February 28, 2025 • 26 mins
Accountability is the central theme of this discourse, as I delve into its profound significance in our personal and societal spheres. We explore the imperative of being accountable not only to ourselves but also to one another, a principle I have come to cherish deeply, particularly in the context of familial relationships. The discourse reflects on my journey toward understanding accountability, particularly how my interactions with significant individuals have shaped my perspective. I contend that the absence of accountability in contemporary discourse, especially among public figures, has led to a troubling erosion of trust and integrity within our institutions. As we navigate these complex dynamics, I invite you to reflect on the role of accountability in your own life and consider its potential to foster positive change within your community.
The discourse delves into the profound importance of accountability in our interpersonal and societal relations. The speaker reflects on their personal journey with accountability, illustrating how it has evolved over the years, particularly influenced by familial dynamics and significant personal relationships. The narrative articulates the notion that accountability is not merely a personal trait but a societal necessity, especially in light of contemporary political issues. The speaker poignantly critiques the apparent absence of accountability in public figures, particularly highlighting a lack of consequences for actions that undermine democratic principles. This observation serves as a catalyst for a broader discussion on the implications of accountability in fostering trust and emotional maturity within communities and families. Furthermore, the speaker invites listeners to contemplate their own accountability practices, suggesting that personal reflection can precipitate collective change, thereby reinforcing the fabric of society itself.
Takeaways:
- Accountability is essential in our personal interactions and helps foster trust between individuals.
- I share my personal journey of learning accountability, which was significantly influenced by my relationship with Steve.
- The absence of accountability in leadership can lead to a culture of disregard for ethical standards and truth.
- Teaching children about accountability is crucial for their emotional development and maturity, as well as for building familial bonds.
- In our society, it is imperative to challenge misinformation and hold individuals accountable for their actions.
- Practicing kindness can create a ripple effect, positively influencing our communities amidst challenging times.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(01:41):
Welcome back to another weekof beyond the Breath.
I am so glad that you'vedecided to join me.
This is becoming more and morefun every week.
As each week goes by, puttingtogether my thoughts and ideas just
keep jumping into my head soI'm, I get more and more excited
(02:03):
as the more ideas come andideas that I know are good for this
free Friday pod as opposed tothe Tuesday pod.
So the thought for this weekhas really been rolling around in
my head for quite some time now.
And it is accountability, thefact that accountability matters,
(02:26):
being accountable and toourselves, being accountable to others
and just the entire concept of accountability.
And I'm guessing that hearingthat, you know, you know where I'm
going with this.
But I invite you to sit withme as I, as I chat about this for
(02:47):
a little bit and just, I wouldlove to know what comes up for you.
The whole concept ofaccountability is one that I particularly
love because it is, it issomething that as my children got
older and older, it becamemore and more important to be a trade,
(03:12):
a character trait that theylearned was important that we modeled
for them.
And you know, in the pastcouple of years, especially with
everything that has gone on inour country, I've really recognized
how important accountabilityis and I just wanted to share a little
(03:39):
bit about, you know, where itcame from for me, how I learned accountability.
It was not something that Ilearned as a child or as a, you know,
a young, young person.
I have always been a, a verysensitive person and aware of others,
(04:06):
aware of how others feel infact almost to, you know, I think
you probably some might callme highly sensitive, Always very,
very aware of others reactionsto, to me, to things that I say to
things that I do and just veryobservant of others behavior.
(04:30):
So for instance, you know, howpeople's energy might be when they
come into a room, how theirmood might be kind of allowing that
to guide how, how I am in thatspace, how I respond in that space.
And so I bring that up becausethat was definitely a superpower,
(04:56):
so to speak of mine as ayounger person.
And it certainly helped me,guide me through my teen years and
young years.
And it really, even though itis now something that I no longer,
that no longer works for me,it helped keep me small and as invisible
(05:19):
as possible.
So I bring that up becauseeven though I was aware, I didn't
know what to do if I hurtsomebody's feelings, that was not.
If I realized that I had hurtsomeone or I had said something that
was, that was wrong or I'Ddone something that had caused someone
(05:41):
else to be upset in some way.
I was so scared when that happened.
I was so fearful of thathappening, and I didn't know how
to fix that.
It was so scary to me to.
Now I think, well, you justtell them you're sorry, you own your
behavior, you own what yousaid, you apologize for what you
(06:04):
did, whatever it was.
But at the time, at thoseyounger ages, I, I just was so incredibly
fearful.
And that fear really guided meand, and guided my decisions and
how I handled things for, andfor quite some time.
(06:26):
And I share that because Iimagine that there are others that
might feel that way or mighthave felt that way when they were
younger as well.
And it really wasn't until Imet Steve.
And I, I realized this when Iwas thinking about it the other day
and I was chatting withsomebody about this and kind of thinking
(06:48):
back to when did I reallyrealize or figure it out or begin
to practice being accountable,taking accountability, owning things.
And it was when I, when I met Steve.
And I now can look back andunderstand that I was able to do
(07:09):
that because I felt safe withhim, because I knew that no matter
what, he would love me and hewould not judge me and he would talk
through things with me.
And so, you know, this isalmost 30 years later, and this has
(07:29):
definitely been a very slowgrowth thing over the past 30 years,
but something that has grownto be incredibly, incredibly important
to me and how I move throughthe world and also for my kids and
them learning to do that as well.
(07:51):
Not only to do that withtheir, to own their own stuff, but
to help others learn how to dothat, right?
To hold others accountable fortheir behaviors, meaning when they
see things that they knowaren't right, when they see an injustice
in the world, when they seebehaviors that are not okay to call
(08:15):
it out.
And I have recognized that themore that our, our family POD of
six that when we own ourbehavior, that we are, when we are
accountable, when I can say,hey, I really screwed that up, I'm
sorry, and I can acknowledgehow that made another person feel,
(08:38):
as well as saying, hey, thatthat behavior is not okay, and opening
up a space to be able todiscuss that, that, that being able
to do that within our familybuilds trust, it has built trust.
It has deepened the love thatwe all have for one another and it
(09:01):
extends grace.
And I just felt so compelledto talk about this today and to share
this with you all todaybecause it has puzzled me that Trump
has never, ever been heldaccountable and some of you may be
saying, well, he was heldliable and he was impeached and he
(09:23):
has 34 felonies and all of that.
But for all of the lies, forall of those things, for all of the
outrageous comments, thecruelties, the just horrifying behavior,
not one of those was followedthrough with any kind of consequence.
(09:47):
There was, there's been zero accountability.
And this is a pattern, ofcourse, that, I mean, has always
been for him.
But with every single one ofthose egregious comments or lies
that no one called him on, ithas emboldened him to say more, to
(10:07):
do more, to continue this pattern.
And I believe that once hereally was in the public eye, you
know, we can just say, let'ssay that that started in 2015, right?
Once he came down thatescalator, that the, every time that
he did that and he was able todo that emboldened him.
(10:28):
And at first it was just kindof a, everybody found it to be off
putting and kind of shocking,but like, oh, that's, that's just
him, right?
And, and it became how can wethrow people off?
And I think that it, I don'tthink it started out as an actual
strategy.
(10:49):
I believe it is a strategy nowthough, to be clear, you have to
have a conscience to holdyourself accountable or to be held
accountable by somebody else,which of course he does not.
And of course it does seemthat many around him now do not have
(11:09):
a conscience.
Most narcissists are incapableof holding themselves accountable
or being held to account.
The question is how did we getto this place that we have so many
who are, it's almostimpossible to hold them accountable
(11:33):
now.
How did this happen?
So these are the things Ishare and it's really a question
I don't accept, expect to beanswered today.
It's more a question that I'mposing for you to think about.
And certainly this is a topicthat I think that I will, I will
(11:54):
continue in, in the comingweeks because it's one that I just,
the more, the more I thoughtabout it this week as I was preparing
for this and writing notes andlooking things up, the more I thought,
well, I don't really have ananswer for this and I don't really
(12:18):
know what to do.
What do we do when we havesomeone who has absolutely no respect
for any of the institutionsthat were put in place, the Constitution,
any check and balance, right,Three separate but equal branches
(12:39):
of government, no respect forthat, that's being completely just
chopped apart and disregarded.
So what do we do?
What do we, the Americanpeople, do while this is going on?
How do we strengthen who weare, how we walk in the world so
(13:05):
that we can all come togetherand agree and do something about
this, which I believe iscompletely possible.
Is really thinking about whyaccountability matters and why in
general it matters, why itmatters in our personal lives, why
(13:27):
it matters in ourrelationships, personal relationships,
friendships and professional relationships.
And so I just made a littlebit of a list of why I think accountability
matters.
And I encourage you to add tothis first, which I had mentioned
earlier, is it builds trust,which if we don't have trust, if
(13:52):
you don't trust yourself, youcan't trust yourself to be out in
the world either.
It's very difficult to trust others.
So trust is really importantwithin any relationship structure,
whether it's work, parenting,teaching, etc.
(14:13):
Taking accountability isalways a teachable moment.
It models, among other things,emotional maturity, which is something
that is not necessarily inherent.
It is definitely somethingthat you need to have modeled for
(14:36):
you to learn.
Helps you stay aligned withyour values and your belief system.
Holding yourself accountableor being accountable and being accountable
to others can help you takethat pause that I talk about a lot.
(14:56):
Whether it's before you make abig decision or react to something
or jump into doing without thinking.
It helps you keep your word toothers to honor your commitments.
It creates an instant supportsystem when you are accountable to
(15:20):
other people.
So again I bring this upbecause it is one of the biggest
checkpoints or traits that aremissing from the orange fascist clown
and his 10 ring circus of asshats.
There really is not one humanamong them who has the wisdom, the
(15:43):
maturity, the emotionalintelligence, the internal fortitude,
the depth of character orotherwise humanity to hold him or
any of the fascists gone wildto account.
So I had started a list of theactions and non actions that just
(16:10):
that have happened between theinauguration and now just kind of
out of curiosity and I wasn'tsure, I'm not sure I'm not going
to share the whole listbecause of course as I got started,
ones just kept jumping to my mind.
But I'm going to share just acouple I think have stood out to
me and I actually want to, Iwant to add one that jumped into
(16:31):
my head right before I startedthis and it's one that happened during
the election that bothered mefor many, many reasons.
But a big reason is that itwas started about my hometown, which
was Springfield, Ohio.
And I'm sure in me sayingthat, you know what I'm talking about,
it is the.
(16:51):
The Haitians are eating thedogs and the cats comment.
And I still remember when hesaid that as I was watching it live
and thinking, this is extraordinary.
I mean, horrific, awful,cruel, obviously inaccurate, dangerous.
(17:15):
And being absolutely.
And thinking this is sooutrageous that certainly, certainly
people will see this,certainly people will hold him accountable
for this.
And yet people didn't.
It was commented on.
(17:35):
It became a million memes.
But there were people thatactually believed that.
There were people that stoodbehind their justification of that.
And I remember at the timethinking, oh my gosh, if he is not
held accountable for that, Imean, that's on top of the thousands
(17:59):
upon thousands of lies thatwere told that he told before that
the absurdities, theoutrageous claims, the, you know,
we could go on and on.
I just keep thinking, at whatpoint are we all going to come together
and say, enough, enough.
(18:20):
If it wasn't the cats and dogscomment, you know, could it have
been when the tragic planecrash into the Potomac he blamed
on adversity hire.
Could it have been then?
Could it have been?
Or could it be the inciting ofJanuary 6th?
(18:41):
It's documented everywhere.
He incited it.
The attempt to rewrite that.
Say he didn't say it was a dayof love, which is so egregious and
horrific.
The release of 1500 J6criminals on inauguration Day.
(19:07):
None of that.
No one is out there.
And by no one, I mean peoplewho are in points of power right
now to actually do somethingabout it.
Not the Supreme Court, notanyone in the justice system, not
certainly nobody in Congress,or not enough people in Congress
(19:29):
because there are people inCongress who are doing their damnedest.
But this needs to be amajority pushback.
And I believe part of that,which is why I'm doing this today
in a way that is, of course,could be a lot more pointed and,
(19:58):
and eloquent.
But I am literally speaking toyou from the heart on this one.
We just need to keep saying itover and over and over again, right?
Everyone's voice needs to be raised.
Every single time he sayssomething, we say something back.
(20:21):
We make noise, we call it outin our circles.
We talk about it with peopleand, and have conversations with
those who may not think it's abig deal or may not see why it's
a big deal.
We have conversations, we hearconspiracies, we stop them, we debunk
(20:48):
them, right?
With accurate information,with facts.
Facts matter.
Just because he and thosearound him Pete.
Inaccurate information,misinformation, disinformation, flat
out lies over and over andover does not suddenly make that
(21:12):
information accurate or true.
It's still wrong, flat out wrong.
Not factual, inaccurate,whatever you want to say.
It's okay to call out their hypocrisy.
It's okay to call out thisstunning double standard.
(21:35):
It is okay to say, hey,listen, I'm coming from a place of
recognizing that no one hereis perfect.
I'm not standing here on theother side saying that everything
was perfect, that thereweren't changes that were needed.
(22:00):
I'm saying let's do that in away that takes into account humans.
I don't really have a specificcall to action for today, and I certainly
plan on revisiting this topic.
Today was certainly more of apractice of really, really speaking
(22:26):
from the heart and, andsharing what I know is bothering
many of us.
And, you know, that goes toone of the things that I feel very,
very strongly about in thisworld, which is to let others know
that they're not alone in whatthey're feeling.
So the call to action is moreof a call to just contemplate accountability
(22:50):
and what that.
Think about where youraccountability game is for yourself
and with others.
Think about how perhapsholding yourself and others accountable
can create small shifts withinyour family or within your community,
and thinking about how thatmight ripple out into the world.
(23:15):
I've really, really liked thepast two weeks ending this Friday
pod with a section on doing good.
And I have been playing withdifferent names for this section.
And today it felt like what Iwanted to bring up was something
inspired.
Inspired action or inspired compassion.
(23:38):
So this is still a work in progress.
If anybody has any thoughts onthis, I'd love to hear it.
But it completely slipped mymind that last week was Random Acts
of Kindness Week.
And so I realized that thatmay not land well with you, or it.
(23:58):
It may feel like it's just not enough.
But it felt really importantto share and to talk about here at
the end this week.
And because showing anotherhuman kindness always matters.
It always makes a difference.
(24:19):
It doesn't matter how small it.
So I'd like for you to justsit with that, think about how you
can go out into the world, outinto your day, out into your workplace,
because it's very, very, veryeasy right now to get all swirled
(24:42):
in anxiety and the fear andthe worry and the just awfulness
of what's going on.
And when we can pull ourselvesout of that long enough to show another
human some kindness, to dosomething kind, to say something
(25:06):
kind, it has a way of justpulling us right out of that spiral.
So that is my challenge foryou for this week.
My gift to you for this week.
(25:26):
Until next week, be safe andstay strong.
Welcome back to another weekof beyond the Breath.
I am so glad that you'vedecided to join me.
This is becoming more and morefun every week.
As each week goes by, puttingtogether my thoughts and ideas just
keep jumping into my head soI'm, I get more and more excited
(02:03):
as the more ideas come andideas that I know are good for this
free Friday pod as opposed tothe Tuesday pod.
So the thought for this weekhas really been rolling around in
my head for quite some time now.
And it is accountability, thefact that accountability matters,
(02:26):
being accountable and toourselves, being accountable to others
and just the entire concept of accountability.
And I'm guessing that hearingthat, you know, you know where I'm
going with this.
But I invite you to sit withme as I, as I chat about this for
(02:47):
a little bit and just, I wouldlove to know what comes up for you.
The whole concept ofaccountability is one that I particularly
love because it is, it issomething that as my children got
older and older, it becamemore and more important to be a trade,
(03:12):
a character trait that theylearned was important that we modeled
for them.
And you know, in the pastcouple of years, especially with
everything that has gone on inour country, I've really recognized
how important accountabilityis and I just wanted to share a little
(03:39):
bit about, you know, where itcame from for me, how I learned accountability.
It was not something that Ilearned as a child or as a, you know,
a young, young person.
I have always been a, a verysensitive person and aware of others,
(04:06):
aware of how others feel infact almost to, you know, I think
you probably some might callme highly sensitive, Always very,
very aware of others reactionsto, to me, to things that I say to
things that I do and just veryobservant of others behavior.
(04:30):
So for instance, you know, howpeople's energy might be when they
come into a room, how theirmood might be kind of allowing that
to guide how, how I am in thatspace, how I respond in that space.
And so I bring that up becausethat was definitely a superpower,
(04:56):
so to speak of mine as ayounger person.
And it certainly helped me,guide me through my teen years and
young years.
And it really, even though itis now something that I no longer,
that no longer works for me,it helped keep me small and as invisible
(05:19):
as possible.
So I bring that up becauseeven though I was aware, I didn't
know what to do if I hurtsomebody's feelings, that was not.
If I realized that I had hurtsomeone or I had said something that
was, that was wrong or I'Ddone something that had caused someone
(05:41):
else to be upset in some way.
I was so scared when that happened.
I was so fearful of thathappening, and I didn't know how
to fix that.
It was so scary to me to.
Now I think, well, you justtell them you're sorry, you own your
behavior, you own what yousaid, you apologize for what you
(06:04):
did, whatever it was.
But at the time, at thoseyounger ages, I, I just was so incredibly
fearful.
And that fear really guided meand, and guided my decisions and
how I handled things for, andfor quite some time.
(06:26):
And I share that because Iimagine that there are others that
might feel that way or mighthave felt that way when they were
younger as well.
And it really wasn't until Imet Steve.
And I, I realized this when Iwas thinking about it the other day
and I was chatting withsomebody about this and kind of thinking
(06:48):
back to when did I reallyrealize or figure it out or begin
to practice being accountable,taking accountability, owning things.
And it was when I, when I met Steve.
And I now can look back andunderstand that I was able to do
(07:09):
that because I felt safe withhim, because I knew that no matter
what, he would love me and hewould not judge me and he would talk
through things with me.
And so, you know, this isalmost 30 years later, and this has
(07:29):
definitely been a very slowgrowth thing over the past 30 years,
but something that has grownto be incredibly, incredibly important
to me and how I move throughthe world and also for my kids and
them learning to do that as well.
(07:51):
Not only to do that withtheir, to own their own stuff, but
to help others learn how to dothat, right?
To hold others accountable fortheir behaviors, meaning when they
see things that they knowaren't right, when they see an injustice
in the world, when they seebehaviors that are not okay to call
(08:15):
it out.
And I have recognized that themore that our, our family POD of
six that when we own ourbehavior, that we are, when we are
accountable, when I can say,hey, I really screwed that up, I'm
sorry, and I can acknowledgehow that made another person feel,
(08:38):
as well as saying, hey, thatthat behavior is not okay, and opening
up a space to be able todiscuss that, that, that being able
to do that within our familybuilds trust, it has built trust.
It has deepened the love thatwe all have for one another and it
(09:01):
extends grace.
And I just felt so compelledto talk about this today and to share
this with you all todaybecause it has puzzled me that Trump
has never, ever been heldaccountable and some of you may be
saying, well, he was heldliable and he was impeached and he
(09:23):
has 34 felonies and all of that.
But for all of the lies, forall of those things, for all of the
outrageous comments, thecruelties, the just horrifying behavior,
not one of those was followedthrough with any kind of consequence.
(09:47):
There was, there's been zero accountability.
And this is a pattern, ofcourse, that, I mean, has always
been for him.
But with every single one ofthose egregious comments or lies
that no one called him on, ithas emboldened him to say more, to
(10:07):
do more, to continue this pattern.
And I believe that once hereally was in the public eye, you
know, we can just say, let'ssay that that started in 2015, right?
Once he came down thatescalator, that the, every time that
he did that and he was able todo that emboldened him.
(10:28):
And at first it was just kindof a, everybody found it to be off
putting and kind of shocking,but like, oh, that's, that's just
him, right?
And, and it became how can wethrow people off?
And I think that it, I don'tthink it started out as an actual
strategy.
(10:49):
I believe it is a strategy nowthough, to be clear, you have to
have a conscience to holdyourself accountable or to be held
accountable by somebody else,which of course he does not.
And of course it does seemthat many around him now do not have
(11:09):
a conscience.
Most narcissists are incapableof holding themselves accountable
or being held to account.
The question is how did we getto this place that we have so many
who are, it's almostimpossible to hold them accountable
(11:33):
now.
How did this happen?
So these are the things Ishare and it's really a question
I don't accept, expect to beanswered today.
It's more a question that I'mposing for you to think about.
And certainly this is a topicthat I think that I will, I will
(11:54):
continue in, in the comingweeks because it's one that I just,
the more, the more I thoughtabout it this week as I was preparing
for this and writing notes andlooking things up, the more I thought,
well, I don't really have ananswer for this and I don't really
(12:18):
know what to do.
What do we do when we havesomeone who has absolutely no respect
for any of the institutionsthat were put in place, the Constitution,
any check and balance, right,Three separate but equal branches
(12:39):
of government, no respect forthat, that's being completely just
chopped apart and disregarded.
So what do we do?
What do we, the Americanpeople, do while this is going on?
How do we strengthen who weare, how we walk in the world so
(13:05):
that we can all come togetherand agree and do something about
this, which I believe iscompletely possible.
Is really thinking about whyaccountability matters and why in
general it matters, why itmatters in our personal lives, why
(13:27):
it matters in ourrelationships, personal relationships,
friendships and professional relationships.
And so I just made a littlebit of a list of why I think accountability
matters.
And I encourage you to add tothis first, which I had mentioned
earlier, is it builds trust,which if we don't have trust, if
(13:52):
you don't trust yourself, youcan't trust yourself to be out in
the world either.
It's very difficult to trust others.
So trust is really importantwithin any relationship structure,
whether it's work, parenting,teaching, etc.
(14:13):
Taking accountability isalways a teachable moment.
It models, among other things,emotional maturity, which is something
that is not necessarily inherent.
It is definitely somethingthat you need to have modeled for
(14:36):
you to learn.
Helps you stay aligned withyour values and your belief system.
Holding yourself accountableor being accountable and being accountable
to others can help you takethat pause that I talk about a lot.
(14:56):
Whether it's before you make abig decision or react to something
or jump into doing without thinking.
It helps you keep your word toothers to honor your commitments.
It creates an instant supportsystem when you are accountable to
(15:20):
other people.
So again I bring this upbecause it is one of the biggest
checkpoints or traits that aremissing from the orange fascist clown
and his 10 ring circus of asshats.
There really is not one humanamong them who has the wisdom, the
(15:43):
maturity, the emotionalintelligence, the internal fortitude,
the depth of character orotherwise humanity to hold him or
any of the fascists gone wildto account.
So I had started a list of theactions and non actions that just
(16:10):
that have happened between theinauguration and now just kind of
out of curiosity and I wasn'tsure, I'm not sure I'm not going
to share the whole listbecause of course as I got started,
ones just kept jumping to my mind.
But I'm going to share just acouple I think have stood out to
me and I actually want to, Iwant to add one that jumped into
(16:31):
my head right before I startedthis and it's one that happened during
the election that bothered mefor many, many reasons.
But a big reason is that itwas started about my hometown, which
was Springfield, Ohio.
And I'm sure in me sayingthat, you know what I'm talking about,
it is the.
(16:51):
The Haitians are eating thedogs and the cats comment.
And I still remember when hesaid that as I was watching it live
and thinking, this is extraordinary.
I mean, horrific, awful,cruel, obviously inaccurate, dangerous.
(17:15):
And being absolutely.
And thinking this is sooutrageous that certainly, certainly
people will see this,certainly people will hold him accountable
for this.
And yet people didn't.
It was commented on.
(17:35):
It became a million memes.
But there were people thatactually believed that.
There were people that stoodbehind their justification of that.
And I remember at the timethinking, oh my gosh, if he is not
held accountable for that, Imean, that's on top of the thousands
(17:59):
upon thousands of lies thatwere told that he told before that
the absurdities, theoutrageous claims, the, you know,
we could go on and on.
I just keep thinking, at whatpoint are we all going to come together
and say, enough, enough.
(18:20):
If it wasn't the cats and dogscomment, you know, could it have
been when the tragic planecrash into the Potomac he blamed
on adversity hire.
Could it have been then?
Could it have been?
Or could it be the inciting ofJanuary 6th?
(18:41):
It's documented everywhere.
He incited it.
The attempt to rewrite that.
Say he didn't say it was a dayof love, which is so egregious and
horrific.
The release of 1500 J6criminals on inauguration Day.
(19:07):
None of that.
No one is out there.
And by no one, I mean peoplewho are in points of power right
now to actually do somethingabout it.
Not the Supreme Court, notanyone in the justice system, not
certainly nobody in Congress,or not enough people in Congress
(19:29):
because there are people inCongress who are doing their damnedest.
But this needs to be amajority pushback.
And I believe part of that,which is why I'm doing this today
in a way that is, of course,could be a lot more pointed and,
(19:58):
and eloquent.
But I am literally speaking toyou from the heart on this one.
We just need to keep saying itover and over and over again, right?
Everyone's voice needs to be raised.
Every single time he sayssomething, we say something back.
(20:21):
We make noise, we call it outin our circles.
We talk about it with peopleand, and have conversations with
those who may not think it's abig deal or may not see why it's
a big deal.
We have conversations, we hearconspiracies, we stop them, we debunk
(20:48):
them, right?
With accurate information,with facts.
Facts matter.
Just because he and thosearound him Pete.
Inaccurate information,misinformation, disinformation, flat
out lies over and over andover does not suddenly make that
(21:12):
information accurate or true.
It's still wrong, flat out wrong.
Not factual, inaccurate,whatever you want to say.
It's okay to call out their hypocrisy.
It's okay to call out thisstunning double standard.
(21:35):
It is okay to say, hey,listen, I'm coming from a place of
recognizing that no one hereis perfect.
I'm not standing here on theother side saying that everything
was perfect, that thereweren't changes that were needed.
(22:00):
I'm saying let's do that in away that takes into account humans.
I don't really have a specificcall to action for today, and I certainly
plan on revisiting this topic.
Today was certainly more of apractice of really, really speaking
(22:26):
from the heart and, andsharing what I know is bothering
many of us.
And, you know, that goes toone of the things that I feel very,
very strongly about in thisworld, which is to let others know
that they're not alone in whatthey're feeling.
So the call to action is moreof a call to just contemplate accountability
(22:50):
and what that.
Think about where youraccountability game is for yourself
and with others.
Think about how perhapsholding yourself and others accountable
can create small shifts withinyour family or within your community,
and thinking about how thatmight ripple out into the world.
(23:15):
I've really, really liked thepast two weeks ending this Friday
pod with a section on doing good.
And I have been playing withdifferent names for this section.
And today it felt like what Iwanted to bring up was something
inspired.
Inspired action or inspired compassion.
(23:38):
So this is still a work in progress.
If anybody has any thoughts onthis, I'd love to hear it.
But it completely slipped mymind that last week was Random Acts
of Kindness Week.
And so I realized that thatmay not land well with you, or it.
(23:58):
It may feel like it's just not enough.
But it felt really importantto share and to talk about here at
the end this week.
And because showing anotherhuman kindness always matters.
It always makes a difference.
(24:19):
It doesn't matter how small it.
So I'd like for you to justsit with that, think about how you
can go out into the world, outinto your day, out into your workplace,
because it's very, very, veryeasy right now to get all swirled
(24:42):
in anxiety and the fear andthe worry and the just awfulness
of what's going on.
And when we can pull ourselvesout of that long enough to show another
human some kindness, to dosomething kind, to say something
(25:06):
kind, it has a way of justpulling us right out of that spiral.
So that is my challenge foryou for this week.
My gift to you for this week.
(25:26):
Until next week, be safe andstay strong.
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