Send a text

Love feels different when midlife hits. Careers pile up, caregiving stretches thin, and bodies change in ways no one warned us about—yet we’re still expected to connect with patience and grace. We sat down with licensed professional counselor and national speaker Shundria Riddick to unpack how communication really works under pressure and what couples can do to move from reactivity to repair.

We explore the wiring beneath our words: the childhood scripts that taught us to fight, flee, or go quiet; the gender expectations that tell men to produce but not process and women to be strong but not supported; and the midlife biology—perimenopause, ED, chronic conditions—that amplifies irritability, fog, and distance. Shundria breaks emotional intelligence into two vital skills: finding language for your own state and sensing your partner’s experience on the other side of you. When you can name disappointment instead of throwing a dish, you invite understanding instead of escalation.

From there, we get practical. Learn a simple mindfulness check-in to calm your nervous system, the active listening move that turns debate into discovery, and how to rethink self-care as relationship fuel rather than selfish escape. We talk identity shifts—why your 20-year-old script won’t carry you at 40—and how to renew thinking so feelings can follow. We name the red flags that suggest it’s time for counseling and why going alone can still change the dance at home. Grounded in faith, empathy, and clear language, this conversation offers tools you can use tonight to rebuild safety, rekindle intimacy, and trade transactional scorekeeping for genuine connection.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs hope in midlife, and leave a rating and review so more listeners can find these tools. Your story can change, starting now.

Follow Shundria on most social platforms @ShundriaRiddick, author of Married for 5 Minutes: Hope for Living Inside Real-Life Marriages

Subscribe @CoachStacyMLewis and @CoachWayneVIP

💃🏽Stacy M. Lewis
🌍 thestacymlewis.com
Schedule a Connecting Conversation
LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

🎩Wayne Dawson
🌍 viptransformativeliving.com
Book a Discovery Call
LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

Spotify, Apple, iHeartRadio, Amazon