Feeling like life is a chaotic game show you never signed up for? You’re not alone!

In this episode, Jill and Kim get real about navigating the intense ups and downs of daily life—what they call “mental yuckery.” They compare today’s emotional rollercoaster to being contestants on Survivor or The Challenge, where staying calm amid chaos feels impossible. Together, they unpack how our minds set unfair rules that make us feel like losers before we even try—and why it doesn’t have to be that way.

Key takeaways:

- Why your thoughts and emotions might be tricking you into feeling stuck
- How shifting from “winning” to experiencing can lighten your mental load
- A simple tool (Newton’s cradle!) to help balance your energy in tough times

Ready for some honest talk and practical mindset shifts? Hit play now—you don’t want to miss this one!

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#SelfGrowthTools  
#TeeterTotterEffect   
#ResilienceInAction   
#EnergyTransferHealing   
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#OneHarmonicWhole

Hello, lovely listeners, and good morning, Kim. Good morning, Jill. Good morning, everyone. And it's Jill and Kim with One Harmonicle. Back at you again.

Yeah, so today kind of travels over from yesterday's little heaviness going on around right now. Well, not a little, a lot. A lot. Who are we joking, man? It's like we're getting this teeter-totter effect. You're either trying to be in a calm, peaceful state where there's no chaos, and then it's like the other extreme is chaos and everything blowing up. It's like both of them are happening simultaneously and it's like a... I'm gonna call it mental fuckery.

Yes. For it. Because just to be clear with the mental piece, I do just want to really clarify that what we're saying here with the mental piece is that in our minds we generate thoughts and we generate emotions. They come from our minds. There's an interaction between them. It's far more complicated than we'll go into here. But just to clarify, when we talk about mental fuckery, it's not just thoughts, it's thoughts and emotions that we're talking about with that mental yuckery.

I like that phrase, cracking me up, Kim. It's like you're trying to balance the physical body. Okay. And we're trying to... Okay, I'm getting calm. I'm telling myself I'm calm. But then in your head, you're either in your emotions or in your thoughts, and then your body's just like, I don't know what you're doing to me. But I don't like it.

Just like right now there—yeah, it's chaotic type feeling. And Jill and I were trying to figure out what is something that's kind of easy. And I didn't get easy by any means. I got pulled to the challenge. I was like, oh, like Survivor, that show—the show The Challenge on MTV—that one! All the gaming shows where people go in and it's all mental but also physical.

And you have to calm your mental and your physical body to complete a task—a physical task or mental task—whatever it is. You have to stay calm in the state of chaos all around you. And that's what's happening right now.

And on my whole... How do we... Oh, how do we handle that? Right now we're all living our own individual personal Survivor shows.

Yeah! We got these big challenges in front of us but we're also kind of—I think where the chaotic energy comes in—is we're going: I didn't want to be on this show! Yeah! How the hell did I end up on my own personal Survivor TV show? Where's my cameras? Where's my money for this? Come on now! Right? Like it's one thing to watch it and then it's another thing to be in it.

Oh my goodness! Yeah! Don't they win a prize if they win all of it? We're like: where's my freaking prize? Yeah! Of a prize! Where's the incentive? Oh... Oh Julia... Yeah... Where's the incentive?

You know, we have all these goals and what we want and it's just like—the incentive inside to feeling peace or calm and just confident and like yeah I know my stuff—but then... yeah how do you... how do you win? How do you win to get to that?

Yeah—and a lot of people who watch those shows don't win; there's only one winner.

Exactly! Where that's—I think a lot of us are not so enamored by taking on the mental fuckery stuff because we see shows like that where so many people fail—I'm gonna use the word—they fail at the challenge; they don't win; they fail—and a lot of us—I think we feel like we're gonna fail at this stuff.

And it—You know—we were talking—as all our listeners know—Kim and I—we've talked about this—how we generally have a bit of a conversation before we record so that we can have a cohesive message (that's our hope anyway). Yep! And yeah—we were talking about this going: this is pretty—I don't want to say intensive—it’s pretty in our faces right now—and we were literally trying all sorts of ways to not talk about it.

Yep! Yep! We're like: well we need to talk about this game and how we can show up to it.

Okay—in my head—I heard you talk about "life is just a game"—what do you expect? I'm like: oh my gosh—I just got called out on my own or what they've been saying to us—we got called out—like you've been saying: "it's a game." We've been saying: "it's a game." Life is just a game—like this is just one of the challenges—this is one of those—not a curveball—but it's where—yeah—you have choices.

Right—and we put too much on the game of who wins—the game isn't who wins or who loses—the game is the experience.

Yep—that's the game—I mean—we're literally here doing life to have the experience—we're not going to win all of it—we're not going to lose all of it—but we just—in our mind—the mental fuckery is that in our mind we have all these rules set up: some one person has to win—which means everyone has to lose—and everyone else has to feel like a piece of shit because they lost.

Yep—it’s all—that’s actually—those are lies—that’s not the game.

But I think that's where people are at—is that why try? I'm just gonna lose? There's always somebody better; there's always something better; there's that "yeah why try so I'm just gonna lose"—that is the core of it right now Kim—you got that!

You're struggling with something with your physical body: why try? I'm just gonna lose.

You have lots of mental anguish—lots of mental stuff going on: why try? I'm just gonna lose—or nothing—that's probably in the mental aspect—it’s more like nothing’s gonna change.

Yep!

Emotional—yeah emotional stuff—you know—all I ever feel is the judged bad stuff so why even try anything else—like that hopelessness then comes in.

Yeah—we have really cornered ourselves in that with those rules—they're—they're—they're not—they're bullshit rules—wow there's some expletives flying today—

Yep—they are—they're just—they do not serve us.

So as we've talked in the past—there's only a couple rules that really are: On Earth—you have the rule of gravity—you can't change gravity—you can't do anything about gravity—it is just there—you’re going to live it—so there are certain things that we understand you cannot change—but there's a lot that you can actually change—and I feel like a lot of you feel right now that you can't change anything—you can't do anything—it’s out of your hands—it’s out of your control—and we're going to call bullshit on that today because it can.

I would like to share this metaphor that you brought up Kim—the teeter-totter—

Yeah—and that mental game—we tend to play with that teeter-totter: I'm over here—and all the thoughts and all this getting "I'm only gonna lose so why do it?" And then the emotions kick up—and now the side of the teeter-totter with all the emotions start getting really heavy because "I'm hopeless" or "I'm—you know—I’m a loser—I’m this—I’m that" and we're just swaying back and forth back and forth back and forth—

When you put it that way—it looks really fun—it feels fun—now there’s like "okay I'm over here; now I'm up over here; okay how long can you keep me up over here?" You have one on the bottom holding one up on top "hang on I got you."

When we come at it from the experience of it as a game—the experience being something that's enjoyable—not that THE THING is enjoyable but THAT THE EXPERIENCE IS ENJOYABLE even if we don’t LIKE THE EXPERIENCE—when we come at it with that game mentality—yeah—it does start to lighten—it starts to... yeah this is big—it’s like—we’ve got give ourselves some time—to let this one...

These are some old habits I think—that are melting away—some old rules that don’t apply anymore—

Just know—in midst of this—a lot of this chaos—a lot of it is much more within us than we realize—and so much more of it is able to be calmed and played with and enjoyed than we've believed possible.

I keep seeing something people need to watch: What is it when there’s a whole bunch of balls on a pendulum—and then they click back and forth—and then they start off by one triggers one on other end—and they go back-and-forth—what is that called—that thing?

What did—I see it—I see it—I don’t know name offhand—

Yes—I’m going Google this really fast—

Okay: Newton’s cradle!

Newton’s cradle ball! N-E-W-T-O-N Newton’s cradle ball—that’s what I’m seeing—it’s like balance balls—but you start—all balls hanging down in middle—and pull one—you let go—and forces energy through all way through other side—and then other side swings up—and goes back-and-forth—all swinging—they move really cool pattern—

That is what they're saying people need realize—that's kind what's happening: energy transfer or one extreme (kind-of-like-your-teeter-totter) TO THE OTHER EXTREME—and bounces goes up THIS way AND THEN at some point—they ALL become very harmoniously flowing together—

Look at—like literally go online—go onto YouTube or something—and watch THAT—

If you have THAT at home—I need YOU TO SIT AND WATCH THAT for few minutes today AND WATCH HOW pendulum swings—watch how balls move energy transfers around them CAN ACTUALLY HELP BALANCE OUT STUFF IN BRAIN—

Yeah—it’s funny because as you were saying THAT—like your voice got kind-of muted-like—I could hear you but was LIKE YOU WERE REALLY FAR AWAY or through whole lot reasons—

Yeah—and—even kind-of moment robot voice (very brief)—but was LIKE wow THIS IS DEFINITELY LIKE WE IN GENERAL (I THINK RIGHT NOW)—THERE’S A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE A LOT OF RESISTANCE TO DOING THESE THINGS—even IN NEWTON’S CRADLE—but IT’S—it’s LIKE—it’s WHAT I WANT TO SAY—it’s JUST TO SHOW UP AND DO IT AND THE RESULTS WILL COME AND EVERYTHING ABOUT OUR MINDS IS SAYING THAT’S BULLSHIT THAT’S NOT GOING TO WORK JUST TRY IT

Yep yep

This IS absolutely LIKE A SIMPLE LITTLE THING WATCH NEWTON’S CRADLE—which EXPLAINS WHY I DIDN’T KNOW THAT NAME BECAUSE I'VE NEVER KNOWN THAT NAME BEFORE NOW SO THANK YOU KIM—I knew device JUST NOT THE...

This IS A LONG ONE AND CRAZY ONE WOW

Thank YOU JILL THANK YOU EVERYONE THANK YOU KIM

Alright until next time