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Let us know what you think! Text us!In this episode of The Security Halt! Podcast, Deny Caballero speaks with Ben Kramer, a Marine Corps veteran, firefighter, and licensed psilocybin facilitator, about the transformative role of psychedelic medicine in veteran mental health.They discuss:Trauma, worthiness, and identity after servicePsilocybin as a tool for healing—not a shortcutThe importance of preparation and integrationNeuroplasticity, awe, and mindfulnessCommunity, gratitude, and post-military purposeBreaking stigma around psychedelicsAddressing the veteran suicide crisisThis is a grounded, honest conversation about healing beyond the battlefield.Chapters:00:00 – Psilocybin and Veteran Healing Explained 02:58 – Ben Kramer's Military to Healing Journey 06:05 – Why Peer Support Matters for Veterans 08:59 – Preparation and Integration in Psilocybin Therapy 11:56 – Trauma, Worthiness, and Identity 14:55 – Awe, Neuroplasticity, and Mental Health 17:59 – Mindfulness and Breathwork for Healing 20:46 – Compassion in Veteran Mental Health Care 24:03 – Exploring Alternative Healing Modalities 26:50 – Creating Safe Spaces for Psychedelic Healing 29:18 – Hypervigilance and the Cost of Constant Readiness 30:49 – Addressing Veteran Suicide 32:53 – Breaking the Psychedelic Stigma 34:29 – Psychedelics as a Catalyst for Change 37:21 – Ego, Insight, and Integration 40:04 – Why Chasing Treatments Doesn't Work 42:52 – Doing the Work After the Experience 46:10 – Community as the Foundation of Healing 50:39 – Transitioning from Military to Civilian LifeSponsored by: Dr. Mark Gordon & Millennium Health Centers  Get the book Peptides for Health Vol.1 Medical Edition today.  Use code PTH25 for 25% off through March 15  Use code Phase2P for 10% off Millennium products  Available only at MillenniumHealthStore.comPRECISION WELLNESS GROUP  Use code: Security Halt Podcast 25Website: https://www.precisionwellnessgroup.com/ Security Halt Mediahttps://www.securityhaltmedia.com/Connect with Ben Today!LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-kramer-16846127a/Website: www.fungimentalpdx.com  Instagram: @securityhaltX: @SecurityHaltTik Tok: @security.halt.podLinkedIn: Deny CaballeroSupport the showProduced by Security Halt Media

Moyamoya Syndrome Stroke Recovery: Judy Kim Cage's Comeback From “Puff of Smoke” to Purpose At 4:00 AM, Judy Kim Cage woke up in pain so extreme that she was screaming, though she doesn't remember the scream. What she does remember is the “worst headache ever,” nausea, numbness, and then the terrifying truth: her left side was shutting down. Here's the part that makes her story hit even harder: Judy already lived with Moyamoya syndrome and had undergone brain surgeries years earlier. She genuinely believed she was “cured.” So when her stroke began, her brain fought the reality with everything it had. Denial, resistance, bargaining, and delay. And yet, Judy's story isn't about doom. It's about what Moyamoya syndrome stroke recovery can look like when you keep going, especially when recovery becomes less about “getting back to normal” and more about building a new, honest, meaningful life. What Is Moyamoya Syndrome (And Why It's Called “Puff of Smoke”) Moyamoya is a rare cerebrovascular disorder where the internal carotid arteries progressively narrow, reducing blood flow to the brain. The brain tries to compensate by creating fragile collateral vessels, thin-walled backups that can look like a “puff of smoke” on imaging. Those collateral vessels can become a risk. In Judy's case, the combination of her history, symptoms, and eventual deficits marked a devastating event that would reshape her life. The emotional gut punch wasn't only the stroke itself. It was the psychological whiplash of thinking you're safe… and discovering you're not. The First Enemy in Moyamoya Stroke Recovery: Denial Judy didn't just resist the hospital. She resisted the idea that this was happening at all. She'd been through countless ER visits in the past, having to explain Moyamoya to doctors, enduring tests, and then being told, “There's nothing we can do.” That history trained her to expect frustration and disappointment, not urgent help. So when her husband wanted to call emergency services, her reaction wasn't logical, it was emotional. It was the reflex of someone who'd been through too much. Denial isn't weakness. It's protection. It's your mind trying to buy time when the truth is too big to hold all at once. The Moment Reality Landed: “I Thought I Picked Up My Foot” In early recovery, Judy was convinced she could do what she used to do. Get up. Walk. Go to the bathroom. Handle it. But a powerful moment in rehab shifted everything: she was placed into an exoskeleton and realized her brain and body weren't speaking the same language. She believed she lifted her foot, then saw it hadn't moved for several seconds. That's when she finally had to admit what so many survivors eventually face: Recovery begins the moment you stop arguing with reality. Not because you “give up,” but because you stop wasting energy fighting what is and start investing energy into what can be. The Invisible Battle: Cognitive Fatigue and Energy Management If you're living through Moyamoya syndrome stroke recovery, it's easy for everyone (including you) to focus on the visible stuff: walking, arms, vision, and balance. But Judy's most persistent challenge wasn't always visible. It was cognitive fatigue, the kind that makes simple tasks feel impossible. Even something as ordinary as cleaning up an email inbox can become draining because it requires micro-decisions: categorize, prioritize, analyze, remember context, avoid mistakes. And then there's the emotional layer: when you're a perfectionist, errors feel personal. Judy described how fatigue increases mistakes, not because she doesn't care, but because the brain's bandwidth runs out. That's a brutal adjustment when your identity has always been built on competence. A practical shift that helped her Instead of trying to “finish” exhausting tasks in one heroic sprint, Judy learned to do small daily pieces. It's not glamorous, but it reduces cognitive load and protects energy. In other words: consistency beats intensity. Returning to Work After a Moyamoya Stroke: A Different Kind of Strength Judy's drive didn't disappear after her stroke. If anything, it became part of the recovery engine. She returned slowly, first restricted to a tiny number of hours. Even that was hard. But over time, she climbed back. She eventually returned full-time and later earned a promotion. That matters for one reason: it proves recovery doesn't have one shape. For some people, recovery is walking again. For others, it's parenting again. For others, it's working again without losing themselves to burnout. The goal isn't to recreate the old life perfectly. The goal is to build a life that fits who you are now. [Quote block mid-article] “If you couldn't make fun of it… it would be easier to fall into a pit of despair.” Humor Isn't Denial. It's a Tool. Judy doesn't pretend everything is okay. She's not selling toxic positivity. But she does use humor like a lever, something that lifts the emotional weight just enough to keep moving. She called her recovering left hand her “evil twin,” high-fived it when it improved, and looked for small “silver linings” not because the stroke was good, but because despair is dangerous. Laughter can't fix Moyamoya. But it can change what happens inside your nervous system: tension, stress response, mood, motivation, and your willingness to try again tomorrow. And sometimes, tomorrow is the whole win. Identity After Stroke: When “Big Stuff Became Small Stuff” One of the most profound shifts Judy described was this: the stroke changed her scale. Things that used to feel huge became small. Every day annoyances lost their power. It took something truly significant to rattle her. That's not magical thinking. That's a perspective earned the hard way. Many survivors quietly report this experience: once you've faced mortality and rebuilt your life from rubble, you stop wasting precious energy on what doesn't matter. Judy also found meaning in mentoring others because recovering alone can feel like walking through darkness without a map. Helping others doesn't erase what happened. But it can transform pain into purpose. If You're In Moyamoya Syndrome Stroke Recovery, Read This If your recovery feels messy… if you're exhausted by invisible symptoms… if the old “high achiever” version of you is fighting the new reality… You're not broken. You're adapting. And your next step doesn't have to be dramatic. It just has to be honest and repeatable: Simplify the day Protect energy Build routines Accept help Use humor when you can And find one person who understands Recovery is not a straight line. But it is possible to rebuild a life you actually want to live. If you want more support and guidance, you can also explore Bill's resources here: recoveryafterstroke.com/book patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan. Judy Kim Cage on Moyamoya Stroke Recovery, Cognitive Fatigue, and Finding Purpose Again She thought Moyamoya was “fixed.” Then a 4 AM headache proved otherwise. Judy's comeback will change how you see recovery. Judy’s Instagram Highlights: 00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction 01:43 Life Before the Stroke 11:17 The Moment of the Stroke 19:56 Moyamoya Syndrome Stroke Recovery 25:36 Cognitive Fatigue and Executive Functioning 34:50 Rehabilitation Experience 42:29 Using Humor in Recovery 46:59 Finding Purpose After Stroke 54:19 Judy’s Book: Super Survivor 01:05:20 Conclusion and Final Thoughts Transcript: Introduction and Guest Introduction Bill Gasiamis (00:00) Hey there, I’m Bill Gasiamis and this is the Recovery After Stroke podcast. Before we jump in a quick thank you to my Patreon supporters. You help cover the hosting costs after more than 10 years of doing this independently. And you make it possible for me to keep creating episodes for stroke survivors who need hope and real guidance. And thank you to everyone who supports the show in the everyday ways too. The YouTube commenters, the people leaving reviews on Spotify and Apple. The folks who bought my book and everyone who sticks around and doesn’t skip the ads. I see you and I appreciate you. Now I want you to hear this. My guest today, Judy Kim Cage, woke up at 4am with the worst headache of her life and she was so deep in denial that she threatened to divorce her husband if he called 911. Judy lives with Moyamoya syndrome, a rare cerebrovascular condition often described as the puff of smoke on imaging. She’d already had brain surgeries and believed she was cured until the stroke changed everything. Judy also wrote a book called Super Survivor and it’s all about how denial, resistance and persistence can lead to success and a better life after stroke. I’ll put the links in the show notes. In this conversation, we talk about Moyamoya Syndrome, stroke recovery, the rehab moment where reality finally landed. and what it’s like to rebuild life with cognitive fatigue and executive functioning challenges and how Judy used humor and purpose to keep moving forward without pretending recovery is easy. Let’s get into it. Judy Kim Cage, welcome to the podcast. Life Before Moyamoya Syndrome Judy Kim Cage (01:43) Thank you so much, Bill Bill Gasiamis (01:45) Thanks for being here. Can you paint us a picture of your life before the stroke? What were your days like? Judy Kim Cage (01:51) Hmm. Well, my life before the stroke was me trying to be a high achiever and a corporate nerd. I think so. I think so. I, you know, I was in the Future Business Leaders of America in high school and then carried that forward to an accounting degree. Bill Gasiamis (02:04) Did you achieve it? Judy Kim Cage (02:20) and finance and then ⁓ had gone to work for Deloitte and the big four. ⁓ And after that moved into ⁓ internal audit for commercial mortgage and then risk and banking and it all rolled into compliance, which is a kind of larger chunk there. But ⁓ yeah, I was living the corporate dream and Traveling every other week, basically so 50 % of the time, flying to Columbus, staying there, and then flying back home for the weekend and working in a rented office for the week after. And I did that for all of 2018. And then in 2019 is when my body said, hang on a second. And I had a stroke. Bill Gasiamis (03:17) How many hours a week do you think you were working? Judy Kim Cage (03:19) Well, not including the treble, ⁓ probably 50-55. Bill Gasiamis (03:26) Okay. Judy Kim Cage (03:26) Oh, wish, that wasn’t that that really wasn’t a ton compared to my Deloitte days where I’d be working up to 90 hours a week. Bill Gasiamis (03:37) Wow. in that time when you’re working 90 hours a week. Is there time for anything else? you get to squeeze in a run at the gym or do you get to squeeze in a cafe catch up with a friend or anything like that? Judy Kim Cage (03:51) There are people that do. think, yeah, I mean, on certain particular weekends and my friends, a lot of my friends were also working with me. So there was time to socialize. And then, of course, we would all let off some steam, you know, at the pub, you know, at the end of a week. But ⁓ yeah, I remember on one of my very first jobs, I had been so excited because I had signed up to take guitar lessons and I was not able to leave in order to get there in time. ⁓ so that took a backseat. Bill Gasiamis (04:40) Yes, it sounds like there’s potentially lots of things that took a backseat. Yeah, work tends to be like that can be all consuming and when friendships especially are within the work group as well, even more so because everyone’s doing the same thing and it’s just go, Judy Kim Cage (04:44) Yeah, definitely. Absolutely. We started as a cohort essentially of, I want to say 40 some people all around the same age. And then, you know, as the years ticked by, we started falling off as they do in that industry. Bill Gasiamis (05:19) Do you enjoy it though? Like, is there a part of you that enjoys the whole craziness of all the travel, all the hours, the work stuff? it? Is it like interesting? Judy Kim Cage (05:31) Yeah, I do love it. I actually do love my job. I love compliance. I love working within a legal mindset with other lawyers. And basically knowing that I’m pretty good at my job, that I can be very well organized, that it would be difficult even for a normal healthy person and challenging and that I can do well there. And yeah, no, was, when I had put in a year, when I was in ⁓ acute therapy, ⁓ I had spoken with a number of students and they had interviewed me as a patient, but also from the psych side of it all, ⁓ asking, well, what does it feel like to all of a sudden have your life stop? And I said, well, ⁓ and things got a bit emotional, I said, I felt like I was at the top of my game. I had finally achieved the job that I absolutely wanted, had desired. ⁓ I felt like I’d found a home where I was now going to retire. And all of a sudden that seems like it was no longer a possibility. Bill Gasiamis (06:55) So that’s a very common thing that strokes have over say who I interviewed. They say stuff like I was at the top of my game and there’s this ⁓ idea or sense that once you get to the top of the game, you stay there. There’s no getting down from the top of the game and that it just keeps going and keeps going. And, I think it’s more about fit. sounds like it’s more about fit. Like I found a place where I fit. found a place where I’m okay. or I do well, where I succeed, where people believe in me, where I have the support and the faith or whatever it is of my employers, my team. Is that kind of how you describe on top of your game or is it something different? Judy Kim Cage (07:41) I think it was all of those things, ⁓ but also, you know, definitely the kindness of people, the support of people, their faith in my ability to be smart and get things done. But then also ⁓ just the fact that I finally said, okay, this was not necessarily a direct from undergrad to here. However, I was able to take pieces of everything that I had done and put it together into a position that was essentially kind of created for me and then launched from there. So I felt as though it was essentially having climbed all of those stairs. So I was at the top. Yeah. you know, looking at my Lion King kingdom and yeah. Bill Gasiamis (08:43) just about to ascend and, and it was short lived by the sound of it. Judy Kim Cage (08:49) It was, it was, it was only one year beforehand, but I am actually still at the company now. I ⁓ had gone and done ⁓ well. So I was in the hospital for a few months and following that. Well, following the round of inpatient and the one round of outpatient, said, okay, I’m going back. And I decided, I absolutely insisted that I was going to go back. The doctor said, okay, you can only work four hours a week. I said, four hours a week, what are you talking about? ⁓ But then I realized that four hours a week was actually really challenging at that time. ⁓ And then ⁓ I climbed back up. was, you know, I’m driven by deadlines and… ⁓ I was working, you know, leveraging long-term disability. And then once I had worked too many hours after five years, you know, I graduated from that program, or rather I got booted out of the program. ⁓ And then a year later, I was actually, well, no, actually at the end of the five years I was promoted. So, ⁓ after coming back full time. Bill Gasiamis (10:20) Wow. So this was all in 2019, the stroke. You were 39 years old. Do you remember, do you remember the moment when you realized there was something wrong? We’ll be back with more of Judy’s remarkable story in just a moment. If you’re listening right now and you’re in that stage where recovery feels invisible, where the fatigue is heavy, your brain feels slower. or you’re trying to explain a rare condition like Moyamoya and nobody really gets it. I want you to hear this clearly. You’re not failing. You’re recovering. If you want extra support between episodes, you can check out my book at recoveryafterstroke.com slash book. And if you’d like to help keep this podcast going and support my mission to reach a thousand episodes, you can support the podcast at Patreon by visiting patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. All right, let’s get back to Judy. The Moment of the Stroke Judy Kim Cage (11:16) Yes, although I was in a lot of denial. ⁓ So we had just had dinner with ⁓ my stepdaughter and her husband ⁓ and ⁓ we were visiting them in Atlanta, Georgia. ⁓ And we said, OK, we’ll meet for brunch tomorrow. You know, great to see you. Have a good night. It was four in the morning and I was told I woke up screaming and I felt this horrible, horrible worst headache ever ⁓ on the right side. And I think because I have, I have Moyamoya syndrome, because of that and because I had had brain surgeries, ⁓ 10 years or back in December of 2008, I had a brain surgery on each side. And that at the time was the best of care that you could get. You know, that was essentially your cure. And so I thought I was cured. And so I thought I would never have a stroke. So when it was actually happening, I was in denial said there’s no way this could be happening. But the excess of pain, ⁓ the nausea and ⁓ it not going away after throwing up, the numbness ⁓ and then the eventual paralysis of my left side definitely ⁓ was evidence that something was very very wrong. Bill Gasiamis (13:09) So it was four in the morning, were you guys sleeping? Judy Kim Cage (13:14) ⁓ yeah, we were in bed. Yep. And yeah, I woke up screaming. According to my husband, I don’t remember the screaming part, but I remember all the pain. Bill Gasiamis (13:24) Yeah, did he ⁓ get you to hospital? Did he the emergency services? Judy Kim Cage (13:30) I apparently was kind of threatening to divorce him if he called 911. Bill Gasiamis (13:38) Wow, that’s a bit rough. Oh my lord. Judy Kim Cage (13:41) I know. mean, that could have been his out, but he didn’t. Bill Gasiamis (13:45) There’s worse things for a human to do than call 911 and get your support. Like marriages end for worse things than that. Judy Kim Cage (13:53) because I’ve been to the ER many, many, many times. And because of the Moyamoya, you would always, it being a rare disease, you would never be told, well, you would have to explain to all the doctors about what Moyamoya was, for one. For two, to say if I had a cold, for instance, that Moyamoya had nothing to do with it. Bill Gasiamis (14:11) Wow. Judy Kim Cage (14:19) But also, you know, they would give me an MRI, oof, the claustrophobia. I detested that. And I said, if you’re getting me into an MRI, please, please, please, a benzodiazepine would be incredible. Or just knock me out, whatever you need to do. But I’m not getting into that thing otherwise. But, you know, they would take the MRI, read it. and then say, hours and hours and hours later, there’s nothing we can do. The next course of action, if it was absolutely necessary, would be another surgery, which would have been bur holes that were drilled into my skull to relieve some sort of pressure. ⁓ In this particular case, the options were to ⁓ have a drain put in my skull. and then for me to be reliant on a ventilator. Or they said, you can have scans done every four hours and if the damage becomes too great, then we’ll move on. Otherwise, we’ll just keep tabs on it, essentially. Bill Gasiamis (15:37) Yeah. So I know that feeling because since my initial blade in February, 2012, I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been to the hospital for a scan that was unnecessary, but necessary at the time because you, you know, you tie yourself up in knots trying to work out, is this another one? Isn’t it another one? Is it, it, and then the only outcome that you can possibly come up with that puts your mind at ease and everybody else around you is let’s go and get a scan and then, and then move on with life. Once they tell you it was, ⁓ it was not another bleed or whatever. Yeah. However, three times I did go and three times there was a bleed. So it’s the whole, you know, how do you wrap your head around like which one isn’t the bleed, which one is the bleed and It’s a fricking nightmare if you ask me. And I seem to have now ⁓ transferred that concern to everybody else who has a headache. On the weekend, my son had a migraine. And I tell you what, because he was describing it as one of the worst headaches he had ever had, I just went into meltdown. I couldn’t cope. And it was like, go to the hospital, go to the hospital, go to… He didn’t go, he’s an adult, right? Makes his own decisions. But I was worried about it for days. And it wasn’t enough that even the next few days he was feeling better because I still have interviewed people who have had a headache for four or five or six days before they went to hospital and then they found that it was a stroke. it’s just become this crazy thing that I have to live with now. Judy Kim Cage (17:26) I essentially forced Rich to wait 12 hours before I called my vascular neurologist. And once I did, his office said, you need to go to the ER. And I said, okay, then that’s when I folded and said, all right, we’ll go. ⁓ And then, ⁓ you know, an ambulance came. Bill Gasiamis (17:35) Wow. Judy Kim Cage (17:53) took me out on a gurney and then took me to a mobile stroke unit, which there was only one of 11, there were only 11 in the country at the time. And they were able to scan me there and then had me basically interviewed by a neurologist via telecall. And this was, you know, before the days of teams and zoom and that we all tested out ⁓ from COVID. ⁓ yeah, that’s. Bill Gasiamis (18:35) That’s you, So then you get through that initial acute phase and then you wake up with a certain amount of deficits. Judy Kim Cage (18:37) Yeah. my gosh. ⁓ Well, yeah, absolutely. ⁓ Massive amounts of pain ⁓ from all the blood absorbing back into the brain. ⁓ The left side, my left side was paralyzed. My arm fell out of my shoulder socket. So it was hanging down loosely. ⁓ I had dropped foot, so I had to learn to walk again. Double vision and my facial group on the left and then. Bluff side neglect. Bill Gasiamis (19:31) Yeah. So, and then I see in our, in your notes, I see also you had diminished hearing, nerve pain, spasticity, cognitive fatigue, ⁓ bladder issues. You’d also triggered Ehlers-Danlos symptoms, whatever that is. Tell me about that. What’s that? Moyamoya Syndrome Stroke Recovery Judy Kim Cage (19:56) So I call myself a genetic mutant because the Moyamoya for one at the time I was diagnosed is discovered in 3.5 people out of a million. And then Ehlers-Danlos or EDS for short is also a genetic disorder. Well, certain versions are more genetic than others, but it is caused by a defect in your collagen, which makes up essentially your entire body. And so I have hypermobility, the blood, I have pots. So my, my blood basically remains down by my feet, it pulls at my feet. And so not enough of it gets up to my brain, which also could, you know, have affected the moimoya. But Essentially, it creates vestibular issues, these balance issues where it’s already bad enough that you have a stroke, but it’s another to be at the risk of falling all the time. Yeah. Or if you get up a little too fast, which I still do to this day, sometimes I’ll completely forget and I’ll just bounce up off the sofa to get myself a drink and I will sway and all of a sudden Bill Gasiamis (21:07) Yeah. Judy Kim Cage (21:22) onto the sofa or sit down right on the floor and say, okay, why did I not do the three-step plan to get up? ⁓ But sometimes it’s just too easy to forget. Bill Gasiamis (21:37) Yeah, yeah. You just act, you just move out of well habit or normal, normal ways that people move. And then you find yourself in a interesting situation. So I mean, how, how do you deal with all of that? Like you, you go from having experienced more and more by the way, let’s describe more and more a little bit, just so people know what it is. Judy Kim Cage (22:02) Absolutely. So, my way is a cerebrovascular disorder where your internal carotid progressively constricts. So for no known reason, no truly known reason. And so because it keeps shrinking and shrinking, not enough brain, blood gets to your brain. So what the brain decides to do to compensate is it will form these collateral vessels. And these collateral vessels, which there are many of them usually, you know, the longer this goes on, ⁓ they have very thin walls. So due to the combination of the thin walls, and if you have high blood pressure, these walls can break. And that is what happened in my case. ⁓ Well, the carotids will continue to occlude, but what happens is, ⁓ least with the surgery, they took my temporal artery, removed it from my scalp, had taken a plate off of my skull and stitched that. temporal artery onto my brain so that it would have a separate source of blood flow so that it was no longer reliant on this carotid. So we know that the carotid, sorry, that the temporal artery won’t fail out. ⁓ So usually, ⁓ and this was my surgery was actually done at Boston Children’s Hospital ⁓ by the man who pioneered the surgery. And he was basically head of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s because they more often find this in children now. And the sooner they find it, the fewer collateral vessels will form once the surgery is performed. Bill Gasiamis (24:17) Okay, so the long-term risk is that it’s decreased, the risk of a blade decreases if they do the surgery early on too. I love that. Judy Kim Cage (24:25) The rest. But I was diagnosed at the age of 29. So I had quite a while of these collateral vessels forming in what they call a puff of smoke that appears on the MRI. ⁓ And that is what, you know, Moyamoya essentially means in Japanese, is translated to in Japanese, it’s puff of smoke. Bill Gasiamis (24:50) Wow, you have been going through this for a while then. So I can understand your whole mindset around doctors, another appointment, another MRI. Like I could totally, ⁓ it makes complete sense. You you’re over it after a certain amount of time. Yeah, I’m the same. I kind of get over it, but then I also have to take action because you know what we know what the previous Judy Kim Cage (25:07) Absolutely. Bill Gasiamis (25:19) outcome was and now you’re dealing with all of these deficits that you have to overcome. Which are the deficits that you’re still dealing with that are the most, well, the most sort of prolonged or challenging or whatever you want to call them, whatever. Cognitive Fatigue and Executive Functioning Judy Kim Cage (25:34) The most significant, I guess it’s the most wide ranging. But it is. ⁓ Energy management and cognitive fatigue. ⁓ I have issues with executive functioning. ⁓ Things are, you know, if I need to do sorting or filing. ⁓ That actually is. one of my least favorite things to do anymore. Whereas it was very easy at one point. ⁓ And now if I want to clean up my inbox, it is just a dreaded task. ⁓ And so now I’ve learned that if I do a little bit of it every day, then I don’t have, it doesn’t have to take nearly as long. ⁓ Bill Gasiamis (26:26) What it’s dreaded about it is it making decisions about where those emails belong, what to do to them or. Judy Kim Cage (26:33) Oh, no, it’s just the time and energy it takes to do it. It drains me very quickly. Because you have to evaluate and analyze every line as you’re deciding what project it belongs to. And there’s a strategic way to do it in terms of who you normally deal with on each project, etc. etc. This chunk of time, calendar dates you’ve worked on it, etc. But, know, That might by the time I get to this tedious task, I’m not thinking about it strategically. ⁓ Yeah, I’m just dragging each individual line item into a little folder. ⁓ So, ⁓ but yeah, like the cognitive deficits. gosh. mean, I’m working on a computer all day. I am definitely a corporate desk rat or mouse, you know, on the wheel. ⁓ And a lot of Excel spreadsheets and just a lot of very small print and sometimes I get to expand it. ⁓ And it really is just trying not to, well, the job involves making as few errors as you possibly can. Bill Gasiamis (28:01) Yeah. Judy Kim Cage (28:02) ⁓ Now when I get tired or overwhelmed or when I overdo it, which I frequently frequently do, ⁓ I find out that I’ve made more errors and I find out after the fact usually. So nothing that’s not reversible, nothing that’s not fixable, but it still is pretty disheartening for a perfectionist type such as myself. Bill Gasiamis (28:30) Wow. So the perfectionism also has to become something that you have to deal with even more so than before, because before you were probably capable of managing it now, you’re less capable. yeah, I understand. I’m not a perfectionist by all means. My wife can tend to be when she’s studying or something like that. And she suffers from, you know, spending Judy Kim Cage (28:46) the energy. Bill Gasiamis (29:00) potentially hours on three lines of a paragraph. Like she’s done that before and I’ll just, and I’ve gone into the room after three hours and her, and her going into the room was, I’m going to go in and do a few more lines because she was drained or tired or, you know, her brain wasn’t working properly or whatever. I’m just going to go do three more lines and three hours later, she’s still doing those three lines. It’s like, wow, you need to get out of the, you need to get out. need to, we need to. break this because it’s not, it’s not good. So I totally get what it’s liked to be like that. And then I have had the cognitive fatigue where emails were impossible. Spreadsheets forget about it. I never liked them anyway. And they were just absolutely forget about it. Um, I feel like they are just evil. I feel like the spreadsheets are evil, you know, all these things that you have to do in the background, forget about it. That’s unbelievable. So, um, What was it like when you first sort of woke up from the initial stroke, got out of your unconscious state and then realized you had to deal with all of this stuff? I know for some time you were probably unable to speak and were you ⁓ trapped inside your body? Is that right or? Judy Kim Cage (30:19) I was in the ICU. I was paralyzed on the left side, so I was not able to get up, not really able to move much. ⁓ I was not speaking too much, definitely not within the first week. I was in the ICU for 10 days. ⁓ And yeah, I just wasn’t able to do much other than scream from the beam. ⁓ And then I, once I became more aware, I insisted that I could get up and walk to the bathroom myself. I insisted that I could just sit up, get up, do all the things that I had done before. And it being a right side stroke as well, you know, I think helps contribute to the overestimation or the… just conceitedness, guess, and this self-confidence that I could just do anything. Yes, absolutely. And I was told time and time again, Judy, can’t walk, Judy, can’t go to the bathroom, Judy, you can’t do these things. And I was in absolute denial. And I would say, no, I can, I can get up. And meanwhile, I would say that Bill Gasiamis (31:30) Delusion Judy Kim Cage (31:51) husband was so afraid that I was going to physically try to get up and fall over, which would not have been good. ⁓ And so, you know, there was, there were some expletives involved. ⁓ And, ⁓ and then eventually once I was out of the ICU, ⁓ I didn’t truly accept that I couldn’t walk until Bill Gasiamis (32:00) but. Judy Kim Cage (32:20) one of the PT students had put me into an exoskeleton and I realized that my foot did not move at all, you know, like a full five seconds after I thought I picked it up. And I said, wait, hang on, what’s going on here? And I said, ⁓ okay, I guess I have to admit that I can’t walk. And then I can’t, I can’t sit upright. I can’t. You know, and like you had mentioned, you know, I had lost the signals from my brain to my bladder. They were slow or whatnot. And I was wetting the bed, like a child at a sleepover. And I was pretty horrified. And that happened for, you know, pretty much my, pretty much all my time at Kratie, except I got the timing down. ⁓ eventually, which was fantastic. But then when I moved to post-acute, ⁓ then I had to learn the timing all over again, just because, you know, of different, rules being different, the transfers being different, and then, ⁓ you know, just ⁓ the timing of when somebody would answer the call button, et cetera. Bill Gasiamis (33:45) Yeah. Do you, what was it like going to rehab? I was really excited about it. I was hanging out because I learned that I couldn’t walk when the nurse said to me, have you been to the toilet yet? And I said, no, I hadn’t been to the toilet. We’re talking hours after surgery, you know, maybe within the first eight or nine hours, something like that. And I went to put my left foot down onto the ground. She was going to help me. She was like a really petite Asian. framed lady and I’m and I’m probably two feet taller than her, something like that, and double her weight. And then she said, just put your hand on my shoulder and then I’ll support you. So I did that. I put my hand on her shoulder, stepped onto my left foot and then just collapsed straight onto the ground and realized, ⁓ no, I’m not walking. I can’t walk anymore. And then I was then waiting. hanging out to go to rehab was really excited about that. ⁓ What was it like for you? Moyamoya Syndrome Stroke Rehabilitation Experience Judy Kim Cage (34:48) Initially, well, do you so you mean. ⁓ Bill Gasiamis (34:56) Just as in like, were you aware that you could ⁓ improve things? Were you kind of like, we’re gonna overcome this type of stuff? Because you had a lot more things to overcome than I did. So it’s like, how is that? How do you frame that in your head? Were you the kind of person who was like, ⁓ rehab’s around the corner, let’s do that? Or were you kind of reluctant? Judy Kim Cage (35:19) It was a combination of two things. One, I had been dying to go home. I said, I absolutely, why can’t I go home? I was in the hospital for three weeks before we moved to the rehab hospital. And once we had done that, I was there basically for the entire weekend and then they do evaluations on Tuesday. And so I was told on Tuesday that I would be there for another at least four to six weeks. And so that was even before therapies really began. So there was a part of me saying, I don’t care, let me go home and I’ll do outpatient every day and everything will be fine. At least I get to go home. But then the other part. Bill Gasiamis (35:52) Thanks. Judy Kim Cage (36:11) said, okay, well, once I realized I was stuck and that I couldn’t escape, I couldn’t go anywhere, ⁓ I actually, I did love therapy. ⁓ I loved being in speech therapy, being in OTE, being in PT even, because my girls were fantastic. They were so caring, so understanding. They made jokes and also laughed at mine, which was even better. And when you’re not in therapy, especially on the weekends, you’re just in your room by yourself. And you’re not watching TV because that input is way too heavy. Listening to music. maybe a little bit here and there. ⁓ You know, all the things that you know and love are nowhere to be found, you know, really. ⁓ Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. And I get claustrophobic in the MRI, in the hospital, et cetera. yeah. Bill Gasiamis (37:14) Oscillating. Yeah. I was on YouTube, searching YouTube videos that were about neuroplasticity, retraining the brain, that kind of stuff, meditations, type of thing. That really helped me on those weekends. The family was always around, but there was delays between family visits and what have you that couldn’t be there that entire time. ⁓ So I found that very interesting. And you know, rehab was a combination of frustration and excitement, excitement that I was getting the help, frustration that things weren’t moving as quickly as I wanted. ⁓ And I even remember the occupational therapist making us make breakfast. And I wouldn’t recommend this breakfast for stroke survivors. I think it was cereal and toast or something like that. And I remember being frustrated, why are they making me make it? My left side doesn’t work. Like I can barely walk. I cannot carry the glass with the tea or anything like that to me. What are these people doing? They should be doing it for us. I wasn’t aware. I wasn’t aware that that was part of the therapy. I just thought they were making us make our own bloody breakfast. I thought these people are so terrible. And it took a while for me to clue on like, ⁓ okay. Judy Kim Cage (38:44) you Bill Gasiamis (38:52) They want me to be able to do this when I get home. ⁓ understood. Took a while. I’m thick like that. Judy Kim Cage (39:00) Fortunately, wasn’t made to cook until close to the end. And also during outpatient, I was tasked to make kind of a larger, you know, crock pot dinner so that, you know, I could do that at home. Meanwhile, the irony of it all is that. I can cook and I used to love cooking, but I don’t do it nearly as much as I used to. So that skill did not really transfer over. ⁓ I have Post-it notes up by the microwave that tell me right hand only because if I use my left hand, the temperature differential I will burn myself ⁓ without even realizing it or even reaching for a certain part of a pan that I think is going to be safe and is somewhat heat resistant. And I touch it and then poof, well, you know, get a burn. So there are post-it notes everywhere. There’s one by the front door that says, watch the steps, because I had a couple of times flown down them and gashed my knee. Bill Gasiamis (40:13) Yeah. Judy Kim Cage (40:26) And it’s amazing actually how long a Post-It note with its temporary stick will stay up on a wall. Bill Gasiamis (40:35) Well, there’s another opportunity for you there, like do a project, ⁓ a longevity of Post-it Notes project, see how long we can get out of one application. Judy Kim Cage (40:46) Yeah, well, this one actually, so I think it was three months after I had moved in, which would have been 10 months into my stroke recovery. And that’s when I fell down these steps. And that’s when I put up the Post-It note. it has been, a piece of tape has been added to it. but it only fell down, I think, a couple of years ago. Bill Gasiamis (41:18) Yeah. So 3M need to shift their entire focus. I feel like 3M. Yeah. I think 3M needs to have a permanent ⁓ post-it note application, but easy to remove. if I want to take it down, like it’s permanent once I put it up, but if I want to take it down, it’s still easy to remove and it doesn’t ruin my paint or leave residue. Judy Kim Cage (41:44) They do actually have that tech. have it for, they call it command. It’s what they have for the hooks for photos and whatnot. And then if you pull the tab and then release it, it will come off and leave the wall undamaged, but it will otherwise stay there for a long. Bill Gasiamis (42:04) Yes, yes, I think you’re right. Most of the time it works, yes. Okay, well, we’re moving on to other things. You’ve overcome a lot of stuff. You’re dealing with a lot of stuff. And yet, you have this disposition, which is very chirpy and happy, go lucky. Is it real, that disposition, or is it just a facade? Using Humor in Moyamoya Syndrome and Stroke Recovery Judy Kim Cage (42:29) No, no, it’s real. It’s real. ⁓ I think I’ve always ⁓ tried to make light of things. ⁓ Humors, probably my first defense mechanism. ⁓ And I think that helped out a lot ⁓ in terms of recovery. And also, ⁓ it put my therapist in a great mood. Also, because not many people did that apparently. You know, most people curse them off or, you know, were kind of miserable. And there were times when I was miserable too. Absolutely. But, but I probably took it out more on my husband than I did the staff. And he, and he would call, you know, I said, I was so mean to you, Rich. was so mean to you. And he said, yeah, you were nicer to the nurses than to me. And I. I apologized for it, but at the same time I’m like, yeah, but sometimes, bud, you are so annoying. Bill Gasiamis (43:33) You had it coming. Judy Kim Cage (43:34) Yeah. Why are you so overprotective? Why do you point out every crack in the sidewalk? Why do you know, you still say I have to stop to tie up my hair when we’re walking on the sidewalk, you know, because you’re not supposed to do two things at once. ⁓ Yeah. So I felt as though I would make jokes all the time. I when my left hand would start to regain function. I called it my evil twin because I didn’t even recognize that it was mine. But then I would give it a high five every time I started gaining function back. And I would say things like, yeah, hey, evil twin, congrats. Or ⁓ I would say, I guess I don’t have to clean the house anymore. I don’t have to use my left hand to dust. I’m not capable of doing it. So why do it? Bill Gasiamis (44:29) Yeah. Judy Kim Cage (44:30) And I’m like, let’s always look for the silver lining. And it would usually be a joke. But, you know, if you couldn’t make fun of it or think about the ridiculousness of it, then I think it would be easier to fall into a pit of despair. Bill Gasiamis (44:48) I agree with you and laughing and all that releases, know, good endo, good endorphins and good neurochemicals and all that kind of stuff really does improve your blood pressure. It improves the way that your body feels, you know, the tightness in your muscles and all that kind of stuff. Everything improves when you laugh and you have to find funny things about a bad situation to laugh at, to kind of dial down the seriousness of the situation. can you know, really dial it down just by picking something strange that happened and laughing at it. I found myself doing that as well. And I’m similar in that I would go to rehab and they would, you know, we would chit chat like I am now with you and would have all sorts of conversations about all kinds of things. And the rehab was kind of like the, the, it was like the vessel, you know, to talk shit, have a laugh. ⁓ you know, be the clown of the rehab room. And I get it, everyone’s doing it tough, but it lightened the mood for everybody. You know, was, it’s a hard thing. You know, imagine it being just constantly and forever hard. And it was like, I don’t want to be that guy and wish they have fun as well. And, and I think my, my, my tough times were decreased as a result. Like, you know, those stuff, mental and emotional days, they, they come, but they go. then you have relief from them. And I think you need relief. Judy Kim Cage (46:23) Absolutely. Otherwise, just could feel perpetual and just never ending. ⁓ And why or how could you possibly survive feeling that way? Bill Gasiamis (46:39) Yeah. So who are you now? as in your, how does your idea of who you are sort of begin to shift after the initial acute phase and now six years in, almost seven years into your stroke journey? Finding Purpose After Stroke Judy Kim Cage (46:59) I think I am. I’m pretty confident in who I am, which is funny. ⁓ I ⁓ actually lean more into making more jokes or ⁓ lean into the fact that things don’t, they don’t have nearly the importance or the impact that you would otherwise think. ⁓ One of my sayings, I guess I say all the, you know, how they say don’t sweat the small stuff. my big stuff, like big stuff became small stuff, you know. So it would have to be something pretty big in order for me to really, really, you know, think about it. And a lot of the little things, you know, the nuisances in life and stuff, would usually just laugh or if I tripped or something, then I would just laugh at it and just keep moving on. ⁓ And I think, you know, It’s funny because some people will say, ⁓ gosh, like stop, you know, there is toxic positivity, right? And there’s plenty of that. And ⁓ I stay away from that, I think. But when I try to give people advice or a different outlook, ⁓ I do say, well, you you could think of it this way, you know. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows and flowers and, you know, care bears, but it is, you know, but it, but you can pull yourself out of a situation. You can try to figure out a way to work around it. You can, you know, choose differently for yourself, you know, do things that you love. You know, you’re only given a certain amount of limited time on the earth. So how do you want to spend it? And if you are on your deathbed, you know, would you have, do you have any regrets? You know, like you did read the books about, you know, that, ⁓ why am I forgetting? Doctors ⁓ that perform palliative care and, you know, they’ve written books about you know what people’s regrets have been after, know, once they are about to pass and you know, that not taking action was a regret. You know, like why didn’t I do this? Or why didn’t I do this? Why didn’t I try this? Like really, what would have been the downfall to trying something? ⁓ And I find that, you know, aside from just naturally being able to see things to laugh at or, or positive sides of things. ⁓ I tried, like, I wish that people could experience that without having gone through what we went through. ⁓ but that’s virtually impossible. I think. Bill Gasiamis (50:18) I think it’s impossible, totally, 100 % impossible because everybody thinks they’re doing okay until they’re not. You just cannot prevent somebody from going through something by taking the learning first. The learning has to come second. Sad as that is. Judy Kim Cage (50:39) ⁓ Well, and we all think we’re invincible to a large extent. ⁓ But ⁓ I think what I’ve been trying to do or me now, I’ve always, you know, volunteered in various ways, but now I take and hold extra value in being a mentor for other stroke patients. Bill Gasiamis (51:03) Yeah, yeah, that’s Judy Kim Cage (51:04) And for, you know, individuals that even just come up to me and talk about all of their medical problems, it doesn’t matter if it’s circulated or not, you know, it’s medically they’re like, there’s some white matter on my MRI, what do think I should do? I’m like, it’s not that simple of an answer. I think you should go to the doctor. Get on a list. Bill Gasiamis (51:29) Yeah. Your journey seems like you’re growing through this adversity, like as in it’s very post-traumatic growth type of experience here. Something that I talk about on my book, the unexpected way that a stroke became the best thing that happened. Not something that I recommend people experience to get to the other side of that, of course. But in hindsight, like it’s all those things that you’re describing. Judy’s Book: Super Survivor And I look at the chapters because in fact, you’ve written a book and it’s going to be out after this episode goes live, which is awesome. And the book that you’ve written is called Super Survivor. And indeed that is a fitting title. Indeed it is. How denial, resistance and persistence can lead to success and a better life after stroke. Right? So just looking at some of the chapters, there’s a lot of overlap there, right? And one of the chapters that there’s overlap in is the volunteering and purpose. I’ve got parts of my book that specifically talk about doing stuff for other people and how that supports recovery and how the people who said that stroke was the best thing that happened to them, the ones that I interviewed to gather the data, one of the main things that they were doing was helping other people, volunteering in some way, shape or form. And that helped shape their purpose in life. and their meaning in life. And it’s how I got there as well. It was like, okay, I’m gonna go and prevent stroke. I’m gonna go talk on behalf of the Stroke Foundation. We’re gonna raise awareness about what stroke is, how to take action on stroke, what to do if somebody’s having a stroke. And I started to feel like I gained a purpose in my life, which was gonna to not allow other people to go through what I went through. And then, With that came public speaking and then with that came the podcast and then the purpose grew and it became really ⁓ all encompassing. It’s like, wow, like I know what my mission is. I didn’t seek to find it. I stumbled across it and the chapter in my book is called stumbling into purpose because you can’t think it up. You just have to take action and then bam, bam, it appears. Like, is that your experience? Judy Kim Cage (53:53) ⁓ Well, so much of my identity had been wrapped up in my occupation. ⁓ And so when, you know, the stroke first happened, et cetera, but then as time has passed, ⁓ yeah, I’ve absolutely found more meaning in providing comfort to other stroke patients. whether it’s because they see me as inspiring that I was able to recover so quickly or that I was able to go back to work, you know, permanently. And just to give them hope, really. And ⁓ when I was in acute, I felt as though like, We do so much of the recovery alone ⁓ and there isn’t a ton of, you know, of course our therapists are fantastic and they’re, you know, they’re loving and they’re caring. But in terms of having to make it through, you know, certain darkness alone or, ⁓ you know, just feeling sorry for yourself even sometimes, or feeling like, hey, I can do everything, but nobody’s encouraging that. because they think it’s dangerous. ⁓ I had wished that, you know, there were more people who could understand ⁓ what survival and then recovery was, you know, truly like. And so I had read that in a number of books before hearing people tell me their stories in person because Emotionally, I absorbed too much of it. ⁓ I wanted to, I think I passed that five-year survival mark of the 26.7%, which I know varies for everybody. ⁓ at the same time, I said, wow, I did, I made it to the other side, I beat these odds. I think I wanted to keep it secret from all the people I worked with. which I still have actually, it won’t be for too much longer. ⁓ But ⁓ just being able to share that and to be vulnerable and to say all the deficits that I have and what I have overcome, ⁓ I think it’s also given people some hope that they can, if she was able to do it, then maybe it isn’t as tough as I think it is. Bill Gasiamis (56:43) Anyone can. Yeah, I love that. That’s kind of my approach to, you know, I’m just a average, humble, normal, amazing guy. You could do it too. You know, I could, I could teach you to what you need to do is learn. ⁓ but that’s true. It’s that it’s that we are, I get, I get people come on the podcast going, I’m so nervous to meet you. You’re on the, I’m on your podcast. Dude, you don’t know who I am. Like if you think I’m the podcast guy, you’ve got no idea. I’m in the back of my, in my garden, in a shed. what was something that’s meant to be a shed that looks like a studio and amazing and all this kind of stuff. Like, dude, I’m just. Judy Kim Cage (57:29) would not have known if you hadn’t told me. Bill Gasiamis (57:32) That’s right, because looks can be deceiving and that ideas that we get of people are just, you know, they’re just not accurate until we get to spend time with people and understand them. And I always try and play down who I am so that people can see that I am just a regular guy who went through this and had no, no equipment. had no ⁓ knowledge. had no skills overcoming learning. Like I just, I picked up what I needed when I could just so that I can stumble through to the next hurdle and stumble through that one and then keep going. I really want people to understand that even the people who appear to be super fabulous at everything, like they’re just not, nobody is that, everyone is just doing their best they can. Even the guy who’s got more money than you, a bigger house, whatever, a better investment, all that stuff, they’re all faking it until shit hits the fan and then they’ve got to really step up to be who they are. You know, that’s what I find. But attitude, mindset, ⁓ approach, know, laughing, doing things for other people all help. They are really important steps, you know. The other chapter that kind of. made me pay attention and take note ⁓ was you talk about the night everything changed, complicated medical history, lifesavers, volunteering and purpose, the caregivers, ⁓ easing back into life, which I think is a really important chapter, returning to work, which is really important. then chapter nine, life after stroke continued. That kind of really is something that made me pay attention because that’s exactly what it is, right? It’s life after stroke. It’s like a continuation. It’s a never ending kind of ⁓ unattainable thing. Judy Kim Cage (59:27) It just keeps rolling on. doesn’t stop. You know, even if you’ve gone through a hardship and overcome it, it doesn’t mean that life stops. You’ve got to keep learning these lessons over and over and over again. Even if you don’t want to learn them, however stubborn you are. ⁓ And I, you know, I one thing that I had written about was that I had resented ⁓ you know, what I had gone through for a little while. I said, why do I still have to learn the same lessons that everybody else has to learn? You know, if I’ve gone through this kind of transcendental thing, why do I still have to learn, you know, these other things? But then I realized that I was given the opportunity ⁓ from surviving, was given another chance to be able to truly realize what it was like to be happy and to live. And I’d never, I mean, I had, I had been depressed, you know, for an anxious for years. And, you know, I’ve been in therapy for years and, ⁓ you know, it really wasn’t truly until kind of getting this push of the fast forward button on learning lessons that it truly became happy, like true, true happiness. And I said, wow, that was the gift. And then to try to pass that on. Bill Gasiamis (1:01:10) It’s a pretty cool life hack. A shit way to experience it, but a pretty cool life hack. Judy Kim Cage (1:01:15) Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely don’t I don’t recommend it I don’t Bill Gasiamis (1:01:20) Yeah. You get the learning in a short amount of time instead of years of years of wisdom and developing and learning and overcoming, which you avoided up until your first, you know, 38 years. And then, you know, you then, and then you kind of all of a sudden go, okay, well, I really have to buckle down and do these, ⁓ these modules of learning and I’ve got no choice. And I was the same. ⁓ and I have my days, I have my Good days, bad days, and I even recently had a bit of a day where I said to my wife, I got diagnosed with high blood pressure, headaches, migraines, a whole bunch of stuff, and then just tomorrow, I’m I’ve had enough. Why do I need to to be diagnosed with more things? Why do I need to have more medical appointments? Enough, it’s enough. I need to stop this stuff. It’s not fun. And then it took me about half a day to get over myself and go, well, I shouldn’t be here, really. Technically, Somebody has three blades in the brain, you know, I don’t know, maybe 50 years ago, they weren’t gonna make it. So now you’ve made it also high blood pressure. If you had high blood pressure 50 years ago, there was nothing to do to treat it. It was just gonna be high until you had a heart attack or ⁓ a brain aneurysm burst or something. And it’s like, I get to live in a time when interventions are possible and it is a blip on the radar. Like just all you do is take this tablet and you’re fine. Not that I revert to give me the tablet solution. I don’t, I’m forever going under the underlying cause. I want to know what the underlying cause is trying to get to the bottom of all of that. But in the meantime, I can remain stable with this little tablet and ⁓ decrease the risk of another brain hemorrhage. So it’s cool, know, like whatever. And that kind of helps me get through the, why me days, you know, cause They’re there, they come, they turn up, especially if it’s been one day after the next where things have been really unwell and we’ve had to medical help or whatever. When it’s been kind of intense version of it, it’s like, okay, I don’t want any more of this. So I get the whole, I’ve experienced the whole spectrum in this last 13, 14 years. We’re coming up to, I think the 20th or 21st, I think is my, maybe the 25th of my anniversary of my brain surgery. Jeez, I’ve come a long way. It’s okay. It’ll be like 11 years since my brain surgery. A lot of good things have happened since then. We got to live life for another 13 years, 11 years. I keep forgetting the number, it doesn’t matter. Yeah. Judy Kim Cage (1:04:17) Mine will have been my 17th ⁓ anniversary of my brain surgery ⁓ will be in January, sorry, in December. And then the seventh anniversary of the stroke is in January. So lot of years. Bill Gasiamis (1:04:33) Yeah, yeah. A lot of years, a lot of years, great that they’ve happened and I’m really happy with that. Keep doing these podcasts, makes me forget about myself. It’s about other people, so that’s cool. know, meet people like you, putting out awesome books. And when I was going through early on, there wasn’t a lot of content. It was hard to get content on stroke surviving, recovery, all the deficits, all the problems. That’s part of the reason why I started this. And now I think I’ve interviewed maybe 20 or 30 people who have written a book about stroke, which means that the access to information and stories is huge, right? So much of it. ⁓ Your book comes out in early December. Where is it going to be available for people to buy? Conclusion and Final Thoughts Judy Kim Cage (1:05:20) It is currently available to download ⁓ through the Kindle app and through Amazon. The hard copies will be available to order through Amazon and hopefully in other booksellers, but that’s TBD. Bill Gasiamis (1:05:39) Yeah, well, we’ll have all the current links by then. We’ll have all the current links available in the show notes. ⁓ At the beginning of this episode, I would have already talked about the book and in your bio when I’m describing the episode and who I’m about to chat to. So people would have already heard that once and hopefully they’ll be hearing it again at the end of the episode. So guys, if you didn’t pay attention at the beginning, but now you’re at the end, it’s about to come. I’m going to give all the details. Judy Kim Cage (1:06:07) stuck around. Bill Gasiamis (1:06:09) Yeah. If you stuck around, give us a thumbs up, right? Stuck around in the comments or something, you know? ⁓ Absolutely. Thank you so much for joining me, reaching out, sharing your story. It is lovely to hear and I wish you well in all of your endeavors, your continued recovery. yeah, fantastic. Great stuff. Thank you so much. Thank you. Well, that’s a wrap for another episode. want to thank Judy for sharing her story so openly. The way she spoke about denial, rehab, reality, cognitive fatigue and rebuilding identity is going to help a lot of people feel less alone. If you’re watching on YouTube, let us know in the comments, what part of Moyamoya Syndrome stroke recovery has been the hardest to explain to other people for you? Was it the physical symptoms or is it the invisible ones? like fatigue and cognition. And if you’re listening on Spotify or Apple podcasts, please leave a review. It really helps other stroke survivors find these conversations when they need them most. Judy’s book is called Super Survivor, How Denial Resistance and Persistence can lead to success and a better life after stroke. And you’ll find the links in the show notes. And if you want more support from me, you can Grab a copy of my book at recoveryafterstroke.com/book, and you can become a Patreon supporter at patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. It genuinely helps keep this show alive. Thanks again for being here. Remember you’re not alone in this recovery journey and I’ll see you in the next episode. Importantly, we present many podcasts designed to give you an insight and understanding into the experiences of other individuals. Opinions and treatment protocols discussed during any podcast are the individual’s own experience and we do not necessarily share the same opinion nor do we recommend any treatment protocol discussed. All content on this website and any linked blog, podcast or video material controlled this website or content is created and produced for informational purposes only and is largely based on the personal experience of Bill Gasiamis The content is intended to complement your medical treatment and support healing. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical and should not be relied on as health advice. The information is general and may not be suitable for your personal injuries, circumstances or health objectives. Do not use our content as a standalone resource to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for the advice of a health professional. Never delay seeking advice or disregard the advice of a medical professional, your doctor or your rehabilitation program based on our content. If you have any questions or concerns about your health or medical condition, please seek guidance from a doctor or other medical professional. If you are experiencing a health emergency or think you might be, call 000 if in Australia or your local emergency number immediately for emergency assistance or go to the nearest hospital emergency department. Medical information changes constantly. While we aim to provide current quality information in our content, we do not provide any guarantees and assume no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, currency or completeness of the content. If you choose to rely on any information within our content, you do so solely at your own risk. We are careful with links we provide. However, third party links from our website are followed at your own risk and we are not responsible for any information you find there. The post Moyamoya Syndrome Stroke Recovery: How Judy Rebuilt Her Life After a “Puff of Smoke” Diagnosis appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

FREE SUPPORT & RESOURCES:‣ Book a COMPLEMENTARY CONSULTATION + CALORIE CALCULATION call• how much & what to eat

In this episode, I'm breaking down how to reset your metabolism this spring so you can lose fat, boost energy, and feel amazing—without restrictive dieting or exhausting workouts.Here's what we cover in today's episode:✔️ Why “eating less and moving more” is slowing your metabolism✔️ The key changes women over 40 need to make for fat loss✔️ How to stop triggering fat storage (and start burning fat instead)✔️ The right way to exercise for a faster metabolism✔️ What to eat to support your hormones & metabolism✔️ The biggest mistakes that keep women stuck in weight loss plateausReady to make fat loss effortless this summer? Let's go!

Headlines: - Dubai's Hala Taxi Introduces WhatsApp Booking- Abu Dhabi-Based Hub71 Welcomes 21 Startups, Bringing the Total Number to 243- Majid Al Futtaim's New Aaouda Programme to Help Emirati Women Return to Work After a Long Break- Etihad Airways Eyes IPO by 2025: A Strategic Move for Abu Dhabi's Growth

In this episode Suzanne shares her recent experience of returning from a two-week trip to the United States and the challenges of getting back into her routine. She reflects on the importance of understanding when to change things up versus when to stay consistent, especially after being out of rhythm.  Suzanne discusses how easy it is to neglect self-care activities like exercise, journaling, and meditating, and encourages listeners to assess whether their desire to quit something is due to inconsistency or a genuine need for change. Tune in for an insightful discussion on maintaining routines, overcoming jet lag, and the value of effort in achieving long-term goals. In this episode Suzanne talks about: The Challenge of Maintaining Routines The Importance of Self-Care Balancing Life and Work After a Break Enjoy my podcast? You'll love my emails, sign up here: https://www.suzanneculberg.com/newsletter A simple way to make my day – please subscribe to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@suzanneculberg The Nope coach Suzanne Culberg teaches you how to put yourself first without feeling selfish, by setting healthy boundaries and reclaiming the unapologetic badass you long to be. Find out more: https://www.suzanneculberg.com Get in touch with Suzanne here: https://www.suzanneculberg.com/contact (in typical Suze style this is NOT your usual contact page!)    

On Mental health, suicide, motherhood and business development This episode features Jenny Meyer, an inspiring entrepreneur, who tells us her story of elevating from executive assistant to CEO. We explore how personal tragedy and imperfection can pave the way to a fulfilling career. Jenny shares her transformative journey from childhood dreams through the heart-wrenching loss of her son to suicide, which propelled her into business development and mental health advocacy. The episode delves into topics such as empathy in client services, overcoming career breaks, and the stigma around mental health. 00:00 Introduction to Something from NADA 01:27 Jenny Meyer's Childhood Dreams 02:17 Journey to Houston and Early Career 03:55 Skills in Client Service and Business Development 07:19 Balancing Career and Motherhood 10:12 Returning to Work After a Break 14:43 Navigating Career Challenges 29:27 Leadership and Workplace Dynamics 38:07 Finding Strength in Survival 38:41 Honoring a Loved One's Memory 39:17 Processing Grief Through Work 39:55 The Importance of Staying Busy 42:42 Navigating Conversations About Loss 44:06 Addressing the Stigma of Suicide 47:29 Building a Supportive Work Culture 49:26 The Role of Community in Healing 50:57 Overcoming Barriers to Mental Health Care 52:15 Turning Grief into Purpose 01:04:33 Supporting Mental Health Initiatives 01:07:55 Building a Successful Business 01:11:28Rapid Fire Questions 01:15:00 Final Thoughts and Gratitude

Workplace Support, Challenges, and Empowerment for Parents Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish Steed Guest: Lori Mihalich-Levin, Founder & CEO of Mindful Return This episode of At Work in America is sponsored by Paychex, one of the leading providers of HR, payroll, retirement, and insurance solutions for businesses of all sizes. After years of being in survival mode amidst a global pandemic, HR leaders have been challenged to get back to business — ushering in the era of the dynamic workplace. In our 7th Annual Pulse of HR Report, find out how these leaders are optimizing the work experience regardless of where it's done, addressing widening generational gaps, and increasing productivity not just for their employees, but also themselves. Visit paychex.com/awia to check it out, today. This week we met with Lori Mihalich-Levin from Mindful Return about empowering working parents as they rejoin the workforce. - Returning to work after pregnancy - Common challenges among new parents in the workplace - How can employers support new parents returning to work - Importance of bereavement and parental leave Learn more here: Returning to Work After a Pregnancy Loss  Thank you for joining the show today!  Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

How to Navigate Workplace Conflict Discussing what you can do to navigate workplace conflict. The surprisingly simple process of organizing a 700 person round dance. Pushing through the fear of re entering the workforce after a 10 year break. Job interview tips. The feeling of resentment from over volunteering. How the guest became less judgmental. Workplace Conflict Understand where the other party is coming from. Communicate in a way that they will receive it best. Keep emotions more level by re visiting heated topics at a later time. Getting Back to Work After a Break Update your certifications. Continuing education. Be persistent. Job Interview Tips Know the position. Have a concise reason you are suited for the job. Always do follow up after the interview. Have a plan to improve the next interview after receiving feedback. Mentioned in Episode St. Thomas More College Similar Episodes Importance of Relationships - Painting - Process Improvement

Show Notes: Ruth Hertzman-Miller, a member of the Harvard and Radcliffe class of 1992, graduated with a degree in biology and went on to a career in medicine, completing a residency in internal medicine at Cambridge City Hospital and a fellowship in health services research in Los Angeles. After returning to the Boston area, she worked as a physician at Cambridge Health Alliance and then at NewBridge, a retirement community. Ruth discussed her journey since graduating, reflecting on the unexpected twists and turns it has taken. Ruth made the difficult decision to switch from medicine to music four or five years ago. She took catch up courses at a conservatory in Boston and is now doing a master's in composition. Ruth is a pianist and choral singer and was inspired to pursue music again when her seven year old daughter joined North Cambridge Family Opera. An Education and Career in Medicine She didn't know what she wanted to do with her life when she went to college, but her dad and grandfather were both psychiatrists, so she figured she'd take some premed courses and see what happened since she liked science and helping people, but she also got to take electives in other subjects like music. In medical school at Case Western, she was interested in the clinical aspects of the program where she was assigned to a pregnant woman and followed her through delivery and the baby's first year of life, but along the way, she had many doubts about how much she wanted to be in the program.  At the end of her internship year, she went to her residency director and was considering quitting, but he talked her into staying.  Balancing Family Life and Work After the birth of her first child, she found it difficult to focus on both the intense schedule of work and study and family, but she finished her master's and eventually made the decision to pursue a master's in music and wrap up her medical career. Ruth balanced work and motherhood for many decades. Initially, she worked at Cambridge Health Alliance and then various medical but non-clinical jobs such as the Joslin Diabetes Clinic and the Hearst Company, and then at EBSCO Publishing. While she was in non-clinical positions, she worked clinically one day a week at Cambridge Health Alliance and then at various sites within Hebrew Rehab, finally landing at the NewBridge retirement community. When she decided to cut down on her work and dedicate more time to music, she kept her one day a week job at Hebrew Rehab and started studying for a certificate in music. Studying Musical Composition and Theory Ruth discusses her experience studying composition and writing music and what was included in  the coursework. As a composer, she is interested in exploring the form of music. She studies what has been done in the past, the many options and choices available, and considers how she can create something new. She refers to Mozart and Haydn, who approached their compositions differently and how they did so. Ruth is not expecting to make a professional career out of her work, as it is difficult for a composer to make money, but instead, is more interested in exploring new forms and having her work performed. Video game music and film music are some of the biggest markets for composers; however, Ruth is not particularly interested in these areas. She is more interested in writing for small ensembles such as string quartets, for which she can find performers without much difficulty. She also talks about the place of AI in composing music, and how it can provide inspiration but needs human intervention to create a finished product.  The Creative Process of Composing Music When asked if composing music feels three-dimensional, or if it has different mental qualities, Ruth answers that this is subjective and depends on the individual, but it is likely that the experience of composing music entails a combination of physical and mental elements. It requires both the ability to think in abstract terms, as well as the creative ability to visualize and construct musical ideas. It is a process that is both intuitive and analytical, where the creative elements of music are balanced with the technical aspects of composition. Ruth talks about the creative process behind composition. She explains that she typically has a broad idea, such as writing a piano piece with two players starting at opposite ends of the piano, and then breaks it down into smaller details such as melody and harmony. She then works on generating variations on the material and figuring out the logical progression of the piece. She explains that she usually isn't trying to express something that can be explained in words, but rather it is usually a feeling or an exploration of the music itself. She uses the example of a recent project to explain the process. Ruth also  talks about conveying emotions through music. For some pieces of music, the goal is to introduce the theme to the audience and have them understand it through the different changes in the music. At the opposite end of this, there is writing an opera scene where the focus is more on portraying the emotions. Professors and Courses of Influence Favorite professors and courses from Harvard include Luise Vosgerchian's course on the Development of the String Quartet and John Stewart's course on Introductory Music Theory. She also talks about her more recent professor, Lyle Davidson, who happens to be in the same tradition of Luise Vosgerchian. Other favorite courses include Biology of Fishes with Karel Liem, Scientific Ethics with George Whitesides, Moral Reasoning with Thomas Scanlon, and Marjorie Garber on Shakespeare. Timestamps: 01:41 Pursuing Music After a Career in Medicine  05:19 Motivation and Commitment During Medical School  09:57 Medical Training and Fellowship  16:28 The Process of Studying Composition  20:28 Composing and Making a Career in Music 25:32 Reading and Generative AI in Music Composition  28:03 Exploring the Creative Process of Composing Music 36:05 Music Study and Harvard College Professors  Links: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ruthhertzman-miller3349/videos

Nicholas Eberstadt holds the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC. He researches extensively on demography, development and international security. His latest book is "Men Without Work: Post Pandemic Edition" (2022 Templeton Press). He is married to noted public intellectual Mary Eberstadt; they have four grown children. The American Enterprise Institute: https://www.aei.org/ Book, "Men Without Work": https://www.amazon.com/Men-Without-Work-Post-Pandemic-Threats/dp/1599475979 Take a look at my warnings about the current American condition in "Men Without Work" Post Pandemic Edition" and see if you agree or disagree, let me know either way!  Eberstadt's article, "Growing Old The Hard Way": https://www.aei.org/articles/growing-old-the-hard-way/ Eberstadt's article, The Americans Who Never Went Back to Work After the Pandemic: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-americans-work-after-pandemic-retire-males-age-payments-covid-vaccines-pandemic-income-stimulus-consumer-11662138942 Mary Eberstadt on the decline of religion: https://maryeberstadt.com/how-the-west-really-lost-god/ Demographic Winter Resource Center at The Ruth Institute: https://ruthinstitute.org/resource-center/demographic-winter/ This episode of The Dr J Show may be seen on the following formats: TheRuthInstitute.Locals.com https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSi2OoPf_APunkaLSv4jrKMB65x78U5MH https://www.bitchute.com/channel/MXkWgTk4Brwr/ https://rumble.com/c/TheRuthInstitute https://odysee.com/@TheRuthInstitute:7?view=content&order=new Sign up for our weekly newsletter here: https://ruthinstitute.org/newsletter-sign-up/ +

National Burn Awareness Week, by the American Burn Association, is a week dedicated to educating and sharing information with our communities about the prevention of burns. This year, National Burn Awareness Week is held from February 5th-11th and will focus on spreading awareness of preventing scald burn injuries with the title of the week “Hot Liquids Burn Like Fire,” focusing on scald burns. A scald burn, unlike other types of burns, is often caused by something wet, such as water or steam. In 2015-2019, NFPA reported that cooking was the leading cause of reported home fires and home fire injuries and the second leading cause of home fire deaths. In addition, non-fire cooking-related burns far exceed the number of reported home cooking fires, with approximately 70,000 cooking-related burn visits to U.S. emergency departments annually from 2015-2019. In this episode, we talk with a scald burn survivor about her healing journey, how she found Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors, and what inspires her to give back through sharing her story as a Phoenix SOAR (SURVIVORS OFFERING ASSISTANCE IN RECOVERY) Peer Supporter. In addition, we'll focus our episode on ways to prevent scald burn injuries and share tips from scald burn survivors. About Jane Fayer Jane Fayer was burned in a scald accident on her birthday and the day before her father's funeral in October 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. She is a hidden burn survivor and was connected to the Phoenix Society a few months later, which played a large role in her recovery. She is a SOAR Peer Supporter and frequently moderates the Wednesday evening FB chats. Jane has been working in the pharmaceutical industry in various clinical development positions for the last 25 years. She is currently a consultant specializing in contracts for outsourced clinical trials. In her spare time, she loves walking, Pilates, reading, and kayaking. Resources from the Show American Burn Association WebsiteNational Burn Awareness Week InformationPhoenix Society's Virtual Support Group (2nd and 4th Monday at 8:00 PM EST)Phoenix Society's Online Facebook Community & Peer Support Chat (Wednesdays at 8:00 PM EST)Learning to Thrive with Hidden BurnsReturning to Work After a Burn InjuryNerve Damage After a Burn InjuryTell Your Story Through Virtual Open MicRead other Survivor StoriesNFPA Cooking Burn StatisticsBurn Survivors & COVID-19 eBookSponsor Girls with Grafts Interested in becoming a sponsor of the show? Email us at info@phoenix-society.org. Enjoyed the show?Tell us on social media using hashtag #GirlswithGrafts and tagging Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors! 

Cato Institute uberwonk Marian Tupy returns to the Remnant to discuss his new book, Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet. For some time, the idea that overpopulation will deplete the world of its resources has been popular in sociology. In this extra-long, extra-nerdy outing, Marian explains why its proponents are mistaken. He and Jonah also explore how nations become prosperous, the problem of collapsing fertility rates, and the appeal of apocalyptic predictions. Show Notes:- Marian's page at the Cato Institute- Marian and Gale L. Pooley's new book, Superabundance- HumanProgress.org- The Simon-Ehrlich wager- Jane Goodall and Prince Harry on sustainability- Nick Eberstadt: “The Americans Who Never Went Back to Work After the Pandemic”- Jonah's review of The Reactionary Mind- The Morning Dispatch breaks big news

Are you struggling with grief in your work community? Join Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley and R. Glenn Kelly bereaved dad and author for a discussion of moving forward […] The post R. Glenn Kelly: Returning to Work After a Death appeared first on Open to Hope.

Before the pandemic, 2.2 million non-working moms with college degrees said they wanted to go back to work. With thousands of women leaving the workforce due to caregiving, homeschooling and job losses, it's a number that's sure to rise. In this episode, Carol Fishman Cohen, CEO and co-founder of iRelaunch, joins The Breadwinners to talk about career breaks, returnships and the impact of the pandemic on women's return-to-work plans. Please help us grow: Rate, review and subscribe to The Breadwinners today! Episode Links  Ted Talk: How to Get Back to Work After a Career Break  Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work  To the 865,000 Women Who Left the Workforce Last Month…  Women With Career Gaps Are Being Tapped for Talent Pool  Want more Jennifer? Visit Jennwork.com  Want more Rachael? Visit Rachaelellison.com  Want more Carol? Visit iRelaunch.com  Visit The Breadwinners store!  Our music is “Run for your Money,” by Devil and Perfects.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, it's my pleasure talking to Natalia Piaggio, Global Head of Customer Success at ICIS. She started her remarkable career story at a hockey field, as a captain for a semi-professional team (an honorable position). Sport has always been a significant part of her life, and, although not playing semi-professionally at the moment, Natalia is continuously bringing the lessons from sport into the workplace. What can you expect from today's episode? - We started our conversation with Natalia's sports lessons- how can collaboration, giving a chance, and team development be applied in sports and in business. - Then, Natalia speaks about simplifying a menu as one of her most important career lessons. As a CS leader, Natalia built teams from the ground up - and she is sharing 3 different stories, different approaches for building and scaling CS teams. - We end with the conversation about the defining moments of Natalia's career. Stay tuned till the end, especially if you are a parent as we try to unlock some recipes for caring about our children. Having a child with special needs has broadened Natalia's horizons and led her to want to give back to the community. She does this by volunteering as a trustee for a children's charity named Down's South London, which has been amazing at maximizing her child's potential through early intervention and multidisciplinary therapy. If you'd like to know more about this amazing local charity or would like to make a donation, you can go to http://www.downssouthlondon.org Connect with Natalia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-piaggio/ About Women in Customer Success Podcast: Women in Customer Success Podcast is the first women-only podcast for Customer Success professionals, where remarkable ladies of Customer Success connect, inspire and champion each other. In each episode, podcast creator and host Marija Skobe-Pilley is bringing a conversation with a role model from across the industries to share her inspirational story and practical tools to help you succeed and make an impact. Follow: - womenincspodcast.com - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womenincspodcast https://www.linkedin.com/in/mspilley/ - Instagram: @womenincspodcast Join the Women in Customer Success Network: https://join.slack.com/t/womenincs2020/shared_invite/zt-m3q3pkio-fgk0ssR6gHzoOEEdwa2f3g If you like this episode, you will also like: 10 - How to Lead Multi-Cultural Teams - Minna Vaisanen 23 - 2020 for Working Parents - A Journey from Pregnancy to WFH with Kids - Angela Guedes 33 - How to Return to Work After a Career Break - Tanya Strauss 34 - How to Be a Boss of Your Career - Emilia D'Anzica 35 - Career Lessons for Young Professionals - Karolina Adamus 40 - Are Your Customers Getting Value? - Charlie Harvey 41 - How to Set Your Team Up for Success - Emily Garza 42 - The Role of Customer Success Communities - Violaine Yziquel 43 - How to Advocate for Your Team - Laura Lakhwara

Today I'm talking to Emilia D'Anzaca, The Founder and CEO of management consultancy Growth Molecules, and one of the global Top 25 Customer Success Influencer 2021. With all the initiatives she is involved in the global customer success community, Emilia still finds the time for speaking at conferences, being a board member of educational institutions, and coaching other professionals at Catalyst Coaching Corner. From all the topics that we could have discussed today, we focused on Emilia's tips for becoming a boss of your own career. - What does it mean? - How do you recognise new opportunities? - How do you create a career for yourself? We also talk about Emilia's compelling career journey from experiencing a burnout in corporate America to starting her own business and how that experience is driving her latest initiative - writing a book about working moms in tech. Emilia and her co-author Sabina Pons are looking to hear the voices of mothers in technology. Are you a mom in tech? Please take 5min to complete the survey that will inform the book. You can expect the results later in the year. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf8JK_FPsits9LgKXCw_wCev7l-YOqNd3S6BFhzq0wwpWrolg/viewform Follow Emilia: - LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/emiliadanzica/ - Growthmolecules.com - Twitter - @emiliadanzica - Instagram - @growthmolecules About this podcast: Women in Customer Success Podcast is the first women-only podcast for Customer Success professionals, where remarkable ladies of Customer Success connect, inspire and champion each other. In each episode, podcast creator and host Marija Skobe-Pilley is bringing a conversation with a role model from across the industries to share her inspirational story and practical tools to help you succeed and make an impact. Follow: - womenincspodcast.com - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womenincspodcast - Instagram: @womenincspodcast Join the Women in Customer Success Community: https://join.slack.com/t/womenincs2020/shared_invite/zt-m3q3pkio-fgk0ssR6gHzoOEEdwa2f3g If you like this episode, you will also like: 03 - How to Progress Your Customer Success Career - Georgia Harrison 06 - How to Get Your First Customer Success Job - Irit Eizips 07 - Career Paths in Customer Success - Maranda Dziekonski 09 - How to Identify a Talent - Michal Harel 20 - How to Be More Visible While Working Remotely - Jo Massie 23 - 2020 for Working Parents: A Journey from Pregnancy to WFH with Kids - Angela Guedes 24 - How to Narrow the Gender Pay Gap During the Hiring Process - Kristi Faltorusso 33 - How to Return to Work After a Career Break - Tanya Strauss

Some people put more planning into the holiday season then they do their retirement. The end of the year is coming and we want you to go through Thanksgiving and Christmas relaxing, not stressing. Three takeaways: Curveballs Putting in the Work “After the Holidays” Attitude

Best Practices for Going Back to Work After the COVID-19 Lockdown

On this episode, we're going behind the scenes with Ellevate's own Kristy Wallace, CEO, Maricella Herrera, VP Operations & Strategy, and Allison Matejczyk, Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships, to dive into the newest resource on workplace diversity & inclusion: Driving Equality in the Workplace Part 2. The trio talk about some of the topics covered in the white paper, such as Allies and Ambassadors, Making Your ERG More Effective, and Returning to Work After a Caregiving Pause; as well as share tips on how you can utilize partnerships for your own workplace. 

On this episode, we're going behind the scenes with Ellevate's own Kristy Wallace, CEO, Maricella Herrera, VP Operations & Strategy, and Allison Matejczyk, Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships, to dive into the newest resource on workplace diversity & inclusion: Driving Equality in the Workplace Part 2. The trio talk about some of the topics covered in the white paper, such as Allies and Ambassadors, Making Your ERG More Effective, and Returning to Work After a Caregiving Pause; as well as share tips on how you can utilize partnerships for your own workplace. 

  Lori Mihalich-Levin, author of Back to Work After Baby: How to Plan and Navigate a Mindful Return from Maternity Leave and founder of Mindful Return, discusses how to navigate your return to work after a maternity leave. You’ll hear: What to include in your maternity leave plan How to deal with "mommy guilt" How to set boundaries when you work a flexible schedule Book: Back to Work After Baby: How to Plan and Navigate a Mindful Return from Maternity Leave Additional resources: Transitioning Back to Work After a New Baby? Now There's a Class for That Course information: www.mindfulreturn.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorimihalichlevin/ Facebook:  www.facebook.com/mindfulreturn Twitter: @mindfulreturn Sign up for the Advice to My Younger Me monthly newsletter: www.tomyyounger.me Sara can be reached on Twitter  Facebook and LinkedIn. Leave a review:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/advice-to-my-younger-me/id1101880566

Cynthia Meyer with Financial Finesse shares her thoughts on returning to work after a career break. Episode 606: Returning to Work After a Career Break by Cynthia Meyer with Financial Finesse on Work Sabbaticals After years in the financial services industry, Liz Davidson became disgusted with how many people were being sold financial products and services that were not in their best interest. She decided there had to be a better way to provide people from all walks of life with truly unbiased financial guidance--designed to line their pockets, not their financial advisor’s. This is the story of Financial Finesse and how they give employees and employers unbiased financial wellness as an employee benefit. They help your employees maximize their compensation and benefits by making better financial decisions. You become a partner in their financial security and reap the benefits of a financially healthy workforce. They’ve helped hundreds of thousands of employees change their lives. The original post is located here: and  This episode is proudly sponsored by DesignCrowd! Get $100 off your first design project with the coupon code OPTIMAL: 

Show Notes Bias does exist in the job market. How it presents itself can be more unknown than obvious.The bigger question is what to do when you feel discriminated, or victimized by ageism. Don't miss these Topics:Self-Talk and Mindset.How to position your experience.Networking for "Seasoned" workersAddressing feelings of being overqualified.Branding  your wisdom.The Importance of Value, Reputation, and Relationships.Resources (including affiliate links)025 Looking for Work After a Long Break005 Coping with Job Loss [mindset] iTunes: Rate and ReviewRaw and Unedited Transcript View TranscriptToday and job seekers radio we’re talking about seasoned workers – those that have lost their way professionally and found themselves feeling…I'm out datedNo one will hire me I'm too experiencedI'm a DinosaurI can’t find a job must be my ageThey didn't hire me because I'm too old, and it’s discrimination – ageismYou’ve been “ageisted”How do you feel about that Scott? I’ve seen people they still have gas in the tank. They say people are living longer and they are dealing with these feelings.I will admit even in my current job I've said, “I feel like a Dinosaur because I don't use technology way my younger colleagues do.” I have to resist that even within my own head. The idea that I'm not good enough because I may look at things a little differently.It’s a really important topic to turn that around. In previous podcast we talked about standing guard at the entrance tour mind, you gave the quote better than I did. The self-talk and how we need to regulate this. Having experience, being a more seasoned professional is an advantage. It may be your competitive advantage.  It may be true that some people just want to hire the inexperience, so they can mold them pay them less. But it's been my observation that is less true in the majority of times. They are really looking fit - whether that's cultural fit - whether that is a skill gap fit - whether it's a style fit - whatever that is they’re looking fit - not necessarily age.So, if you are a seasoned professional – well I just tell my story. The job that I have now, is a phenomenal job, I love what I do, I’m so lucky I get to say I love the work that I do and I'm earning a living at doing what I love. So, few people get to say that.I would not have had this job had I not had the conversation with a hiring manager about the fact that I was overqualified. It was - I was applying for a coordinator position - administrative assistant position - I had already applied for this job, at this company, for a different position that was given to somebody whose skill set was so much better than mine - and I acknowledge that at the time. If I had been given the option to hire me or this young woman, I would have gone with her, because she absolutely has the skills for that position and is phenomenal to work with. I saw the admin assistant position come open, so I contacted the person with whom I had interviewed with the first time. And I asked what are the chances that I would be considered for this job even though I'm overqualified. He responded, because I had a good conversation with him, he went ahead responded to me and we talked about it and he asked me “aren't you concerned about having - about being overqualified.Logical question, right? Because their fear is Oh well you’re overqualified you're going to quit this job as soon as you get another one because I was looking for work right. I've been laid off from a similar job although with an organization I didn't really care for as well. So, here is one that I knew culturally it would have been better fit and here I had an opportunity to talk to somebody that was very positive, very empathetic, great conversations that I had in the past, and he asked me how would I feel. Because he wouldn't want to hire me into a position that I wasn't happy in right.And I don't know what made me think of it, but I asked him off the cuff how can I be over qualified ...

Suggestions for people returning to the workforce after a sizable gap whether they were at home raising a child, dealing with an ill parent or returning from service in the military. ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems […] The post Returning to Work After a Lengthy Interruption? | JobSearchRadio.com appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

#075 — Transitioning Back to Work After a Career Break If you’ve taken a career break to raise children, reentering the workforce can be a challenge. Though motherhood is arguably the most difficult—and important—job on the planet, it isn’t a paid position. And the gap it leaves on your resume often seems to erase the experience you had before becoming a mom.  How do you rebuild your confidence as a competent and capable career woman? And how do you prepare yourself emotionally for the transition back to work? Rita Kakati Shah is on a mission to support women in returning to the workforce through Uma, a startup that gives mothers the tools to rediscover themselves and find jobs that match their credentials—and their lifestyle commitments. Today, Rita joins me to explain how her own frustration around going back to work served as the inspiration for Uma. She shares Uma’s mission to empower women with the confidence and emotional readiness to reenter the workforce, offering advice around developing your swagger and scenario planning for childcare. Listen in for Rita’s insight on how entrepreneurship is just a different kind of motherhood and learn how society benefits when moms are supported in returning to the workforce! FULL SHOW NOTES Get the complete show notes with episode quotes, photos, and time stamps at http://www.startuppregnant.com/075. EPISODE SPONSOR & SPECIAL OFFER This podcast is made possible by Alavita Nutrition, a tremendous resource when it comes to food, health, and wellness. The Alavita team is on a mission to make eating good food and understanding nutrition easier for busy moms. Head to https://www.alavitanutrition.com/ and use the code ‘startup pregnant’ for 20% off their self-paced programs or a nutrition consultation. All of our sponsor offers are available on our website for you to grab the perks and discounts offered to podcast listeners: http://startuppregnant.com/sponsors. LEARN MORE ABOUT RITA KAKATI SHAH Rita Kakati Shah is the Founder and CEO of Uma, a professional training and coaching firm that empowers women to reenter the workforce after taking time off to raise children. Rita began her career as an investment banker, working for Goldman Sachs in London for a decade before transitioning to the healthcare industry. She is a fierce advocate for diversity and equality issues, earning the prestigious Excellence in Citizenship and Diversity Award for her outstanding contributions to diversity initiatives at Goldman Sachs. Uma Uma on Twitter Uma on Facebook Uma on Instagram Uma on LinkedIn Email info@beboldbeuma.com RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE ‘Why Women Don’t Apply for Jobs Unless They’re 100% Qualified’ in Harvard Business Review Article on Promoting Men vs. Women Renée Warren on Startup Pregnant EP074 THE STARTUP PREGNANT PODCAST & HOST Startup Pregnant

Carol Fishman Cohen presents her view of bringing people (especially women) back into the workplace after a career break and what the importance is of experience in leadership.   Key Takeaways: [:55] Marc welcomes you to Episode 80 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast and invites you to share this podcast with like-minded souls. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues. [1:19] Next week’s show is the Q&A episode, with Mark Anthony Dyson of the Voice of Jobseekers podcast. Together, Marc and Mark will answer listener questions. [1:29] In this week’s episode, Marc interviews Carol Fishman Cohen, CEO and Co-Founder of IRelaunch. IRelaunch is the leader in career re-entry programming. IRelaunch works directly with nearly 40 Blue Chip companies to develop, pilot, source for, present in, and publicize re-entry internship programs and hiring. [2:14] Marc welcomes Carol. Carol is the host of 3, 2, 1, Relaunch podcast. Marc feels their audiences intersect, so he invited Carol on the show. Carol reviews how she started iReLaunch, after a career break of 11 years while she raised her family. [4:08] iReLaunch is the pioneering company ‘in this space’ and Carol feels like the grandmother. [4:46] iReLaunch provides tools and resources for individuals in all stages of relaunching their career, at companies from over 50 people to over 1,000 people. Companies engage with this pool through mid-career paid internships and direct open hiring, even without a career re-entry program. [5:33] iReLaunch does this with return-to-work programs, internships, workshopped based or companies that want to hire people who are returning after a career break. They do conferences and events, working with companies individually or in groups, and products like the iReLaunch Road Map, an online product. [6:08] iReLaunch engages with ReLaunchers directly through iReLaunch Return to Work Conferences, held 22 times at Stanford and Columbia since 2008 with over 6,400 people attending so far. The conferences are promoted through alumni associations. 70% of attendees have graduate degrees. 100% of attendees have bachelor’s degrees. [7:37] 93% of attendees at these conferences historically have been female, but the most recent conference may have had up to 12% male. As more men take career breaks for family leave, Carol expects to see more men attend. [8:37] 70% of the people who attend these conferences have had 10 years of work experience before their career breaks. 70% of attendees are interested in returning to full-time jobs. 30% are looking for either an entrepreneurial venture or a reduced hours arrangement. [9:04] 84% of Millennials are expecting a career break of four weeks or longer at some point, according to Manpower research. Carol gives some detail. [11:10] People are retiring later, and those in retirement are interested in unretiring. [11:43] Originally iReLaunch was focusing solely on women. Now they are focusing on all ReLaunchers. Paid internships are a good way to try out a worker. [13:15] Carol takes a look at the history of the Relaunch movement and paid internships. Once the program was up and running, companies could see how beneficial it was and how experienced and engaged the new interns are. [14:50] There has to be a sense of urgency about women in mid-to-senior leadership positions. [15:37] With the success of company internships for ReLaunchers, Carol looked toward the Technical field for growth. Carol had a STEM Reentry Task Force in mind. The Society of Women Engineers partnered with iReLaunch to support it. The initiative now includes 20 global companies piloting a formal return to work for technical people. [17:27] One of the missions of iReLaunch is to spotlight success stories, so companies can shape their expectations based on good experiences. [18:01] People returning to technology after a break of some years have to be willing to throw themselves into continuing education to keep up. This pathway back with some formal updating is a total, viable pathway with as lot of success. [19:33] The typical age range of people who are reentering with iReLaunch is between 50 and 60. They need to become subject matter experts all over again, reading all the latest thinking in the field and following the top experts. See Episode 72 with Alexander Buschek. Write a whitepaper! Be bold! [24:45] The vision for iReLaunch: At a future point in time recruiters and employers don’t attach risk to hiring people who are returning from a career break. [28:01] Wall Street is now seeking programs to get STEM workers back. [29:35] The caliber of the people who are in these programs is high. Between 50-100% of them are being hired when the program is complete. [32:23] Check back next week, when Marc and Mark Anthony Dyson will answer your questions.   Mentioned in This Episode: Careerpivot.com IRelaunch 3, 2, 1, iReLaunch podcast Drexel Burnham Lambert Bain Capital Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work, by Carol Fishman Cohen and Vivian Steir Rabin iReLaunch Road Map iReLaunch Return to Work Conference Stanford Columbia Manpower Group The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity, by Lynda Gratton & Andrew Scott How to Get Back to Work After a Career Break. TED talk DeMystify Podcast The Gates Foundation Goldman Sachs Sara Lee JP Morgan Met Life Morgan-Stanley Credit Suisse Society of Women Engineers Oracle NBC Universal IBM CareerPivot.com/Episode-72 with Alexander Buschek The Unretirement Book: How Baby Boomers are Changing the Way We Think About Work, Community, and the Good Life, by Chris Farrell Info@iRelaunch.com IRelaunch iPhone Amazon Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon. Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has three initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fourth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, and a community where you can seek help. CareerPivot.com/Episode-80 Show Notes for this episode. Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast. Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest review and subscribe! If you’re not sure how to leave a review, please go to CareerPivot.com/review, and read the detailed instructions there. Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com. Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast. To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android Careerpivot.com

Today I'm joined by a previous guest from Session 001 — Pedro Fernandes from Arqui9 in London. Pedro's story spans Australia, Portugal, and London. We talk about his days as an architect in Australia and Portugal, and his gradual move toward visualization as he was teaching fellow architects in the Lisbon office about rendering, only to find out that he loves doing visualization. Upon seeing that fork on the road, he went right and never looked back. We dive into the Arqui9 way of making images, discuss why London is the best place for this, and talk about Arqui9 Learn teaching. The Long Progression to Arqui9 Starting out at university, Pedro always had a passion for visually demonstrating the work he was doing. He really began cultivating his passion for 3D after internships in Lisbon and, and as his interest grew, so did his experimenting. He joined forces with three friends to create architecture, 3D, and design. As more information became available on the internet, he sourced as many tutorials as he possibly could, including many of the blog, which can be found here. This started in 2008, when the economic downturn gave him the opportunity to depart from architecture and focus more on 3D design. After sending his portfolio all over, he started at Vyonyx in London and eventually formed his own company. The Drive Behind the Work After working for several companies in different countries, Pedro decided to work for himself, and he never looked back. He gets to do what he loves, working for clients he loves, and he considers himself among the luckiest people on earth. He has always worked toward the goal of working with certain people, and that desire has driven him to keep working harder and better, even on the days when he wishes that he'd never started down this road. Crafting Visuals at Arqui9 Pedro creates unique images that always catch my attention, and have been featured on the blog several times as “Best of the Week.” On this session, we discuss how he has passed his unique vision on to his team, where he gets his inspiration, and how he incorporates the talents of each artist into the work that they do. He appreciates that his work isn't better or worse than anyone else's, and appreciates the differences in visuals. Recognizing this has helped him identify what he wants to accomplish with his work, and pushes him to achieve it. You'll be inspired when you hear about this and more — including why London is the best place for ArchViz and the why behind Arqui9 Learn — in this session of The SpectRoom with Pedro Fernandes. Key Takeaways [1:46] The gradual progression from Uni to 3D design. [6:38] If you study architecture, you'll be prepared for anything your career may bring. [9:22] Why Australia? Pedro details the lessons he learned down under. [14:58] From Lisbon to Arqui9 — how Pedro decided to take a risk on himself. [18:10] The dream client in the elevator won't see much from Pedro. [20:21] The driving factor for Pedro starts with luck and love. [25:18] The approach for crafting visuals at Arqui9. [31:16] The workflow among their 7-person team is a collaborative one. [37:00] Mixing still images and technology. [42:35] Selecting a new artist starts with finding a good, moral person. [46:37] Why London is the best place for ArchViz. [48:58] Pedro highlights the managerial skills he gained in Australia. [52:55] All about Arqui9 Learn. [59:28] How you can connect with Pedro. Main Quotes “Being able to show your ideas how you want to have always seduced me.” — Pedro Fernandes “We are some of the luckiest people on earth.”  — Pedro Fernandes “You're going to have good days, bad days, and days when you wish you'd never done this.”  — Pedro Fernandes “The magic is the artist instilling their own experience into the image.”  — Ronen Bekerman “The 3D program may not seem like an essential thing, but it's very essential.”  — Pedro Fernandes “I'm not gonna lie — good work gets you far.” — Pedro Fernandes Software & Hardware Mentions SketchUp Kerkythea 3DS Max Wacom Photoshop V-Ray Corona Renderer Name Dropping Arqui9 Arqui9 Learn Arqui9 on Youtube Pedro Fernandes Vyonyx 3D Symposium Barcelona Sponsors Quixel / Megascans AXYZ Design  

Show Notes at: https://www.pencilkings.com/podcast-home/ The Pencil Kings podcast is sponsored by Freshbooks “Just put your stuff up on everything, because you don’t know where the next big thing is gonna be.” ~ Fran Krause. Want to know how to create a webcomic...that actually gets noticed?! In this week’s interview, we speak to Fran Krause, creator of the famous ‘Deep Dark Fears’ web comic. You’ll hear how he went from an established career as an animation artist to making his first web comics. And, he’ll reveal why angry reactions to one of his projects on YouTube made him reconsider which online platforms were the best home for his creations. So, if you’ve been thinking about creating your own webcomic for a while (but just haven’t gotten around to it yet), then check out this inspiring podcast interview. Because it’s crammed with great advice on what to - and what not to - do to get your project off the ground and noticed by people. Interview Chapters [00:37-03:16] Introduction and Overview Your host, Mitch Bowler, introduces today’s guest, webcomic creator, Fran Krause. In this chapter, he talks about how studying animation led to him pursuing a career in this industry before moving into teaching digital animation and, of course, creating Deep Dark Fears. [03:26-10:56] How did Deep Dark Fears Come About? Ironically, it was adverse reactions online to a project Fran was working on with American Elf creator, James Kochalka, that gave rise to Deep Dark Fears. The project, an adult-rated comic book series called ‘Super f**kers’, was intended as an irreverent take on superheroes and featured a bunch of rude, crude, slacker heroes who never actually did any of the things superheroes are supposed to do. However, the audience on YouTube didn’t quite get the humor. In fact, they hated it...and wasted no time in filling the comments section with all kinds of abuse. So Fran went back to the drawing board, had a good long think about whether YouTube was the right platform for his ideas...and eventually started producing short webcomics based on the irrational fears we all have. And, luckily, this project fared better with the online community... [11:28-21:34] Why did Fran Choose Tumblr to Showcase his Work? After doing some research into the best online platform for his creation, Fran eventually decided to start posting his webcomics regularly on Tumblr. But what made him choose this network above all the others...and how does he even have time to make a webcomic in between teaching and working on other projects? You’ll find out in this chapter. [23:05-25:10] Why is it Good to set Deadlines for Yourself? One of the ways Fran manages to be so productive is by setting deadlines for himself. So, for example, after he’s finished teaching for the day, he’ll sit down for a few hours and dedicate his time to working on Deep Dark Fears and his current book project, The Creeps. And, if you want to know how to create a webcomic and find time for your personal projects, you’ll find lots of great advice in this section. [25:30-27:23] Why is it so Important to Love What you do as an Artist? Some artists are unhappy doing the work they get paid to do, but you’ll be relieved to hear there is another way. And, in this chapter, Fran shares plenty of advice based on his own experiences with his students to help you create the art you really want to make...and hopefully find an audience who appreciates it. [27:39-29:55] Where can you Find out More About Fran’s Work? Want to find out more about Fran’s work and get your hands on a copy of his new book, The Creeps? All the info you need is in this chapter. [31:24-37:07] Want to Know how to Create a Webcomic? Here’s Fran’s Advice Want to know more about how to create a webcomic? Check out this chapter for some great advice from Fran about how to get your project off the ground, how to build up a following for your work online…and how to create something people can really relate to. [37:20-40:34] Conclusion Mitch wraps up today’s interview with Fran Krause, who offers up some final words of advice on how to make a webcomic people will remember.

Introduction Amen. Well this morning as I came to First Baptist Church, 414 Cleveland Street, I came to this place of worship, the sanctuary, which has been such a big part of my life. I was thinking as I walked in here about places of worship that I've been at around the world, and I've had the privilege of being in sacred spaces all over the world, and I've seen a lot of them in Japan, I've seen them in the Orient in India. I've seen them in Kathmandu and Nepal, I've seen them in New England, where I grew up. Probably the most awesome sacred space I've ever seen was Saint Vitus Cathedral in Prague, which was started in 1344, it took 600 years to complete. And I'll just never forget just being in there, and just the soaring sense of grandeur, the greatness of the place, and just how much effort went in over the years to make that sacred space the amazing place that it was. I've been in a Shinto shrine in Osaka that was almost a thousand years old. I remember thinking of the antiquity of the place and all of the wood and wondered if it had ever been replaced or if it was original. They had a big iron bell that the priest would clang with this big log. I remember being amazed by that because the priest would clap to get the attention of the gods, and I was thinking about Elijah and the prophets of Baal and "Shout louder, maybe he'll hear," something like that, but we serve the living God, but that's a sacred space for those people in Japan. In Boston, the oldest church I ever worshipped at was Park Street Church right on the Boston Commons. It's the oldest place of worship I've ever actively worshipped in. I've also walked through the Old North Church in Boston. That's the "one if by land, two if by sea" church for the night of Paul Revere's ride. I've stood in the church where John Calvin preached in Geneva and saw that, and it was just an amazing thing for me to be there. Last summer, Calvin and I were at the Wittenberg church where Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses. It was under massive construction, it was a bit of a let-down. I remember seeing the cement mixers, and the chain link fence and all that and I wasn't feeling like it was much of a sacred space, but it's the oldest and I would say probably, the most famous Lutheran Church in the world. All of these sacred sites have moved me in different ways. The only biblical place I've ever been to was Mars Hill. I got to climb up that little rocky outcropping there where the Apostle Paul preached his famous message in Acts 17, it's there printed in Greek in a plaque at the bottom. I remember being especially amazed at the top, because the tips of the rocks were all polished like glass. They were shiny like glass. No intention had gone into that, but just the feet of pilgrims over hundreds and hundreds of years, just polished it smooth. The oldest place, sacred space, I've ever been though was right near that. That was the Acropolis which was a shrine to the goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom for which the city of Athens was named. It was built around the time of the Babylonian exile. It's the oldest place of worship that I've ever been to. Now all of these sacred spaces, all of these places of worship, are as nothing compared to the heavenly shrine that we're going to be worshipping God at in all eternity. And the significance of the move in the new covenant from a sacred space where you go and where you worship, that one location where the temple was in Jerusalem, where all Israel would come three times a year and make that pilgrimage and go to that sacred space and worship there, that has been fulfilled, that imagery has all been fulfilled in Christ. We don't need to make those kinds of pilgrimages anymore. As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "Woman, believe me, the time is coming where neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall you worship the Father. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." That unfolds the truth that we learned about God in the Old Testament, the words of the prophet, Jeremiah. Jeremiah 23:23-24, "‘Am I only a God nearby, declares the Lord, and not a God far away. Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’, declares the Lord. ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?”, declares the Lord." We worship an omnipresent God. We worship an immense God who fills Heaven and Earth, and there is no space that can contain God. Stephen picked up on this theme, when he was proclaiming, effectively, the end of the animal sacrificial system, the end of the significance of the temple there in Jerusalem, he saw it clearly. They killed him for it. But he saw it clearly, and he said this in Acts 7:48-50, "The Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says, ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? Or where will my resting place be? Has my hand made all these things?’ And so they came into being." And as Paul said in that very spot that I mentioned earlier, in Acts 17, "The God who made the world and everything in it is Lord of heaven and earth, and he does not live in temples built by hands, and he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything, for he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else." So we Christians in the New Covenant, we've come to understand the omnipresent God can and should be served everywhere at all times. Every square inch of the universe belongs to God, Almighty God. Every moment of time is his. Abraham Kuyper put it this way, "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence, over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine! Mine!’" And yet, for all of that, there is such a thing as holy ground in some mysterious way. God was every bit as omnipresent back in the old covenant as now, and yet he did say to Moses, "Take off your sandals, for the ground on which you're standing is holy ground." So what is holy ground? What is a sacred space? It's a place where we can encounter the living God, where he's choosing to reveal himself. And we can have a relationship with him, and we can encounter him. So this morning what I want to do is I want to set apart the Christian workplace as a sacred space. A place where we can, indeed, where we must encounter the living God. I want to ennoble your work, I want you to see the value of your labor every moment, and to see that it's an act of worship if you do it by the power of the Spirit in obedience to the Word of God. You are able to offer up a living sacrifice, every moment in the workplace. Not only able but you must. So what that means is sacred space could be for you an office building, it could be a cubicle. It's hard to believe, isn't it? I've worked in cubicles multiple times. I had three different engineering jobs, after I graduated from MIT. I worked for a company that made ion implanters. If you want to know what that is, I'd be happy to tell you. Come after, say, "What's an implanter?" I'll tell you all about it. But I worked in a cubicle there, vertical carpet and all that, that was my sacred space. I also worked for a company that made eye surgical equipment and I worked for a company that made hot chocolate machines, so all different kinds of jobs. And it was my desire as a Christian to be filled with the Spirit every day as I went to the workplace. I wanted that place to be the focus of my ministry, I wanted it to be an evangelistic place, I wanted it to be a place where I could offer up to God my engineering work as a sacrifice. I didn't do it well every day, but that was my goal. So that could be your sacred space. It could be a surgical operating room, it could be a board room. Maybe you're an executive. It could be a counter at Chick-fil-A or McDonalds, if you can believe it. How could a place like that be sacred space? But it's all in the attitude you bring to the work you do. Holy ground. Now here I'm trying to sweep away centuries of false teaching that we see in the Medieval Roman Catholic Church. They established a kind of a hierarchy of value, the holiness of work. And it was captured by fourth century Catholic historian, Eusebius. This is what this man said, "Two ways of life were given by the Law of Christ to his Church. The one is above nature and beyond common human living, holy and permanently separate from the common customary life of mankind. It, that pattern of life, devotes itself to the service of God alone." So, there you have the retreat from the world, the asceticism, the monks, the nuns, the clerics. They're separate from normal life, they're fasting, they're praying. It's a higher way of living. Such then is the perfect form of the Christian life. “And the other more humble, more human permits men to have minds for farming for trade, the other secular interests as well as for religion. And a kind of secondary grade of piety is attributed to them.” We're sweeping all of that away today, that is completely false. Medieval Catholicism there had that hierarchy, there was the sacred and the profane, or secular. That's what profane meant, it's secular. So the sacred would be popes and cardinals and priests and monks and nuns and all that, and they lived a separate kind of life. And then profane, secular, would be everybody else, and they would do work as peasants, as farmers, as tradesmen, different work like that. Now Protestantism came along under Luther and the other reformers and it established what was there plainly in scripture, the priesthood of all believers. And Luther and others took that to the degree of looking again at work, at the work that we do. Martin Luther said this, "When a maid cooks and cleans and does other housework, because God's command is there, even such a small work must be praised as a service of God, far surpassing the holiness and asceticism of all monks and nuns.” Far surpassing, the work of a maid in cooking and cleaning. He also said this, "Seemingly secular works are a worship of God and an obedience well pleasing to God." And again Luther said, "Your work is a very sacred matter, God delights in it. And through it, he wants to bestow his blessing on you." Subsequent generations of Protestants, of teachers of the Word of God, wholeheartedly agreed. The Puritans came along and established this kind of teaching as well. William Tyndale said this, "If we look externally, there is a difference betwixt washing of dishes and preaching the Word of God. Externally, yes. But as touching to please God, no difference at all." William Perkins, another Puritan, said this, "The actions of a shepherd in keeping sheep is as good a work before God as is the action of a judge in giving a sentence or a magistrate in ruling or a minister in preaching." So this morning, I just want to sweep away the idea of ‘secular work.’ By that, I mean secular, and we're seeing that in our increasingly atheistic culture. The word secular means religion-free, God-free, so that your work zone is a God-free zone. We're not bringing God into that. It's secular, it's a secular thing. Well, we Christians should never do that. There should never be secular work or that kind of worldly work, for the Christian view of work is that everything done by faith in Christ by the power of the Spirit for the Glory of God is sacred, no matter what your employment. So I want you to see your workplace as a place of worship where you must encounter the living God, where every action of your employment can be a living sacrifice offered to God. Now look again at the text, if you would, and I want to make some comments about it. Ephesians 6:5-9, reading this time from the NIV, "Slaves obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them, not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly as if you are serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. And masters treat your slaves in the same way, do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their master and yours is in Heaven, and there is no favoritism with him." Now, I want to just make an aside about where we're going in the preaching ministry in Ephesians. I'm well aware that in talking about employer-employee relationships from Ephesians 6:5-9 is making a bit of a leap of interpretation. The text doesn't say employer or employee, it says masters and slaves. So what I want to do this morning is I want to talk about work. If I could just sum up this sermon, it's about work. Next week. I want to talk about slavery, and the following week I want to talk about racism. So those are the next three sermons. This morning, work, then slavery, then racism. I feel that these are helpful topics for us, and it will be increasingly helpful. Like next week's sermon, what I want to do is face square on the question, why isn't the New Testament clearly abolitionist? Why does Paul seek to manage slavery here rather than just abolish it? So I'm going to try to give the best answer I can. That being able to defend the Bible as a timeless and living document is going to be increasingly needed in our age. People will bring up slavery and talk about it, especially related to things like LGBT things. It's going to come up and they're going to say, "Look the Bible is clearly obsolete. Look at the topic of slavery." So, hopefully next week I'm going to give you a way to answer any accusations against the Bible, and talk about why Paul doesn't clearly sweep aside slavery. And then the following week, I want to zero in on the phrase, "There is no favoritism," and just address some of the incredibly controversial and hot topics that have been going on this summer and just some of the heritage, the history, and how the Bible answers the issues of racism and where we can go from here. So those are the next three weeks, God willing. I. Understanding Work Biblically Greek’s Faulty View: Work as Punishment Now, let's look at this morning at work and employment. And let's begin by just trying to understand work biblically. The Greeks, into which the culture Paul was writing, looked on work as a punishment. How many of you have ever done that? I look on work as a punishment. I've heard it, I've heard it said by those near and dear to me, people I cherish have looked at work as a punishment. Maybe it doesn't help that we sometimes use work as a punishment, maybe that's not helpful, I don't know, maybe not good parenting. But at any rate, the Greeks did see that. They looked at it this way, that work was a curse, the gods hated mankind and so they cursed us to work while they lay around and eat heavenly grapes and eat ambrosia and drink nectar all day long, whatever that is for them. That was their view. Work is a curse. Even within that, they had a kind of a similar two-tier view of work that I described earlier. There it's not sacred and profane, but it was more intellectual and menial. They would divide it in that way. So Plato and Aristotle, and other philosophers promoted a two story concept of work, that the majority of men should do the heavy lifting, menial labor, that the minority like themselves might engage in higher intellectual pursuits like art and philosophy and politics. So that's the way the Greeks tended to divide up work. God a Worker, Not an Idler Now for us as Christians, we know right from the beginning of the Bible, our God is a worker, not an idler. And so, from the very first verse of the Bible, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," and Genesis 1 pictures a very active creative God who creates the heavenly realms and separates the waters above from the waters below, and separates the sea from the dry land, and creates vegetation and creates the animals, and the birds of the air, and ultimately creates man in his image. So God is a hard working creative God and he delights in his labor, enjoys it, finds pleasure, and he looks over all that he's made and behold it's very good. So there's just a beautiful pleasure of God and work, and on the seventh day he rested from his work. So that's how the Bible begins. Then Christ as he comes in, he teaches us some things about God's work that maybe we could have figured out, but that Christ told us in John 5:17 when they're accusing him of working on the Sabbath. Jesus said, "Actually, My Father's always working, to this very day, and I too am working." We come to realize theologically that if God ever stopped working, the universe would stop existing. God created a dependent universe that needs his energy and his work. It's not an independent thing, it needs God to work on it to keep it alive, keep it existing. So, he's always working. Work in Eden: The Gift Given And then God gave to Adam and Eve, to the human race, creative work to do. Genesis 1:26-28, "God blessed them, male and female, and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth, subdue it, rule over it. Rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’" So here's this beautiful fresh perfect world waiting to be explored, waiting to be filled and subdued, whatever that means, but there's going to be this creative labor. And there are certain types of plants that could not spring up apart from human cultivation. And so, God gave us work to do and that was before the fall, dear friends. Genesis 2:15, "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to serve it and protect it, to work it and take care of it." And so work is a good gift from God. Our work is not a curse, rather our work has been cursed, and there's a world of difference between those two. Our work is not a curse, but our work has been cursed. Work After the Fall: The Gift Cursed And so in Genesis 3, we know what happened with Adam when he fell into sin, God cursed the ground because of him. And he said, "Through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life, it will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field, and by the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken, for dust you are and to dust you will return." So we are now laboring and struggling in futility, in cursed labor, to just scrap out an existence because of Adam's sin. And so the greatest curse of all on work is ultimately futility, emptiness, working on something that doesn't come to fruition, that in the end comes to nothing, that sinks back down into the dust. Ecclesiastes 2:22-23 says, "What does a man get for all that toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun, what do we get for all that? All of his days, his work, his pain and grief. Even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless," and this repeated phrase, "a striving after wind," that's the curse on work, you're laboring on something that comes to nothing, dust in the wind. Now as the Bible unfolded after Adam's fall, there would continue to be inventiveness, creativity, people developed metallurgy, they developed different technologies, and the human race has advanced since then. But the work has always been a labor under Adam's curse. Now, in the history of Israel, we know that they fell into bondage, into slavery, and how the Egyptians made their lives bitter with hard bondage and toil, and with the whip of the slave driver, and they worked them ruthlessly, Exodus 1:14. After the exodus, God regulated work in the Ten Commandments, he said, "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, do all your work in six days and rest on the seventh, for God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh." So here work is commanded, labor for six days, but it's also limited. Rest on the seventh day as God did. Christ’s Example: Glorifying the Father by Labor Now Christ is the end of the world, he glorified labor. No one has ever been a better example of what I'm commending to you today than Jesus, namely finding joy and delight and relationship with God through your work. Nobody did that better than Jesus. Jesus said, as I already quoted, "My Father is always working and I too am working." In effect, Jesus plainly said "The only work that I do is the work the Father is doing." So, what the Father is doing, the Son joins the Father in it, and they work together. What a beautiful picture of work that is. He actually said at the time in John 4, the Samaritan woman, he said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and finish his work." This is My food, it gives me energy, it gives me pleasure to do God's works. And he said at the end of his life, praying to the Father, "I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work You gave me to do." Jesus is our role model for work. Work in the New Heaven and New Earth Now as we go on, as we look ahead, you may wonder where are we heading, pastor? Where are we going with this work thing? Are we going to work in Heaven? What about the New Heaven and the New Earth? Will there be work there? Friends, I believe with all my heart there will be work in Heaven, but it won't be cursed. Think about all of the redeemed from every tribe and language and people and nation, remember what God said at the time of the Tower of Babel. If, as one people, speaking one language they've begun to do this, then nothing they propose to do will be restrained from them, they can achieve anything. Imagine though, instead of doing it to serve our own glory, like they did at the Tower of Babel. We would build and construct things in the New Heaven and New Earth for the glory of God to show our capabilities for his glory. And we will be like as one people speaking one language, building for the glory of God. Now I'm going to talk more about this verse next week. But Revelation 22:3 supports what I'm saying, I think. It says in Revelation 22, the last chapter of the Bible, "No longer will there be any curse," amen. "The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and... " Listen, "his servants will serve him." So I'm going to talk more about that verse next week. We're going to work. No failed projects, no deadlines. How cool is that? We are going to labor and it's going to, it's going to work out, it's going to be successful. And what feeling of joy we'll have, not pride, but worship to God that he gave us these hands and these minds to be able to create things. That's what I think we're heading toward. II. Paul’s Commands to Slaves: Serve Christ in Your Work Basic Command: Obey Your Earthly Masters Now, let's look more specifically at what Paul commands to slaves and then to masters. First, the basic command is, “obey your earthly masters.” What we're looking at today is a special category of work which is work done in submission to God-ordained authority. That's not all of the work. There's just some things we do on our own, the work we do around the house or whatever, but here we're talking about work done at the command of another person. So he gives commands to the one receiving the command, the slaves, and then he turns around and gives command to the one that gives the command by God-ordained authority, the masters. So we're looking at commands to the slaves, those in submission to God-ordained authority, and he's commanding obedience, "Slaves obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them, not only to win their favor, when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart, serve wholeheartedly as if you are serving the Lord, not men." So fundamental to Paul's doctrine here is the God-given right to command, that God delegates authority to creative beings, to people, and they have the right to give commands to others. That's foundational to human society. The Workplace: Adding Context to the Command So in the American workplace, in our workplace, it comes down to the boss' right to give work to the employees and the requirement for the Christian employee to do what they're told to do, that we see God in all of that. It is the boss' right to command within the boundaries of the work, and it is the employee's responsibility to obey. Now, obviously, we need to limit this as we've said before. The boss' right to command is not universal. The boss isn't God. Peter said, "We must obey God rather than you." he said that to an authority figure. As I said in a recent sermon in terms of submission to God-ordained authority, God-given authority can never command God forbidden activity. God-given authority can never command God-forbidden activity. So we are going to evaluate the commands given to us and be sure that that's not happening. But in every other respect, when an employee willingly and skillfully and cheerfully does everything commanded by the employer, it is glorifying to God. It's glorifying to God. Now he says, obey your earthly masters, in the Greek it's “masters according to the flesh,” so he's kind of limiting. The implication is, they have a limited scope over you. They don't own your soul. So there's a limit there. And it also implies their authority over you is temporary, it's limited. There'll come a time, it'll be over. But in all of that, we should obey as if we were obeying Christ himself. Look at the text again, "Slaves obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ." Verse 6, "Obey them not only to win their favor, when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart." Verse 7, "Serve whole-heartedly as if you were serving the Lord. Not men.” He says it three times, "Just as you would obey Christ,” “slaves of Christ,” “as if you are serving the Lord." It's very plain. So the idea is to look beyond your earthly boss and see Jesus behind him or her. Treat Your Employer/Employee as You Would Jesus I think about this in the Hall of Faith in that great Hebrews 11 chapter, Hebrews 11:27, it says, "By faith Moses persevered... " listen, "as seeing him who is invisible." Hard to do sometimes. I've had some bosses that cast a looming shadow in front of Jesus, and you had to kind of look around and it was hard to see Jesus behind them. It was hard. But we have to do it, we have to do it. So when your boss tells you to do something, eminently reasonable and not immoral, within the job, but it crosses your flesh, annoys you in some way, that's a key moment for you, isn't it? That's a key moment. You should see it as something Christ himself were giving you to do. For example, let's say you serve tables. And the owner tells you to bus someone else's table or do something else. It's not even in your area of the restaurant. And you're probably not going to get a tip from it, and you're probably not going to be thanked for it, but just do it. Key moment! Key moment in your walk with Christ. There's nothing immoral about the command, well within the purview. Well within the rights. Just do it, do it cheerfully, do it by faith, do it for the glory of God, don't expect any earthly reward, expect a heavenly reward. Suppose you're a nurse and your supervisor tells you to take care of... And there are some of these I guess particularly irritable patients who only find fault with the nursing staff. God forbid, that any one of us should be one of those. Say, "Oh God, give me grace to be a good patient." I don't know what kind of patient I'll be. I think there are days I think I'm going to be one of those, I hope not though, I don't want to be an irritable patient. But you're the nurse, and you have to go take care of this. This is a thankless task. And the tendency is going to be to complain, not only about the patient but about the supervisor who constantly gives you the harder patients and all that kind of thing. It is endemic to the American workplace to complain against the boss. Don’t Work Half-Heartedly So we need a faith-filled demeanor, we need to do it, it says with respect and fear and sincerity of heart. Paul literally says with fear and trembling, there's a sense of God in all of this. I want to do this as unto “God the immortal, the invisible, the only wise God, I want to serve him who dwells in unapproachable light.” That's what I want to do, so I'm going to do it wholeheartedly too, every fiber of my being. I want to give to the Lord the best effort I can for his pleasure and his glory. It is so easy to be half-hearted in work to just get by, to cut corners, to skirt. I've seen it done, I've done it myself sadly from time to time. It's easy to mail it in 8:00-5:00, and then the clock turns 5:00, I'm gone. 5 o'clock and zero seconds. Look, I mean, I know the work day needs to end at some point, I'm not saying you gotta put the holy extra five minutes in. Pastor said I had to add five minutes, so I'm not leaving before 5:05. Look, that's legalism. That's not what I'm talking about, I'm saying, But look at your attitude. Is your attitude a minimalist, whatever it takes to check the box and get by attitude? That's what this text removes. No, because that affects the way you do everything you do throughout the day. It also removes shoddy workmanship, shabby workmanship. You know what I'm talking about? Just cutting corners, doing the cheap thing. It's almost as though American workers these days are living for the weekend, they're living for recreation and entertainment and free time and hobbies, and work is some kind of an unwelcome interruption for the true purpose for which we were put here, and that's eat, drink and be merry. I think we've all experienced the frustration of shoddy workmanship in the home. In appliances, Christy and I have some stories to tell about a dishwasher. She'll tell you, she worked hard to replace our remarkably faulty dishwasher. I used to come, and I'd come down in the morning and it had this little error code on it, and I was like, "Oh God, give me strength." The one good thing about that appliance, it's the one you can kind of muddle through without. The washer and dryer, not so much. Kind of hard. But at any rate, just the frustration of the shoddy workmanship, the planned obsolescence. And the text says, "Not as eye service or man pleasers." It's like only when their eye is on you, you're going to behave at a much better level when they're watching you. When they go away, it's like this kind of thing, as soon as they turn, sticking out the tongue or something like that. I've seen it happen. Maybe not that childish but it's like the face. Oh, what was that? And they turn back. No, no, yes sir, no sir, I'll do it right away, sir. But smarmy and deceptive. I remember years ago, I had a computer-based chess program that I used to play, it had a hotkey that immediately went over to spreadsheet, a fake spreadsheet. It was unbelievable, it was pathetic. And so you're like, you're playing chess at work, and then if your boss comes by, bang, there's this fake spreadsheet. Well, I hope your work has something to do with spreadsheets, because if not, you're fried. And if they take a close look at it, and it's doing nothing, it's just sitting there, it's like, oh man, that's a bad moment. Maybe I shouldn't talk about the bracket challenge and March Madness, but really productivity goes down at least in the state of North Carolina. The kinds of things that happen around that time and I guess it's all excusable, I suppose. Now the life of faith is living as seeing him who is invisible, not eye service, not man pleasers, saying, “I'm trying to offer my work to God.” “Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” So what does this mean? Well, it means work fully, give 60 minutes of diligent labor for every hour of work, work honestly, don't steal from your employer. I said in the sermon on stealing, for Walmart and other retailers employee theft is a multi-billion dollar problem. Work, thirdly, skillfully. Develop your craft, get better and better at what you do. Work at it. Study it. How can I be better at X, a year from now than I am now? I'm not talking about making your job an idol and living for it. But I'm just saying be skillful. Fourthly, work wisely, use a high level of craftsmanship appropriate to every level. I remember there was a guy I worked with named Pete, he was a draftsman, a very good draftsman. Very immature, good comedian, did a great Elvis impression. I remember that. Boss came in seeing him do it. That was an awkward moment for Pete. But Pete made this elaborate drawing, that was back before we used computers, before we did CAD, this elaborate pencil drawing of an electronic connector, took him two and a half hours to draw it. It was like Michaelangelo had drawn it. It was spectacularly beautiful. The boss was rightly angry at the waste of time. That thing, there's a certain drafting protocol that it could have been drawn in 10 minutes. So, just work wisely, work energetically, full energy. And I mean even an hour after lunch, I know it's hard. 2:30 in the afternoon, everyone's sleepy, but just say, "Lord give me strength. I want to work as unto You, I want to give a full day for You." Work respectfully, don't gossip or demean the boss. Don't talk behind his or her back. Don't tell jokes or demeaning stories. If other employees do, don't join in with it. Work thankfully, be obviously, clearly thankful you have a job. I mean just be thankful you live in this country, and that you have a job where your needs can be met like this. Be thankful. Thankful for every task you have to do, and work spiritually. Do it with a sense that your work is an act of worship to God. Work to Make the Gospel Attractive Now, in all of this, we want to make the Gospel attractive. Put the Gospel on display. I think the workplace can be one of the greatest places of evangelism there is in America. It's hard to know strangers in America these days. If you just start talking at the gas pump or the convenience store or whatever, if you're funny and interesting and don't ask for anything, they'll talk to you. But at the workplace now you can develop relationships, long-term relationships with non-Christians. I had a list of all of the people in the engineering department and I prayed for opportunities to share the Gospel with all of them, and God was faithful. I think I actually had good full Gospel opportunities with three-quarters of the engineers and the technicians that worked in that department. I went after it, I prayed for it, I was patient, I looked for opportunities. But the workplace can be a great place to make the Gospel attractive. Remember the Day of Judgment Well, all of this, we should be doing with an eye to Judgment Day, we should know, as it says in Verse 8, "The Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free." he's going to return to you by saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant." he's going to give you rewards. You don't need to be noticed by your boss. You don't need to do it so you can get a raise or get ahead. If that comes, that's a sidebar. What really matters is God was pleased with you today, he will reward you. And you're storing up treasure in Heaven every day by that kind of labor. Masters Will Be Judged Now let's talk to the masters. Verse 9, "Masters, treat your slaves in the same way, do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their master and yours is in Heaven, and there is no favoritism with him." So Paul connects the commands to the master, is what he just said, in the same way. In other words, "by faith, as seeing Jesus, as seeing the invisible one, please treat your slaves that way, knowing that Jesus is behind them, just like he's behind you." See Jesus, see Christ in those that report to you. Understand you have a master in Heaven named Christ, he sees everything you do, he will evaluate everything that you do. And he says, “do not threaten them,” or perhaps even literally give up threatening them. I just use a how much more argument. We're going to talk about slavery next week, but all the excesses of the chattel slavery system, how do they miss this command? Don't threaten them, but you can beat them. I could easily go into that whole topic now, I'll wait 'til next week. But clearly, the command here is don't deal with them having forgotten they're human and having forgotten perhaps they're redeemed by the blood of Christ. He's giving commands to Christian masters here. They are your brothers and sisters in Christ, equal to you in redemption and in reward in Heaven. Remember that. These are temporary roles we're playing here. So, keep looking at them by faith. In 1853, Harriet Beecher Stowe published the second edition of her novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. And that was obviously a very clear depiction of the abuses of African people in American slave system. Well, that addition, the deluxe edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin was published with artistic renditions of many of the most poignant scenes in the book. In one of the drawings, the wicked master Simon Legree is beating Tom savagely, while Tom is praying and crying aloud to Jesus. And in the rendition Jesus is behind watching the beating though unseen by Simon Legree. So that's the idea, it's like you're being watched all the time. Everything you do is being seen by Jesus and he is the true King, the true master. And some day you're going to have to give him an account. You're going to stand before your Judge, and give him an account for everything you've done. There is No Favoritism With God And it says in Isaiah 11:3-5, speaking of Jesus, "he will not judge by what he sees with his eyes or decide by what he hears with his ears, but with justice and righteousness he will judge the needy and with justice, he will give decisions for the poor of the Earth. He will strike the Earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips, he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist." We are going to be called before the Judgment Seat of Christ. We're going to give an account for everything done in the body, whether good or bad. Masters need to keep that in mind. And so, practically, bosses should carry themselves humbly toward their employees, they should not think of themselves in any way superior to them. I've meditated on "There is no favoritism with God." It's not an easy phrase to understand biblically. But I think it at least means this: They are every bit as human as you are, every bit as accountable to the judgment seat of God as you are, every bit as rewardable as you are for your works, every bit as redeemable by faith in the blood of Christ. In that way there's no favoritism, everybody gets treated the same way. So keep that in mind, supervisors should make sure the workplace is fair and equitable, in which employees have a chance to excel and grow and be developed and be rewarded for their labors. Supervisors should evaluate the performance of their workers with justice and equity and reward it. I was reading an article about Asian sweatshops in a region in the world where there's a surplus of unskilled labor, those unskilled laborers can be greatly taken advantage of, because they're immediately replaceable. And they are often greatly taken advantage of, unhealthy, unsafe working and conditions. Limited bathroom breaks. Some of these sweatshops eliminate all talking between employees during the work day. Companies like GAP, Liz Claiborn, a clothing line for which Kathy Lee Gifford was the spokeswoman. Nike, Walmart. All of these have come under criticism for using goods that were put together in these kinds of sweatshops. Do Not Withhold Wages The greatest injustice an employer can do toward an employee is to withhold appropriate compensation for the work. Wages, appropriate wages. So James 5:4 says, "Look, the wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty and he will judge." So the chance of injustice in wages is greater in an age of or an area of undocumented aliens. We were at a meeting yesterday, concerning ministry to refugees, undocumented aliens, and all that, same issue, same problem. The employer can know that the undocumented aliens are undocumented and therefore vulnerable and fragile and can be taken advantage of. That's wickedness, and God will call people to account if anyone does that. The implication is you should treat your slaves the way you want to be treated, and the way you will wish you had treated them on Judgment Day. Treat your employees that way. So it says in Colossians 4:1, "Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a master in Heaven." What is right and fair? Wages for their labor. Respect and commendation for a job well done. And some day you're going to give an account to your master, and there's no favoritism with him. And we're going to talk more about that going forward. Application Application, we just start by saying trust in Christ, trust in Christ, the ultimate worker for us is Jesus. His works and not yours, save your soul. We are justified by faith and not by our works, not by our career, not by our skills, not by our labor, we are justified by simple faith in Christ's work on the cross. His perfect obedience to his Father, his works save us, not ours. So, I prayed at the beginning if God might have brought someone here who's unregenerate, you know that you're outside of Christ, trust in Christ, put your trust in him, and then having done that, you'll have a whole lifetime of good works that you can do for the glory of God, but not for the forgiveness of your sins, but to glorify him. And then, for all of you who are Christians, just offer up your work to him, offer up your works, the rest of your day, the rest of your week, offer up your labor to him as a fragrant offering, a sacrifice. If you're in a particularly challenging work environment, I've been in some, I had a boss that hated me and I think it was because I was a Christian. I came back from my honeymoon and we had a Bible study going, we had a bunch of things. This guy was an aggressive non-Christian, shut all that down, was a very difficult person to deal with. I've had those kinds of bosses. I'm not saying it's easy. But if you're able to imbibe the teaching here, God will give you grace to offer up a sacrifice that's pleasing. And get a big picture of your work, your career, all of that and see how God can use it for the building of Christ's kingdom. Let's close in prayer. Prayer Father, we thank you for the time we've had to look at Ephesians 6:5-9, through the lens of the employer-employee relationship, Father. Help us to take the timeless principles that are here. They're still relevant, even though chattel slavery is now illegal all over the world, but yet these verses are not thereby obsolete, but that we can draw principles whereby we can work and give you glory. And Lord if you give us time next week to look at slavery and beyond that, at racism, give us grace to hear what you would say to us so that we can live beautiful fragrant lives here in this culture in an age that just so deeply clearly needs the teaching of the Word of God. In your name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.