You’ll hear early on in our conversation that I assumed we were going to be talking mostly about postpartum depression, but, although anxiety and depression CAN be linked in some ways, Brooke’s struggle since welcoming their sweet boy Oakley into the world has been with postpartum anxiety. I learned a lot by listening to her share and realized there are nuances to what women can experience in postpartum. Motherhood is such a steep learning curve and it's no surprise that becoming a new mom would lend itself to either, or both, depression and anxiety! But for Brooke, her natural wiring and history of anxiety led to panic attacks and a darker time of wondering if she could do this "motherhood thing" right and if she would ever be “herself” again. I’m thankful for her openness and I could tell as soon as we got started chatting that this would be an important conversation to get out to all of you.

Also, I was planning on releasing this episode in another month or so, but with all of the feedback we are continuing to get from the two perfectionism episodes that Eric and I did a few weeks back, I thought that it would be good to release this one next as there CAN oftentimes be a link between perfectionism and anxiety. I also love that this will follow my episode with Liz Gnagy, another young mom fighting for joy! Similar to that episode, I think ALL of you will find some takeaways in this episode, no matter what season of life you are in. Anxiety affects people of all ages and in all seasons of life. And, the important themes that Brooke and I discuss at the end of our time together are applicable to ALL difficulties in life and are great tools in the fight for joy that I want to keep hitting on in each episode. So I’m glad you are tuning in and would love to hear your thoughts after you listen.

If you haven’t listened to Part 1, I encourage you to do so as Eric sets the groundwork there for what he talks about today as he shares the rest of his list of things that have helped him. I'm so proud of the work that he has done in this area and I love the changes I’ve seen in him. His life gives testimony that fighting perfectionism doesn’t bring along with it subpar work, or less success. As a result of the progress he has made, he has achieved MORE - and continues to achieve more. He’s not getting sick, discouraged, or burned out like used to. Instead, he’s actually able to do MORE. Achieve more. Perform better. And, the best part is, it's all with more JOY!

**Today’s episode is brought to you by my unpaid sponsor, Access Period. Access Period is a nonprofit organization in Omaha that provides free menstrual products. Period Poverty, or the lack of access to menstrual products, affects 1 in 4 women. If you're interested in learning more about Access Period, getting involved with fighting period poverty in your own community, or if you are someone who needs menstrual products, please visit www.accessperiod.com, or find them on Instagram @accessperiod. I’m thankful for their willingness to partner with me and love the work they are doing.

Back on Season 3 (episode #35), I had my cousin Sara Waddel on the podcast to talk about her battle with perfectionism. That's when I began hearing some of your stories and realized we needed to have another conversation about it. So today I bring my husband Eric back on the podcast as a follow up to Sara's episode and a way to continue this important dialogue by allowing you to hear another perspective on this topic.

Perfectionism has played a huge role in Eric's life - negatively for so many years, and now positively as he has made so much headway, fighting these tendencies and therefore experiencing new levels of rest, peace, and joy. In order to have him share as much as possible, I did something different on this episode and didn't prepare any questions or notes. I just wanted to give Eric the mic and have him talk, teaching us what he has learned and how he has made progress and fought for joy through it all. I just wanted to listen in along with all of you. I told him there was no hurry and that he should talk for as long as he wanted to, knowing that I would most likely divide it into two episodes. So this is Part 1 where Eric shares a little bit about his personal struggle with perfectionism, his definition of it, and why he believes its crucial to fight against it. Then he begins going through his practical list of things that have helped him to make headway (I think he only gets through two in this first part so you'll have to stay tuned for the rest of the list in Part 2, coming out in 2 weeks)...things that have helped him to go from the discouragement of perfectionism to the joy of achievement. As always, I'd love to hear your feedback and have you share the things that resonated with you.

**Thank you for listening. Today's episode is sponsored by Faithful Counseling, an amazing online Christian counseling service. I'm excited to offer my listeners 10% off at: faithfulcounseling.com/fightingforjoy. Quality counseling is a worthy investment and can be such a powerful tool in the fight for joy!

Today I’m joined by Sara Waddel, my cousin and dear friend. On this episode we talk about how harmful and damaging these tendencies can be when they take over. How quickly perfectionism can rob us of peace, freedom, contentment, and JOY. As Sara shares her story, you’ll be encouraged by her fight for joy in the struggle. God has been teaching her a lot and I’m grateful for her willingness to share so openly and honestly. I think you’ll especially be helped by some of the practical things that she implements into her daily life to fight against perfectionism.

There is so much joy to be found when we rest in Christ’s work, not our own…knowing that we are not accepted and loved by God because we do everything “perfectly” and never fail, but because as believers, Christ’s righteousness counts for us! And, we know that the Holy Spirit is producing good fruit in us that delights God. We don’t have to earn his love or our salvation. We don’t have to seek the love and approval of others - or find our value in doing things “better” than those around us. This is freeing and joy-producing!

*The Fighting for Joy Podcast is sponsored by Faithful Counseling, an online Christian counseling service that pairs you with a professional licensed therapist who will combine Biblical wisdom with their clinical expertise in mental health to help you address your unique situation. As a Fighting for Joy listener, you can receive 10% off at: faithfulcounseling.com/fightingforjoy. Quality counseling is a worthy investment and can be such a powerful tool in the fight for joy!