The Jamie Kern Lima Show - Maria Shriver: Life-Changing Lessons on Believing You’re Enough, Forgiveness & Creating Your Best Life Now! (Pt 1)
Episode Date: May 27, 2025Are You Ready to believe in YOU?🙌 jamiekernlima.com 👈 Sign up for my FREE Inspirational Newsletter and get ready for your self-worth to soar! 🩷 Also, please make sure to take 2 seconds a...nd click the “Follow” button right here on this page to follow me and the podcast, I’m so grateful and thank you SO much! ____ Get ready for a life-changing episode today, with one of the most inspiring, wise, magnificent people I’ve ever had the gift of meeting and knowing. She’s changed my life in profound ways, and I know this conversation can do that for YOU today too! I am so excited and honored that the iconic, legendary Maria Shriver is here with you and me, , this will be an episode you’ll want to save, and share with everyone you know, because the lessons Maria shares, can truly take root in your life and spirit. On the day’s you might be tempted to stay in that unhealthy relationship, on the days when you need to practice forgiveness, or feel more inspired to use the gifts your Creator gave you, to help impact others and the world! I love the idea that success leaves clues, and I love it even more when we have the blessing of being around incredible people who are willing to share those clues with us, so that we can not only take shortcuts on our own, but also so that we can truly feel connected together, less alone, more enough…and more fully alive and worthy! This conversation with Maria does exactly that. Moving humanity forward is her ministry! Maria Shriver is an Emmy Award-winning, Gracie Award Winning, Peabody Award winning, Lifetime Achievement Alzheimer’s Association Award-winning, journalist, author, and member of the legendary and iconic Shriver and Kennedy families. She’s the author of the brand new #1 New York Times bestselling book I am Maria, filled with the most beautiful poetry, it’s out now make sure to grab your copy! She’s the founder of The Sunday Paper, you can get her incredible content at MariaShriverSundayPaper.com. She’s also the former First Lady of California, and the founder of The Women's Alzheimer's Movement. She is the daughter of Sargent Shriver who founded the Peace Corps and Eunice Kennedy Shriver who founded the special Olympics. She’s also the niece of late President John F. Kennedy. She’s a mom of four amazing children, Katherine, Patrick, Christina and Christopher, and she’s a grandma! And yet, just like YOU and Me, she’s separate from and independent of all of those jobs and roles and labels, she is, most powerfully, MARIA! And I want to ask you right now, when you think of all of the roles you’re known for and play in your own life, whether its mom, or friend, or wife, or sister, daughter, boss, and you strip those away, you’re left with who you innately are. And whether you're joining me today for yourself or because someone that you love shared this episode with you, I want to welcome you to the Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast family. And remember this episode is not just for you and me. Please share it with every single person that you know because it can change their life too. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome to The Jamie Kern Lima Show 9:55 Ask God This Each Morning! 12:15 God, Intuition & Hearing Your Inner Voice 15:05 The Power of Deciding Who You Are! 18:15 This Advice Changed My Life! 58:30 What You Can Do Matters! It’s such an honor to share this podcast together with you. And please note: I am not a licensed therapist, and this podcast is NOT intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional. Follow me here: Instagram: / jamiekernlima TikTok: / jamiekernlima Facebook: / jamiekernlimaofficial — Sign up for my inspirational newsletter for YOU at: jamiekernlima.com — Looking for my books on Amazon? Here they are! WORTHY: https://a.co/d/6MkvL2j Believe IT: https://a.co/d/7nYhkfb
Transcript
Discussion (0)
For you to share those words where you're like,
here's my intention and God lead me.
I really try to sit in silence.
I do my meditation and I sit in silence
to try to hear my voice, try to hear God's voice,
try to hear where I'm being directed.
I am so excited to say, get ready
for a life-changing episode today
with one of the most inspiring, wise,
absolutely magnificent people I have ever had the gift
of meeting and knowing.
This person and her wisdom have changed and shaped my life
in profound ways, and I know this conversation can do that
for you today too.
Today I am just so excited and truly honored
that the iconic, legendary Maria Shriver
is here with you and me.
And I'm just gonna give you a heads up right now.
This will be an episode you'll wanna save
and share with everyone you know,
because the lessons Maria shares
are the ones you wanna take root in your life,
in your spirit.
They're truly tools to pull out of your toolbox
and lean on, on those days that you might be doubting
that who you are is enough.
On the days you might be tempted to stay
in that unhealthy relationship or friendship even longer,
knowing you're betraying
yourself by staying.
On the days when you need to practice forgiveness or feel more inspired to use the gifts your
Creator gave you to help impact others and the world.
Identity is such a fluid thing.
You know, we were a student, we're someone's child, we're someone's wife, we're someone's partner,
we're such and such at a job.
And I think the fear is if that job goes away,
if that relationship goes away,
if any of this goes away, will we be okay on our own?
Will anybody love us on our own?
Will anybody see us?
I got fired from a job early on
when I was the anchor of the CBS Morning News.
I got fired. The whole show got fired.
I had made the mistake of thinking
that the show was my family.
I had made the mistake of thinking
that the show loved me,
that everybody there were my great, great friends
and would be there for me always.
And then it was over.
And I never made that mistake again.
We think like, oh, if I just achieve enough,
then I'll be worthy of love.
Then I'll be enough.
And I've always been-
I had that too.
Yeah.
The first time you and I met and we were having lunch
and you shared something that just sort of like stopped me in my tracks. I gotta get going
I gotta get going with my life. I gotta get going and she said to me, where are you going?
And I'm like, what do you mean? Where am I going? She goes, where are you in such a hurry to go?
And I was like, where am I in a hurry to go?
Wow, I have no idea.
I have no idea where I'm trying to go.
And she goes, I want you to think about that.
You don't know where you're going,
and you're in a hurry to get there.
Mm.
Saying I love you.
Yeah.
I love you.
What role did I love you play in growing up
with you and your parents?
None.
None.
Yeah, I wanted to change that from my own mothering.
I wanted to do some of the things my mother did,
but I wanted to be softer.
Did she ever say, I love you to you?
I love the idea that success leaves clues,
and I love it even more when we have
the blessing of being around incredible
people who are willing to share those clues with us, so that we can not only take shortcuts
in our own journey toward what success looks like in our own lives, but also so that we
can truly feel connected together, less alone, more enough, more fully alive and more worthy. And this conversation with Maria today
does that and so much more.
Moving humanity forward is her ministry.
Maria Shriver is an Emmy award-winning,
Gracie award-winning, Peabody award-winning,
Lifetime Achievement Alzheimer's Association award-winning,
journalist, author, and member of the legendary
and iconic Shriver and Kennedy families.
She's the author of the brand new,
number one New York Times bestselling book,
I Am Maria, filled with the most beautiful poetry.
It's out now, make sure to grab your copy.
She's the founder of The Sunday Paper.
You can get her
incredible content at mariaschreiver.sundaypaper.com. We'll link to it in the show notes. She's
also the former first lady of California and the founder of the Women's Alzheimer's Movement.
She was married to former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger and is the daughter
of Sergeant Shriver who founded the Peace, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics.
She's also the niece of the late President John F. Kennedy.
She's a mom of four amazing children, Catherine, Patrick, Christina, and Christopher,
and she's a grandma. And yet, just like you and me, she's separate and independent of all of those jobs and roles and labels.
She is most powerfully Maria and that is more than enough. And I want to ask you
right now, when you think of all of the roles that you're known for and play in
your own life, whether it's mom or friend or wife or sister, daughter, boss, and you strip those away.
You're left with who you innately are.
And do you believe right now in this very moment
that who you are innately is fully enough?
Today, we are talking about how to know it
and believe it in your life right now.
And whether today you're listening for yourself or because someone you love shared this episode
with you, I want to welcome you to the Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast family.
Thank you so much for being here.
And can you take two seconds and do me a quick favor?
Hit the subscribe or follow button on the app that you're listening or watching on.
Thank you so much.
It truly means so much to me.
You can also get inspiration in your inbox from me for free.
You can join my newsletter community at jamiekernlema.com.
Also, this incredible podcast episode today,
it's not just for you and me.
Please share this with every single person that you know
who might need some inspiration today
or perhaps a boost in their self-belief because what you're about to hear can truly impact mine,
yours, and their life too. Welcome to the Jamie Kern-Lemus show. Oprah, how have you defied the odds? Her show is unlike any I've ever done.
A revelation.
When you listen, it feels like a hug.
But your brain and your spirit and your heart is like, wow.
Melinda French Gates.
When I look into Jamie's eyes, I feel like I am on some other
cosmic level with her.
I could see the light around her.
She's infused with light.
Imagine overcoming self-doubt,
learning to believe in yourself and trust yourself
and know you are enough.
Welcome to the Jamie Kern Lima show.
Jamie Kern Lima is her name.
Everybody needs Jamie Kern Lima in their life.
Jamie Kern Lima.
Jamie, you're so inspiring.
Jamie Kern Lima.
I am so excited and honored to say, Maria Shriver,
welcome to the Jamie Kern Lima show.
Thank you, Jamie. Thank you. I'm so happy to be here.
You've been so gracious and generous and you, Jamie. Thank you. I'm so happy to be here. You've been so gracious and generous
in your support of everything that I do. So I'm really happy to be here, totally at peace.
I'm happy on behalf of every single person listening. You know, I just have to say that
the times I have spent with you, whether it was our first lunch or we traveled on the
same flight together from an event.
And I just feel like there's only maybe two or three people in my life I can say this
about.
But when you say things, they like take root in me in this beautiful way where I feel like
it makes my life so much better.
And somehow it's almost like I borrow your wisdom
and I save myself a whole lot of time.
You've said some things and I'll share a little bit
in this conversation today,
because I also know that there'll be someone listening
or watching who just needs them in their life right now.
And so for me, I don't know why I'm feeling emotional,
but for me, it's like, it's such an honor that you're here.
Because I also, I do this show with the intention
that it helps people feel less alone and more enough
and more worthy.
And I just know how much this conversation
is gonna matter to so many people.
So I'm so grateful that you're here.
So just thank you.
Well, that's kind of the intention with which I live my life. Every day I try to get up and
remind myself that I'm here to be of service in every way, shape and form. And my mission
is to move humanity forward in everything that I do. And what that means to me is to
everything that I do. And what that means to me is to be intentional about how I use my voice,
intentional about what I'm doing, what I'm offering.
Does it fit that mission statement?
Am I walking that path?
And so even like this morning, I get up and I'm like, OK, I'm a child of God.
I'm here to be of service.
My mission is to move humanity forward.
Everything I do today, I hope is in that, in thought, word and deed. And, you know,
lead me. And I try to kind of just follow that on a daily basis. And that helps me tremendously
deciding like what to do, where to go, how to live. It's helpful to me.
So I'm always grateful that if I'm offering something,
that it helps somebody in some way.
Yeah, yeah.
That is so powerful.
So many people are going to pause that and rewind it.
Because I think a lot of people are looking,
how do I start my day?
And maybe they try with a protein shake or they try with a workout.
Those things are great, too.
But for you to share those words where you're like, here's my intention and God lead me.
Yeah, I do that.
And then I do a meditation.
I mean, I make my coffee, but then I really try to sit in silence.
I do my meditation and I sit in silence to try to hear my voice, try to hear God's voice,
try to hear where I'm being directed.
And then, you know, if what I'm doing, should I be making a left turn?
Should I be making a right turn?
Or something will come up and it'll say, go spend more time with this specific child of
yours, go and spend more time on this specific project that you're doing.
Go and think about how to do this specific thing better.
I hear in the early hours of the morning, that's when I can hear my own voice or God's
voice or direction.
It's hard to hear it during the day.
It's hard to hear it when everybody's telling you what to do or where to go,
or you should be doing this or you should be doing that.
I think we're all susceptible to that.
But the early morning is my sacred time, my special time, my God time, my me time.
And it's really helpful to me and how I live my life.
When you hear it or feel it, do you ever hear audibly or do you just kind of feel like...
Oh, no, I hear it. I see it. I also ask for direction all the time. I'm a big believer in my higher power, my God.
I'm a big believer in asking for help, for direction.
And I don't know, it's a voice that one hears inside, but if I weren't quiet, I wouldn't
hear it.
And if I weren't quiet, I wouldn't have been able to write any of the poems that I wrote
because they all emanated from quiet.
And I know it's really hard for people to find quiet time.
People are raising kids, taking care of aging parents, partnering, working, sometimes one
or two jobs.
And they have to, you know, I remember when my kids were little running into the bathroom and shutting the door just to get five minutes by myself, you know, so
I could go, you know, and breathe.
But I wish somebody had told me back then that, you know, quiet time, your own time
to find your space, hear your voice would be the most important time you spend in your day.
And I would have probably thought that was selfish, but if someone had explained it to me
as a kind of saving time for yourself, I think that would have been helpful,
which is why I always try to talk about it.
That morning time, that quiet time is your time. And whether you believe in God
or not, but it's your time to hear your own voice.
That's so beautiful. I get so many questions from especially women on how do I hear my
own intuition? I don't even know how to hear it. How do I hear it? And then sometimes it
will go to, and how do I trust it? How do I hear it? And how do I trust it? So for you,
it's the morning time.
It's morning, it's quiet. It's stillness because I haven't read an email. Nobody has told me
what I should do with the day. Nobody has tried to influence me. And it took me a long
time to get quiet, to be okay with quiet. Because sometimes when you sit quiet, your mind is racing and you can't determine
like whose voice is up there, whose voice is in here.
And I think the more comfortable you get in time
with your own voice, then you begin to trust it.
Well, I want to talk about your journey to saying,
I am Maria, and Maria is enough.
I think you share in your new beautiful book
so much about this journey that I think
the thing I love most about your book
is I think every single person who picks it up,
who reads it, is going to go on their own journey with it.
Right?
And their own like, huh.
You know, you talk a lot about, you know,
growing up about people saying, which Kennedy are you?
Which Kennedy?
And then you have this incredible career in journalism.
And then somehow you're back in the spot with, oh,
you're the governor's wife.
You're the actor's, you know, Arnold's wife.
And then, you know, so many people I think can relate to this.
And you talk about your journey of saying, well, wait a minute, without all of that,
you know, I am Maria.
Maria is enough.
And for so many people listening right now, they're like, they're known as so-and-so's
mom or so-and-so's wife or the boss or, daughter, sister, mother, friend, and our mutual friend Bob Goff.
I love when he says,
he says like when you strip away everything you're known for,
what's left is who you are.
And so many people I think are going,
gosh, if I do that and I strip away everything,
is who I am, I want to take away all that I'm known for,
is who I am enough.
How did you, can you share a little bit about that?
Well, I think that's really,
I think identity is such a fluid thing.
You know, we were a student, we're someone's child,
we're someone's wife, we're someone's partner,
we're such and such at a job.
And I think the fear is if that job goes away, if that relationship goes away, if
what any of this goes away, will we be okay on our own? Will anybody love us
on our own? Will anybody see us? You know, if this show went away, right? If
everything you've accumulated went away,
would there be anybody there for you? Would you be okay to say, I am Jamie, and that, you know,
full stop end of story and be okay standing in that? And I think that's really up to each and
every one of us. I'm a big believer, you know, in trying to figure out who is that and am I okay without
all the other parts of that.
And so I think that's the journey that we all go on.
What I've seen with this book is that everybody that's picked it up has said to me, I went
on my own journey with it, or this is also my life.
I too have struggled with grief.
I too have struggled with feeling small. I too have struggled with grief. I too have struggled with feeling small.
I too have struggled with my parents.
I too have struggled with invisibility.
I think we live in such a fast-paced world.
We live in a world where everybody asks us what we do.
And I think that makes people feel like what they do might not be enough to make you interested in talking to them,
make you interested in spending time with them. And I think society tells you that what you do
is who you are. And I'm trying to say that's not who you are. And you get to decide who you are,
and you get to decide how to introduce yourself.
You get to decide how to stand in your own being.
You get to decide if you're enough and what that means to you.
I remember the first time you and I met and we were having lunch and you shared something
that just sort of like stopped me in my tracks.
We need to pause for a super brief break and while we do, take a moment to share this episode
with every single person that you know who this could inspire.
Because this conversation can truly be the words and inspiration they need to hear today
to keep going, to remember that they matter, and to feel less alone and more enough, more
connected and more worthy. Get this book. This book? I'm telling you, it's a book that can change anybody's life.
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And I'm sharing how you can too in my new book, Worthy,
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Now more of this incredible conversation together.
The first time you and I met and we were having lunch and you shared something that just sort of like stopped me in my tracks. You shared a story, you know,
because I've always, I've kind of had this,
and for anyone listening is how this people pleaser stuff or this achiever
stuff, or we think like, oh, if I just achieve enough, then I'll be worthy of love.
Then I'll be enough.
And I've always been...
I had that too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Will you share the story?
Because you shared this and I just, ever since I think about it all the time, you shared
that you were in this whole season of your life.
You had covered so many big stories in the news.
One day you were driving, you're always in a hurry,
on to the next thing, on to the next thing, on to the next thing.
And I think that you ended up having to pull over.
I'm trying to remember if it was Martha Beck that called you.
Will you share that?
Yes, I was talking to Martha Beck, who's a great friend of mine.
I was talking to her like, I need to get at peace.
I need to figure this thing out because I'm going.
I gotta get going.
I gotta get going with my life.
I gotta get going.
And she said to me, where are you going?
And I'm like, what do you mean, where am I going?
She goes, where are you in such a hurry to go?
And I was like, where am I in a hurry to go? Wow, I have no idea. I have
no idea where I'm trying to go. And she goes, I want you to think about that. You don't
know where you're going and you're in a hurry to get there. That's not a good situation.
And I was like, yep, she's absolutely right. And I think all of us are taught to get going,
to write a bestselling book,
to win something for the show you're doing,
to be seen exterior.
And I certainly bought into that.
I was raised in a family that talked a lot
about external achievement,
that wanted you to go out and change the world.
I saw my parents doing that. I saw my parents doing that.
I saw my uncles doing that.
So I was like, oh, I'm supposed to do that.
That's the ticket.
That's what society expects of you.
And that's where the love is.
And it turned out, that's actually not where the love is.
The love is one-on-one.
The love is time with your kids who love you
and they don't know what you do.
The time is with people who call you and want to just sit with you.
You don't have to add other people.
You don't have to have a big fancy party.
They're fine with just you.
The love is girlfriends who are sit there with you no matter what,
or guy friends or whomever, siblings, whatever, whoever your people are.
That's where the love is.
That's where being seen is.
We think being seen is in external achievement.
And I bought into that only to discover,
wait a minute, this isn't giving me the feeling
I thought it would.
So let me go back so I can go forward in a different way.
And I have since discovered that the feeling I was looking for is in this one-on-one connection,
these friendships, the love that I was seeking.
It doesn't come from what society tells you it's going to come from.
That's fleeting.
Yes, yes.
And I think I bought into this lie for decades. I was like, okay, once I get the
thing, then I'll be happy. Once I get that thing, then, and then I'll feel connected and love and
all the things. And it's, I remember even on it, on you and I were traveling from an event and
I was talking about the show and all my goals and I'm like, and Maria's,
you know, doing really well and all the things. But then I was kind of complaining to you that I
was working 100 hour weeks again. And I remember this moment where you just looked at me and you
said, okay, so what? You get a big hit show, but then if you're doing 100 hour weeks and you're not,
you know, with your family, your husband, like you want to go hundred hour weeks and you're not, you know, with your family,
your husband did it, like you want to go home alone?
And you want, like, and you just had me rethink of it.
Like, well, what really matters?
And I just think this is a huge lesson
that so many of us learn way too late or never learn
where we keep our whole lives thinking,
I just need to get that thing.
Then I'll be happy, whether it's the job
or the white picket fence or the six pack abs
or whatever it is, whatever it is for us.
And that's so beautiful and profound.
And I feel like you've said those things to me a few times
that just have really profoundly changed my life.
Cause I think even though I think like I know that
when our brains are so wired to be achievers or be, you know, or earn,
think we have to earn love a certain way. It's almost like our default.
And I feel like I got off, um, when we were flying back,
I got off our flight and remember going home and just looking at Paulo.
I was like, how are you? Like, I just remember like being into whatever, you know,
how has day, I just, I was like, how are you? Like I remember like being into whatever, you know, how his day, I just, I'm like, I need to
reestablish or reprioritize connection in my life. Like the one-on-one connections of people,
because you're right. It's like, where am I my happiest where I'm holding my daughter wonder,
where when I'm, you know, when Paulo like sees me, it's like, how are you going with my girlfriends?
And so it's like, why am I spending all this time sacrificing all those things? And what did you come up with? I came up with that
you're right. And then I'm reprioritizing right now in my life. And it's hard for me
actually, there's days I would rather work than, you know, go to the kids tennis lesson
and just sit there. But I'm like, okay, but I don't wanna repeat the mistakes I was raised in.
My parents worked 100 hour weeks, all of it.
And I don't wanna repeat that.
And I think it's hard.
You share in your book, I Am Maria, so good.
You talk a lot.
I know, I think one of the many reasons
this book is so powerful beyond just how beautiful
the poetry
and your words are is that, you know, in so many ways,
you are a meaningful person in a lot of people's lives
who've never met you.
And you're opening up for the first time.
And I've never heard you share a lot of the stories
you shared here about your family, about how you were raised.
With growing up, I wanna ask you about the role You share a lot of the stories you shared here about your family about how you were raised and with with
Growing up. I want to ask you about the role of
mothers and of mothering right and can you share a little bit you know you share about the padded doors and about
About your relationship with your mom and and now you're a mom of four
Yeah, can you share a little bit with the person listening
and maybe hasn't picked up the book yet,
but is going to today, because it's so good,
just about your relationship with your mom
and how that shaped you
and maybe what you're now taking from it
to pass down or doing differently.
Well, that's a big, I could write a whole book
just on my mom.
And I'm an only girl. I have four brothers.
And so I think when I came along, or from my mother,
we had this relationship where I was her only daughter.
And she was a formidable, formidable force of nature.
Had she been born in a different time, everybody always said she would have been
president of the United States.
And so I think she was a woman who grew up, not I think she was a woman who grew up
in a very male focused family at a time when all of the energy of society and all
of the lens of society was focused on men.
And here she was as smart, as driven, as competent as any man in her family.
And she went on to create the Special Olympics and her vision was, and her mission,
was to change the world for people with intellectual disabilities,
make them and their families feel seen, feel equal, feel valued.
I think the things that she was seeking as a woman herself,
and she was pushing her mission through this population
because she had a sister with an intellectual disability
who couldn't find a place to go to camp,
who couldn't find a place to compete in school.
So she fashioned a program that her mother could have used, her sister could have used,
and that she knew millions of other families could use and could have used.
And she kind of single-handedly with her force, with her rage, with her passion, with her
purpose made that come to life.
And obviously with the help of thousands and thousands of volunteers.
But that was her 100 hour a week.
That was her thing.
And so watching her, I thought like, wow, this was a woman who was driven to be seen.
She didn't use those words.
But I think that was she was fighting for a population who was unseen,
but also she was fighting for herself.
And so it was both an honor and a privilege to be her only daughter.
It was a lot to be her only daughter. She
had tremendous grief in her life. Both of her brothers were assassinated. Her older
brother killed in a plane crash in World War II. Her older sister killed in a plane crash.
And she lived in a grief illiterate family and she lived in a society that was grief
illiterate. So the way that generation dealt with grief was to just experience it,
shove it down and carry on.
And the thing I think we know now about grief is that you can't shove it down.
It will pop up in different ways in your life.
You can't outrun it.
You can't escape it because it stays in your body.
And I think I have a poem in there about the padded door
because my mother had padded doors.
And I've since heard from other people, since I wrote this,
who also had mothers with padded doors.
And that was, she explained to me,
her way of getting rest, sleeping, drowning out
the noise so that she could go out and change the world.
But as a child, I experienced that differently.
But I have come to really have so much compassion and empathy for her that nobody helped her
with her grief.
Nobody had compassion for her while she was showing all this compassion and empathy
for millions of people with intellectual disabilities,
but nobody was doing that for her.
And so I have this beautiful relationship with her in death.
And as an adult that I couldn't have had with her in life
because she wouldn't have allowed it really.
And so I say that because I always felt like,
who would I be without my mother when she died?
I didn't think I could survive because she was my best friend.
And I've crafted a different kind of relationship
with her in death where I can talk about her like this.
And I can talk about, I think she represented
so many other women of her generation,
and men really, of her generation,
that weren't allowed or didn't think they were allowed
to talk about what they saw in the war,
be it World War II, be it the Vietnam War.
And it's only now that we're beginning to talk about trauma,
we're beginning to talk about grief,
we're beginning to allow about grief, we're beginning to allow these
conversations in families.
How are you experiencing this situation?
How are you experiencing your parents' divorce?
How are you experiencing a death in the family and allowing people the space for their grief
and for their trauma?
And so, you know, growing up with her,
she was an incredible role model.
She was, as I said, a force of nature.
She carried a briefcase.
She went to work.
She hung with men.
She raised me to compete with men
and she raised me to be tough.
And I think that was what I needed for a long, long time. And then it became something
I didn't need. The word grief, illiterate. I think so many people are going to relate to that and be
like, huh, yep. Yep. That's how I was raised. Or that's how my family. Can you talk about you share
even just saying, I love you. Yeah.
I love you.
What role did I love you play in growing up with you and your parents?
None.
None.
Yeah.
Nobody talked about I love you, right?
It wasn't, you know, I'm constantly telling my kids, I love you, you know, squeezing
them, holding them.
But that wasn't how my mother was raised.
So she wasn't, you know, she was, I'm proud
of you, get out there. And when I accomplished something, she'd say, good job. Now, what
are you going to do? Now, what's next? Where are we going? She was the voice of where are
we going? She was the voice of you can do more. She was the voice of, and I took on
her voice as my own. I think we often do that, right?
And proudly so, you know?
But I wanted to change that from my own mothering.
I wanted to do some of the things my mother did, but I wanted to be softer with my children.
Did she ever say, I love you to you?
She did when she got really much older and she was sick and I would get in the bed with
her and I'd go, mommy, I love you.
And she'd be like, I love you.
And she's like, okay, I love you too.
But I think it was hard for her.
And I've also talked to so many people who had the same experience. Yes.
Did your dad say it?
Yeah, he did.
But it wasn't once again.
My parents were on a mission.
They were deeply religious people
who felt that they were put here on Earth
to change the world in Jesus's name,
in social justice's name.
They were here to help the poor, heal the sick, change the world.
And they did not sit around and talk about feelings.
We did not sit on the couch and chill.
They were not chillers. They were doers.
If I talked to them about, I need to sit and chill or something,
it was not something that was accepted, allowed.
It was not their vibe.
Right. When you think of your four kids now. One day, a couple of decades from now, let's just say, let's say 50 years from now.
What do you hope they'll say about you as their mom?
Oh, they say it now, right?
I mean, I don't have to wait 50 years.
They'll tell me, you know, they'll tell me now, I wish you would slow down.
I wish you weren't running around as much as you do.
They will say you were strict, but I think that they will, they'll say you emphasize
manners a lot, which is true.
They say you're the only one that gave us a curfew and we did
not like that. You're the one that called and checked on other people's parents to see
if they were home. It was embarrassing. You embarrassed us. You were strict. But they
say, you know, now when I'm sitting there, they say, oh, you know, we like that we would emulate that
But I think every kid wants to maybe obviously change what their parents did. I think that's just the cycle
you know, I think
They say certain things about how their dad was as a dad and how I was an M as a mom
I think probably
how I was and am as a mom. I think probably if they had one request,
it would be maybe that I wouldn't work at the level
that I work.
But I think they know that I tried and continue
to try my hardest, that I was there.
So I always say to them, I'll go to therapy with you any day, any time, and
you can complain all you want.
The one thing you cannot say is that I wasn't there.
Does that feel so good to be able to say that?
That I was there.
Yeah.
I changed my career dramatically.
Each time I had a kid, I downsized my career to adjust to the fact that I had four
little kids.
I knew that I was married to someone who had a big career and that somebody was going to
have to drop down and somebody was going to have to be at home.
And I knew that somebody was going to be me.
And I also tried to always look at it as the long haul, that this was a time and space, you
know, or, and that, you know, they're only little ones, they're only teenagers once before
they go off to college, you only have this moment.
And so I didn't want to miss that time.
And so I knew my career would be there.
Thank God I got fired from a job early on
when I was the anchor of the CBS Morning News.
I got fired, the whole show got fired.
And I had made the mistake of thinking
that the show was my family.
I had made the mistake of thinking that the show loved me,
that everybody there were my great, great friends and would
be there for me always.
And then it was over.
And I never made that mistake again.
It helped me put work in perspective.
It helped me realize, oh, wait a minute, this is not my family.
This place can throw me out in a second.
So I need to think about my family, my real family.
I think I need to think about my real life and put this part of my life in perspective.
But I think had I not been fired, that probably I would have not had that wake up call.
Yeah.
Will you share just a little bit about your four kids and what you're most proud of each
of them?
Oh, well, first of all, I'm proud of them collectively.
I'm proud of them as a unit, that they're very devoted to each other.
They're very loyal to each other.
They do things together, separate from me or their dad.
They each, Catherine is an incredible mom and wife.
She also writes books, children's books, but she's very highly organized and just born
kind of to be a mom.
Christina is deep and wise and loving and funny as all get out and really wants to help the world
and help people who are struggling with their mental health and with animals that are left by
the side of the road. And that's her passion. That's her mission. Patrick is my partner in
business with Mosh. He's smart as all get out. He's funny as all get out.
He's having a moment.
But he's an incredible boyfriend and I
think will be an incredible husband and father.
Christopher is wise and deep and loving.
He was born.
That way people all talk about his energy and his compassion
and his empathy.
And this morning we're taping this on the day that the pope died.
And I had taken Christopher.
I'd covered when the pope became the pope and I took him with me to Rome
to see that.
And so my first call this morning was him.
And he said, I'm thinking about you today.
I know how much you loved the Pope.
And I remember when we went there,
what a big deal it was for you.
And I just, I love you, mommy.
And I'm thinking about you this morning.
So he's that guy.
And he's gonna be an unbelievable dad
and an unbelievable husband.
And they're all funny.
They're really funny.
They have really good heads on their shoulders.
I'm very proud of how they've navigated their lives.
Our divorce, how they are, you know, just devoted to both of us
and to each other,
and they're just really good loving people.
I've heard so many people say like their greatest success
in their entire life, even people with massive careers
or huge public fame or whatever it is,
their greatest success is when their kids
actually wanna be with them when they're grown up.
And watching at the party we just had,
watching your whole family come together,
watching Patrick put on bunny ears,
watching everyone just, it feels like it's unified.
And I'm so blessed with my son-in-law who is so loving,
and spiritual, kind, he's such a great husband and father,
and he is such a great member of our family.
Same with my daughter-in-law-to-be, Abby.
And I think that that's really been super important.
When children get partners, how do those partners fit in?
How do you welcome those partners? How does everybody make sure that they make room?
And how do we open up our hearts to make sure that we're a growing family, an inclusive
family, a loving family?
That's my job.
I always remind, you know, I have four brothers, so I have four sister-in-laws, and it's really
important, I always would say to my daughters, you have to always make
room in your brothers, bring somebody home.
We've got to expand because our goal is to be welcoming and to be open and to keep communication
going because you never want to put yourself in a place to make a brother or sister choose
between their partner and their relationship
with you.
Family is everything.
So far, so good.
But I'm constantly, because I've heard so many people struggle in this space and see
how fragile it is.
So I think family's fragile. And I think recognizing and understanding that
at every increment, it's fragile. And so to give it a strong foundation to keep the communication
open and recognize that it's both strong and fragile is important.
Yeah. For your whole collective family, you know, one of the things I'm so passionate about on this show,
I've had people on here who vote different, who love different, who believe different.
And I feel like for me personally, I feel like the only way to try and help heal.
Like you can't heal humanity through love if you don't understand all the humans that make it up.
And so for me, I'm so comfy around people who believe totally different things than I do.
And one thing we're in this sort of moment in time where, you know,
people are struggling to get together for holidays because families disagree or they have different platforms.
And one of the texts, there's a line from a text message you sent me that I want to
read that I think is so beautiful. We were talking about your book and talking about
your tour and you were saying, I'm very at peace and the reception has been beautiful.
People are looking for inspiration and hope. They're looking knowing that they can break
and then rise just like the country. And I know our country is in such a place right now.
And I know our country's in such a place right now. And so when I think about family,
I know on your tour for I Am Maria,
you've been doing lots of stops with friends.
And I know that you've been asked some of those stops
about your family and about different views
and about RFK, Junior, all of that.
So I'm not asking you about that.
But what I do want wanna ask you about is
because this I just think applies to everyone.
Everyone has people in their family
that have very different views
or that are adamantly opposed at something.
Do you, how do you reconcile
with your whole collective family,
the amount you want to keep everyone together in times where you
may not agree at all with somebody.
We need to pause for a super brief break.
And while we do, take a moment to share this episode with every single person that you
know who this could inspire, because this conversation can truly be the words and inspiration
they need to hear today
to keep going, to remember that they matter, and to feel less alone and more enough, more
connected and more worthy.
Who you spend time around is so important as energy is contagious and so is self-belief.
And I'd love to hang out with you even more, especially if you could use an extra dose of inspiration.
Which is exactly why I've created my free weekly newsletter that's also a love letter to you,
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If you haven't signed up to make sure that you get it each week,
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And now more of this incredible conversation together.
How do you reconcile with your whole collective family
the amount you want to keep everyone together in times where you may not agree at all with somebody?
Well, I think there are, you know, I think 60, 70, 80 million people
who've been fractured by politics in this era.
And so I hear it a lot, and my extended family is no different from that.
And I think that's a work in progress, right?
I think you have to come from a place of trying to accept, trying to be seen,
trying to promote love, trying to promote understanding and not vilify.
I was down at the King Center not too long ago in Atlanta.
They were putting up a portrait of my parents,
and they put up portraits around the King Center of people who have continued in the
work of Martin Luther King and nonviolence, and they were putting up a portrait of my
dad and my mom.
And so I went and looked at the principles of nonviolence, and one of them, which King
got from Gandhi and espoused, was not to other, not to vilify the person
that was espousing something different from you.
And I think that, and just once again, coming back to the Pope, I was listening to something
about him this morning and he said, the greatest tragedy today is indifference.
People who have no opinion, people who don't care, people who are apathetic.
So I think that there are people who care differently, who have different opinions.
I struggle in this moment because so much of the work that I've done in Alzheimer's
was to, I've testified twice before the Congress for more increased funding for Alzheimer's research so we can
find a cure for these neurological diseases that impact so many millions of people.
I partnered with President Biden and Dr. Biden to launch the first ever White House initiative
on women's health and research to try to elevate women's health and research, which lags decades behind that of men.
And so that work is very focused at the NIH,
as is the Alzheimer's research.
And those are really bipartisan issues,
but to watch them, you know, in the next couple of months,
go from an all-time high to an all-time low
is challenging for somebody like myself, who's in the advocacy space.
So I'm trying to, like I think many people find what is the right way to approach some
of these issues at this moment.
And I don't think, you know, I have, I watch how other people have done it and I don't
see, oh, that's it.
I think finding some kind of middle ground, finding a voice that will bring people together,
finding a way to talk to one another, whether it's at the kitchen table or in the Congress
is a challenge today.
And so it's something that I'm thinking a lot about, how to do that well.
And when I figure out how to do it well, I'll do it.
You'll do it.
Is it weird?
I don't know a better word.
Is it weird that you're one of the people
literally shaping our culture,
doing something so big that matters so much.
And then also maybe there's a family member
that is also doing that.
And it's like opposing views.
Well, I think it's, you know, I think a lot of people, you know, have that on smaller
scales.
Yeah.
So I think it's, you know, once again, it's like listening to my own voice.
If I listen to everybody saying, you should do this and you should do that and you should
attack this person, you should go over there and you should make a stand here.
And if you don't, you're complicit.
If you do, you're not, you know, it's like, shh.
Yeah.
You know, I feel, you know, really proud that I've made a difference in Alzheimer's.
I've rewritten along with others, the narrative in Alzheimer's to put women front and center.
The Shriver report did that. After everybody telling me that Alzheimer's did not
disproportionately impact women, I spent two years researching
that, going out, and lo and behold, it did.
And it does.
And so pushing that boulder for the last 24 years
has been the work of my life to tell researchers and doctors,
wait a minute, you don't have this right.
Women are disproportionately impacted by Alzheimer's.
Two out of three brains that are diagnosed with Alzheimer's belong to women.
Yeah.
And that came from our work.
Yes.
I partnered with the Alzheimer's Association and we did that.
I started a nonprofit called the Women's Alzheimer's Movement because there was no research into
women's brains and saying, you know, women do age differently.
Women's health span is different.
And people are like, no, no, no, it's not.
Women are just like men.
Well, they're not. And so very often the prevailing wisdom
isn't actually the wisdom, right?
And women's health and research,
when I've been trying to,
when I went to President Biden and Dr. Biden and said,
we're 11% of NIH budget women's health and research.
That's not right.
We're half the population.
We deserve better. Women
who go to the doctor don't have the research when we want to know why do women have 80%
of the autoimmune diseases. We don't have the research. We don't have the research on
menopause, on perimenopause. We don't have the research on birth control. We don't have
the research on MS. Why? Because nobody thought to research women's health.
Women.
Right?
Yes.
And so I think that I'm very happy with how I've listened to my voice and it's led me
in both of those areas.
And I'm confident it will lead me at this moment into the right place.
Yeah, you know, I am.
I want to just call this out because I just do that on my show.
I one of the reasons I'm so.
Excited that you're here and having this conversation with everyone,
and I've told Paulo this when he's asked about you,
when I met you for the first time and then when I've had, you know,
seen you at friends' things or whatever.
Maria, I feel blessed at this point in my life
that I've met a lot of people that I've maybe watched
or admire their work or watch them in films
or whatever it might be.
Of all the people I've met, you're easily in the top two or three ever of people who
actually walk the walk way more than you talk the talk.
It's so rare because there's a lot of people out there that are really good.
They're really good at talking the talk and they might be average at walking the walk.
You walk the walk, and it inspires me as a human being to ask myself, how can I walk
even more the walk?
And I remember, this was a long time ago, I was talking to you about my book launch,
I think it was with Worthy, and you were talking about the importance of self-worth, and you said, and also the walk. And I remember this was a long time ago. I was talking to you about my book launch. I think it was with Worthy and you were talking about the importance of self-worth. And you said,
and also the country, this was, I mean, this was two years ago. And you were saying a year and a
half ago, and you asked me, and also, what are you doing for your country? And I was like,
I don't know if anyone's ever asked me that question my entire life.
What are you doing for your country?
And I was like, and also collectively, like when's the last time collectively
we're also thinking about, well, wait a minute, as a person, what am I doing
for my country and how, you know, what am I doing for my community?
And it was just this, I just continue.
I just want to call this out because again, I feel blessed to have met a lot of
people that I have admired in different ways for decades. And I rarely ever see this where someone
is absolutely utterly so congruent, so aligned, so mission driven. So I know you say, you know,
that it's part of your ministry,
helping move humanity forward. And it's really freaking inspiring.
And my hope and prayer for everyone listening is that they ask themselves right now,
they just pause and be like, huh, you know, like, like, how am I in my life?
Walk in the walk, even more than talk in the talk. And also, you know,
how am I maybe helping move humanity
forward and how what is my intention and how do I get still and hear that?
And then how do I I do something about it?
And I admire so much.
And the time you asked that, it just.
Yeah, I just felt like, holy moly, like this is for me, it was a big moment
and I rarely feel those and I just want to share it. And with everybody.
And I think that what I've, you know, out on this book tour, I think people often feel
I've felt, you know, they're heartbroken about things that go on in their lives.
But there's a lot of heartbreak about the country as well.
But there's so many good people in the country and there's so many people doing
really inspiring things and people who are doing things, you know, like people come up to me all
the time and they'll say like, I'm just doing this small thing. There's no small and big.
Whatever you're doing is big to the person you're doing it for.
If you're out serving on a soup line, giving that person a bowl is huge.
If you're out working in your church, handing out food, that's huge.
If you're donating clothing and handing out clothing, that's huge.
I think we live also, once again, coming back to this,
in a society where people think like, what I'm doing
is small and someone else's thing is big.
And therefore, does this really matter?
And one of the things that I love about the book tour
is that I get to hear all the monumental, moving humanity
things that are going on without hearing big or small, without
hearing, you know, is this important or is this not?
And that's what really moves humanity forward.
People who are taking responsibility in their neighborhoods, working in their schools, working
in their local churches, working with their local fire department,
their police departments, running for city council, running for the school board.
These are all huge acts of service, acts of service.
And I think that I hope that we can get back to just honoring acts of service and not thinking
if they're big or small,
not thinking about...
Yeah, because we feel insignificant,
like, oh, well, you know, I can only do this much.
It's like, well, that much really matters.
That much really matters.
And that much is significant.
Who's to decide if something is insignificant or significant?
Who's to decide if something is big or small?
Who's to decide whether what you're doing matters or not you?
That's why coming back to the morning to your voice when people say
like you have to make a statement about this or you have to jump into this or
you have to do something bigger than what you're doing or you should scale up.
Like says who?
Says who.
Says who.
This conversation with Maria Shriver is so incredible.
We made it into more than one part.
And if you're ready to gain true life changing lessons on how to believe you're enough, on
forgiveness, and on how to create your best life right now, you are not going to want
to miss this incredible part two
of our conversation with the iconic Maria Shriver
coming up in the next episode of the Jamie Curren Lima Show.
Remember, this episode's not just for you and me.
Please share this with every single person that you know
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You never know whose life you're meant to change today
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And thank you so much for joining me today. never know whose life you're meant to change today by sharing this episode.
And thank you so much for joining me today.
And before you go, I want to share some words with you that couldn't be more true.
You right now, exactly as you are, are enough and fully worthy.
You're worthy of your greatest hopes, your wildest dreams, and all the unconditional love in the world.
And it is an honor to welcome you to each and every episode of
the Jamie Kern Lima show here.
I hope you'll come as you are.
Heal where you need.
Blossom what you choose.
Journey toward your calling and stay as long as you'd like because you belong here.
You are worthy.
You are loved. You are loved.
You are love.
I love you.
And I cannot wait to join you on the next episode of the
Jamie Kern Lima show.
In life, you don't soar to the level of your hopes and dreams.
You stay stuck at the level of your self-worth.
When you build your self-worth, you change your entire life.
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Imagine a life with zero self-doubt
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Get your copy of Worthy, plus some amazing thank you bonus gifts for you at WorthyBook.com
or the link in the show notes below.
Imagine what you'd do if you fully believed in you.
It's time to find out with Worthy. Who you spend time around is so important
as energy is contagious and so is self-belief. And I'd love to hang out with you even more,
especially if you could use an extra dose of inspiration, which is exactly why I've
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It's such an honor to share this podcast together with you. And please note, I'm not a licensed therapist and this podcast is not intended as a substitute
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