December 17, 2025 • 54 mins
Time moves quietly, until you realize 2016 is somehow a decade behind you. We lean into that jolt and turn it into a practical tool to calm holiday anxiety: look back ten years, then name the next ten with intention. Along the way, we get honest about the economy’s squeeze, the pressure to be merry, and how reflection can ground you when everything feels loud.
We map a real decade—marriage, a home built on family land, a dream job gained and lost, a business born, and the grief that still wakes you at night. That full arc matters. It shows the strength you’ve built, the risks you took, and the love that held you together. With that clarity, we sketch 2036 in real terms. How old will you and your kids be? What will your days feel like? What single action can you take now—send the message, take the trip, start the scary thing—to bend time toward meaning rather than drift?
We also reclaim the season with a simple family pact: create nightly moments that become memories—cookies, lights, photos, hand-written notes. These small rituals outlast stress and give kids wonder they’ll carry forward. And we model another kind of courage: seeking peace through transparency. When rumors and accusations rage, choose a long, honest conversation over performative outrage. In public life or at your own table, clarity builds trust and softens the ground for healing.
If you’re feeling the weight of the holidays, grab a pen. Write your ten-year list, picture your next decade, and choose one action today. Then share this episode with someone who needs hope. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: what’s the one memory you’ll create this week?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
Today on Share the Struggle Podcast, we find peace
and transparency, and weovercome anxiety with reflection
as we ask ourselves whatdifference does a decade make?
All that and more on today'sepisode of Share the Struggle
Podcast.
Let me tell you something.
Everybody struggles.
(00:23):
The difference is some peoplechoose to go through it and some
choose to grow through it.
The choice is completely yours.
Which one you choose will have avery profound effect on the way
you live your life.
(01:32):
Am I so excited to be back withyou?
Oh, it is true.
It is damn true.
Because I love you, Boo.
Welcome, welcome, welcome,welcome, welcome back to this
year podcast.
Perfectly, precisely,beautifully named Share the
Struggle.
Mm-hmm.
Because everybody struggles,boys and girls, children and
(01:54):
squirrels, we know it to betrue.
We also know it's true that ifyou are bold enough, if you are
transparent enough, if you werecourageous enough to turn on
your microphone and share yourtruth, then there is strength in
that story, in that struggle.
All of our journeys in life,they provide clues.
They leave little steppingstones to success.
(02:17):
It provides strength to the restof us.
That's why we're here, folks.
284 consecutive weeks of thispodcast.
Proudly brought to you by thefine folks over the Loud Proud
American, aka myself, my wife,my uh my baby, and my mama.
That'd be my mama and my babymama and my baby and me.
And both the mamas.
(02:37):
You know what I mean?
This year, beautiful, proudlyAmerican-owned, family-owned,
and operated Loud ProudAmerican, the only source to
provide you the gifts thatpeople want to receive this
Christmas.
The gifts that are proudly madein the US of A.
Don't lose your chance or youropportunity to take advantage of
(02:59):
those gifts today.
Find all of those beautiful,amazing gifts over to
loudproudamerican.shop.
Go on ahead and get yourself onebefore they're all gone.
We're running out of time,folks.
We are running out of time.
Christmas is almost here.
It's crazy.
It is crazy to think about.
(03:19):
Uh before I get into the meatand parades of today's show,
thinking each and every one ofyou that have been here since
day one.
Get your ones up.
I acknowledge you like I alwaysdo, week after week.
I thank you.
I appreciate you.
I um certainly just count you asa blessing and say thank you for
being here for 284 weeks.
If this is your first week here,then welcome.
(03:41):
We're here with loving arms towrap around you, to support you,
to welcome you, to show you, toshower you with positivity.
That's what we're here to do.
We got some new cities andstates and countries and all
those good things tuning in.
I'm gonna shout out a few newlocations.
If you're listening out thereand this is one of your
locations, drop me a line andsay, hey man, thanks for the
(04:01):
time.
I'm the fella, I'm the lady, I'mthe one.
La Grande Oregon.
Thank you, La Grande.
I had to say it that way.
I don't know why.
I do not know why.
Rio Rancho, New Mexico,Riverside, California, Omaha,
Nebraska, home of the OmahaStakes, which I am a massive fan
of Omaha Stakes.
(04:22):
Maybe Omaha Stakes shouldsponsor the show.
Hey, to my listener in Omaha, ifyou are at all affiliated with
Omaha Snakes, not snakes.
No, I don't want any Omahasnakes.
I don't even know if y'all havesnakes in Omaha.
I said stakes.
S T.
Okay.
Omaha Stakes, if you listeningin Omaha, if you happen to be
(04:42):
affiliated with Omaha Stakes,you reach out here.
Okay?
We love samples and uh we wouldproudly accept you as a sponsor.
And here's a fun one for you,folks.
Sydney, New South Wales.
There's a small part of me,okay, a large part of me, hoping
that this listener here is uhRhea Ripley.
Rhea, if this is you, I welcomeyou and I appreciate you.
(05:05):
You should reach out and uh beon the show, you know.
But it's probably not Rhea.
So if it's not, then whoever youare in Sydney, New South Wales,
I love you, I appreciate you,and I welcome you.
All y'all, how you feeling?
How's your mama and them?
How's your mentals?
How's your dentals?
I hope everybody is feelinggood.
I'm certain you all are feelinganxious.
(05:28):
This just happens to be thattime of the year, not to be
confused with that time of themonth, which is also a real
Debbie Downer.
But last week we talked a lotabout what this time of year can
do to people, right?
We've talked about seasonaldepression, holiday depression,
stress, anxiety, the fears offacing people you don't want to
(05:51):
face, being reunited with peoplethat you maybe have been running
away from, all those differentthings.
The weight on your shoulders oftrying to afford holidays while
also sustaining and affordingbills and a household and a
family and all those things.
Everybody, every single personlistening, there's some level of
(06:13):
anxiety or stress that rollsinto this time of the year,
which is supposed to be one ofthe greatest, most joyous times
of the year.
And in all honesty, it's alwaysbeen one of those times for me.
But this year I'm feeling just alittle bit different.
And what's really strange to meis I have not encountered anyone
(06:35):
yet that is extremely excitedabout this holiday season, that
is uh overgiddy and and justshowering themselves and others
with the good giving holidayspirit, which is I'm usually I'm
usually the flag waver for thismovement, okay?
I am one of the most motivatedand um joyous little Christmas
(06:59):
elves you can find this side ofthe nuthouse.
So for me to be feeling kind ofdifferent this year, it's
strange, and I'm having a hardtime understanding it.
But as I'm talking to more andmore people and realizing that
we're all feeling this way, youstart to really kind of analyze
and think about the things thatare going on around us.
(07:19):
And certainly we are livingthrough a tight economy.
I think that a lot of us are uhpinching pennies and conserving
here and and making uhquestionable choices and
decisions um towards the futureto survive today.
And I am in tremendouslyencouraged by the economy and
(07:39):
the direction.
I'm encouraged by the directionof this country.
I think that um we have beenbattling inflation and recession
and all these things for youknow the past four and a half,
five years.
So I think we are turningcorners.
I actually got gas in the oldfamily wagon the other day for
uh$284 a gallon.
(08:01):
So we're headed in the rightdirection.
So I feel like things arehappening, but you can't spend
three, four, or five yearstrying to conserve many money,
trying to kick the can down theroad.
I personally have found myselfin a situation where I survived
over the past few years bymaking poor financial decisions
(08:24):
that would affect me in thefuture.
Here I am in the future.
I'm sharing my example with youbecause I've talked to many
people that have done the samething.
A lot of small business ownerssaying, hey man, I've just been
just been banking on the bigbreak.
I've been banking on thingscoming together and happening
and then alleviating this debt.
And all of us are in that sameposition where we've, you know,
(08:46):
unless we're one of thefortunate ones where business is
booming, we've made thesechoices and and now we're paying
for them.
So I feel like the nation, we'reall feeling a crunch.
I will say, I truly believe ifwe can get through these next
few months of these dark days ofwinter, if we can find a way to
survive, I feel like the boomfor America is coming.
(09:07):
We're not gonna have the 250thanniversary of America without
it being successful.
Let's be honest.
That's what America does, okay?
Wheaties and championships,that's what we do.
How do you do?
You know what I mean?
Everything's gonna be fine.
We just gotta get through it.
I'm sharing this so that y'alllistening can say, hey man, I'm
(09:28):
not alone.
I'm not alone here, brother.
This is this we are united,brothers and sisters.
We're all feeling a little bitconstrained, okay?
This just seems to be the way ofthe world right now.
And I'm not gonna rehash all oflast week's episode and make
last week's show this week'sshow.
No.
That's not what I'm about to dotoday.
But I'm touching on last week'sshow because it's gonna all come
(09:51):
together.
And I like ending shows andstories and and and learning
lessons with a little to-doaction, with either uh a moment
of reflection, um, a cause andeffect direction, certain things
that we can do, ask ourselves todo, try to do.
And this week I've stumbled onto something that I think is
(10:14):
gonna help all of us pullthrough some of this.
So I want to share that withyou.
I'm excited to share that withyou.
On Sunday, the family foundourselves back at church.
My wife, little Paisley Rain,myself, and my brother Charlie
back at church for anotherservice.
I'm gonna share a milestonemoment for little Paisley Rain.
(10:37):
This is the first time sincegoing to church that she's made
it through the entire service ather little child classroom,
daycare, party room scenario.
This church is awesome, man.
They have basically it lookslike an entire school wing that
you go into, you drop your kidsoff.
There's a um like a wholesecurity section checkpoint
(10:59):
scenario the whole nine, andthere's all these little
classrooms that partner kids upwith their own age group.
And little Paisley has gone tothese uh this classroom every
weekend since we started goingto church, and she's never made
it through the whole time.
The first time she made itprobably halfway through, and
then we've we've regressed eversince.
We've kind of just gonebackwards.
(11:19):
And a couple weeks ago, I thinkshe was only in there for 10
minutes.
So uh this weekend she actuallymade it through the entire
service.
So I just want to say, Oh, baby.
Oh, my little girl.
Daddy's so proud of you.
He's so proud of you.
Oh, look at you making it allthe way through, making friends
and stuff.
(11:40):
So proud of you.
This church is great.
Um, they basically, if she can'tmake it through the old
textileity, they'll call her,she'll go get her, and then we
can assess the situation, wherewe are at in the service, how
she's feeling.
We always try to bring her backinto the service and see if she
can make it through with us.
Sometimes she has.
Other times she leaves andthere's a whole separate room
with a fireplace and a flatscreen.
(12:01):
And her and mama will watch someof the service there and then
join us when like the worshippart of the day returns, and
she, you know, makes it throughthe end of the service, which is
another really incredible thing.
I don't know how many of you uhout there go to church.
I encourage you to go to church,but I'm not out here forcing
you, begging you to go.
But I don't know how many of youdo go, and then of the ones that
(12:23):
do, I don't know how many ofyou, because it's all new to me.
I don't know how many of youhave the whole musical, the
worship side of service that wehave at our church.
But if you've ever been to oneof those churches, or if you
experience it on your own, or ifyou've seen it on TV, when the
bands are playing and the peopleare singing, you always have the
folks that put their hands up inthe air and they're trying to
(12:45):
open themselves up to God andthey got their hands up.
And uh, I have yet to becomfortable enough to take this
position at church, I'll behonest.
But a few weeks ago, littlePaisley was in there with us at
the end of the service, and theband's playing, and they're
doing uh baptisms right on theside of the stage, and it's just
so powerful.
Like the music's just thumping,you can feel the Holy Spirit in
(13:08):
your chest, and there's this biglike whirlpool scenario, and
they're baptizing people, andfolks are lining up to hug that
member of their family, andpeople are crying, and you just
become so overcome with emotion.
And I'm holding my little girl,and I look down, and she's got
her hands up, wide open, up tothe sky, just praising God.
(13:29):
And I just broke down.
I could I didn't even know howto handle it.
I was like, This little girl'samazing.
I don't, I don't, I don't getit.
But this past weekend she madeit through the whole service, so
I want to congratulate my littlegirl for for that.
And I'm not gonna highlight thewhole service, but there was
something that stuck out to mefrom this weekend, and when the
(13:50):
pastor was speaking, and hesaid, This is the most anxious
time of the year for everyone.
And he talked about us as asociety, us as members of the
church, the level of anxietythat we all face, and he really
went into outlining a lot of thethings that that we just talked
(14:13):
about, right?
Things that we've talked aboutover the past two weeks now,
about you know, just thestresses of of family, of
financial, of careers, all thesedifferent things, right?
We we've we've outlined him.
He's discussing some of thesethings and saying this, this is
the time of the year when we'resupposed to be the happiest, the
most joyful.
(14:34):
This is the time of the yearwhen we're celebrating the birth
of Jesus Christ.
This is the time of year when weshould be the most together, the
most peaceful, the mostforgiveful.
And instead, it's the moststressful, it's the most
difficult.
And for a church to acknowledgethat, to recognize, to speak to
(14:56):
that, that resonated with me.
It set in with me that hey, thisis reality, we're all facing
this.
And as he went on to talk aboutwhether your your your stress
and is is financial, if it'saddiction, whatever it is, he's
going through all these things,and I'm thinking, man, we're
we're all feeling this.
And for the church toacknowledge this, when I thought
(15:19):
that my assumption from theoutside would be that churches
would just be, hey, this is theholiest time of the year, this
is a great time to be here, andand all is well.
Instead, it was here's reality,and we're suffering.
How do we get through?
What are we supposed to bedoing?
How do we celebrate?
All those things.
And it was really eye-openingfor that to come up, for those
(15:42):
things to really just um bebrought to the forefront.
I was like, man, hey, numberone, I'm proud of us for getting
out ahead of it.
We had a conversation last week.
I was feeling it, and we hadthat conversation already.
So kudos to the show, episode283.
You were a great one, okay?
But you're about to be outdoneby episode 284, okay?
Because we're back with more.
(16:04):
And this time, I get a littleactionable food for thought.
It's gonna sound silly, it'sjust one question, and it's just
a moment of reflection.
But when you sit down and youstart to list the results, I
think it's gonna make adifference.
I think it's gonna make animpact.
This is kind of crazy, but I wasum sitting on the couch this
morning, my little baby girl,she was having a bottle and uh
(16:26):
watching cartoons, watchingBluey, and snuggling dad, and
and I was searching forinspiration, and I was um
looking for Christmas ideas.
Let's be honest, okay?
That's it's a whole whirlwind ofemotions.
What we're all doing, right?
I had a friend's post pop upthat uh number one, I'm a bad
(16:47):
friend.
I'm gonna acknowledge that rightnow.
So I'll take the Cabela'scatalog right here and I'll put
my left hand on that theircatalog, and I'll raise my right
hand and direct my beady littleeyes to the sky and say, Here's
the truth from this guy.
I don't remember who postedthis.
I'm a bad friend, okay?
I was so caught up in what thequestion was that um I just
(17:12):
forgot who asked it, okay?
But here's the thing (17:14):
I saw this post, it popped up a little
cloudy little photo, and I saidthe time theory.
In three weeks, it'll be a newyear, and somehow, 2016 will be
ten years ago.
You blink and realize howquietly time moves, how many
(17:36):
moments became memories withoutyou even noticing.
Let that sink in for a minute,because this hit me hard and
fast right between the blinkers.
In three weeks, it'll be a newyear, and somehow 2016 will be
ten years ago.
Think about it, guys.
(17:57):
2016, ten years ago, you blinkand realize how quietly time
moves, and how many momentsbecame memories without you
noticing.
Wow.
That really hit me, and I beganto think about the last decade
(18:19):
of my life.
What has happened to me, whathas happened for me, what have I
done, what have I overcome inthe ten years that have passed
since 2016?
So as we start thinking aboutthe holiday season, and as we
start thinking about our stressand our anxiety, I'm asking you
(18:40):
right now to ask yourself whathappened in the past ten years
to you?
What has your past 10 yearsbeen?
How did this decade affect you?
What are the changes for you?
What are the cause and effectsfor you?
Take time and reflect on thepast ten years.
(19:02):
I'm gonna challenge you rightnow.
I'm gonna take off the velvetglove and I'm gonna whooch slap
you in the face with it, and I'mgonna issue you a challenge.
I challenge you to take a penand a pad of paper.
I'm not asking you to do this onyour phone.
I'm asking you to unplug fromyour phone, from your keyboard,
that whole scenario.
I might ask you to use yourphone in a minute, but I want
(19:24):
you to take a pad of paper and Iwant you to take a pen, and I
want you to write 2016 and 2026,and I want you to start writing
down some of the bigger momentsand things that have happened to
you in the past 10 years.
Some of the accomplishments foryou, the wins, the losses, the
failures, the mess ups, the giveups, all of those things.
(19:46):
Think about the past 10 years.
What have you been through?
What have you overcome?
What's holding you down?
What's keeping you down?
What have you pushed around?
10 years, 2016.
To now.
Think about it, folks.
A whole decade.
And the reason why I say I mightask you to take your phone out
is if you're like me, you're areal loser and you don't clean
(20:10):
up your phone too well.
So I'm willing to bet that inyour photo section, you might
actually have some photos from10 years ago.
And you can roll back to thebeginning of your phone, of that
photo section, and startscrolling through.
And I can tell you, I certainlyhave photos from 10 years ago at
the top of my timeline in myphone.
(20:31):
You want to know why?
Because one of the majoraccomplishments of my life
happened in these 10 years, andit happened in the year 2016.
In the year 2016, I married mybest friend.
Allison became my wife in theyear 2016.
(20:51):
I think about that.
And 2016 was 10 years ago.
It hit me right in the fieldsbecause I realized, wow, I've
(21:11):
been married for 10 years?
Like when did that happen?
How has that happened?
That seems crazy to me.
I start to think about some ofthe things that have happened in
those 10 years.
Around that same time, Iremember 2016 for me was wild
because I did some crazy things.
I decided to get a puppy, builda house, and get married all in
(21:33):
2016.
So um we got our little EnglishBulldog Folsom.
We built our house, our firsthouse, our only house, our
family house.
We built here on family land andwe got married.
So to really think about 2016,we got a bulldog, we built a
house, we got married.
(21:54):
I started thinking about thefact that that started the
beginning of this decade for me.
So when I think about the factthat the beginning of this,
2016, I got married, I built thehouse.
As I sit back now and think,wow, I guess that explains why
there's so many things in thehouse that are already breaking.
(22:16):
Like that's kind of crazy.
Looks like we just moved inhere.
And as I really start to thinkback to 2016, I remember we were
working on the house whileplanning a wedding, and I
remembered we moved into thehouse, me and Allie on Christmas
Eve.
We went out and got a Christmastree on Christmas Eve, threw it
in the house, and I rememberhaving the town do an
(22:38):
inspection.
Might have been the eve ofChristmas Eve or on Christmas
Eve.
The town inspector came into myhouse, walked around, and I
already had the TV going in theChristmas tree.
And me and Allie slept on thefloor uh first night, Christmas
Eve, 2016.
We've been in this house for 10years.
(23:02):
We've been married for 10 years.
In the past 10 years, I boughtmy dream car.
I bought this car that I, well,for lack of better example, was
my dream, okay?
I've been thinking about it forthe longest time, and I remember
I actually found a photo of avery similar version of my car,
(23:23):
and I made it the screensaver atwork.
And so many people would ask me,like, what's this?
Whose is this?
What's this?
And I would always just say,like, well, it's gonna be mine.
And I left that screensaver upfor the longest time, and it was
a motivator for me, it was areminder for me.
And then I bought that dream carand I paid that dream car off.
(23:44):
And now it's actually sitting inthe driveway covered in snow and
won't start because thebattery's dead, and I haven't
driven it in a year and a halfor so because the car seat
doesn't fit in the back.
Dad problems.
Never would have thought thatwould be a situation.
I also earned the promotion of alifetime.
I went from a sales manager to ageneral manager to an owner.
(24:06):
I became an owner of a Harleyfreaking Davidson dealership.
I was a partner at a dealership.
I thought my 30-year plan, my40-year plan, my 50-year plan
was set in stone.
Allie and I were Harleydealership owners.
I was gonna spend the rest of mylife selling Harley Davidson's,
being a part of the brand andthe family and the lifestyle,
(24:29):
traveling all across the world,representing Harley Davidson.
I was eventually going to buyout the majority owner and then
change the damn name to my ownname, and we were gonna have our
own family dealership.
That was my plan.
I received that promotion.
I was an owner, I was a partner.
(24:50):
Not very long after, I lost thatpromotion, and I lost that
opportunity.
It wasn't of my choice, itwasn't of my doing, but I did.
After losing my career, mylifelong dream, I started my own
business and began a new dreamhere for Loud Proud American.
(25:14):
It's crazy to think.
I haven't even discussed this, Ihaven't even highlighted this,
but as of last month, we havebeen in business for six years.
I started Loud Proud American inNovember 2019.
I started a podcast in July of2020 that now has 284
(25:36):
consecutive weeks.
We've been doing this littleditty for five long years.
We all lived through andsuffered through a pandemic.
Through all the social uprising,the craziness, the riots, the
looting, the death, the disease.
(25:56):
We lived through a sci-fi movie.
In ten years I said goodbye tomy grandmother, a brother, Ali's
meme, her mother, and my father.
And countless friends andacquaintances and family members
of loyal friends.
(26:18):
I've lost friends and familymembers, some by my choice, some
by choices of their own.
And I received the greatest giftof my entire life.
The birth of the dutiful,amazing Paisley Rain Liberty.
(26:40):
As of recently, my brother wasreleased from prison, and as a
family, we embraced faith andfound God.
What a difference a decademakes.
As I ponder and reflect on thepast ten years, as you sit there
(27:01):
with a pad and paper and youbegin to write down all the
things that you've done for 10years, when you compile that
list and you think about thosethings, I'm not asking you to
get into minute details.
I'm just asking you to jot downand highlight some things, some
shit, some stuff you've beenthrough, some accomplishments,
some things you regret, whateverit might be.
I want you to jot some of thosethings down, and as you look at
(27:23):
them and you really think aboutall you've accomplished in the
past 10 years, all you've beenthrough, all you've grown
through, all those moments thatbecame memories, I now want you
to close your eyes and start toask yourself what will your life
look like in ten years?
(27:45):
What will you look like?
What will life feel like?
What will it all be like in2036?
Because just as we're sittinghere now asking ourselves, damn,
how was 2016 ten years ago?
How did that happen oh soquickly?
In just the blink of an eye,we're gonna be sitting around
(28:06):
asking ourselves as we writeanother damn list, how did 2026
end up being 10 years ago?
Right off the top for me, thefirst thing that hits me is I
tell myself, I'm gonna be 53years old with a 12-year-old
daughter.
(28:27):
I can't even envision whatthat's gonna be like.
So just uttering it, letting itslip off my lips, writing it on
a piece of paper is mind-blowingto me.
It's absolutely mind-blowing.
Y'all know that I have thisthing where when we get around
(28:47):
the new year, we start toforecast our next year, we start
to, you know, ponder and reflecton where we've been and where we
want to be.
We start to pull out thosejournals and notebooks from the
previous year and ask ourselves,how close did we come to
fulfilling our dreams?
How many things did weaccomplish?
(29:08):
This year I'm doing it a littlebit different, and then and this
is a little impromptu scenariothat that came up out of nowhere
because I'm looking at 10 years'time as I start to reflect and
plan my new year.
What did I accomplish?
What have I gone through?
What have I grown through in 10years?
And what will come at me in thenext 10?
(29:29):
I went through some shit in thepast 10 years that I couldn't
envision myself pulling through.
I went through some stuff.
I suffered through some moments,some of the worst moments of my
life, the darkest days of mylife, overcoming the most
difficult and darkest days of mylife, watching my father slip
(29:51):
away, making the decisions forhim to be transferred to
hospice, knowing the outcome,being in a room holding my
father's hand while the doctortells him you have cancer and
you're going to die.
That moment, that memory, itkeeps me up.
(30:15):
It keeps me awake far too manytimes than I care to admit.
Some of the regret that I have,some of the greatest regrets in
my life come from the past tenyears.
But the biggest accomplishmentsand achievements, victories in
(30:37):
my life, come from the same tenyears.
Marrying my best friend andwelcoming the best thing to ever
happen to me, my baby girl, intothis world.
Achieving a dream, to have thatdream taken from you, to make
(30:59):
another one, and to see itthrough for six years.
Now that dream is just gettingstarted, and it's nowhere near
where I want to be.
But if you've been listeningalong for the past few weeks,
you know we are finishing thegreatest year we've ever had.
I dare to dream about what thenext ten years are gonna look
(31:20):
like for me and my family.
I know the challenges that willcome, but I know the victories
that will help us overcome.
And I pray for that for you too.
I beg of you to do thisexercise, to take on this
challenge.
(31:40):
List out what you've beenthrough in ten years, and then
begin to envision where you'regoing to be in ten years.
And as we do these things, Iwant to go back to this post.
That post that I saw thismorning that said the time
theory.
There's two parts to this post.
The first part, in three weeksit'll be a new year, and
somehow, 2016 will be ten yearsago.
(32:03):
You'll blink and realize howquietly time moves.
How many moments became memorieswithout you noticing?
It's a reminder.
Life isn't waiting for you to beready.
It's happening right now.
So take the trip, send themessage, chase the thing that
(32:26):
scares you.
Because one day you'll look backon this moment and wish you had
started sooner.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys andgirls, in front of you today is
a list of the things that youachieved, overcame, failed, and
received in ten years.
(32:49):
There should be another list ofall the things you want to
achieve in the next ten years.
Take today and start that list.
Life isn't waiting for you to beready.
It is happening right now.
Take the trip, send the message,chase the thing that scares you.
(33:12):
Because one day you'll look backat this moment and wish you had
started sooner.
This folks is a trueold-fashioned lesson on what we
should be getting from socialmedia.
This is a firsthand lesson ofthe good that can come from
social media.
If you take the time to sharepositives from your life with
(33:35):
your life, if you find apositive quote, a positive
message like this person, whoI'm a bad friend, don't remember
their name, posted the timetheory on their page.
It provoked and inspired anentire podcast episode that
people all over the country arebeginning to listen to.
My new friend in Sydney, NewSouth Wales is listening to this
(33:57):
message today.
For the folks in Oregon today,in Seattle, Washington, in
Alabama, and New York andConnecticut and Rhode Island and
right here in Maine and allacross this great land, you're
listening to this time theory.
We just got together and built alist of what we've done in the
last decade as we begin toenvision where we're going to be
in the next decade.
That all happened becausesomebody decided to be positive
(34:19):
enough to put positive out intothe world because we know
positive multiplied, positivegrows.
When you throw that positivepebble out into the ocean, it
makes a positive ripple and itspreads.
And that ripple becomes a wave.
And it's because of this andyou, this positive vibe and this
positive tribe that we cometogether for each and every
(34:40):
week, week after week, for 284consecutive weeks.
We unite here and we sharesomething positive.
That's a positive vibe and apositive tribe that will be
multiplied.
And if you take your time andopportunity to share positivity
on your timelines, then this iswhat comes of it.
When we begin to continue tospread negativity and violence
and looting and nonsense, thisworld will always be full of
(35:03):
violence and looting andnonsense.
Spread positivity.
Positivity grows.
Whatever you put into this worldgrows.
Whatever you speak intoexistence becomes existence.
Whatever shall be, shall be whenyou make it be.
You understand what I'm saying?
I not only took this message toempower this conversation, I
(35:26):
took this message to forecast mygoals, to take time to
self-reflect on what I've beenthrough, to prepare myself for
where I'm going, to set my sailson where I want to be, but I
also use this to overcome someholiday anxiety.
We mentioned to start the showthat we were going to find peace
(35:47):
in transparency, and we weregoing to overcome anxiety with
reflection as we ask ourselves,what difference does a decade
make?
As we have those conversationsand we begin to have that
self-reflection, I'm going touse that to overcome some of
this anxiety.
Because you know what I'm goingto do?
I'm using this, this messagethat we just went over today to
(36:09):
plant my feet right where theyneed to be.
Life isn't waiting for you to beready.
It's happening right now.
One day you'll look back at thismoment and wish you started
sooner.
You'll blink and realize howquietly time moves, how many
moments became memories withoutyou noticing.
(36:32):
There's one thing about theholiday season, folks.
It is so true that it comes withanxiety and it comes with
difficult encounters andopportunities and situations.
But it also comes with greatmemories and an opportunity for
you to take moments in time andcreate amazing memories.
(37:04):
How many times have you lostsomebody and that's close to
you, a family member or afriend, a loved one?
And as you get around and youstart sharing stories,
oftentimes some of the storiesthat come up are Christmas
stories.
They're holiday stories.
Why?
Because we were all together.
It was one of the times we wereall together.
So a lot of those legends of ourfamily, those legacies, those
(37:29):
stories, so many of them comefrom the holidays.
So I want to slap y'all intoexistence.
I want to push y'all back intoreality.
I want to pour cold water on youright now and tell you that you
have an opportunity.
You have an opportunity tocreate a moment that becomes a
memory for somebody close toyou.
We are on the cusp of Christmas.
(37:50):
The next time we drop a podcastepisode, Christmas will be just
a day away.
You have the opportunity.
Do something, be something,share something.
This is when our family historyis created.
(38:11):
This is when a legacy ofourselves is created around the
holidays.
We get together, we sharestories, we talk about the
people that we love and that wemiss and that we can't see no
more.
But we also share hugs and lovesand stories of people we don't
see often enough.
And if you can overcome thosefears and anxieties, you can
find a moment, a moment to sharea message, to have a memory that
(38:32):
someday, someway, maybe in 10years, somebody looks back on
and says, Man, remember thatChristmas?
That Christmas in 2025?
You remember?
This is your opportunity.
For me, I took some realself-reflection and I had a real
self-and-family discussion thatsaid, Listen, folks, we are not
(38:54):
as receptive to the holidayseason as we need to be.
We're having a family dinner.
It was my wife and my mother andlittle Paisley.
And at the end of that dinner,Paisley was all covered in pasta
sauce and having the time of herlife.
And I said, I want to talk aboutsomething.
And I took fault and I acceptedblame.
(39:17):
And I said, I'm genuinely such apositive holiday beacon of
light, okay?
And this year I'm not.
And I apologize.
I haven't been in the holidayspirit.
I've been so worried about me.
I've been doubting life.
I've been second-guessing all mydecisions, and I'm not the best
person to be around in thisholiday season.
(39:39):
And then we all took theopportunity to acknowledge that
we're not our joyous selves.
And upon having thatconversation, I said, Listen,
this little girl right here, nomatter what, is gonna have an
amazing Christmas.
She's having the best time ofher life.
And here's the truth in 10years, little Paisy ran.
(40:00):
Is not gonna know, and she's notgonna remember if Daddy and Mama
and Mima weren't happy atChristmas time because they were
so worried about everything elsegoing on in the world.
She's not gonna know that, butyou know who will?
Daddy and Mama and Mima.
We will.
And when I look at that littlepasta face covered, beautiful
girl of mine, and I tell myself,it is not fair to her if I am
(40:24):
not the joyous, haphapiest bunchof assholes this side of the nut
house.
I need to get back to beingmyself.
I need to get back to being theones that enjoyed the season,
that embraced the season, thatextend the season.
So we made a family pack rightthen and there that said, from
this night forward untilChristmas, we shall embrace all
(40:48):
things Christmas to give thisamazing angel the greatest
Christmas ever.
And there's gonna be moreChristmases, and every single
year, they're gonna be betterand better, and we're always
gonna think that Christmas isthe best Christmas.
But I'm telling you right now,this is the first Christmas that
my little girl is involved init.
She's mesmerized by it.
She asked for the tree to beturned on the moment her eyes
(41:10):
open.
This can be the most joyous,heartwarming, amazing Christmas
of all of our lives.
We owe it to her.
So the pact that we made ismoving forward every single
night after work.
If there's not some obligation,if there's not a late night in
(41:31):
the office, if there's not alive sale, if there's not a
to-do list project scenario thatneeds to be done before
Christmas, whether it's aChristmas gift or a big project
or whatever it is, if there'snot something that we're trying
to get done, we are not sittingon the couch doing nothing.
We are embracing this season.
One night we're gonna be makinggingerbread cookies, we're gonna
(41:52):
be decorating gingerbreadhouses, we're gonna be making
mimash chocolate chip cookies,we're gonna be baking pies,
we're gonna be wrapping gifts,we're gonna be doing tours of um
lighted friggin' Christmasdisplays, we're gonna get
Christmas photos with SantaClaus.
Every single night we will dosomething to embrace our
(42:13):
history, our traditions, andcelebrate this season the way
it's supposed to be with themost amazing gift that we have
received.
That is the commitment, that isthe agreement, that is what we
are going to do.
This time theory only proves itto be that much more true.
(42:34):
Because when I look at my 10years and when I get to the year
2036, I'm gonna look back on theChristmas of 2025, the first
Christmas where my little girlreally experienced Christmas,
and I'm gonna say, damn, thatwas one of the best times of my
life.
(42:54):
Gotcha! Lau Proud American is alifestyle brand dedicated and
determined to represent theAmerican spirit with an
unrelenting commitment toprovide made and the USA
products.
(43:15):
If you would like to join the 2%of Americans that buy American
and support American, head onover to
www.looproudamerican.shop.
Together, we can bring backAmerican manufacturing.
Alright, alright, alright.
Welcome back, folks.
(43:36):
Appreciate y'all letting me geton the old high horse and let
that one rip.
I started today's show with amessage.
That message was today we findpeace and transparency, and we
overcome anxiety withreflection.
We just tackled anxiety withreflection.
We asked ourselves what adifference a decade could make,
(43:59):
but I gotta come good on therest of the promises of the
opening credits of today's show.
And that was to find peace intransparency.
I'm gonna make this one quickbecause I know we're getting
long in the tooth.
I don't know why old timers saythat.
It's so weird.
If you guys have been listeningover the past few months,
(44:20):
obviously you've heard theepisodes that we've had on
Charlie Kirk and his memory andthe mission here at Loud Proud
American.
You've also heard episodes whereI talked about the formation of
the next great leader in thiscountry, Miss Erica Kirk.
And over the past few weeks I'veseen Erica be attacked by a lot
(44:42):
of people.
And there's a there's a lot ofconspiracy theories out there,
and I think that that's justwith the formation of the
internet.
I don't think we're ever gonnabe free of conspiracy theories.
There's always gonna besomebody's opinion that now has
the opportunity to either turnon a microphone like I'm doing
right now and share it, or totype it into existence in a
blog, or do whatever they wantto do about it.
(45:05):
So there's um endless platformsfor people that believe in
conspiracy theories.
And she's been taking a lot ofheat, and she's been taking a
lot of death threats, and herteam's been taking death
threats, and I've seen her dowhat all good leaders should do,
and that is to tackle and handlethose conspiracies, those
(45:27):
people, those accusations faceto face and head on.
Candace Owens is a very um umpopular figure today as well,
uh, and she has made some prettybold accusations and claims
about these conspiracies ofErica being involved in the
(45:50):
murder of her husband, the factthat turning point was a part of
the murdering of her husband.
I haven't I really can't speakto all the claims because I
don't give credence to any ofthese claims.
I can see the heartbreak.
I'm not gonna question somebody,I'm not gonna tell a widow that
she murdered her husband.
I'm not gonna say thisorganization decided to kill
(46:12):
their leader.
That's not me.
I'm not gonna look into that,I'm not gonna give any credit to
that.
And and in the past, I'velistened to Candace Owens and
I've watched and believed andagreed with many of the things
she said.
But when she started sayingthese things, I just took it as
this is I'm not going there.
And you want to have youropinion, and I think it's
disgusting and you shouldn'thave it, but who am I?
And this is the great countrythat we live in.
(46:34):
You have that freedom of speech,and you're allowed to feel and
think the way you want to feeland think, but I think it's
pretty crazy.
But she's received a lot ofpublicity over this, and I saw
something yesterday on Fox News.
I was having lunch with Allie,and um we had the news on, and
(46:54):
Erica was on there giving aninterview, and she said that her
and Candace had agreed to sitdown face to face and discuss
her accusations.
Are you guys hearing this?
We have a widow who is mourningthe death, the murder of her
(47:18):
husband, her best friend, herher her partner, the father of
her children.
He was murdered in front ofAmerica.
She's being accused of beingpart of this.
Her team is being accused ofthis.
She's receiving death threats,they're receiving death threats.
(47:41):
The person with the mostattention at the center of these
accusations, and instead ofbelittling and going off about
her and and making her ownaccusations, she reached out and
asked for a meeting and grantedan opportunity for a
conversation.
I want to give a major kudos andacknowledgement and recognition
(48:08):
to both women for choosing tohave this meeting.
Both of them.
If Candice is completelyconvinced that Erica had
something to do with this, so ifCharlie is a friend of yours,
you're accusing his wife ofmurdering your friend, and
(48:28):
you're gonna sit down face toface and have a conversation and
get your feelings and yourbeliefs off of your chest to
listen to them, and on Erica'sside, she's gonna have this
woman who she thought was afriend, who is now accusing her
of the worst things possible.
She's gonna grant her the timeand the opportunity, and they're
gonna sit down face to face andhave a conversation.
I thought that in itself wasabsolutely amazing.
(48:52):
And I saw today that they bothreleased the fact they had a
very productive four and a halfhour conversation and meeting.
Neither one of them are comingout sharing the details on that,
and they can or they can't.
That's up to them.
That's their own decision.
But I think this is atremendous, tremendous lesson in
(49:15):
peace and transparency.
What could be solved in thisworld if every time there was an
accusation, every time there wasa conspiracy, every time
somebody talked shit behind yourback, every time you heard them
say those things about you,instead of you saying things
back about them, the two of youagreed to sit down and talk for
(49:37):
four and a half hours.
Are political leaders and lackof leaders that want to accuse
and and and play the blame gameand oftentimes know the truth to
be true, but to get out andshare lies instead of truth for
fear of how they're gonna beperceived in the public eye.
(50:00):
What if they sat down face toface?
What could be accomplished then?
I think in this great country,if we agreed to have this
transparency, if people agreedto get together and to have
these conversations and to workthrough differences, we'd be a
lot further along.
Heck, Charlie Kirk might stillbe here.
(50:22):
Think about the wars.
Think about Russia and Ukraine.
Think about all these thingsthat are happening.
We can go to the greatest,biggest scale, we can look at
Russia and Ukraine, we can lookat political violence, we can
look at what's going on in thiscountry with our politics, with
the separation in this country,with the great divide happening
(50:44):
in this country.
Or we can look into our ownfamilies.
And why Aunt Sally isn't gettingthe invite to Christmas this
year.
There's peace and transparency.
And I said over a month ago thatErica Kirk was gonna be one of
the next great, amazing leadersin this country in this four and
(51:08):
a half hour meeting just provesthat to be true.
Peace and transparency.
Be honest, have theconversation.
There's a lot of lessons learnedtoday, a lot of stories told
today.
I'm extremely proud of thisepisode today.
(51:31):
I empower and employ each andevery one of you to share this
show with somebody you know,anybody important to you, share
this show with them.
And challenge them to writetheir list, to look back at
their ten years, to forecast andimagine the next ten years, and
(51:52):
maybe the two of you can workthrough those lists together and
turn this into a great holidayconversation and maybe a new
tradition as well.
I thank, thank, thank each andevery single one of you for
tuning in, for listening, forcontinue to come back week after
week.
Don't forget to find all thingspodcast related at www.share the
(52:12):
struggle podcast.com.
Get all the best Christmas giftsyou can possibly get at
wlowpodamerican.shop.
I truly, truly hope each andevery one of you take this
holiday season to make a momentthat becomes a memory.
I love you and I appreciate you.
Thank you for supporting ourAmerican dream.
(52:39):
That's it, and that's all BiggieSmalls.
(53:01):
Find me on YouTube and Facebookat Loud Proud American Face
page.
If you're fan of the RamCrackett, you wanna find me on
Instagram for all the kids, likeTickety Talking on the TikTok,
you can find me on both of thoseat loud underscore proud
underscore America.
(53:39):
You are enjoying what you'rehearing.
(54:11):
Now go wash your fucking hands,you filthy savage.
Today on Share the Struggle Podcast, we find peace
and transparency, and weovercome anxiety with reflection
as we ask ourselves whatdifference does a decade make?
All that and more on today'sepisode of Share the Struggle
Podcast.
Let me tell you something.
Everybody struggles.
(00:23):
The difference is some peoplechoose to go through it and some
choose to grow through it.
The choice is completely yours.
Which one you choose will have avery profound effect on the way
you live your life.
(01:32):
Am I so excited to be back withyou?
Oh, it is true.
It is damn true.
Because I love you, Boo.
Welcome, welcome, welcome,welcome, welcome back to this
year podcast.
Perfectly, precisely,beautifully named Share the
Struggle.
Mm-hmm.
Because everybody struggles,boys and girls, children and
(01:54):
squirrels, we know it to betrue.
We also know it's true that ifyou are bold enough, if you are
transparent enough, if you werecourageous enough to turn on
your microphone and share yourtruth, then there is strength in
that story, in that struggle.
All of our journeys in life,they provide clues.
They leave little steppingstones to success.
(02:17):
It provides strength to the restof us.
That's why we're here, folks.
284 consecutive weeks of thispodcast.
Proudly brought to you by thefine folks over the Loud Proud
American, aka myself, my wife,my uh my baby, and my mama.
That'd be my mama and my babymama and my baby and me.
And both the mamas.
(02:37):
You know what I mean?
This year, beautiful, proudlyAmerican-owned, family-owned,
and operated Loud ProudAmerican, the only source to
provide you the gifts thatpeople want to receive this
Christmas.
The gifts that are proudly madein the US of A.
Don't lose your chance or youropportunity to take advantage of
(02:59):
those gifts today.
Find all of those beautiful,amazing gifts over to
loudproudamerican.shop.
Go on ahead and get yourself onebefore they're all gone.
We're running out of time,folks.
We are running out of time.
Christmas is almost here.
It's crazy.
It is crazy to think about.
(03:19):
Uh before I get into the meatand parades of today's show,
thinking each and every one ofyou that have been here since
day one.
Get your ones up.
I acknowledge you like I alwaysdo, week after week.
I thank you.
I appreciate you.
I um certainly just count you asa blessing and say thank you for
being here for 284 weeks.
If this is your first week here,then welcome.
(03:41):
We're here with loving arms towrap around you, to support you,
to welcome you, to show you, toshower you with positivity.
That's what we're here to do.
We got some new cities andstates and countries and all
those good things tuning in.
I'm gonna shout out a few newlocations.
If you're listening out thereand this is one of your
locations, drop me a line andsay, hey man, thanks for the
(04:01):
time.
I'm the fella, I'm the lady, I'mthe one.
La Grande Oregon.
Thank you, La Grande.
I had to say it that way.
I don't know why.
I do not know why.
Rio Rancho, New Mexico,Riverside, California, Omaha,
Nebraska, home of the OmahaStakes, which I am a massive fan
of Omaha Stakes.
(04:22):
Maybe Omaha Stakes shouldsponsor the show.
Hey, to my listener in Omaha, ifyou are at all affiliated with
Omaha Snakes, not snakes.
No, I don't want any Omahasnakes.
I don't even know if y'all havesnakes in Omaha.
I said stakes.
S T.
Okay.
Omaha Stakes, if you listeningin Omaha, if you happen to be
(04:42):
affiliated with Omaha Stakes,you reach out here.
Okay?
We love samples and uh we wouldproudly accept you as a sponsor.
And here's a fun one for you,folks.
Sydney, New South Wales.
There's a small part of me,okay, a large part of me, hoping
that this listener here is uhRhea Ripley.
Rhea, if this is you, I welcomeyou and I appreciate you.
(05:05):
You should reach out and uh beon the show, you know.
But it's probably not Rhea.
So if it's not, then whoever youare in Sydney, New South Wales,
I love you, I appreciate you,and I welcome you.
All y'all, how you feeling?
How's your mama and them?
How's your mentals?
How's your dentals?
I hope everybody is feelinggood.
I'm certain you all are feelinganxious.
(05:28):
This just happens to be thattime of the year, not to be
confused with that time of themonth, which is also a real
Debbie Downer.
But last week we talked a lotabout what this time of year can
do to people, right?
We've talked about seasonaldepression, holiday depression,
stress, anxiety, the fears offacing people you don't want to
(05:51):
face, being reunited with peoplethat you maybe have been running
away from, all those differentthings.
The weight on your shoulders oftrying to afford holidays while
also sustaining and affordingbills and a household and a
family and all those things.
Everybody, every single personlistening, there's some level of
(06:13):
anxiety or stress that rollsinto this time of the year,
which is supposed to be one ofthe greatest, most joyous times
of the year.
And in all honesty, it's alwaysbeen one of those times for me.
But this year I'm feeling just alittle bit different.
And what's really strange to meis I have not encountered anyone
(06:35):
yet that is extremely excitedabout this holiday season, that
is uh overgiddy and and justshowering themselves and others
with the good giving holidayspirit, which is I'm usually I'm
usually the flag waver for thismovement, okay?
I am one of the most motivatedand um joyous little Christmas
(06:59):
elves you can find this side ofthe nuthouse.
So for me to be feeling kind ofdifferent this year, it's
strange, and I'm having a hardtime understanding it.
But as I'm talking to more andmore people and realizing that
we're all feeling this way, youstart to really kind of analyze
and think about the things thatare going on around us.
(07:19):
And certainly we are livingthrough a tight economy.
I think that a lot of us are uhpinching pennies and conserving
here and and making uhquestionable choices and
decisions um towards the futureto survive today.
And I am in tremendouslyencouraged by the economy and
(07:39):
the direction.
I'm encouraged by the directionof this country.
I think that um we have beenbattling inflation and recession
and all these things for youknow the past four and a half,
five years.
So I think we are turningcorners.
I actually got gas in the oldfamily wagon the other day for
uh$284 a gallon.
(08:01):
So we're headed in the rightdirection.
So I feel like things arehappening, but you can't spend
three, four, or five yearstrying to conserve many money,
trying to kick the can down theroad.
I personally have found myselfin a situation where I survived
over the past few years bymaking poor financial decisions
(08:24):
that would affect me in thefuture.
Here I am in the future.
I'm sharing my example with youbecause I've talked to many
people that have done the samething.
A lot of small business ownerssaying, hey man, I've just been
just been banking on the bigbreak.
I've been banking on thingscoming together and happening
and then alleviating this debt.
And all of us are in that sameposition where we've, you know,
(08:46):
unless we're one of thefortunate ones where business is
booming, we've made thesechoices and and now we're paying
for them.
So I feel like the nation, we'reall feeling a crunch.
I will say, I truly believe ifwe can get through these next
few months of these dark days ofwinter, if we can find a way to
survive, I feel like the boomfor America is coming.
(09:07):
We're not gonna have the 250thanniversary of America without
it being successful.
Let's be honest.
That's what America does, okay?
Wheaties and championships,that's what we do.
How do you do?
You know what I mean?
Everything's gonna be fine.
We just gotta get through it.
I'm sharing this so that y'alllistening can say, hey man, I'm
(09:28):
not alone.
I'm not alone here, brother.
This is this we are united,brothers and sisters.
We're all feeling a little bitconstrained, okay?
This just seems to be the way ofthe world right now.
And I'm not gonna rehash all oflast week's episode and make
last week's show this week'sshow.
No.
That's not what I'm about to dotoday.
But I'm touching on last week'sshow because it's gonna all come
(09:51):
together.
And I like ending shows andstories and and and learning
lessons with a little to-doaction, with either uh a moment
of reflection, um, a cause andeffect direction, certain things
that we can do, ask ourselves todo, try to do.
And this week I've stumbled onto something that I think is
(10:14):
gonna help all of us pullthrough some of this.
So I want to share that withyou.
I'm excited to share that withyou.
On Sunday, the family foundourselves back at church.
My wife, little Paisley Rain,myself, and my brother Charlie
back at church for anotherservice.
I'm gonna share a milestonemoment for little Paisley Rain.
(10:37):
This is the first time sincegoing to church that she's made
it through the entire service ather little child classroom,
daycare, party room scenario.
This church is awesome, man.
They have basically it lookslike an entire school wing that
you go into, you drop your kidsoff.
There's a um like a wholesecurity section checkpoint
(10:59):
scenario the whole nine, andthere's all these little
classrooms that partner kids upwith their own age group.
And little Paisley has gone tothese uh this classroom every
weekend since we started goingto church, and she's never made
it through the whole time.
The first time she made itprobably halfway through, and
then we've we've regressed eversince.
We've kind of just gonebackwards.
(11:19):
And a couple weeks ago, I thinkshe was only in there for 10
minutes.
So uh this weekend she actuallymade it through the entire
service.
So I just want to say, Oh, baby.
Oh, my little girl.
Daddy's so proud of you.
He's so proud of you.
Oh, look at you making it allthe way through, making friends
and stuff.
(11:40):
So proud of you.
This church is great.
Um, they basically, if she can'tmake it through the old
textileity, they'll call her,she'll go get her, and then we
can assess the situation, wherewe are at in the service, how
she's feeling.
We always try to bring her backinto the service and see if she
can make it through with us.
Sometimes she has.
Other times she leaves andthere's a whole separate room
with a fireplace and a flatscreen.
(12:01):
And her and mama will watch someof the service there and then
join us when like the worshippart of the day returns, and
she, you know, makes it throughthe end of the service, which is
another really incredible thing.
I don't know how many of you uhout there go to church.
I encourage you to go to church,but I'm not out here forcing
you, begging you to go.
But I don't know how many of youdo go, and then of the ones that
(12:23):
do, I don't know how many ofyou, because it's all new to me.
I don't know how many of youhave the whole musical, the
worship side of service that wehave at our church.
But if you've ever been to oneof those churches, or if you
experience it on your own, or ifyou've seen it on TV, when the
bands are playing and the peopleare singing, you always have the
folks that put their hands up inthe air and they're trying to
(12:45):
open themselves up to God andthey got their hands up.
And uh, I have yet to becomfortable enough to take this
position at church, I'll behonest.
But a few weeks ago, littlePaisley was in there with us at
the end of the service, and theband's playing, and they're
doing uh baptisms right on theside of the stage, and it's just
so powerful.
Like the music's just thumping,you can feel the Holy Spirit in
(13:08):
your chest, and there's this biglike whirlpool scenario, and
they're baptizing people, andfolks are lining up to hug that
member of their family, andpeople are crying, and you just
become so overcome with emotion.
And I'm holding my little girl,and I look down, and she's got
her hands up, wide open, up tothe sky, just praising God.
(13:29):
And I just broke down.
I could I didn't even know howto handle it.
I was like, This little girl'samazing.
I don't, I don't, I don't getit.
But this past weekend she madeit through the whole service, so
I want to congratulate my littlegirl for for that.
And I'm not gonna highlight thewhole service, but there was
something that stuck out to mefrom this weekend, and when the
(13:50):
pastor was speaking, and hesaid, This is the most anxious
time of the year for everyone.
And he talked about us as asociety, us as members of the
church, the level of anxietythat we all face, and he really
went into outlining a lot of thethings that that we just talked
(14:13):
about, right?
Things that we've talked aboutover the past two weeks now,
about you know, just thestresses of of family, of
financial, of careers, all thesedifferent things, right?
We we've we've outlined him.
He's discussing some of thesethings and saying this, this is
the time of the year when we'resupposed to be the happiest, the
most joyful.
(14:34):
This is the time of the yearwhen we're celebrating the birth
of Jesus Christ.
This is the time of year when weshould be the most together, the
most peaceful, the mostforgiveful.
And instead, it's the moststressful, it's the most
difficult.
And for a church to acknowledgethat, to recognize, to speak to
(14:56):
that, that resonated with me.
It set in with me that hey, thisis reality, we're all facing
this.
And as he went on to talk aboutwhether your your your stress
and is is financial, if it'saddiction, whatever it is, he's
going through all these things,and I'm thinking, man, we're
we're all feeling this.
And for the church toacknowledge this, when I thought
(15:19):
that my assumption from theoutside would be that churches
would just be, hey, this is theholiest time of the year, this
is a great time to be here, andand all is well.
Instead, it was here's reality,and we're suffering.
How do we get through?
What are we supposed to bedoing?
How do we celebrate?
All those things.
And it was really eye-openingfor that to come up, for those
(15:42):
things to really just um bebrought to the forefront.
I was like, man, hey, numberone, I'm proud of us for getting
out ahead of it.
We had a conversation last week.
I was feeling it, and we hadthat conversation already.
So kudos to the show, episode283.
You were a great one, okay?
But you're about to be outdoneby episode 284, okay?
Because we're back with more.
(16:04):
And this time, I get a littleactionable food for thought.
It's gonna sound silly, it'sjust one question, and it's just
a moment of reflection.
But when you sit down and youstart to list the results, I
think it's gonna make adifference.
I think it's gonna make animpact.
This is kind of crazy, but I wasum sitting on the couch this
morning, my little baby girl,she was having a bottle and uh
(16:26):
watching cartoons, watchingBluey, and snuggling dad, and
and I was searching forinspiration, and I was um
looking for Christmas ideas.
Let's be honest, okay?
That's it's a whole whirlwind ofemotions.
What we're all doing, right?
I had a friend's post pop upthat uh number one, I'm a bad
(16:47):
friend.
I'm gonna acknowledge that rightnow.
So I'll take the Cabela'scatalog right here and I'll put
my left hand on that theircatalog, and I'll raise my right
hand and direct my beady littleeyes to the sky and say, Here's
the truth from this guy.
I don't remember who postedthis.
I'm a bad friend, okay?
I was so caught up in what thequestion was that um I just
(17:12):
forgot who asked it, okay?
But here's the thing (17:14):
I saw this post, it popped up a little
cloudy little photo, and I saidthe time theory.
In three weeks, it'll be a newyear, and somehow, 2016 will be
ten years ago.
You blink and realize howquietly time moves, how many
(17:36):
moments became memories withoutyou even noticing.
Let that sink in for a minute,because this hit me hard and
fast right between the blinkers.
In three weeks, it'll be a newyear, and somehow 2016 will be
ten years ago.
Think about it, guys.
(17:57):
2016, ten years ago, you blinkand realize how quietly time
moves, and how many momentsbecame memories without you
noticing.
Wow.
That really hit me, and I beganto think about the last decade
(18:19):
of my life.
What has happened to me, whathas happened for me, what have I
done, what have I overcome inthe ten years that have passed
since 2016?
So as we start thinking aboutthe holiday season, and as we
start thinking about our stressand our anxiety, I'm asking you
(18:40):
right now to ask yourself whathappened in the past ten years
to you?
What has your past 10 yearsbeen?
How did this decade affect you?
What are the changes for you?
What are the cause and effectsfor you?
Take time and reflect on thepast ten years.
(19:02):
I'm gonna challenge you rightnow.
I'm gonna take off the velvetglove and I'm gonna whooch slap
you in the face with it, and I'mgonna issue you a challenge.
I challenge you to take a penand a pad of paper.
I'm not asking you to do this onyour phone.
I'm asking you to unplug fromyour phone, from your keyboard,
that whole scenario.
I might ask you to use yourphone in a minute, but I want
(19:24):
you to take a pad of paper and Iwant you to take a pen, and I
want you to write 2016 and 2026,and I want you to start writing
down some of the bigger momentsand things that have happened to
you in the past 10 years.
Some of the accomplishments foryou, the wins, the losses, the
failures, the mess ups, the giveups, all of those things.
(19:46):
Think about the past 10 years.
What have you been through?
What have you overcome?
What's holding you down?
What's keeping you down?
What have you pushed around?
10 years, 2016.
To now.
Think about it, folks.
A whole decade.
And the reason why I say I mightask you to take your phone out
is if you're like me, you're areal loser and you don't clean
(20:10):
up your phone too well.
So I'm willing to bet that inyour photo section, you might
actually have some photos from10 years ago.
And you can roll back to thebeginning of your phone, of that
photo section, and startscrolling through.
And I can tell you, I certainlyhave photos from 10 years ago at
the top of my timeline in myphone.
(20:31):
You want to know why?
Because one of the majoraccomplishments of my life
happened in these 10 years, andit happened in the year 2016.
In the year 2016, I married mybest friend.
Allison became my wife in theyear 2016.
(20:51):
I think about that.
And 2016 was 10 years ago.
It hit me right in the fieldsbecause I realized, wow, I've
(21:11):
been married for 10 years?
Like when did that happen?
How has that happened?
That seems crazy to me.
I start to think about some ofthe things that have happened in
those 10 years.
Around that same time, Iremember 2016 for me was wild
because I did some crazy things.
I decided to get a puppy, builda house, and get married all in
(21:33):
2016.
So um we got our little EnglishBulldog Folsom.
We built our house, our firsthouse, our only house, our
family house.
We built here on family land andwe got married.
So to really think about 2016,we got a bulldog, we built a
house, we got married.
(21:54):
I started thinking about thefact that that started the
beginning of this decade for me.
So when I think about the factthat the beginning of this,
2016, I got married, I built thehouse.
As I sit back now and think,wow, I guess that explains why
there's so many things in thehouse that are already breaking.
(22:16):
Like that's kind of crazy.
Looks like we just moved inhere.
And as I really start to thinkback to 2016, I remember we were
working on the house whileplanning a wedding, and I
remembered we moved into thehouse, me and Allie on Christmas
Eve.
We went out and got a Christmastree on Christmas Eve, threw it
in the house, and I rememberhaving the town do an
(22:38):
inspection.
Might have been the eve ofChristmas Eve or on Christmas
Eve.
The town inspector came into myhouse, walked around, and I
already had the TV going in theChristmas tree.
And me and Allie slept on thefloor uh first night, Christmas
Eve, 2016.
We've been in this house for 10years.
(23:02):
We've been married for 10 years.
In the past 10 years, I boughtmy dream car.
I bought this car that I, well,for lack of better example, was
my dream, okay?
I've been thinking about it forthe longest time, and I remember
I actually found a photo of avery similar version of my car,
(23:23):
and I made it the screensaver atwork.
And so many people would ask me,like, what's this?
Whose is this?
What's this?
And I would always just say,like, well, it's gonna be mine.
And I left that screensaver upfor the longest time, and it was
a motivator for me, it was areminder for me.
And then I bought that dream carand I paid that dream car off.
(23:44):
And now it's actually sitting inthe driveway covered in snow and
won't start because thebattery's dead, and I haven't
driven it in a year and a halfor so because the car seat
doesn't fit in the back.
Dad problems.
Never would have thought thatwould be a situation.
I also earned the promotion of alifetime.
I went from a sales manager to ageneral manager to an owner.
(24:06):
I became an owner of a Harleyfreaking Davidson dealership.
I was a partner at a dealership.
I thought my 30-year plan, my40-year plan, my 50-year plan
was set in stone.
Allie and I were Harleydealership owners.
I was gonna spend the rest of mylife selling Harley Davidson's,
being a part of the brand andthe family and the lifestyle,
(24:29):
traveling all across the world,representing Harley Davidson.
I was eventually going to buyout the majority owner and then
change the damn name to my ownname, and we were gonna have our
own family dealership.
That was my plan.
I received that promotion.
I was an owner, I was a partner.
(24:50):
Not very long after, I lost thatpromotion, and I lost that
opportunity.
It wasn't of my choice, itwasn't of my doing, but I did.
After losing my career, mylifelong dream, I started my own
business and began a new dreamhere for Loud Proud American.
(25:14):
It's crazy to think.
I haven't even discussed this, Ihaven't even highlighted this,
but as of last month, we havebeen in business for six years.
I started Loud Proud American inNovember 2019.
I started a podcast in July of2020 that now has 284
(25:36):
consecutive weeks.
We've been doing this littleditty for five long years.
We all lived through andsuffered through a pandemic.
Through all the social uprising,the craziness, the riots, the
looting, the death, the disease.
(25:56):
We lived through a sci-fi movie.
In ten years I said goodbye tomy grandmother, a brother, Ali's
meme, her mother, and my father.
And countless friends andacquaintances and family members
of loyal friends.
(26:18):
I've lost friends and familymembers, some by my choice, some
by choices of their own.
And I received the greatest giftof my entire life.
The birth of the dutiful,amazing Paisley Rain Liberty.
(26:40):
As of recently, my brother wasreleased from prison, and as a
family, we embraced faith andfound God.
What a difference a decademakes.
As I ponder and reflect on thepast ten years, as you sit there
(27:01):
with a pad and paper and youbegin to write down all the
things that you've done for 10years, when you compile that
list and you think about thosethings, I'm not asking you to
get into minute details.
I'm just asking you to jot downand highlight some things, some
shit, some stuff you've beenthrough, some accomplishments,
some things you regret, whateverit might be.
I want you to jot some of thosethings down, and as you look at
(27:23):
them and you really think aboutall you've accomplished in the
past 10 years, all you've beenthrough, all you've grown
through, all those moments thatbecame memories, I now want you
to close your eyes and start toask yourself what will your life
look like in ten years?
(27:45):
What will you look like?
What will life feel like?
What will it all be like in2036?
Because just as we're sittinghere now asking ourselves, damn,
how was 2016 ten years ago?
How did that happen oh soquickly?
In just the blink of an eye,we're gonna be sitting around
(28:06):
asking ourselves as we writeanother damn list, how did 2026
end up being 10 years ago?
Right off the top for me, thefirst thing that hits me is I
tell myself, I'm gonna be 53years old with a 12-year-old
daughter.
(28:27):
I can't even envision whatthat's gonna be like.
So just uttering it, letting itslip off my lips, writing it on
a piece of paper is mind-blowingto me.
It's absolutely mind-blowing.
Y'all know that I have thisthing where when we get around
(28:47):
the new year, we start toforecast our next year, we start
to, you know, ponder and reflecton where we've been and where we
want to be.
We start to pull out thosejournals and notebooks from the
previous year and ask ourselves,how close did we come to
fulfilling our dreams?
How many things did weaccomplish?
(29:08):
This year I'm doing it a littlebit different, and then and this
is a little impromptu scenariothat that came up out of nowhere
because I'm looking at 10 years'time as I start to reflect and
plan my new year.
What did I accomplish?
What have I gone through?
What have I grown through in 10years?
And what will come at me in thenext 10?
(29:29):
I went through some shit in thepast 10 years that I couldn't
envision myself pulling through.
I went through some stuff.
I suffered through some moments,some of the worst moments of my
life, the darkest days of mylife, overcoming the most
difficult and darkest days of mylife, watching my father slip
(29:51):
away, making the decisions forhim to be transferred to
hospice, knowing the outcome,being in a room holding my
father's hand while the doctortells him you have cancer and
you're going to die.
That moment, that memory, itkeeps me up.
(30:15):
It keeps me awake far too manytimes than I care to admit.
Some of the regret that I have,some of the greatest regrets in
my life come from the past tenyears.
But the biggest accomplishmentsand achievements, victories in
(30:37):
my life, come from the same tenyears.
Marrying my best friend andwelcoming the best thing to ever
happen to me, my baby girl, intothis world.
Achieving a dream, to have thatdream taken from you, to make
(30:59):
another one, and to see itthrough for six years.
Now that dream is just gettingstarted, and it's nowhere near
where I want to be.
But if you've been listeningalong for the past few weeks,
you know we are finishing thegreatest year we've ever had.
I dare to dream about what thenext ten years are gonna look
(31:20):
like for me and my family.
I know the challenges that willcome, but I know the victories
that will help us overcome.
And I pray for that for you too.
I beg of you to do thisexercise, to take on this
challenge.
(31:40):
List out what you've beenthrough in ten years, and then
begin to envision where you'regoing to be in ten years.
And as we do these things, Iwant to go back to this post.
That post that I saw thismorning that said the time
theory.
There's two parts to this post.
The first part, in three weeksit'll be a new year, and
somehow, 2016 will be ten yearsago.
(32:03):
You'll blink and realize howquietly time moves.
How many moments became memorieswithout you noticing?
It's a reminder.
Life isn't waiting for you to beready.
It's happening right now.
So take the trip, send themessage, chase the thing that
(32:26):
scares you.
Because one day you'll look backon this moment and wish you had
started sooner.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys andgirls, in front of you today is
a list of the things that youachieved, overcame, failed, and
received in ten years.
(32:49):
There should be another list ofall the things you want to
achieve in the next ten years.
Take today and start that list.
Life isn't waiting for you to beready.
It is happening right now.
Take the trip, send the message,chase the thing that scares you.
(33:12):
Because one day you'll look backat this moment and wish you had
started sooner.
This folks is a trueold-fashioned lesson on what we
should be getting from socialmedia.
This is a firsthand lesson ofthe good that can come from
social media.
If you take the time to sharepositives from your life with
(33:35):
your life, if you find apositive quote, a positive
message like this person, whoI'm a bad friend, don't remember
their name, posted the timetheory on their page.
It provoked and inspired anentire podcast episode that
people all over the country arebeginning to listen to.
My new friend in Sydney, NewSouth Wales is listening to this
(33:57):
message today.
For the folks in Oregon today,in Seattle, Washington, in
Alabama, and New York andConnecticut and Rhode Island and
right here in Maine and allacross this great land, you're
listening to this time theory.
We just got together and built alist of what we've done in the
last decade as we begin toenvision where we're going to be
in the next decade.
That all happened becausesomebody decided to be positive
(34:19):
enough to put positive out intothe world because we know
positive multiplied, positivegrows.
When you throw that positivepebble out into the ocean, it
makes a positive ripple and itspreads.
And that ripple becomes a wave.
And it's because of this andyou, this positive vibe and this
positive tribe that we cometogether for each and every
(34:40):
week, week after week, for 284consecutive weeks.
We unite here and we sharesomething positive.
That's a positive vibe and apositive tribe that will be
multiplied.
And if you take your time andopportunity to share positivity
on your timelines, then this iswhat comes of it.
When we begin to continue tospread negativity and violence
and looting and nonsense, thisworld will always be full of
(35:03):
violence and looting andnonsense.
Spread positivity.
Positivity grows.
Whatever you put into this worldgrows.
Whatever you speak intoexistence becomes existence.
Whatever shall be, shall be whenyou make it be.
You understand what I'm saying?
I not only took this message toempower this conversation, I
(35:26):
took this message to forecast mygoals, to take time to
self-reflect on what I've beenthrough, to prepare myself for
where I'm going, to set my sailson where I want to be, but I
also use this to overcome someholiday anxiety.
We mentioned to start the showthat we were going to find peace
(35:47):
in transparency, and we weregoing to overcome anxiety with
reflection as we ask ourselves,what difference does a decade
make?
As we have those conversationsand we begin to have that
self-reflection, I'm going touse that to overcome some of
this anxiety.
Because you know what I'm goingto do?
I'm using this, this messagethat we just went over today to
(36:09):
plant my feet right where theyneed to be.
Life isn't waiting for you to beready.
It's happening right now.
One day you'll look back at thismoment and wish you started
sooner.
You'll blink and realize howquietly time moves, how many
moments became memories withoutyou noticing.
(36:32):
There's one thing about theholiday season, folks.
It is so true that it comes withanxiety and it comes with
difficult encounters andopportunities and situations.
But it also comes with greatmemories and an opportunity for
you to take moments in time andcreate amazing memories.
(37:04):
How many times have you lostsomebody and that's close to
you, a family member or afriend, a loved one?
And as you get around and youstart sharing stories,
oftentimes some of the storiesthat come up are Christmas
stories.
They're holiday stories.
Why?
Because we were all together.
It was one of the times we wereall together.
So a lot of those legends of ourfamily, those legacies, those
(37:29):
stories, so many of them comefrom the holidays.
So I want to slap y'all intoexistence.
I want to push y'all back intoreality.
I want to pour cold water on youright now and tell you that you
have an opportunity.
You have an opportunity tocreate a moment that becomes a
memory for somebody close toyou.
We are on the cusp of Christmas.
(37:50):
The next time we drop a podcastepisode, Christmas will be just
a day away.
You have the opportunity.
Do something, be something,share something.
This is when our family historyis created.
(38:11):
This is when a legacy ofourselves is created around the
holidays.
We get together, we sharestories, we talk about the
people that we love and that wemiss and that we can't see no
more.
But we also share hugs and lovesand stories of people we don't
see often enough.
And if you can overcome thosefears and anxieties, you can
find a moment, a moment to sharea message, to have a memory that
(38:32):
someday, someway, maybe in 10years, somebody looks back on
and says, Man, remember thatChristmas?
That Christmas in 2025?
You remember?
This is your opportunity.
For me, I took some realself-reflection and I had a real
self-and-family discussion thatsaid, Listen, folks, we are not
(38:54):
as receptive to the holidayseason as we need to be.
We're having a family dinner.
It was my wife and my mother andlittle Paisley.
And at the end of that dinner,Paisley was all covered in pasta
sauce and having the time of herlife.
And I said, I want to talk aboutsomething.
And I took fault and I acceptedblame.
(39:17):
And I said, I'm genuinely such apositive holiday beacon of
light, okay?
And this year I'm not.
And I apologize.
I haven't been in the holidayspirit.
I've been so worried about me.
I've been doubting life.
I've been second-guessing all mydecisions, and I'm not the best
person to be around in thisholiday season.
(39:39):
And then we all took theopportunity to acknowledge that
we're not our joyous selves.
And upon having thatconversation, I said, Listen,
this little girl right here, nomatter what, is gonna have an
amazing Christmas.
She's having the best time ofher life.
And here's the truth in 10years, little Paisy ran.
(40:00):
Is not gonna know, and she's notgonna remember if Daddy and Mama
and Mima weren't happy atChristmas time because they were
so worried about everything elsegoing on in the world.
She's not gonna know that, butyou know who will?
Daddy and Mama and Mima.
We will.
And when I look at that littlepasta face covered, beautiful
girl of mine, and I tell myself,it is not fair to her if I am
(40:24):
not the joyous, haphapiest bunchof assholes this side of the nut
house.
I need to get back to beingmyself.
I need to get back to being theones that enjoyed the season,
that embraced the season, thatextend the season.
So we made a family pack rightthen and there that said, from
this night forward untilChristmas, we shall embrace all
(40:48):
things Christmas to give thisamazing angel the greatest
Christmas ever.
And there's gonna be moreChristmases, and every single
year, they're gonna be betterand better, and we're always
gonna think that Christmas isthe best Christmas.
But I'm telling you right now,this is the first Christmas that
my little girl is involved init.
She's mesmerized by it.
She asked for the tree to beturned on the moment her eyes
(41:10):
open.
This can be the most joyous,heartwarming, amazing Christmas
of all of our lives.
We owe it to her.
So the pact that we made ismoving forward every single
night after work.
If there's not some obligation,if there's not a late night in
(41:31):
the office, if there's not alive sale, if there's not a
to-do list project scenario thatneeds to be done before
Christmas, whether it's aChristmas gift or a big project
or whatever it is, if there'snot something that we're trying
to get done, we are not sittingon the couch doing nothing.
We are embracing this season.
One night we're gonna be makinggingerbread cookies, we're gonna
(41:52):
be decorating gingerbreadhouses, we're gonna be making
mimash chocolate chip cookies,we're gonna be baking pies,
we're gonna be wrapping gifts,we're gonna be doing tours of um
lighted friggin' Christmasdisplays, we're gonna get
Christmas photos with SantaClaus.
Every single night we will dosomething to embrace our
(42:13):
history, our traditions, andcelebrate this season the way
it's supposed to be with themost amazing gift that we have
received.
That is the commitment, that isthe agreement, that is what we
are going to do.
This time theory only proves itto be that much more true.
(42:34):
Because when I look at my 10years and when I get to the year
2036, I'm gonna look back on theChristmas of 2025, the first
Christmas where my little girlreally experienced Christmas,
and I'm gonna say, damn, thatwas one of the best times of my
life.
(42:54):
Gotcha! Lau Proud American is alifestyle brand dedicated and
determined to represent theAmerican spirit with an
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(43:15):
If you would like to join the 2%of Americans that buy American
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Together, we can bring backAmerican manufacturing.
Alright, alright, alright.
Welcome back, folks.
(43:36):
Appreciate y'all letting me geton the old high horse and let
that one rip.
I started today's show with amessage.
That message was today we findpeace and transparency, and we
overcome anxiety withreflection.
We just tackled anxiety withreflection.
We asked ourselves what adifference a decade could make,
(43:59):
but I gotta come good on therest of the promises of the
opening credits of today's show.
And that was to find peace intransparency.
I'm gonna make this one quickbecause I know we're getting
long in the tooth.
I don't know why old timers saythat.
It's so weird.
If you guys have been listeningover the past few months,
(44:20):
obviously you've heard theepisodes that we've had on
Charlie Kirk and his memory andthe mission here at Loud Proud
American.
You've also heard episodes whereI talked about the formation of
the next great leader in thiscountry, Miss Erica Kirk.
And over the past few weeks I'veseen Erica be attacked by a lot
(44:42):
of people.
And there's a there's a lot ofconspiracy theories out there,
and I think that that's justwith the formation of the
internet.
I don't think we're ever gonnabe free of conspiracy theories.
There's always gonna besomebody's opinion that now has
the opportunity to either turnon a microphone like I'm doing
right now and share it, or totype it into existence in a
blog, or do whatever they wantto do about it.
(45:05):
So there's um endless platformsfor people that believe in
conspiracy theories.
And she's been taking a lot ofheat, and she's been taking a
lot of death threats, and herteam's been taking death
threats, and I've seen her dowhat all good leaders should do,
and that is to tackle and handlethose conspiracies, those
(45:27):
people, those accusations faceto face and head on.
Candace Owens is a very um umpopular figure today as well,
uh, and she has made some prettybold accusations and claims
about these conspiracies ofErica being involved in the
(45:50):
murder of her husband, the factthat turning point was a part of
the murdering of her husband.
I haven't I really can't speakto all the claims because I
don't give credence to any ofthese claims.
I can see the heartbreak.
I'm not gonna question somebody,I'm not gonna tell a widow that
she murdered her husband.
I'm not gonna say thisorganization decided to kill
(46:12):
their leader.
That's not me.
I'm not gonna look into that,I'm not gonna give any credit to
that.
And and in the past, I'velistened to Candace Owens and
I've watched and believed andagreed with many of the things
she said.
But when she started sayingthese things, I just took it as
this is I'm not going there.
And you want to have youropinion, and I think it's
disgusting and you shouldn'thave it, but who am I?
And this is the great countrythat we live in.
(46:34):
You have that freedom of speech,and you're allowed to feel and
think the way you want to feeland think, but I think it's
pretty crazy.
But she's received a lot ofpublicity over this, and I saw
something yesterday on Fox News.
I was having lunch with Allie,and um we had the news on, and
(46:54):
Erica was on there giving aninterview, and she said that her
and Candace had agreed to sitdown face to face and discuss
her accusations.
Are you guys hearing this?
We have a widow who is mourningthe death, the murder of her
(47:18):
husband, her best friend, herher her partner, the father of
her children.
He was murdered in front ofAmerica.
She's being accused of beingpart of this.
Her team is being accused ofthis.
She's receiving death threats,they're receiving death threats.
(47:41):
The person with the mostattention at the center of these
accusations, and instead ofbelittling and going off about
her and and making her ownaccusations, she reached out and
asked for a meeting and grantedan opportunity for a
conversation.
I want to give a major kudos andacknowledgement and recognition
(48:08):
to both women for choosing tohave this meeting.
Both of them.
If Candice is completelyconvinced that Erica had
something to do with this, so ifCharlie is a friend of yours,
you're accusing his wife ofmurdering your friend, and
(48:28):
you're gonna sit down face toface and have a conversation and
get your feelings and yourbeliefs off of your chest to
listen to them, and on Erica'sside, she's gonna have this
woman who she thought was afriend, who is now accusing her
of the worst things possible.
She's gonna grant her the timeand the opportunity, and they're
gonna sit down face to face andhave a conversation.
I thought that in itself wasabsolutely amazing.
(48:52):
And I saw today that they bothreleased the fact they had a
very productive four and a halfhour conversation and meeting.
Neither one of them are comingout sharing the details on that,
and they can or they can't.
That's up to them.
That's their own decision.
But I think this is atremendous, tremendous lesson in
(49:15):
peace and transparency.
What could be solved in thisworld if every time there was an
accusation, every time there wasa conspiracy, every time
somebody talked shit behind yourback, every time you heard them
say those things about you,instead of you saying things
back about them, the two of youagreed to sit down and talk for
(49:37):
four and a half hours.
Are political leaders and lackof leaders that want to accuse
and and and play the blame gameand oftentimes know the truth to
be true, but to get out andshare lies instead of truth for
fear of how they're gonna beperceived in the public eye.
(50:00):
What if they sat down face toface?
What could be accomplished then?
I think in this great country,if we agreed to have this
transparency, if people agreedto get together and to have
these conversations and to workthrough differences, we'd be a
lot further along.
Heck, Charlie Kirk might stillbe here.
(50:22):
Think about the wars.
Think about Russia and Ukraine.
Think about all these thingsthat are happening.
We can go to the greatest,biggest scale, we can look at
Russia and Ukraine, we can lookat political violence, we can
look at what's going on in thiscountry with our politics, with
the separation in this country,with the great divide happening
(50:44):
in this country.
Or we can look into our ownfamilies.
And why Aunt Sally isn't gettingthe invite to Christmas this
year.
There's peace and transparency.
And I said over a month ago thatErica Kirk was gonna be one of
the next great, amazing leadersin this country in this four and
(51:08):
a half hour meeting just provesthat to be true.
Peace and transparency.
Be honest, have theconversation.
There's a lot of lessons learnedtoday, a lot of stories told
today.
I'm extremely proud of thisepisode today.
(51:31):
I empower and employ each andevery one of you to share this
show with somebody you know,anybody important to you, share
this show with them.
And challenge them to writetheir list, to look back at
their ten years, to forecast andimagine the next ten years, and
(51:52):
maybe the two of you can workthrough those lists together and
turn this into a great holidayconversation and maybe a new
tradition as well.
I thank, thank, thank each andevery single one of you for
tuning in, for listening, forcontinue to come back week after
week.
Don't forget to find all thingspodcast related at www.share the
(52:12):
struggle podcast.com.
Get all the best Christmas giftsyou can possibly get at
wlowpodamerican.shop.
I truly, truly hope each andevery one of you take this
holiday season to make a momentthat becomes a memory.
I love you and I appreciate you.
Thank you for supporting ourAmerican dream.
(52:39):
That's it, and that's all BiggieSmalls.
(53:01):
Find me on YouTube and Facebookat Loud Proud American Face
page.
If you're fan of the RamCrackett, you wanna find me on
Instagram for all the kids, likeTickety Talking on the TikTok,
you can find me on both of thoseat loud underscore proud
underscore America.
(53:39):
You are enjoying what you'rehearing.
(54:11):
Now go wash your fucking hands,you filthy savage.
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