Eye of the Storm

 

Storms will come and go. And whether you've been through them, are going through them right now, or experience them in the future, my philosophy is about finding our center - about being the eye of the storm, until they pass. In this episode I share a few wild stories from my journey, from being held hostage, riding out a major hurricane, and more, as well as some tips to help you navigate any storms that may appear in your own life.

 

Full audio & transcript below. Lmk your thoughts!

 

 

The Eye of the Storm

 

(0:02 - 1:00)

Shit is going to happen in your life, and if you're listening to this, there is a very good chance that shit has already happened in your life, and there is a possibility that as you're listening to this that shit is happening in your life right now. And so we're going to dive into this, in this concept of being the eye of the storm. Now, I've been through a whole bunch of shit in my life, all kinds of different stuff, in pretty much all of the categories I would suggest and feel off the top of my head, but there's a couple that were like, major, major shit, you know, I mean, more than a couple, we'll say more than a couple.

(1:02 - 1:22)

But there's a couple, I would say a few that have stood out. I was once walking through the field as a kid, and I guess I was young, walking through the field and and another kid was walking towards me. We're the only two kids in the field.

(1:23 - 1:49)

And as we got close to passing each other, the other kid who was older than me, he was kind of in his teens, pulled out a gun and pointed a gun at my head and said, do you want to die today? And I said, no. And I kept walking. And he put the gun away.

(1:50 - 2:17)

And he kept walking. And it was beyond surreal. And it was, it was like, I mean, to describe this, there's no one there.

There's no one in the field. There was, my home was actually maybe 100 yards away from this field. I was living right next to the school that I was going to at the time.

(2:19 - 3:14)

And though still there was no one anywhere near us to have helped me to even possibly see what had happened, first off, but to help me or anything, it was this strange passing of fate. And, and, you know, evil in an in an otherwise totally normal day. And, you know, it, I still remember it.

It's just etched in my being etched in my in my memory. And it was, it sticks with you. It's stuck with me for sure.

But it's an example of shit happening. And that's intense. What are the stakes? The stakes are everything.

(3:15 - 3:46)

The moment is completely unforeseen. And yet it occurs. And how do I respond? And why do I respond that way? How many ways could I have responded? These questions you ask, right, of yourself, I feel when you experience these things, and when they happen another occasion.

(3:49 - 6:38)

At a place I worked, I worked at McDonald's, my first real gig. And one night I was working. And a fellow came in.

And he seemed a bit off, generally. I don't like to, you know, label people. But if you're reasonably intuitive, as I am, and you have a little bit of experience in the world with people, and the various states of people, and the vibe of people, then you can pick certain things up.

And for me, I picked up a vibe. But I was the guy at the counter with the visor and the, you know, happy McDonald's smile on his face to greet this fellow. And he ordered his food.

And he, he, he waited, and I went and kind of did the thing to get some of his stuff. And I remember I said, you know, here's your Big Mac, you know, your fries will be a minute or something, because fries often take a minute or two for fresh fries. And he said, you have a gun pointed at you right now.

If you don't want to get hurt, you'll do what I say. And like, when you're working in a job like that, anything with people, you know, frontline, like this, you see all kinds of people come through, throughout the day, you see, you know, individuals, people with their partners, boyfriends, girlfriends, right, families with kids, you know, hungover people, people like causing, causing, you know, mischief, like, people that are just not having a great day. People are happy, sad, angry, you know, you see all this stuff.

Anyways, nothing still prepares you for a surprise moment where somebody says something like that. So my jaw drops to the floor. And this, this event went on for a while, I was one of five or six employees there.

(6:40 - 8:11)

There's like, you know, four or five of us and our manager or something like this. And our manager was also, you know, younger. I mean, we weren't that old.

We were in our teams when this happened. And, and so I said, okay, to this guy, nobody else knew what was going on yet. And I picked up my tray and I picked up his tray, that tray and I started walking around the counter to come around the other side, as he was guiding me to walk around the counter.

And so I, you know, had me follow him right into the kind of common sit down area. And he yelled at the other customers and stuff to get out of there, whatever, which was obviously disruptive, but nobody was really picking up on what was going on entirely. And so the customers got out of there.

Cause this guy's like, you know, now totally unhinged and I sit down with them and he says a bunch of shit, lots of stuff, but he says, you're going to see me die tonight. And because you're going to see me die, you're going to be my messenger. And this is what I want you to say.

(8:13 - 10:07)

And I mean, like this whole thing is just, you know, way over the top, right. And intense. And so, you know, my manager and others kind of motioned to him, whatever, my manager kind of called out and it's not normal, right.

That we go sit with our customers at McDonald's. And so he, you know, called out to ask if I was okay and came to check on me and whatnot. And, you know, I gave him the look that like, this was all whack.

And so he came over and then, you know, the guy says, good, you're the manager, you can sit down and now you can go. And so they're sitting down. So then when I go back, the police had called because the customers who had left had called the police and the police were on the line in the back.

So I go back there and they say, you know, Chad, what's going on here? The police are on the line. Can you talk to them? So I started talking to the police. And then I hear while I'm doing that, a whole bunch of yelling in the front area.

So I say to the police, like, look, I can't just sit back here on a call with you with this guy. Like, I don't know where this is headed and I need to see what's going on. So I left the receiver down at their request so that I could hear what was going on, or they could hear what was going on.

And I go up front and everyone's on their hands and knees and their headsets and stuff were thrown away. And now he's got this, you know, foot long, basically, you know, kitchen butcher knife in his hand and waving it around and all this. And I come out, you know, like, kind of swift enough, but like, not trying to startle anybody.

(10:07 - 11:32)

And anyways, he motions for me to do the same thing. So we're all on our hands and knees out front. And then he pulls us ultimately into the back into the kitchen area where it's a little less visible, right? And we're all in this kitchen area.

We're like wondering, what in the hell is going on? And like, where is this going? And this guy's like, super edgy and all this stuff. And so while we're back there, all kinds of things happen. We're in the storm, right? And, you know, he's in full control of this situation.

We're all sitting there and everybody's like, totally unnerved. And he somehow or other gets to the phone, on the phone, talking with the police. It's not going very well.

This whole situation's happening. At one point, and I was smoking at the time, and I said, you know, do you have a cigarette? And he says, no. He says, but do you? And I said, well, I do, but they're in my car out front.

You know, I said, like, you know, I could go get them. Right. And he says, he says, okay.

He says, yeah. I said like the right out front. I'll go get them.

(11:32 - 13:06)

I'll come right back. He says, you go get them. And he says, but if you don't come back, someone's going to get hurt.

I said, okay, okay, no problem. I'm going to go get them. And so I did walk out front of this place to my car, which was parked right out front.

And this is when I saw the full police perimeter around the whole building, like, you know, full stack, SWAT, the whole thing surrounded this building. And, and I grabbed the cigarettes and I just went back in. And I got in there with the cigarettes.

And I think everybody had one, including him. And like, it just kind of helped, you know, take a bit of this edge off. I was a smoker.

So that was one of the ways I managed, you know, stress. And similar at the time, in that time of my life, I've been long since quit smoking long since I think I'm like 15 years or something since I've smoked. And if you're a smoker, I won't preach.

But you know what I'm saying? This is not good for you. And it's not necessary for you either. So you know, I encourage you to do that work.

But it served us in that moment. And then started to build some trust. And this went on for a while.

(13:08 - 21:03)

Conversations he was having on the phone with the police. You know, negotiations, all this kind of stuff. And one of the other guys who was there, who's still a friend of mine, all these years later, was not having a good night.

And, you know, was a bit of a wreck. Everybody responds to this stuff differently in the storm, right? Who do we want to be when we respond to things in the storm? How do we want to respond to things when we're in the storm? What is the best way to respond to things when we're in the storm? Some of these things are instinctive. But some of these things are also things I would suggest we want to be conscious of, and conscious to, if and when things occur on all kinds of different levels in our life.

That's really what this is all about this story and this episode, right? So he was having a rough time. He was in tears, very distraught. At one point, the guy allowed him to call his parents to try and calm him down, but then flipped the script on him, which was really horrific and gut-wrenching.

But then got on the line with his parents and said, I'm holding the mostage and I'm gonna hurt your son and all this nonsense. Which just sent him, and obviously sent the guy's parents in like, just so traumatic, right? And like, you know, fuck this guy, right? Like I empathize with people's journey, but fuck you. Do you know what I mean? It's brutal.

And this is not the way, right? No matter what's going on with you, it's not the way. And so ultimately, this buddy of mine, though, was stressing him out because of his outpouring of emotion. And he was really struggling with keeping it together in this circumstance.

And so, you know, he says, you know, you can go and you can take him. He said to me, he said, but if you don't come back, somebody will get hurt. And this was after hours.

I was in there like two and a half hours or something in this circumstance. And so I said, okay, so I took him outside. I brought him to the officer, I handed him to the officer.

And then I said, I'm going back in. And the officer grabbed me and he said, you're not going back in. And I said, I have to go back in or somebody's gonna get hurt.

He says, we don't negotiate with people. He says, you're out. You're coming with us.

Right? And I said, okay. And that was it. And they had set up like an HQ and the gas station next door.

And they brought us into like a back room. And that's when I saw like the full SWAT guys, like fully kitted out and just the real seriousness and intensity of what was going on, on the outside, right? Of this event. Ultimately, this event went on for about six, six and a half hours.

Eventually, he surrendered. Everyone was okay. Other than the trauma of the experience.

And you know, no one was physically hurt, which is a good thing, which isn't always the case. And like just a super rare event, followed by which later I had to go to court. I was the first witness.

I was on the stand for a day and a half, both telling the story and cross-examination and all this at the guy's trial. He was, he was convicted. I think he got five or six years, six and a half years or something in prison for this.

I hope he's found his peace since. But yeah, in the storm, how do you respond? Right? This is what we're thinking about. This is the thing to think about because storms come.

Storms happen. Another big storm. I was in Mexico and we got hit with what landed it like a nearly cat four hurricane direct hit in Cabo.

And I was in this storm in a rain suit in the lobby of the building where I was renting an apartment with the manager, the security guard, and I believe one other resident after most had left the town ahead of the storm. We knew it was coming. It was like for a week it was coming and I was prepping and I had some money there and I had some other assets there.

And so I wasn't leaving in a hurry. And it was a big storm and we saw it just coming for the week. The projection was coming right for us.

So we had the doors and windows open, which is recommended in a storm like this so that the pressure doesn't build against the glass and shatter the windows, in which case you'll have flying glass, which is a real issue. As you could imagine with winds, those types of hurricane speeds and the doors, the same idea. So our building was a cement building basically right on the marina, a block from the beach.

And we had those elements open and we were in the middle of that area. And it is one of the most surreal experiences of my life. This storm went right over us.

It's called this episode, The Eye of the Storm, because in the middle of the storm, the eye did go over our heads. I walked out from the building when things had calmed down and like the middle of the night, it started about like 8 p.m. and I think it finally tailed off at like, I want to say like four or something, maybe four, four thirty, something where we were like, OK, I think this is like calming down now. But in the middle of that, I went over there and I remember going out on the boardwalk of the marina and I see someone else who's maybe like 30, 40 feet from me.

He's also out on the marina. And like, look, there's no fucking around with something like this, like everybody's hunkered in, super intense, right? This is like massive. These storms, if you haven't been through one, I really paid attention.

These are like, I don't know, how big was this storm? Odile, you can look it up. It was in 2015, I believe it was. Hurricane Odile in Cabo.

I got photos and stuff I can show you. There's more story to tell here, you know, in stride. These are big stories of mine.

But. But you just don't you just don't fuck around with these things. And so when there is the pause, though, you pop your head up, right, to see like what's going on, are people OK? Like what's happening? And I just remember this guy yelling over to me, he says, this is the eye of the storm.

We have like 15 minutes and then it's going to start again. Right. So I'm like, OK, OK.

(21:03 - 21:08)

And everything was just kind of loud and the energy was big. Lots of movement. Right.

(21:10 - 21:52)

Despite the fact that there was like a calm, it's like. It's the middle of the night and from a distance we're communicating. And sure enough, about 15 minutes later, things picked up again and we went through this all over again.

And. It was absolutely surreal, the air raid sirens going from the beach in the middle of the storm, indicating like these high, high gust winds are coming through to warn others, you know, the boats on the marina. It was just unreal.

(21:52 - 22:39)

At one point. On the other side of it, there was a super yacht that the whole finger of the dock had broken away. And this super yacht had a like cannonball size hole in the side of it, and it was listing, drifting up and deeper into the marina.

And I went to look because I was kind of hiding behind some like big cement pillar to kind of observe and things and. And the whole crew, the crew that actually manned this boat was on it and they were trying to save it or something. I don't think they hunkered in there.

They were trying to save this thing. So I went down to the dock and I was yelling out to them. They're yelling out to me.

(22:40 - 23:54)

Next to me, five, 10 feet away, my mom had seen this, she would have, you know, she would, maybe she would have been proud, but she would have also given me the look because like five to 10 feet away from me, there's this other boat that was burning, just billowing black smoke. Like it could have exploded at any time. It's just one of those things.

And I'm standing down there and these people from the boat, throw me a rope. And I tie off to the best of my semi-mariner skilled ways, the rope to the dock to help kind of like, you know, just tie them off. And this is from like 20, 30 feet.

Them too, you know, they got this rope over to me. Maybe it's maybe not 30, but a good 20 anyways. And we did that, you know, and this type of stuff continued like first thing next light, no power, no water, no food, right? Everything smoked, buildings everywhere destroyed.

(23:55 - 27:02)

Looting started at first light because many people weren't prepared. Many people thought it would, it wouldn't hit us or it would be, wouldn't be that bad. I had friends the night before who were just partying and I'm like, guys, I'm going to get supplies as things come in tomorrow.

And it's massive. You know, I'd watched like CNN and the Anderson Coopers of the world standing out in hurricanes long enough to know what the heck these things are about, you know? And yeah, looting started in all the major department stores and stuff first light the next day and absolutely like ravaged these places. And for three days there was total lawlessness.

We used the cars on our street to blockade the street. We used the debris to light fires in the middle of the cul-de-sac so that we had light at night for security. There were stories of armed gangs roaming the streets at night in the darkness and holding people at gunpoint and robbing them of their things.

Like it was, it was fully bananas. But then it was also like Lord of the Flies. If you're familiar with that book and story, highly recommend to read or the homework on that if you aren't.

Where from lawlessness, it takes shape and order and find structure. And so it was first like, am I okay? And then you'd cross paths with one of your neighbors, right? Or another person that is in the area. Are you okay? Are we okay? And then it was, is our building okay? And then is our block okay? And I watched literally, I had my motorbike.

And so right after the storm, that first thing next morning, I was on my bike and I was ripping around town, checking in on other places, things, surveying damage, like all this stuff, trying to get some supplies, all kinds of stuff. And over those days, and it wasn't just the three days, but the three days were like the most acute because on the third day or the fourth day, the Mexican military showed up and they showed up like fully armed. They, they reestablished authority in that town and they were standing, you know, multiple soldiers on every corner of every main street corner and more like they rolled in hard and like stabilize things.

Right. Cause if you don't, where does it go? This is a whole nother conversation about, you know, law and order and governance and human behavior and organizational instincts and, you know, the laws of nature and all this stuff. We'll save some of that for another time, but that's what was, was, was happening.

(27:03 - 35:13)

And that's what was evolving. And I stayed for 12 days after the storm still had no power where I was living. Much of the time was still sleeping at night, especially those first days, like outdoors.

And we were with like flashlights and machetes and we were patrolling at night, just on shifts and stuff to, to, to, to kind of guard our place. Um, I was super, super edgy, but over those days you saw, and I, and I witnessed this order naturally reform when I was riding my bike, you know, my motorbike after a few days, I'd go like towards a block and this block would have their block all blocked off, right. With debris and stuff.

But I need to get through that street and they'd be holding their various kind of makeshift weapons and stuff for security. And they, they'd look at me and I'd look at them and, and, uh, ask them, you know, if I could pass and, and, uh, I'd just give them the nod, like, um, it's just me. I'm just passing through and say, okay.

And they move things out of the way so I can get through. And that was like, street to street, like it was surreal, you know? So you're in the storm and this is how people behave. And this is, this is the things that can occur on all the different types of extremes, you know? And so I was there for those 12 days.

And then after went up the coast to La Paz and found myself, uh, in a, in a, an accommodation with air conditioning and, you know, some, some stability where I could just like ground and rest for a bit. It was, it was super surreal and, and, you know, very intense. Um, and the city bounced back well, you know, and, uh, and, um, you know, rebuilt what was broken and these types of things, you know, monuments and stuff you can replace.

Uh, there was a body, um, found about 20, uh, yards, give or take from, um, the entrance of, uh, of, of my building. So, um, it wasn't without, you know, uh, fatality and injuries and these types of things. Um, so, you know, rest in peace to, to that fellow, um, who passed.

Um, but yeah, you know, the storm stuff happens. I don't go to Cabo looking for a hurricane, you know, I don't go to McDonald's looking for hostage taking. I don't walk through a field looking for someone pointing a gun at my head.

Um, do you know what I mean? So as we, as we go through life, as we just are on our journey, stuff can happen. And I would suggest that there is a way to navigate things that happen. And the choice I've made consciously in my life is to work to try and make myself as strong as I can be, uh, to be ready for whatever comes my way, you know, the good, the bad, or the ugly.

Cause stuff happens and we can't control the things, but we can be as ready as we can be for them. Right. So like, I can be a clear head.

I can be of, you know, of, uh, uh, of fit dexterous, you know, um, healthy body. Um, I can be of, you know, um, sound judgment. Um, uh, you know, I can be of, um, of ability with tools, which I'm not entirely, but like, I'm not the greatest handyman out there, but you know what I mean? The, the key things that I would need to use and generally, um, or generally possibly need to use them, um, capable of, but not just even on those like extreme circumstances, it's like all circumstances, you know, things can happen in, um, relationships.

They can happen in business. They can happen just as you're out for a walk in life, you know? So a couple of things, right, is, is a function of self-reliance and being mindful of, you know, am I prepared in the case of the, um, of the storm coming, of a storm coming, right? If something could happen, I usually pack myself, uh, with everything I could possibly need in my backpack when I go on an adventure, you know, um, all the different types of tools, depending on what could occur so that I have everything I could possibly need. If something were to emerge, it's a, it's a form of self-reliance, highly recommend, um, operating in this way, you know, so that you have what you need for yourself.

And from that place, you can assist others from that place. You are then, um, in a position of, you know, self-actualized power, lack of a better way to describe it, where you have empowered yourself with the ability to assist, um, both yourself with any needs that may be present for you, but equally others who may not, and quite likely probably aren't prepared for things that could happen, but having experienced things that could happen in life, um, you know, yourself also probably experiencing things, you can adopt that kind of ready for anything state, not ready for everything per se, but ready for everything, ready for anything, you know what I mean? There's certain things, of course, that, um, that would, would support that, you know, some, some often things are like, uh, you know, food, water, um, general, like kind of first aid needs, uh, you know, uh, in such a case, um, usually have a pocket knife, right. That's just like a utility tool.

It's not just a knife. It's just a thing to like, you know, maybe I'm out somewhere and I need to peel an orange and I have a knife in my pocket, like, right. It's not to be so like dramatic, but just to say a utility tool that can do certain things.

Those are kind of some basic levels, right? Of, of having some, some utility in circumstance, but then things occur. And it's my suggestion that within a storm, we need to find the eye of the storm within ourselves. And doing so helps us see and navigate what is occurring basically beat by beat because you're in it, right? And one, I mean, the eye of the storm is the calmest part of the storm, which is what I will suggest we need to be.

(35:16 - 38:31)

And within the storm, there are a few characteristics, no matter what it is. One, there are going to be elements that you can control and elements that you can't control. So for the elements that you can control, you want to be in control of those, right? The storm is coming.

Like, do I have shelter? If I properly boarded up my, my place, do I have food and water for, you know, an extended period of time? If I need it, do I have the first aid type needs? Do I have the tools I require? Do I have a radio if power's out, you know, batteries, you know, flashlights, you know, this type of stuff, right? We've talked, I'm sure we haven't, but I mean, we've all talked about these types of items. A storm is more of a predictable event. So am I controlling the things I can to be ready for anything that could occur, right? Will help you stay calm.

Preparation generally, not obsession, but just general, basic, self-reliant levels of preparation for the unknown of things, the potentiality of a storm coming in any potential form. And am I controlling the things I can to one, prevent those from occurring, right? From dissuaging those types of things from occurring in my world. And two, am I prepared with what I may require if it happens, right? And then there's the other side of it, these things that we can't control when a storm occurs.

And those are the things we need to stay present with. And part of staying present is through the breath, right? And just taking deep breaths in the energy of whatever's occurring, relaxing your body, right? And paying attention, you know, emotions might come, stressors might come, you might feel anxious, a whole bunch of things, but the thing to be mindful of in circumstances like that is staying present. Your mind can take you on a whole different journey of where you think things could go.

But the only thing you know for sure is where you actually are. And the best tool to use to evaluate that in the moment are your eyes. What do you see happening? Not what your mind thinks is going to happen, what is happening right in front of you, right? This man is standing over me with a knife.

He's not swinging it at me right now, but he's holding it. He's in the position of power and authority with that knife in his hand. He's not attacking me with it.

(38:32 - 38:45)

If he attacks me with it, my circumstances change. But at the moment, he's talking to me. So the place where my attention needs to be is in that conversation, communicating with him.

(38:46 - 39:09)

And if that goes south, then I need to make a choice based on what he does next. But I don't need to make that choice until that changes or until the opportunity presents itself to make adjustments for that situation to shift. So in my head, I don't need to be thinking about what he could do to me with that thing.

(39:10 - 39:44)

I need to be fully present on exactly what's going on in the moment. And with what as an objective to just, you know, to disarm the situation, to like, take the edge off of this. And I found opportunity to do that in that situation, which included getting the cigarettes, which built some trust that I wasn't just going to run, that I was going to try and help him through this equally as weird as that might sound.

(39:45 - 40:09)

It was what was required. And to also help him relax, because the more relaxed he was, the more likely it was that he's not going to use that weapon in a harmful way, no matter what he's saying, or no matter what he's, you know, projecting. It's keeping him from that, right? But all circumstances are different.

(40:09 - 43:06)

So we have to stay present because we need to gather as much information as we can about what's going on in the moment, what we actually see and know, and not just what winds us up and makes us additionally fearful of potentialities. Not to discount your intuition and your gut instinct and what your gut is telling you about environments, people, places, things. You will hear this.

If you listen to my podcast or any of my content, you will hear this from me, your intuition, that's a hundred percent. So you listen to it, it will steer you away from and out of trouble. So trust it and follow it, right? So it's this, what do I see and know what's actually occurring right in front of me? And what is my intuition telling me about this? And trust and follow your intuition always.

And if you're doing that in a relaxed state where you're staying clear, you're on your breath, you're speaking just like I'm speaking now, like you're not letting emotion take control of you, you're in control of your emotion and you're just staying present and you're just navigating. You'll surprise yourself in situations if you haven't experienced this already, where you just like the switch goes on and you're just on and this is how you navigate it, right? And all storms do pass. So whatever is happening, whatever is occurring, it will pass.

But you need to be present, you need to be mindful and you need to evaluate what's going on moment to moment. And you need to adapt according to what's occurring until it does pass. And you need to do that in alignment with, looking out for yourself, looking out for those around you, maneuvering away from these circumstances, if that's appropriate.

But I don't just mean in these like acute, like a hostage taking type situation. That's a real anomaly. I don't know anyone else that I've met that's experienced a situation like that in my life.

And I've met a lot of different people. It's not the only situation I'm referring to. That could be in business, right? That could be in a high stakes negotiation, or, you know, a battle in business of sorts, a conflict, it could be a legal situation.

(43:07 - 45:07)

You have to stay cool. You cannot let your emotions take over. And you need to just stay present, work through the breath, relax your body and speak calm and straight, right? Just steady in your voice and just find that center and drop into it to the extent that you're able depending on the circumstance.

You understand what I mean? But even in that, stay clear. No matter what we're going through, the eye of the storm is what we want to be is my suggestion to you here. And those are some tips, no matter what's going on with you today, when you're listening to this, how to navigate whatever you are going through at the moment, or anything that comes up in the future.

Stay cool. Stay present. And just take it one beat one step at a time.

Find your way. What is your next move? This is occurring. I need to do this next to protect yourself, to take care of yourself to take care of others, right? Um, you know, to navigate the circumstances, to, to remove yourself from the storm, or to facilitate the storms passing, right? I mean, it's a metaphor, obviously, but like, it's a broad, you know, application of this.

But this is how we navigate, and these things will come. And so a big part of how I live is that I get the rest I require consistently. I'm no longer drink since a long time over 10 years, I'm straight edge.

(45:09 - 49:40)

You know, I do my best to take care of my body to eat right, exercise regularly, these types of things, right? So that when I start my day, I'm starting with these things to, to, you know, support myself to be at my best, to find these states. And, and hold space for myself, and those that roll with me in these states, no matter what shows up in my world that day on a personal or professional level, or, or otherwise, in my just, you know, daily experiences are similar. So that anything that happens, I can find this place.

And when people meet me, they go, Oh, you're, you know, you're very chill, like your energy is really chill. Well, it's because I will suggest that having gone through some of these experiences, and I have others, those are seriously intense. Right? And if you can find your chill in those experiences, that in other experiences that are actually chill, you're also chilling.

You know, I do chill, I chill in the storm, and I chill when there is no storm. Because I just how I just have a feeling, you know, I'm not manifesting it, I'm not seeking to manifest it. But I've lived, you know, an active life to recognize that stuff is going on.

And when stuff isn't going on, it's a great time for me to rest. And to, you know, conserve and center my energy and cultivate, you know, that good energy into my body so it can rest. So that I'm prepared, if and when something else occurs that require me to, you know, to, to participate in the resolution, you know, or the facilitation of the passing of a storm or similar, if another storm occurs, right, then I'm mindful and I'm ready.

And I'm rested and I'm present and I know what to do to work through it. And like I said, these can be on all kinds of different levels. You as you listen, know if you're going through them, I'm sure you can point back to them, ones that you've been through before.

And, and if you're going through them now, this is just a reminder, right? Find that place, just come back to presence and go, okay, where am I at? Take inventory. What's my next move? Just make one move at a time. Once that move's done, okay, what's my next move? Okay, this is my next move.

And you can feel into your gut, you can feel in your body. What's my next move? What is my gut telling me I need to do next? Let it guide you. This is my next move.

Okay, what's your next move after that? And as you put these together, right, it's like right foot, left foot, right foot, you're walking through it, you're moving forward, right? And the storm will pass. And so with this, I just wanted to share some of these pretty wild stories. And this was coming up a bit in the past few days.

You know, with others in my world and other things that are going on and, and things as bearing witness to to go, yeah, you know, the eye of the storm. It's, it's, it's an important consideration, important topic. And I feel that it can help you to have some of these insights and, and tips and similar in your back pocket as you go through anything that you might be going through right now.

And as you might be presented with anything you might experience on your journey in, in the future. So let me know what you think about all that. Let me know what you feel.

(49:41 - 50:50)

I hope that has served to do just that and empower you in some, in some interesting ways that can support you on your path and on your journey. If you'd like to connect more with me, my links and all that are below whichever platform you're listening to this on. And I'm going to continue these episodes based on questions that people ask of me, things that come up along my journey, and major cultural elements, inspirations, topics, and similar that we seem to be talking about and considering that I feel I might be able to add some insight or similar towards.

So follow me. Happy to have you joining me on this journey as I create these and until the next one, I wish you an amazing day and we'll chat with you soon.