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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 Matters Most

I don’t have a coherent story for you this week, because sometimes life just can’t be pulled together to make sense. What I know for certain as I write this is that there is risk in every moment of our lives. It’s the hardest thing about being a parent…worrying about how to keep them safe, or how we keep ourselves safe so we can be here for them. I also know that worry doesn’t change a thing...so we have to learn to breathe, accept, and stay present because the alternative robs us of the very essence of what it means to live. If you are a praying person, or a healing person, or a sending positive vibes kind of soul, please send them to this sweet, funny, charismatic young man, Joe Radanovich. He’s is in a hospital in Texas after a tragic car accident on Thursday. I believe in miracles and I’m praying for one. He is a dear friend and we love him so much.

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Wendy Jones

The Zen Of Recovery

Most of the people I come across and work with these days are hard charging, type A, goal oriented people who are trying to squeeze the most out of every day. No matter what their role in life, from athletes, to parents and students, they are grinding it out to make the greatest impact in […]
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Wendy Jones

Finding The Flow in Parenthood

One of the greatest gifts of my adult life has been the women who have met me at any time of the morning to workout.  Whether swimming, running, yoga, pilates, or beach volleyball, and starting as early as 4:30am (shoutout to the early morning Fresno crew), the gratitude I have for these friendships brings tears […]
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Wendy Jones

COVID's Other Victims: Mental Health & Student Athletes

I’ve had a lot of conversations with young people lately, most of them NCAA student-athletes and, as I edit this to publish tomorrow, the news that three more sports have been dropped at Fresno State puts a lump in my throat because another group of student-athletes has to answer the question of what to do […]
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Yogi Thoughts

“It’s a balance between stability and mobility”, she said, as I laid on my yoga mat rolling lacrosse balls under my tight hips and inner thighs.  Yoga has become an almost daily ritual in my life and I have seen some amazing growth from my practice…mind, body and spirit as they say. A yoga practice […]
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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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Abundance

I write a lot about challenging comfort zones because I have seen the positive effects it has had in my life.  Challenging our limits though can feel like a roller coaster sometimes. For me, it hasn’t been easy to unlearn habits like negative self talk, feelings of less than worthy or simply lacking confidence on […]
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What I Meant To Say...

All my life, and part of the reason I like to write so much, is because it slows down my thoughts, and gives me time to express myself clearly.  We’ve all had moments we wish we could take words back or make our thoughts come out differently, but then there is also just good old […]
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Perception vs. Reality: #operationvarsityblues

In a nutshell, I’m over elitist culture.  From Washington D.C. to Stanford University I am tired of people and institutions that play by different rules than everyone else and create an ever widening gap between perception and reality. This was my thought as I watched the new Netflix documentary, Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions […]
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The Incomparable Power of Purpose

One of my favorite things is to wake up to an inspirational text from my friend Chrissy.  She is an amazing writer and mom (check out her blog Life with Greyson + Parker) and when we met 10 years ago, we were trying to figure out the ins and outs of having kids on the […]
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