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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

Exposure

I’m a storyteller, not a scientist. But I love when science backs up what my intuition tells me is true. Mindfulness became a thing in my life slowly. Podcasts I listened to were talking about it, my yoga practice led me to experience the power of slowing my breath, and I knew that studies had […]
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Wendy Jones

Freedom, Liberty & the American Media

I had to close the newspaper this week. Actually, I wish it was a real newspaper, because I still prefer that to the blue light from my iPad or phone, but when I moved to So Cal I had to give that up because it wasn’t delivered early enough for me to get through it […]
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Wendy Jones

Spontaneous Grace

It took a little work and a few conversations, but I had my mind settled comfortably around spending Thanksgiving on my own. Thankfully, being thankful is not something I save for one day of the year, and although I wrote from Hawaii last week and am thankful for the experiences in life that blow my […]
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Wendy Jones

Shattering the Myth of 'Downtime'

The first time I visited a spa I was 24. It was for my sister’s 21st birthday and I marveled at the calm that I felt after three days there. Looking back, that was my first glimpse at what it felt like to balance an overstimulated sympathetic nervous system. I had been a fearful kid, […]
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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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Young Hearts and Old Souls

There is something special about being the youngest.  I wouldn’t know from experience but I have observed it with Matthew from the day he was born.  There is always someone, especially in a big family, looking out for you, someone who wants to show you the way, someone to learn from and look up to.  […]
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RESTore

Fallow: Farmland plowed and harrowed but left unsown for a period of time in order to restore its fertility as part of a crop rotation  When I look at my roots and my path, it makes a lot of sense that my oldest child ended up in Texas playing beach volleyball. It suits her, and […]
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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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The Long Ball

As a parent, there are so many choices that I make where my overarching philosophy about how to raise a strong, compassionate, disciplined kid are directly opposed to my kind hearted, I love my kid too much to do this to them, softness.  In my head, I know that discomfort brings growth, that unconditional love […]
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What's In A Name?

I have always been an early riser. The morning is my favorite time of day and most days, as I feel the pink light and the quiet slipping away, I wish it would stay just a little bit longer. I want to hang a little longer in the daybreak, before the rest of my world […]
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