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If you’ve been waiting for the perfect day, the perfect week, or the perfect version of you before you finally begin, I want you to hear this: that day isn’t coming. Today we’re talking about control, why it feels so safe, and how it might actually be keeping you from the life you’re trying so hard to manage.

Episode Summary

In this episode of The Rise Experience, we’re starting a new month-long conversation about control. Not just the big, obvious control, but the quiet kind that shows up in your planning, your overthinking, and the way you keep telling yourself, “I’ll do it when things slow down.”

I talk about why our nervous systems reach for control when life feels like too much, how that spills into coaching, accountability, and structure, and how it slowly turns into this identity of being “the one who has it together.” We also sit with Matthew 6:34 and talk about what it really means to stop dragging tomorrow into today, without pretending you don’t have real things to take care of.

If you’re tired of waiting for the perfect moment and feel like you’re always managing your life instead of living it, this episode will help you notice where control is running the show and give you one simple place to begin shifting that.

Key Takeaways

• What control really is and why your body keeps reaching for it
• How control shows up in everyday ways: perfect-day thinking, overplanning, overthinking, all-or-nothing
• Why overthinking is often just anxiety trying to keep you safe
• How “being the woman who has it together” can quietly become your whole identity
• How support and accountability can start to feel like being watched instead of being helped
• A steadier way to hear “do not worry about tomorrow” from Matthew 6:34
• One simple practice for this week: notice where you’re waiting for perfect conditions before you even begin

Episode Chapters

00:00 – Why July is all about control
04:39 – When support starts to feel like someone is checking up on you
09:25 – The quiet ways control shows up all day long
14:02 – What constant control is really costing you
16:10 – Matthew 6:34 and a small step for this week

Memorable Quotes

Follow The Rise Experience and share this episode with one friend who is exhausted from trying to keep everything perfectly in place.

Connect with Shannon:

Your next step… https://msha.ke/risewithshannon

Read the blog… https://www.risewithshannon.blog/

FB: Shannon Bell Denniston

IG: @risewithshannon

About the Podcast

The Rise Experience is a podcast for women of faith who are done starting over and done pretending everything is fine. Each week, I show up with real talk, scripture, and simple reflection to help you move through transition, shift old patterns, and live with more steadiness, purpose, and presence right where you are.

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Fear isn’t proof you’re off track. Sometimes it is the clearest sign you are finally walking toward something real. If you feel caught between who you were and who you are becoming, this is where we get honest about that messy middle.

Welcome to The RISE Experience — a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to live from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure.

Episode Highlights

In today’s episode, I talk honestly about what it actually feels like to be on the other side of transition when it is not clean, polished, or certain, and how that shows up for both of us. I share my own doubt and fear after stepping into something new, the grief of leaving behind a version of myself that felt familiar, and the small, quiet confirmations that remind us we are on the right path. We look at why we keep waiting to “feel ready,” how fear and right can live in the same place, and how God meets us with gentle confirmation again and again while we learn to trust the direction instead of demanding certainty.

Episode Outline

• Recap of June's Themes and Introduction to Transition
• Personal Struggles and Validation from Listeners
• The Reality of Transition and Letting Go of the Familiar
• Confirmation and Small Moments of Success
• Embracing Doubt and Trusting the Process
• Looking Forward to July's Theme

Episode Chapters

00:00 Intro and June recap
00:35 Shifts, silence, and outgrowing old containers
02:05 Naming the fear and wanting to go back
03:40 Listener message that cuts through the doubt
05:10 What the “other side” of transition really feels like
07:00 Grieving the familiar version of yourself
08:40 Fear and right living in the same place
10:20 Small confirmations instead of big signs
12:20 Letting doubt speak and responding with truth
14:15 Noticing and writing down confirmations
16:10 You are right on time, not behind
17:10 Prayer and closing encouragement

Conclusion

The other side of transition rarely looks like arrival. It looks like fear and right sitting side by side, grief for what was familiar, and a deep, quiet sense that you are finally moving in a truer direction. You are allowed to need reassurance more than once. You are allowed to still feel scared and still be exactly where you are supposed to be. If you are in the middle, not fully out of the old and not fully settled into the new, you are not behind. You are right on time.

Action Taken

• Notice and name the small confirmations that have already shown up in your life instead of dismissing them.
• Look back on recent decisions, conversations, or moments of relief and recognize them as evidence you are moving in the right direction.
• Write down confirmations, even the small ones, so you have something real to return to when doubt gets loud.
• Acknowledge your doubt instead of pushing it away, then gently point yourself back to the evidence of God’s faithfulness and the direction He is giving you.
• Pray when fear rises and release control back to God, trusting that scary and right can exist together.

CTA

Share this with a friend who is standing in the messy middle of her own transition and needs to know that fear does not disqualify her from being on the right path.

Visit the links provided to stay connected.

• Your next step… https://msha.ke/risewithshannon
• Read the blog… https://www.risewithshannon.blog/
• FB: Shannon Bell Denniston
• IG: @risewithshannon

Thank you for listening and for being honest about where you really are. Keep noticing the small confirmations, keep holding space for both the fear and the rightness, and keep trusting that God has you on a path that fits who you truly are.

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You can be walking with God into something better and still feel like your heart is breaking over what you left. That tension does not mean you got it wrong. It means it mattered.

Welcome to The RISE Experience — a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to live from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure.

Episode Highlights

In today’s episode I talk about how hard it is to leave a job, a community, or a relationship you’ve outgrown, and why it can still hurt even when you know you did the right thing. We talk about the difference between missing the thing itself and missing what it gave you, like belonging, purpose, or feeling chosen, and why you keep reaching back for what feels familiar. I also share how letting go of control is not the same as losing control, what it looks like to trust God in the in between, and how naming what you are really grieving can help you look for that same feeling in a place that actually fits who you are now.

Episode Outline

• Leaving Behind the Familiar
• Understanding the Grief of Change
• Letting Go of Control
• Moving Forward with Grief
• Embracing the New and the Old

Episode Chapters

00:00 Welcome and why leaving still hurts

01:02 Missing what you left, not wanting to go back

03:40 Grieving the feelings, not the job or relationship

05:05 Comfort of the familiar and why we stay stuck

07:10 Nervous system, fear of the unknown, complacency

09:00 Letting go of control vs losing control

10:05 Isaiah 43 and noticing the new thing God is doing

11:40 Naming what you are actually grieving

13:25 Finding those same feelings in a new container

15:10 Prayer for the in between and final encouragement

Conclusion

You are allowed to grieve what you left and still trust that you were right to leave. The container can be over and the feelings it gave you can still matter. Those needs for belonging, identity, and purpose are not gone. They are being met in new ways that fit who you are becoming. Honor the version of you that stayed as long as she did, let yourself feel the grief without letting it keep you stuck, and stay open to the new thing God is already growing right in front of you.

Action Taken

• Name what you are actually grieving, not just the job, relationship, or community you left.
• Identify the feeling you miss: belonging, being chosen, purpose, clarity, identity, or comfort.
• Put it in front of you in a way that works for you: write it down, text it to yourself, or sit with it quietly.
• Ask, “How do I find this feeling again in a place that fits who I am now, not who I was?”
• Notice where God may already be doing a new thing, even while you are still in the middle of letting go.

CTA

Share this with one woman who is in the middle of leaving something behind and needs to hear that hard does not mean wrong.

Visit the links provided to stay connected.

• Your next step… https://msha.ke/risewithshannon
• Read the blog… https://www.risewithshannon.blog/
• Come hang out…
  • FB: Shannon Bell Denniston
  • IG: @risewithshannon

Thank you for listening and for being honest about the in between you are standing in. You are not weak for grieving what you left. You are brave for moving toward what God has next. Keep rising.

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What if that heavy, suffocating feeling isn’t proof that you’re failing… but a quiet sign that you’ve simply outgrown the life you worked so hard to fit yourself into?

Welcome to The RISE Experience — a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to live from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure.

Episode Highlights
In today’s episode, I’m taking you back to a moment on the floor of my closet when I finally realized I wasn’t the problem… the container was. I share what it’s like to feel yourself performing a version of you that doesn’t feel true anymore, how pride and familiarity keep us grinding away in seasons we’ve clearly outgrown, and why silence with God can feel like a fog slowly lifting. We’ll talk about how staying too long in the wrong place doesn’t disqualify you, how God can use every step to form you, and why the shift you’re scared of might not feel like loss at all, but like finally telling the truth about where you are.

Episode Chapters

00:00 – Welcome to The RISE Experience
00:24 – When your life starts to feel like the wrong fit
01:10 – The moment in the closet that changed everything
02:05 – Realizing you’ve outgrown the container
03:10 – Pride and staying in what no longer fits
04:25 – Trying harder instead of questioning the fit
05:40 – How we outgrow roles, relationships, and versions of ourselves
07:00 – Why we stay: safety, familiarity, and the nervous system
08:24 – Finding silence with God
09:30 – Letting go of your own understanding
10:20 – Surrender, clarity, and seeing the real path
11:30 – Staying too long doesn’t disqualify you
12:25 – Your growth was real, even in the wrong container
13:10 – An invitation to honest silence with God
14:00 – Closing prayer and blessing

Conclusion
If something in you has been whispering, “This doesn’t fit anymore,” you’re not broken and you’re not behind. You’re just becoming aware of what God’s been gently showing you for a while now. The years you spent trying to make it work, the effort, the late nights, the roles you kept performing even after they stopped fitting you, they were not wasted. They shaped you. When you slow down long enough to get quiet with God and let yourself hear what you already know, the next step may still feel unknown, but it won’t feel like you’re losing yourself. It will feel like finally coming home to the truth that was there all along.

Action Taken

• Set aside one honest, uninterrupted moment of silence with God. No noise, no “productive” quiet, just stillness.
• In that quiet, ask yourself:
  • “Is there something I already know that I’ve been too afraid or too proud to act on?”
• Let the truth surface without making a plan or fixing anything yet. Just tell the truth to yourself and to God.
• If this language gives words to what you’ve been feeling, share it with a friend who might be trying harder and harder inside something that no longer fits.

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If this landed for you, share it with a friend who has been pushing harder inside something that may no longer be right for her, and hit follow so you don’t miss what we’re building here together.

Visit the links provided to stay connected.

• Instagram: @risewithshannon
• Facebook: Shannon Denniston
• LinkedIn: Shannon Denniston
• Business: https://msha.ke/shanden
• Coaching: https://msha.ke/risewithshannon
• Blog: https://www.risewithshannon.blog/

Thank you for spending this time here with me. Your willingness to be honest about where you’ve outgrown something is brave, and I believe God meets you right in that honesty with clarity, kindness, and a next step you don’t have to force.

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You know that quiet feeling when a part of your life stops fitting, and you finally can’t ignore it anymore? Friend, if the version of you that you know is in there keeps feeling just out of reach, you’re in the right place.

Welcome to The RISE Experience — a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to lead from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure.

Episode Highlights

In today’s episode we walk through what it feels like to close a chapter that shaped your whole identity, the strange mix of freedom and relief that comes with stepping out of a container that was never quite the right fit, and how The RISE Experience is opening up into a clear, unapologetic space for women who are finding their way back to the version of themselves that keeps feeling just out of reach with God.

Episode Outline

• Welcoming Listeners and Setting the Stage
• Reflecting on Personal Transition
• Future Direction of the Podcast
• Exploring Transition and Pride
• Stepping into the New and Embracing Imperfection
• Closing Thoughts and Prayer

Episode Chapters

00:00 Welcome to The RISE Experience
00:15 Who this space is for
01:10 Looking back at last month
02:05 Closing a major life chapter
03:00 Freedom in leaving the wrong container
04:00 A new direction for the show
05:05 Living in transition, pride, and grief
06:20 Going deeper into identity and relationships
07:30 Showing up before it feels perfect
08:30 Nothing wasted in the wrong container
09:10 The Prodigal Son and the return home
10:05 Where your life no longer fits and closing prayer

Conclusion

There is a real tension in loving a chapter that shaped you and still knowing it no longer fits, and that is where we spend our time together here. We sit with the quiet relief of finally stepping out of the wrong container and begin to see that none of those years were wasted; they were forming something in you that can now live in the space it was always meant for. Through the moment of return in the Prodigal Son story, we remember that you are not chasing a brand new version of yourself, you are coming back to who you have always been with God, and letting that be enough.

Action Taken

• Notice where you have been living in a container that no longer fits
• Sit with the question: Where have I been playing a role or living a version of myself that quietly stopped fitting?
• Let the question land without rushing to fix or explain it
• Let the picture of “the return” from the Prodigal Son story remind you that you do not have to have it all figured out before you come home to yourself

CTA

Share this with one woman who is outgrowing the life she is in and needs words for why it feels so off, and invite her to sit with the question of where her own container has stopped fitting.

Visit the links provided to stay connected.

• Instagram: @risewithshannon
• Facebook: Shannon Denniston
• LinkedIn: Shannon Denniston
• Business: https://msha.ke/shanden
• Coaching: https://msha.ke/risewithshannon

Thank you for being here, for your honesty, and for the courage it takes to admit when something in your life is no longer the right fit. Keep trusting that every small step toward the version of you God has always had in mind is seen, welcomed, and worth it.

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You do not have to earn your way back to yourself. Small counts. It always has. And it still does today, right here, as you are.

Welcome to The RISE Experience — a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to lead from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure.

Episode Highlights

In today’s episode, the focus is on what it really looks like to start again without waiting for the right mindset, the right morning, or the more “put together” version of yourself to arrive. The lens is small, ordinary choices that actually count, like turning the music back on in the car, rolling the windows down for fresh air, or taking five quiet minutes outside, and how those moments become evidence that you have not abandoned yourself. There is an honest look at why nervous systems shut down under pressure and all-or-nothing plans, and why gentle, manageable steps are the ones that hold in real life. The story of Elijah gives a picture of God meeting you in rest and nourishment instead of performance, and the invitation is simple: find one small thing that makes you feel a little more like yourself and let that be enough to begin again.

Episode Outline

• Finding Relief and Starting Over
• Personal Transition and Music
• The Importance of Small Acts
• The Role of the Nervous System
• Scriptural Reflection and Practical Application
• Encouragement to Start Now

Episode Chapters

00:00 Welcome and setting the tone

00:28 Why starting over feels so heavy

03:10 Closing a long chapter and feeling the emptiness

06:05 Turning the music back on in the car

09:25 Letting small moments count as “showing up”

11:40 Nervous system, safety, and pressure

13:55 “Small is how she comes back”

15:20 Elijah, exhaustion, rest, and nourishment

17:10 Choosing your own “music in the car”

18:35 Prayer and blessing for the week

Conclusion

You do not have to wait for a perfect morning, a perfect plan, or a perfect version of you before anything counts. The ten minute walk, the rolled down window, the song you forgot you loved, the quiet no that protects your energy, all of it is real and all of it matters. That is the language your nervous system understands. That is how you tell your body and your soul, “I have not abandoned you.” The woman you have been trying to find never left. She has been here under the pressure and the starting over, just waiting for you to let the small, faithful moments count again.

Action Taken

• Choose one small act that makes you feel more like yourself:

- Turn on music you actually love in the car

- Step outside for a few minutes and breathe fresh air

- Make your coffee slowly and with intention

- Say no to one thing you usually say yes to out of guilt

• Let that one act stand on its own without turning it into a big plan or perfection goal
• Notice what happens inside: the exhale, the sense of relief, the reminder that you are still here and you still matter

CTA

If someone came to mind while you were listening, share this with her. Tell her the moment is now, that small counts, and she does not have to earn her way back to herself.

Visit the links provided to stay connected.

• Instagram: @risewithshannon
• Facebook: Shannon Denniston
• LinkedIn: Shannon Denniston
• Business: https://msha.ke/shanden
• Coaching: https://msha.ke/risewithshannon
  
  
  

Thank you for being here. The fact that you paused long enough to listen and to consider one small step toward yourself speaks loudly, even if no one else sees it. Keep choosing the gentle, ordinary moments that help you breathe again. That is where your rise begins.

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You are not a woman who lacks confidence. You are a woman who has been moving through spaces that do not feel steady yet. What if that quiet hesitation you keep fighting is not failure, but your body trying to keep you safe in moments that feel too exposed?

Welcome to The RISE Experience — a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to lead from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure.

Episode Highlights

In today’s episode, hesitation is not treated as something to push past, but as a clue. Together, we look at the places where you move easily and the places where you freeze, and how your nervous system and your story have been trying to protect you. Instead of performing confidence or waiting until you feel “ready,” you are invited to build a quieter steadiness in God, one small honest step at a time.

Episode Outline

• The split-second pullback right when you are about to speak or act
• Why it is not a true “confidence problem” if you move boldly in other areas
• How your nervous system is always asking, “Is this safe?”
• When visibility and unpredictability make you hit the brakes
• Performative confidence versus quiet, grounded steadiness
• Letting small everyday decisions stand without rewriting them
• Abraham’s story and moving with direction instead of full certainty
• Finding your anchor in a God who does not move
  
  
  
  

Episode Chapters

00:00 Intro: Welcome to The RISE Experience

00:07 When You Go Quiet Right Before You Speak

02:00 Is It Really a Confidence Problem?

03:30 Your Nervous System Asking “Is This Safe?”

06:00 Why You Start, Then Pull Back or Shrink

08:30 Performative Confidence vs Grounded Confidence

11:00 Uncovering the Woman Who Is Already Confident

13:00 Letting Decisions Stand Without Rewriting Them

15:00 Everyday Examples: Texts, Boundaries, Health Choices

17:00 A Small Practice for This Week

18:10 Closing Reflection, Encouragement, and Prayer

Conclusion

Hesitation is not proof that you are weak. It is a system that learned, a long time ago, how to slow you down when something felt risky. As you let small decisions stand, say the truer thing instead of the safest thing, and root your steadiness in a God who does not shift with people’s reactions, you are not building a brand new woman. You are finding your way back to the one who has been there all along.

Action Taken

• Choose one everyday decision you usually second-guess and let it stand longer than feels comfortable
• Resist checking reactions, softening your words, or walking back a boundary right away
• Notice where you already move with ease and what feels different in those spaces

CTA

Share this with a woman in your life who keeps calling herself “not confident” when she is really just standing in a space that does not feel steady yet.

Visit the links provided to stay connected.

• Instagram: @risewithshannon
• Facebook: Shannon Denniston
• LinkedIn: Shannon Denniston
• Business: https://msha.ke/shanden
• Coaching: https://msha.ke/risewithshannon

Thank you for listening and for staying with yourself, even when it fee