2 Year Podaversary + Life Update + ANNOUNCEMENT

What's up, guys, and welcome back to another accidentally intentional podcast episode on the XO and the date. What's up guys, and welcome back to another accidentally intentional podcast episode. Hey, it is October 2022. And I'm excited about this month. Because this marks a two year pot of ursery for accidentally intentional. And listen, this has been a journey, I have been so honored to be walking alongside of you guys for the past two years for us to become more intentional and more relational with each other. And as you know, when I started this podcast, the goal was to become an anti small talk podcast. I said even in the intro of the show that I hate small talk, because I want to get to know someone's heart. And so that was my rationality with it, if when I started the podcast, the goal was having conversations with meaningful people in my life to discuss meaningful topics. And the reason I wanted to do that is so that it became approachable and realistic for anyone listening to be like, hey, you know what, like, I may not feel like I'm crushing it in my friendships right now. But even just listening to these organic, unscripted conversations happen, it makes me believe in my abilities more to be able to have a meaningful conversation with someone. So that's what all of year one of the podcast was focused on. And so as we entered into this year, which was year two, the first month, which was November of last year, I got invited to an influencer event. And that event, and the talk I gave there really helped me hone in and lock in on the messaging. And my actual goal and putting real language to what accidentally intentional is all about. So as we moved into this year, we have been talking about building relational wealth. And relational wealth is what I believe is going to be the most important currency of the future. And depending on which episodes you did and did not listen to, I'm just going to give a quick recap as to what as to what relational wealth actually means, in my terms, because the same way that you invest money into the stock market, which as you know, if you're listening to this present tense, the market is down, okay. So we're kind of feeling the ramifications of the stock market, and the housing market, in our lives, when it comes to food prices, et cetera, we're feeling the heat of it, because we're feeling like everything is going in a downward trajectory, because the ticker is quite literally in the red. And I want us to take that same approach to our relationships is always taking an inventory of how is my relational market? AKA, how are my relationships? Doing? What I if you're taking an inventory, you ask yourself, would I consider myself in the red? Or would I be relationally, rich in meaningful relationships that help you grow into the person that you want to be and do life with these people as well. So that's been what the whole concept of relational wealth means. And so we have ended year two now, which means we're stepping into a new year, which will be the beginnings of the third year of a podcast, it's so crazy to me. And over this next year, I'm actually going to focus the podcast on our relationships with fill in the blank. Now, it could be our relationships with a group of people like friends or family or anything like that. Or it could be relationships with certain concepts, such as my relationship with my body image, my relationship with impostor syndrome, my relationship with accountability, et cetera. I want to really open this up to a series about my relationships with as well as continue to bring back the help series, which everyone has seemed to give great feedback on, and maybe do a series about love languages, and how that impacts your relationships with your co workers, your friends, your loved ones, et cetera. And then here and there, I may continue to sprinkle in episodes of conversations that I have with my friends about how to do something, whether it's how to build discipline in your life, which is an episode we did before, anything like that, that can help us become better people and in turn, build richer relationships. So there you have it, that is the direction that We are going to be locking in this next year of the podcast. And I have to just say right here how grateful I am for every single person that has download an episode, let alone consistently downloaded the podcast and wanting to tune in and be part of these conversations every week. I could not do this without you. And I'm so grateful for how well you have supported the show, shared it with people. And all the feedback I've gotten of actually taking what we're discussing and implementing it in life. As you know, you can think about something all you want, but if you don't act on it, then nothing's going to happen. This past year has been one of the greatest of my entire life to kind of do a recap over the past year. Last year, when I came on for the pod aversary Episode I was celebrating, I had also shared that I didn't have a job at that point. And now we're here on the second pod aversary episode. And I have an incredible job. I work for a dream of a company with a dream culture and a dream mission. So I am so excited about where I am in life right now. But also with that I got engaged this year, this past May. And I'm actually going to become a married woman in one short month, I still can't, I can't believe it. I just I literally just like lost what I'm saying because I was Yeah, it's so crazy, that this moment is almost here. So there have been a lot of big moments that have happened. But with that the past six weeks, is what I want to really share a little bit about with you because you may have noticed that I have been MIA and very much off the regular podcast drops schedule. And that's because I want to open my heart to what has been going on in my world the past six weeks alone, okay. In the past six weeks, I have booked and since given my first official speaking gigs, which has been absolutely incredible. It's been such an honor. And it has really opened my eyes to how immensely passionate I am about public speaking. And I guess this is my shameless plug. I'd love to speak at your event. Next, feel free to DM me at XO Asha. I speak about building relational wealth, whether it's in the workplace at home, in your church, for instance, wherever I want to talk about it, your event next. So that happened. And then of course, throughout that I've been wedding planning with my fiance. So that's been fun, but also extremely hectic. Let me tell you, I had no idea. Here's my words of wisdom, hire a wedding planner, it was the best decision we've made. And then actually three weeks ago, my father in law passed away after a five year battle with cancer. He was an incredible warrior and fighter. And I'm so honored that he's my father in law, the best conversation I had with him, ended up being our last conversation in which I was kind of asking him some questions and opening, opening up my heart to him saying, I'm so honored to be a part of this family. Thank you for how you raised your son. As you can tell, this is very emotional for me to talk about. And then he asked me a personal question in return. And at the end of it, I wasn't even fazed. I thought there were more come and so I said, What else you got? And he said to me, nothing else. Love will answer all the rest. And I'll never forget that he said that sentence. And I've thought about it every single day, since that last conversation I had with him. And it was really incredible hearing that because there's a lot of questions that we are always asking ourselves, especially when it comes to our relationships with others. Like, am I good enough for x? Are they upset with me? You know, like there's a ton of pressures that we wear when it comes to being in relationship with anybody because we can't read each other's minds. So so often we can have all these like racing thoughts and questions. And hearing my father in law say love will answer all the rest. Almost helped me feel like I experienced a new freedom of Oh, that's right. If I spend my life committed to choosing to love my fiance soon to be husband and choose the love my family, then ultimately love is what answers all of the other questions we can have. So I just wanted to share that with you guys. Because even me getting to have that final conversation with my father in law was you An extreme gift. Not only was the words he said, but the life he lived in the way that he loved his family and the way that he served and sought to support his family is something I now am going to be a beneficiary of. And I'm forever grateful for him. And so it's been a very interesting, you know, couple of weeks of holding two things together, right? Sorrow for losing somebody you love, but also joy, for a multitude of reasons joy, because now my father in law is healed and cancer has no power over his body any longer, and to joy for what's about to happen, between my fiance and I, as we become married, which is ultimately an incredible gift from God to represent his love for the church, aka the body of Christ, on the earth. So it is an incredible season. Because every single day, my fiance and I are learning to rely on God and lean on him more than ever before. And it's drawing us closer together. And more importantly, it's drawing us closer to Him. And so I can say that I'm grateful for this season, though there is sorrow in it. It is also abundantly clear that God has been with us in it, and not for a moment Has he left our side. So for all of you that did know that I just want to say thank you for your prayers, for thinking of us for reaching out asking how you can help what you can do, going through this taught me just how darn generous some people are, with their time. And with their talents, which often involves people cooking meals, for us, and just being there to walk alongside of us whether it's emotionally or spiritually praying for us, and people just wanting to give in a multitude of ways, because they love us and they want to feel part of it and have the opportunity to stand alongside us in some way. We've been overwhelmed and so grateful for all of our friends and families who have continued to support our new family through this. So obviously, that changes things forever, it leaves a permanent mark. And so there's a lot to work through, when it comes to grief and what I've been learning about grief and how it comes in waves and how to best stand alongside those who feel it the most, and definitely want to talk about that in a future episode. And now, Jared and I are lasering in on our wedding in less than a month. And I'm hoping to bring him on actually, for a special edition share our engagement story here very soon. But I am ending basically talking about this because as you now have heard, maybe for the first time, there's been a lot that has happened these past couple of weeks, these past couple of months, and that are going to continue to come these next couple of months as well. As it goes from wedding to Thanksgiving to traveling for work multiple times to Christmas to New Year's, there's a lot of things and change happening in my personal life. And so because of that, I want to share that I am going to take a step back from the podcast for the remainder of 2022 which means my aim and my hope is to come back refreshed, married and more recharged than ever and locked on this mission of helping people build relational wealth. Coming back in January 2023 I cherish and value your support your listenership and growing with you so much. So guys from the bottom of my heart, thank you for how you have supported how you are supporting and how you have shown that you want to continue supporting the podcast moving forward. I love you guys so much. I hope you have an incredible holiday season that you never forget how loved you are and that you're worth building incredible relationships. I'll see you guys back after the holiday season in January 2023