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Welcome back to another episode of The York good news podcast, so nearly two years ago, but I guess it actually starts more like three years ago, let's transport ourselves back for only a moment before we teleport into this episode, the 100th episode of the organ news podcast. Three years ago, the world was a really scary place, it was all about not knowing exactly what was going to happen. I nervously laugh because I think even thinking back to that time, it is a magnet as a transport into the past that was real scary. We didn't know what the future would look like. And it really all started with listening to podcasts, I was taking a ton of walks, because that was about all I could deal in my apartment in DC. And I was just thinking about how I really loved podcasts. I loved listening to people's stories, I think it probably goes back to when I was a child listening to NPR, with my dad in the car and hearing about different stories of faraway lands or maybe things that were just back home. And it really kind of transported me again, I keep saying transport. But it took me back to that time and the podcast was a way to escape from the reality that was three years ago. It also started with seeing the good many of my friends, family colleagues were doing in the midst of that scary time and feeling like we needed more of that I needed more of that. Because I felt myself slipping, I needed more of the good. And maybe it was just acknowledging the good in the midst of the really freaking bad but I want more of the gut. And so it started with a yes, this podcast started with a saying yes to myself. And it was a nudge to speak my truth, to not be afraid of taking up space and finding the good and sharing it. So flash forward a year hence the two year comment the outset of this episode, you know, and you flash forward to 2021 I finally leaned in, and I launched the York good news podcast. It was an is an absolute labor of love one of the scariest yeses, and I'm getting a little teared up saying it was one of the scariest guesses because I am way more comfortable with the supporting role than ever speaking my whole truth. But man, am I so glad I did it. I'm so proud of the 100 episodes, I've created and shared. I've met people that have truly changed my life. Because from that first time I said yes to myself, I have been able to tell their stories, I've been able to tell my own story, I'm able to tell the good that is out there. Because the good that I tell doesn't negate the bad because there's a lot of bad stuff out there. I won't curse. There's a lot of bad stuff. But it is the choice to sometimes find the gut. And it is not always easy. And I don't always do it perfectly. But it's something I truly believe on. This second year, the year that we're in, I made a transition. And I transition to bridge the good that I was seeing with my love of telling everything about DC if you know me, and you probably feel like you do if you've listened to any of these episodes, I am a political nerd. I love this stuff. I get so excited about sharing more about how we can get engaged with this thing called our US government and making it work for us. So today I've pulled four clips. It felt like having I don't have children, but if it felt like I would have to pick favorite kids when I looked back at all the episodes because like I said I have been able to meet incredible, incredible people. If you haven't listened to all the episodes go back. Some of the original ones. My audio is really rough. So don't judge me we've gotten improved but it go back and listen to some some episodes. And I'm going to highlight a few episodes that are a few of the ones that are near and dear to my heart for a variety of reasons. So first, from Episode 21, I pulled this clip because it reminded me of sharing the good news of the value of we need to seek it and acknowledge it. So listen here. I titled this episode, why not for a very key reason. The idea of why not has been a mantra even more so in the last really the last year. This quiet drumbeat has been the reason I said yes to myself more in a variety of ways, from this podcast, to opening myself up to relationships. To being more honest with the need of healthy barriers, I kept thinking about why I had to take a chance. Because when I started this, it was born out of a desire to find more good news share more good news, it was the summer of 2020. And I admittedly was really sinking into a place where I could believe the bad every single day, I felt strongly that there was good news around us some somehow, even oftentimes, when it didn't feel like it, I knew there had to be something I could latch on to. Maybe it's a new name for a gratitude practice. I've been thinking about that a lot lately, that finding good news is really about finding the gratitude in each day. But it's more so just the idea of recognizing the little joys we have in each day. Some days, it's calling a friend after way too long, or grabbing a cup of coffee and saying hi to the barista. Or maybe it's even just healthy prognosis for a family member. There is good, maybe just the shadows that makes it hard to see. Next, from Episode 19, I am joined by a woman who changed my life, Amanda, it is this little clip is all about things. If you haven't go back and listen to her episode, she is incredibly inspiring and recently passed. And from the moment you listen to her voice and how she views she has had incredible, she had incredibly, an incredibly tough road in this world. And she always found the good, and I was so inspired and so honored to be able to get to talk to her. And in this little clip, we talk about some things that she does to help get the good in her heart, from positive self talk to also utilizing her own strengths. And I think it's a good reminder for all of us that we can do the same. So listen here, we need to kind of be our own advocate for our lives and the lives that we want to choose every single day, which is not always easy. And there are things that happen that we can control, but how we respond to it, like our reaction. That's our power. And that's our choice.