe on YouTube
• Instagram: @mollycarmel
• Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront

An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast