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The Optimists Journal

Heartfelt Anecdotes and Practical Resources to Help You Create Wellness for Life.

Hi! I’m Wendy, mother of four, writer, and founder of Be Better Media. I am passionate about deep health, sustainable high performance, and human connection. As a lifelong learner, I believe that our own self-awareness is the greatest gift we can give to the next generation. This is my inspiration not to be perfect but to Be Better for myself and for them, every day. I know that it takes courage to reflect and when we are ready, share our stories so that real human connection is possible. This is what I set out to create with my blog, ‘The Optimists Journal’; my podcast, ‘What I Meant to Say’, and the interviews, videos, and other content created and presented by Be Better Media. In my downtime, you’ll find me hanging out with my kids and cats, going to yoga, and playing volleyball on the beach.

I believe that self awareness is the greatest gift we can give to the next generation.

How It All Started

I remember sitting on a patio in 2016, knowing I was at the edge of an impending divorce and feeling my life fall apart at the seams.

My question at the time was "How did I get here?" and "How can I help my kids get through this?" I had always been a journaler, but I started my blog, The Optimists Journal to give my kids a place to go later in life to understand their Mom's thoughts and heart through the myriad of situations that life brings our way.

In so many ways, my blog grew to be my podcast 'What I Meant to Say' because as I released my words to the world, I stepped into a place where for the first time in my life, I wasn't afraid to be seen. It was liberating.

So, I wanted to create space for others to have that same experience. If there is one thing I hope comes from the stories we share on 'What I Meant To Say', it is that it becomes a place of connection and growth that we can all experience when we simply take the time to listen.

Check out the podcast!
Wendy Jones

What Pain Insists...

A picture popped up on my phone from Facebook this morning, one of those “five years ago today” memories.  It was the year I skipped 6 man and drove up the coast with the kids.  I wasn’t in the mood to play that year, staring down a divorce I didn’t want, but, looking back now, […]
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Wendy Jones

The Real Story

The Olympics have me deeper into TV and news than usual.  As always, there is so much to cheer for, be proud of, and inspire us for whatever our game of life looks like, and the one thing I know for sure is that we never know the whole story of the journey that put […]
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Wendy Jones

People & Places > Things

About 10 days ago, I woke up thinking I should cancel this trip.  I’m a creature of habit, I like my daily routine, and usually get a little anxiety about leaving my kids, especially for a whole week…and this was the second week I would be away this summer.  I also recognize this anxiety when […]
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Wendy Jones

Create Space

It’s less about what our story is, and more about what we do to honor it. This is the line I have come up with to silence the voice in my mind when I start to think about how many other life stories are more challenging than my own.  Without that reframe, that comparative line […]
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Reasons For Saying Goodbye

Let’s face it, we’ve had to say goodbye to a lot of things these past five months. When things are as uncertain as they have been, the skill that I have had to improve is  to let go of my planning ways and rest on my faith and intuition. The news shifts and changes every […]
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Big Dreams, Small Steps

Have you ever felt yourself standing on the edge of the neat and organized world where everything appears to make sense from the outside but it feels small, like you know there is something more out there that just won’t stop calling? The line between the big, strong minded world, and the small thinking, scared […]
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Gifts

I received so many gifts in my 43rd year of life and none of them were bought in a store.  Confidence, toughness, resilience and calm were the winners this year over fear, timidity and frantic movement and for that I am so grateful.  Parts of me still feel twenty-two and other parts fifty-five, luckily I […]
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American Together

As we inched our way into the gym last weekend, past vaccination checks and metal detectors, to watch Stanford Men’s Volleyball in their second preseason tournament since the program was reinstated last May, it was glaringly apparent to me how much our world has changed.  If you would have told any of us two years […]
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Cocooning

Whether it’s an ending or a beginning is all a matter of perspective.  Ironically, the first time I had this realization wasn’t after my divorce, it was as Lauren was graduating from high school.  There were a lot of tears, it was the first of my four high school graduation milestones, now I’m two down […]
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An Unlikely Intersection - What Mindfulness Could do for Politics in America

I went to the opening night Laker game this week and as much as I appreciate my alone time, I love being in spaces with energy, athleticism, and the star spangled banner.  There is a feeling being around people you don’t know, it’s filled with potential and excitement, and I noticed how long it had […]
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