Welcome to her comeback, Transforming Your Life
After 50. I'm your host, Michelle Thompson. If
you've ever whispered to yourself, there has
to be more than this. You are in the right place.
This show is for women over 50 who have hit their
breaking point and are finally ready to stop
going at it alone. You've tried the self -help
books, the vision boards, positive thinking,
but you're still stuck. And here's what I know.
You're not broken. You just need the right support.
And that's exactly what you're going to find
here. Each week, I'll sit down with incredible
women who have transformed their lives. You'll
hear their real stories, the messy middle, the
breakthrough moments, the practical steps that
they took to create the lives that they love.
Because your lowest limit, it can be your launching
pad. So if you're done settling and ready for
your comeback, Stay with me. Let's discover how
other women have made it happen and how you can
too. Are you ready? This is her comeback. Hi,
good day, everyone. I am so honored and privileged
to have with me Patty Brown. I would like for
her to kick us off, get started by telling us
a little bit about yourself. Patty, welcome to
the show. Thank you, Michelle. Thank you for
having me. Well, I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
and pretty much stayed up in that area for my
whole life. I was married. I had stepdaughters.
I had a son. And that all kind of fell apart
when I needed to get sober. I got sober at the
age of 40. And from there, made a lot of changes
in my life. for the better. So definitely something
I can identify with and that's it's a huge life
-changing moment, big transformation. So as I
understand it after getting sober there and now
both were women over 50, what are other transformations
that have happened and how have you recreated
your life during this phase of your life, during
this time of your life? I got remarried. I got
divorced and remarried. And so I was living in
Pennsylvania and I was doing well. I went back
to college. I became a mammographer and I just
started to feel dark. I started to feel like
I needed to... change. I mean, Pennsylvania,
you know, it's, it's dark up there. It's like
cloudy for like nine months out of the year,
if not more. And it started to affect me. I would
use a sun lamp in the mornings before I went
to work. It kind of goes over your head while
you read a book or something. And to just promote
some kind of wellness, some kind of vitamin D,
vitamin, you know, sunlight. And so I was doing
that and realized that I needed to make a change.
I talked to my husband about it and he was willing
to move back to Florida. We actually had met
in Florida. We moved, we were living down there
for a little bit and met and then moved back
to Pennsylvania. But yeah, I needed to make a
change. So I started looking for jobs down in
Florida and got one and came down. It was scary
because I came by myself. with a carload of dishes,
a card table, an air mattress. And that was it
because my husband stayed home and sold the house.
So it was a little tough. It was a little scary.
But I knew, I knew in my heart and my gut that
I needed to make a change. So that's what I did.
He was up there for about... eight months and
then came down. Once the household, he came down
and then brought furniture with him. That's a
good thing. But furniture, no furniture. I was
happy being in Florida. It's beautiful. I'm looking
outside. It's blue sky. The sun is out. It makes
me happy. It warms my heart. So those are some
changes. In 2023, I was diagnosed with renal
cell carcinoma stage three. So I obviously had
a surgery. I was on a lot of medication, sick
from the medication, but realized then again
that I needed to make another change. I needed
to make a change. in my diet and everything,
pretty much. Physically, I lost 35 pounds. Oh,
congratulations. Oh, thank you. Because of my
diet, because of exercising, doing yoga, I have
a really good routine that I do now for my exercise
and for my yoga. And I do this yoga nidra, which
is, it's... It's a conscious sleep mode kind
of thing. It's relaxing the body so much that
it enhances my spirituality. It enhances everything
in my body because it targets different parts
of the body. Also, yeah, I made quite a few changes
to feel better inside and to feel better mentally.
Um, you also were a big part of that because
you were my life coach and you enhanced my awareness
of my ability to do pretty much anything. I was
in the middle of writing a book at the time and
was scared to really put it out there. You helped
me to realize that I could do that. You helped
me to realize my worthiness. my talents, my passions,
so many things. Thank you, Patty. I'm so glad
that we were able to connect. And it's just a
gift to be able to watch someone grow and really
take action and do things to better themselves.
And it was just such a pleasure working with
you. And so thank you so much for your kind words
and support. Emotional, but I do that. We are
emotional beings. We are. We are. So I finished
my book also, but you also helped me just to
realize that I need to live my life in joy. You
know, that's what is so important. That's what
life's all about. Yes. Be joyful. kind, be helpful,
be the person I always wanted to be. You can,
you absolutely can, and you have done it. You
have done those things to bring that, bring those
qualities, the happiness, the purpose, the determination.
You've done those things to bring it into your
life. Yes, yes. And you know, I was so fearful.
For many, many years, I was just a fearful -based
person, afraid of people, afraid of what you
think, afraid of little things like making a
phone call, just everything. And I don't have
those fears anymore. They're unfounded fears,
really. And you helped me realize that, too.
Oh, it's just so awesome. I was reading something
earlier this week, and it talked about love and
fear, like choosing love over fear. And when
you're in love, you have this optimism. You're
open. You're willing. All of these. qualities
that stem from love and being in love as opposed
to fear when we're closed, we're just scared,
the ego is basically running, how we're thinking,
all of that. Yeah, I just thought of that while
you were talking, operating from love instead
of fear. Absolutely. And fear paralyzes you,
you know? Since I got sober, since I worked with
you, since I had a 12 -step program that I worked
with also, and those fears are unfounded. My
husband and I have traveled. We've traveled to
the mountains of North Carolina. We've traveled
to Hawaii. We've traveled to Italy. We've traveled
to New Mexico. We've traveled to Key West. We've
just done a lot of traveling. based in fear,
I wouldn't be doing all that. I'd be just sitting
at home with the TV in front of me. And, you
know, life is so much more than that. It's the
adventure, the exploration. Again, just being
open to what's out there. I love it. Yeah. So,
Patty, you mentioned you wrote a book. So I'd
love to hear some more about it. What are moments
of clarity that you had as you were writing your
book? My book is called The Quiet Voice. It's
essays or stories of my life, little bits and
pieces of my life where I had changes made because
of the quiet voice, which I believe is a higher
power, God, Buddha, whatever the belief is. I
don't have any kind of set belief that it's that
God or this God. It's my interpretation of it.
My higher power has directed me, saved me. put
people in my life. So many different times of
my life have changed because of the quiet voice.
And I know I call it the quiet voice because
when I first got sober, I went to a rehab and
I was trying to figure out where I was going
to live because I had been homeless. And the
shelters were where I was. drinking and drugging.
And I knew I couldn't go back there. And I had
an idea of where I would go. And one of the counselors
said to me, OK, so now you know where you want
to go. But is there a real quiet voice telling
you maybe you shouldn't go? And there was because
I had drank at that place before. So there was
a voice telling me that. Anyway, that's where
I got the quiet voice from. That counselor said
that to me 26 years ago, over 26 years ago, warning
me to listen or not really warning me, but asking
me to listen to that voice. And she said, that
voice will get louder and louder as you stay
sober and enjoy your life. I love it. That's
awesome. So can you tell me a little bit more
about just how does the book offer more insight
into you? What other things might someone get
from reading your book? So if anybody's in recovery,
I think it would help. But I also believe and
I've had people come to me. Because it is out
there now, it's on Amazon, it's on Barnes and
Noble, it's eBooks, Apple Books, it's out there.
And people who are not in recovery have come
up to me, a couple of people at my work, a couple
of other people, and said that it helped them
so much. Just get an insight on remembering to
listen to their gut. Because the gut tells, the
voice tells the gut. what's going on. Anyone
in search of spiritual growth, self -realization,
inner awareness of one's spiritual potential,
anyone needing a shift or change in life or taking
that extra step to do what they know what they
want to do but are afraid to do it, really the
book is about hope. It's about change and realizing
that no matter what happens in our life, there's
always hope. And once we get to the other side
of it, that it's way better than what we ever
thought it would be. That's so powerful. I love
that. It's amazing. I really I'd love I love
your story and I do think that it's just inspirational.
So I really appreciate your sharing that and
I'm so glad that you took the time putting it
in the book so that others can read it and it's
more accessible for everyone to hear and to know
about. So let's talk a little bit about what
do you do for fun? What other things do you enjoy
in your life? Well, it's almost always nature
oriented. I love. I love nature. I love the beach.
I now walk the beach once or sometimes twice
a week to see if there's any turtle nests coming
in. We mark the turtle nests and check them after
they're ready to hatch. I check them to make
sure that everything's working properly for the
hatchlings. So I do that. Go to the beach for
just for recreation obviously walk. There's so
many places to walk that are Just beautiful down
here and you can do it year -round. I used to
hate the snow Sorry anybody up in old cold land
But I used to hate the snow I would wear a ski
jacket full ski jacket and pants to walk my dog
in winter So it's so nice to be able to walk
and ride bike, whatever I'm doing outside to
just hug a tree. Sometimes I'll hug a tree. I
really will. And grounding myself outside is
so important. I just feel better. It's enhanced
me emotionally, spiritually. physically, the
walking, everything. So a lot of it's outside,
a lot of it's family. I love to visit with family.
I have a sister who's down here for a few months
right now, visit with her. My husband and I go
on these treks also. We're going to go out West
next year. We have a trip planned to go to Moab.
How exciting. Brightening and all that. I love
it. How exciting. That's great. So how can people
find you, Patti? What's the best way? Okay, on
social media, I'm on Instagram as at PattiBears,
all one word, PattiBears, because I'm a Bears
fan. My email account is turtlesoftheC8, turtlesoftheC
being all one word, eight. At gmail .com and
I'm also on Facebook. I don't do Facebook a whole
lot, but I'm Patty Brown on Facebook. My name
is just for the correct spelling. Thank you.
Patty, it has been such a joy talking with you
today, and I appreciate your time being open
and vulnerable and sharing your message. Thank
you. Really appreciate it. I wish you all the
best with your book and everything else that
life has for you. Thank you so much, Michelle.
Thank you for having me. Thank you for the conversation.
It was wonderful. Thank you so much for spending
time with me today. I am truly grateful that
you chose to listen in and I hope that this conversation
sparked something meaningful for you. Please
take a moment to subscribe, leave a review. It
helps other women to find us who need to hear
these stories too. And if you know someone who
is ready for their own comeback, share this episode
with them. I'd love to connect with you beyond
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isn't, can I transform my life? The question
is, are you ready? Let's go.