Share The Struggle
Share The Struggle
Embracing Rejection: Transforming Setbacks into Stepping Stones 236
Rejection is a universal experience that everyone faces, but it doesn't have to define us. By sharing personal stories and practical advice, this episode emphasizes that rejection often leads to growth and resilience, ultimately shaping our paths for the better.
• Discusses the nature of rejection and its emotional impact
• Highlights the importance of uncomfortable conversations in personal growth
• Shares impressive statistics on podcast growth and audience engagement
• Recounts personal experiences of rejection in relationships and business
• Explores the link between rejection, ambition, and resilience
• Draws inspiration from Garth Brooks’ "Unanswered Prayers" as a lesson in perspective
• Encourages listeners to view rejection as a catalyst for growth
• Offers practical advice on processing rejection and learning from failures
• Reinforces the importance of community support in navigating life’s struggles
Can rejection be the key to unexpected growth and transformation? Join me on this heartfelt journey as we unravel the complexity of rejection and uncover its hidden potential to fuel resilience and personal development. We'll explore the choice between simply enduring hardships or harnessing them as stepping stones toward something greater. Whether it's an uncomfortable conversation or a significant professional setback, embracing these challenges can lead to clarity and newfound strength.
Reflecting on Garth Brooks' poignant lyrics, we discuss how unanswered prayers can be life's greatest gifts. Sometimes, not getting what we wish for leads to unexpected blessings. By processing these experiences with hope and integrity, we can find gratitude for our current circumstances and trust in a promising future.
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have you ever been rejected? She didn't want to go to prom with you. The promotion went to someone other than you. A best friend said we are through. Well, cheer up, buttercup. I'm here to tell you that maybe rejection is what's best for you. And surprise, surprise, garth bro agrees with me too. Let me tell you something Everybody struggles. The difference is some people choose to go through it and some choose to grow through it. The choice is completely yours. Which one you choose will have a very profound effect on the way you live your life. If you find strength in the struggle, then this podcast is for you.
Speaker 1:Do you have a relationship that is comfortable with uncomfortable conversations? Uncomfortable conversations challenge you, humble you and they build you. When you sprinkle a little time and distance on it, and they build you. When you sprinkle a little time and distance on it, it all makes sense. Most disagreements, they stem from our own insecurities. You are right where you need to be. One time we could fly towards the sky the whole day. Gone, falling behind. We'll rest in our way to the sky. Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. What it do, what it hot Diddity do, get loud. Am I so excited to be back with you? Oh, it's true, it's damn true. I miss you, boo, I miss you. I miss you, baby boo. Look at you. Oh, thanks for coming on back.
Speaker 1:Y'all, thanks for tuning in, thanks for listening Episode 236 of that podcast, that podcast that is proudly brought to you by the fine folks over at Loud Proud American, aka myself and my wife and my mama and my baby you know my baby mama, you know what I'm saying. Either way, sponsored by, brought to you by Loud Proud American, the podcast that is perfectly precisely beautifully named Share the struggle. Because, as we know, boys and girls, everybody struggles. And today we have some more struggles on tap for you. Today we're going to talk about rejection with you. Y'all been turned down, y'all been put down, y'all been beat down, told to turn around. You understand, I know it's true because I've been through it too. We've all had a little mud rubbed in our face. We've had our noses put in the poo-poo. I don't know, they still do that in puppy training Dogs' noses in poo-poo and beep. I don't know, I'm an idiot. I don't know where I'm going here. The point is we're going to talk about getting our hopes up. We're going to talk about putting a little too much hope into an outcome. We're going to talk about getting too excited about the potential of something, only to be let down by something. We're going to talk about that little something today, but before we do, I want to share with you some stats y'all. We're going to get things going on a statistical note today.
Speaker 1:Last week we opened up the podcast with me kind of going on an impromptu ramble about the show and about the ability to continue to grow the show, to keep the show active and blossoming and flowing, and that if I didn't hear from enough people over the course of the next few months, maybe I'd have to rethink and reconfigure the show, do things a little bit different. So, with that in mind, I wanted to share a few things to you. We're making some attempts to make some changes on the marketing side of the show. If you are a fan of the website, wwwsharethestrugglepodcastcom, it now includes a blog. I've been going back through trying to update previous episodes with a little blog post In turn. For those of you that already listen to the show it's out there. For people that don't listen that maybe it just increases the likelihood of them finding the show, but I think it's a nice little synopsis of the show. So if y'all are day one listeners you've been listening since the first episode you could go through some of these notes, maybe identify some of your favorite shows that you want to go back and listen to or you want to share with a friend. Or if you're new to the show maybe this is your first time listening then I thank you, welcome, welcome aboard this little love ride to Valhalla that we all be on right now. Thank you, welcome in. Thanks for tuning in. If you head on over to the podcast and you click on that blog section, you're going to find some extended show notes about previous messages. I don't have all of them on there yet, but there's probably a good 40 or so episodes. 40 or so episodes where, if you cruise through some of those little catalogs, you might identify an episode that you feel like you need to go back to, to listen to. That you might get a little hope from, a little motivation from. So that's one of the changes.
Speaker 1:But to get back on track here, I want to share some stats with y'all, because I got some information from Spotify, which Spotify just happens to be one of the preferred players of all y'all listeners. Okay, so for those of you listening on Spotify. These stats are going to reflect you and your, your listening tendencies. Y'all ready for some quick, hidden fun facts about Spotify? All right, here's the deal.
Speaker 1:Over the year of 2024, for share the struggle podcast, we saw a 23% increase in followers. Yeah, oh, y'all should be celebrating 23% gain in followers. That sounds real good to me. Y'all, that sounds good to me. I expected 2% from your big ass. Hey, why would I insult myself on a joke? Either way, it's not true, because my wife definitely tells me that I don't have a big ass. It's quite the opposite. When you ask my wife, here's a fun fact for you. She and the Struggle Podcast in the year 2024 was streamed in five countries. Take it or leave it five countries.
Speaker 1:Do you guys happen to know, do you gals happen to know, the most popular age range for the show? Do you care to take any guesses out there? Well, by a total of 44%, the average listener of Shades Circle Podcast happens to be between the ages of 35 and 54. So 44% of our listeners are between the ages of 35 and 44. Another little fun fact for you 53% of our current listeners are new listeners to the show. I thought this was kind of a crazy statistic because I've heard from so many of you day ones, you loyal ones that have been here forever, that have that relationship with me of connecting and reconnecting over episodes and, you know, bouncing ideas and provoking conversation, so it was really interesting to me to realize that, in all actuality, the greater portion of our listeners are new. We gained you beautiful, loyal listeners over the year 2024. So, thank you, I appreciate you. Welcome to this journey.
Speaker 1:If you are new on this journey, don't forget, because you're listening on Spotify, you can go all the way back and you can start listening to episode one when it all begun in 2020. Okay, I think it'd be great to do. I like to go back to some of the old episodes when I'm looking for a little um, you know, reminiscing, or sometimes there's some subjects that I just feel like I'd like to drive home. There's a conversation that I'd like to, you know, get back involved with. I'll go back to some of those episodes. So 53% of y'all are new. I appreciate you.
Speaker 1:Now, the last amount of stats that I'm going to give today, before we get into our meat and bananas of the day, is we're going to get into our top show fans is we're going to get into our top show fans. I think I did a horrible job of explaining that. What Spotify does is they categorize shows. If you are a Spotify listener and you know I'm talking to you right now you get a little thing called a wrapped at the end of the year and this is kind of what we're going over for a Share the Struggle podcast. But it'll show you all your listening tendencies, whether it's a music or podcast. It'll tell you who your favorite artists are, like your top 10, your top five and your number one artist. Right, like, if you, the person that you listen to all the frigging time on your Spotify account is Chris Stapleton, he's going to come up number one, okay, the number one podcast that you listen to, the number five, the top 10.
Speaker 1:With that being said, I want to break down the amount of Spotify listeners that have share the struggle podcast in their tippity top of shows they listen to. You guys ready, all right, the amount of people that have Shared the Struggle podcast as their top 10. We are in your top 10 favorite podcasts 35. 35 people have us in the top 10. 10, bobby. How many people do you think have Sharedless Circle Podcasts in their top five, their top five most listened to things on the whole entire catalog of Spotify. 29 people, y'all, 29 of you, have us in your top five.
Speaker 1:Now the true question about superior fandom, the loyal ones, get your ones up. How many have a Share the Struggle podcast as their number one listen on Spotify? The number one, the great one, the only one, the important one, the one you ready? You think it's over five, do you? Of course it is. You think it's over 10? Yeah, it is 15, one, five, one, five, 10 plus five, 15. Say it again Five, 10, 15. Boom, who's your friend? 15. We have 15 of you beautiful, loyal listeners out there in the land of Spotify that have Share the Circle podcast as their number one show.
Speaker 1:Oh, here he is again. Yeah, he be clapping. Oh, thank you. Thank you. You're beautiful. You know what you were so beautiful.
Speaker 1:I don't care what your mama and your daddy must say about you, your brother, your sister, your cousin, your significant other, I don't care your boss, your friend, your cousin's friend. I don't care what they have to say, because what I got to say is you're beautiful and I love you and I appreciate you and I thank you for listening and I really truly hope you share this show with someone you know. Okay, let's grow it. Let's grow it. You know it. Here's the thing. I should go back and listen and look and find how many people had us in their top 10, 5, and number 1 last year. I got to look that up. It's somewhere. I should have better prepared myself for today's show and done that research before, but I didn't.
Speaker 1:Okay, I want to kind of see what our increase is, but I also wanted to encourage each and every one of you. There's 35 of you that has Shared the Circle podcast in their top 10. There is 29 in our top 5, and there's 15 of you that has Share the Circle podcast in their top 10. There is 29 in our top five and there's 15 of you that this is your absolute favorite show. That means, I think, we are worthy of a share for our show, don't you agree? If you were one of the 35, please come alive.
Speaker 1:Share online. I'm sure you have a wrapped you know icon. You have the whole synopsis in your email. If you go look, you'll find it on your Spotify. You can share your favorite shows, share them up, tag us up. Let it rip. Share this show. There's 15 of you out there that love us so, ever loving much that we are your number one, most listened to show. Share that shit with someone you know. Tell them you love this, put us up.
Speaker 1:I want to see how many of you have us as your number one that are willing to share the show. Post it on our socials, send it to us somewhere, tag us up. Let it rip, baby. Because of each and every one of you, we are back. Episode two, 3, 6. Because of all of you, you loyal listeners, we consecutively, week after week, tune in, dial in and line up to win another Wednesday Gotcha, spin around and tackle so much more than that.
Speaker 1:Ladies. Kick this mind of business for the kids. Have you ever been rejected? She didn't want to go to prom with you. The promotion went to someone other than you. A best friend said we are through Well. Cheer up, buttercup, because I'm here to tell you that maybe, just maybe, rejection is what's best for you. Oh, it's true, it's damn true.
Speaker 1:Today, on Share the Struggle Podcast, I want to come hard and fast at rejection, what it means, how it feels, how we handle it and how we grow from it, because the truth is, when we struggle, we share it. We don't go through it, we grow through it, and I know each and every one of you listening has been rejected. I've been rejected many, many damn times in my life before. Rejection comes in all different flavors. It comes in all different shapes and sizes. When you hear the word rejection, we often think about I asked her to prom and she said no. I asked him on a date and he said hell, no.
Speaker 1:We often think about rejection when it comes to a relationship. We either finally built up the confidence to ask the question and we were just kicked right in the gonads. You know we are putting ourselves out there and it's just being sent right the hell back. Return to sender no person, no such address. Isn't that a Elvis song? Return to sender. Return to sender. Return to sender no, no, no, I don't know. It's way off track here. We've all been kicked in the bricks, okay, boys, girls, chipmunks and squirrels, we've all been kicked in the bricks.
Speaker 1:When I think about rejection, it's very easy to go back to our younger days, right? Maybe you're listening and you are a young lad. You're a wee little young lady. Welcome to the show, young lady, if you haven't been rejected, you're going to be rejected. The first thing we think about is those relationship things. Right? Let's put a little question out there. How many of you in the room have asked somebody out on a date, asked somebody to be in a relationship, maybe asked somebody to marry you, and they say the hell no to you? How many Pull the audience show of hands in the room? Okay, everybody's hand is up right now. Okay, because you've been turned down. I guarantee it, you've been turned down. That's the first thing we think about when we think about rejection.
Speaker 1:But it's not just about relationships. It's about all phases and facets of life. We've been rejected, we've been turned down, we've been denied, we've been cut off, right? I mean, I've been cut off at the bar to see was that rejection? Is that the truth? Hey you, sir, you're done. You're done drinking here, man, you're cut off. I've definitely been cut off. Okay, but that's. We don't want to bring that up right now. We're not talking about that.
Speaker 1:If the simple thing to think about is being rejected when it comes to a relationship level, let's open our eyes, let's let's peel back the onion a little bit and think about all other layers and areas of our life where we've been turned down, where we've been been rejected, because I have a positive message for each and every one of you, because I'm willing to share it with you, and the truth is, rejection might be what's best for you, because rejection shows what you are made of. Rejection reveals things about you that you did not know about you. Reveals things about you that you did not know about you. What's crazy about rejection is that there's probably a multitude of times in your life where you've experienced rejection, maybe a similar degree of rejection, and you handled all of those situations, all of those opportunities, differently, right. When I was a younger man and I had that, you know first time breakup. You know the girl that breaks your heart, the first girlfriend that says you I've come to realization, are a dirtbag, I'm done with you. That hurts, right. Or even on the smaller level, when you're a little bit younger than that, the first time you ask somebody out and they say no, that rejection. You handle those things differently, right.
Speaker 1:When I was a younger dude and I went through those breakups, I had this philosophy that I came across along the way, that I taught myself that was absolutely ridiculous and the complete wrong way to handle things, but it's how I did it. What did I do? I submerged myself in the depths of hell. Okay, no other way to put it. I made myself as miserable as I possibly could be, and then I would get to that floor, the ground floor of misery, and then it was nothing but a rebound for me. You understand, I didn't just bounce from my feet like a freaking Peter Cottontail, I went to the depths of misery. I submerged myself in depression. How do I do this? Well, try being alone with yourself, isolation, playing the most depressing, ridiculous breakup songs, country songs.
Speaker 1:Maybe when you're a little bit older, you tip into the booze a little bit and you just wallow in self-pity Because you feel like, if I can make myself feel absolutely miserable at some point, there's this shining light. I'm going to come crashing through, because I'm going to start off listening to the most depressing, ridiculous stuff and eventually I'm going to have the Kool-Aid man moment when I'm just going to bust in the wall and go, oh, yeah, and then I'm back, okay, and everything is up for me. Ladies and gentlemen, I do not recommend you use that philosophy, but what I'm trying to paint you for a picture here is the way I handled that rejection 20, 30 years ago. God, you're getting old, so are your balls Old balls. That was disgusting, but it was funny. I just saw Christmas ornaments. It looked like there's a ball going around my Christmas tree. It just happened.
Speaker 1:Okay, I apologize, lord, I apologize, but you handle rejection differently. I can handle rejection differently now than I did before, because we don't just go through those things, we grow through those things and rejection shows you what you're made of right. And there's a lot of instances in life where, in the middle of that situation, you feel like the end of the world is near. You feel like it just can't get any shittier. Okay, pour me some bourbon and put on some misery. This is the end of me. But the truth is, like we've always said, when you sprinkle a little time and distance on it, it all makes sense, and far too often that rejection leads you to a greater opportunity. That rejection from some shitbag leads you into some beautiful, amazing guiding light that changes your freaking life. And that is true. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's absolutely true.
Speaker 1:Now we're going to file away the relationship portion of this conversation and we're going to come back to it in a few short minutes. All right, we're going to transition off to something else here, because, as we begin to further this discussion on rejection, I don't want to just focus solely on relationships. I want to think about different areas of our life. Let's think about those of you that, hey, maybe you're like me, maybe you started a business and you're putting yourself out there. You're applying for events. Shoot, I've been in business for five years now and I apply to an event at least one event every year that says nope, I don't want you here, you're not a good fit, you're not you know, insert excuse here. You're not professional enough, you're not the right mix for us. Whatever it is right, I get rejected all the time by certain events. Sometimes it stings a little bit. I'm getting better at processing, accepting that, that rejection and just moving on.
Speaker 1:Now, if you are a small business owner and you're putting yourself out there, you're asking for jobs, you're asking for opportunities. You're going to get turned down a lot. You're offering your services out there, you're bidding on jobs, you're quoting jobs and you continue to be told no, no, no, no. This is what I'm doing, this is where I'm going. Anybody but you, you have to deal with that projection. Maybe you're in sales. Every time you make that sales pitch, you make that presentation on whatever that infamous, fantastic, beautiful product it is that you're trying to sell. At the end of that little presentation that hoopla that you know just fantastic little spiel you went on and you ask for the sale far more times than not. You're going to be told no. You're going to be rejected more often than you are accepted. You're going to get denied more often than you are approved.
Speaker 1:So we're talking about sales, we're talking about small business. We're talking about maybe you're looking for a promotion at work. Maybe you're applying for that promotion. You've been with the company for X amount of years and this opportunity comes up and you're perfect for it and you've been striving for it and working towards it. And you put yourself up there and they say no, they reject you and they pick somebody else, somebody that you feel more qualified than somebody that you feel you outwork. Whatever the situation is, they didn't go with you. The truth is, if we are not getting rejected on a daily basis, then our goals are not ambitious enough. Let that sink in for a second. If we are not dealing with getting rejected on a daily frigging basis, then our goals are not ambitious enough. Let's imply that to all the things we've been talking about. If you are out there trying to sell your goods as a small business, as a big business, as a salesperson for a business, and you're not getting a multitude of no's in the course of the day, you are not setting yourself big enough goals, you are not being ambitious enough.
Speaker 1:The way we handle, the way we process rejection has a major factor on how successful we are in our lives, how fulfilled we feel in our lives. I found a quote somewhere that I know I've shared on the podcast before and I'm probably going to have to go look and see who said it or what article it came from, but they listed the fact that failure and how you deal with and accept failure is the biggest indicator to how you will live your life. The way you process and handle failure is the number one indicator into how successful you can be in life, how fulfilled you will feel in life, because everybody fails, everybody fails every single day, and I think that failure and rejection can become one and the same. How we handle those, how we process those, how we overcome those can all be the same. So how we handle rejection and failure can be the number one indicator for how successful your life is going to be. Like anything, the more you do something, the better you get at it right. The more you fail, the more comfortable you are in failing. The more you handle rejection and how you process it, the easier it is to get rejected and to move on from said rejection.
Speaker 1:Right, we're almost callousing ourselves to dealing with failure and rejection, but to do so you must be extremely resilient. Recognizing resilience within yourself gives you strength. It reminds you that life is a series of messy stumbles followed by a series of uplifting moments. You learn that it will most always turn out okay. You will survive. The more you deal with rejection and failure, you begin to realize and establish that you are a resilient son of a bitch and that if you realize that that resilience the way you process and handle these failures, these rejections, it gives you strength and it reminds you that in life it is a series of stumbles. It is a series of failures, of rejections, but they are always followed by uplifting moments and you will learn that, most of all, life will always turn out okay, you will survive. In the words of my late father I will always be okay, my dad, no matter what he was faced, no matter what the situation. When the IRS said we're going to take your house and everything you own, my dad said I'm going to be okay, everything's going to be okay. When they told my dad he had days to hours to live, he said I'm going to be okay, I'm always going to be okay. And then he also told the doctor to fuck off. But that's not the point I'm trying to make here. This, too, shall pass. Life is full of failures and rejections and stumbles, but it's always followed by uplifting moments. Everything will always turn out okay.
Speaker 1:Discovering that you are resilient is a revelation in itself. When you realize you were rejected, when you realize you failed, when you were told no and you processed it and you handled it. And you processed it and you handled it and you reapplied and you retried and you did something different in a new way, a brighter way, you discovered that you are resilient and that resilience is a revelation that should be eye-opening to you, that should give more to you than not being rejected in the first place. Does that make sense? Far too often, it's the lesson of the rejection that we needed. Far too often it's not the actual acceptance of what we put out there, it's not the promotion, it's not the new job, it's not the first date, it's not going to prom. It's how we processed being told no. The lesson we really needed was in the lesson of rejection.
Speaker 1:The opportunity that we think we lost might not be as great as the opportunity to overcome, to recalice ourselves with dealing with rejection and fear, to gain another layer of resilience when we are first told no, when we are rejected, when we missed out on something that we had ourselves invested in right, you're invested in a relationship, a promotion, a new job, whatever that is. You put all this energy, this hopes, these dreams, this desire. We spend so much time focusing on, hyper-focusing on something when it doesn't go our way, when it doesn't work out, when we've been told no, we've went in a different direction, we're not the right fit for each other. Whatever the situation is, the moment that it happens it's a swift kick in the bricks, right, and we're all going to get punched in the face. That whole Mike Tyson quote that's been said a million times before. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face and that's the truth. You get punched in the face. And then what are you going to do? Initially, you're backed up to the ropes. You're going to be in shock. It's what you do after the shock. It's what you do after the shock. It's what you do after you begin to process that.
Speaker 1:Because what if that rejection that one thing that you put so much emphasis into, so much energy into, is a catalyst for change? What if you applied for a new job? What if you were applying for a promotion and you didn't get it, but instead you took the time to reflect on it and decided how do I better my current situation? Is there something that I can do in my current situation to make me enjoy this job more than I did before? Is this a catalyst for change? Did I create an opportunity for me to make a difference? Does this make sense to you guys when you were told no, you're not going to get the job, and you went back to the job you already have? If you can find the inner berries to look at your situation and say how do I better this? How can I enjoy what it is I'm doing right now as much as I envision myself enjoying what I was about to go do. And if there's something you can do to change your current situation, then do it. And that, right.
Speaker 1:There is the reason for today's episode, because there's somebody in my life that I care oh so much about, there's somebody in my life that I love that I'm not going to share any more details about that person or the situation because I want to keep that a secret. It's in confidence that this was shared with me, but I want them to know how proud I am of them, because there's somebody that I know and love that was working so, so hard for a new job, that I know and love, that was working so, so hard for a new job. They've been at their job now that they have for five years. They've had a promotion, they enjoy what they're doing. But this nice, new, shiny opportunity at a whole new place came up and originally it was just a thought and an idea and eventually a lot of thought and research went into the possibility of what might be in this career change, which led to a lot of research, which led to getting overly invested in that potential opportunity and what that might bring to that person and to their family. And they were so invested that eventually, after all the thought and after all the research, it became clear to them this was their opportunity. This was the perfect opportunity at the perfect time and they wanted it, and the people that were interviewing them wanted them too. But in the end it didn't line up. In the end, the money didn't make sense, the benefits didn't make sense and it just didn't go the way it needed to go.
Speaker 1:When that person wrote to me and said I was praying this would all work out I was praying this would all work out my response was maybe it did. We don't like to think this way, folks. We're not wired to think this way. We are pre-programmed to focus on the no. We are pre-programmed to focus on the rejection. We are pre-programmed to wallow in self-pity. We are not programmed to pick up, pack up and move on. It takes years of building and developing resilience to be at that point.
Speaker 1:This text message is a message that, in turn, led to a later conversation from the same person that said you know what? I went and I had a meeting with my boss and I put this on the table. I asked for this, I recommended this. I pointed out this Are you kidding me? This is the definition of resilience. This is the definition of using rejection for the right reasons. This is realizing that maybe rejection is what was best for you. This is taking rejection and turning it into a catalyst for change. This is maximizing your failure. This is learning from all these experiences. This is all we could ever hope for, all we can ever dream for in life.
Speaker 1:Because guess what, cinderella? Not everything works out. The shoe doesn't always fit, and when you kiss the fucking frog, far too often it's just a toad, it's not a prince in disguise. The point is, it's how we react to things. It's how we roll on to the other thing. It's how we roll on to the other thing. It's how do we take this hand that was dealt to us. How do we take the situation that we find ourselves in and make the absolute best of it for me and for my family? To you listening right, freaking now that had this conversation with me. I love you and I'm so damn proud for you.
Speaker 1:You took this situation. You invested so much into it. You went into it for the right reasons, you did all the research, you put everything on the table and you realize this just doesn't work out. But this is an opportunity for me to realize what can I do to better what I'm doing? Right freaking now, and maybe the changes I make, the offers that I put on the table, they don't go for them. If they don't go for them, it opens my eyes to the fact that I do need to leave. If they do go for them and I better my opportunity and I've been somewhere for five years and this makes me stick for another five years then all of this was worth it. Maybe it just keeps you in place for another two months until another opportunity pops up somewhere else.
Speaker 1:I don't know, but the truth is the way you handled it, the way you reacted to it, is exactly what was asked of you and it's exactly what you needed to do for you. You were praying that it would all work out. Maybe it did. Maybe it went exactly the way it was supposed to go. Maybe if we took that job, we would have hated it and we would have passed up on a five-year career for a potential opportunity. We don't know the way things would always go. We always assume the grass is always greener. We always think that if I did this, if I did that, if I took that opportunity, I'd be rich, right. We all think it would have been better how we made the other decision. We don't like to think that if we took that other opportunity, maybe it goes horribly wrong.
Speaker 1:I'm not trying to keep anybody from putting themselves out there because, as I said already during this episode, if you're not getting rejected on a daily basis and you are not ambitious enough. This person was rejected with this work opportunity and then, instead of wallowing themselves into a shell of rejection, they put themselves back out there, went to the opportunity they have now and asked for this, this and that. That's putting yourself back out there. That's not hiding from rejection. This, this and that, that's putting yourself back out there. That's not hiding from rejection. That's not living in fear. That's putting your big girl's pants on and moving the hell forward. I'm proud of you and I love you, and to everybody that's listening right now, I encourage you when you are faced with something that didn't go your way, when you're telling yourself man, I wanted this so bad, I prayed for this so freaking hard. I just wanted this to work out, and you're feeling like it didn't, but maybe, just maybe, it absolutely did. When I opened the show today, I teased today that even Goth Brooks would agree with me today. And it's true. It's so damn true.
Speaker 1:There's a Goth Brooks song. You've heard me reference it on here before. If you're a day one, if you're a loyal one which I know over 50% of you right now are new listeners, so I'm going to share this with you. But some of you already know this. There's one song that I always look to.
Speaker 1:When I was younger and I was getting over breakups, like I was invested in some long-term relationships. The first relationship I ever had as a young little lad, in high school I think, was a four-year relationship, right. And then I jumped into another long-term relationship I knew another one. It seems like my whole life was, you know, sprinkled in some small mistakes here and there, but they were four years, two years, seven years, that type of scenario, right. But there was this song that would always pop up, and whenever it just naturally happened on the radio, I began to get to the point of like shit, I'm about to have a breakup because this song is telling me I'm not with the right person and all those little, you know quick relationship mistakes, those long-term situations you know, I call them situations because they didn't end well. Right For me to get through some of those. I went back to this song, but the song often just popped up randomly and I instantly was like, well, we're going to be fighting for the next 24 hours, thank you, Garth. But the best thing about it is is now that song just rings true to me because it showed me that I was right. I was right when I was looking into this music, when I felt this song a certain way and it molded, impacted my life each and every day. It helped me through those breakups. It was all leading to me to where I am right now.
Speaker 1:And the irony in this is there's actually a garth brooks triple live box set on my freaking kitchen table right now. Hang on a second, I'm gonna grab it place all. Stay right there. Okay, you there. Normally I can edit that all out of the podcast and I would, but I'm not going to, and here's the reason why I wanted to prove to you this is. Normally I can edit that all out of the podcast and I would, but I'm not going to, and here's the reason why I wanted to prove to you this is actually truth. This is me Right now tapping on the box. Can you hear? This is a Bass Pro Shops Garth Brooks collection. This year's perfect gift A 7-disc box set, 68-page collector's book, 74 songs, including Garth's new 10-track studio album, time Traveler. This right here was a gift to me from my mother for Christmas and I didn't even think about this at all when I was jotting some things down for today's show.
Speaker 1:This is kind of funny and fitting, because there's a song from Garth Brooks that just changed the way I looked at relationships and how I got through breakups and encouraged me to keep on picking up and moving on. The name of that song is Unanswered Prayers and on this particular box set it's on disc two of triple live. So I'm just proving to you. This is sitting here. If that doesn't tell me that I needed to deliver this message today, then I don't know what does. This was put here for me to deliver. You understand I didn't put that there on purpose. I'm saying it was put there. You feel me Unanswered prayers. Let me get into this. I'm going to read it. I'm not going. Was put there. You feel me Unanswered prayers, let me get into this. I'm going to read it. I'm not going to sing it. I do not sound like Garth and I can't carry a tune in a bucket. I'm just going to read the opening part of the song you guys ready.
Speaker 1:Just the other night, at a hometown football game, my wife and I ran into my old high school flame and as I introduced them, the past came back to me and I couldn't help but think the way things used to be. She was the one that I wanted for all times, and each night I'd spend praying that God would make her mine. And if he'd only grant me this wish I wished back, then I'd never ask for anything again. Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers. Remember when you're talking to the man upstairs, and just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care.
Speaker 1:Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. In life, we pray for things that we perceive to be what's best for us. God might have a better plan for us. You understand, when I received the text message, I was praying this would all work out. My instant reaction, my instant message sent back. Maybe it did, because I instantly went back to Garth Brooks. I went back to unanswered prayers Because you need to remember in life, whatever it is, whatever it is that you're hoping for, that you're praying for the promotion, the relationship, whatever it is. When we sprinkle some time and distance on it, as we like to say, it all makes sense, because there's going to come a time when you're going to thank God for those unanswered prayers.
Speaker 1:Picking back up on our Garth Brooks lyrics, she wasn't quite the angel that I remembered in my dreams, and I could tell that time had changed me, and her eyes too, it seemed. We tried to talk about the old days. There wasn't much we could recall. I guess the Lord knows what he's doing after all. And as she walked away, well, I looked at my wife and then in there, I thank God for the gifts in my life.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers. You might not feel it right now, you might not be experiencing it right now, but someday, someway, you're going to realize what happened today led you to the promise of tomorrow that things are going exactly the way they need to go. Don't lose hope, don't lose sight. Keep doing what is right and someday, someway, you too will thank God for unanswered prayers. We'll thank God for unanswered prayers To each and every one of you. I thank you for supporting my American dream Never wash without your hands until the Sabbath. That's it and that's all Biggie Smalls.
Speaker 1:If you're a loud, proud American and you find yourself just wanting more, find me on YouTube and Facebook at Loud, proud American, or the Face page, as my mama calls it. If you're a fan of the Graham Cracker, you want to find me on Instagram, or all the kids by tickety-talking on the TikTok. You can find me on both of those at loud, underscore, proud, underscore American. I'm not talking about myself. A big old thank you to the boys from the Gut Truckers for the background beats and the theme song to this year's podcast. If you are enjoying what you're hearing, you can track down the Gut Truckers on Facebook. Just search Gut Truckers. Give them, motherfuckers, a like too. I'm not saying I will make it bleed. I ain't gonna say supporting my American dream. Now go wash your fucking hands, you filthy savage.