I'm having a hard day.
You incredible human, the fact that you are here now, listening to me… the fact that you pressed that link, tells me something absolutely critical and awesome about you. It tells me that you’re willing to reach out when there’s a need. It tells me that you’re willing, teachable, and humble… it tells me that your heart is soft, and having a soft heart is such an important part of our lives, in part because we don’t have all the answers, we are not all knowing… there is so much experience and strength and power outside of us, and knowing that, is a sign of wisdom and strength. Recognizing and accepting this will help you to reach out and tap into to other sources… this is good my friend… it is so good. I think sometimes there is this popular idea that everything we need is inside of us… or that we possess everything that we need… and I would gently challenge that… why do we have to have everything inside of us… why do we have to have all the answers… why do we have to be perfect as we are, instead of realizing that we are beings in the middle of growing, developing, and evolving… that other people and the world can offer strength, truth, inspiration, and motivation… and we would be absolute fools for not using that.
So this podcast is really for a rainy day… and I hope that you can remember it and plug it into your life as a source of hope, optimism, and a perspective that can allow you to continue in an awesome and meaningful trajectory despite the challenges, injustices, and difficulties that will most certainly arise in your life. I’m here today to hopefully help you to stand up a bit straighter, to lift your chin up, and to raise your eyes to the possibilities, and to focus your energy and attention where it needs to be, and to commit you to live intelligently, honorably, and with courage. I admit right now that I want you to move onward… to continue on… to carry the burden in an admirable and beautiful way… I admit that I want you to believe that you will be wiser, more experienced, and better suited to reach, teach and support others through their own struggle… I admit that I want you to widen your gaze, and to float above your current circumstance and see a higher and more optimistic and empowered perspective… empowered meaning that you can do something… you can alter the course of what is happening… that you can impact and influence the outcome, the end result… that you can focus your mind, your actions, and summon your body and brain to act, to lift, to rise and to succeed. People have been doing this for thousands of years… Men, Women, children, heroes and heroines, people who have been recognized for their great deeds, and those who have largely been unrecognized, and yet have given, risen, created, served, loved, and in the end become legends… I’m not attempting to measure you against anyone else, I just want you to know that your struggle, your headache, your grief, your tears, your despair is not to be wasted… it is not meaningless. In our suffering, in our struggle, in our moments of fire, are the seeds of wisdom, is the hope of a new moning, is the intelligence to carry our lives and the lives of others around us forward, in a more enlightened way. Your life has meaning! Your effort matters! Your experience is unique and critical to the survival of our species! Your effort to struggle in an honorable way, is how you will ultimately raise yourself and encourage a more spectacular world outside of you.
I know that this perspective is hard for you… I’ve been there as well… blind to the possibilities, even angry, not wanting to feel hope, not wanting to be encouraged, not wanting to be helped… i’ve been there… in that place where we feel hopeless, victimized, and angry at others who may not be in the midst of our struggle. I don’t judge you… I feel you my friend… I didn’t record this to rush you from this place of suffering… my goal isn’t to get you to feel better per say… and maybe that sounds odd to you, but my goal is to keep you moving, my real objective is for you to do these 3 things regardless of your emotional state… I want you to contribute to your life, to yourself, and to others…
This means, that wether it’s school, or home, or work, or homework, or activities, or running, or going for a walk, or exercising, or going to see a therapist, or hanging out with your friends… go, continue, and never stop. You have to go… you have to continue… this is not faking it until we make it… I don’t like that expression, this is simply intelligent for you to continue building and trying to build a life that is rich, full, and filled with purpose… you must go on. Yes, you can adjust, you can slow down, your schd can shift, your actions can change, but you must, you will keep addigng to your your life, to your skills, to your present and your future.
You have to contribute to yourself. Remember that your body and your brain are a tool… that they are a garden, and you have to simply care for it… you have to feed it, fuel it, you have to remove the weeds… the stuff that poisons you, the weeds that choke the motivation out of you… and you have to sharpen that instrument, and create a beautiful and rich garden. Feed your life with good friends, with good events, with good books, with good movies, with great quotes, with great people, with good habits, with fun and humour, with adventure… contribute to yourself… learn an instrument, learn a new activity that develops your character and your ability to create beauty and in your life and in the life of others. You have to grow… we have to grow… it is our destiny, it is what we are here to do, so do so… learn to knit, learn to sing, learn to whistle, learn to climb, run, wrestle, to kint, to do the rubiks cube, a magic trick, a new joke, but learn, and keep fueling your mind, body, and spirit. It matters… what you eat matters… and i’m not just talking bout the food you put into your body, i’m talking about what you’re feeding your mind, what you’re feeding your life, what you’re feeding your focus, and what you’re feeding spiritually. You may need to slow down, but don’t come to a halt… keep contributing, even if it’s in small, slow, and miniscule ways… you don’t have to fix everything in your life… that will come, just keep contributing, keep growing, and keep making progress in those challenging areas. In the end, if you’re armed with this perspective, this philosophy and belief, you’ll come out victorious.
Lastly, you must contribute to others, and do this deliberately, meaning intentionally… and I’m not talking about doing some grand gesture that’s going to overwhelm you… think simple. Pick up a piece of trash… open a door… say a kind word… text a hello, or a thank you, or a small compliment… wave at someone, smile at someone, offer to help at home, or at school, or with a friend, or in a classroom… give, give, give, and don’t worry about not having enough room to keep giving… you heart is not small… there is no limit to what you can give… in fact as you give, you will receive more. I always tell people, “if you want it, give it”... remember that give respect, friendship, trust, fun, service, and this will make it more likely that you’ll end up receiving it in your own life. I have one more thing to say in regards to giving… my awesome friend, when you give it… forget that you gave it… don’t keep score… let go of the expectation that you’re going to get something back… give because you’re rad, because you’re a giver, because you’re here to make this world a better place… give without expectation, don’t let your left hand know, what your right hand is doing… know what I’m saying?
So let’s go… you and I… in joy, in suffering, in laughter, in pain, in wisdom, in confusion, go forward not backward… Remember that you’re the most important person you speak to everyday, and sometimes you’ll have to talk to yourself, instead of listening to your brain who will want to stop, and give up… and shrink… and I suppose that if you do that… do that… with the knowledge that you’ll rise tomorrow, and go again, or the next hour… Let’s go. Remember to contribute to your life, to yourself, and to others. Stay brilliant my friend!
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