Ep. 485 - Ring in the New Year

Tune in for the audio of the New Year's Day Live Stream!  

Topics from the audience include, but are not limited to:  

• Happiest Moments in Life
• Something We're Proud Of
  • (and would tell a story about on our death bed)
• What Skills are We Looking to Learn?
• What’s the Best Barter YOU ever Did? 
• Feeling stupid to learn stuff (story time)
  
  

FIVE solid topics from the audience in the audio of this week's LIVE STREAM!

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Listeners and supporters of the show get 25% OFF all orders with the discount code “ALLAROUNDGROWTH”

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#newyears #newyear #newyearseve #happynewyear #christmas #party #newyearsresolution #newyearsday #jan #dec #newyearsparty #newyearnewme #goals #nye #celebrate #celebration #follow #like  #newyearscelebration #hello #love #fun #bye #donewith #winter #happy #holidays #fireworks #family #holiday

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How To Leave a Rating & Review in Apple Podcast App:  https://youtu.be/M_xz5XbWQTg

This really does affect the algorithm...
...as of recording in January 2023 - I would invite you to do this!

The podcast game is changing - but old-school reviews certainly help!

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Have a Question or any feedback for Rob?

Send me an email at allaroundgrowth@gmail.com

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Discussion Links:
 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:24

Well, hello there. Welcome back to another episode of the All Around Growth Podcast. My name is Rob Kaiser, and I am your host. Today is Sunday, January 1st, 2023, and this is episode number 485 of a show where we actively work to fulfill and find our purpose in this life. A show where we talk about a variety of topics, generally focused on what I call all-around growth, and a show that continues to grow and change, just like you, just like me. And in today's show, we are ringing in the new year with a live stream on New Year's Day. And for all of those who are watching right now, and for those of you who are in the future listening to this as I record, I genuinely and sincerely hope that you are having a wonderful holiday season. You know, we all celebrate holidays in different ways, but generally speaking, the first day of the year and New Year's Eve is a significant day for many people, marking the end of the past year and the beginning of a new year. And instead of shows being recorded and released on a daily basis in the mornings, like I've historically done almost regularly for about the past two years, we've moved the show to live streams once a week. And we will also be releasing the audio of this in podcast form, just in the same way that everybody out there has historically been listening to the show. So for those of you who are listening and aren't watching via the live stream, that represents some of the differences in the way that this might sound uh in your headphones or on your speakers, however, it was that you listened to the show. Because one of the things that uh we're trying to do, and when I say we, I mean myself and you, the audience, is trying to you know engage a little bit more, uh, make this a little bit more interactive and less about me, but more about us as a community. The best part about what this has become is the community. Um, and because of that, I wanted to ring in the new year with topics that were presented by you, by the community. And those topics are going to include, and these are all suggestions from everyone in the audience, and for anyone out there who is watching uh or listening, you know, currently we are streaming on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter. And if you are out there watching right now, I would definitely encourage you to drop a comment, say hello, uh, let us know where you're watching from, and ultimately what brought you here. Um, but the topics that were suggested by the core group of people in the Telegram group, which you can be a part of if you wish, at t.me slash allaround growth. We are going to be talking about the happiest moments in our life. And we are going to be talking about something that we're proud of. Happy New Year, Sean. Thanks for tuning in. Um, again, everybody out there, drop a comment, let us know what's up, let us let us know where you're watching from. And as we continue going through all of these topics, including the happiest moments in our life, uh, something that we're proud of, we're gonna be talking about the skills that we're looking to learn. We're also gonna talk about the best barter that we ever did, and that will undoubtedly stir up some interesting dialogue. I'm I'm I'm looking forward to some feedback on that, and also the the the last thing that we're gonna talk about, um, or at least the last topic that we're going to cover is a little story that I have, which involves feeling stupid to learn stuff, and that is something that I have come to believe more than ever is that in order to learn, in order to grow, we have to share the fact that we are indeed ignorant of that which we are trying to learn. So as we continue churning through all of these topics, uh I would definitely encourage you to uh share your own stories in the comments. And I'd be happy to share your comments out there and just create an environment that is conducive for all of us to bring in the new year in a way that might be a little bit different than normal. And um, the whole idea of this is to share, to inspire, to motivate, and grow. And that's what this is all around growth. That is what we do here. Uh, happy new year to everybody out there on Facebook. Um, I am not entirely sure if if you are watching on Facebook or any other platform outside of YouTube, please drop your name and let me know where you're listening from so we can all know who you are. Because the way that this current streaming platform is set up at this time, uh my own ignorance of this particular uh platform does not give me the ability to uh know, unless I'm monitoring multiple things at once, uh, who is commenting from where outside of YouTube. So if that's you and you're watching on Facebook, or if you're watching on Twitch, or if you're watching on Twitter, by all means drop a comment, say this is who I am, this is where I'm from, and um let everybody know you're out there. Say hey. So before we get into everything, I do definitely want to take a moment to mention the show sponsors. First and foremost, the show sponsor that makes this possible in the format that it currently is is Food Forest Farms. And Food Forest Farms is the home of air-roasted specialty coffee, a fun hip camp, and a cozy Airbnb. And I I you know I can't express enough gratitude to Brian out there at Food Forest Farms for you know giving me the opportunity to um share with you in this way and bring the podcast not only in audio format in the way that we've traditionally done it, but bring it to you in this way where we can stream and engage and interact with one another. And it's it adds a whole new level of uh or a whole new dimension to the show. And for that, I am extremely grateful. So, you know, I would most certainly appreciate it if you went to foodforestfarms.com to check out everything that's going on over there, and like I said, the home of air roasted specialty coffee, a fun hip camp, a cozy Airbnb, and more. So check out foodforestfarms.com and see what's going on over there. And for those of you who don't know, the show is also sponsored by York Meadow Farm, which is the location of where we are recording, where we have historically recorded uh episodes for at least the past few months. You know, when we began, this show was on the road. I was recording from my truck, taking a lot of inspiration from people who did the same thing in years past, and why not? You know, I felt like I had something inside of me to share with you and everyone else out there, and I didn't know how to do it, but I made use of the time that I had during the commute, and that's what we did, and it has eventually evolved into what we are doing now, which is talking in this manner, uh, in this way, live streaming, eventually, which will become an audio podcast. And in addition to Food Forest Farms, the show is sponsored by York Meadow Farm. Uh, you can learn everything about what's going on at YorkmeadowFarm.com. And uh lots of good stuff going on there from bath and body products to fermented foods and all sorts of goodies. So, you want to check out what's going on, you can definitely support the show through York Meadow Farm or Food Forest Farms. Either way is much appreciated. When you do that, you not only help me, but you help the ones that help me. And whether you do that or not, it's all good. I appreciate you being here. And like I said, for those of you who are watching, drop a comment, let us know where you're watching from. And without further ado, let's dive into some of these topics. The happiest moments in life. Now, one thing I'd like to I'd like to mention is that uh before we do this is I did not put in the level of preparation that I was hoping to today. Um for a number of reasons. Um the fact of the matter is, guys, for those of you who don't know, I I have a a chronic neurological disorder uh known as epilepsy. And um last night uh last night I I I had another seizure and that I'm I'm grateful that it did not impact me in the way that they normally do because normally I bite my tongue and I have exceptional difficulty talking for several days, but that that was not the case this time around. And um needless to say, the the the recovery of a seizure is not the most pleasant thing. Um and so I was I was kind of you know out of out of commission today, for lack of a better term. And um and on top of that, I had family uh come over today, unexpected visit, a fantastic visit. I love being here, I love living here, I love living with my family. I'm at a point in my life where look, the reality is I'm a 40-year-old man, I live with my parents, but not because I'm in dire straits or you know, this is out of necessity. I I I moved back here because I wanted to. And one of the and this is kind of a segue into in reflecting on these questions during the day today, while spending time with family and coming back and walking the dog and just taking care of some menial responsibilities around the house. I got to thinking about what what some of the happiest moments in my life were. And honestly, one of the happiest moments of my life right now is is is right now, right in this moment, to be able to have the opportunity to share with you what some of these moments are. And I would encourage you to um, you know, just just for grins, I uh I'm gonna go ahead and do this. What is was the happiest moment in your life? And I'm going to throw that out there for the audience, and I'd encourage you to chime in. Um, what's the happiest moment in my life? That's tough, but the the the thing that comes to mind, the happiest moment series of moments that I had came after one of the most catastrophic events that I've ever experienced in my life that also was part and parcel of having a a seizure. And um one of the not not not simply a seizure, but I ended up going into uh a a series of seizures after a a backcountry trip in uh Capitol Reef National Park in Utah well, 10 years ago this year. And I was with my friend Rick, my dear friend Rick. Um Happy New Year to you, my friend, if you are out there. I appreciate and love you more than you know. The last thing I remember from that trip was eating a cheeseburger um at a small roadside cafe when we wrapped up that trip, and the next thing I remember was waking up in the neurological intensive care unit in a hospital in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, uh several days later. I had been in a coma, uh a medically induced coma, because I entered a state called Status epilepticus, and that may not sound like a pleasant experience, but that did lead up into one of the happiest moments of my life. And what I mean by that is at that time I was uh yeah, I I had come out of this coma, and um Rick had coordinated with my family, and my brother took care of everything, all the arrangements for my mom to get out there to be with me in the hospital because we didn't really know how all this was going to shake out. Um I've had a couple close calls um on account of the what happens when you have a seizure in an area where you're not really supposed to have one, whether that's on the highway behind the wheel, or in this case, eight hours into the backcountry um from a big city in a hospital. But after that time, you know, I happened to be in the middle of a project working on uh a short-term gig, uh, which was part of my original exit strategy while I was living in California, something that I put together to ultimately move back here 10 years ago to help my parents grow this land, which you know, this this this barn, this office that I'm sitting in didn't exist. The cabin where we all live is not built. There were there was nothing here. This was raw, this was raw land. And um at that time or after that experience waking up in the hospital, I was not in any way, shape, or form ready to go back to this project and continue running it like I had been. So I went home much earlier than anticipated. The uh and at that point in time, you know, the plan was to go do this project in Texas, return to California, pick up all my belongings, which were in a small storage unit, as well as my car, and my car was parked uh in storage, so to speak, at my boss's sister's house. Now returning to Ohio on such short notice ultimately meant that I had possessions and belongings in California, in Texas, and also here in Ohio, where I had started shipping my belongings. But for a period of almost two months, I I had nothing. I everything in my life was scattered and in three different states, and I had no idea how I was going to pull it off to get back here and start start over again. And this is this is all a little backstory into one of one of the happiest moments of my life. My sister at that time had a job that required some travel and attendance at trade shows and conferences and things like that, and it just so happened that she had a conference in San Diego, which is where I lived. I lived in North County San Diego in uh a small community called San Olijo Hills, and that was in San Marcos technically, but right in the corner near Carlsbad and Encinitas. And um I went out there to meet her while at this conference, and together the two of us gathered up all of my belongings, shipped back what couldn't fit in the car, and we hit the road, and we engaged in what was perhaps the most memorable road trip of my entire life. We subsequently drove to Texas, got all my belongings from the vehicle that they took all the crap out of my hotel room and then put it in. And um I don't even know if they did that. I I don't know how I quite frankly I can't remember. Um, but the fact that my sister offered to to do that to help me uh was one of the most happiest times of my life. My my family is is always is always there, always has been, and um that That is happiness. That is a level of joy that that's inexplicable. I can't, as you can tell, I'm having some difficulty articulating that. And uh, you know, I would again, for those of you watching, I would encourage you to drop a comment and uh let us know what the happiest moment in your life was, um, and let everyone know, you know, this this share the good in your life. Um, because when we do that, I I do believe that we can we can lift others up who may not be where we are, and uh even if we don't have the ability or the power to do that ourselves, we can really create an environment around us that allows that to happen naturally, and so my family is the big contributing factor that's led to some of the happiest moments in my life, and I'm blessed because not everyone has a family like I have. I know some of us in the Telegram group, we we talk about our families a lot, and again, for those of you who are interested in what the Telegram group is all about and want to participate in some of the behind-the-scenes discussions, you you can learn exactly what's going on uh at t.me slash allaround growth. But I know that some of you guys out there have some challenges with family, extended family, especially when there's hard times, like a death in the family, or some other kind of crisis, and and that that is that is difficult to deal with. And this isn't I don't say that to point out the flaws in in everyone else's family because mine's so awesome. No, not at all. I I say that because when I when I hear your story, um it makes me realize just how frequently I take things for granted, and I think we all do, and I think the more we learn, the more we connect with other people, the more we put ourselves out there into the universe, and the more that we listen with open minds, open hearts, the more we truly can grow, and that's the whole point of this show, all around growth. And um, and that's really why I wanted to talk on topics that were suggested to me from you, like what the happiest moments of my life are. And like I said, the whole my I wanted to make this like a great show. I wanted to make this a great recording, I wanted to make this a real inspirational, motivational, go getter type of of show today, but I I didn't put the prep work into it, so I'm just kind of talking freely about what's on my mind right now, right here today, in this moment. And at the end of the day, guys, that's all we really have is right here, right now, and this moment. The past is the past, there's nothing that we can do about it. It certainly doesn't define us, but we can linger there and stay there if we choose to, and I've done that a lot, but and I'll likely still do it again as I move forward because I'm far from perfect. Um, but I think that when we really understand that all we have is this day, it helps reframe our perspective in life, and it helps us understand what really makes us happy. So, again, if you guys are out there and you're listening, what the happiest moments are in your life, let me know. Drop a comment and um let everyone else know. The next topic that was suggested was something that we're proud of, something that we would tell a story about on our deathbed, and that's a tough one. Um, and I'm gonna go ahead and just drop this in the comments as well for those of you who are watching and listening, and again, I would encourage you to answer the question yourself. What is something that um that you are proud of? Because um you know, and would tell a story about on your deathbed, um you know what what is that? Um it's uh it it that's a hard question to simply provide an answer to on the spot, but something that I'm proud of is a recent decision that I made to engage in what many people call the great resignation. Um I I quit my job in May of 2022, and I I didn't really have a solid plan when I did that. It was you know, for a lot this was a this was a job that I had worked in a company that I'd worked with for eight years. Um for a long time I thought that I had arrived. I thought that you know this particular position that I uh worked myself into, or in a sense, kind of created for myself, um, or not necessarily created for myself, but the position was in a sense kind of created for me, and I I grew that and cultivated what I was doing in that position with the company to further grow the company, and uh felt like I was relatively successful at doing that. I had a career in the green industry that spanned for more than two decades, and uh by the time I left, but the reality is I things change in life, and all of a sudden, I realized that the decisions that uh upper management was making were not necessarily in line with the direction that I thought the department in which I actively managed should go. And I realized I wasn't a good fit anymore. And rather than try and force it, and rather than try and continue going along to get along, I simply resigned without a plan. Now, the only reason I was able to do that, the way that I did it, was because I had implemented Financial Peace University into my life. I followed the baby steps, uh exactly as written in the book, Financial Peace University, and as outlined in the program Financial Peace University, including charity and tithing. That was something that I did not do for quite some time, and it's it's it's the the pride that I take in this story is not because I I I give to charity. No, it's it's it's that I took a risk and I took action on something that I had no idea what was going to be the outcome of the actions that I took. And that's a scary thing, you know. That the likelihood of me taking any action in the future would continue to decline and decrease. So I did it, and I ended up working um for a couple weeks with someone, uh, someone else, and I managed to get fired from that job. Um, and uh I'm not necessarily proud of that, but uh clearly the the the the way in which I operate wasn't a good fit for them, and um it let me go. Um I don't like to say that I was fired, but the reality is I don't really know how else to spin that. That's kind of what happened. I I got I got fired for my first attempt at employment outside of something that I actively pursued. Um you know, this was an opportunity that was presented to me. I I took him up on it, and uh I I didn't perform according to the expectations, apparently. So he let me go, and that led to me saying, Well, now is as good of a time as ever to move forward with um with my parents and help grow this, uh grow this business that my parents have been working on with the farmers market and the the little endeavors that are going on here at York Meadow Farm. So in June, I went full-time and I haven't looked back. Uh I take that back. No, I'm not fully employed here by the farm or at the farm. I'm self-employed. Um, and the farm is my biggest customer and where I put the majority of my time, effort, and energy. So, in a sense, it's more like my family is my customer, but in within a family business and a very small operation, it it the waters get muddy quite frequently, and it it's sort of hard to navigate. But the that's something that I think I'm most proud of is the the ability to that I had to move forward and get comfortable doing something uncomfortable. And over the past seven months, I've become increasingly more comfortable being uncomfortable because that's what it takes, whether you're self-employed or employed by someone else, or whatever the case may be regarding your employment status, if you're not comfortable being uncomfortable, then get comfortable with mediocrity. Because if you're not going to be uncomfortable and if you're not willing to go there, then you're never going to change, and you have no excuse for complaining about the current situation that you find yourself in, because that's what I did a lot of, and when I finally took responsibility for my own life, I realized that I had no one else to blame other than me because everything in my life was a direct result of the decisions that I made and ultimately the actions that I took. So I'm proud that I decided to walk away only after doing the necessary preparation. And that, my friends, is a story that I would be telling someone on my deathbed not to fear the unknown, but to embrace our ignorance in order to learn and in order to grow. And embracing the ignorance is a little tease of what the last thing is that we're going to talk about, which is feeling stupid to learn stuff, but we'll get to that in just a second. So, as far as the next topic that was suggested from the audience is concerned, it is the skills that we're looking to learn in 2023. And that's a tough one because for a long time, what we talked about on the show, and the intro to this show was providing tools and insight to build the life and homestead of your dreams. You know, I gave everybody the impression that I'm this homesteader that I'm out here making it happen. Maybe some people might see it that way. I no longer do. And I was chasing someone else's dream that was not my own. Tried spent way too much money that I didn't have, went deeply into debt again. And you know, all of this trying to be someone I wasn't, trying to do things that weren't me, that led me along the path of burnout. And these skills that I was learning at this time, there they were, admittedly, they were applicable to homesteading, but the manner in in which I was approaching them was just for lack of a better term, it was bass acords. I uh I I I was not doing things for me. I was I was trying to live up to someone else else's expectations. I wanted to be the next rock star market farmer. Um, you know, I I just I was doing all this stuff for reasons that I didn't really understand. And um, and so you know, once once I reached that point, I man, I th I threw in the towel and um and said, that's it, I'm done. I need to focus on my career. I am deeply in debt right now. And luckily, the timing of where I was at in my career just happened to coincide with a big project that we were taking on in terms of the software that we use to manage inventory levels and how that ties into our accounting system and all of that. And I got to spearhead that, and that gave me the opportunity to spend time and focus on my career and ultimately earn the money that I needed to earn to dig myself out of tens of thousands of dollars of debt, chasing other people's dreams and living a life that was not authentic and not true to myself. So, again, how does this tie into the skills that we are looking to learn in 2023? It ties into the skills that we're looking to learn in 2023 because of the simple fact that all this stuff in past episodes about you know providing tools and insight to build the life and homestead of our dreams. I finally had the sense and sensibility to say, before we build the homestead of our dreams, we've got to build the life of our dreams. And how do we build the life of our dreams? Well, we set goals, we set goals in seven different aspects of life: you know, financial, physical, personal development, family, spiritual, social, and career. Those seven aspects of life, working on those equally and in that order, in my humble opinion, gives us the opportunity to provide or obtain the balance that we seek, which is also the very thing that we lack. All right, and you can learn how to do this and follow the same protocols that I used and began using a couple of years ago by using the link in the description and in the show notes below, and it's called the goal setting guide, and that will help provide you with a framework that may be better than the one that you're currently using now in order to help you reach achieve the results that you want. There's only one way to find out, and that's to check it out and you know, download it for free and see what it's all about. See if it's everything that I say it's cracked up to be. Maybe it's not for you. That's okay. Um, if it's not, then join the telegram group and let us know what is, what works for you. T.me slash all around growth. Um, but this time around, you know, the one who's managing the market garden, the one who's doing the market gardening, his name is Cody Gray. Cody Gray is uh I'd very much like to say a friend of mine, though I don't believe I've been as much of a friend to him as he's been to me over the past few years. I'm hoping to change that because I'm making some changes in my own life. Um to well, for lack of a better term, learn how to live. I've I'm tired of putting on this facade of whatever it was that I was doing. I'm just tired of putting on this facade. I'm tired of wearing this mask. I'm tired. Dude, I'm just sick and tired of being sick and tired. So this year. It's not this year. This isn't a New Year's resolution, right? If you make New Year's resolutions, you know, I'm not gonna shit on you for that, but I really would encourage you to think outside of New Year's resolutions and encourage you to think about restructuring your life and reframing your perspective and seeing things in a different way. Because all we know is what we know, and more often than not, it's nowhere close to what is. So as far as skills, I'm actually looking to learn to do things like to spearhead projects and act and and and learn skills. So the skills I'm looking to learn, you know, Cody came in, um actively began managing the market garden when Ken, our first tenant farmer, transitioned out. Cody took it all over, and I don't have the income that I used to. So in exchange, like in the past, I'd give him money in the in the wintertime, right around this time of year, uh, help him out with his seed money to get him started for the year. And in exchange for that, that was kind of like a CSA. I'd I'd give him money, he'd give me produce. That was a solid deal. For the past few years, I've been eating better than I've ever eaten in my life because I've got food grown and harvested oftentimes that same day. Doesn't get much better than that. Um, from land on that on which I live. Now, I may not be the one that's doing the harvesting, I may not be the one that's selling the produce, but this year I do look forward to learning what Cody's learned, some of it at least, over the past. I don't know how long Cody's been doing this. Uh I believe he's been in the market gardening game for 10 years at this point. So, you know, he's got a pretty good foundation, and um, and he does a lot of things that are a little bit different than the standard market gardener, and so I look forward to learning that. I look forward to increasing my skill set with regard to um plants, the cultivation of food, and ultimately just simple skills like basic woodworking and things like that. Now, we did a lot of that when we built the cabin, when we built the barn, when we built this office that I'm sitting in right now. Uh, I did a lot of helping. My brother was the one that did a lot of the uh the the planning, the logistics, the measuring. I was a I was a good I was and am a darn good gopher. I like to think of myself as an excellent assistant. Um but you know, we've got benches out there by the high tunnel that are simply degrading. They're they're rotting. Um they're benches that I bought from the neighbor across the street many years ago before he moved. Um and it's it's time to make repairs. Oh, and that reminds me, I need to take out the um the wax cylinders in the high tunnel to prevent them from being damaged in the freezing temperatures. And I'm gonna actually jot that down somewhere now because if I don't do that, I didn't do it last year, but uh that is something that um needs to be done, and these wax cylinders that I'm talking about are about this big, the size of a pen. And um when the wax in them melts, it active it actuates a lever that opens and closes the vent. So these things are temperature regulated and uh but require no actual electronics or any control mechanisms outside of the wax in the cylinder, and when that freezes, it it can potentially cause them to crack. So, you know, just in terms of skills, there's there's simple homesteading skills that that I need to learn, you know, and including basic woodworking, you know, some chainsaw work, things that I'm not entirely unfamiliar with, but skills that I need to grow and refine. So it's it's less so about what skills that I'm looking to learn, but it's also more on dialing in that which I know and being receptive to learning that which I do not. And um, you know, in terms of being receptive to knowing that which I do not, that leads is is almost another tease into the uh the the final question, which is feeling or story time rather, which is feeling stupid to learn stuff. But before we get into that, we're gonna one of the questions that was presented to me from the audience was the best barter that we ever did, and um I like the act of bartering. I uh I think barter is a great way to engage in what I would consider to be the alternate alternative economy, and alternative because in American culture, in Western culture, I think the predominant way of interacting with each other in terms of everyday commerce is you know, you have goods or services that I want, and I have something that you want, which is my fiat currency. And more often than not, we make a simple exchange. You determine a price for your good or your service that I desire, and I either agree or disagree on that, or we negotiate and then we make the exchange, and the deal is done. Um, at the farmers markets, I have begun to barter when possible. Uh, for example, uh, most recently, the most recent barter that I did at the farmers market was I traded a jar of fermented jalapenos, uh sliced jalapenos fermented with garlic to Todd from Moonstone Coffee Works. Shout out to Todd. Um, Todd runs a uh a little food truck making different kinds of coffee drinks and you know, really good stuff. Uh, he gave me something, I forget the specific name of the latte, but it was flavored with maple syrup and some heavy cream, just really quality drink. So, yeah, by all means, I was I was all about um bartering a jar of jalapenos for a latte. Now, is that the best barter I ever did? No, however, I don't necessarily feel at liberty to publicly disclose what the best barter I ever did was for reasons I won't disclose here. However, if you're out there and you're listening, drop some comments below. Let us know what the best barter you ever did was, and um and if you don't feel you know, if it uh toes the line of something that uh yeah, then let us know in the telegram group, t.me slash all around growth. We've had a lot of comment, uh commentary and dialogue about this in the group, but if anything, hopefully that'll reel you in to the group so that you can engage with us in a different way about something that is uh a barter. You know, there's also for those of you, a lot of you guys are familiar with the butter blanket. Um way back in the day, I went to a workshop uh with my dad at Darby Simpson's place in southern Indiana, and I traded something with Darby's son for this very cool geode, almost the size of a basketball. I've yet to cut it open and see what it's all about because I don't really know how to do that. But on a barter blanket at an event, and the barter blanket was something that I first learned about through Jack Spearco of the survival podcast, uh Tspc.co. Um, and that is, you know, you can definitely score big when it comes to the barter blanket, but it is not the barter blanket where I proceeded in my best barter arrangement, nor was it a workshop or a farmer's market or anything like that. If you want to find out more on that with regard to what my best barter was, then you've got to join the telegram group, guys. I don't really feel at liberty to get into that right now on this platform. So that with that said, with no further comments from anyone out there regarding the best barter that they ever did in this particular live stream at this time, that is going to lead us into the last segment of the show where we are going to talk about um feeling stupid to learn stuff and this is just a story. Like I said, we've got to embrace our ignorance on what it is that we don't know about, if it is that we want to grow and learn and evolve, because if we're not doing those things, we're not necessarily doing it wrong, but we could be doing it better, and what it is is life, and you know, for those of you who don't know, for those of you who are new, I'm not I'm not a I'm not a gun guy, but I do own firearms. And uh and and and my family owns firearms. Um I'm not a stranger to them by any means, but it wasn't until I was in my mid-30s when I actually proactively purchased a firearm for myself um for the first time. We didn't really have guns growing up in the house. It's not like we were opposed to that by any means, but my father was in the service, and that just I think now I can't speak for him at all, and I don't I don't I don't plan on it, but I think when he was overseas in Vietnam, I think he saw what he needed to see. And we lived in um, you know, I grew up in a in a in a relatively safe uh neighborhood, in a safe suburb, and uh there there wasn't a whole lot of crime around, but you know, when my dad was growing up, you know, my uncle hunted and trapped, still does, and so it's it's not like you know, we were strangers to any of this, and we shot as kids sometimes, um here and there, and and uh it was always something that fascinated me, but I was never really around it that much. So when I first started acquiring you know firearms, it was when I moved back here and we had land and we had property, and you know, I I I felt like the best way to you know have what was needed on the homestead was to have a uh a variety of firearms, each with their specific application, right? A handgun, which would serve as like an everyday carry gun, um, which at that time I you know went through and obtained my concealed carry permit, which is no longer necessary in this state. Uh, did some training, became very familiar with it. I've I've gone through hunter safety courses before in other states where I've lived, and um you know, proceeded to buy a oh a uh Ruger 1022 little rifle for um you know uh whatever was necessary. The the most that we've used that particular rifle for was um shooting raccoons that we trapped because the raccoons were eating and getting into and just just devastating the ducks that we had, which was our first experience and only experience thus far with livestock outside of fish in the pond, which I don't really consider to be livestock. And um, in addition to that, I also purchased a uh Mossberg 500 um pistol grip shotgun, which in my mind was going to be god forbid, a home defense weapon if it ever came down to that. Now, one thing that we do that we don't have here is a larger caliber rifle. And in another telegram group, I saw someone share a link to a new year's special. Um, yeah, all right. So, you know, Sean out there's got uh got a little 1022. It is uh yeah, it's it's a great little rifle, uh, very handy. Um, and it is a heck of a lot of fun. It's it's it's wildly fun. I mean, you know, shooting is fun. Um, it's it's that in and of itself could be a uh a skill that we're looking to learn or improve upon. If you're not familiar with firearms, if you're not familiar with shooting, it is most certainly um a skill to have because if you're not a proficient shooter, then by all means, it is um it it's a skill to work on. And in another in another group, someone posted a link to a Smith and Wesson MP Sport 2. And for those of you who don't know what that is, it is a rifle that is on the AR 15 platform. And uh correct me if I'm wrong out there, guys. I believe I'm speaking about this accurately, but um, it's it's not like I just uh wanted to have an AR because you know that's what all the bros have, and you know, I'm gonna get the zombies or whatever. We're not going there, guys. But as I began to learn about this particular platform, and you know, many thanks to you, Sean, for helping educate me on this. Uh, the beauty of the AR-15 is the fact that no matter what particular manufacturer produces that particular gun on that platform, that is, in the AR-15th platform, the parts, provided it's all mill spec, all right, are all interchangeable. And the analogy that I was given was that you know I have a 97 Dodge truck. And if I need to replace an alternate it or an alternator, then what I need to go look for is an alternator for that motor that's in my truck. And I can put that alternator whether whether it's my truck or your truck or dad's truck or the neighbors, that alternator's going to fit, provided it's you know a Dodge and it is that same motor, you know, and uh that's a good analogy, but it's it's with the AR, it's more than that. Like everything's interchangeable. You can get a high-end, low end, doesn't matter, everything works. You know, parts are always gonna be available because the the the firearms are readily available now. Um, and they always have been, and most likely they always will be. What's gonna change is the price and and the fluctuation, but I saw a good deal and I thought that's it, this is the time. That's a solid. I need to I need to take advantage of this while I can. So I decided that I was going to do exactly that. Um, and I went down to my secret little cash stash, which is not at the bank, um, and uh and I withdrew some money to take to the bank because I was going to order this online. And um on my way to the bank, I decided that I was going to stop at a local gun store and uh do two things see if they had any alternatives that might be available, and also see. what the the transfer fee would be because it it it you know when you're buying a rifle um you've got to have it shipped to an FFL uh and um a dealer so that all the paperwork can be taken care of and the purchase can be made legitimately all right so as as I did this he encouraged me to think about these alternative options that I indeed went there to look at although that wasn't really my intent I just wanted to get some inputs it turned out that this particular shop shout out to first firearms tactical um or freedom first tactical rather uh new shop down the road shout out to Kyle down there really good dude for anybody in the Medina area I would definitely recommend checking them out um but he was straight up and honest with me told me that he's got you know very reasonable transfer um fees and uh the lowest around because in his opinion transfer fees are stupid and um unreasonable um kind of an infringement on our freedoms if you will he didn't say that I'm totally paraphrasing but that was that was the gist I was getting from him and he also encouraged me to look at some other options there now at that time when I went there which was last Thursday I believe I I was not listening as deeply or as wholly as I could have and I was really just focused on getting to the bank because I wanted to get there before the bank closed so I could make sure that the money was in there so I could you know put that order in on that day and get the ball rolling so I could move forward with this as quickly as possible. And luckily I had some communication with some other people including you out there Sean appreciate that a lot of other people in uh gun groups and elsewhere uh friends locally who are um you know uh very uh very much more educated on these matters than I and that is ultimately how I learned what I learned about this particular firearm the uh AR-15 uh regardless of manufacturer now that leads me into feeling stupid because when you get into these things you know you've got your basic framework but then you've got all the stuff things that are called a lot of guys call furniture and some of this stuff you can buy with it on there um some of it uh you you you just buy the firearm and then can add to it after the fact add on your own custom furniture right just like building a house um or building anything for that matter and uh I went back to the shop the next day no actually as a matter of fact I halted my progress turned around did not go to the bank went back to the gun shop same day and I was going to talk with Kyle some more about this and uh and I did now I had to hang around for a little while because somebody was in there buying a suppressor and there's a whole lot of paperwork and fingerprints and all sorts of things that are required in order to obtain a suppressor and um you know so I was just doing a lot of waiting around kind of looking around at all this stuff and then some other guy comes in and I I don't I forget what his name was but Kyle knew him well and um he just he kind of ran into the back uh back room where where there's some ammunition and he picked up oh a dozen boxes of whatever you know five of this and you know six or seven of that and um and ultimately because Kyle was in the midst of working through this thing with his other guy all the paperwork and stuff you know he had to wait too and so that that that took a while and um eventually that guy got out of there and I thought okay here's my chance and and you know this this other guy who came in to pick up the ammo said hey you know you were here before me go ahead and I said well hey look it's all good go ahead you're just checking out and um I'm actually not here to buy anything so please you know go ahead of me and he was grateful for that you know it's always good to have someone throw you a bone do something nice the reality was I just wanted this guy gone because I was about to ask some dumb questions and I didn't want to look stupid in front of anybody else however this guy didn't leave all right so here I am I'm I'm at a shop and uh looking at the alternatives that Kyle had initially presented me with and uh yeah I had some dumb questions um luck which way the bullets go in um yeah do you do put them in the front end or I uh I mean yeah it it it the reality is uh this guy wasn't going anywhere and so finally once I realized that uh I I just I I said all right well um you know guys I'm ignorant and um you know if you're if you're here I I I might as well seek your input too and so here's the deal all right um I'm looking at a rifle on on this platform and uh you know as far as I can tell this is how it works and I I said a lot of the things I said already so I'm not going to repeat myself but you know interchangeability of parts things of that nature and these guys were all like yeah yeah yeah you know um that's how it works that's the beauty of it and it was also approaching closing time of the store thank god because as I was asking these questions I'm feeling overwhelmed at just how ignorant I am and I'm realizing that if I want to learn anything then I'm gonna have to I'm gonna have to embrace feeling stupid so I did and I'll go back again most likely sometime this next week when the store opens so you know I can avoid as many people as humanly possible um but I will say this one nice thing being a being a small business owner myself now um he appreciated that all right Kyle appreciated the fact that I went back and I engaged and admitted my own ignorance because not only did it give him an opportunity to educate me but it also gave me an ability to you know learn what the freedom and flexibility is when you deal with someone locally and you know Sean just popped in with a comment and said the truth is plenty of me people make similar purchases without having learned what I know already they just want to swipe their credit card and have a thing and that makes me feel good you know I appreciate that comment man because um that's what I was about to do and that's what but you know what that's what I didn't do and I didn't do it because you know people like you man um and people like everyone out there who helped not make fun of me because I'm just some ignorant idiot no most people at least that I surround myself with now genuinely want to help they genuinely care they all want us to succeed and be better and that's the that's the beauty of it so you know this whole thing about getting comfortable with being uncomfortable and feeling stupid and to learn stuff and grow man that's critical we have to do that we have to otherwise if we don't then we become one of these many people that just go out there and buy stuff and just want to have a thing because that's what everybody else has that's what everybody else is doing but but you know when we do that what happens more often than not the one thing that does happen is regret we can't change the past there's no sense in living in the past I share this story because oh yeah I felt stupid now when I talk to people that like you know care about me and and and want me to learn people like Mike people like Sean people like Cody people like Brad people you know people like you it makes things easier because ignorance is not something to to shy away from or to be ashamed of it's something that can help us get beyond the plateau where we currently are we just have to understand that the only way to get beyond that is to engage in a little bit of positive stress and then a little more and then a little more think of it like physical training right if you want to run a marathon or or let's just say a marathon all right you can't I mean theoretically I guess you could just go out there and do it um I wouldn't necessarily advise that you might not have the the the the best success it's it's it's it is one of many options however I would argue that if you have this goal in mind this objective out here and and and and you want to achieve something then you've got to all right an even better example uh no let's just roll with that I'm into it we're there show's almost over let's conclude and just wrap up this thought train all right you can go and you can just walk out your door and go run a marathon that is one option or you can put a little bit of thought into it you can talk with people who have been there done that got the t-shirt and see what they did look at their training plan understand what it takes to do the work to get to where you need to be in order to reach achieve the results that you want and oftentimes I mean a marathon is 26.2 miles but for many of us who've start and have never run anything like that before we begin with something that's not even a 5k I remember you know this isn't me tooting my own horn about a marathon um yes I ran a marathon yes my time was very slow I averaged about a 13 minute mile um and when I decided that I was going to do that I couldn't even run a half a mile it took me a long time to get to the point where I could where I could actually accomplish that goal was I a distance runner am I a distance runner no no not at all at at my at my peak I used to weigh 275 pounds smoke a carton of cigarettes a week and you know had a healthy consumption of maker's mark it's not the optimal diet for distance running and endurance sports believe me ask me how I know now it's a lot less uh intimidating to learn uh what you need to do to go from our current state and to accomplish something or to uh you know move in terms of accomplishing a uh a goal like a a physical goal like a marathon now if I were to engage in something I've I've never done before that I've no particular uh experience in for example if I were to to try and make something like this coffee mug there's a lot that goes into this um this is my favorite mug uh this was given to me by uh a girlfriend of mine in the past um I'm it's still full of some some hot cocoa here I can't really show that off on this on the uh screen but um I can to a little bit but I would find someone like that who who who has listed their signature on the bottom of the mug and say hey where do I begin you know I want to do this I want to make I want to make something like this you know so I I I presume it involves you know finding the right the right clay the right product the right materials forming it uh allowing it to dry properly kiln drying it firing it glazing it painting it all all these things the correct order of operations is something I'm totally unfamiliar with uh all I know how to do is put coffee and in this case hot cocoa in this thing and enjoy but uh I don't know how to do that and if I ever wish to do something like that then the best way and as far as I'm concerned the and my humble opinion I you know you guys may disagree with this I don't know um I believe that the best way that we can you know feel the that we can learn stuff is to embrace the idea of feeling stupid because I think what's more stupid instead of doing that and embracing your own ignorance there's nothing wrong with ignorance ignorance just means lack of knowledge right I'm ignorant of something it doesn't it's not a degrading term it's it's not that at all but we we we view it that way with the way that you know we we talk about ignorant people now ignorance is what it is and unless we embrace that again we're not going to get anywhere and I used to work for this guy his name was Ray old Ray used to say Rob if you're not growing you're dying what he was a marine I'm sorry is a marine I've been corrected on that too marines are always marines all right respect um but man when he would say that if you're not growing you're dying oh that used to really grind my gears man and now I don't necessarily find myself saying that but it is something that I believe in and the only way that we can grow one of the ways that we can grow effectively that is is to embrace our ignorance admit it to other people and realize that that area of our life that we're trying to manage we can't so we seek the wisdom and knowledge of others to to guide us in the direction that we need to go to accomplish what it is that we want so you know don't feel stupid or you know feel stupid but be okay with it because it's okay to feel stupid it's okay to feel all the things as long as we don't dwell on them as long as they don't become us and as long as that doesn't become the very thing that defines us um I'm gonna call this a I'm gonna call this a day we're gonna go ahead and conclude the show um like I said uh I had a seizure last night and I've been able to talk relatively well for for the day but For sitting here yammering for almost an hour and a half, I am realizing that my tongue is a little bit swollen and uh it has gotten a little bit swollen, uh, more swollen the more I sit here and yammer. So with that, we're gonna conclude, guys. Uh, I hope that you enjoyed the show today. Um, I hope that you enjoyed these little reflections as we talk about the happiest moments in our life. Uh, well, let me rephrase that. I hope that you enjoyed listening to me talking about the happiest moment in my life and some of the happiest moments in my life, something that I'm proud of, some skills that I'm looking to learn this year. Um, talking about bartering, and then ultimately feeling stupid in order to learn things. Um, I'd like to say thank you to everyone out there listening, especially to those of you watching. Um you guys are the drivers behind the topics of this show today. And and I like that. I I I like the relationships that have been cultivated as a result of this show. I value them deeply. Um I've learned a lot from all of you guys. From those of you who I've met in person, I I appreciate you. And for those of you who I've yet to meet in real life, I look forward to the time that we do. Because it's it's what what in my mind, what that's going to feel like is almost like an old high school reunion, except better. Because we've all connected in the ways that we have for reasons that I don't I don't I don't understand. You know, we've we've we've we've we've connected through communities, and you know, this has led us to other communities, and at the end of the day, the relationships that we all have with one another, they're they're not only you know mutually beneficial, but you know, it's like the old saying, uh a rising tide lifts all ships. And in my humble opinion, those of you out there in the audience, those of you who I connect with on a regular basis, are taking active steps, most of you that is, in your own life, to grow and improve and share, inspire, motivate me and everyone else that reads the words that you type. Here's the message that you share. And you know, I want to encourage you to keep on doing that, whether it's in the group, outside the group, in other groups, in the own content, in your own content that you're creating. Know that I'm I support you, I encourage you. I hope that some of the things that I say inspire you to do more, because the reality is you guys inspire me and have inspired me today to do this show in the way that it is, and for that, my friends, I am grateful. Um, and that's it for today's show. What can we expect next time? All right, um there's got a there's a lot on my mind with regard to where we're gonna go and what we're gonna talk about next week. And one of the things that is on my mind, and the topic of next week's live stream is going to be the me-centered society, all right? And um we'll touch on this a little bit, where I first heard that term, um, why I think it's important to think about that, what that means, and um, and the impact that this me-centered society that we are actively living in. Like this isn't something that's happening, this is the reality that is our life right now. We are surrounded by it. So, what do I mean by that? Well, you have to tune in next week to find out because I'm excited to talk about this because I think it's something that's easily overlooked and also easily dismissed, but it's something that I think is very important and something that I think is worth taking into consideration, at least the ideas I have to share about it, uh, as we move into another new year. So guys, I hope that uh I hope that you have a wonderful day, a wonderful rest of the day, rest of the night. I hope you have a great week. It's Sunday, first day of the week, and uh here's the ringing in the new year. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for listening, and I look forward to catching you in the next episode. This is Rob Kaiser, and thank you.