What does resilience actually look like when life is heavy and you're tired of being told to "just push through"?

In this episode, Melie sits down with Eric Davis, combat-decorated U.S. Navy SEAL and author of Raising Men, to talk about a grounded, practical definition of resilience that goes far beyond grit and hustle. Instead of white-knuckling hardship, Eric reframes resilience as maintaining and restoring your capacity to take action—especially in hard seasons like burnout, divorce, grief, or rebuilding.

Together, they explore purpose, passion, rest, habits, and why so many high-achieving people end up exhausted instead of fulfilled.

• Why resilience isn't the same as perseverance

• How to reduce unnecessary damage during stressful seasons

• A simple practice Eric uses when stress won't let go

• The difference between purpose (what you're here to do) and passion (how you do it)

• Why chasing titles and outcomes often leads to burnout

• The role of sleep, rest, and recovery in real resilience

• Why trying to do life alone makes everything harder

• How purpose can become an anchor when your identity feels shaken

• Eric Davis's website

• Free e-book, Habits of Heroes

• Eric's book, Raising Men (Amazon)

• Book recommendation: The Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado (Amazon)

Resilience isn't about pushing harder. It's about protecting your energy, restoring your capacity, and building a life that can actually hold you—especially when things fall apart.

If this episode resonated, share it with someone who could use a steadier way forward.

Have you ever felt invisible? Even while showing up, engaging, and trying to connect?

In this episode of Diamonds in Dumpster Fires, Melie explores the quiet loneliness of feeling overlooked, forgotten, or ghosted. She talks about why moments like repeated introductions, unanswered texts, and fading connections can hurt so deeply, and why that pain isn't a personal flaw: it's human wiring.

This episode blends personal stories, faith, and neuroscience to unpack:

• Why feeling unseen hits harder than we expect

• What research says about social exclusion and belonging

• How ghosting and disappearing connections affect our nervous system

• Why "reminding people you exist" often costs us more than it gives

• Practical, gentle resilience tools to help you stay grounded and self-respecting

You'll walk away with reassurance, language for what you've been feeling, and simple ways to protect your dignity while still honoring your need for connection.

If you're curious about the science behind why invisibility hurts so much, these studies and summaries are a great place to start:

• The Need-Threat Model of Social Exclusion (Kipling Williams & colleagues)
  Explains how being ignored or excluded threatens core human needs like belonging, self-esteem, and meaning.
  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5056179/

• Why Social Rejection Feels So Painful
  Research showing that social exclusion activates distress systems in the brain similar to physical pain.
  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4870146/

• Why Remembering Names Is Harder Than We Think
  Research on face–name memory showing how attention and memory systems affect whether we remember people, especially in busy social settings.
  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3230827/

• Social Exclusion, Ghosting, and Emotional Distress
  Research exploring how being ignored or cut off without clarity increases rumination and distress.
  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5056179/

If this episode resonated with you, consider sharing it with a friend who might need the reminder that they matter — without having to chase visibility.

You can connect with Melie on Instagram at @meliewilliams and share your story there. 💛

Until next time, be well.

January doesn't always feel fresh, clear, or motivating — and if the new year feels heavier than expected, you are not alone.

In this short, grounding episode, Melie offers a compassionate alternative to resolutions, reinvention, and pressure. Instead of goals to achieve, she shares three gentle practices you can carry with you into the new year — especially on days when your energy, clarity, or motivation feels limited.

These practices are designed to support your nervous system, your faith, and your real life — not an idealized version of who you think you should be.

You don't need to do all three. You don't need to do them perfectly. If even one sticks, that is more than enough.

• Why January can feel emotionally heavy — and why that doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong

• How naming your current season can calm your nervous system and reduce self-pressure

• Why small, repeatable "anchors" matter more than big routines

• How gentle honesty creates space for healing without shame or self-criticism

• Why moving forward gently is still meaningful progress

1. Name the Season You're In
2. Choose One Daily Anchor
3. Practice Gentle Honesty

If you want a place to check in, reflect, and receive personalized grounding prompts, Melie briefly shares why she created the Renewed Mind app — a tool designed to support emotional regulation, faith, and nervous system care in real life.
Whether you use the app or not, these practices are available to you right now.