Speaker: Mary E. Burris
Why did you choose to attend the Empty Nest Full Life Retreat?
Mary E. Burris: I chose to attend the Empty Nest for Life retreat because I'm at that stage, I have a 23 year old, a 20 year old and a soon to be 19 year old and no one prepared me for this stage. Um, it's quite different. I've been in one mode for many years and I just felt like I needed some help to adapt to this phase of life. It was definitely, definitely what I needed.
What was one of the most impactful takeaways for you?
Mary E. Burris: The most important takeaways for me from the emptiness, full life retreat. And I think the biggest one was that I'm not alone. Um It's very easy to feel isolated and feel like you're just not measuring up and being in a room with many different women in all different phases of this uh chapter of our lives. It was just such a relief. I'm not alone. I don't have to be perfect and we're all gonna do things that are gonna make our Children want to seek therapy. Um I, that was really comforting to hear and some of the humor um that was inserted with it. It, it was just very um very powerful knowing uh to not steal the struggle. That was huge. That was a, a definite uh pearl of wisdom and learning to let go of certain things. I think my biggest uh expectations, letting learning to let go of expectations and the fact that I have more power and influence in my son's lives through the power of prayer than I do with external pushing. Um Yeah, that, that was, I think that was a huge thing for me. Um And just pray, don't say that's really tough. Um So just being a member of the Keep It Chuck Club and praying my guts out and let God do the work that he intends to do in their lives.
What would you say to someone who is thinking about attending the retreat?
Mary E. Burris: What I would tell people who are considering uh attending the retreat run, don't walk to your keyboard register and do it. It's very much worth it. You can't afford not to invest in yourself in this way. Especially at this stage of the game. We are learning to re invent ourselves, learning to do so many different things to adapt. Um get, you know, go into different phases of our life. And for me personally, it was transformative and restorative. I drove nine hours by myself from Maryland to Indiana and I don't regret a single moment. It, it just, it was just so well worth it. I highly, highly recommend that anyone even considering it just do it.
