Keep Hope Alive Podcast
Keep Hope Alive through the power of knowing who you are as a person and expressing self-love. Life is a journey and with the blank pages we create our story. Keep Hope Alive is about the power of knowledge in today's world. ALL topics are welcomed.
Keep Hope Alive Podcast
The Unexpected Path to Fulfillment with Jonathan Davis
What happens when an Army Civil Affairs specialist discovers a talent for writing amidst his diverse career journey? Join us for an engaging conversation with Jonathan Davis, whose experiences as a government contractor, English teacher, and author are just the beginning. Jonathan shares his candid insights, filled with humor and authenticity, as we explore how childhood influences and family dynamics helped shape his life choices and motivations. Listen in as we discuss the reality of military life, unexpected career paths, and the raw power of persistence.
Ever found yourself chasing success, only to realize happiness might be closer than you think? Through the compelling parable of the Mexican fisherman, we reflect on the core of contentment versus the endless pursuit of more. Jonathan and I dissect the lessons from this story, questioning the societal norms of success and the importance of embracing the present. We also touch upon the joys of owning a husky and fulfilling childhood dreams as adults, providing a light-hearted look at finding joy in the everyday.
Creativity and goal-setting take center stage as we explore Jonathan's unexpected journey into writing. From sports enthusiast to author, this transformation highlights the importance of being open to new ideas and recognizing strengths. We discuss the challenges of publishing, the thrill of spontaneous travel, and the complexities of strategic life planning. This episode is a testament to the power of perseverance, the pursuit of personal fulfillment, and the art of appreciating life's current blessings. Don’t miss the insights that could just inspire you to find your own path to happiness.
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Love & Light - Keep Hope Alive
Hello and welcome to Keep Up Alive podcast. Today I have Jonathan Davis here with us. Welcome to Keep Up Alive. I'm so happy you're here because you are super talented, very smart individual and that's what I've learned about you. He is a former Army Civil Affairs specialist government contractor. You were an English teacher also, but most of all, you're an author. So we're going to dive into your story in just one minute because I have an important question to ask you Out of the past year, how many weddings have you been to?
Speaker 2:I've been to one.
Speaker 1:One. Okay. So when you walked into, let's say, the ceremony part, maybe to the right, there was something to sign to let the couple know that you were there at the wedding. What is that thing you're signing?
Speaker 2:Well, it was a guest book.
Speaker 1:Yay, definitely. Well, one of our biggest sponsors here is Life on Record and what they do. Instead of the guest book, they have a vintage rotary phone that they put out there for your guests to pick up and leave a message, and also right next to it is a QR code they can scan with their own mobile device so they can leave a message before or even after that event. Now I always use weddings, but this can go for birthdays, reunions, anniversaries, school events, church events. Whatever it may be left will either be burnt on a 12-inch vinyl record or a keepsake speaker, which is really cool because you can go back and listen to all your friends and family leaving these messages.
Speaker 1:Now the plans start at only $99. You get the phone number, phone number. You got to return the cute phone for one year and then, other than that, I think this is the best invention out there. I love it, and the way they set it up at these events is just cute. They have it on a stand greenery and you're picking. I wish I had the phone here because it's very vintage, like very old school, but I just love the fact that it's the gift of voice. So definitely go check them out at wwwlifeonrecordcom. All right, so my first question for you is who is Jonathan Davis?
Speaker 2:If I could comment on your sponsor, that's actually pretty darn cool. I got to say I'm impressed. The level that weddings are getting to nowadays is pretty awesome. I love it.
Speaker 1:Well, you know I was married oh, I can't believe I'm admitting this on podcast but three times, and unfortunately the last two did not pan out the way I wanted it to. But that's life and you move on, just like Frank Sinatra says. That's life. That's my favorite song. That's what people say.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, you sing, no Only in the shower or the car oh, okay, well, I do karaoke. I love singing and I know one of the people, yeah, one of the people that go there.
Speaker 1:He does Frank Sinatra, even though I love Frank, and I like Michael Bublé, dean Martin, all those, even Hank Williams, but I just can't sing it. But I think I't sing it. But I think I can sing it at home alone, which is really weird. My dogs know when I would put the record on and start singing hey, good looking what you got cooking. They would know, it is dinner time, oh okay, that's the dinner bell, that's pretty awesome yeah okay, that's the dinner bell.
Speaker 2:That's pretty awesome?
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely. I actually have a little karaoke machine at my house for friends to come over. Now I want to get one of the first companies to really get this out on the market and start. I know there has been others that I've seen, but I always fall back on Life on Record because it is just very classic and they know exactly what they're doing and it's just a great company. So, but definitely so, jonathan, tell us about yourself. So, but definitely.
Speaker 2:So, jonathan, tell us about yourself. Yeah, that was a great question. By the way, I'm going to start to steal that question and use it all the time. Who is Jonathan? It kind of reminds me of Dr Seuss. You are you. You know what I mean. I'm going to butcher it. You are you. That is truer than true. There is no one alive more you-er than you, I think. But, I loved Dr Seuss when I was a kid. I don't care what people say.
Speaker 1:I just had to read the hot and the hot Green Eggs and Ham. Yeah, that's a good one, green.
Speaker 2:Eggs and Ham Really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yes, they did marketing strategies. What all could we find out?
Speaker 2:of that book for marketing.
Speaker 1:So it was interesting. You know persistence, I'll give you that one. So in the book you know they kept bugging to eat the food but they would not let it go.
Speaker 2:You have to try green eggs and ham, you know, so they kept going. Let it go. You have to try green eggs and ham, you know, so they kept going after it. Yeah, yeah, I have the word relentless written on my car because, uh, I, I want to remember that sometimes that's that's really all that life is is being relentless. And I know that we talked a little bit before this and you said you wanted that chapter two, and the last thing I wrote interested you, and that's sort of the punchline is be persistent, because a lot of people sort of talk themselves out of doing things and they pass the blame on to fate or the universe or whatever you want to call it destiny. But really it's like well, maybe you just needed to try harder, maybe you just needed to try again. Try five times, try a hundred times, you'll probably get it.
Speaker 1:Exactly, exactly, and you know I've talked to somebody else on the show about that exact topic and it actually helped me. I made a big decision actually yesterday and I'm lifting on it because life is too short and I know the pathway I need to be. I just hadn't put my foot forward until now, but I see all these positives happening for me now that I've done that and going into 2025. So I'm hoping it's a brand new journey in my life.
Speaker 2:Congratulations.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you.
Speaker 2:So, but definitely with the, I want to go back to Dr Seuss because you know, with those subject lines, did that help you create a path in what you do? It's hard to say, it's hard to really pinpoint what created the path. I've tried to narrow it down, but only recently that I start thinking about these sorts of things. Um, cause you often hear that the way we grew up or our experience with our parents, uh, shaped us, and that should seem obvious, I guess, now that I say it out loud but I never really put much thought into it. Certainly everything's shaped me the ups and downs, the trauma I recently pinpointed. Not that I have daddy issues and, just to be clear, I had a pretty good upbringing. I had a single parent, mom but probably the absence of my dad led to a lot of the decisions I made and what direction my life would take, because I didn't know much about him. But somewhere in the back of my head, the more I reflect, it seems as though trying to impress someone I didn't know very well was the motivation. Maybe if I just do this, then I'll be a good son and he'll want to get to know me, or maybe if I whatever the case may be and I think he left when I was too young to really remember maybe four or five, and I think he left when I was too young to really remember maybe four or five. But I remember him being impressed by something on TV, some Army Special Forces guys or something like that. It may have been the movie Navy Seals, actually with Charlie Sheen. It's a really crappy movie and that just kind of stuck, because what we idolize really just depends on where we grew up and and things of that nature Like if you, if you grew up in Jersey probably, um, having a little Mercedes coupe was like the sign that you had made it in life. But if you grew up in Alabama, the bigger your truck, the more successful you were. So a lot of people grow up thinking like I'm going to get a truck, I'm going to look like I've made it in life, and a Chevy or Ford truck or something.
Speaker 2:But my mom never really liked military stuff at all and part of that is because of, well, her upbringing Her father was, I think, a drill. Well, her upbringing her father was, I think, a drill sergeant in the army and he was abusive. So that left a bad taste in her mouth. Plus, she had two boys who were eligible to enlist when they turned 18 and she didn't want anything to happen to them. So she had raised us with you are never joining the army or any branch of the military.
Speaker 2:It's not for you, it's not for, it's for stupid people, it's for people that have no direction in life and, um, you know, whatever she could say to talk us out of it, but which isn't true. Some of the smartest people I ever met were in the army. Some of the dumbest people too. So, uh, it's just a mixed group like you would find anywhere, but, um, but so I had sort of put it out of my head for a while.
Speaker 2:And, um, but what's the next best thing? I I thought, well, maybe it'd be cool if, uh, I'm like an FBI agent or something like that. Right, we were talking off camera about how ego and think and what people think about us, what we think about ourselves, really impacts in our lives and how it affects our opinions and our career choices, and that was pretty much all of my career choices were what will sound cool to talk about at cocktail parties or what would impress people. And, as it turns out, you don't make a lot of money in the FBI, so that wasn't really the greatest choice, but so I went to school for Homeland Security Management and, uh and um, I guess somewhere around the mid twenties my mom and my brother and my best friend died um, not in the same year but pretty close succession.
Speaker 2:So it really made me stop to think. Well, if no one else left to impress what makes me happy, what did I really want to do? So I quickly put together a bucket list, and on the bucket list were things like travel the world, learn another language, play a song on the guitar, write a book, join the army, go to war, and so I checked them all off the list in record time. As it turns out, my mom was actually right the army wasn't for me, even though I had a good experience there. What people don't talk about is just how boring it actually is. It's incredibly boring.
Speaker 1:What makes it boring, though, like I thought you guys. You know, if you're not working is it drills.
Speaker 2:And yes, sir, like they show in the movies, it's pretty you know, the Army is different than other branches in that we say that it's full of smokers and jokers. It's actually kind of laid back. It's like somewhere between the Marine Corps and maybe the Air Force, also known as the Chair Force. I say that in a positive way. I mean those guys are pretty cool and they're down to earth in the Air Force. And they're down to earth in the Air Force but and Marines I've been attached to some of those units. They are, they're pretty darn strict. And the Army it's like, well, we're soldiers but also smokers and jokers. I don't smoke, just to be clear. But what was your question? I digress a lot.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, here I'm just listening and going, oh, but that's cool. But I mean, we were analyzing definitely like the start of everything for you going into where you are today. So we're just kind of taking a look at your history Now you know.
Speaker 2:I'm a single mom too.
Speaker 1:I'm a single mom my son and my daughter, but my daughter does have her dad. My son's dad never wanted to meet him, which makes it very hard. So I can understand that. So I can understand that and you know, as a mom, we tried to do our best. Now, I will admit I never said anything about the arm, but I was like you will not ride a motorcycle. And he's like, yes, I will, but I keep him very active and around family to stay active and I know there could be one day that he does look at, I want to meet him and I'm not going to ever hold anything back. I really am not. This is what I know and this is how you can follow that trail. So that's going to be his calling in life, if he wants to do it that way. But we don't know how that would outcome. But you know it is what it is.
Speaker 2:So but I'm sorry because I know it is hard to go through that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess I guess it is Again. I don't want to. Yeah, I was very lucky. I grew up in a first world country and I was never abused and I mean, my mom was dirt poor but I managed to scrape together some, some sense of financial responsibility and all that, some sense of financial responsibility and all that and, and I guess, by some measures, have my life together. So I I'm fortunate, but but I also wasted a lot of time, you know, looking back. I guess everyone does.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when you look back, that is a reflection of what we've been through and it builds our character to make us stronger in life and how we move forward. So looking backwards, I could say you know the things that did happen, but we're in the now and we're looking at each day coming up also to make us prepare, for you know what life is going to be about. So you know, for me I'm, for example, like I know, last year I wanted to write a book but I never put it in action and I said enough is enough. This was like over two weeks ago. I said I'm going to start writing my book and that's what I did. So I wake up at five in the morning and just start writing for a good hour.
Speaker 2:You have a time hack or something like. I'm going to write from this time to that time and yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So, um, like it's so funny because the way I'm so sensitive to sound and anything, the dogs can wake me up. The baby can cry and wake me up, but then I can't get back to sleep. So I said you know what, instead of getting so frustrated with the dogs every morning, I'm just going to wake up and do this and then I'm going to spend a good hour, hour and a half, writing the book, but I also want to take the courses to learn all the new AI technology. So I do that with the other half until I have to take my son to school, and then the rest of the day is working on finding a new job and my podcast, and then whatever errands I have during the day I got to quickly get done. But you know, having that schedule set for me and setting those goals and looking forward and trying to have this wonderful positive vibe that's going to help increase the direction of where I'm going in life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, positive vibes. I've got to get better at that, because that's everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the positive vibes I've got to get better at that, because that's everything. Oh, it is, it is, and you know what. You wrote a book too. So how was that? How did you know you wanted to get everything in writing?
Speaker 2:Tell us about the book and everything Well. So this comes back to sort of. Actually, I'm reminded of who was it, viktor Frankl who said the only real freedom a man has is the freedom to choose his mood, or something like that, in any given circumstance given circumstance.
Speaker 2:Um, well, so anyway, uh, back to your question. I, um, I was told that, uh, I was good at writing in college. And that was a surprise to me because, um, I thought I was only good at, like, baseball or skateboarding. You know, I had no idea. I never considered riding anything.
Speaker 2:And it goes back to what we were saying earlier about how our choices in life, or at least my choices in life. I wasn't asking the right questions. One of those questions should have been what am I good at? What do other people say that am I good at? What do other people say that I'm good at? We always think that we're better at things than we really are. But other people were saying that I'm good at writing and I just thought that I was. I was told that I was athletic and things like that. I played baseball and to my mom, my meal ticket was baseball, like that's how I was going to get into college and that's how I was going to get college paid for and things like that, and so she really leaned into that. But I actually didn't really like baseball much. I kind of hate sports. I mean, I like to play them but I'm not into following them at all.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm not into following them at all.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I still run and go to the gym and pick things up and put them down. But so in college I had a professor say you know, your papers are the best. Why are you going to school for Homeland Security Management? You should be a writer, or something like that. And I was like like shocked, I had no idea. And then, about a year later, I heard the same thing from another professor, and so I thought maybe there's something to this, and I had always written things just in my spare time, just random things.
Speaker 2:But, um, then I I got a little more coherency in what I was writing by about that point and um, and sometime after that is when everything happened and I wrote down my bucket list, which was to, uh, to write a book. And what my professors told me is that no one's going to read what I write because, uh, the market is flooded with authors. But but I just do it. It's inside of me, I'm just going to keep doing it and so, and so I needed to focus on something that was on topic for a book, not just random things, of course and something that was really important to me was critical thinking and keeping an open mind and opening other people's minds, because it's really hard to do. So I sort of chose that and I started by writing chapters. And this is a great way to write. It's a great way to write a paper.
Speaker 2:So I struggled through school. I really struggled. But when the teacher said we're going to have a writing assignment, and this big sigh went over the room and they would say, oh, don't worry, you've got two months to write it, I would be like, great, this is a freebie. And the next morning I would get out my computer and I would have the whole thing done before I finished drinking coffee, and then I would go on to something else. And so it was just a piece of cake for me. And how I do that is, I would get sort of bullet point ideas.
Speaker 2:So I would have bullet point, bullet point, bullet point, fill in the blank. So I'd start back at the beginning. So my bullet points were chapters, yeah, and so I wrote down 12 bullet points and then I started from the beginning and I started to fill in and I did sub chapters and things like that. But then after I I wrote that, I I was like this is really just a bunch of information and so it's probably not going to be that interesting to people. What do I like in books? Well, I like stories. So I add stories into it so that it's it's more digestible when you're listening to it or reading it. But then I thought, you know, this still may not resonate with people. I need a prerequisite here, because none of this is really going to mean anything to people unless we have some prerequisites. So I put an introduction which is basically 10 ways to listen effectively.
Speaker 2:We have this just to give an example. We have this voice in our head. I call him yeah, but guy. So yeah, but guy takes this otherwise good point that you hear and he will think very hard of a context, a very specific context, in which this good point doesn't work and, um, the problem is is that he starts to form this idea while you're talking, so he never really listens to what you're saying. So, to give an example, it would be like um well, you know what goes around comes around and that's pretty good, right, that's relatively true, relatively true. But you have a guy will say, yeah, but I know a guy in Alaska with four chickens and he was always a jerk and nothing ever came back to him. So what you're saying isn't always true. Aha, gotcha, but it's like dude, that wasn't the point.
Speaker 2:The point was like, generally speaking, like if you're a jerk, people don't want to do business with you, and if you're a jerk people don't want to do business with you, and if you're nice, you probably have nice things happen to you, and so, uh, so that's that's the introduction, and um, and keeping an open mind, as it turns out, is much more difficult than you might think, because it really has nothing to do with the mind.
Speaker 2:In a basic sense. What we're talking about here, what we're dealing with as far as having an open mind, is we're dealing with hormones. So we identify with our beliefs and we become attached to them, and usually those beliefs come from our group or our tribe, and the tribe is more or less a family. The tribe is more or less a family, and the family, well, that's oxytocin, right, so we have oxytocin coming into our system when we hear certain things that we're used to hearing from our tribe or from our family, and then when we hear something that's contrary to it, it's just like whoa, that's an attack on my family and I can't have that.
Speaker 2:But that's not exactly the thought process that we're conscious of. And so what needs to happen in order to change our minds is well, we need to change our hormones, and a lot of times we need to change our geography, our proximity to ideas. Right, they get outside of the echo chamber, get outside of the bubble. You may need to move to a different state, get a different job, get different friends or even get away from your own family. So it's like now we're talking?
Speaker 1:Were we talking before? You nailed it right on the spot for me right there.
Speaker 2:Now it's like okay, so in other words, it's basically impossible for some people. Yeah, yes, it's hard.
Speaker 1:Yep, it is. It is, and I noticed that. You know, here I am at age 47, and I'm just happy that my eyes are wider open this year and going okay. Well, you know, I took two trips to the more country part of Texas and I was like there's something about the country it's peace, it's calm, it's not living in the city, I'm less stressed. I want this for my life, you know. So it comes to a part. What is it? You know? Does the person need to live the remainder of their life? What did they want?
Speaker 1:You know, after the halfway point and I think that's where I'm at I don't want to call it a midlife crisis. Or well then, maybe, yeah, I pierced my nose, my ear and my belly button, so maybe it a midlife crisis. Or, well then, maybe, yeah, I pierced my nose, my ear and my belly button, so maybe it is midlife crisis. Who knows? But going through these changes, see, they're different, they're kind of rewarding and it feels like the journey will create this whole new opening and even looking for a new job. Yeah, I might want to like, dial it back a little bit, what I used to do in marketing, but just go enjoy the simple things in life and kind of live what I did at age 20 or even 18. I don't know. So I'm just kind of keeping an open mind and it is a mindset yeah.
Speaker 2:So I agree with you a mindset yeah, so I agree with you, yeah, yeah you brought up a whole lot of a whole lot of things just there and uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know where to go with that, but yeah, where do I start? So well, tell me more. Tell me more what this is interesting, so what?
Speaker 1:you want to interview me now, you can do that. You can definitely interview me.
Speaker 2:What's some of the questions. Well, I feel like a jerk, I mean. I mean I realize you're interviewing me, but it's like, uh, I don't, I don't want to. It makes me feel kind of nasty, like I'm like I'm trying to promote my book constantly, but you make me think of Chapter 12, which is the end, like where do we go from all this right? What's the conclusion? What's the goal? What are you trying to accomplish?
Speaker 2:And what I've come up with is that sometimes the goal doesn't really matter, cause I've made a whole lot of goals and, quite frankly, by the time you achieve a goal, it's already in the past, and the past has never been enough to make me happy. So I'm setting myself up for failure. This is the hedonic treadmill where I'm just constantly chasing one goal after the nut, after another after another, and um, and it's led to a lot of unhappiness, quite frankly. And um, and so should I change my goals? And then the other thing is that my goals do change, so achieving them didn't really mean much.
Speaker 2:Like, for example, I didn't spend much time with my brother, and there's nothing I wouldn't give to have him back to spend time with him again. He was a big Eagles fan and every Sunday he would invite me to go out and watch the Eagles game with him, and or or he would invite himself over to my house. And I was always working on one of my stupid goals. And the thing is I changed majors three times in school. So sometimes I was working on some stupid scheme of mine and it never really panned out scheme of mine and it never really panned out. And so it's like I didn't spend time with my brother because I was working on something that I never really followed through with, so it was just a waste. I should have just spent time with my brother, but even then I wouldn't have enjoyed my time and even if I was working on something.
Speaker 2:Yeah well, even if I was working on something, spending my time working on something that was worthwhile, like school, I changed my major a few times until I landed on Homeland Security. So back at the time that my brother was alive, I was going to school for nutrition. So those were all wasted credits anyway. So our goals change and I think maybe a better goal for me would have been to prioritize relationships and and, of course, you got to do things that make you happy, because that's downstream effort right, rather than just suffering through a job. There's a big difference between a job and work, in my view.
Speaker 2:Job and work in my view and I made a little video about that. It's like most of us have jobs, unfortunately, which is what we do to pay the bills, like scanning a barcode at a cash register all day, like that's no one's goal in life, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah and um, but work would be, for some people, fishing or building that like I just built a cabin and no one paid me to do this. I just did it because I enjoyed it. I thought it was fun and the time flew by I didn't even realize I was working when I'm writing. It's the same way. I mean eight hours can just disappear. Yeah, definitely the big difference between a job and work. It's more important to to work, but we can't. We don't all don't have that luxury. Sometimes work doesn't pay the bills.
Speaker 2:That's the world yeah we live in that is the world.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is, and it's very sad because it's the crossfire, like podcasts there's. There's some podcasters that do make the money, but there's podcasters that don't. And then we need to have that fallback job. And that was the same story when I was a professional photographer. I always had to have the fallback job to pay the bills. And then, yes, of course, if I got hired to do a wedding, it's the extra income, like, oh, we can take a trip with this money or I can pay the bills in advance and just move forward. So, always having that it's important.
Speaker 1:So, but you know, also learning what I learned, and I did take a step back from the direction I was going and, to be very honest with myself, I mean, yeah, I had a great job, but at the same time, I wasn't achieving my career path that I needed to be on, and that was something that was playing a huge factor into my life and I had to reevaluate where do I really want to be?
Speaker 1:And then, of course, when it came down to money, I was like, okay, well, I used to have this job doing the same thing, but I was getting paid a lot more. So why am I taking the back trail. You know what I'm saying. It's like why am I falling backwards and it's not landing me to the goals that I need to get my own place. It's putting me in a place of what are you doing and how are you going to use your time management now to even find anything better? Like everything just froze and I locked down and I was like, okay, we got changes so. But definitely I totally understand where you're coming from.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like the. The only problem with the parable of the Mexican fisherman is that? Well, unfortunately, if you don't pay your property tax, the government's going to come and take it. Are you familiar with the parable of the Mexican fisherman?
Speaker 1:I have no idea what that is.
Speaker 2:It's my favorite, so I'll try to be as concise as possible, just going by memory. Be as concise as possible, just going by memory. Probably nowadays they might want to say something other than Mexican, I don't know, but I think it's a positive story, so I'll just keep it the same. There is a investment banker vacationing in Mexico sitting on a beach and he watches a fellow local. This guy bring in a large yellowfin tuna and he compliments the local on the quality of his catch and says you know, you ought to stay out longer and just catch more fish. And he says why this is enough.
Speaker 2:And so the American says well, let me ask you, what do you like to do? And he said well, I enjoy siestas with my wife Maria. I like to spend time with my kids. I like to fish. I like to spend evenings with my friends. They come over and we all play the mariachi. And so he said well, picture this, so you catch more fish and you can sell more fish and eventually you can buy a couple of boats. You could buy two or three boats. You keep this up and eventually you can buy a fleet of boats. Then you open up your own manufacturing facility where you start to can these things and ship them out.
Speaker 2:The Mexican fisherman says okay, then what? And the American says well, then you open up another office in New York and you expand even more into other territories, and the fisherman goes okay, then what? And the American goes oh well, that's the best part. Then eventually, you launch your IPO and you sell your company and you make millions. The Mexican fisherman goes okay, then what? And the American said well, then you can go fishing all day and spend siestas with your wife Maria, and spend time with your kids and teach your kids, and you can, in the evenings, you can play the mariachi with your friends and I see how that circle of events like you to get here, you need to do this and that and that.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I see, it's like, um, when, when making goals now, what I do is I, I try to and I'm no expert at being happy, so don't take my word for for anything I say about content or fulfillment but usually what I do is I say, okay, what's the goal, and then I say, then what, then what, then what. And then I ask myself can I have that now? Right, so it's like so I live in a place now in my house that has three bedrooms and three bathrooms, and, yeah, I probably have enough money, but I'm always trying to. I'm like you know what, if I just had like twice as much money, then I wouldn't have to worry about this, that and the other thing.
Speaker 2:And we're always thinking of so many reasons not to be happy now. Like, I'll be happy then. I'll be happy when this, I'll be happy when I graduate, I'll be happy when I finish this, uh, next book, I'll be happy when I whatever, whatever, when I buy a new house, um, and, quite frankly, uh, you know I'm not married or anything, but I like to sit on the couch with my dogs and, um, will that be more enjoyable when I live in a house with five bedrooms or 10 bedrooms? Probably not, probably gonna feel about the same.
Speaker 1:But having a full house dogs maybe you know a spouse one day, you know, is that going to be rewarding. That can go on your bucket list, you know, definitely For me, like I have, my dog is actually knocking at the door and you guys cannot hear it because Zoom is great.
Speaker 2:But I hear my husky downstairs going I've always wanted a husky.
Speaker 1:I just don't want to clean up after them. They're beautiful dogs but they shed so much. You don't want a husky, you don't get one.
Speaker 2:He's my best friend, I mean I love him to. Yeah, it takes a whole lot of work for that guy oh my God, yeah, yeah. And they're sled dogs, you know. So they're athletes. It's not enough to just walk around the block with them. He's got to run 10 miles or more, and so I get out my electric skateboard or electric bike and because I run with him but that's like walking to him, it's a joke, joke. My idea of exercise is just a joke to him.
Speaker 1:so I gotta see a video of you doing the electric skateboard.
Speaker 2:I didn't even know they had electric skateboards, so yeah, yeah, something I wish they invented when I was a kid. But now that I'm 40 I can actually afford some of the uh, the things that I couldn't when I was a kid. But now that I'm 40, I can actually afford some of the things that I couldn't when I was a kid. So part of me is still trapped in my youth.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a good thing, though that's a really good thing. So I do that with karaoke when I go out. I got married way too soon and I didn't get to have a teenage not much of a teenage year and not much of the 20s. It was surrounded being married, being the perfect homemaker you know, cooking, cleaning, taking care of the kiddos but I never did anything for me and that was a lesson I had to learn at age 30. 30. Yeah, so my 30s were my 20s, twenties, and now I'm in my forties, I think I'm in my thirties. So you know, it's just one of those things. It's like trying to relive what I missed, to see, but you know yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but like when I hear you talk, you're like I'll be happy when. But have you ever tried to change that mindset? I'm happy now. I'm going to set this as my goal and, of course, I'm going to be happier when I reach that goal. But you know what? I'm going to enjoy what I have right now in front of me, because I'm blessed to have it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you, you need to teach me that I do try.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, I charge blah blah, blah an hour.
Speaker 2:I have, I'll buy your coaching or the coaching courses. That's kind of a tongue twister coaching course. But um, I, yeah, I have tried and I do try. But I'm just stuck in what's called the striver's curse, where I'm just always, always trying, always trying, always trying, and it's difficult, difficult to be mindful. The risk of sounding cliche. So I am working on mindfulness and being happy now and that sort of thing. It's tough. I haven't mastered it yet.
Speaker 1:I hear you, I really do, and it does take a while, but you got to want to do it in your heart and soul and be ready for that. So definitely, what's I going to say? I totally slipped my brain.
Speaker 2:However.
Speaker 1:I'll go back to that because I'm just getting old, Okay, but you know as far as what? No, no no, I already forgot. See, that's how my brain works right now. Go ahead.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you and me both. Yeah, I was trying to jog your memory and now I've just tripped you up. You were going to sell me your course on being happy.
Speaker 1:Oh, that was the course you just created for me that I haven't even worked on yet. But that's my future.
Speaker 2:So yeah, Give me the freebie now what? Do you got on?
Speaker 1:So fulfillment, yeah, that would be a 30 minute conversation and, um, it's a zoom call and you know that would be something I would charge for. But fulfillment, that's something I want to use the word strategizing, like, if you know what you want out of life, how do you fulfill those moments too, to make it equal what you were looking for? So it's like having a playbook, being on my someplace football. So you know you're out there on the field and you know you're seeing all the different markers for how many yards you can run down and you got to score that touchdown. So what can you do with each run to fulfill the things that you want, basically? So when you sketch that out, maybe it's the career, it's the financials and getting the bills paid on time, it's the relationship status. It's like, hey, I got some pets, I love my pets. What can I do for them, you know? Or taking time out for you for, like a vacation you always wanted to go and do.
Speaker 1:So those are the things I struggle with and I, you know, I told my son like I'm not going to just tell you every year we're going to go do this and it falls through. I'm going to put it in the form of a Christmas gift, and now I feel a little bit more like this will happen. This is his Christmas gift, you know. So this past year it gave him two things a trip to Galveston. We could go to Oklahoma, go camping, maybe go Arkansas or Colorado. We'll just go out there and do it. Now. Something I'm going to share is I've always had this philosophy. I just want to say 48 hours. I want no map, I just want to drive and see where I end up and that's where we're going to stay Right at that 48-hour mark. That is going to be our vacation spot and learn about it and watch it. It will be in the desert, in the middle of nowhere and there's no gas stations and who knows so.
Speaker 1:But you know it's just one of those things you got to keep to make sure that you do accomplish it. But if you don't accomplish and get that fulfillment, then you work out the strategy of how can I do this better and move towards that goal and make myself accomplish that. So but I'm going to stop talking there because but I could give you a whole course outline and we could set goals, so but you know, it's kind of like with your book writing. How long did it take you to write your book?
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, well, I've written three, uh one of them, this last one, I guess about a year, a little less than a year oh, okay, gotcha okay, and then I didn't realize I had one book done, but you have two other books yeah, um, they're all question things, question things, but by jonathan davis. Question Things by Jonathan Davis, and there's a little bit of a series, but I removed the other two because I just kind of thought they were stupid. So there's really only one that I'm happy with.
Speaker 2:That's the most recent one Now are all three on Amazon, or is it just one on Amazon? There's just one on Amazon now? Yeah, gotcha.
Speaker 1:Because that's the one I did see and I added it to our storefront so our listeners can actually go to keepupalongpodcastcom, go to the store and find your book and purchase it.
Speaker 2:There's also an audio book, but, um, yeah, the amazon. I've had trouble with amazon because, uh, the thing is is, yeah, I feel bad referring people to amazon there's, there's one on there that's available and it's the good copy, but there's one on there that's not it. I uploaded the wrong manuscript by mistake and it was basically my notes and uh, and then I went, oh phoo and uh, I tried to delete it and amazon doesn't let you delete books. It's there forever and um, so the best thing you can do is make it unavailable, because they're like once we've assigned a barcode and an ISBN number.
Speaker 2:It's there and so I tried and tried and tried with customer service. They're like look, we're not removing the book, can't do it, so there's one bad copy on there. Just make sure you get the good one. I think it says addition to in the notes down below or something like that.
Speaker 1:But I'll have you take a look and make sure I got the right one on there and everything so. But I mean that is something.
Speaker 2:But all the world is just one. So it's you can't go wrong with the all of the one, but that's fine.
Speaker 1:You're probably going to write more. You know Probably.
Speaker 2:You got to have that motive. I keep telling myself I got to stop writing. I never do so I'm sure there's going to be more.
Speaker 1:Good, okay, good, I am so glad to hear that. But really quick, I'm going to let our listeners know that we do have another sponsor. Snap Bands is one of our sponsors here and, as you can see my bracelet here, it has the mantra word hope. Now the mantra words for all bracelets can be peace, love, hope, faith and fearlessness, and they come in all different colors. They're made out of a vegan leather which is nice and tough. Now, on the back of these it has an elastic band and what you do is pull it out and let it hit the wrist. It sends a signal to the brain and it helps you reduce any stress, depression, anxiety, ptsd. So it's like more of a cognitive thinking of what we do.
Speaker 1:And using the mantra word as you're snapping does help Now for me. I use it for when I'm in the hospital because I feel like I need a gift card there, but I'm always having something done. But I am a hard stick for blood work, so I'm always kind of like I hope and pray that they can find a vein. In the first time I get a laugh at it. It's not working, but it does help me, you know, redirect that thought process. Now I've had mine on for a year. I have tried it. I used to have so many sleep problems too that I will just thump and go. Please, let me have a restful sleep right before I shut my eyes, and that has actually helped too. So to visit them, go to wwwsnapfanscom. It's spelled S-N-A-P-P-B-A-N-D-Zcom. All proceeds do go to charities and organizations that help with the different depressions and anxieties.
Speaker 1:Now I mentioned the word faith. You can only get the bracelet to say faith if you enter the code K-H-A. Keep hope alive. So check them out, you'll be happy you did All. Right, let's get back to our story here. So I can see your mind turning right now, so I can tell you also have. I feel like I don't know you that well, but I feel like you have so much information and you're very knowledgeable.
Speaker 1:I am picking up your creative soul, and I say that because, looking at my life, I struggled in school, forced that I had to make a quick decision after 12th grade. What are you going to do? I was like, well, I guess I'll just go into hotel, restaurant, hospitality. But it wasn't what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a certified wedding planner, and anything with the bridal industry is what I wanted to be.
Speaker 1:And I remember one day at the apartment a fly got in the house. I'm looking around for any kind of paper and I had a green sheet and I took that, got it on first try but it fell out of my hand and I'm like, and I look at the bottom and there's this ad with a big circle around it. It says full-time bridal consultant for Macy's Dallas Galleria. I was like, okay, I called, I said are you guys still hiring for the position? Yeah, what experience do you have? And I went into detail and they were like, can you come right now? I was like, sure. So I threw on my work clothes, drove to Dallas, went in, I got the job right away and I've just, I've been happy. It allowed me to go back to school, get my certification at Weddings, beautiful and you know there.
Speaker 1:But those little things, you know, I don't know what I want to do. But I do know what I want to do. But why is, you know, family telling me to do this A and B, and you want to be this and that, but that's not what my heart wanted. You know, I knew that being a photographer may not be the best of professions, but I knew I can make that money and being happy, but it was going to be always a pull. How many weddings could I get out of a month, you know, because there's so many different photographers. So it's just setting those goals and everything. But that's my analysis of you so far. Am I anywhere right?
Speaker 2:yeah, absolutely, yeah, yeah, that I think that, um, perhaps the more creative you are, the harder jobs are, and the more important work is. So some people would probably interpret that as laziness. Right, like you don't want to go to your job all day, every day, so you're lazy. But really it's like those sorts of people work more than anyone else. They just work on something else. Right, and probably in your mind, scanning a barcode all day, every day isn't work.
Speaker 1:You know, it's like if I were to just leave you to your own devices, you would probably do a whole lot of stuff. Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely. So, other than that, now, I asked you earlier what part of the state you lived in, and you told me Delaware, which is great Texas. We're very, very bipolar here, so it's like 11 degrees right now and next week it's 75. So you never know what you're going to get.
Speaker 2:Wow, I didn't know that it's the same number of times all the time.
Speaker 1:Do I? Yeah, I love the heat. I can't stand the cold, me cold, so I'm sitting here shivering.
Speaker 2:I don't know if it shows up on camera, but I I was just thinking myself I gotta turn the heat up in here, but it's cold outside and yeah oh well, if you need to turn on the heat, you can, because I can definitely talk to the listeners while you do that. We want you to to stay warm. No, no, no, no, I'm fine. I'm going to put on my hoodie, though, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely do that, but definitely as far as your goals. What are your big plans for this year, going into next?
Speaker 2:Well, I'm trying to have fewer goals. I really am. Um, I know that goals are important and this is the thing about, yeah, but guy is like, you know, there are a lot of. There are a lot of different people in the world, so good advice, um, well, it doesn't apply to everyone all the time, in every part of the world, in every context. But, um, good advice for me would probably be to uh, have fewer goals, but to someone it might be the exact opposite. It might be like you know, what you need to do is get off your butt and get some goals. But, uh, for me, I'm trying really hard to have fewer goals, believe it or not. Um, but I am going to take a couple of classes I haven't decided which ones yet, just things that that interest me and, uh, I'm gonna learn to enjoy myself. I might take a vacation. I've never really done that before. I've traveled a lot, but it was usually always for work where.
Speaker 2:I made work out of it, so I've never really relaxed, I don't think.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I totally get that. I remember after my daughter was born. I remember taking a trip to Pennsylvania just to relax and be with family on my dad's side that I haven't seen for so many years. But I remember that feeling of oh, I can breathe, like this feels so good. But heading back home, knowing all the responsibilities, I was like I was ready for it. But you know, out there in Pennsylvania it was an interesting trip because everybody had a ghost story out there and I remember the taxi was taking me back to the airport and I was like there is something up with my family, seeing shadow people and all this stuff and I was just laughing and he's like the cab driver goes oh, that's where they film signs right there.
Speaker 1:I too, see shadow people all the time and I was like what made me intrigued? When I got home I was like what is a shadow person? So I started looking into that and why was there so much history? But I think that's where a lot of battles were fought too, maybe the people who weren't supposed to die at that time, and you know, I don't know. But anyways, I'm not going to go into a whole scary podcast here.
Speaker 2:No, let's go. I just got land about 15 minutes maybe west of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, and there are tons of stories there in Gettysburg, as you can imagine. I just made one on my YouTube channel called Question Things. It's pretty simple. Youtube for question things is pretty simple for youtube for us question things. But um, there there are tons of scary stories. Um, a lot of them are just ghost stories really, um, but there's a lot of history there and pennsylvania is pretty cool all together anyway, I mean, I never really appreciated it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but the more I explore up there, there's there are huge waterfalls in Bushkill Falls, pennsylvania. There's ski slopes, there's a lot of trails at Jim Thorpe, pennsylvania, and my house is about four seconds away from a ski slope you can see it from my backyard. But, um, but, yeah, I, I'm, but I'm still, I'm still struggling to, uh, to not make a goal out of that, that property, cause I'm, I'm like, uh, I got this place in Pennsylvania to. I had this vision of me kind of relaxing on the porch after it's built and watching my dogs play, and I'm already starting to think like maybe I can Airbnb it and then maybe I can get another part of land in some other place and Airbnb that too.
Speaker 1:And when I got it I actually didn't know it was near a ski slope, so that's a good idea and I think you know here in Texas we're about to get universal studio and I think a lot of people who live out by that way, where they're going to be building, they're thinking about Airbnb and their places too, because there's going to be so much travel out here. And I know in Little Elm I have a friend who thought about doing that for his home because he's like going to be 15, 20 minutes from where they're building. So it's just, you know, it's so different, things change and everything, but that's a good second source of income. I would definitely do that.
Speaker 2:Well, I've been thinking about moving to Texas. Actually, it seems so. Everything I hear about it is so rad that I'm like maybe I should go there. Plus, I didn't know Universal Studios was going there. We got the Tesla Gigafactory and these tunnels and all these podcasters are going there.
Speaker 1:So it's like for me, that's the place to be. That's why I'm trying to get out of Texas right now. Who knows?
Speaker 2:What part of Texas is Universal Studios Dallas area?
Speaker 1:Oh well, we can call it the Dallas area still. So it's going to be more towards Frisco and Prosper area, I believe, is where they're building it and it's beautiful out there. They got PGA out there. Now the Cowboys built their new training camp stuff out there too, so they're building it up like a city. But that's the thing with Texas is, you know, this part is very city fast going. I mean, it's like another LA, it feels like so, but there's a lot of opportunity.
Speaker 1:So when you know you're looking at, do you want to be at the city for the next 20, 30 years, if that's what it is or are you looking for something a little bit subtle? For me, I'm looking for more subtle, like Cheers everybody knows your name. It's a good town to live in. So, yeah, I think what was it that Netflix series, virgin River, I think it was called or something, but it gave that home feeling and I was like you know what? For me it's about nature, everything I'm thinking. You know I may want to just get out to Oklahoma. I enjoy the weather. I would love. I hate to say this, but I'm such a weather nerd I want to see a tornado.
Speaker 2:Me too. Me too. I mean maybe that should be my goal, but because that's definitely a bucket list item is to see a tornado.
Speaker 1:What a tornado.
Speaker 2:Yeah, apparently they're hard to see, though there is this guy I want to say he was from Japan who spent hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars traveling from Japan to Oklahoma the border of Oklahoma and Texas every year during tornado season, right there in Tornado Alley, to try and see a tornado, and he didn't see one until well, when I was watching this documentary. Had never seen one, but since he has, he has since I saw that documentary. But uh, I mean he spent decades trying to see one and never did so, apparently it's harder than I.
Speaker 2:I anticipated, but yeah, I've got a tornado. That's really high on my list.
Speaker 1:High on your list? Well, definitely so. And just, you know the travel thing. So, yeah, it sounds like you, you do have goals. You said no more goals, but you do have the traveling goal. You, you know you may want to open Airbnb, so you are open to the idea of creating this new path for you is what I'm sensing. So that's a great outlook and you should be very happy about that outlook.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, in all honesty, there's no reason why a person can't have goals and be happy. In fact, there is a quote from someone I forget who said this but the root of psychological well-being is accepting life the way it is, while working to make it better in the future. So yeah, there's no reason why a person can't have goals and be present right in in the moment and try and appreciate things. Um, I just suck at it. I guess that's what I'm saying I'm a striver something else.
Speaker 2:I I mean, I even wrote about it and they say if you want to master something like, teach it. And it just hasn't worked for me. But I often think about like even trying to elicit. Going down the four steps outside of my front door to take out the trash is going to be a task too laborsome for me to manage and I'll have to be some old guy who pays a young neighborhood kid to do that for me.
Speaker 1:Or just build a ramp.
Speaker 2:Yeah, or I could just get one of those scooters, and which is probably what I'll do.
Speaker 1:You don't need a scooter upramp, it's just easier to walk down. You know, especially when it's snowing and ice, I'm always scared of the stairs and even without weather, like when I'm at church and I'm in choir, you know they have stairs going up but I don't know why my fear is going down. It Like I'm always used to the rail. But you know, I had to learn to accept recently because I had a knee surgery, back surgery and everything. I have this young girl. She'll always turn around and grab my hand to help me down with the last couple steps and I'm like you know it's a funny feeling because you're like in your head, thinking this is not happening.
Speaker 1:And then I was just. I turned it into gratitude and appreciation. I was like thank you so much, you know, because eventually we're all going to need that somebody to be there and look out for us too. So but when you're you're single and you don't have that, your brain starts to think, no, I gotta learn to do this on my own and be by myself. And then we are stubborn and we just don't want to accept the help and that becomes a negative energy. But if you turn it around being like you know, you know what Thanks, this is great, you know you're turning that power of thinking around to you know make things better so yeah, I like what you said about gratitude.
Speaker 2:That's really important to turn as many things into gratitude as we can, because we have so many reasons to be grateful.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I spent a year like on a gratitude practice in the morning and I should really get back to it because it's really, it really is good, like just the amount of things that you can enjoy in the day while keeping gratitude in mind. Like I mean, just think about someone who had it as good as they could possibly have had it Like I don't know King Louis II or something I'm just making up random names but he didn't have access to like proper dental care, like he probably walked around with toothaches. He didn't have air conditioning. He didn't have washing machines. Have air conditioning? Um, yeah, it didn't have washing machines. I don't know how often they bathed, but it's like you couldn't just like turn on the faucet and jump into a hot shower and the amount of luxuries I have in my house.
Speaker 2:Well, it absolutely crushes anything that a king had some hundreds of years ago.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm literally living better than kings you see, yeah, and definitely, we're taught to think the kings had it all. It was royalty, right, so you would think they had it all. So, um, you know, talking about that, thinking you have it all, I actually stepped into. Well, I had church choir, like I was talking about, but it was a youth ministry and I heard one of the pastors I've never heard, you know, teach because he's only the, you know, freshman, senior class one, but he nailed it on the spot and as an adult, being my age, sitting there and going. But you know he was talking about the cell phones and plugging, and when batteries die we're unconnected and we're trying to find a charge anywhere right in life. And then you know, being connected and having that faith also, that's what we need to connect with also. So not only our, you know AirPods or cell phones that need to be charged all the time we got to charge ourself up and know that, know, you Know the direction. You know be happy, love yourself, to move forward.
Speaker 1:So you know there was many different lessons that I saw that came out of it. You know I'm not sure how you know young kids, you know, will sit there and listen to it, but as an adult. I was like I went up to him. I go, I really don't know you. You know my son, you know, because he goes to Sunday school, but I go, that was inspiring to hear you talk about that.
Speaker 1:You know my son, you know, because he goes to sunday school, um, but I go, that was inspiring to hear you talk about that, you know. And as I was hearing the other people in my choir go, oh yeah, there's an adult service before you do choir and I was like, oh okay, but you know what I found myself? I like the kids one so much I was like I probably want to go back to the kids one so much I was like I probably want to go back to the kids one. Yeah. So just many different goals and I want to make sure we covered everything today in this podcast with you. How would people find you connect to your socials and stuff like that?
Speaker 2:We'll never cover anything we can. I'd be glad to talk again in the future, by the way, but uh okay they can find me uh question things. Um, it's all over the place. It's uh facebook, uh instagram, audible, uh amazon. I mean it's all over.
Speaker 1:And it's everywhere. And YouTube is where I saw the clips of you doing like question. Yeah, yeah, youtube.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was fortunate enough to select that username early on, when they started allowing usernames, so I got the name. Question things. No punctuation underscore anything, just question things.
Speaker 1:That is really good. It's always good to have it right there when it starts. And I know, like when I chose my photography company name, I lost the domain for a month and I was okay, nobody's gonna take it because it was a dot com. Nope, somebody grabbed it right away and they wanted like four thousand to get a bit back. I was like, no, not doing that. And then I called the provider and they go well, no, it's not really taken. We don't know who would have emailed you and asked for that much money.
Speaker 1:I was like you just never know. So if you see something, it could still be false and you need to follow up you know, with that provider.
Speaker 2:Question things. There you go.
Speaker 1:Question things. Yep, well, I want to say thank you for coming on and to our listeners, I do have the book in the store. We'll double check and make sure it's the correct one. If it's not, I'll get that corrected today. But wherever you guys find your podcast, you will be able to find Keep Hope Alive. If you would like to be a guest on Keep Hope Alive or even leave us a message, you can go to our website at wwwkeephopalivepodcastcom. To the right-hand side there is a leave a message function that you can tell us.
Speaker 1:Hey, I want to hear stories on this, or I have a question for Jonathan. I will get back with Jonathan. Let him know those questions so we can get those answered for you. So please give us a review and tell us what shows you liked on Keep Hope Alive too. But once again, jonathan, thank you so much for coming on to Keep Hope Alive. We really enjoyed talking to you, getting to know you and learning about the book process and everything like that and your future goals and, yes, I'm going to follow up with you right away.
Speaker 1:Probably, yeah, within 26, the next year.
Speaker 2:All right, well, you're the best, thank you. Thank you all so much. Thanks everybody for listening.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, you guys, until our next show. Love and light. Bye-bye, Bye-bye.
