Gratitude, One Thing at a Time

What if one small, honest thank-you could break a spiral? We go from laughing about chaotic days and dog-trashing-the-kitchen moments to a surprising mental reset that actually sticks: choose a single, concrete thing to be grateful for and repeat it through your day. David—known as Today I Am Grateful—opens up about hitting a wall, failing at the classic “write three gratitudes” advice, and discovering that one simple, repeatable anchor worked better for an anxious mind than any perfect routine.

We dig into the fundamentals that quietly prop up mental health—sleep that isn’t chaotic, food that fuels instead of crashes, hydration that’s more than an afterthought, and movement that fits your body. Then we layer in a practical twist: pair gratitude with something you can touch. A coffee mug. A metal door covered in your kid’s art. A giant crayon. That tactile cue doubles as grounding, so you’re calming your nervous system while steering your thoughts. No toxic positivity here; we talk about holding two truths at once—naming the hard thing and choosing a small gratitude so your brain doesn’t decide everything is terrible.

Along the way, we share real-life tactics: using short video for accountability when journals fail, letting community ask the hard “Are you okay?” question, and noticing the tiny joys that sustain us—blue birds, muffins, a pair of glasses you forgot to appreciate. We also explore grief and why loss can deepen gratitude without erasing pain. If you’ve felt overwhelmed by lofty routines, this is your permission to start smaller than small. Pick one word, tie it to something real, and repeat it until your mind begins to scan for better. If this resonates, tap follow, share with a friend who needs a lift, and leave a quick review to help more people find a path back to steady.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:18):
Were you licking your microphone just now?

SPEAKER_03 (00:20):
That's what it looked like.
Sticking my tongue out.
Getting some tongue exercises.

SPEAKER_01 (00:25):
Welcome to Inmoderation, where we're all
getting our tongue exercisesout.

SPEAKER_03 (00:28):
Bao Mau Bao Cow.
You guys ever watch Anchorman?
I like that movie.

SPEAKER_01 (00:34):
Yes.

SPEAKER_03 (00:35):
That's one of my favorite movies.
Second one, not as good.
Had a few good parts.
First one, classic, one of myfavorites.
I haven't seen the second.
You don't really need to see thesecond.
It's got a few really funnyparts, but mostly like just
watch the first one.
It's good.
The chicken of the cave isreally the only funny part.
Maybe not the only funny part,but it's one of the funny parts
to Anchorman 2.
Chicken of the Cave, man.

(00:55):
They're serving mat he's servingbat meat.
He's just like, it's chicken ofthe cave, man.
That's the that part.
I like that part.
That's funny.
But anyway, how are you guys?

SPEAKER_01 (01:05):
Do we combine that with lava chicken?

SPEAKER_03 (01:06):
What the hell is lava chicken?
And I'm like, okay.
From the Minecraft movie?
Oh, I haven't seen the Minecraftmovie.

SPEAKER_01 (01:13):
That's going around.

SPEAKER_03 (01:14):
Oh, so that's when people throw shit in the
theater?

SPEAKER_01 (01:19):
Oh, yes, that's where you exactly.
So we'll put on Anchorman 2, andthen that scene comes on, we
play Lava Chicken, everybody atthe theater, everyone wins.
Except for the people that no,no, no.

SPEAKER_03 (01:30):
No, no, no, no, no.
Ours meme is when that comes on,you clean your house.
Because we're supposed to dogood shit.
So it's not that we don't makethings dirty.
When that comes on, then you goaround and clean your house.
Boom.
Meme started, and it's forpositive.
Memes are rarely positive, butthis time from in the
moderation, it will be.

SPEAKER_01 (01:48):
And speaking of positivity, we have on today,
Today I Am Grateful.
David, would you like tointroduce yourself?
Because we absolutely suck atintroducing people.

SPEAKER_05 (01:58):
I'd be happy to.
My name is David, uh, also knownas Today I Am Grateful, or
sometimes the Grateful Guy, andbeen operating the Today I Am
Grateful social media channelsnow for a little over two years.

SPEAKER_01 (02:11):
What are we grateful for today?

SPEAKER_05 (02:12):
So today I am grateful for really nice
weather.
The finally dropped down waslike a high of 70 today, and
it's about time.
I'm ready for the fall weather.
It's a little bit more.

SPEAKER_01 (02:23):
Oh my god, it has been so unseasonably hot in
Canada.

SPEAKER_05 (02:28):
I was looking at being last year, and this time
last year, all the trees hadchanged colors.
Um, the weather was already coldand whatever, and this year it's
like we're just now getting downinto cooler weather.

SPEAKER_03 (02:39):
And then Liam is freezing, so it's I'm out on a
patio because my daughterfinally got to kick out of the
house.
I am very this Airbnb that myhead just hits the ceiling in
multiple places.
It's not fun.
And now I'm on a cold patiotrying to record a podcast.
Life, I'm great.

(03:00):
You know what I'm grateful for?
But the fact that I'm movinginto my new house tomorrow.
Thank God.
When you hear when you listen tothis, I will be in my house and
I will that's just gonna be thebest thing ever.

SPEAKER_01 (03:13):
There's a lot of people who are, you know, they
they don't like the fact thatthey're shorter on the shorter
side.
Be grateful you're not Liam.
Because I mean, look at theseproblems.

SPEAKER_03 (03:24):
I'm not that I'm like 6'3, so like I'm taller,
but I'm not like you know.
What's funny is in that video,I'm hitting my head on the um
the ceiling in the bathroombecause the bathroom is tiny.
I feel like I'm in a Japanesebathroom.
I'm hunched over like thehunchback of Notre Dame trying
to take a shower.
And I did a video of it, andpeople are like, How tall are

(03:45):
you?
And I just keep saying like 7'1or 6'9 or whatever it is.

SPEAKER_02 (03:50):
And just making shit, just making up numbers.

SPEAKER_03 (03:53):
I've had friends like who've uh like a mutual
sort of like, how tall are you?
I'm like seven two, and they'relike, dude, you play basketball.
I'm like, nah, I'm just fuckingwith you.
I'm not even that tall.
This is just funny.
Like, I it's it's a good, it's agood time.
Lying about things is reallyfun.
I highly recommend it.
No, officer, I don't knowanything about that.

SPEAKER_01 (04:11):
Yeah, I would I would have uh believed all those
lies, but I've seen a picture ofyou beside Mike Bridgen.
So unless you're both lying.

SPEAKER_03 (04:19):
Yeah, and Mike was like, oh Mike's also on the
taller side, he's like 6'3, sowe're like talking to people,
and and people like other peopleare kind of just like, wait,
what the fuck?
You guys are tall?
I thought you guys were short,like, no, we're tall.
It's weird, right?
Who knows?
I don't know, whatever.
But anyway, David, how'd you getinto being grateful for things?
Were you just tired of beingannoyed by things?
And you're like, let's flip itaround, let's try something new.

(04:40):
That's what I'm guessing.

SPEAKER_05 (04:41):
You know, there's actually a lot to that.
A lot of people like, why areyou happy all the time?
I'm like, because personally Idon't like being unhappy.
Like, that's I guess some peopledo, but no, it really started
for me, actually.
Um, I had gone through a reallydifficult time in life mental
health-wise.
And uh, I'm naturally a verypositive person, I'm very

(05:03):
optimistic.
They tease me at work all thetime because I'm the guy that's
like, we're gonna give it a tryat this night.
And they're like, it's not goingto happen.
And I'm like, I am aware there'sa 3% chance, but there's a 3%
chance.
Like, okay, so so you're the guythere was like, shut up, David.
Yes, but we're gonna give it atry.
Like, I don't get discouragedbecause I never expected it to

(05:24):
work anyway, but I'm gonna giveit a try.
So that's naturally me.
And I'd gone through a timewhere I really lost all of that
and was nothing but critical andnegative, and I'm naturally very
analytical, so that negativemental energy attached to my
analytical side, and it was justreally, really not good.

(05:45):
Like there wasn't a positivethought running through my head
for a long time.
And a friend of mine, thank theLord for friends, came in my
office one day, just looked medead in the face and said, Are
you okay?
And I said, No, I'm not.
And he goes, I didn't think so.
He said, You look like where Iwas about a year and a half ago.
He had gone through a similartime, and so he kind of became

(06:08):
my unofficial therapist inhelping me work back through all
the things.
And the crazy thing is both heand I um have worked with
college students for years, andso we're doing this type of
coaching with other people, andso he's saying to me, he's like,
I know you know these things,but when we get in a bad spot,
we forget them.
So he went through, we have likea checklist that we use and

(06:30):
like, how are you doing in theseareas of life?
And I'm like failing on 75% ofthem.

SPEAKER_03 (06:37):
Can you give us some of those here?
Like, I don't know what'shappening.

SPEAKER_01 (06:40):
Hold on.
Before before you you do that,Mike Pridgin.
I know you're listening.
You did this on purpose.
You you booked this guest onpurpose.
I know it.
Thank you, Mike.

SPEAKER_05 (06:50):
I would not put that past him.
Yeah, so so we ran through theseitems, and I'm like just failing
all over the place.
And I knew that.
And he's like, no judgment.
Like, I know you know all thosethings, but they're some of the
first things to go.
And it's basic.
The crazy thing is, functional,like at its core, functional

(07:12):
mental health starts withreally, really basic stuff.
So it's, you know, are youhydrated?
Are you eating properly?
Not just, you know, not eatingor trashy eating, whatever.
Are you eating properly?
Are you getting exercise on anysort of regular basis?
Okay.
What is your sleep schedule looklike?

(07:33):
Um, you know, those types ofthings.
What do you do for any type ofrestorative practices, be that
prayer, you know, devotionalreading or meditation, like any
of those kind of things?
Just start walking through thesethings.

SPEAKER_03 (07:47):
And you were like, I don't drink, I only eat honey
buns, and I sit on the couch.

SPEAKER_05 (07:52):
I was getting about that bad.
So I'm showing up to work everyday, and I knew I wasn't, you
know, in my best placefunctionally.
So I'm like doing the doing thethings, but I knew I wasn't in a
good spot.
But one of those things that'sin our list is intentional
positive thinking or gratitude.
And not one that I mean, if youwould ask anybody about me, it
would be like, that's neversomething you have to check up

(08:13):
on David about.
But uh that was something weneeded to check up on David
about.
So he, like I said, kind ofbecame my unofficial therapist,
started checking in with meregularly.
Really, really appreciate him.
Like his influence was theturning point in my life.
And I've worked with peoplebefore that do this, so I knew I

(08:33):
was in for a long haul.
I'm like minimum three monthsthat I'm gonna be working back
toward a good place because I'vebeen wearing myself down for
over six.
And as I was working throughthat, one of the areas I was
really struggling with thatbothered me a lot because I'm
naturally optimistic was that Ijust that optimism was gone.
And frankly, a lot of my naturalwhat I would consider my natural

(08:56):
personal skills and abilitieswere gone, and that was
terrifying.
I didn't know you could losethose.
Um, but I had.
So I decided, I'm like, okay,read the research, all this
intentional gratitude stuff.
So I decided I'm gonna do this.
Like, okay.
So I got my gratitude journal, anice faux leather um paper

(09:17):
journal.
Like, I'm gonna start writingdown three things I'm grateful
for every day, you know,meditate on that, get this stuff
in my head and whatever.
And I failed miserably,absolutely bombed that
assignment and discovered thatthe very idea of trying to come
up with three things to begrateful for was triggering
anxiety, which is what I've beendealing with.

(09:39):
I feel that like just anxietywas was my issue more than
depression, and so it'striggering anxiety to like have
to like do this thing.
I'm like, okay, I feel likesomehow I'm defeating the
purpose here.
Right.
So one day I'm just like, forgetit.
We're not doing three things, II'm gonna do one thing.
Like, that's hard enough for meright now.

(10:00):
I can't think of a single thingto be grateful for.
Like, I am going to pick onething and just repeat that thing
to myself all day long.
Like, throw out the rules, likeall the experts say three
things, and the more involved itis, the better, whatever.
Like, forget it all, throw outall the rules and I'll do one
thing.
Honestly, that was hard enoughfor me at that point, way hard
enough for me.
But as I started doing that, uh,I think it was within two weeks

(10:24):
I had actually started noticinga change in my thinking
patterns, where it was startingto become more positive.
And the big kicker for me was Ilove to go jogging.
That's like one of my exercisesof choice because I can think
and get exercise and releasestress and one of those runners.

SPEAKER_03 (10:44):
We've talked many times about how I I think in one
video I said I'd rathersandpaper my taint than go for a
run.
And people are like, what?
I don't like running at all.
I really don't, unless there's aball involved that I need some
kind of sport or activity thatgets me to from here to there, a
reason.
I I don't like the running verymuch.

SPEAKER_05 (11:05):
But we will just we will remember that and just
throw a soccer ball at youanytime.
I need something.

SPEAKER_03 (11:12):
Damn, give me a squirrel.
I'll chase I'll chase chipmunksbefore anyway.
But I mean, no, because I wantedto say I was thinking of
something like you were saying,like you didn't realize how much
like your mental health had liketaken a toll, right?
And I think that kind of happensto a lot of people with a lot of
different things.
So we hear it all the time withum people gaining weight or
something like that.
Like it's a pound here, a poundthere, they don't realize, and

(11:34):
then kind of one day they wakeup and like, oh wow, I just I
had I had weighed myself, Ididn't realize how much weight I
gained.
And I think it kind of happenswith a lot of things.
Mental health is like one ofthose, just like every day kind
of becomes your new normal, andlike a little bit at a time
before it takes a moment likethat, like you were talking
about before.
You're like, oh shit.

(11:54):
Like, I didn't even realize,right?

SPEAKER_05 (11:56):
Like, it takes one of those moments for you to like
come to that realization, andoften it it helps if somebody
else steps in and helps yourealize that, which you know, be
that your scales or a friend,like yeah, I think it kind of is
true.
I'd run myself and like lookingback on it now, I can see it
more, but you don't payattention to it when you're

(12:16):
doing it just little by little,right?
I had run myself completely pastall reserves, and then one day
the straw broke the camel'sback, and it just there wasn't
anything left to draw on.

SPEAKER_03 (12:30):
Would you recommend then for people to kind of try
and stay on top of things then?
Like having some sort of likechecklist or something that you
kind of run through or somethinglike that to make sure you kind
of stay on the right path?

SPEAKER_05 (12:40):
Absolutely.
Yeah, so I actually like I Iwill I give paper checklists,
sometimes I have it aspreadsheet form too of the
basic things, but honestly,having a friend that can help
you kind of monitor your life,because you will still lie to
yourself on the checklist.

SPEAKER_02 (12:57):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (12:58):
Um, you're not actually real great at
evaluating yourself.
So having somebody else that cando that, be it a therapist or
even just a friend that you havea regular check-in with, you
know, it's we have this thing inrunner's circles.
I I I I know you guys don't haveto deal with it at all in the
other side, but the other thingin runner's circles is if you
run with somebody else, you tendto run longer because you know

(13:20):
that that POL motivation.
And I think that's true in mostworkout physical exercise and
and even in other areas.
Um, and I think it's true inmental health too.
If you have somebody to, youknow, quote, work out with in
mental health, it helps keep youon track.

SPEAKER_01 (13:36):
Absolutely.
Yeah, one of the things I'vealways said is um one of the
most powerful things you can dofor somebody who's going through
a rough time is just to bethere.

SPEAKER_05 (13:46):
For sure.
And you never know um whatpeople are going through.
You know, we'll just pick onLiam for a second.
Like, you know, people look atit.
Liam can't hear us.

SPEAKER_03 (13:55):
He's uh I wish I could be like I can hear you.
I we were making sure the dogsget because the food is in the
car, and I have to run out andget it and bring it back in to
make sure the dogs eat.
Because you know what theydidn't eat enough of the trash
when we came home.
It was just everywhere.
That was another thing.
You know what I'm grateful for?
Trash being all over my floorafter my dogs get into it, and

(14:16):
there's just little mini Twixbars and coffee grounds
everywhere.
See, that's so grateful.

SPEAKER_05 (14:21):
Literally just made my point for me, so thank you.
What I'm saying is people lookat Liam's the look at Liam's
Instagram and they're like, Man,I want to be like Liam.
I want my life to be likeLiam's.
And Liam's like, dude, I amdealing with every single real
life problem that you aredealing with, except I'm got
them all in one week.
Like it feels like I came homeand my dogs have trashed things

(14:44):
out.
My house moving got postponed,and I'm doing a podcast from a
freezing front porch in my airbecause I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_03 (14:56):
I'm dealing with all the human shit.
Yeah, I try like I shouldprobably even do it more in
videos, but I do try in videosto show, like, hey, this ain't
fucking I ain't fancy, man.
Like, I don't I deal with allthe stuff that like everybody
else deals with.
I make all the mistakes thatpeople are making.
I think that's what people likemy cooking videos, because I
fuck up so much shit likeconstantly.

(15:17):
I'm like, they're like I I dosomething, they're like, you're
not supposed to do that, you'resupposed to.
I'm like, listen, I don't know,man.
I'm not a chefologist, I don'tknow how any of this works.
I just put things in otherthings and I hope they turn into
food.

SPEAKER_01 (15:30):
That's also why you uh kept your well, not
necessarily kept, but you didn'tcare about all the the mess
behind you while we wererecording.
Oh, yeah, that's just that'sthere, it's life.

SPEAKER_03 (15:39):
Oh my god, people would be like, There's a pile of
laundry.
Like, yeah, there is a pile oflaundry.
Like, I haven't done it sincefucking January to deal with it.
Like, I gotta I'm trying I'mkeeping my head above water
here, man.
I'm trying to do everything Ican, but it's it's rough.

SPEAKER_05 (15:53):
So that's I'm I really think that this is an
important thing for people tohear because I mean there's the
always been the running joke oflike the Instagram life and the
Instagram story, and you know,the people that have that have
film in that one perfect sectionof their house on how to do home
decor, and then if they are everkind of they usually have like a
block of like a week or a monthwhere they just have everything

(16:17):
perfectly set up and they filmall of their content right then
and then then spread it out.
Well, I've heard some peopleI've heard some people get
Airbnbs just so that they uh youknow have a clean house to film
their content at.
So maybe that's actually what'sgoing on with Liam.

SPEAKER_03 (16:33):
Oh I would not be paying for that.
Are you kidding me?
I'm gonna pay money to have aclean room.
I run.

SPEAKER_01 (16:40):
Paid money to hit his head on the ceiling every
time he cooks.

SPEAKER_03 (16:43):
The bathroom, oh my god, everything is just it's
this and like I don't know whysound carries more in this
place, but like, you know, anylittle sound will wake her up
and she doesn't, the daughterdoesn't sleep well already.
So yeah, we're all dealing withthat shit.
And I know it's super easy tolook at, yeah.
Like the Instagram pictures, Ithink we're getting a little

(17:03):
better at it.
I think humans are getting alittle better at that, and more
videos are going viral of peopleshowing their lives in a
complete fucking disarray wherejust everything's messed up, and
we're all like, yeah, that'swhere we're at.
Like, we need to kind of seethat because I think it's it's
more realistic, right?

SPEAKER_05 (17:19):
Well, real life is real for everybody, and I've
gotten several comments likethat for my channel because
generally my content's verypositive because the whole point
is something that we can begrateful for today.
And they're like, Man, likeyou've got the most wonderful
life ever because you alwayshave something to be grateful
for.
I'm like, absolutely not.
Like, let me tell you againabout where this practice

(17:42):
started.
I was like, in the worst place Ihave ever been in my life.
It's actually when life is roughthat you need the challenge to
intentionally focus on somethingpositive.
And so, yeah, I mean, I've gotthe same life that everybody
else is dealing with, dealingwith all of the things, but I've
tried to train myself out of thenegative thinking to be like,

(18:04):
okay, my dogs just trashed thisentire house.
But I loved my dogs, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (18:13):
And so I found for my dogs, and I found all the
little twicks.
I got little spun-sized twickseverywhere.
Now I get to pick one up and eatit, which I did.
I picked it up, I ate it, and Istared at the trash at my feet.
That's what I did.
I was just like, okay.

SPEAKER_01 (18:26):
You should have got down on your knees and just
looked your dog right in the eyeand ate it.
Oh, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 (18:32):
I would get slobber all over my face.
They would just come up and belike, oh, great, that's exactly
what I but getting back to youtoday.
You wanted to get back to yousaid you had to find one thing,
right?
You were like, I need to findone thing that's positive.
So what what what what did youfind?
Besides was it the weather?
Was it what did you find thatwas?

SPEAKER_05 (18:48):
No, today was the weather, yes.
But but the one that reallysticks in my mind where like
something started changing in mybrain, was I had been like I
would go on my run, and that'syou know, when thoughts always
run, and they had been those formonths, just constantly
negative.
I was coming up with I mean,just analyzing everything, all
the things that could go wrong,like all of that.

(19:09):
That's what was happening on myruns, which is sort of defeating
the whole stress-relievingpurpose.
And I was on this run, and aabsolutely beautiful blue bird.
I have never seen one like thatbefore or since.
It was not a blue bird, it waslike iridescent blue, little
teeny guy flew across the roadthat I was running.

(19:30):
And I was like, man, that'sreally cool.
Like, that's a beautiful bird.
And that that was like the thingthat stuck.
I'm like, I can be grateful thatI saw that bird today.
Like, as so small and as sominor as that was, when I was
living in a dark and negativespace in my head, a flash of

(19:51):
beautiful color in nature waslike huge to me.
And so that was the entire restof the day was I am grateful for
that bird, and that I got to seethat bird on my run today.

SPEAKER_01 (20:02):
So about a figurative spark that lights the
fire.

SPEAKER_05 (20:06):
Exactly.
So about two weeks later,something like that, it may have
been a little bit longer.
I was on a run, and kind ofright at the beginning, there
was something that was like, oh,that's something I could do.
I could put in my gratitudejournal.
Oh, that's something like thewhole run ended up that way.
Like all of a sudden, it waslike, whoa, my brain is rewiring

(20:30):
to look for the positive andstart marking these positive
things because it was lookingfor something to fill in that
gratitude journal and the andthe vlogs that I was doing at
that point.
So honestly, and I let me justjump to that real quick.
I never could get a paperjournal to work.
I could not, it just wasn'tworking.
I could not stick with it.
So the whole the whole socialmedia channel started with this

(20:53):
thought that I'm like, if I dothis on TikTok as a video every
day and commit that I'm like tothe whoever the you know four
viewers are that I'm gonna dothis every day, like maybe that
will provide like the motivationaccountability I needed.
And it absolutely did, totallyworked.
As soon as I started doing it onTikTok, I was consistent every

(21:16):
single day.

SPEAKER_03 (21:17):
And I that happens to a lot of people with like
their weight loss journey, youknow, or they're trying to like
you know lose with their weightloss journey or their health
journey or whatever it is.
Like they're like, I'm gonnarecord myself.
I'm gonna record myself walkingin my apartment because that's
all I can do.
I'm just gonna walk in myapartment, and that gives them
accountability and they keepgoing.
So I think it's just whatever itis, like you're recording
yourself, you're like, Well,I've I started it, I'm gonna

(21:38):
fucking keep going.
I mean, I go mostly out ofspite, that's what works for me.
Like, a pure spite is justthere's no drive like that.
I am I gonna let my haters win.
Get the fuck out of here.
No, I need to prove them wrong,and that is why I continue.

SPEAKER_01 (21:52):
Liam is grateful for his haters.
I am great, I am very gratefulfor my haters.

SPEAKER_05 (21:56):
I am actually greater for my grateful for my
haters as well.
There's really cool storiesthere if we want to jump into
that later.
So, yeah, that was that was thething.
And you know, I was stuck inTikTok jail for the majority of
the time.
We got 200, 300 views, but itwas it was already kind of
blowing my mind.
Like I was doing this for mebecause I just needed it.
I'm like, man, there's like 200other people that saw today the

(22:18):
choice that I'm making to focuson something positive.
Like, that's cool.
And if it's all if it's 200,like if never more than 200,
like, hey, that's 200 people.
Like, there's a positive impactthere.
And after, again, like I said, Iknew it was gonna be several
months.
So after like two or threemonths, I was really doing much
better mental health-wise.
I was getting back to my oldself and whatever.

(22:39):
But I had seen so much likeextremely obvious positive
results from what I was doingwith the gratitude practice.
I'm like, I'm just gonna keepdoing this because the way I got
in this mess in the first placewas like, I'm doing fine.
I don't need to do these thingson my checklist anymore.
Like, you know, start coasting.
But so I just decided I wasgonna stick with it.

(23:00):
And somewhere uh six more thanI've been doing it more than six
months, every day for more thansix months, with stuck in TikTok
jail.
All of a sudden, I had a videothat just absolutely went viral,
and followers started piling upand all this stuff, and I'm
getting messages from people andbe like, it's crazy.

(23:21):
I had hit a nerve of otherpeople that were in a similar
place to where I had been, andthey're like, I just needed
something simple.
Like, one thing, I mean, a lotof my videos are six seconds
long.
It's like you do not have toread the motivational journal
for today that's a 15-minutethis thing, and then that and
that and the others, like justsomething trigger something to

(23:45):
break that negative pattern inyour mind and then repeat it.
And it is now grown crazy, youknow, across the channels.
I'm you know, hundreds ofthousands of followers and
messages from people all overthe world saying, like, this has
meant so much to me in helpingme in my mental health journey
and overcoming my negativethinking and make change, which

(24:06):
is just I love it.
Like, I love seeing that impacton other people.
And I know, I mean, I happen toknow that you guys have both
done that for others in your inyour own journeys as well.
And it's just a beautiful thingwhen especially when you're the
one healing and you see how yourhealing and your own personal
growth is also benefitingothers.

(24:26):
I just think that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 (24:27):
Just something, yeah.
I think like you were saying,just something small that's like
positive for people to pick upon.
So, do you recommend kind ofdoing the same thing to other
for when people like ask?
Like start to kind of start ajournal, start with just one
thing positive.
Do you think that's that's goodto start with one thing
positive?

SPEAKER_05 (24:45):
And so far as I know, I'm literally the only
person that that is that thatrecommends one.
Because all the science, I mean,you go read all the studies, all
the science says three, likethree is the minimum, and the
more detailed the thing that youwrite, the better the impact.
I mean, there the the science isnot much but reality, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (25:08):
Cause like yeah, every time it comes up for me,
because yeah, I I go through alot of stuff, and it's always
you know, well, what are thesethings that you're grateful for?
And you always have to think ofthese grandiose things.
It's like, okay, my financessuck, my dad's health is bad, I
literally just got a deaththreat on the weekend.
Somebody's like I could betrying.

(25:29):
Yeah, but instead of likethinking of all that stuff, just
something simple, some simplelittle thing, right?

SPEAKER_03 (25:37):
Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 (25:38):
I can be grateful today that I have a friend like
Mike.

SPEAKER_03 (25:41):
Exactly.
We should we all have to begrateful for Mike.
We have to tell him we do.
We're all grateful for him.
Mike needs some gratefulness.
Mike Mike needs some gratitude.

SPEAKER_05 (25:52):
I need some gratitude.
No, this is where we plug.
Everybody go follow MikeBridgeon and send him a message.

SPEAKER_01 (25:59):
Oh, yeah.
Everybody listening, bombardMike's Mike's I need a plan.
Or Mike needs a plan.
Um bombard him with his commentswith Mike needs gratitude.

SPEAKER_03 (26:10):
There you go.
Do you think so?
When you're talking about justone thing, so do you do that per
day, or you just kind of likeyou wake up, you go for you do
your run, or if you're me,anything but run, and then you
you think about something thatwould be, you know, like that's
just something positive.

SPEAKER_05 (26:25):
Let me say that.
That's that's generally thething.
And then I especially when Istarted, it's become much easier
now that like I'm in a muchbetter place.
But for people who started,that's what it was.
I would pick pick one thing, andthen I would have to tell myself
that I wasn't allowed to try toadd more because like that I was
almost a little bit likeobsessive, like my anxiety and

(26:46):
my analytical nature had likecombined to become like
obsessive in a negative way.
So then it was like the rulesare just one thing.
So as soon as you've got thatone thing in the morning, you
just repeat that to yourself allday long.
So my goal was like a dozentimes throughout the day, you
know, once every regular wakinghour of the day or something
like that.
Just put that thought back in mymind.
And I'll tell you, this is atechnique, free technique for

(27:09):
everybody.
One of my favorites if you arein a difficult spot, because it
actually combines two things atonce, and that is using physical
objects around you as the thingsyou're grateful for.
And why does this work so well?
Because it is literally thepractice of grounding that you
use to recover from anxietyattacks and different things
like that.

(27:29):
You literally are doinggrounding and gratitude at
exactly the same time.

SPEAKER_03 (27:34):
So, like I would be grateful for these giant crayons
that my daughter picks up.

SPEAKER_05 (27:38):
Exactly.
How many giant crayons do youhave there that you're grateful
for?

SPEAKER_03 (27:42):
I I don't know how to count.
Like Oakley's teaching me, but Ihave you can only count to four.

SPEAKER_05 (27:46):
Yeah, but there's there's at least four there.

SPEAKER_01 (27:49):
So yeah, I'll tell you what I'm not grateful for is
the train that you guys areabout to hear.
I heard it.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (27:55):
Oh, you heard it.
You got a train?
Maybe that's what cut my signalfor.

SPEAKER_01 (27:58):
The train's coming through.

SPEAKER_03 (27:59):
Uh yeah, breaking lamb over here.

SPEAKER_05 (28:02):
So we'll be grateful for the train.

SPEAKER_03 (28:03):
But yeah, Oakley picked out giant crayons, and I
was like, get the free cameo onthis podcast.
Brig, you can get some giantcrayons.
She likes she loves to draw.
I'm happy, I'm grateful for mydaughter drawing with giant
crayons.

SPEAKER_05 (28:15):
Yeah, that's awesome.
And that's just such a coolthing.
As a parent, like that might notmean as much to other people,
but as a parent, that can besomething that really warms your
heart.

SPEAKER_03 (28:24):
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
She picks out one colour andshe's like, oh, next color, next
color.
And before you know it, it'sjust just everything.
And I'm like, perfect.
There you go.
That uh I'll take any, you know,with her.

SPEAKER_01 (28:36):
There goes on the fridge.

SPEAKER_03 (28:38):
Exactly.
On to the next thing.
Whatever keeps her interestedfor more than five seconds.
I'm like, totally, let's do thatthing.

SPEAKER_05 (28:45):
So we have this cool thing in our house that all of
our exterior doors are metaldoors.
Okay.
And we have three exteriordoors, which means we have a lot
more space than just the fridgethat we can put paint and put
pictures and things up withmagnets.

SPEAKER_03 (29:02):
So you're grateful for more space to hang things.

SPEAKER_04 (29:05):
Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 (29:06):
Yeah.
Well, yeah.
So do you recommend then forother people that works?
Like I guess journaling it out,writing it down, spreadsheets,
Google Docs, like you know, justwhatever works.

SPEAKER_05 (29:17):
Literally, whatever works for you.
Yep.
And that's I think this that iskind of the biggest thing I want
to get across to people is youcan get the science and know
what the right thing to do is,but if it isn't working for you,
it's completely defeating thepurpose for its existence.
So figure out what's what workswell for you.

SPEAKER_03 (29:38):
A calendar, and then for each day you write just one
word that like relates to thatthing, like bird crayon or
something like that for eachthing.
That would be really cool tolook back on, like you know, in
moderation.
In moderation.
Here's just grateful for youknow whatever it is, chips.
I love chips, you know.
I think one that went crazyviral near the beginning was

(30:01):
muffins.

SPEAKER_05 (30:02):
Like I am grateful for muffins, and apparently
millions of other people weretoo.

SPEAKER_03 (30:08):
That's interesting.
It's always social media is aweird game, man.
You never know.
You just throw shit out there,and you you know.
I went first viral for um dietso.
Artificial sweeteners.
That's pretty much how it alwaysgoes for me.
Just to fucking always likeaspartame.
So then I started doing tons ofvideos and I became like the
aspartame guy.

(30:28):
It was very dumb, but I waslike, whatever, it's working.
That's what people want to heartalk about.

SPEAKER_01 (30:33):
Also the anti-Bobby guy.

SPEAKER_05 (30:35):
So I watched some of your videos where you're
defending the artificialsweeteners.
Um, but I didn't see anyspecifically about aspartame.
So let's have the conversationbecause it's fun.
Um, I are you defendingaspartame?

SPEAKER_03 (30:48):
I love aspartame.
It's one of my favorite things.
It's it's makes diet soda sweetand tasty, and it has basically
zero calories.
Technically, it has the samenumber of calories as sugar per
gram, but it's 200 timessweeter.
So you use like a few yeah, AKmyself.
I will I will you blend themtogether in zero sugar.

(31:10):
That's what zero sugar is.
It has ice K and aspartame, andthen you get more of a real
sugar taste.
And that's why a lot of peopleprefer uh zero sugar.
But some people still like dietbecause they just like the taste
of aspartame, which hey, youknow, I'm not here to yuck your
yum, whatever works.
So are we gonna just ignore thelaxative effect?
Lax I've never had a laxativeeffect of aspartame.

SPEAKER_02 (31:30):
Seriously.

SPEAKER_03 (31:31):
I this is something I've heard the migraines.
People say they give somemigraines, but I've not heard a
laxative effect from aspartame.

SPEAKER_05 (31:38):
Yeah, I uh I personally don't like the taste
of aspartame.
I can I can taste it and I don'tcare for it.
Sweeten is sure, but not thetaste, but it does have a
specific taste for sure.
And I've talked to it's I'mpretty sure that it's sort of
like generally recognized thatat least for a number of people,
it has stupid internet umlaxative effects.
So we had this bad choice onetime where we got a bunch of

(32:03):
flavored, sweetened flavoredwater uh in and like just cases
that were donated, and so we hadlarge groups of people that were
just knocking down like five ofthese a day.
Needless to say, that thatdidn't go well.
So anyway, I was curious aboutthat.

SPEAKER_01 (32:18):
I think Liam's just kind of we've we've we've broke
Liam.
We've broke Liam.
I actually uh wanted to go lookat what the uh the mechanism
behind it was.

SPEAKER_05 (32:27):
I'll be curious on that.

SPEAKER_01 (32:28):
Uh a very a very quick search.

SPEAKER_05 (32:31):
What's your favorite artificial screen?

SPEAKER_01 (32:33):
Uh no specific research has determined whether
aspartame causes stuff.

SPEAKER_05 (32:38):
Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 (32:39):
Um but there are it it is uh reported effects.

SPEAKER_05 (32:43):
So that would be an interesting study.

SPEAKER_01 (32:45):
Yeah, it's probably would presumably just be
something to do with uhdifferences with how you d uh
absorb it.
And probably well, if it'scausing a laxative effect, it
would be the inability to absorbit.

SPEAKER_05 (32:59):
Now there's a study for you.
This is gonna be this is gonnabe a new episode for Liam in the
future.

SPEAKER_01 (33:04):
I think we broke Liam.

SPEAKER_05 (33:06):
We broke him.
Like, do some people not ha havea poor ability to absorb
aspartame?
Totally possible.

SPEAKER_01 (33:14):
Yeah, yeah, the gut's fun like that.
You know, some people have notrouble with things, other
people just goes right out ofthem.
Then there's you know, Liam overhere, you'll eat 200 grams of
fiber a day, no problem.
Okay.
So yeah, he and I are both highon the uh the fiber intake, and
we always tell people we we gotthere over time, right?

(33:35):
It wasn't uh we just jumped intoit.
It's from us having eaten a lotof fiber over time.
And most people, you know, havestruggled to get like just eight
grams, ten grams of fiber a day,and we're telling them increase
it slowly.
I think we restored Liam.

SPEAKER_05 (33:50):
What'd you find, Liam?
Maybe not.

SPEAKER_01 (33:52):
No.

SPEAKER_05 (33:54):
Nope, he's gone.

SPEAKER_01 (33:55):
No, we completely broke him.

SPEAKER_05 (33:57):
I uh this is my official apology to Liam.
I never meant to insult anartificial sweetener in such a
way that hurt his feelings.

SPEAKER_01 (34:05):
He hurt his feelings so much he just quit the
podcast.
Uh you you you'll get to walkaway from this podcast
officially as the one guy thatmade Liam quit.
Today I am grateful I made Liamquit.

SPEAKER_05 (34:19):
And then we're going to have a post from Liam soon
that is like my rebuttal againstthe today I am grateful guys
dreadful accusation againstartificial.

SPEAKER_04 (34:27):
It's like, well, I will just say from my own
personal experience, that's asweetener I need to avoid.

SPEAKER_01 (34:32):
That's fair enough.
And I mean, there's also peoplethat need to avoid uh aspartame
because they have uh that onecondition that I can't remember
off the top of top of my headwhere they uh now it's it's like
phenyl key.
Oh PKU Yeah, PKU, PKU, yeah.
Yeah Yeah.
Um where they get uh too muchphenylalanine.

SPEAKER_05 (34:53):
Yep.

SPEAKER_01 (34:54):
And like that's fair.
Like there's there's people thathave to avoid it.

SPEAKER_05 (34:58):
That actually runs in my family.
To be clear, I have been testedand I don't have it, but it
would be interesting to see ifthen there are certain
tendencies that go along withthat.
But yeah, I have relatives withyeah with PKU, and yeah,
aspartame drill bad for that.

SPEAKER_01 (35:17):
For me, I can't stand the taste of stevia.

SPEAKER_05 (35:21):
Really?

SPEAKER_01 (35:21):
And I like stevia, but it is it is a taste, like it
is a taste, and it's a tastethat so I'm what they call a
super taster.
Okay, and like I can taste it'samazing.
Um, the best uh example of thiswas I was when I was in uh the
Amazon doing volunteer work, andwe were going around and we were

(35:44):
uh just picking fruit for lunchand stuff, and we'd get to new
ones and the guide would be likehere, everybody taste this.
And there was one I don'tremember what it was called, but
it everyone passed it around,took a bite, and they were like,
Well, this just tastes likewater.

SPEAKER_00 (35:58):
And it got to me, and I took a bite, and I was
like, Oh my god, that's the mostbitter thing I've ever tasted.
What are you talking about?
It just tastes like water.

SPEAKER_04 (36:06):
Interesting.

SPEAKER_05 (36:07):
Yep.
So your taste palette issignificantly broader than the
average person sounds like.
And it sucks.
It would, because then likestuff that is in foods, you're
noticing that the people whomade it are like, yeah,
nobody'll notice that.

SPEAKER_01 (36:23):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And one of the most prominenttastes is bitterness.
So I can really taste thebitterness in things.

SPEAKER_05 (36:29):
What a fantastic taste to have like an extra
sense for.

SPEAKER_01 (36:32):
What an excess X and superpower right there, right?

SPEAKER_03 (36:36):
Hello, everyone.
I'm currently brought to you bymy bathroom, the one that is
tiny, that I had to try and comeinto the Airbnb to get closer to
the Wi-Fi network and hide.
Hopefully, I don't wake upvocally.

SPEAKER_01 (36:48):
Oh, we just assumed that uh you left the show
because of you know insultsagainst Aspirtame.

SPEAKER_03 (36:54):
I thought, yeah, no, the Aspirtame got me because I'm
sponsored by Aspirtame.
You remember, like, you know thelike where the hook when people
are out on stage and they grabthey have the hook and they just
pull them off stage?
That's what Aspirtame just didto me.

SPEAKER_05 (37:09):
So Rob looked it up real quick, and it is an
undetermined but sometimescommented on a few.
Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 (37:16):
I've not heard this.
Yes.
Today we learned.

SPEAKER_05 (37:20):
Today we learned.
And so this is a completelyrandom aside, but um we're good
at completely random asides.
Yeah, we worked with a flavoringcompany for a while, um, and I
learned that when they make umwell, both artificial and

(37:40):
natural flavorings, because thedifference between those is
actually pretty small, um thatthey will intentionally add in
other things to the flavors tomess up the machines that their
competitors use to like reverseengineer the flavorings that
they use.

SPEAKER_03 (38:00):
Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_05 (38:01):
That makes sense.
The majority of people cannottaste the other things that they
add to mess up those machines.
But I wonder if Rob can and doeson a regular basis.

SPEAKER_01 (38:14):
That's an excellent question.
I don't I have no comparisonpoint as to what things taste
like to everybody else.
Yeah, you wouldn't know.

SPEAKER_03 (38:24):
I mean, they must add things that have like no
well, that's interesting.

SPEAKER_05 (38:28):
It is there's a lot of like weird crazy things, and
I don't want to reveal anylight.
I don't think they're industrysecret.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (38:35):
She's just walking by and cracking up.
Yeah, the Wi-Fi out there umdoesn't work as well.
So I just gotta go.
Oh, yeah, and the light outthere is super.
Yeah, the light out there wassuper bright into her window,
and she also can't use the ACbecause it's also hot in here.
It's cold out there, hot inhere.
Everything's great, everything'sso awesome.
You can go turn the light offand turn your AC on if you want.

(38:57):
That's fine.
I'll just hide in the bathroom.
I'll just she's crazy.

SPEAKER_05 (39:00):
She's losing the happiest family when you finally
get in your new house.

SPEAKER_03 (39:04):
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow, tomorrow when you getthere.
Yeah, just close the door.
Just I'll just be in the dark.
It's fine.
My I'll be like Bane.
I'll come from the dark, orwhatever he says.
I don't remember.
You know, uh Batman something.
I was born in the dark.
I was born in the dark.
That's what it is.

SPEAKER_01 (39:23):
There you go.

SPEAKER_03 (39:24):
I got it.
Get there.
That's yeah, that's where I'mat.
So yeah, that's what I'mgrateful for.
The the getting out of here andbeing in the house tomorrow.
What's everybody else gratefulfor today, besides muffins?
Obviously.

SPEAKER_05 (39:36):
Yeah, definitely always muffins.
Yeah, just shut it.

SPEAKER_03 (39:39):
Yeah, I'll be in the dark.
Just shut it.
It's fine.
No, just shut it.
Just shut it.
Yeah, there we go.
Now I'm in the dark.
Perfect.
There we go.
There we go.
Awesome.
Everything's great.

SPEAKER_05 (39:49):
And and we are already uh mutually grateful
with you for your new move intomorrow.

SPEAKER_02 (39:56):
That sounds absolutely brilliant.
Holy shit.

SPEAKER_05 (40:00):
Yeah, but some days are hard.
Like, and you people ask you askme that, like, so you know, what
do you do when you're having ahard day?
Like, do you still have dayswhere it's hard to think of
things?
Yeah, it's like really crazy howthe brain does that because on
days, most days I could give you10.
Like, does it's so easy?
Um, and then there's just a daythat like I can't come up with

(40:20):
anything because you know, likeyou were saying, Rob, like so
many things are going wrong allat once, and like your brain
just shifts there.
And I but I think that'sactually the power of gratitude
and of positive thinking is yourbrain has trouble doing both at
the same time.
It it can, but it has troubledoing that.

(40:41):
And so if you're stuck in thenegative and you start inserting
positive, literally anything, ifit's just one thing and it's
this blue bird, or it's well,yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (40:51):
What do you recommend for people to get to
the positive?
Just go outside, go for a walk,look for something.

SPEAKER_05 (40:55):
Look around you.
Literally, just look around you.
We as humans, we do this thingwhere stuff that we appreciate,
we keep around us.
And so most people, if you'resitting in your house, there are
five things around you thatyou're grateful for, like right
now.
At least five.
Yeah.
Now you're in the bathroom.

SPEAKER_03 (41:13):
I'm in the bathroom in the dark, so I can't see
anything.
If you're sitting on the toilet,that's a thing you're grateful
for because even if you're alonein the dark in your own bathroom
with the door shut, you can findsomething.

SPEAKER_05 (41:27):
It's true.
I mean, there's there is alwayssomething, but the challenge is
is here.
Um and working through that.
So I mean, I am like, nojudgment for anybody who's
struggling with that becauseI've been there as much as
anybody else has.
Um, and again, having acommunity is great.
So, you know, some days I jumpon and look at comments that

(41:48):
other people have made on myposts of things they're grateful
for because I needed that.
That's nice.
And forever, there's peoplemaking comments about stuff I've
never thought of before in mylife.
Um, so my favorite, all of asudden, one day, um I realized I
had never done a grateful videofor glasses.
That's fine.

(42:09):
I am absolutely dependent on myglasses.
Like that's every single video Ihave ever made.
Yes, every single video I'veever made, I was looking through
my glasses to make that video,and it never crossed my mind to
be thankful for my glasses.
I'm legally blind without them.
Like it's something, so manythings we just take so for

(42:31):
granted.
It just seems so normal to us,we never think to do it.
So, you know, the big I thinkone of the big things with me on
today I'm grateful is there isnothing too silly or and nothing
too small to be grateful for.
And just eliminating that,because I think a lot of it is
just we have this self-imposedembarrassment of like, oh,

(42:53):
that's a dumb thing, or peoplewill think that's stupid, um, or
that's cringe.
Fine, I don't care.
Like, that's okay.
Because any like literallyanything and stuff that that one
person finds just really cool,other people may not find cool.
Fine.

SPEAKER_03 (43:10):
I'm I'm grateful for the wacky waving inflatable arm
flailing tube man because I'venever not looked at one of those
and smiled.
Every time I've seen a wackywaving inflatable arm flailing
tube man, I always smile.
I'm like, I like that.

SPEAKER_05 (43:22):
They make mini ones that run on USB.
You should probably get one.

SPEAKER_03 (43:26):
I would totally I should get one of those.
That would be really just it'sjust in there just the whole
time.
I'd be too disturbing.

SPEAKER_01 (43:32):
Just in the background of your video,
another talking point, anothereye catch.

SPEAKER_03 (43:36):
People are gonna stop asking about my shirts and
start asking about the wackywaving and flat alarm, flatily
two band in the background.

SPEAKER_05 (43:42):
So I'm curious, Rob, you mentioned some of the things
that I don't know how currentthe all those things are that
you mentioned when things arekind of going on.
Very current.
Very current.
All right.
What have you done to keepyourself in a positive space
while dealing with all thatstuff in life?

SPEAKER_01 (44:01):
I have a cat.

SPEAKER_05 (44:02):
There you go.
Cat's good.
For real.

SPEAKER_03 (44:06):
For real.

SPEAKER_01 (44:07):
But also surrounding myself with excellent people
helps.

SPEAKER_03 (44:10):
Like Matt, like Mike needs a plan.
Everyone go over and show Mike'slike oh shit.
I just hitting the wall with myelbow.
This is great.
I'm doing awesome.
Don't mind me.
You guys go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 (44:19):
Yeah, no, it was um it's been a very, very dark year
for me.
And even just this.
Yeah, it's just uh right.

SPEAKER_03 (44:27):
You got your window smashed in.

SPEAKER_01 (44:29):
Literally have somebody running around saying
it had apparently has a deaththreat against me.
Oh.

SPEAKER_05 (44:35):
What in the world?

SPEAKER_01 (44:36):
That's I um apparently I'm hacking his
internet.

SPEAKER_05 (44:42):
Oh yeah, you really should stop doing that.

SPEAKER_01 (44:45):
So maybe there's some like I would love to stop
doing that if I even knew whothe fuck he was.

SPEAKER_03 (44:49):
Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 (44:50):
No, it's just uh he showed up uh like I it it was uh
the roommate um got the door.
He showed up the other on Sundayand he was just drugged out and
just screaming and uh lookingfor the previous guy that lived
here as well uh and when theroommate said um yeah, he
doesn't live here anymore, it'sme and Rob.

(45:10):
He's like, Oh, Rob, that guy,tell him I'm gonna fucking kill
him.
I've just tell him to stophacking my internet.

SPEAKER_03 (45:17):
Man.
Hey kids, don't do drugs.

SPEAKER_01 (45:19):
I came and smashed my truck.

SPEAKER_03 (45:21):
I don't, oh god.
Don't do drugs.
So that's our smash truck.
Great.
Yeah, that's yeah, that's rough.

SPEAKER_01 (45:27):
But yeah, it's uh and then you know, dealing with
my dad's health on top ofeverything and finances, and now
I've now instead of uh fixing myteeth, I get to fix my truck.
But it all comes down to um youknow animal assisted therapy for
me is a huge thing.
Yeah, huge thing.
Love having cat.
It it's I I wasn't joking aboutthat.

(45:50):
And then like being able totouch base with Liam and Mike
and Adam and um and James aswell.
James checks in on me once in awhile as well.

SPEAKER_00 (46:01):
That's good.

SPEAKER_01 (46:02):
Um it's been yeah, it's it's the people.

SPEAKER_03 (46:06):
Right, because being isolated in Canada up there, you
know, not too many people sucks.

SPEAKER_01 (46:12):
Yeah, yeah.
It also yeah, and then I've beenI stream on Twitch and I get to
chat with some people there andstuff, and that's nice.

SPEAKER_05 (46:18):
Yeah, it's life is not easy, like it's just not.
And those questions are like howdo you just keep putting one
foot in front of the other?
Of course, I've never been in asituation where I've had an
active death threat against me.
That's sort of a whole new levelof things.

SPEAKER_01 (46:34):
Um I sleep with my knife under my bed now and my
axe near the door.

SPEAKER_05 (46:39):
Yeah, and sometimes, and I think that's that's part
of like the flip side, and soyou know, people talk about
like, oh, well, you like alwayspositive or whatever.
And I've had a few peoplechallenge me, and I'm like,
honestly, the first conversationwe have, if we're just gonna sit
down and talk, is more of a howare you conversation because
gratitude is not it's not afalse mask that you wear, like

(47:02):
that's fake, it's not that, it'sa choice you're making to try to
rewire what your brain islooking for in the world, and
then in turn what it finds inthe world, because your brain
always finds what it's lookingfor.
Um but it is never I I neverrecommend it outside of what
reality is, and so it cantotally be like everything seems

(47:27):
like it's going absolutely awfulright now, and it's okay to feel
that, it's okay to work throughthose emotions, it's okay to to
sit and have those conversationsor sit in silence because you
don't know how to have thoseconversations.
That's me when I'm in a roughtime.
Um and it's also okay.
This is the part I think a lotof people struggle with, is that

(47:50):
you can you can go bothdirections at once to say all of
this is going on and I'm notdenying any of it.
And I am choosing to havesomething I am grateful for so
that my brain doesn't becomeconvinced that everything is
awful, to just have that becauseyou don't want to pretend it
didn't happen or it's not thereor anything, right?

SPEAKER_03 (48:08):
Right.

SPEAKER_05 (48:09):
There's no need to go into denial, there's no need
to you know reverse all of that.
And I've been in plenty of thosespaces where I'm like, today I
got absolutely nothing.
I'm dealing with reality, it'sone foot in front of the other.
We've had multiple things withkids in the hospital or you
know, dealing with that kind ofstuff, and you know what is it?

(48:33):
And you know, some of those daysliterally was I am so grateful
that there is a medical teambecause I am so lost right now.
There is like I have literallynothing, literally nothing, and
all of my hopes in life arecurrently pinned on a
three-doctor team that's in thatroom.
Like but you can look at thatnegative or and then it's like

(48:55):
but grab the positive thing.
There's a three-doctor team inthat room that I can have trust
and hope of what they're doingright now.
So you don't deny thedifficulties, but also try to
just open up that other side ofyour mind so that it can see the
positive, because otherwise itwill just go down the negative

(49:16):
toilet tank, and that's not agood space.

SPEAKER_01 (49:20):
I think we even had kind of an example right here on
the podcast where Liam uh hadsome technical difficulties, and
it's like, yeah, that'sfrustrating.
We don't know what on our end,we don't know what's going on.
Liam has to figure things out,but instead of like being down
about it, we just startedcracking jokes.

SPEAKER_03 (49:38):
Yeah.
I think and I I like what you'resaying, where like you started
making videos, like you couldwrite it down, you could like
even if you don't want to postit.
What if you just record yourselfand just keep it on your camera?

unknown (49:49):
Right?

SPEAKER_03 (49:49):
You maybe you have a folder just on your camera where
you're just like, hey, I'mgrateful for this thing, and
then you can go back and youhave all of them.
You don't even need to post it,you don't need other people to
see it.
It's just for you.
Have it there, so it's at leastit's something.

SPEAKER_05 (50:01):
Yeah, and the crazy thing is like overall, I'm
actually a fairly privateperson.
So like deciding to do somethinglike that publicly was a very
different choice for me, butthere's still a lot of things
I'm not gonna discuss.
I'm just not going to becomfortable discussing openly on
this today, I'm gratefulchannel.
So um, but yeah, those are stillthings that I'm going to focus

(50:24):
on and be grateful for, um, evenif it's not something that I'm
I'm really ready to share.
I think one of the crazychallenges right when I started,
I was still in a bad mentalhealth space, and my grandma
passed away.
And my and I was very close toher.
And my friend came to my officewhen he heard, and he's like,
How are you taking this?
And I said, Honestly, I'm takingit really well because I have

(50:48):
been living in this type ofcrisis and anxiety and stress or
whatever, and now I at leasthave a reason to feel the way I
feel.
Like I was I was already there,but it was a difficult, like I
really had a lot to wrestlethrough, but at her funeral it
switched to that was my grandma.

(51:12):
Like, I am the most blessedperson in the world that that
wonderful lady was my grandma,and I have had her in my life
for all of these years.
Like, was the grief still there?
And I think that's the hardthing.
Like, people people will say,But like, well, then you're just
you weren't grieving.
No, the grief was all stillthere, the sadness is all still

(51:32):
there, but I also had this likeat the same time, like
overwhelming sense of like wow,the reason I'm so sad is because
she was an incredible person,right?
And I had the privilege of beingher grandchild.
Like, what just an awesomething.

SPEAKER_01 (51:51):
Yeah.
I mean, the better something is,the sadder you'll be about it,
right?

SPEAKER_05 (51:56):
Exactly.
And the reality is, just when itcomes to being grateful, we are
as humans the worst at notrecognizing something that we
are grateful for until after welose it.
Like, that is actually the mostcommon time when we notice
something.
So one of the strong one of thewrestles they have with people
is they only want to be gratefulfor something they have

(52:17):
currently.
Like, you can absolutely begrateful for something you've
had in the past and lost.
And that's you will actuallynotice it and feel it way more
in that situation than you wouldhave at other times.
You can be grateful forsomething that you you are
grateful for, but you don'tcurrently have.
So, like Rob is really gratefulfor financial stability, and the

(52:43):
that's why this stresses him ifhe's not in it right now, like
because that's something hereally values in life.
Okay.
Um, Liam really likes ceilingsthat are taller than he is.
I'm grateful for being able tostand up.
I'm grateful to be able to standup without hitting my head.
Yeah, but it gets you into thespace that is like, I think,
like one of the things thateither I'm known for or I get

(53:04):
teased for, but is the wholeidea of just everything that
frustrates you actually pointsto something you're grateful
for.
Everything you're sad aboutpoints to something you're
grateful for.
Every negative emotion youexperience in life actually
relates to something you'regrateful for.
And so everything then canbecome not a trigger, but like a

(53:27):
path.
And again, not to deny thereality of something, but to
show you the path of like, wow,there's actually something I
really value connected here, andthat's why I'm experiencing
these negative the negativeemotions I'm experiencing right
now.

SPEAKER_01 (53:41):
Randomly, um, this is something Liam and I both
have in common.
We are still friends with ourexes.
Yeah, my ex-wife.

SPEAKER_02 (53:52):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (53:53):
And it's like, but we um I I I don't want to speak
for Liam, but I think we bothcan agree that like we can look
at that and be like, yeah, it itsucked that stuff happened and
stuff, but we're still gratefulfor this person.
We're still grateful to havethem in our life.

SPEAKER_03 (54:10):
Right.
Like you were with them for areason.
Like I married my high schoolsweetheart when we met when we
were 16, so it's like we grew uptogether, and it's like you want
to just like cut all ties withthat and never like again?
Like, I don't know.
I was why not take some of thegood and try leave, try and
leave more of the bad if youcan.
I I get why people don't want todo it, but at the same time,
it's if it should make sensethat you'd want to hold on to

(54:31):
something there.
Yeah.
You know what I'm grateful forthat.
I don't have a DeLorean.
Hey David, did you hear thatthey're remaking the DeLorean?
Are you serious?
Yeah, we talked about this lastweek.
I went off on a tangent, so I'mnot gonna go off on the whole
thing again, but just take aquick guess at how much they're
selling the new DeLorean for.
Everyone who's listened to itlast week is like, oh, there's
no way he's gonna guess what itis.

(54:52):
It is actually, well, it's aquarter of a million, so it's
$250,000 is the starting pricefor the new Devon.
That will go higher.
And that's what I don't have it,but I'm grateful that it exists.
And I'm grateful for that newDeLorean because that's what I
want, but I'm not gonna be ableto get it, but I'm still
grateful for it.

SPEAKER_05 (55:12):
Oh, so you're grateful to get the chance to
see somebody else driving it.

SPEAKER_03 (55:15):
I will get to see someone else driving it.

SPEAKER_05 (55:17):
You're you're talking about a line of new
DeLoreans.

SPEAKER_03 (55:20):
Yes, a line of new Devons.

SPEAKER_05 (55:22):
Okay, I thought you were talking like a singular
remake of the new.

SPEAKER_03 (55:26):
They were totally remaking it with like new prod,
like new material, like new,like updating it, but still
keeping the you know, butterflydoors or whatever it is, the
wing doors, whatever it is.
Because I told them that I'venever seen Back to the Future,
but it would be really funny ifI owned a DeLorean.
And when people asked, you know,you must love it, I'm like, no,

(55:46):
I've never seen it, and that'sjust funny.
And my whole life I try to justmake it into a joke, so that
would have been a very goodjoke.
Unfortunately, I won't be ableto afford it, but I'll be able
to see other people drive itaround, and I'm grateful for
that.

SPEAKER_01 (55:57):
Maybe you'll be able to rent one one day.

SPEAKER_03 (55:59):
I could oh, do you think I could lease one for like
a week?
Like a month.
I just want it for it.
I need a rich friend who willlet me borrow the DeLorean.

SPEAKER_01 (56:09):
Yes.
Well, we all know Mike is goingto instantly start saving up for
one of those.
So eventually he'll own one andhe'll go in together.

SPEAKER_03 (56:15):
Mike you're listening to this and we're
gonna save up together everypenny we have.
No, it's not going to mydaughter's college fund.
It's going to the new DeLoreanthat you and I are gonna buy.
If everyone who watches who whowatches and listens to this
podcast will donate one dollartoward Liam's DeLorean every
week in this ep ever of inmoderation, I'm gonna bring up

(56:36):
the DeLorean and we're gonnawe're gonna save money and we're
all gonna get there together tothis to the new DeLorean.

SPEAKER_01 (56:43):
If you want to see And then we'll have a nice
convention and we'll get uh likethe red carpet, and everybody
will be outside and we'll beready, and Liam will drive up in
the DeLorean and the wings willopen and he'll get out and walk
the red carpet.

SPEAKER_03 (56:57):
I'll be dressed as like the doctor.
Wait, not the doctor.
I was gonna say the doctor isfor Doctor Who.
The doctor from Doctor Who, yes,no.
I don't even remember, I don'teven remember the fucking
scientist name in it becauseI've never seen the movies, but
I'll be dressed as them.

SPEAKER_05 (57:15):
And it'll be my favorite part about this is like
you are intentionally notwatching the movies, so you can
perpetuate the joke.

SPEAKER_03 (57:22):
Yes, I would make sure if I own one, I would make
sure I never saw the moviesbecause it would be too too much
of a good joke to let go of.
Yeah, that's the plan.
Welcome to no longer inmoderation.
Welcome to obtaining a DeLorean.
Where every week we just try andtalk about how we can get our
hands on one for at least alittle bit.

SPEAKER_05 (57:43):
So we'll just change the definition for you.
What you want is ten DeLoreans.
So one DeLorean is inmoderation.

SPEAKER_03 (57:50):
I cut down, I cut back my expectations.
Gosh, it's funny.
Well, if people want to knowmore about what to be grateful
for, where where where do theyfind you?

SPEAKER_05 (58:03):
You can follow me on all major socials and a few
minor um at they.grateful.
I like that.
And yeah, when TikTok was sh waslike you know, threatening that
they were gonna get banned,there were all those little you
know, minor social medias thatlaunched, and so I created a
camera on several of them.

(58:25):
And so I exist in small randomcorners.

SPEAKER_01 (58:29):
Don't worry, now that Fox is buying TikTok, I'm
sure they'll make a comeback andyou're already on them.

SPEAKER_05 (58:34):
I actually had a mini viral the other day on
Clapper.
Uh easily, I mean, it's handsdown the most viewed video I've
ever had on there.
And I will have you know.

SPEAKER_01 (58:46):
I'm thinking to myself, I'm thinking to myself,
isn't that the gay app?
No, that's grinder, not clapper.

SPEAKER_05 (58:52):
Let's get this right.
A video go viral on grind.
And so like I have this really,really awesome income coming
from there.
Um, I believe that I am up to 12cents on clapper.

SPEAKER_03 (59:09):
Damn.

SPEAKER_05 (59:10):
Like I said, there's a few microphones of the
internet.

SPEAKER_03 (59:12):
That's getting us so much closer to the DeLorean.
And if you would like to justthrow that in our fund, I'd be
the 12 cents is yours.

SPEAKER_05 (59:20):
I'm gonna mail it to you by check, but unfortunately,
the stamp costs like what arethey, 75 cents?