Episode Transcript
This isn't just a podcast, it's a reminder. A reminder of what makes America Stronger isn't the headline or a hashtag. It's people from the ones building our homes to the ones rebuilding their lives, veterans, tradesmen, neighbors and volunteers, real people doing real things. Here we find common ground first, and then we work on our differences.
This is the collective perspective podcast where purpose, people, and progress mean. Here we go. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Collective Perspective podcast. My name is Jeff and I'm here with my best friend Travis. What's up man? Hey everybody. Welcome back. Glad to be here. Today's episode is called You Are What You Eat.
We've been stewing on this for a while, if you get what I'm saying. Uh, trying to find out what is the best way to deliver this message. And you know what? I think, um, well, let's start with this. Travis, what have you been feeding on lately? I'm not talking food. I'm talking about like, what, what is the first thing that you intake?
First thing in the morning and throughout the day and before you go to bed? Um, you know, it's really sad. The first thing I intake in the morning is probably I, I get on X and I start to just look at whatever, uh, news events or anything that happened overnight or just trying to catch up with everything.
And then Facebook. See what my friends are up to that day. I have that too. I ha uh, to be even more descriptive about that man. Like I've had a, a conversation with two former colleagues. I say former because a lot of people in social media are not in your daily life. Uh, they're only in your daily life. Um, when it comes to this thing.
Right. Um, that I can't get outta my hand. It can't, it's just stuck.
Um, yeah, and besides that, uh, my mornings I try to watch a little bit of news just so I know if I'm gonna get poured on or not. This is Florida. It does rain a lot in the afternoons, especially in the summer. Uh, so that's, that's my kind of intake in the morning and the evening I get home again. Uh, just have some background noise on, on the tv, whatever it is, uh, and start catching up after work on what happened on the socials.
And then after that, it's, uh, onto entertainment or junk food, I guess, if you will. I came to the realization this morning that the amount of energy and thought process that went in to have or try to have a conversation on Facebook was, uh, a time wasting, just a time suck. Um, things that you can go off and, uh.
Do something different. As a matter of fact, I woke up to say, Hey, what did they reply last night? 'cause they're on the West coast. And that was the first thing I ingested this morning. And until I had to leave, I was kind of like stuck in that like reply mode, you know? Like I had to out, not necessarily outdo them, but like when you're debating someone.
That doesn't understand your point whatsoever. It's a little frustrating, but again, why was I even dealing with that first thing in the morning? Yeah. Why, why that, that's, um, do you ever, you were living, does that ever happen to you? Um, yeah. Sometimes if I make a post, I, I want to check and see what the comments are or see if there's any more likes or anything on it.
But that, that's about as far as I go with it. Respon. Sometimes I get upset and I wanna respond, and then I, I take a step back and I'm like, all right, how can I come back at them in, in the right way without attacking? And I do that literally whenever I'm in a heated conversation with someone on, on, on internet or on the socials.
But I, I, I try not to feed into it and get myself worked up over it because. And at the end of the day, it doesn't affect anything, anybody's opinion or anything else. We just, I don't know. We instinctively wanna defend ourselves. I came to a point at one time where I didn't want anything to do with Facebook.
Um, what they were trying to force feed on my feed. I was just like, look, I'm done with it. And I think I'm just getting bitten by the same bug. Uh, I think, uh, if you, I can almost guarantee you if that, if you find a post on Facebook that is politically against what you're saying, that that's all you see.
So when that person posts that, they just keep on posting the same thing, uh, the same type of, uh, political topics. That's the only thing you see of their threat. But if you go into like. I've gone into that person's thread and they're like commenting, like all kinds of things they have to say, but that's not what, that's not what social media fed me, you know?
Right, right. And it's, it's tough to break that cycle. I think one of the things that I've started doing lately to get out of that is, you know, once you get your morning routine done. Uh, I cut short the, my, my time on socials in the morning, and I go for a run. I clear my head, listen, listen to some good music, and then just let it all go and run.
I, I can only do that first thing in the morning, early in the morning because again, Florida, that heat in the afternoon is no joke. So it's, it's nice to get that eye-opener. That, that's probably the best eyeopener for me is getting out and getting a little, getting a little fresh air and exercise and that run, it's, it's rejuvenating in the morning, you feel, and the rest of the day is downhill from there.
Okay.
Um, I think it goes towards before you go to bed too. I mentioned before, probably even on this podcast that I listened to. A comedy show every night before I go to sleep, and that, that's pretty bad for the comedians, uh, if I'm falling asleep to what they're having to say. But hey, uh, it is kill Tony. So, uh, part of it is, I would say 95% of the people on there are not funny, but really?
Yes. Okay. But that's what makes the show. I, it's a, it's a, it's a crap shoot, hit or miss. The people that make it funny are the, is the panel the people that, well, there's a panel, but the people that make it funny are the ones that actually come in there and destroy it in one minute and everybody's just laughing, having a good time.
Uh, the thing is, you have to wait for that moment. It doesn't happen all the time. Usually they'll be like. Each one of 'em will get like a different type of prize, like a small or medium joke book they call it. So if you get one of those and you're allowed to come back, um, but if you don't get a joke book, I believe that's the rules.
You don't get to come back. And then there's the golden ticket. So if you're a golden ticket, you're allowed to go on the show at any time you want. You can be like, Hey, I'm coming tonight. And you will, you'll have a, you'll have a bit on, on the show. Well, that, that sounds like a, a good way to unwind and uplift yourself after a day of whatever it is that you've gone through.
So that's, that's not bad. That's a, a good, in my opinion, that's a good way to end the day. Just something that you find. Funny or, you know, you're, you're anticipating that funny moment. Uh, but it's, it's not negative. Generally speaking. It's something that's more uplifting. Another thing I do too is I, it's baseball season and it's coming to an end and I, I watch at least out of all the games, 163 games outta the year, I probably have at least watched 150 of parts of them or.
Some of all of them, uh, depends. 'cause the Padres play on the West coast, so a nine 40 start and it's over by midnight. Cool. But if it's past midnight or we're losing, I'm outta here. Um, is it a good influence on me? Sure. I don't, I don't let that type of thing, even though I get very disappointed and I'll turn the game off.
But you never know like, 'cause sometimes you could be down the seven to four and the seventh and still win the game at the very last minute. And those are the moments you're like, man, I really wish I would've just had watched it and just struggled through the tough moments too. I think there's a lot to be learned there in in baseball.
Yeah. Yeah. And many of the sports, you know, and, but you don't let it control your life. It's, it's something that you enjoy that, that, that little bit of distress that it makes in you is sometimes alleviated at the last second, and, but. You know, our bodies, we need some stress every once in a while to, and that's how we grow, is if you don't stress anything, you're not gonna grow.
But having a little bit of, you know, stress a po that's a positive type of stress, uh, in your case because yeah, you're, you're up and down with a team, you wanna see them do good. Uh, so, uh, again, another good way to unwind, I'll tell you, man, if they win. Any type of title. They haven't won the World Series before, but when they won the National League West, I cried.
When they lost, I cried. Uh, it's an emotional investment too, so, um, but you know, a lot of it's just a love for the game and it's a positive influence in my life. Um. Because it keeps me grounded. It's not, uh, dwelling on the past or, uh, being worried about the future, you know? Uh, well it was a Buddhist that said that if you're, if you're thinking of the past, you're sad.
If you're thinking of the future, you're anxious. But if you focus on the moment, you're happy. That's very good. That, that, those are words to live by right there. Whether, no matter what religion you believe in, man, I think, um, that's. That's pretty something to live by. That's, that is pretty deep. I like it.
It's pretty factual too. It's actually like one of those facts that, uh, if you're a logical person, I don't know. Sometimes I think there's a lot of illogical people out there. Um, we're not, we're not to talk politics, but, uh, I think it all kind of lies in there. There's a lot of just like, uh, they get sucked up into that.
Topic to where it consumes their whole life. And I really, uh, I think that's where you're kind of going when you get, when you, when you, when you go to X, right, because you're not, what do you go to X for? What, what is the purpose? Why do you go to X? Um, I, I go to, I go to that platform. To see current events, news, uh, related, like I said, so politics more, more politics type stuff.
What's going on in the, in, in, in that sphere of the world. Um, yeah, I, I follow left and right leaning, uh, journal journalists, if you will. Um, so I, I try to. Have an even balance or see what both sides are saying. So I can make up my own mind on when I, when I look at that. Uh, but sometimes I go there and I'm, I'm looking for some funny cat videos, who knows?
Uh, but no for relaxing before I go to, you know, unwinding in the evening. I like to watch a lot of car content. Um. Uh, cars, car porn? Nah. Well, for some people, you know, working on cars and doing little upgrades and just watching them put down power, that's what I like to see is these, these nice cars getting worked on and then there's some serious power behind them.
Have you ever noticed of anybody like, uh, a media or, uh, some type of person that. Automatically changes your mood instantly when you, when you hear them talking. Um, there's only a few, and it's mostly in the political world, but as far as, um, entertainment or local news or anything like that, not really.
How do you feel reset when you realize your input is too negative or distracting? I'm sorry, repeat that. Let's say you come. I think what it's asking is like, well, how do you reset? Oh, okay. When you realize your input is too negative or distracting, so. Let's say, okay, that's a, that's a good question. How do you, I, I didn't, I, I think there was a word that you, um, you added or missed in there, and it, I was like, what?
It didn't make, it didn't, it didn't click with me. You're right. I did say poop head. Um, how do you reset when you realize that everything's become more negative or, no, I think what it's trying to say distracting is, uh, let's say you're providing input, but then you realize that your input isn't really helping.
Isn't that what it says? How do you feel that you reset? See, how do you, how do you reset? How do you reset? Yes. That's that. Yeah. So how do you reset when you feel like, oh, maybe I'm not helping or I'm being, uh, things aren't inputting correctly. I, I get it. Um, I guess you would have to, the reason I put you, how do you feel you reset is because.
It is kind of a feeling, uh, physically you can remove yourself to reset. Right, right. But everything else is a mental reset. How, how do you know when, I'm sure you have examples in your head that you've come across it, like, maybe I was being a jerk or maybe I was just, I mean, my biggest problem is being hangry, to be honest.
Um, I can identify with that. Like why do I even open my mouth while I'm hungry? Or you, you know, if you're on in a bad mood 'cause you're hungry, man, you better watch out. Um, so, you know, for me to reset, I, when I was younger it was, you know. I, I a day at the beach. That was a, that was a reset for me being out in the water, only thinking about just the task at hand.
Uh, cleared my mind and helped me reset. Nowadays, um, I go, offroading, get out in the garage and work on one of the cars that those are, those are my reset moments. Just put on some good music and get out there and, you know, bust your knuckles on, uh, whatever you're working on in the garage. Um. But that's, that's how I would do a reset.
And that's again, physically removing myself from all the inputs that are coming in and just focusing on one thing, the task at hand. I was reading something interesting where it said the smallest change can make the biggest impact. So like the, the littlest thing that you do in your life, like, kind of like the butterfly effect.
Right butterflies wings in Florida generate a typhoon in the, in the Indian Ocean or something. Yeah, but I'm talking about like, you know, we're talking about you are what you eat, and obviously there could be small changes. I, you could look at it both ways. Uh, there could be small changes in your diet that change your world.
Yeah. Um, there could be. Uh, but when it comes to your mental diet. Uh, what would you say those things are? Those small changes? Now that's, that is the question. Um, small changes would be spending, well, I think a one, one small change would be, uh, stopping your scrolling five minutes earlier. I mean, if you think about how long you scroll, just five minutes off each time you're on it, uh, you know, depending on how long you do, um, that could be a, a, a positive change.
What if you just replaced it all together? That would be a, a drastic change, though. That's a big change. Is it? For a lot of people these days, from what I've seen, I, yeah, just stopping to use it altogether is very difficult. I used to watch that, show you on Netflix. I've heard of it. Never seen, I didn't, I didn't watch that one.
My wife would be like, why are you watching this? It's so dramatic, so much drama. Like, do you really want that much drama in your life? Like she was really like questioning why I was watching the show. I think we're all addicted to drama. Like we want to be peaceful and happy and like this, but there's something about us that wants to go take that secret punch.
Oh, come on. You can't tell me that at work. Everybody's talking about, oh, did you hear what so and so did. I mean that, that, that, I don't get that 'cause I work remotely, but I understand Well if you work in a big, big building or with around a lot of people, there's always os OSS office gossip. So that's.
That's it. People love the gossip. Spill the tea as the kids say, spill the tea. That sounds like a Boston Tea party. The kids back then used to say that. No, no. The kids now, oh, spill the tea. What's the tea? What the tea is the gossip is what they're Oh, okay. Yeah. I guess I'm not a hip to that. Dang. Well, your, your, your kids are a little too young.
Mine are a little bit older. Oh. T for topic. Maybe, uh, that wouldn't, that wouldn't make sense. That wouldn't make, here we are trying to dad it out here. I think it is Ifferent topic, uh, speak. Speaking of dad, did I ever tell you the joke? Uh, crows used to drink alone before there were crow bars.
Oh my God. That's a dead. Yeah, I think I've heard that one before. I think I probably told you.
How do you reset? How do I reset? I don't know. It, uh, I guess it depends on how bad my red button is flashing. I guess that makes me kind of wanna reset something when your red button is flashing right. That that's almost too far.
Well. Despite some things that I want to cope with, uh, dealing with the past, uh, trying to bring up past issues, um, has been kind of tough. So, um, trying not to get sucked up into that, but knowing that talking about past things, uh, is healing, you know, um, being able to decompartmentalize things in the past.
Um, I think making the smallest change of, instead of waking up and instantly engaging in something, I get caught in it too. I just, I think I just need to constantly remind myself that, no, you should go into something positive. There was a point in my life, man, where I woke up every day and I just asked myself, what are the five most important things that.
You that are you two today? And what are you grateful for? Lemme reword it. What are the five things you're grateful for today? And I think if that's the first thing you do when you wake up the rest of your day is starts off positive, I would almost challenge, let's challenge both of us. Um, obviously we're recording episodes back to back, but, um, let's just kind of keep track like.
Do something different tomorrow. Do something completely different. Meaning that instead of going to this, you go to something else. Or maybe you don't even pick up your phone. I don't know. I'm not telling you what to do, but if you don't do, that's fine. You can't tell me what to do. It's a free country.
Well, the next episode is power control, but we're talking a little bit different there. But hey, um. If you enjoyed this episode or you have some type of comments that you want to add to it, maybe even do a subcategory pat, uh, episode where you want us to talk a little bit further about something. We're gonna be talking about this topic a little bit, right?
Trav? Yeah. For, for a little bit. We got a couple of things that tie in pretty well. So you are what you eat, not just, uh, you know, and if you eat a carrot, you're not a carrot. But if you eat politics all day, um, I don't know where you're going with that. Well, I mean saying if you're eating politics all day, meaning that that's what all you intake, that's, uh, everything.
Your waking moment when you're not Yeah. Engaging with cust, uh, engaging with either work or your family and stuff like that. Or if you're ignoring your family or ignoring work to. Go into that type of stuff. I think those types of things that you're eating are not good for you. It's, it's okay to be self-aware and aware of what's going on, but when that's all you're feeding yourself, you can get a pretty negative outlook.
Right? Uh, because politics is not necessarily a pretty subject or a pretty, uh, endeavor. Uh, there's a lot of, lot of things there that can bring you down. So get out of that. Take a step back every once in a while. And for those out there that, um, are going through some political things, um, some judicial or legal things are dampering or have affected your life, like we definitely have compassion for those people, right?
Like absolutely. Uh, we don't wanna see anybody, um, suffer. Not anybody, not even the worst of people. Um, but this is a right and a wrong way of doing things too. Is that your stomach? Dang. I ho I wonder if the mic's caught that. Oh, if the mic's caught it. I'll keep it on there. Hey, everybody. Obviously somebody's hungry.
We just put a lot of stuff in his brain, but not in his belly. Hey, really, if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, like, and comment down below. Thanks for watching. Peace out later.
