September 8, 2025 • 21 mins
Welcome to a special episode of Revelizations. Today we celebrate a year’s worth of following through on a dream, a year’s worth of meeting interesting people and learning from them, a year’s worth of growth, and we do that with a revelization that was written years before any of this was a reality. Thanks for listening everyone!
Enjoying Revelizations and don't know what to do next? Let me offer a suggestion: Grab a device capable of playing a podcast along with some earbuds, turn on an episode of Revelizations, place them in the ears of your loved ones, and watch with joy as they thank you endlessly for introducing them to the Revelizations podcast. While you're at it feel free to leave a review on whatever platform you're listening and follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode.
Not enjoying Revelizations and don't know what you do next? Let me offer a suggestion, grab your loudest portable speaker capable of pairing with a device that can play a podcast, turn on an episode of Revelizations, go to a densely populated area with great acoustics, crank up the volume, and laugh maniacally as the unsuspecting population looks around in confusion to the situation they are in. While you're at it feel free to leave a review on whatever platform you're forcing everyone to listen to the Revelizations podcast and follow/subscribe so you don't miss these types of opportunities in the future.
Thanks to today's sponsor: Homework Solutions
Be sure to use code “Revelizations” at any and all checkouts to receive an additional zero percent off on all purchases.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
This episode of Revelizations is brought to you by Homework Solutions.
Guys, get a load of this winner.
Hey, Poindexter, did you do your homework again?
What a loser.
Do you long to be one of the cool kids, but you don't know how?
You desire nothing more than to be a dunce, but your ambition for success keeps getting
(00:31):
in your way.
You're always turning your homework in promptly and asking for extra credit projects even
though you already have an A++ in all of your classes.
The cool kids do their best to guide you by giving you a hard time for having aspirations
in life, but even that's not enough to dampen your earnestness.
That's where Homework Solutions shines.
(00:54):
Homework Solutions is a passion project from the same people that brought you Truly Bully.
At Homework Solutions, we will make sure our client's promising future becomes nothing
more than a remnant of the past.
We pride ourselves in our many diverse approaches to ensure our client's homework never makes
it to the teacher's desk, including, but not limited to, a bully erasing your name off
(01:18):
the assignment you completed and replacing it with their own name, having trained dogs
eat your homework.
We can even break into your house, steal your homework from your backpack, and only for
a few dollars more, we'll even rough up that older sibling for you.
Homework has to be turned in online?
We have the solution for that.
(01:38):
Need our help, but have a fixed budget?
Gee whiz, all this sounds expensive.
Quiet down nerd!
With the multitude of packages we offer, our company will be sure to meet your homework
destruction needs at any budget.
Here at Homework Solutions, we never reached our potential, and you shouldn't have to
either.
(01:59):
Homework Solutions.
Your small town hometown homework, destruction specialist.
Hi everyone, welcome to Revelizations.
(02:22):
I'm your host, Brian James.
Today's episode of Revelizations marks a special occasion for a couple of reasons.
The first is that this episode commemorates the one year and one day event of me bringing
to fruition a long held dream.
I became an official podcaster by releasing my trailer one year and one day ago on September
(02:44):
7th, 2024.
That's a pretty exciting milestone, and as I reflect on this past year, I am truly overwhelmed
with gratitude that I find myself surrounded by so much love and encouragement.
Thanks for helping me make it this far.
I'm looking forward to what this next year holds in store for us.
The second reason this is a special edition of Revelizations is because this is my last
(03:08):
Revelization that I wrote before I knew if I was ever going to follow through with starting
my own podcast.
I only had two of these.
This episode, which I wrote July 13th, 2021, and my second Revelization episode, Popcorn
and Black Holes, which I wrote a few weeks later.
These episodes have a special meaning to me because of when I wrote them.
(03:31):
They were written when I was in a dark spell, and in that hopeless season, even though I
didn't see any way to better my circumstances, I could still see a glint of light on the
horizon.
This episode, along with Black Holes and Popcorn, felt like I was writing them from that future
light horizon back to my present self.
It was the encouragement I needed to hear to keep going even though I felt despair.
(03:55):
It's dramatic, but I was really struggling with finding meaning when all I did was work
for a company that didn't appreciate me, to then spend almost all of my income to barely
afford rent.
It felt empty.
I wrote this Revelization in the hopes that I was going to do something different than
what I was currently doing.
I wrote it with the promise that future me was going to follow through on what I had
(04:18):
been saying for years, I was going to start a podcast, and what I was writing would be
a featured episode.
I was tempted to edit this episode and lighten the tone up.
It starts off a smidge heavy, and that's because I was in a heavy place.
Not just my belly, but my mind too.
I ultimately decided against it because I wrote this Revelization not just to me, but
(04:41):
for people who are currently feeling what I felt when I originally wrote this.
My hope is whoever needs to hear this does more than just listen.
I hope it strengthens your resolve to get unstuck and go after the future you want.
Thanks for listening everyone.
When I was in college, instead of focusing on my studies, I was perfecting enhanced interrogation
(05:06):
methods.
Enhanced interrogation, of course, is a brilliant marketing spin on the word torture.
It's where the interviewer uses various methods of coercion to extract information they want
to know from their captive.
Such examples are playing unpleasant music loudly, playing abrupt, jarring noises loudly
constantly or at random intervals, waterboarding where drowning is simulated, sleep deprivation
(05:32):
where sleep is denied for days on end just to name a few.
Enhanced interrogation is basically non-lethal, non-Geneva Convention approved persuasion
methods all designed to extract information while never letting the detained individual
find comfort.
But before I give away all my secrets in my upcoming book, so you've caught a terrorist,
(05:53):
now what?
Which will be purchasable at any reputable book dealer for what some would describe as
a criminally cheap $17.95, shipping and handling not included.
Let's flash back to a younger version of Brian in college, finally tuning this particular
set of skills he acquired over a very long scholastic career.
(06:14):
Skills that make him a nightmare for people like myself.
That was my Liam Neeson taken impersonation.
It's terrible.
It sounds more like how the Grinch stole Christmas.
That's why I had to explicitly say what I was doing.
Just about every night I was doing my absolute best to make sure I got little to no sleep
as staying up late playing video games with my friends took precedent.
(06:37):
Like most college-aged kids, I was resilient and seemingly impervious to this form of enhanced
interrogation, except on mornings where I had to be up early for a college class.
The alarm would sound and disorientation would be there to greet me.
What time is it?
What day is it?
Why am I upside down?
(06:57):
Where's my other sock?
My name.
I know I have one.
I mean, it's not a hill I'm willing to die on, but I'm fairly confident I went to bed
with a name.
These were the great mysteries of the universe I would grapple with on mornings of particular
exhaustive video game sessions with my friends.
As the morning progressed, my brain would slowly begin to boot up.
(07:20):
The answers to the previous questions would begin to trickle in.
It's morning, on a school day.
I'm upside down because I was trying to find every cold spot my bed had to offer.
I don't need to find my other sock.
I will just wear sandals today.
And finally, my name is Brian.
With those perplexities all properly solved, I would ride that momentum and begin getting
(07:43):
ready for the day.
Most of the time, this entailed putting on clothes and heading out the door.
Should I have showered?
Probably.
But who am I?
The Pope?
I'm not trying to impress anyone.
In those days, I remember getting dressed, and before leaving my room, I would look back
in my bed and think, only 12 more hours.
(08:03):
Only 12 more hours till I've gone to my classes, finished my work shift, and completed my other
obligations I had for the day, thus allowing me to reunite with my bed.
I'm not lamenting this time in my life, nor do I wish I chose to live differently.
The truth is, I loved playing video games with my friends.
Those memories are a deep well of nostalgia for me.
(08:25):
I'm dog-earing this time in my life because I distinctly remember a similar line of thinking
being a theme in my life when I originally put all of this to paper.
In the season of life I wrote this, the pervasive thought of only X more hours until I'm in
bed again evolved from something I would think silently to myself as I would walk out the
door to start my day, to more of a mantra that I repeated several times a day in order
(08:50):
to give myself encouragement to persist.
It could take several forms with different phrasing, but at its core, it can be simply
boiled down to, make it through.
This phrase played on repeat mostly on nights where I was laying in bed, reluctantly falling
asleep on Sunday nights, because the next time I open my eyes, it'll be because my
(09:12):
alarm is making an unpleasant noise signaling morning is here and it's time to get ready
for work.
Maybe you're thinking, well, part of your problem is starting your day with the jolt
of an alarm.
The alarm didn't matter.
I could be awoken by the gleeful melodies of Hall and Oates, or like what my friend Zach
did in high school.
I could have my alarm be the theme from Lion King when Rafiki is on the cliff holding Simba
(09:37):
for all to behold.
Maybe the alarm could have helped start my day off on a better note, but it would be
quickly overshadowed by the tasks of the day that followed the alarm that fed the need
for the mantra of, just make it through today.
I remember the evenings before my last workday of the week saying to myself on repeat, just
(10:01):
make it through tomorrow, just make it through tomorrow.
Because after that, it's smooth sailing.
It'll be the weekend and I'll have the freedom to do what I want when I want to do it, which
is true.
I did, but it was fleeting.
The weekend came and went, leaving faster than it ever arrived, where then I'd find
myself in bed the night before I'd start working repeating the phrase, I just have to make
(10:25):
it through this week.
It's empty.
It's an empty life where you're alive, but you're not living, where it takes all your
discipline to get up and go to work every day that by the time you're home, you're
depleted.
You have nothing left.
No energy left in the tank to pursue hobbies that interest you, fill you up, and bring
you joy.
(10:46):
Instead, you melt into the couch, turn on Netflix, anesthetize yourself with your favorite
comfort shows, snap back to reality to realize that you've stayed up too late, scrape yourself
off the couch, melt into your bed where you scroll social media, putting off going to
sleep because you know that the only thing greeting you in the morning is another unfulfilling
(11:07):
day.
Except, what's in the day's hand?
It's a baseball bat, which it then uses to further beat you into the ground.
Whoa, Brian was it?
Yeah, Brian, that's pretty heavy and a scoosh dark, you probably find yourself thinking
at this point.
And I'll concede, you're correct in that observation.
(11:30):
I'd also wager that you have this same thought process, but it presents in a more benign
way that truthfully is just as malignant.
Not too far back, I found myself among a group of coworkers and we were chit-chatting away.
Someone made a comment about how they couldn't wait for this day to be over.
Not because tomorrow held particular promise, it was because today sucked and they wanted
(11:54):
today to become yesterday.
This sentiment seems harmless, but in truth, we are wishing away our lives in these moments.
Offering our present to the past while we delude ourselves that the future will be any
different as we continue forward on the same path in life.
I remember thinking during my coworker's offhand comment of wanting today to be over was so
(12:16):
sad.
Not that I was thinking, how could he want a day of his life to be over and gone forever?
I agreed with him.
This day did suck and I was over it too.
We have these routines in life that offer us a misguided assurance.
We believe, subconsciously most of the time, that since my routine is staying the same,
(12:36):
so will my life.
It's ethereal, but we believe that the good things in life will stay good.
Life will remain predictable.
My good health will remain.
My loved ones will stay healthy.
Cerebrally, you realize time is moving forward.
You're getting older, but day-to-day changes are typically so minuscule, you don't pay
much if any attention to the idea.
(12:59):
Then these seemingly harmless thoughts bubble up occasionally, like, I can't wait for today
to be over, or I can't wait to go on vacation this summer.
We find ourselves passively living until whatever event we were waiting for arrives, for that
to come and go, but not to be fully present with life in the interim.
That is what I thought was so sad about my coworker's statement.
(13:23):
These routines lull us into thinking nothing is changing.
On a micro level, that may be true.
On a macro level, it isn't.
We all have a set number of days, never knowing if we will even see the day that we are currently
experiencing all the way through.
If we were living in that truth, how different would each day be?
(13:44):
How quickly, with thoughts like, I can't wait for today to be over, disintegrate into obscurity,
how quickly would we be taking the task or goal that we've placed on the back burner
and making it our main focus in life?
As finite beings, there is a tension to this reality.
If you bury it deep, then you get lost in the mundane and can lose focus of your ambitions,
(14:07):
putting off achievements because they are hard or inconvenient now.
But, in the future, when I have my life together, then I can pursue what I want to pursue.
I don't know if anyone really ever has everything all figured out.
On the other side of the equation, giving too much weight to that one day we will die
can be paralyzing, because, after all, what's the point of anything if you're going to die
(14:32):
and be forgotten in a few generations?
That may be true.
We will pass away and be forgotten with time.
Even those who have achieved greatness won't be remembered by everyone.
Take for example the pyramids of Giza.
Who were they made for?
The pharaohs, of course.
Which ones?
(14:52):
Who were the architects of the pyramids?
Maybe a select few people who are listening to this know the answer and you're patting
yourself on the back.
Do you know who's your great-great-grandmother on your paternal side of the family?
Definitely not.
Unless you're my mom.
Then you know your genealogy back to the Mayflower, and boy howdy will she tell you about it.
(15:15):
Save for my mom, I doubt you do know who your parents' parents' parents were.
And without them, you wouldn't even exist.
Again, this can be paralyzing.
You need to reframe your mortality and use it as a catalyst to live what you feel will
be a fulfilling life.
We will die.
(15:36):
But what are we living for today?
Let's set ourselves up so that if we do have the luxury of laying in our deathbed thinking
about our life, we have a been-there-done-that mentality, rather than a remorseful I wish
I would have mentality.
This doesn't mean you need to go out there and build even bigger pyramids, etch into
the walls all your life accomplishments and maybe a few embellishments just to prove you
(15:59):
lived a fulfilling life.
It means if you're a person who has always wanted a garden, then go buy some plants and
get yourself a garden.
If you want to be in a band, start one.
If you want to learn a language, download an app and start practicing.
If you have a crush on someone, go chat them up, ask them out.
Even if you get turned down, in a short amount of time, the sting of rejection will subside.
(16:23):
What will remain is the accomplishment that you did something scary and you're a better
person for not backing down to fear.
Be an active participant in your life.
Don't go through the motions your whole life to wake up one day with an old face staring
back at you in the mirror, never having pursued your passions.
Don't be too afraid to fail that you never try.
(16:45):
That's the strength in knowing our days are numbered.
What does it matter if you try something and don't succeed?
Because people might make fun of you?
People are too busy worrying about themselves and worrying about what you think of them
to be critical of you.
The world doesn't care about you as much or is as critical towards you as you are to
yourself.
(17:06):
One of my favorite hobbies is people watching.
I've been told many times by loved ones, usually after being hit, that I'm staring.
Not only is it rude, but I'm making the person I'm with uncomfortable with how much I'm
staring.
Yet, I can't help myself.
Although people watching is a fun hobby, it has lessons to teach us as well.
(17:27):
I've noticed complacency.
Because what makes you so different, or so special, that you can pursue your dreams while
so many are left just going through the motions.
I'd argue the fact that you even have ambitions sets you apart from a huge swath of people.
I think a lot of people are on a set course and never even question if that's what they
(17:47):
want for themselves.
Or the crueler reality?
That one way or another, they lack the ability to pursue their interests.
Whether that be a physical or mental hurdle, they are incapable of overcoming.
To which then I'd say, because you can, you owe it to the people who got dealt a bad hand
in life and can't choose what they want for their lives, to go after your dreams.
(18:10):
Avoid the temptation of deferring something now, because you'd have to change how you
structure your time.
Or something I have mentioned a few times, of waiting for the perfect time.
I don't think there will ever be a perfect time for you to pursue a more fulfilling life.
When one issue is resolved, another will always take its place.
This is what I'm most guilty of, deferring ambition, even to the extent of my own mental
(18:34):
well-being.
I either bury everything because who am I to think I can do that?
Or because now isn't a good time and let me count the reasons why.
But why?
Why wait for a certain event or date for our lives to start?
If we are unhappy or even miserable, why continue in that pattern if we have a choice?
(18:57):
Why is a future incarnation of you more deserving of happiness than the you you are now?
It's not true.
In fact, screw that future version of you.
Maybe that's too far.
How about we set up that future version of us for continued success by taking steps now
in the right direction?
(19:18):
Even if it is a destination that is thousands of miles away and years away from being tangible,
take advice from an old proverb that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
These years will come and go, whether you're making progress or not.
Ten years can pass and you can look back wishing you would have started back then, or you can
look back and see how far you've come.
(19:41):
Don't just make it through.
Make it happen.
People called me a prodigy, said that I would be in the top 0.001% of whatever I put my
(20:08):
focus on, then started saying I was going to be president, cure cancer, bring an era
of world peace, save the rainforest.
Basically, I was going to solve all the problems.
The pressure was getting to me.
I'm only 14.
I wanted to lower the bar of everyone's expectations, so I hired Homework Solutions.
(20:32):
I was assigned Ralph as my caseworker and couldn't have been happier with the results.
Ralph was waiting outside of school every morning, rain or shine, ready to give me a
full Nelson, hoist me full mast up a flagpole by my pants, give me a swirly, pants me during
class presentations, his peace-day resistance, the double-thread atomic wedgie.
(20:55):
That's where he took the front and back of my underwear and pulled it over my head.
And the list goes on.
He was a true prodigy.
Ralph didn't allow a single homework assignment of mine to get turned in.
After getting held back three years in a row, I dropped out.
Since then, I've been paying it forward, working for Homework Solutions.
(21:17):
It was perfect timing because Ralph aged out of the system.
Apparently, 40 years is the age limit.
Anyways, I got big shoes to fill.
Wish me luck!
Thanks, Homework Solutions.
Homework Solutions, your small-town hometown homework destruction specialist.
This episode of Revelizations is brought to you by Homework Solutions.
Guys, get a load of this winner.
Hey, Poindexter, did you do your homework again?
What a loser.
Do you long to be one of the cool kids, but you don't know how?
You desire nothing more than to be a dunce, but your ambition for success keeps getting
(00:31):
in your way.
You're always turning your homework in promptly and asking for extra credit projects even
though you already have an A++ in all of your classes.
The cool kids do their best to guide you by giving you a hard time for having aspirations
in life, but even that's not enough to dampen your earnestness.
That's where Homework Solutions shines.
(00:54):
Homework Solutions is a passion project from the same people that brought you Truly Bully.
At Homework Solutions, we will make sure our client's promising future becomes nothing
more than a remnant of the past.
We pride ourselves in our many diverse approaches to ensure our client's homework never makes
it to the teacher's desk, including, but not limited to, a bully erasing your name off
(01:18):
the assignment you completed and replacing it with their own name, having trained dogs
eat your homework.
We can even break into your house, steal your homework from your backpack, and only for
a few dollars more, we'll even rough up that older sibling for you.
Homework has to be turned in online?
We have the solution for that.
(01:38):
Need our help, but have a fixed budget?
Gee whiz, all this sounds expensive.
Quiet down nerd!
With the multitude of packages we offer, our company will be sure to meet your homework
destruction needs at any budget.
Here at Homework Solutions, we never reached our potential, and you shouldn't have to
either.
(01:59):
Homework Solutions.
Your small town hometown homework, destruction specialist.
Hi everyone, welcome to Revelizations.
(02:22):
I'm your host, Brian James.
Today's episode of Revelizations marks a special occasion for a couple of reasons.
The first is that this episode commemorates the one year and one day event of me bringing
to fruition a long held dream.
I became an official podcaster by releasing my trailer one year and one day ago on September
(02:44):
7th, 2024.
That's a pretty exciting milestone, and as I reflect on this past year, I am truly overwhelmed
with gratitude that I find myself surrounded by so much love and encouragement.
Thanks for helping me make it this far.
I'm looking forward to what this next year holds in store for us.
The second reason this is a special edition of Revelizations is because this is my last
(03:08):
Revelization that I wrote before I knew if I was ever going to follow through with starting
my own podcast.
I only had two of these.
This episode, which I wrote July 13th, 2021, and my second Revelization episode, Popcorn
and Black Holes, which I wrote a few weeks later.
These episodes have a special meaning to me because of when I wrote them.
(03:31):
They were written when I was in a dark spell, and in that hopeless season, even though I
didn't see any way to better my circumstances, I could still see a glint of light on the
horizon.
This episode, along with Black Holes and Popcorn, felt like I was writing them from that future
light horizon back to my present self.
It was the encouragement I needed to hear to keep going even though I felt despair.
(03:55):
It's dramatic, but I was really struggling with finding meaning when all I did was work
for a company that didn't appreciate me, to then spend almost all of my income to barely
afford rent.
It felt empty.
I wrote this Revelization in the hopes that I was going to do something different than
what I was currently doing.
I wrote it with the promise that future me was going to follow through on what I had
(04:18):
been saying for years, I was going to start a podcast, and what I was writing would be
a featured episode.
I was tempted to edit this episode and lighten the tone up.
It starts off a smidge heavy, and that's because I was in a heavy place.
Not just my belly, but my mind too.
I ultimately decided against it because I wrote this Revelization not just to me, but
(04:41):
for people who are currently feeling what I felt when I originally wrote this.
My hope is whoever needs to hear this does more than just listen.
I hope it strengthens your resolve to get unstuck and go after the future you want.
Thanks for listening everyone.
When I was in college, instead of focusing on my studies, I was perfecting enhanced interrogation
(05:06):
methods.
Enhanced interrogation, of course, is a brilliant marketing spin on the word torture.
It's where the interviewer uses various methods of coercion to extract information they want
to know from their captive.
Such examples are playing unpleasant music loudly, playing abrupt, jarring noises loudly
constantly or at random intervals, waterboarding where drowning is simulated, sleep deprivation
(05:32):
where sleep is denied for days on end just to name a few.
Enhanced interrogation is basically non-lethal, non-Geneva Convention approved persuasion
methods all designed to extract information while never letting the detained individual
find comfort.
But before I give away all my secrets in my upcoming book, so you've caught a terrorist,
(05:53):
now what?
Which will be purchasable at any reputable book dealer for what some would describe as
a criminally cheap $17.95, shipping and handling not included.
Let's flash back to a younger version of Brian in college, finally tuning this particular
set of skills he acquired over a very long scholastic career.
(06:14):
Skills that make him a nightmare for people like myself.
That was my Liam Neeson taken impersonation.
It's terrible.
It sounds more like how the Grinch stole Christmas.
That's why I had to explicitly say what I was doing.
Just about every night I was doing my absolute best to make sure I got little to no sleep
as staying up late playing video games with my friends took precedent.
(06:37):
Like most college-aged kids, I was resilient and seemingly impervious to this form of enhanced
interrogation, except on mornings where I had to be up early for a college class.
The alarm would sound and disorientation would be there to greet me.
What time is it?
What day is it?
Why am I upside down?
(06:57):
Where's my other sock?
My name.
I know I have one.
I mean, it's not a hill I'm willing to die on, but I'm fairly confident I went to bed
with a name.
These were the great mysteries of the universe I would grapple with on mornings of particular
exhaustive video game sessions with my friends.
As the morning progressed, my brain would slowly begin to boot up.
(07:20):
The answers to the previous questions would begin to trickle in.
It's morning, on a school day.
I'm upside down because I was trying to find every cold spot my bed had to offer.
I don't need to find my other sock.
I will just wear sandals today.
And finally, my name is Brian.
With those perplexities all properly solved, I would ride that momentum and begin getting
(07:43):
ready for the day.
Most of the time, this entailed putting on clothes and heading out the door.
Should I have showered?
Probably.
But who am I?
The Pope?
I'm not trying to impress anyone.
In those days, I remember getting dressed, and before leaving my room, I would look back
in my bed and think, only 12 more hours.
(08:03):
Only 12 more hours till I've gone to my classes, finished my work shift, and completed my other
obligations I had for the day, thus allowing me to reunite with my bed.
I'm not lamenting this time in my life, nor do I wish I chose to live differently.
The truth is, I loved playing video games with my friends.
Those memories are a deep well of nostalgia for me.
(08:25):
I'm dog-earing this time in my life because I distinctly remember a similar line of thinking
being a theme in my life when I originally put all of this to paper.
In the season of life I wrote this, the pervasive thought of only X more hours until I'm in
bed again evolved from something I would think silently to myself as I would walk out the
door to start my day, to more of a mantra that I repeated several times a day in order
(08:50):
to give myself encouragement to persist.
It could take several forms with different phrasing, but at its core, it can be simply
boiled down to, make it through.
This phrase played on repeat mostly on nights where I was laying in bed, reluctantly falling
asleep on Sunday nights, because the next time I open my eyes, it'll be because my
(09:12):
alarm is making an unpleasant noise signaling morning is here and it's time to get ready
for work.
Maybe you're thinking, well, part of your problem is starting your day with the jolt
of an alarm.
The alarm didn't matter.
I could be awoken by the gleeful melodies of Hall and Oates, or like what my friend Zach
did in high school.
I could have my alarm be the theme from Lion King when Rafiki is on the cliff holding Simba
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for all to behold.
Maybe the alarm could have helped start my day off on a better note, but it would be
quickly overshadowed by the tasks of the day that followed the alarm that fed the need
for the mantra of, just make it through today.
I remember the evenings before my last workday of the week saying to myself on repeat, just
(10:01):
make it through tomorrow, just make it through tomorrow.
Because after that, it's smooth sailing.
It'll be the weekend and I'll have the freedom to do what I want when I want to do it, which
is true.
I did, but it was fleeting.
The weekend came and went, leaving faster than it ever arrived, where then I'd find
myself in bed the night before I'd start working repeating the phrase, I just have to make
(10:25):
it through this week.
It's empty.
It's an empty life where you're alive, but you're not living, where it takes all your
discipline to get up and go to work every day that by the time you're home, you're
depleted.
You have nothing left.
No energy left in the tank to pursue hobbies that interest you, fill you up, and bring
you joy.
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Instead, you melt into the couch, turn on Netflix, anesthetize yourself with your favorite
comfort shows, snap back to reality to realize that you've stayed up too late, scrape yourself
off the couch, melt into your bed where you scroll social media, putting off going to
sleep because you know that the only thing greeting you in the morning is another unfulfilling
(11:07):
day.
Except, what's in the day's hand?
It's a baseball bat, which it then uses to further beat you into the ground.
Whoa, Brian was it?
Yeah, Brian, that's pretty heavy and a scoosh dark, you probably find yourself thinking
at this point.
And I'll concede, you're correct in that observation.
(11:30):
I'd also wager that you have this same thought process, but it presents in a more benign
way that truthfully is just as malignant.
Not too far back, I found myself among a group of coworkers and we were chit-chatting away.
Someone made a comment about how they couldn't wait for this day to be over.
Not because tomorrow held particular promise, it was because today sucked and they wanted
(11:54):
today to become yesterday.
This sentiment seems harmless, but in truth, we are wishing away our lives in these moments.
Offering our present to the past while we delude ourselves that the future will be any
different as we continue forward on the same path in life.
I remember thinking during my coworker's offhand comment of wanting today to be over was so
(12:16):
sad.
Not that I was thinking, how could he want a day of his life to be over and gone forever?
I agreed with him.
This day did suck and I was over it too.
We have these routines in life that offer us a misguided assurance.
We believe, subconsciously most of the time, that since my routine is staying the same,
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so will my life.
It's ethereal, but we believe that the good things in life will stay good.
Life will remain predictable.
My good health will remain.
My loved ones will stay healthy.
Cerebrally, you realize time is moving forward.
You're getting older, but day-to-day changes are typically so minuscule, you don't pay
much if any attention to the idea.
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Then these seemingly harmless thoughts bubble up occasionally, like, I can't wait for today
to be over, or I can't wait to go on vacation this summer.
We find ourselves passively living until whatever event we were waiting for arrives, for that
to come and go, but not to be fully present with life in the interim.
That is what I thought was so sad about my coworker's statement.
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These routines lull us into thinking nothing is changing.
On a micro level, that may be true.
On a macro level, it isn't.
We all have a set number of days, never knowing if we will even see the day that we are currently
experiencing all the way through.
If we were living in that truth, how different would each day be?
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How quickly, with thoughts like, I can't wait for today to be over, disintegrate into obscurity,
how quickly would we be taking the task or goal that we've placed on the back burner
and making it our main focus in life?
As finite beings, there is a tension to this reality.
If you bury it deep, then you get lost in the mundane and can lose focus of your ambitions,
(14:07):
putting off achievements because they are hard or inconvenient now.
But, in the future, when I have my life together, then I can pursue what I want to pursue.
I don't know if anyone really ever has everything all figured out.
On the other side of the equation, giving too much weight to that one day we will die
can be paralyzing, because, after all, what's the point of anything if you're going to die
(14:32):
and be forgotten in a few generations?
That may be true.
We will pass away and be forgotten with time.
Even those who have achieved greatness won't be remembered by everyone.
Take for example the pyramids of Giza.
Who were they made for?
The pharaohs, of course.
Which ones?
(14:52):
Who were the architects of the pyramids?
Maybe a select few people who are listening to this know the answer and you're patting
yourself on the back.
Do you know who's your great-great-grandmother on your paternal side of the family?
Definitely not.
Unless you're my mom.
Then you know your genealogy back to the Mayflower, and boy howdy will she tell you about it.
(15:15):
Save for my mom, I doubt you do know who your parents' parents' parents were.
And without them, you wouldn't even exist.
Again, this can be paralyzing.
You need to reframe your mortality and use it as a catalyst to live what you feel will
be a fulfilling life.
We will die.
(15:36):
But what are we living for today?
Let's set ourselves up so that if we do have the luxury of laying in our deathbed thinking
about our life, we have a been-there-done-that mentality, rather than a remorseful I wish
I would have mentality.
This doesn't mean you need to go out there and build even bigger pyramids, etch into
the walls all your life accomplishments and maybe a few embellishments just to prove you
(15:59):
lived a fulfilling life.
It means if you're a person who has always wanted a garden, then go buy some plants and
get yourself a garden.
If you want to be in a band, start one.
If you want to learn a language, download an app and start practicing.
If you have a crush on someone, go chat them up, ask them out.
Even if you get turned down, in a short amount of time, the sting of rejection will subside.
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What will remain is the accomplishment that you did something scary and you're a better
person for not backing down to fear.
Be an active participant in your life.
Don't go through the motions your whole life to wake up one day with an old face staring
back at you in the mirror, never having pursued your passions.
Don't be too afraid to fail that you never try.
(16:45):
That's the strength in knowing our days are numbered.
What does it matter if you try something and don't succeed?
Because people might make fun of you?
People are too busy worrying about themselves and worrying about what you think of them
to be critical of you.
The world doesn't care about you as much or is as critical towards you as you are to
yourself.
(17:06):
One of my favorite hobbies is people watching.
I've been told many times by loved ones, usually after being hit, that I'm staring.
Not only is it rude, but I'm making the person I'm with uncomfortable with how much I'm
staring.
Yet, I can't help myself.
Although people watching is a fun hobby, it has lessons to teach us as well.
(17:27):
I've noticed complacency.
Because what makes you so different, or so special, that you can pursue your dreams while
so many are left just going through the motions.
I'd argue the fact that you even have ambitions sets you apart from a huge swath of people.
I think a lot of people are on a set course and never even question if that's what they
(17:47):
want for themselves.
Or the crueler reality?
That one way or another, they lack the ability to pursue their interests.
Whether that be a physical or mental hurdle, they are incapable of overcoming.
To which then I'd say, because you can, you owe it to the people who got dealt a bad hand
in life and can't choose what they want for their lives, to go after your dreams.
(18:10):
Avoid the temptation of deferring something now, because you'd have to change how you
structure your time.
Or something I have mentioned a few times, of waiting for the perfect time.
I don't think there will ever be a perfect time for you to pursue a more fulfilling life.
When one issue is resolved, another will always take its place.
This is what I'm most guilty of, deferring ambition, even to the extent of my own mental
(18:34):
well-being.
I either bury everything because who am I to think I can do that?
Or because now isn't a good time and let me count the reasons why.
But why?
Why wait for a certain event or date for our lives to start?
If we are unhappy or even miserable, why continue in that pattern if we have a choice?
(18:57):
Why is a future incarnation of you more deserving of happiness than the you you are now?
It's not true.
In fact, screw that future version of you.
Maybe that's too far.
How about we set up that future version of us for continued success by taking steps now
in the right direction?
(19:18):
Even if it is a destination that is thousands of miles away and years away from being tangible,
take advice from an old proverb that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
These years will come and go, whether you're making progress or not.
Ten years can pass and you can look back wishing you would have started back then, or you can
look back and see how far you've come.
(19:41):
Don't just make it through.
Make it happen.
People called me a prodigy, said that I would be in the top 0.001% of whatever I put my
(20:08):
focus on, then started saying I was going to be president, cure cancer, bring an era
of world peace, save the rainforest.
Basically, I was going to solve all the problems.
The pressure was getting to me.
I'm only 14.
I wanted to lower the bar of everyone's expectations, so I hired Homework Solutions.
(20:32):
I was assigned Ralph as my caseworker and couldn't have been happier with the results.
Ralph was waiting outside of school every morning, rain or shine, ready to give me a
full Nelson, hoist me full mast up a flagpole by my pants, give me a swirly, pants me during
class presentations, his peace-day resistance, the double-thread atomic wedgie.
(20:55):
That's where he took the front and back of my underwear and pulled it over my head.
And the list goes on.
He was a true prodigy.
Ralph didn't allow a single homework assignment of mine to get turned in.
After getting held back three years in a row, I dropped out.
Since then, I've been paying it forward, working for Homework Solutions.
(21:17):
It was perfect timing because Ralph aged out of the system.
Apparently, 40 years is the age limit.
Anyways, I got big shoes to fill.
Wish me luck!
Thanks, Homework Solutions.
Homework Solutions, your small-town hometown homework destruction specialist.
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