Conversations with Cinthia

God on Your Terms

“Religion,” “spirituality,” and “relationship with God” can be such loaded words and phrases, words that hint at something valuable, even crucial, but also trigger lots of complex memories, opinions, and associations.  Today Cinthia explains that science is finding the human brain changed by belief in the Divine and interaction with it.  She also states that the relationship God wants with each of us is (like all relationships) unique to the parties involved.  So, if there is a God and that God wants a relationship with you, it might not look like someone else thinks it should.  It might not even look like you expect.  What fears, memories, concerns, or other ideas tend to get in the way of you exploring what relationship between you and God might look like?  Join Cinthia to consider how principles of healthy relationship apply if you choose to engage in a relationship with God.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Help! I’ve Fallen, and I Can’t GetUp!

There are sins we cannot justify or undo, errors that change the course of our lives, mistakes that harm others deeply.  Some regrets wash over us again and again, causing our stomachs that familiar drop and dashing the hopes we had started to rebuild.  What does it mean to come back from mistakes like that?  What is the difference between hiding from those realities and genuinely seeking resolution?  Today Cinthia discusses our responses to our own failures and what it means to acknowledge, forgive, learn, and grow after a fall.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Bending Not Breaking

Do you get frustrated when standards are too weak?  Or do you tend to be annoyed with people who are too rigid?  Flexibility and strength regarding our own value systems can both be assets, but getting the proportions right can be tricky.  Sometimes we elevate our personal tendencies in either direction to the level of biblical standard, which often leads us to judge those who are more flexible or firm than we are.  We may also judge ourselves in ways that keep us stuck rather than helping us to move forward.  Today Cinthia discusses what it means to bend appropriately so we don’t break (at least not over something that isn’t worth it) and to give each other grace as we learn how to balance.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Interview with Lisa Beth Thomas

Lisa Beth Thomas was successful in business, a picture of strength as she helped famous people navigate their marketing needs.  In her personal life, however, she felt intimidated and overwhelmed by the fallout of an unhealthy marriage and the ongoing financial and familial consequences left behind.  Today she talks with Cinthia about the process she undertook as she found her voice, navigated major life changes, and identified the core fears that had made it so difficult to do what she needed to do.  She discusses her discoveries regarding blame, responsibility, acceptance, and courage.  Today, Lisa Beth helps others through her Outwitting Fear course (www.outwittingfear.com).  Join Cinthia and Lisa Beth to examine ways you can identify and confront the fears that are holding you back.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Spit Out the Seeds

Watermelon is delicious, but what to do with those pesky seeds?  Cinthia recently read about a town in which people seed-spit competitively, and today she explores this as a metaphor for life:  In order to enjoy life’s fruit, we have to deal with the seeds – plant them, spit them, discard them…  Each of us is responsible for tending the garden of our own lives and learning how to enjoy the fruit as much as possible.  What are you going to do with the seeds?  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Reactors vs. Responders

Have you ever over-reacted to a situation?  Have you ever gone into fighting stance, survival mode, or panic mentality when, in fact, you probably didn’t need to go there?  Today Cinthia encourages us to take a look at our threat-level assessment mechanisms and consider how learning to avoid going straight to “Defcon 1” can improve our lives, relationships, self-image, and impact on those around us.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

The Power of Words

We are what we think.  Our brains actually change in response to our thought patterns, and, while we may not be able to choose every thought that enters our minds, we have a lot of power to control those thoughts we continue to nurture.  Today Cinthia discusses research about the way our thoughts, including the specific word choices we use in our thoughts, impact our brains.  She also discusses ways we can begin to craft our thoughts more carefully to make the changes we want to make in ourselves.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Group Think

Does the term “group project” make your hair stand on end?  Does the idea of another group meeting make you want to run screaming into the night?  Human beings en masse can present challenges, but there are also great advantages to being able to work together as a group.  We really can increase our group skills, but this involves accepting that group decisions will not reflect us fully, determining what is essential and what can be allowed to flex, and learning to listen and communicate well with others.  Join Cinthia to explore how to enhance your effectiveness in groups.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Discernment

We all want to make good decisions, but how do we make room for discernment in the midst of busy lives and complex sets of circumstances?  Today Cinthia discusses discernment as a gift, a virtue (which means it can be developed), and a process that (in most cases) requires time.  Whether you are making a decision by yourself, trying to make one with others, or simply trying to make room in your life to make decisions well when they do arise, join Cinthia to learn to cultivate the conditions in which discernment can flourish.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Friends and Family: Connection and Boundaries

Having addressed romantic intimacy last week and intimacy with ourselves the previous week, Cinthia finishes February with a look at the bread-and-butter connections that make up so much of our emotional landscape throughout life: friendships and family relationships.  If we want to enjoy deep connections in these kinds of relationships, we have to be ready to navigate the murky waters of acceptance and how it differs from approval.  How can we accept and be in relationship with mistake-making people?  What is the difference between accepting people and tolerating unacceptable behavior?  And how do our policies toward ourselves impact our ways of relating to the people around us?  Join Cinthia to explore what it takes to have engage in relationship with human beings who are often frustratingly human.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6