Baggage Claim
Baggage Claim is a space for blended families, marriage, and friendship.
Here, we dive into real-life conversations about the ups and downs of relationships, from navigating second marriages to unpacking the baggage we all bring. Hosted by Greg and Jessica, who both have rich experiences with love, loss, and family, this community is about sharing stories, learning together, and growing stronger as couples and individuals. Grab a drink and join us as we unpack, laugh, and claim our baggage—one conversation at a time
Baggage Claim
Conversations: Where Understanding Begins and Hate Ends
When did "if you disagree with me, you're against me" become our cultural default? Greg, Jess, and Producer Michael tackle this question head-on in their most profound and timely conversation yet.
Sparked by recent tragic events, this deeply reflective episode examines why we've seemingly lost the ability to connect with those who think differently. The hosts share personal stories of meaningful relationships they've maintained despite significant differences in beliefs and values, demonstrating that understanding doesn't require agreement.
Greg introduces his powerful "what, so, now" framework—a simple but transformative approach to processing emotions during difficult conversations. This method helps separate fact from fiction, emotion from reasoning, and creates space for genuine understanding. "Help me understand how you got here" becomes the episode's central theme—a phrase that opens doors rather than building walls.
The conversation takes a particularly poignant turn when discussing the troubling trend of people celebrating tragedy when it happens to those with opposing viewpoints. Jess shares from personal experience how devastating loss affects families regardless of political beliefs, reminding listeners that behind every public figure is a human being with loved ones.
One of the most powerful moments comes through a simple metaphor: ants of different colors coexist peacefully until someone shakes the jar. Before fighting each other, perhaps we should ask who benefits from our division.
Whether you're struggling with family relationships strained by different beliefs, navigating workplace diversity, or simply feeling exhausted by constant conflict, this episode offers practical wisdom for reconnecting with our shared humanity. The hosts challenge listeners to examine their social circles, information sources, and emotional reactions—not to eliminate disagreement, but to transform how we engage with it.
Ready to move from proving points to making a difference? This conversation might just change how you approach every relationship in your life. Subscribe, share, and join the growing Baggage Claim community now spanning 11 countries and 161 cities.
Hey guys, what's up? I'm Greg. I hope you guys are ready to unpack and get into some good conversations today.
Speaker 2:And I'm Jess, and this is our podcast Baggage Claim. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 1:What's up everybody, welcome to Baggage Claim, a place where we like to have conversations and help create some community. A place where we like to have conversations and help create some community. And so, if you're new here, thank you for joining us. If you're a regular, thanks for being back at the table with us. So, wherever you're at, if you're new, grab your favorite drink, whatever that may be, kind of proverbially, pull up to our table. You may be driving, who knows what you're doing wherever you're at.
Speaker 2:If you're driving, just pretend like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, pretend you're sitting at the table with us and we're just going to have a conversation and tonight's topic is going to be probably a little heavy. Yeah, I know, I know, I know, I know what you're saying. You're like bruh. The last two weeks were pretty heavy too. Jess's story.
Speaker 2:Kind of poured my heart out. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Great, great story. If you've not listened to those on forgiveness Jess's part one and part two make sure you go check those out. A really, really good, powerful story of forgiveness. But we're going to jump into a topic. Before we do that, we're going to do something fun.
Speaker 2:Also, can I just say way to go every single week for doing the intro. Can I just say way to go every single week for doing the intro. Thank you, you do it well every time.
Speaker 1:No, thank you.
Speaker 2:I would not. I will mess it up or giggle or stumble over my words or forget what I was supposed to say. Thank you for doing that every time.
Speaker 1:You're welcome, you nailed it. It's different every time it is, but it's not Like you say what we— You're literally from the hip every time.
Speaker 2:But you say it's different every time. But you always say what we agreed on or talked about, that we would like to say. But you do it every time and I really appreciate that, because one time I tried it and we didn't record it and it was bad.
Speaker 3:I remember that night it got cut. It did get cut, it was bad, it was just bad, and so welcome.
Speaker 2:Producer Michael is at the table with us tonight.
Speaker 1:It was just bad, and so welcome. Producer Michael is at the table with us tonight.
Speaker 3:Michael is not behind the desk.
Speaker 1:He is over here with us. I'm behind the mic stand. Yes, I have to laugh.
Speaker 3:I don't know why I didn't think of moving this before.
Speaker 2:Because I'm literally like it's stretched all the way out of me. My microphone stand is still attached to our literal table, but it's literally also like six inches in front of me.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah, it's very awkward, I have no place to put my arms.
Speaker 1:I'm like what do I do with my arms? You can hug her. How's that? Yeah, you hug her, that's perfect.
Speaker 3:I might actually have to do that. That's cool.
Speaker 2:But we're happy to have you at the table.
Speaker 1:Thank you. So before we get our serious big topic tonight, we're going to do question time.
Speaker 2:Question time Question time.
Speaker 1:So we did one with. We did a dude thing with a buddy of mine, mason and Michael we're all chatting. It went off the rails when we talked about food.
Speaker 2:It went off the rails so far, I didn't mind dude night because It'll probably be the last time that the dudes get the podcast room by themselves. Y'all got. It's two episodes worth. I didn't mind dude night, because I got to go to bed early, you did, I got to go to bed all by myself and read, and y'all just were out here having dude time it was good, it was fun.
Speaker 3:Do you remember that whole thing after, like, we did question time and we were like, hey, we've got to keep question time to like five to eight minutes before?
Speaker 2:we can actually get in.
Speaker 3:No, I'm pretty sure we were about 15 minutes in before we actually got to content.
Speaker 2:Boys, boys, boys. It was phenomenal.
Speaker 1:All right, so question time. Who's first?
Speaker 2:First.
Speaker 1:I don't have one Travesty, that's a travesty, that's a travesty.
Speaker 3:All right, I have a good question. Oh wait, no, I just came out of the point For you specifically, who do you think won in fantasy football this week?
Speaker 1:Really, that's what we're going with bro. That's what we're going with Gregory At this table At this table, Gregory.
Speaker 3:At this table Because we happened to match up this last weekend.
Speaker 2:I already know, because I also am a winner this week. Hey-o, I beat our son Thomas by one and a half points. It was a close one. A win is a win.
Speaker 3:A win is a win, I'm not taking it away.
Speaker 2:You beat Mr Peck over here.
Speaker 3:Hey, can I just say.
Speaker 1:I'm at a tough-, do you remember?
Speaker 3:what the score was, greg Dude.
Speaker 1:I don't care. Okay, I'm at a tough spot in my life right now and my fantasy football. Hey, shut your mouth.
Speaker 2:Reach into our DMs.
Speaker 3:You can reach out to us.
Speaker 2:Can you just tell your story so our friends can feel you want me to?
Speaker 1:let the secret out.
Speaker 2:I don't know if that secret's allowed to be out.
Speaker 1:No one knows, except for Michael.
Speaker 2:I'm comfortable with the secret being out.
Speaker 3:There's skin in the game on this league.
Speaker 2:I'm comfortable with a secret being out, because I have a really good husband.
Speaker 1:Okay, so we joined this fantasy.
Speaker 2:You're very kind to me. We have a fantasy football league.
Speaker 3:It's a relatively serious league. It's not like over the top.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there is some prize money.
Speaker 2:Yes, and there is a lot of trash talk. Also, this season is the first season girls were invited.
Speaker 1:That's true.
Speaker 2:As I said, we had to vote on that. We did a private meeting and voted on it. What was the whole thing?
Speaker 1:That was, and so we allowed the ladies in. Thank you sir. Then what?
Speaker 3:happened, Greg? We allowed the ladies in. Then what?
Speaker 1:happened. Draft night. We had draft night. It had to be on a Wednesday at 9.45. It was Wednesday at 1,000 o'clock.
Speaker 2:It was at 9.30 on Wednesday, that's 1,000 o'clock. For any of my friends who are teachers that listen, 9.30 may as well be 1,000 o'clock, because at that point on a regular night I've pretty much been asleep for an hour I'm not rambling.
Speaker 1:Jess was in the bed at 7 o'clock. Draft started at 9.30. She was asleep by 8. So I go in there 20 minutes before and I say will you please log into your fantasy football on the computer? So I have the iPad on one, which is mine, I have the computer on one, which is her team. I had all the players that I wanted. I put them in the queue. Well, I got confused after round one and thought I was drafting my team.
Speaker 3:Jess has a really good team.
Speaker 2:Jess has a team and it is phenomenal. Super good team. Yes, I'm doing great and my team is crap. It's almost so bad.
Speaker 1:I just need to, just like I just got to go, start.
Speaker 2:My team is really good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's really good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I just gotta go start, my team is really good.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's really good in my own defense so we knew ahead of time. In her own defense, did you put your roster together?
Speaker 2:no, I didn't do anything but sign in because we had to wait for you so that we could have the draft at 1000 o'clock well, it wasn't just me.
Speaker 3:There's multiple people who work late on Wednesday nights, but I said out loud I had the draft at a thousand o'clock. Well, it wasn't just me, there's multiple people who work late on Wednesday nights.
Speaker 2:I feel like it was just you. No, it wasn't just me, but I said out loud after dinner that our son and the family they went home, took Lulu to bed. We were cleaning up the kitchen. I'm like I'm going to go so fast, take a shower, get ready for bed so I can be ready for the draft. I said to Greg I'm going to go and sit in the bed, I'm going to read Lies.
Speaker 1:They're all lies. It was not a lie, that was a mistake. It doesn't matter. You were asleep for a few minutes. Five minutes, you were asleep.
Speaker 2:I read, and then the next thing I remember I was asleep on my side with the book still in my hand, and usually this wouldn't be a sore subject with me. I don't care If you want to go to bed at 7 o'clock go to bed at 7 o'clock, but not on draft night.
Speaker 1:I know, but not when I'm trying to draft my team and I draft my team as your team. I'm a little bitter.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm frustrated a little bit, as you should be. And I'm not denying that Cross the finish line for the next 15 weeks and try to make something, because the complete opposite situation was our college football draft night, where we were all in, literally all in the same room. It was dinner, it was a whole thing, and that's what we have to do next year and not work around your schedule at 1,000 o'clock. It has to be another different night where I can be awake.
Speaker 1:It's easier for me. For professional, I can play off the athlete. When it comes to college, I have teams that I just like and teams I hate.
Speaker 3:And teams you trust and teams you can't trust. I was going only by stats on college football I did not pick.
Speaker 1:I picked off, my heart picked, not my mind.
Speaker 2:Even my college football fantasy team is great. I am so great.
Speaker 1:Blah, blah, blah. So good, and I picked those guys by myself.
Speaker 2:I asked you two questions that whole night. Thank, you. Well, you won and Thomas won. I don't even know.
Speaker 3:Anyway, let's move along because this is a sore subject. Did we have another question? I don. We have another question?
Speaker 2:I don't want another question. I just kind of threw us there in a fit. Yeah, it was horrible. Okay, here's a weird question.
Speaker 1:That was very like. Yeah now I'm just kind of sad right now Go for it, Jess.
Speaker 2:Usually it's like are you this or are you that?
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:My question is flip-flops when you wear them, do they actually flip and flop?
Speaker 3:Yes, if you're on the beach in sand, yes, they do flip and flop.
Speaker 1:Yours were flipping and flopping on the way in here.
Speaker 2:That's how I came up with this question.
Speaker 3:If it's wet, they flip and flop.
Speaker 2:And they also go. That's not a flip-flop sound, though.
Speaker 1:It's kind of fun when it's got that squishy noise.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah I kind of like it. I don't know Especially like those little cheap ones you get like for just summer trips or something.
Speaker 2:Well, I say y'all. We have people listening in so many countries now I'm saying y'all, but people who live.
Speaker 1:That means everyone, it means you all, yeah, you all.
Speaker 2:But where we live, old Navy is a store and every summer they sell cheap flip-flops.
Speaker 3:Yep, I buy a new pair every summer.
Speaker 2:So do I typically, and I had on my cheap—.
Speaker 1:I don't. I have nice flip-flops $1.99 flip-flops.
Speaker 3:You do have nice flip-flops I don't think I own a single good pair of flip-flops.
Speaker 2:He only, I just don't. This man.
Speaker 1:I have three pair and they're really nice.
Speaker 2:Well, he has very specific things that he spends money on, and clothing and shoes are two of those things, and weird appliances.
Speaker 1:Anyway, don't bring the microwave into this.
Speaker 3:Okay, their microwave is like we're living in the Jetsons. I just have to say you press the button and it goes. It's a drawer microwave. It pulls out. It's kind of fun.
Speaker 1:So I have a question when you go into, say you're just lounging at the house, okay, do you wear your shoes or shoes off? House shoes.
Speaker 2:House shoes.
Speaker 3:Like slippers.
Speaker 1:Yes, really, you know I wear house shoes Team for the win Like slippers. Yes, really, you know I wear house shoes.
Speaker 2:I have different house shoes for summer versus winter, versus fall. I don't have one.
Speaker 3:You know, I have my little pile of house shoes, well, and mind you also, mine is like that concrete slab, so like the floor can get cold even in summer.
Speaker 2:So I'll just I say you know, but I do that anyways, even when I wasn't there. I would assume you would have noticed that I wear house shoes.
Speaker 1:If you get on to me like I'll come home, sometimes I'll have blue jeans and my boots on and you will wear your world clothes.
Speaker 2:You're outside in the world clothes your world clothes.
Speaker 1:Forever, yeah, I wear them around the house because it's comfortable. I'm like why We've been home from church for three hours and you're still wearing your nice jeans, your nice shirt and your boots. That stuff's coming off the moment I get in the house. Yes, it is, yeah, I love my boots.
Speaker 2:They're comfortable. My tecova's boots are comfortable. Well, I yeah, and they are worth the money. I will agree with that I saw this thing that said that as soon as I get home I go from my outside in the world clothes to adam sandler as fast as possible.
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely, that's me.
Speaker 2:That is me. That is me. We will come home and he will say I'm going to go let the dogs out and I'll say, okay, I'm going to go use the restroom, but by the time I come out I'm going to go completely different Bag his sweatpants and his shirt and ears down.
Speaker 1:I'm like, did you take a nap?
Speaker 3:while I was outside down I'm like did you take a nap while I was outside? Yep, yeah, it's crazy. I love it. No, when you're at home.
Speaker 2:You gotta chill man. Yeah, I'm like this is my comfort zone.
Speaker 1:So let's jump into our topic, all right, because we're we're ranting and raving it.
Speaker 2:I feel like me personally, I'm kind of dancing around in the fun category of what we're talking about beforehand, because this was going to be harder than yeah, and so this was going to be harder than.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so this is going to be one of those topics where we may get a little passionate. We may have to call each other off the cliff a little bit and back each other up, take a break, well, I mean, and even in following, like, if you've listened, like the two episodes where I've told my story about forgiveness, and that's hard.
Speaker 2:But I feel like I'm kind of removed from that unless I get back in and talk about it. But this topic is very current. We're in the middle of September right now and there's been a lot of things that's happened in our country and so this just kind of feels—this is heavy.
Speaker 1:Well, last week, the whole idea of— and what sparked this whole conversation is last Wednesday, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed and it was one of those kind of I was on the job site working, thomas was someone. We were all different places. Thomas was at the fire station, and so I jumped in the group text and just was like did y'all see this? Because it literally just came through my phone. I was listening to something.
Speaker 2:And we're mentioning that you were doing this and Thomas was doing that, because where we first started talking about was in our group text.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:With us.
Speaker 1:Our son and our daughter-in-law is where this kind of started out and then I just got heavy, heavy, and so that just, and there was a lot of emotion, a lot of, and we actually said we want to record on this and I'm actually glad it's almost a week removed.
Speaker 1:I am because I got really um yeah, just got really upset and I think there were a lot of people who jumped on and probably said some things maybe, and I don't, I don't, I don't want tonight to be. Tonight is not a Baggage. Claim is not a place about political we're not talking about politics. This has nothing to do with that. We're not talking about.
Speaker 2:We're still sticking to creating conversations and community, because that's who we are.
Speaker 1:And so the idea for us is to and the conversation just come up like where are we at in the world? Like it was, it was incredibly sad. But and I never met him, so I didn't know him personally I had watched a lot of his stuff, even when he went on Gavin Newsom's podcast, which I was intrigued by. That All the other podcasts I was just a fan of his because I thought he was a very interesting guy.
Speaker 2:He was very like, talked to anyone about anything, and so that was intriguing to me and you could believe in how he stuck to his convictions, very respectfully. Yeah, whether you agree with that or not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, whether you agree with him or not. That's not even what we're talking about tonight. It's not like, hey, if you believe with him, then jump on our bandwagon or this bandwagon.
Speaker 2:This is not a pro-Charlie Kirk conversation, but this is where this spurred out of.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, and I think many times, like even in relationships and friendships, we are never going to agree. And if we do agree, on everything, if we agree on everything, then what fun is that?
Speaker 1:You know well, jess and I are married and we've been married for 13 years, and there's some things we don't, yeah, next month we don't agree on Like there's some things we would probably be like we just see things different, like we just see and that's okay. And so I think for that that's the idea I want us to dig into is the idea of hope. I want us to dig into the idea of hate, why why are we hating?
Speaker 1:Why aren't we acting the way we're acting? Why are we at a place where we can't have conversations?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And let's maybe okay. So for me I told Jess it was like every conversation and this is one of those facilitating things I go through every conversation for me is a what? So? What now? What?
Speaker 2:Slow down, slow down. Say that again.
Speaker 1:So it's a what so. What now? What so? It's the whole idea of what just happened.
Speaker 2:So what do we do with it?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So what does that mean for me? What is that? What are we? And so what are the feelings attached to that? And then it's the now. What?
Speaker 2:Now, what am I going to do with?
Speaker 1:that Now, what does that mean for me? And so it's a process of just breaking down situations.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, I'm teachering you, but you just breezed through that.
Speaker 3:You did say that real fast, yeah, and smart like you sounded really smart.
Speaker 2:That's the thing.
Speaker 1:I've been practicing for years.
Speaker 2:Literally, you have and that's what I was going to say Like you breezed through that, which is why I wanted to make you slow down a little bit, because not well, you are trained to help people think through that. You're trained in facilitating, and so, like regular, everyday people, we don't think like that, and so that's a very big skill. I think that is important in this whole conversation that we're having tonight. It was like okay, so where are we at, what's happening, and so we can dissect that, and it takes time, and then so what are we gonna do now? Then that takes a little bit of time, and then now, what do we do to move forward? So I don't want you to breeze through that like your thought. No, and honestly, because I've not heard.
Speaker 3:Even in the time we've been together, I've not heard you say it like that. Lay that out, because I think one of the things we were talking about earlier is it's so easy that, especially when there's something you're passionate about that, you get emotional about it, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Those three questions right there help you check your emotions.
Speaker 1:They do Right. Well, it's to help you process your emotions. Yes, very much so yeah emotions are not like in something like this. It's a highly emotional thing.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I don't for me I don't get caught on the Charlie aspect. I like the guy because he spoke like he was just clear in what he said.
Speaker 1:He was just very clear. But there's a part of me that just gets caught on the. He was a dad, he was a husband and he was just a guy chasing his dream. He was just chasing his dreams. That's what he was doing. I don't and that's hard for me, like when I look at it from that way that's what kind of just unsettled me, and so I had to process those emotions in a way of going okay, how do we do this in a healthy way that's constructive and good?
Speaker 2:Now, aside from what happened to him, that's how you look at pretty much everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you've helped me look at things like that. It's just kind of like, don't get so caught up in your emotion, like, let's, let's understand how we feel. How do we get there? And then now, what do we do? Yeah, and and that's important, regardless of the tragedy that take, you know if we can put that aside in a different category for now, but it's the understanding where your thought process comes from I'm always, and that's the thing for me in this I'm like I may.
Speaker 1:It baffles me, it really does it, just it. It shocks me when people are not willing to just sit down and have a conversation. Yeah, like, because I am such a conversation people guy Like I enjoy. I actually thrive on chatting with people who don't act like me, think like me, who live in the same world as me. Like, I want to know, because I'm just curious of how did you get to where you're at? How did you arrive at this place where you're at?
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, that goes back for your own self. When you were in college, your major was sociology. Like, you wanted to study people from a very young age and sadly there's a lot of people that you know we all go into different walks of life. There's a lot of people that you know we all go into different walks of life. But I think that a big thing is that people forget to like, study each other, like it's okay to figure out each other as you go through life, because if you can't do that, then what are we doing? Like, regardless of what profession you take or what walk of life you're in, like, if you can't appreciate and understand and try to walk alongside other people, then what are you doing?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I remember one of the I mean one of the. A great relationship I used to have was Dr Ottingertinger was in college and he was an atheist and he used to go and just have, just sit down and I would just have conversations with I was a Christian, I was I'd just become a Christian and I was a believer and we would just have conversations. I was just so curious how he didn't believe in anything. He's like I'm atheist, I don't believe in anything. I was like how did this happen? Like please tell me how you got there. And we were just I was really just curious, not in a like you're an idiot, you're wrong, not an accusatory way.
Speaker 3:No, I was just so curious. A learning way.
Speaker 1:Yeah Right, Just be like I want to know how you got, because please help me and so we would talk. I mean, we had great conversations around that and it just seems so sad that we've I feel like we've gotten to a place where we don't do that anymore.
Speaker 3:Like that's frowned upon, I would agree.
Speaker 1:And I don't understand why.
Speaker 3:Well, and it's almost as if it's like you say okay, well, you believe that, so you stay over there, I believe this, so I'll stay over here, and then we just don't interact, right, you know. And then and I'm not trying to get into media and all that stuff but then things happen and then people get more entrenched in their own ideals and their own values and it only separates that gap more it does. And when you look at all relationships, I mean just yeah, I know we talk a lot about marriage relationships and that here.
Speaker 3:So when you look in terms of that, it can be so easy to let that be something that separates you, especially if it's something that you're passionate about or it's something that brings up emotion for you.
Speaker 2:Well, I will say I mean, greg and I are not perfect and we have said this all along this is our episode number 32. That's right.
Speaker 2:That's wild 32 episodes. We've tried to make it very clear that we know that we are not perfect, but I know that the time that you and I have been together, we have had relationships with people that we truly, truly, truly care about, that do not have the same belief system that we have, and they have a very different way of doing family and relationships, whatever the case may be, but we love them as a human being and person.
Speaker 2:And so those folks in our life, they know that. So that when we are able to, and we have sat down with them and just be like, help me understand how you got here. Let me use a Greg Peck phrase Help me understand how we got here. I want to know your thought process that led you to where you are right now. And that doesn't mean I'm going to love you less, and that doesn't mean I'm going to start judging you all of a sudden, it actually means I'll probably love you more.
Speaker 2:I will agree with that, because those same folks are still very important in our hearts. Yeah, and so I. I think that I personal experience on my side, because there's been such a vast amount of experience for me and you both it's just kind of like why can everybody not be like that?
Speaker 1:be like what accepting.
Speaker 2:and that kind of leads us to what we and I hate to use this word, I just said it but what we were wanting to talk about tonight and we are so it, but what we wanted to talk about tonight and we are so far into this episode before we even talk about, like the subject matter, but we kind of like the word hate. It just feels it's a heavy word but also, given what's happening in our country right now and actions that people are taking against each other, whether they are on one extreme or another, hate is such a big thing right now. Yeah, would y'all agree?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yes, I agree, and my family can attest to this. I agree, and my family can attest to this. I love information, I love learning, I love just hearing, and so I would turn on every morning. When the kids were small, I'd turn on the news and I couldn't stand some of the guys on CNN, so I'd turn on Fox.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all four of our children would say that's the soundtrack to their childhood.
Speaker 3:They would agree so.
Speaker 1:I was listening to Fox News for a long time and then I just I found myself feeling like, okay, you're saying the same crap and I would just get so aggravated. And I was, so I would start my day and I was all riled up and angry and mad and I told Jess I was like you know what, I'm just going to stop watching the news in the morning, like I'm not going to do that anymore.
Speaker 2:That was a big shift in our house.
Speaker 1:And I was just she's like what are you going to do? And I was like I don't know, but I'm not watching the news. Yeah, it changed. It changed your thought. Yeah, felt the way I thought, the way I saw the world, the way I saw people, because when I'm looking at media or news outlets, they're telling me the world is going to hell. In a handbasket it's on fire. Grab a water hose and I'm like yeah.
Speaker 1:I look out my window and I'm like it looks okay to me we're okay, yeah, it's like I don't understand what you're talking about and so it's like because those things sell, you know sizzle sales, and so it's. And there's a part of me is like I just don't want that and so I just I cut that out. But it's like look at your for you page on your Facebook, your Instagram your TikTok. It's TikTok that has a for you page, yeah, but well, I mean, they all kind of have a for you page.
Speaker 2:You don't call it that, that's true.
Speaker 1:The algorithm. You don't call it that, that's true, but the algorithm, yeah. The algorithm knows what you want and what you want to see, and you it's. It's feeding you the same kind of stuff over and over and over and over again but do you feel like it's feeding you negative or positive?
Speaker 2:you know?
Speaker 1:okay, I watched this weird. I got in this weird cop thing one time and I watched this like cops, like you know, bad cop thing, blah, blah. And it's like all of a sudden my for you page is full of it and I was like I don't want to see that crap.
Speaker 3:I know it's like one video catches your attention. Yeah, it's like can I reset, do I?
Speaker 2:have a reset button one time I was interested in that. That doesn't mean that's all I'm interested in.
Speaker 1:Yeah and so it's a. I think, if we look at what, so many times we look at our lives and be like what are we putting into it, like what are we actually digesting, and thinking about and listening to, yeah. Like I love him to death. Cody, our son. He's an incredibly smart kid. Incredibly smart kid, smarter than he even knows.
Speaker 2:He's number three in the lineup.
Speaker 1:Yes, Went to UGA, got into Terry school of business, graduated, did great, made great grades, and we started talking about politics. On the beach we're having drinks and we're talking about politics, and we were totally opposites. And I was like okay, so tell me how you got there. And he goes well, so-and-so is a racist, and they're this. And I was like okay, so tell me how you got there. And he goes well, so-and-so is a racist, and they're this. And I was like really, tell me one time. You like tell me something about that. And he was like okay, well, wait a minute. And so we started talking and it was just, it was interesting. It was like do you think some of your views you have have to do with where you've been in school? And he's like yeah, it's fair to say, oh, he was 100%. Yes, yeah, he's like yeah, of course it has to. And I was like yeah, I would agree with that.
Speaker 1:I was like because my environment has everything to do with the way I think and the way I feel, yeah, I was like you're not, you're not, I'm not absent of that just because I'm not in college. But the same thing is is so much we put into and we digest and we take it in, but it affects what comes out, how we think about people, how we look at people and there's not many people out there going. Why don't you look at the person across from you and go? That's a person that has experiences, that probably has a mom or had a dad at some point and had someone who loves them.
Speaker 2:Experiences and thoughts and things that they actually went through to get them to where they are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, things they're passionate about. They're chasing a dream. They're chasing something. They're looking for purpose. They're looking for those things. It's like they're looking for a reason for why they're here. It's like why not look at people that way instead of well, if you don't agree with the same political views I have, or the same things I have.
Speaker 3:Well, it's turned into a. If you don't agree with me, then you're against me.
Speaker 1:Yes, and it shouldn't be that way. No, it shouldn't be that way at all.
Speaker 3:No because what kind of world would that be, Michael, when you have a world full of people?
Speaker 1:Yeah, everybody would be against everybody, yeah, or a world that looks just like you. I mean honestly I promise, if you put, two of me identical side by side.
Speaker 3:We'd disagree on something.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Like we would like in like realistically and I think most people, if they were honest with themselves, would probably get to that point at some time but just because you disagree with someone doesn't mean you can't love them, doesn't mean you can't care for them. But that mindset of if you disagree with me, that means you're against me, that starts eating away at that. Hey, I still love you. And then it goes away to, oh wow, I really don't love you, can you just stay over there? And then it turns into oh man, I really don't like you. And then it turns into oh man, I actually hate you. And it's like this, step after step after step, that we could be fighting against as a community, as, whether it be a family or anything like that, it could just simply be hey, I can disagree with you, but I can still love you.
Speaker 2:And as much as I am trying to dance around the word hate, but that's where it goes to.
Speaker 3:It is. That's where it ends up.
Speaker 2:That is the process where it ends up at as hate. If you don't watch it and keep yourself in check, keep your emotions in check. It does go to hate. Why, though, why do you think it's so hard to get along with people that are not like you, like your own self? Why do you think that's hard? Because it is, apparently, can I?
Speaker 3:go biblical, you can.
Speaker 1:Why did Cain?
Speaker 3:kill Abel.
Speaker 1:Because he was jealous.
Speaker 3:He wanted what he had. It's a nature. That's who we are.
Speaker 1:But see, that's a, it's a nature, that's who we are, but see, that's a self thing. Yeah, yes it's ourself that's flesh. Like there's me. Like I don't. Like it's not uncomfortable for me to hang out with people who are different. Like I want to do this thing and I told jess about it. Like I want to have this dinner, and maybe at our house or somewhere else, but I'm broke broke as a convict right now, so I can't do it but.
Speaker 1:I want to, but I want to invite 12 guys that are from different walks of life.
Speaker 2:If you're listening and you want to be a part of this, perk your ears up.
Speaker 3:This is really cool.
Speaker 1:I know what he's about to share and you will be, but I want to invite 12 guys around the table and we're going to have and there'll be questions at their table, at their seat, and you get to talk about. The whole idea is you want to look for the best in the people that are sitting around the table with you, but you are going to talk about who you are without telling people what you do. As a guy Like you just get to talk about hard for men. It's very hard for men. But in the same idea, I want like hey, I don't want 12 people who look at and sound like me and believe the same way I was. Like I want vast difference, like I want people to be able to sit at the table. Because when I think about it and this is the biblical sense for me I have a tattoo of a table on my arm, because this is like when you think about, if you read the Bible and you think about Jesus how many times?
Speaker 1:did he meet with people was around a table, people who didn't look like him, act like him, sounded like him, with prostitutes, with tax collectors, with the lowest of the lows and the highest of the highs.
Speaker 2:Heck, even his disciples were the lowest of the low, but he sat at the table with them and he shared a meal. And shared his life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it was like that's that man, if I'm like dude, if we can do that, if we can just start there and just be like we're all men, let's respect each other. Just for you're at the table, I got respect for you for being at this table and having a conversation. I don't care if you think the way I do, believe the way I do. I just want to say I respect you for being here.
Speaker 2:I feel like that's just a very human it. Well it should be, I. I feel like it should be a very human point of view, because we are not all alike. And so that's just a very basic of just humanity. And then us as Christians, you and I and Michael you add the Jesus layer, because that is literally like you said Jesus ate with and he hung out with and served and listened to people who were not like him at all.
Speaker 1:No no.
Speaker 2:And I agree with you I don't. I don't want to be surrounded by people who are just like me. Does it help? Yes, of course it does.
Speaker 1:Well, it's easy, it's comfortable. Yeah, yeah, it's comfortable.
Speaker 2:But also if you're only around people who are exactly like you, that doesn't challenge you at all.
Speaker 1:It doesn't challenge you at all. It doesn't challenge you to be like okay, why do I believe what I believe? I think you ought to be able to answer that question, I don't care where you're at.
Speaker 2:I do too On the spectrum. I don't care what you believe.
Speaker 1:Christian, non-christian, whatever Buddhist, hindu, I don't know Christian. Know what you believe and why you believe it Like. Know that.
Speaker 2:Because different doesn't equal bad all the time. No, it really doesn't. No, it doesn't, no it doesn't.
Speaker 3:So how do you, if I may, pose a question? You know, when it comes up to whether it be disagreement in marriage or politics or anything, Okay, and it is something that's a really big marriage, well, no, well, I'm saying just disagreements in general, whatever it may be.
Speaker 3:When you do have that emotional side of it's just hard to communicate, it's hard to not get angry, even in debate or conversation. What do you do that helps you sit down to actually have that conversation? Because we're sitting here talking about hey, we can't stop having conversation, we can't stop getting to know people who are different. What do you do when that's hard?
Speaker 2:Well, I have learned a lot about that through Greg, so that's kind of my cheat sheet, but it's not necessarily about agreeing, it's more of an understanding it's I want.
Speaker 2:Well, now I say now we've been together for 13 years but you can stop saying that okay, I have learned that the more important thing is not I need you to agree with me. The more important thing should be in my opinion, I want to understand you and at the end of the understanding part, you, I want you to understand me too. But that doesn't equal. We're going to agree.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I just I want. I want to know where you're coming from and for you, for you to explain that you are going to have to have a solid foundation of where that came from.
Speaker 1:I think everything has a source, Everything has a root. I'll say that all the time. Like it's like anything else, like a massive tree is big oak. It has roots and those roots go deep and the bigger the tree, the deeper the roots are yeah um, and so it's. It's in the same sense of the stronger the passion, the bigger the belief. There's a root somewhere and that started with something look for the root yeah, for me I'm like where's the source of that?
Speaker 1:like, oh, that's the source of that anger that frustration that that, wherever that may be For me, when I'm having a conversation with someone, there's a curiosity about it to make me want to say where does that come from? When I say help me understand, I'm basically saying I'm going to questions to realize how did you arrive at the point where you arrived? And we're going to go backwards and try to find out where that started at.
Speaker 2:Because I'm really curious where that is. So I will say that, that phrase. You'll hear us say that a lot of the help me understand and you may think, oh my God if you say that one more time. But that's really true.
Speaker 1:If you start using that in your life, it will change the way you look at conversations, no matter what relationship it is, and I bet if you use that more in your life, you'll find yourself growing more and more too Right.
Speaker 2:So you said, recognize the source. So a friend of mine from work posted this actually today. That I thought was fascinating. It says if you put 100 black ants and 100 red ants in a jar, nothing will happen. But if you shake the jar, the ants will start killing each other. Red will believe black is their enemy, while black will believe red is their enemy, when the real enemy is the person who shook the jar. Same is also true in our society. Before we fight with each other, we have to ask ourselves who shook the jar.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's like where did the actual root of the disagreement come from? Yeah, or not even disagreement of just the miscommunication.
Speaker 1:Because I believe that's what it is. It's just that anger, because if you dig down deep into that and you really, really want to know, it's like, hey, tell me where that anger and that frustration comes from. Because, dude, we're all different, we all grew up differently, we all had different parents.
Speaker 2:The three of us sitting here at this table?
Speaker 1:Yes, completely different, all three of us vastly different, vastly different and so it's like I don't see, it's just, it's just interesting. Like in my life I grew up where there was a lot of um, violence was a normal thing, like um it really was. And then I got into kickboxing and and and karate and I did that for a little while, which I thought it was, and then I just became really good at fighting but I realized this isn't helping me, I don't need to do this, and so I finally kind of bowed out of that, which it just like violence was never a way for me to.
Speaker 1:It just seemed like a very, very shallow way of expressing any kind of emotion.
Speaker 2:But then for Michael you grew up completely different than that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, quite different Homeschooled Right, right, worked family business, that kind of thing Right.
Speaker 2:And then my own self. I grew up completely different than that, but both my parents didn't divorce. I was a grown and like, but then there was like some alcohol and then there was a change in that and it was just like so many moving parts of just dysfunction and miscommunication, but there was never violence involved and so, like, if we all look at all the things of we're although the three of us are really good friends and obviously you and I are married we're pretty good friends, yeah, and so I think so but like we are all very, very different and how we have arrived at who we are and the opinions that we have, yeah, like I love having conversations with Michael sometimes about his life and growing up and how he thinks, the way he thinks and the way and it really does, Because I mean, there was a lot of violence.
Speaker 1:It was my dad's side of the family. My mom's side was just they're just good old, they're just great people, Loving sweet my mom. If it weren't for my mom, God knows where I would be in life, but it's like you would be in jail Probably. Yeah, Like permanently, yeah, and so it's a. But there's a curiosity for me to be like Michael. Why do you think that way? Because you grew up in church, Like you've been around church your entire life. Both of you have.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we have. My dad was a pastor.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you know, like when I was younger, my dad was a pastor, I do know to the package store on Sundays because I would get popcorn when we would go to the drive-thru, when we go to the bootlegger, because you couldn't buy beer on Sunday when I was a kid. Yeah, and I was excited to go get popcorn from the bootlegger. So like that's the life we grew up in.
Speaker 2:You know it's like okay, cool. Would you guys agree that, like, as we're trying to move forward in the country that we live in today, because I do feel like there's kind of a strong resurgence of a lot of things, Would you agree with that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 2:So I feel like kind of the first thing that we should do, maybe like check yourself, like let's think about like know why you believe what you believe, and it's okay to look outside your own bubble, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Well, and for me, like we're talking about disagreements, trying to find you know, yeah, we're vastly different, but we still have so much in common. I don't know why.
Speaker 3:Call it whatever you want, Call it, whatever you want, but it's almost as if everything in society, instagram, tiktok, everything we're always finding and looking at our differences. Yeah, and don't get me wrong, there are some things about our differences that we should be proud of. Yeah, like own your heritage, own so much of that, but also, at the same time, I think we lose sight of what we have in common.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:We lose sight of the fact that realistically, we may have opposing views, but if we dig down at the root, we find the source. We actually care about the same things.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we want to see the same end results. Yeah, and so I think that, if we can and that's where I look at when I think of check myself it's okay. First off, check myself, because why in the world does everyone feel like their opinion is the right opinion Right, and I say this to myself I have to check myself because so many times I feel like, well, that's my opinion and that's what's right, because that's why I think that's what's right.
Speaker 2:Well, there's a difference between my opinion and my emotions, so I feel like you have to be able to like kind of deconstruct your emotions to figure out like, where am I at? Like, let's learn to separate fact from fiction I mean honestly, I hate to say it that way but fact from emotion, because a lot of emotion is based on fiction and narrative that you build in your own head versus like no, really, are we like at the basis of where we're at? Do we agree on the very root of where we're at?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And a lot of times, like you said, yes, we do, we truly do yeah, and a lot of times, like you said, yes, we do, we truly do. Well, and the thing is when, when you dig down and you understand why I believe what I believe, um, it gives you a foundation. But what's important in that is, yes, you should constantly be asking, learning more and more about other things, but if you don't have a foundation of why you believe in what you believe, you know, for me, god, truth, the Bible, it's rooted in one thing and that's Jesus Christ. But if I'm not rooted, I could be easily tossed around and thrown around. My beliefs change every other week you know that kind of thing.
Speaker 3:But when you know what you're rooted in, you can in confidence hear what other people disagree and not be so worked up yeah, over it yeah
Speaker 1:because you know I think what breaks my heart, and it really does break my heart. And then there's this whole like, if you've been on social media, you've seen this crap of people who are celebrating and are excited about the assassination of a man, a husband and a father. Yeah, and so there's a part of me that's just like okay, just because you don't agree, how do you celebrate the death of a guy who just shared he wasn't about violence. No, he wasn't about anger, frustration, hatred. Listen to his podcast, to his don't listen to your peers.
Speaker 1:Listen to him, just go listen to it, um, and just the the idea of a guy who's just even even if you don't agree with what he says he's just sharing his thoughts and his opinions. No one. Why is it that we have people who feel like, oh well, he deserved it? Let me tell you, I live in a household with two kids who lost their dad, and it's 15 years later. I don't care who you are.
Speaker 2:That makes a mark on kids.
Speaker 1:It will make a mark on his kids' lives and his kids' lives will grow up with that pain and they'll carry that with them and they'll deal with that. His wife will deal with that. She'll have to move on, and for you to sit and say I don't care about that, I don't care about her.
Speaker 3:It's just mean.
Speaker 2:You need to dig deep in your heart and go. Why do I?
Speaker 1:feel that way. It's just plain old. Mean yeah, why do I feel that way? It's just plain old, mean yeah, I don't get that Like that doesn't? I don't understand that level and I would love to talk with someone who has Even I mean, I will say it Like even a show that the Bird Show here in Atlanta. I know they don't ever listen to this, but at the same time, it's a show that I've been listening to literally since my kids were babies. I would listen to this all the way on the ride home.
Speaker 2:I've been listening to that show since I was in high school.
Speaker 1:Yeah, forever. Well, they get on there and they're just having a conversation, but then they go into this bashing session and basically just saying I'm not sad that he B, I'm not sad that he.
Speaker 2:Bert, the host and owner of the show. He started off well and he was just talking about how his heart felt heavy for where things are in our country and there's such a divide and he started off well and then he said I don't know if who you know, if you know who Charlie Kirk is or was, and they kind of briefly explained that you know he had passed away the day before and he was like he's a political activist, he's a Christian and he promoted like debates and nonviolent activism and all those things. He started off strong. Then the other women on the show kind of took over the conversation and they went very, very negative and they were calling Now this is an opinion and I appreciate that's their opinion.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Now, this is an opinion and I appreciate that's their opinion, right. What I don't appreciate is that they did not take into account that the audience that was listening may not share their opinion. They name, called, they categorized him in a very negative way, a lot of negative things. And then the last person that spoke up I'm not going to say her name because I don't want to give her any satisfaction she said that she was not sad, that she was satisfied that he lost his life because of his beliefs. She didn't take into account that he was a 31-year-old man that was killed for standing up for what he believed in, for positive matters, didn't take into account that his wife is now a widow. She did not take into account that his two children will grow up without their biological father and their his influence in their life. And she said I am not sad, he's dead, and that is wrong. I don't care who you are. That is wrong. Yeah, and I know that I am coming from a very personal passionate place.
Speaker 1:It did hit you in a very personal because—.
Speaker 2:And I messaged that morning show.
Speaker 1:When DJ passed away he was 31. Same age, 31 years old, and so that hit home with you.
Speaker 2:Was he murdered? No. Was he a political activist? No. But was he a Christian father and a Christian husband who stood for the right things in a biblical opinion? Yes. Would he have aligned with what Charlie Kirk was doing? Yes. So for that person on that morning, show out loud. Now I know they're based in Atlanta, but they are nationwide, worldwide, because they have an app to say I'm not sad because he was murdered.
Speaker 1:Here's what I'm saying with that, not condemning it. It's America. You have the freedom of speech. You can say whatever you want to say. You can say whatever you want to say. You literally can say whatever you want to say. Okay, cool, but I would love to just say why. I would just like to ask why. Why are you satisfied that a woman and two kids are going to struggle with the rest of their life with this situation? Why does that make you happy? Because you didn't agree about abortion the same way you didn't agree about transgender, the same way you didn't believe about Christianity the same way I was like, so that makes it okay why?
Speaker 1:I just want to know why. For me, it's the curiosity of going. Why are you so angry? Because there's a lot of people in politics I don't agree with.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I don't, but I don't wish harm on anyone, absolutely not I, I, I'm, I'm excited to when you, when you see like a like, I don't, I don't, I'm not a gavin newsom fan, I'm not. But when he goes on joe rogan or he, uh, when charlie kirk goes on his podcast, and they have a kind of like, okay, I, I'm going to listen and I'll listen to the guy I want to learn and he's actually a really intriguing guy.
Speaker 1:I don't believe all the things he believes in, but he's an intriguing guy. It's just like. For me it's like let's go back to the like, let's erase all those emotions, let's erase all the craziness, because the fact we celebrate.
Speaker 2:It is okay to not agree with your neighbor, neighbor, meaning anybody that's in your life.
Speaker 1:It is not okay to wish harm upon someone who doesn't agree with you. Yeah, how about we just be nice Just?
Speaker 2:freaking. Live in harmony with one another. It is not that hard.
Speaker 1:Because you know what you can do if you don't agree. Like the Burt Show now they were, I mean, as crazy as it was.
Speaker 2:They were P1 in my car, because they've been in my truck forever and I know you're like who cares if you don't listen.
Speaker 1:And yeah, who cares?
Speaker 2:I hope that us unfollowing and not listening makes an impact, because that was ugly, it was just ugly.
Speaker 1:But at the same time, if I don't want to listen to it, just don't, I'm not going to listen to it, I'll just delete it, do I?
Speaker 2:wish harm upon any of them, absolutely not.
Speaker 1:Lord no.
Speaker 3:Great, am I going to share my?
Speaker 2:opinion yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because would I like for them to reach out? Yes, will. Will I have a conversation? Yes, because I want you to understand my point of view and a person that doesn't agree with that point of view, just as much as I would like to hear how you got there, not what you said on the radio. But I want to understand because there's a lot of people, like we said early on, there's a lot of people in our lives that we are friends with and have been friends with over the years that do not choose the same lifestyle that we choose. Does that mean we love them any less? Absolutely not. If they called us tomorrow and said I need you to do this, that and the other, would we do that? Yes, we would. I don't.
Speaker 2:I don't. I don't care what you choose in the privacy of your home. I truly do not. I care about you as a person because you are my friend, and my friend means anybody that's listening okay, so we're, we're way in. We are very is so many minutes. This is the longest episode probably ever, yeah.
Speaker 1:Sorry everyone, but can we unpack? Is there an unpack Like one unpack? There's a big unpack for me.
Speaker 2:There's a big unpack and we say it's a big unpack, it's a short unpack, but it's big for you. I feel like you or all of us, for unpack. Take a look at the people in your life, like literally. Take a minute, think about the people in your life. Are they all just like you?
Speaker 1:Yeah. Do they think the same way? Do they look the same?
Speaker 2:way, I lost my mic right there it was a situation Like are they?
Speaker 1:I mean, have you created this cocoon? This little bubble whether you're liberal or conservative or whatever you may be, are I mean not? Even in politics, just like in life, like you have people, who, who, who, just think the same way, act the same way. You're gonna have those friends that are close to you yeah, but like look past that, like are you, maybe your?
Speaker 2:secondary bubble. Yeah, like your, your inside bubble is likely going to be made up of people who are like you. Look at your outside bubble. If, if the people even that outside, are they all just like you? Well, here's a second question Are you uncomfortable being around people that are not like you? I feel like that's a big question, because I don't feel uncomfortable when I'm with people that are not like me, because I'm secure in who I'm rooted in with Christ. I'm secure in myself, I'm secure in my beliefs, but also I am secure in knowing that I can love other people who are not like me. I can and I do. Yeah, that's a huge practice I feel like to put into place.
Speaker 1:How about you, michael, what you got?
Speaker 3:A lot of this hits close to me, just specifically after this last week. Um, I will say just in honesty, like I've wrestled a lot with emotions of just everything, especially with charlie kirk this last week, but and I'm gonna try to keep this short because I got a lot of thoughts in my mind, but the first thing that comes to mind is humble yourself oh that check yourself that's hard for a lot of people and it is.
Speaker 3:It is, it's something you, you have to practice. It's something that you have to exercise because if you don't, when the time comes that you need to yeah it will be near impossible to do that's true, but here's the reason it's not just simply to say oh, just think less of yourself.
Speaker 3:Which I mean, don't get me wrong I think we'd all be in a better place if we didn't overestimate ourselves. But here's the reason why, and it's not to say don't be passionate, it's not to say don't be zealous, have a longing or a yearning or a fire about what you believe in, but simply have enough mental and emotional awareness within you.
Speaker 2:Maturity.
Speaker 3:Yes, maturity, to sit back and check yourself. And you ask, am I thinking this because this is just what I believe in? Am I thinking this because, you know, this is the truth that I stand on? And if this is the truth that I have to stand on, then this is how I must act Know why you're doing what you're doing.
Speaker 3:And I know we've said that before but so many times because it leads to this. So many times, especially when we get into conversations with people we don't agree with, we always want to prove a point, we always want to have our point heard and, you know, have that last sentence and mic drop. You know that kind of thing. But the reality is that that comes from our ego, that comes from our pride, that comes from us wanting to be better than yeah. And I had a dear friend and mentor tell me one time always strive to make a difference, don't strive to prove a point, because if you strive to prove a point, you will and chances are you proving that point will separate you and the person you're talking to.
Speaker 2:And that will make the difference.
Speaker 3:But if you strive to make a difference and you get connected with them.
Speaker 2:Sorry, I was jumping ahead, you're fine.
Speaker 3:If you strive to make a difference, your point will eventually be proven, and I think so many times we jump too eagerly and too passionately, and sometimes with a good passion but, we jump at the wrong place and we we do it in the wrong time and we try to prove a point and we don't strive to make a difference right, because the only thing well, that's stupid to say, but the only thing is going to make a difference is trying to actually like pursuing making a difference.
Speaker 3:And when we do that, I think for me like when I hear everything we've talked about you know how do you get to sit down and dig into the root of what someone else believes, even though it's vastly different from you. We strive to make a difference, we don't strive to prove our point right. And so I would encourage you, wherever you stand, with everything that's going on right now, or whether it be something completely unrelated, like, check yourself, you know and I don't say that to beat yourself down. Don't beat yourself down. You have worth, you have value in who you are and what you believe in. But also, at the same time, we need to be wise in choosing what we believe in, because when we do that, it lets us know what ground we must stand on and it also lets us know what ground doesn't make a difference, if we lose it or not. And when we understand that difference, what battles are worth fighting, what arguments are not worth fighting, then we can more accurately and intentionally strive to make a difference in people's lives.
Speaker 1:Well, okay, well, that's it. Um, I don't want to follow that, but I will because I don't have a choice. So, um, I think my unpack is is very, very simple. I think it's a very easy one have a conversation, just sit down and have a conversation.
Speaker 2:With, no matter who it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it doesn't matter who it is, what it's about, just start talking. Just start talking to people. And you're not talking to convince or persuade anyone. You're talking because you're curious.
Speaker 1:yeah to understand dig dig into the curiosity of wanting to know why people think and act the way they do. Um, if you start with that, you'll, you'll be cute. It'd be really interesting where you wound up. I just I thought it's a simple thing like um, you see someone sitting by herself in the coffee shop. I mean, they may be working, who knows? Uh, sometimes people just don't want to be, they don't want to talk anymore. Um, they got their headphones in or not. But it's just like start a conversation. Who knows where that leads? Uh, who knows what, what happens with that and um, but not in a way of I want them to believe the way I do or think the way I think, but just just be like I just want to know who you are, I want to understand where you're at.
Speaker 1:That's mine. This is a big topic. We've been going at it for a little bit. It's been a super long episode.
Speaker 2:This is the longest.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is the longest one I've ever done, the longest episode, so please, if you've been here this long and you've listened to the whole thing.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Also, can you like drop a comment and just be like hey way to go. Like some random emoji, like, whatever it is.
Speaker 1:You can text us from either Apple Spotify.
Speaker 2:There's a text option in there. If somebody texts us directly, I would be my pants.
Speaker 1:When he texts it, it comes to our show and we'll see it. So feel free to do that. Drop us a DM, like, follow, subscribe. We're still growing. We're in 11 countries now, 161 cities. It's kind of crazy. It's going out there. Just thank you for sharing.
Speaker 2:If you think anybody could, and just thank you for listening to us talk about whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you think somebody could benefit from this, please share it.
Speaker 2:Please put it out there, um. Thank you, and we love you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're working on trying to make it better every day we are um, we just all have jobs and it's really slow. So yeah, it's a situation yeah this is not our full-time gig no, it it's not.
Speaker 2:And with that, thank you for joining Baggage Claim and we hope you join us again where we can share and love one another.
Speaker 1:That's right, love you guys. Go Dawgs, go Dawgs, that's right. Go Dawgs you.
