"Wherever You Are, Be All There."

In this episode of WORDS MATTER, Deanna Ley, The Catalytic Coach, invites you to pause long enough to notice the moment you're in—and then be in it. With the quote “Wherever you are, be all there.” by Jim Elliott, Deanna explores what it means to stop drifting through life and start actually living it.

From brain science to personal stories, she helps you recognize how our minds are wired to wander—and how to gently bring yourself back to presence. This episode is for anyone who’s felt stuck in The Next or tangled up in The Past and is ready to reclaim the peace of the Right Now.

What Listeners Will Learn:
• Why presence is a practice, not a performance
• What happens in your brain when you're constantly replaying or future-casting
• How the Default Mode Network and Task-Positive Network shape your focus
• Why being fully present may feel uncomfortable at first—but is always worth it
• Simple practices that gently return you to the now
• A weekly invitation to show up—fully, honestly, and imperfectly

Memorable Quotes:
• “Wherever you are, be all there.” – Jim Elliott
• “My body was there, but my mind was always scanning, bracing, anticipating.”
• “Our brain learns to equate stillness with risk.”
• “Not a perfect life, but a felt one. Not performance, but connection. Not control, but soul-deep peace.”
• “Healing doesn't live in the ideal. It lives in the real.”
• “This moment is the only place your life is actually happening.”

This episode reminds us that peace isn’t waiting in The Next—it’s available in this breath, this heartbeat, this choice. And the invitation? Come back home to yourself. Be all there.

Your WORDS MATTER, because YOU MATTER.

❤️❤️❤️

Transcript

Well, hello, hello, hello. I'm so glad you're back for another episode of WORDS MATTER. 

Before we dive in, I want to start with a phrase that you've most likely seen or heard somewhere before. "Wherever you go, there you are."

You know it's been printed on bumper stickers, etched onto coffee mugs, stitched into t-shirts. It was also the title of a best-selling book by Jon Kabat-Zinn, a mindfulness pioneer whose work has impacted millions. That phrase has become kind of a shorthand for self-awareness — a reminder that no matter how far you travel, or what you try to outrun, you still bring You with you. But today's quote?

Well, it asks something more of us. It doesn't just ask you to notice where you are — it invites you to actually be there. This quote, originally spoken by Christian missionary and writer Jim Elliott, carries a kind of grounded boldness. 

It says, "Wherever you are, be all there." 

Let’s pause and let that one land.

Wherever you are — not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, spiritually — be all there. Not with one foot in and the other one out. Not with your body present but your mind elsewhere. Not in the room while your brain spins through a list of what still needs to get done. Be all there.

That means not mentally prepping dinner while you're sitting with a friend. Not scrolling your phone in the middle of a meaningful moment. Not thinking about next week's responsibility when today hasn't even finished. Now, if I'm being real — which you know I always am — I've struggled with this. A LOT. See, there was a time I couldn't sit still in The Now because my brain had already skipped ahead. I wasn't present in my own life. I was in The Next.

The Next plan. The Next problem. The Next pressure I felt to prove I was capable, valuable, needed. Yeah. Even in seasons filled with good things — meaningful relationships, exciting goals — I was often disconnected completely from them. My body was there, but my mind was always scanning, bracing, anticipating. And people probably thought I was handling it all well.

But truthfully? I was over-functioning. Tired, all the time. Doing what needed to be done, but missing out on the actual experience of it all — of living. And here's something that's true for so many of us: when that pattern becomes normal, our nervous system can actually adapt to it.

Our brain learns to equate stillness with risk. We begin to believe that being present is irresponsible — like we're falling behind. But that's just not reality, friends. That's just what your brain has practiced.

So let’s talk about what’s actually happening up there. When your mind is spinning, replaying something from the past or projecting something into the future — judging, comparing, ruminating, worrying — you’re activating your Default Mode Network. This part of your brain lights up when your thoughts are turned inward — like when you’re reliving a mistake or imagining a worst-case scenario, or wondering what someone thinks of you.

It’s not bad. It has a purpose. It’s actually involved in the creativity, memory, and problem-solving part of that brain of yours. But when it becomes your baseline?

It fuels anxiety. It keeps you stuck in loops. It can leave you feeling busy, but unfulfilled. Exhausted, but unaccomplished. Connected to everyone and everything — except yourself.

Does this sound familiar? You're washing dishes, but replaying a conversation from last week. You're in a meeting, but imagining an argument that hasn't even happened yet. You're lying in bed — body still — but your mind is on a treadmill of To-Dos. That's the Default Mode Network in action.

But there’s good news, friends. You CAN shift. You CAN interrupt that spiral. You don’t need to move to a mountaintop or meditate for hours to do it, either.

Your brain also has something called the Task-Positive Network — the part activated when you’re focused on something specific, in real time. It lights up when you're fully engaged, deep in a conversation, immersed in a project, or simply noticing the texture of your blanket, the sound of the birds, the rise and fall of your own breath.

And thanks to neuroplasticity, we can strengthen that muscle. We can train our brains to come back. Presence becomes a skill. A choice. A lifeline.

For me, that retraining didn’t come from overhauling everything. It came from small, simple moments.

Like sitting on the glider on our deck, just watching the trees. Not documenting it for Instagram. Not analyzing it. Just being with it.

It’s also like choosing to put my phone down when our granddaughter is nearby, knowing these moments with her are fleeting and sacred.

It’s also like hiking solo without headphones — letting the rhythm of my steps and the wind against my skin speak louder than any podcast ever could.

It’s also like being in conversation without trying to offer advice, fix something, or say something profound. Just listening — because someone matters.

Now at first, all that felt unfamiliar — like I was doing less. But what I was actually doing was coming back to myself.

I started to feel more grounded. More at peace. More real. Not because the chaos disappeared — but because I finally showed up. For my own life.

So as I take this lesson into my week, here are the questions I’m carrying — and I encourage you to carry them, too:

How often am I physically here, but mentally somewhere else?

 What moments am I unintentionally skipping because my mind is running ahead — or stuck behind?

 And what would it feel like to fully show up — not to impress and not to produce — but just to be here, as I am?

Because that’s what presence offers. Not a perfect life, but a felt one. Not performance, but connection. Not control, but real, soul-deep peace.

And when I catch myself drifting — into worry, into fixing, into old habits of proving — I’m going to gently return to this quote. Not to scold myself, but to remember:

"Wherever you are, be all there."

Because peace isn’t waiting for you in The Next. It’s available right here. Right now.

And power doesn’t come from controlling every outcome — it comes from returning to the present moment. This breath. This choice. This heartbeat.

And healing? Healing doesn’t live in the ideal. It lives in the real.

So here’s your gentle invitation for this week:

Notice your drift. Interrupt your spin. And come back. Let your breath steady you. Let your senses ground you. Let this moment welcome you home.

And let this quote remind you — not with pressure, but with permission — “Wherever you are, be all there.”

Because this moment?

Not the next one. Not the imagined one. Not the one that’s already passed.

This moment is the only place your life is actually happening.

And you, my amazing friends, deserve to be all there for all of it.

Friends, the words we see and read, the words we hear, and the words we say to ourselves and about ourselves — about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it — they all matter.

Your WORDS MATTER, because YOU MATTER.

 Have a great day.