
Healthy Mindsets: A Women of Impact Interview with Counselor Breeze Potts
In this powerful conversation, counselor Breeze Potts, LMHC, addresses the mental and emotional struggles that often hold women back from stepping into their God-given purpose. From insecurity and self-doubt to the lies we believe about our worth, Breeze unpacks the unhealthy mindsets that trip us up and offers practical, compassionate tools for moving from unhealthy thinking patterns to healthy, life-giving ones. With years of experience helping women navigate their inner battles, Breeze brings clarity, encouragement, and actionable advice for anyone wanting to show up more fully and freely as a woman of impact.
Key Takeaways:
- How insecurities and negative self-talk sabotage your calling.
- Practical steps to replace lies with truth and embrace your God-given worth.
- The power of mindset: why shifting your mental habits can transform your life and impact.
- How to recognize and confront the “psyching out” that happens in daily life, keeping us from pursuing our purpose.
- The importance of building a healthy mental foundation to live as a woman of impact.
Ad: Our All the Best Devotional will help you connect with Jesus and find peace and restoration. Through guided reflection on the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10, you’ll gain insight into how to overcome distractions, worry, comparison, and more.
The Women of Impact Online Course provides teaching and inspiration from women making a huge impact in the world as they tap into God’s purpose for their lives in the sectors and spaces they’ve been called to. Get inspired and equipped to make an impact with YOUR life.
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Transcript
Hey, friends.
Willow:So glad you hopped on the Collide podcast today. I hope that you are having a great day. I have an amazing interview for you. We're in the middle of our Women of Impact series.
And we're doing this series because we know that women want to contribute, we want to be used to do amazing things, we want to impact the world. We want to make a difference.
And so we have known this for years at Collide because we spend so much time with women and yet so often there's these obstacles that get in the way of us truly making an impact.
And so we created a course that has, I don't know, 70 some classes in it, and you can learn from these women, but we thought, why not have some of these women pop on the podcast so you could learn from them. So today you get to hear from a woman of impact, and I know it will impact you.
Willow:So check it out. I'm so glad that you are in the Health for a Purpose section of this course.
What an important area that we need to cover so that we can all be healthy women of impact. And so in this session, we get to sit with Breeze Potts(LMHC), who is a mental health therapist and someone that I've been friends with for over 20 years.
And you are going to be blessed by all of the wisdom and counsel that she shares. So Breeze, thank you for letting me sucker you into hanging out with me.
Breeze:Thanks for asking.
Willow:We've been friends for over 20 years, which is really weird to say out loud because it makes me feel old, but we became friends way back in the day and we were kind of two women who wanted to make an impact in young college age students lives. And we were on staff at a college ministry.
And over the years you went from being an intern to being a staff person, to being assistant director of that ministry, to leaving that ministry, going back to school, getting your master's degree to become a counselor, becoming a mom. And now you have your own practice helping people and you're a professional mental health therapist.
So as you look back over the 20 years, of all the different ways that God has used you to become a woman of impact, what strikes you about kind of looking back over that journey of all the different changes?
Breeze:I mean, truthfully, I had no business doing some of the things I was put in positions for, but I also think that's just how God led me in relationship towards him. And so I think some of the roles that you, you know, specifically assistant director, it's like, oh my gosh, I didn't have a Clue what I was doing.
It doesn't feel like that looking back, it doesn't feel like that was the right role for me. But for whatever reason, that's a part of the puzzle. That's a part of the story, and I can't tell you why.
Willow:It's kind of funny that you say you had no business doing that.
And I think what you might be speaking to is just feelings of inadequacy or feelings that almost that the Lord pulls our life into places and into opportunities and responsibilities that we might not feel ready for or capable of or don't feel like we have, you know, the whole handbook on how to nail this and more equipped for. Yeah, absolutely.
And yet that is so much like you said, the way that the Lord kind of grows us and shapes us and refines us is a little bit by this constant challenge. And that is the space where we make an impact. If we avoid that challenge and avoid that discomfort, we don't tend to make as big of an impact.
Breeze:Right.
Willow:Breeze, I can look back and see over the years how you've impacted lives in all of these different roles, whether you felt ready for those roles or not.
I saw you impacting people, but I'm kind of wondering, did you feel while you were living out those roles or carrying out those responsibilities or had those specific jobs, did you feel like you were making an impact?
Breeze:I think the answer is no. But I think that it's partly because of that. That wasn't necessarily what I was looking for. I think my focus was just to do the thing in front of me.
But I think, I think impact in my mind has always been a little bit of an overwhelming term. It's like it makes me zoom out really big. I almost imagine being in the universe and picturing earth down here.
And so a metaphor that I use often in my life and in my practice with other women is the idea of a puzzle. And you know, one role in my life is one tiny puzzle piece of, you know, a really large thousand piece puzzle or something.
And it's kind of a crapshoot to figure out how that fits initially. But as other pieces are laid down, it starts to make sense.
But that takes time and sometimes that takes time and distance to gain the objectivity to see it put together a little bit differently.
Willow:Yeah, I think you're speaking to something that feels universal to a lot of women, at least that I work with. And you have women that come into your office for counsel all the time.
I feel like so many women desire to make an impact to make a difference, to live a meaningful life. But they feel overwhelmed by the big picture idea of what. What does that look like? And they go big first instead of small.
And being faithful to the thing that God has put in front of them right now, which. I love that you're bringing that up.
What are you seeing as far as women feeling almost like they're not enough, kind of plagued by this not enough feeling? The women that come in seeking help.
Breeze:And counseling, I mean, the first thing that comes to mind that I think is rampant in our culture is just this pattern of comparing ourselves to our neighbors, to our friends, to our family members, to people that we don't know on social media, to characters in books. I mean, it's everywhere. And it's not overtly negative to be comparative, but it leads towards unhealthy ways of perceiving ourselves.
That's the most common thing I hear.
And I think it would be honest to tell you, I also may see that, because that's something I particularly have struggled with throughout my life, is how do I fit according to what other people are or are not doing or are or are not saying? How do I fit in here? How do I make sense of myself?
Willow:Yeah, well, it's amazing to me, too, how much our effort to compare doesn't actually help our impact. It actually gets in the way. But we're doing it constantly.
Like, if I could be like her, and I could be like her, and if I was like her, but that actually just holds us back from. From meaningful work and life. Right?
Breeze:Because also, I think you're right. I think it. We naturally idealize the other.
And so if I'm comparing myself to you, I kind of put you on this pedestal that makes you able to do no wrong and, you know, have no struggle. But all I can see for myself is struggle. And so just immediately we're incongruent. I can never win in that scenario. And so you're right.
It really is a way that we hold ourselves back and it really gets in the way of, first of all, how we view ourselves, but then the impact we can have, because all we can, really, what's magnified is, are the ways in which we're different than everyone else or we feel as though we're different than everyone else.
Willow:What do you think helps women get unstuck from that comparison game?
Breeze:Something I use all the time in my practice.
Sounds a little silly, but I have people imagine going to your local carnival or your local county fair or something, and going into the house of Mayors, you know what I'm talking about.
Willow:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Breeze:Well, and so, you know, the first.
Willow:Go for the skinny ones, the first.
Breeze:One you see is a. Is a more an accurate representation of you. But as you move through the house of mirrors, the rest of them are very distorted images. And so how I.
How I use this metaphor in my practice with people is to help remind them to come back to the true mirror and, you know, spend time there, spend time figuring out who they are and better understanding themselves. But if we're only looking in distorted mirrors, we can't actually see or access truth because the image is just distorted.
And so it's meant to continue to distort everything else accordingly.
And so I think the first order of business is to even back up a step to recognize that we're not looking in a truthful mirror and then to help women try to look in mirrors that portray an accurate reflection.
And I'm meaning, you know, both literal mirrors, but I'm also meaning in relationships with people, safe people in their lives who can communicate back to us, who are you? And, you know, who do I experience you to be? And that might be different than what you imagine that I experience of you. Does that make sense?
Willow:Yeah, that's. That's an interesting way to put it. And also hard work, like to invite people in to reflect back what they see in you and to actually receive it.
Breeze:Right.
Willow:But so. So important.
Breeze:Absolutely. But I. But I think the idea of impact is. Is. I mean, it's. I think of concentric circles, like, you know, we start here and we go outward.
And so as we know who we are, we can also expand outward and bless others. And they bless others. And on and on it goes.
Willow:One of the main purposes of having this conversation with you is I really wanted to talk to you about healthy mindsets, unhealthy mindsets, as far as making an impact.
And one of the things that I see a lot, and even going back to a question I asked you earlier, which was, could you see that you were enough in the moment to make an impact, or can you only look back and go, you know what I did? I did a great job. I was faithful. I served people, because I can see that in you.
But sometimes we have a hard time seeing it in ourselves because we don't feel enough. What is that about not being able to have contentment in the now, but more disappointment in ourselves?
We tend to live in kind of like, I'm not enough. I'm disappointed now, but then later we can look back and Feel like, no, I did my best. Right.
Breeze:I think it has, going back to the puzzle metaphor, I think it's this idea of time and distance offers us the bigger picture, and I think that's helpful.
So naturally, because we can see a bigger picture, things are more settled, they're more in place, and we understand more when we have one puzzle piece. And, you know, it's very abstract, it' confusing, it's very. It's hard to understand, it's hard to make sense of.
But I think I talk a lot in my practice about, like, this idea of zooming in and zooming out. It has to be both. Like, we have to. We have to look down at what's in front of us. We have to be faithful to those things.
But we also have to pick our head up and look around us and get our bearings and, you know, be oriented in the world around us. But then we have to keep looking back down. It's the both and it's. We can't. We can't just have one direction.
And I think sometimes this disappointment that you describe is because we're fixated on one or the other.
We might be too fixated on the really small puzzle piece and we can't make sense of it, or we might be too fixated on the big picture and we can't make sense of what that means for me right now. And, you know, I think there's different ways of looking at it.
I think there are visionaries in this world that are really good at seeing the big picture that might struggle with, like, what's my next action step? And there are other people. I think I'm more in this camp.
Like, I see really well what's in front of me, but I don't, I can't always make sense and have foresight about what that means 20 steps down the road.
Willow:That's so true. I mean, I'm self evaluating right now. Like, which one am I, like, prone towards? That's why I need people who do the opposite.
Like, I tend to zoom out. Right. And I need people who zoom in.
Breeze:Right.
Willow:But I haven't thought about zoom in, zoom out. That's so good.
You do so much work with women in your counseling office, and I'm sure there's women who come in there who really want to be women of impact. What do you see? We've talked about comparison. We've talked about the zoom and zoom out thing.
What are some other things that get in the way of women making an impact with their lives?
Breeze:I think women get in their own way, when they have really high expectations for themselves that they also wouldn't have for anyone else. And so, you know, I would never say to you the horribly cruel things I can say to myself at the drop of a hat. Even sitting here.
I'm aware of a couple things that I won't say out loud but that aren't kind to myself that I would never say to you.
Um, and I think that's one of our biggest roadblocks or one of the biggest ways that we get in our own get in our own way is because we have this incongruence of very high unobtainable expectations for ourselves and then tons of grace and compassion for the people around us. Even people that we might not deem like close relationships. We can access compassion pretty easily for people, but not always for ourselves.
Willow:How do we let go of some of those unrealistic expectations of self and instead begin to show grace to ourselves?
Breeze:Well, I think it's hard work, but I think we first have to just have someone help us see that we have those unrealistic expectations. And then we have to start to do the softening process of literally asking ourselves, what would I say to someone else?
And start to entertain those same ideas for ourselves. I mean, that's sort of an overview.
But that helping women start to befriend themselves in such a way that they can find compassion for themselves is a really important process and one that I have been through myself and continue to go through.
But I think it naturally catches women by surprise when I ask them, what would you say to someone sitting on the other end of this couch in your very circumstances? They're very caught by surprise at the very kind things they would say to someone.
And then when I ask them to say, well, what are you saying to yourself? The incongruence there is. I mean, it's so stark.
And so I think just noticing, first of all, just being aware that that's a thing and that that's happening in our lives is the first step to change.
Willow:Well, I love that you're even having this conversation with me while you're being self aware about some of the expectations you're putting on yourself, even in this moment, and you're modeling it by being authentic about it. I love that so much. I think that shows like a great self awareness. I mean, I'm not a counselor. You're a counselor, but I'm just going to call it.
Breeze:I'm just a fellow junior.
Willow:So let's talk about insecurities because I See this all the time where women, they want to be a part of making the world a better place and impacting lives and whatever sector God's called them into. But so often their own insecurities get in the way of them doing the things they feel called to do.
How do you see insecurity showing up in your office in women's lives?
Breeze:I mean, probably in every way possible. Probably in the same ways that you're hearing about it. But you know, it kind of goes back to that comparative pattern I was talking about earlier.
I mean, I think we are insecure about things that we are measuring ourselves according to other people by. So like, how fit am I? How do I decorate my house, you know, compared to how Willow decorates her house or how do I dress? But I think to.
So I mean, I think we could, I could go on and on and on with all the examples.
But I think something that feels important to say is that I think all of that can get boiled down to being this idea that we are putting our power of who we are in someone else's hands. It's. It kind of all boils down to how we're perceived by someone else. And so they hold the measuring rod to who we are.
And that will always leave us empty handed. That will always leave us feeling less than. Because no one else is going to evaluate for us.
Well, because they're too concerned about how they're doing. Right. So it's, it's just, it's a faulty system.
I think what I want to say is that women who are constantly putting themselves at the mercy or at the risk of being judged or measured by someone else or according to someone else's measuring rod will often end up feeling less than.
But that's because we have to determine what is our measuring rod, what are the standards for me, what are the things that God has called me to, what are the things that I value in my life? And we have to start valuing or measuring those things in our life by those standards.
If I value my life by your, the standards you have for your life, I'm already failing because I'm not, I'm not a leader of an organization. I'm way better one on one. And so.
But if that's the setup for me to use your measuring rod and the things that are going on in your life to determine my self worth, I mean, do you see how that leads me to a dead end? Right.
Willow:Well, you're not freed up to be who you are.
Breeze:Exactly.
Willow:Constantly feeling like you have to be someone else.
Breeze:Exactly.
Willow:Just a trap you can continually be stuck in.
Breeze:Exactly. So, I mean, I think it goes back to some of the comparative patterns, but then also some of the expectations that we've already talked about. Also.
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Willow:I see women often believing lies about themselves. And I know you do this work in really deep ways and I hear about the impact you're making in women's lives in your office.
But so often we struggle to believe things that aren't true about ourselves because we had an experience where someone said those words or called us that name, or we, you know, experience rejection over and over again. So we started to believe that we deserve to be alone, Whatever. Whatever the lie is.
And I'm curious, you know, a lot of women might be able to identify the lies they believe about themselves. They might not be what's your best advice for not only identifying the lies but but ditching them and then replacing them with truths.
Breeze:I think that goes back to the carnival mirror metaphor that I used earlier. I think the first thing I would want to encourage someone to do is to get in front of an accurate reflection.
So that might be scripture, that might be a safe person, that might be some sort of Bible study or small group or support group or something that allows you to be fully yourself and receives you for being fully yourself, because that's the making of being able to. That's the foundation for being able to take in feedback from other people.
But if we don't, I mean, if we don't start with the first step of just putting ourselves in that place, we can't expect to get to truth because we're still looking in a distorted mirror. And so I think the first step is just to get in to the light of truth, get into the, The. The. The posture of truth.
And then what was the second part of your question?
Willow:How do we not only recognize it, but ditch it and then replace lies with truth?
Breeze:Right. I think that's a little bit of a. That's a little bit more complex, and there's not an easy answer.
So let me say that first and foremost, but I think it's a little bit of what I call the both. And. And so it's.
It's helping someone identify that, yes, you were called this name multiple times in your childhood, and so you began to believe it was true. And you don't have to be that now. Like, you can re. Identify yourself or you can, you know, be.
I don't know what the right word is, but you can be healed of that or you can move forward from that. You don't have to allow that sticker to stick. I sometimes think of things as, like, names or wounds that we've been told as, like, Mr. Yuck stickers.
We. We have the ability to take those off. I think for a lot of my years, I walked around with, you know, covered in Mr.
Yuck stickers, and it took a long time for someone to kind of break through that and remind me, like, you don't have to keep wearing those, which was one of the first steps of helping me just identify. Oh, that doesn't have to have all the power in my life. That doesn't have to have the final say.
But so what I'm trying to help identify is, like, we have to name the harm that has been done from that past experience and also claim victory over it now.
Willow:The end.
Breeze:Yeah. Two things can be true at the same time, even though they often seem incongruent.
So something can greatly hurt me, and it cannot be true at the same time. Like so.
Willow:But it's so helpful to identify those two things. This hurt me, but this isn't who I am. And being able to locate those exactly, which is work that often does need to be done in a counseling office.
And I know I had to do a lot of that work in a counseling office, but I also have to do it every day. It's a battle battle me too. A daily battle.
I feel like another thing that I see women do and I've done is we psych ourselves out about doing amazing things.
So this entire course is built on the foundation that God can use our lives to do amazing Things, whatever that looks like in each of our lives is totally different. But he can use our lives to do amazing things. But I think we psych ourselves out and we sort of settle for what is thinking.
We have to settle for mediocre rather than believing in what could be, what's going on there that so often we settle for what is rather than believing what could be.
Breeze:I think we put God into or hope or possibility into things that we could achieve. So it's like what could God do if God were breathe. That's just horrible to think about. God would be very limited is my point.
And so I think, I think we have to. This is a kind of a two part answer as well.
But I think we have to first acknowledge that the way it is right now is the way it is and that's not the way it has to be. And I think if we don't do the work of acknowledging the doors of possibility or hope don't naturally open as easily.
So it's, I think it's this piece of acknowledging that like man, my life doesn't look like what I want it to naturally leads us towards. And what can I do about that? What are my options? What do I have influence over? What does God calling me towards?
I wish I had a good word for it, but it just naturally moves us in that direction. But I think oftentimes we want to, you know, put God in a box like I was saying. And well, God didn't answer this prayer.
And so therefore it just means that this is how I have to live. It's not doing the work of acknowledging the fact that God is still bigger than my perception or my capabilities.
And it's sort of that zoom in, zoom out thing, right? I get really focused on this piece right here and wanting to problem solve this piece, but God just got it all. And I think that matters.
And I think it matters to, to pick our head up because it helps us see that possibilities are around us.
Willow:You and I have talked about this before, many times actually. The and I do this, that's probably why we talked about it.
But it's like I have been hurt, I will be hurt, I have been rejected, I will be rejected, I have failed. I'm gonna fail. That kind of mindset that keeps us stuck, that we think that we will get the same outcome that we got before, what is that?
Because that holds women back from taking risks. It holds them back from believing a bigger vision is possible for their life.
It holds them back from signing up for the job promotion possibility I mean, it holds them back from starting the nonprofit that God's laid on their heart. What is that thing where we're expecting the same outcome as we've experienced in the past?
Breeze:Well, I think our brains are wired to create memories that are actually intended to protect us in the future.
So our brain, like, logs a situation that was hurtful in a way of saying, hey, breeze, this happened to you, so be prepared in a future setting that this could happen again. And so I think that's just important information to know.
So, you know, sort of psychoeducation just to sort of name a dynamic, a name, a thing that we all, as humans experience.
But then I think we can also get to a place where we don't acknowledge, oh, brain, you're trying to protect me from something, and I don't need your help right now. Thank you for helping or trying to help. But we can get to a place where we believe that is absolutely true.
And I think that's just again, going back to believing those lies, believing that more than the possibility of surprise. And I think, you know, I don't love surprises myself. I mean, I find those terrifying. But.
But I think to be open to the possibility that something good could happen takes a lot of groundedness in myself.
It takes a lot of, you know, reminding myself very actively reminding that part of my brain that's trying to prepare me for something that, hey, that may not happen. So, yes, it did happen in the past, but it's not a guarantee it will.
So it takes a lot of self awareness in the moment to practice something different.
Willow:I feel psycho educated right now, actually. I mean, I have to have these pep talks where I'm preaching to myself like, I don't know that I've said you're trying to protect me. No, thank you.
I love that language. I'm going to start using that now. You'll see me in my car at a stoplight, and I'll be like, no, thank you.
There is something powerful, though, that happens, and it's necessary because we've all been hurt. I mean, I feel a little emotional saying this, but, like, I've experienced a lot of pain.
And so even, like at every stop along the way with the collide story, I feel like I've had to trust God and not go into self protection mode because I might get hurt or I might fail or I might be rejected or people might think I suck or whatever. And we all have that, those fears. And so what you're inviting us to do is to remind ourselves that though that is your past experience.
It doesn't have to be your future experience. And kind of almost self soothe and calm ourselves.
If we're going to do big things, if we're going to take risks, if we're going to live our one life to make a difference, we're going to have to sometimes feel scared or take big leaps of faith. And that's going to require maybe being like, triggered because we've been hurt in the past and we're afraid to get hurt in the future.
Breeze:Right, right. But not giving the lie the final say.
Willow:Right.
Breeze:Being willing to say maybe something else is possible, which is a risk, it really is. But without that leap of faith, as you're saying, without that risk, what we end up doing is just reinforcing the lie to actually be true.
So it just reinforces that part of our brain that is trying to protect us with more power, more evidence, more stories to justify why we actually should be afraid.
Willow:And the lies and the wounds hold all the power in our lifestyle back from making an impact. Right.
Willow:When you work with a woman and.
Willow:She recognizes that she's holding herself back, what's your best advice for her to push past that?
Breeze:I think I asked two questions and I'm going to be straight up honest.
I don't think they're anyone's favorite questions, but okay, I think, I think, I think that's because people know them to be powerful and perspective shifting. So the first question I usually ask is, how's that working for you? How is, you know, acknowledging that you've hit a roadblock for whatever reason?
Let me use an example.
In my own life, if I come to awareness of, you know, shame, having the final say in my life, you know, my therapist has had to ask me, like, how's that working for you?
And really what that does is it stops me in my tracks to go, oh, yeah, okay, I am literally just, you know, serving up shame on a silver platter in my, in all areas of my life, like, here, be the king, be the queen, have all the power. And it just gives me that perspective of, oh yeah, okay. And it helps me start to think about what could I do about this.
So first question, how's that working for us? Second question, I think I alluded to this earlier, but what would you say to someone else in your exact circumstances?
I often have people imagine someone really close to them because it's easier to imagine than a complete stranger. And women quickly have really kind, gracious things to say. And so if I ask myself to do that right now, like, breeze you. You did the best you could.
There's something in my body that, like, I literally have a physical sensation. There's something that softens.
And so then I ask women to say that to someone else kind of imaginatively, but then I ask them to repeat that sentence to themselves and to just begin rehearsing that. And so it's not vice advice per se, it's more like an experience that I help them walk through, but we revisit it over and over and over again.
Number one, because I found it to be super powerful in my own life, but number two, because I visibly observe it being powerful in women's lives. And, I mean, it feels like the magic I've got. So I'm willing to give my magic away because I don't want people to.
You know, it's not about me holding the magic. I want people to have this magic for themselves. So those questions can be asked anywhere within ourselves.
How is this working for me and what would I say to someone else?
Willow:Those are powerful questions, for sure.
When you look back over the course of the last 20 years and all the different roles that you've had in life, do you or are you able to locate unhealthy mindsets that held you back in your life as far as making an impact post?
Breeze:Oh, yeah. I mean, undoubtedly. I. I mean, I'm giggling because I'm like, oh, yeah, I still do. Like, that's just true. I could. Do you want me to name a bunch?
Willow:Yeah, actually, we have a whiteboard. We're going to roll it out here.
Breeze:If you can just write those, I'm glad. Start downloading. But no, absolutely, yeah.
Willow:Do you see it as a lifelong battle to battle unhealthy mindsets, or do you feel like people get to a place where it's like, I'm in a healthy state and they stay there?
Breeze:I think I imagine it to be a little bit of an ebb and flow. So there's going to be seasons where it intensifies and there's going to be season where it. It decreases and it wanes and it's a lot quieter. That's.
That's not as present, but I don't know that I foresee an end at any point in my life. But I can't say that on behalf of the world.
Willow:When you think about moments where maybe your ebb and flow, like your unhealthy mindset was higher than at another place, what helped you to locate your unhealth in those moments?
Breeze:People. Safe people around me.
Willow:Yeah.
Breeze:And I underlined safe. I think, you know, hopefully we all have at least one or two safe people in our life.
And I think if we don't, then that's really important to try to find. But it doesn't have to be a ton of people. It just really needs to be one or two that we can be vulnerable with and we can share with.
And those people often direct back to us truths that we need to hear. And they often do it really compassionately. Sometimes there's, you know, some, you know, straight up admonishment, but I don't know, there's.
There's something about people being a safe haven for, for us to continue to grow and accept ourselves, see ourselves in that, you know, in that truthful mirror, that truthful reflection.
Willow:Oftentimes when I see Jesus colliding with people in the New Testament, he collides with people who are unhealthy.
They have these unhealthy mindsets that we're talking about where they don't believe relationship is possible, they don't believe healing's possible, they don't believe forgiveness is possible, or they don't believe that participating in the extraordinary is possible. And yet he collides with them and he changes what they believe to be possible.
How do you, you see in our healthy, unhealthy mindsets, how do you see them keeping us from experiencing the power that God can have in, into our lives?
Breeze:I think it just again, keeps God limited. It keeps God really small.
And it's like imagining that we are looking at something small, like a puzzle piece and thinking that that's the whole puzzle. Or another idea that comes to mind is like imagining that we are zoomed into a petri dish.
I'm not a scientist by any means, but like, you know, a microscope zooms in really intensely. But if we, if we're zooming in on a petri dish and assuming that that's the, the whole picture, that's just another distortion, right?
And so I think, I think we have to remember that God is bigger than us and he sees things bigger than us. And so therefore he also has. He has more for us than just this little part that we can see or that we feel stuck on. That's hard to remember.
When I've just lost my job or I'm really upset about a broken relationship. It's hard to see that that is somehow in God's infinite plan.
But I think it's important to trust beyond my circumstances, trust that I see the petri dish and God sees the.
Willow:Whole Thing as a woman who impacts so many lives, which you do breeze and I get front row tickets to see it. What do you think God has taught you most about mental health and its importance to the degree of impact you can have with your life?
Breeze:I think mental health, I mean, I'm biased, it's my career choice, but I think mental health is a really important component of how we view ourselves because I think it naturally addresses some of the lies that we have believed or starts to undo some of the evidence we've collected that reinforce certain messages. And you know, and there's faith based counselors and there's not faith based counselors, but I think our work essentially looks very, very similar.
And so I think, I think I, I personally value mental health, but I think also I just see that it is a way in to very specifically addressing very concrete lies that maybe it's easier to not ever address with anyone in my personal life. You know, that might not be the things I'm calling to say, hey, can I talk about a lie that I've been believing for 30 years with you?
That's probably not the conversation I want to have, but maybe need to, but maybe a counselor helps ease that. So I think it's.
The other piece to that question I think is that I view the impact we have as being in direct proportion to our own health and well being.
So if I have a distorted image of who I am and I'm, you know, actively living in that, like actively reinforcing lies about myself, then I, I'm not as able to have impact on anyone because I, I can't see things clearly. That's just the easiest way to say that. And so I think our impact is connected in direct proportion to our own health and well being.
Willow:Brice, thank you for entering into our own health and inviting us into health. Thank you for impacting our lives.
Breeze:Thanks for inviting me to be here.
Willow:It's always fun to talk to you.
You guys, I hope that you got so much out of this and that this really inspired you to want to say yes to more and more healing in your unhealthy spaces that you can locate and be aware of trusting that with God there is so much more possible for you. As we continue to say yes to health, our impact will grow and grow and grow.
Willow:If you enjoyed that episode, friend, it was taken from our incredible course, the Women of Impact course. And if you're interested in grabbing hold of that for yourself today, we want to give you a half off code so that you can get it for just $49.99.
There's like 70 some classes within that course taught by women who are actually making an impact in the world. So head to our website or click the link in the show notes to grab the course today. Friend, I just hope that you know.
Willow:As you continue to collide that God.
Willow:Wants to use use you in this world to do amazing things that impact other people. So be encouraged.