Episode #147: Healthy vs. Unhealthy Relationships, "Spiritual Christianity" Defined & Name Changes, with Branch Isole, Host of the Small Changes Big Dividends Podcast + Author + Poet

INTRODUCTION:

Branch Isole is a podcast host, poet, storyteller and thought leader of Spiritual Christianity. His contemporary short stories reveal issues and emotions often experienced, but not always voiced.  With careers in teaching, corporate sales and small business Branch has authored twenty-two books. He graduated from Texas State University, did post graduate work at the University of Houston, and holds an Oxford M.A. Theology degree from Trinity Bible College.

INCLUDED IN THIS EPISODE (But not limited to):

·      Intro To The Small Changes Big Dividends Podcast

·      Healthy vs. Unhealthy Relationships

·      Spiritual Christianity Defined 

·      Name Changes

·      Waiting For Change

·      Insincere Apologies

·      Relationships: The Point of No Return

·      Dealing With Insecurities 

·      Let Trauma GO!!!

CONNECT WITH BRANCH ISOLE:

Website: https://www.branchisole.com

Books On Amazon: https://shorturl.at/eszI3

YouTube: https://shorturl.at/cHMOQ

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/podcastguestbranchisole/

LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/gjlq8

CONNECT WITH DE’VANNON SERÁPHINO:

Website: https://www.SexDrugsAndJesus.com

Website: https://www.DownUnderApparel.com   

Donate Via PayPal: https://shorturl.at/gq068

CashApp: $DeVannonSeraphino

Venmo: @DeVannon 

Patreon: https://patreon.com/SDJPodcast

TikTok: https://shorturl.at/nqyJ4

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3daTqCM

Facebook: https://shorturl.at/gqrAV

Instagram: https://shorturl.at/gwAP1

X: https://shorturl.at/oyLZ4

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devannon

Pinterest: https://shorturl.at/bqB26

Email: DeVannon@SDJPodcast.com

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Transcript

Episode #147: Healthy vs. Unhealthy Relationships, "Spiritual Christianity" Defined & Name Changes, with Branch Isole, Host of the Small Changes Big Dividends Podcast + Author + Poet

[00:00:00]

De'Vannon Seráphino: Branchie Soleil is a longstanding guest on the Sex, Drugs, and Jesus podcast, and now he has his own show called Small Changes, Big Dividends. This show is not about money. However, it is about change and growth. That's what we're here to discuss today. 

Branch Isole: So just like in our forgiveness model of not forgetting, but forgiving those who trespassed against us somehow, Insecurity falls in that same vein. We've got them and we've got them with us at all times. You did something, you know, that was offensive or transgressed, or was outside the bounds of our agreement. And I'm really mad and upset about the act that you committed. But the next deeper level in that [00:01:00] is the pain of not only did you commit the act, but, you breach the trust, right? And once we breach the trust, there's usually no going back unless there's some major compensation and change done. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Get out your notebooks and let's dive in, people.

De'Vannon Seráphino: hello, all of my delicious, beautiful souls, my people, my brotherhood, my sisterhood, my otherhood, my everyonehood out there. I am for all the peoples, and I am definitely not for the streets, but I do speak to the streets. It's great to listen to me. Hope everyone is Living their best celestial life [00:02:00] and being the best Eternal being that they know how to be from the inside out.

De'Vannon Seráphino: I have with me Branch Isole today He's been on the show about a million one times. He'll be on here a million and one times more He's one of my favorite people in all the nine realms in all the realms beyond that. Branch, how are you today? 

Branch Isole: Devanin, my brother, I'm doing great. It's so good to see you again.

Branch Isole: You know, I've been following some of your short reels and you're still doing it, brother. You're still knocking them out of the park, making people think. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Thank you, as are you. And so you've got your new podcast now, Small Changes, Big Dividends, which we're going to talk about that today. So congratulations on that show.

De'Vannon Seráphino: I'm gonna read a short bio, bio for Branch, y'all, and we're going to be talking about things like relationship repair today, life lessons. We're going to talk about how Branch and I both changed our [00:03:00] names, some of the implications of that, how you can do that too, and the power that that can give you and a couple of other things.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So the show is all about finding new power. A lot of people talk about taking your power back. I'm more of a proponent of finding new power that you've never had before. And so I was just going to read your, your bio here. So branches delays, a poet, storyteller, and thought leader of speech. Spiritual Christianity. His contemporary short stories reveal issues and emotions often experienced but not always voiced.

De'Vannon Seráphino: With careers in teaching, corporate sales, and small business, Branch has authored 22 books, at least. He graduated from Texas State University, did post graduate work at the University of Houston and holds an Oxford Masters of Arts in Theology degree from Trinity Bible College. So don't let the word Christianity in his bio [00:04:00] scare y'all.

De'Vannon Seráphino: He's not one of those asshole Christians. He's one of the nice ones. He doesn't think all queer people are gonna burn up and go to hell, that we're all running around here trying to rape everyone's kids and things like that. And so he has his own, take on Christianity. He still uses the term. I don't use the term, but he's cool.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Otherwise, he wouldn't be sitting in front of me. And so, and so is there anything you'd like to say about your History and, and also, you know, branch, you know, he used to be involved in the drug game and things like that, like me back in the day. So don't let this conservative look, you know, fool you.

De'Vannon Seráphino: He's come, he's come up through quite a few, few, few different lifestyles as have I, he's qualified to say the things that he talks about. So, but there's something you'd like to say about your own history. 

Branch Isole: No, let me address, you know, but the Christianity thing. [00:05:00] I'm a believer in Christ and my path and my purpose is to ask people to consider as they venture down their own path.

Branch Isole: But when you think about Christianity, think about it in terms of being Christ like, right? Emulating the thoughts and words and deeds of Christ or Buddha or the Vedas. You know, the interesting thing about religions, organized religions, is that when you look into their scriptures, their holy books, and you dig far enough down, what you find is at their base level, the core tenet of every religion is Love God first and most, and treat your neighbor the way you want to be treated.

Branch Isole: Now, [00:06:00] what happened to all of those core principles that every religion is founded on and based on, and the people who were instrumental in developing that religion all started with that premise as given to them for God, from God. But what happened is, when Christ died, when Sid Harth died, when Muhammad died, when the leader and the founder of any of those religions in the world that still were in practice, but had been practiced, but especially the ones today, as soon as the master left the scene, that vacuum That was caused was filled by followers, and because those followers were not the originator and the founder, all of their thoughts, you know, were influenced by their lives and their lifestyles.

Branch Isole: [00:07:00] So when that vacuum is filled, it's filled with a lot of people the same kind of people you see in Congress, right? Only out for themselves, only out to prove their right, regardless of who it harms, who it hurts, or what damage it does. And as this vacuum is filled with those kind of peoples, whatever the religion may be, all of a sudden, the religion takes a right turn or a left turn and starts to go down a whole separate path, where it's all about us.

Branch Isole: And we know what's right, and you don't know anything, and, you know, we're going to control the situation and make you come to us and through us to get to God. Okay, well, spiritual Christianity is not about that. Spiritual Christianity is about you developing a spiritual grounding so that you have a relationship with something larger than and outside of yourself that's bigger than you are.

Branch Isole: That's spiritual Christianity. [00:08:00] Whether you call it, you know, God or Allah or whatever name you have for it, Brahma, that superior being, that entity that is there for you, is there for you. You don't have to go through a robed or a monocled or some kind of person who's dressed up. You don't have to go through a church or a temple or a mosque to get to God.

Branch Isole: He's there for you. So, spiritual Christianity is? Become an act Christ like that's all in its simplest form or Christ like the more the more Christ like One responds in their life The more Christian they truly are, 

De'Vannon Seráphino: right? And that, that's one of the things that I loved about listening to your podcast, which you called Small Changes, big Dividends [00:09:00] branches, website, branch, issa la.com will go in the show notes.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Facebook LinkedIn and YouTube. All that's gonna go in the show notes as well. Although the podcast is on all the podcasting apps and everything like that, the website is also a good place to start. It has all branches, books, and everything in there too. He's quite the poet. But, you know, one thing about your podcast that stood out is, it's like how simply taught it is.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So, you know, in the Hebrew scriptures, they talk about, it talks about, like, how Jesus taught with simplicity. He wasn't, you know, like, over the top, using a lot of big words, a lot of overtures. He wasn't really trying to put on a show. He was simple. And so the one thing I love about The Smaller Changes, Big Dividends show, which, which you host is, it's like you're talking to, it's, it's said in such a way that anybody can understand it.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And so and so that's, and so the way you just broke down, you know, Christianity [00:10:00] and made it relevant to other world religions and things like that, I thought is super, super, super down to earth and super humble and everything. And that's echoed throughout your show. And so, before I get on to the small changes and big dividends, let me, let's talk about name changes.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Because there's not a whole lot of people who I know who have legally changed their name, be it first or last. I'm not talking about getting married and all of that. I'm talking about because of A profound enough change happened in our lives that we realized that that old name simply would not do. Now, today is Thursday, February the 15th in the year 2024.

De'Vannon Seráphino: I filed to change my last name from Hubert to Serafino around May or June of 2023. I got with my attorney, we filed it, I flew to Guadalajara and underwent surgery. A shamanic [00:11:00] ceremony with two shamans out in the wilderness using psilocybin to officially make that my new date of birth. Now, this is the first time that I'm really saying this, you know, like, like too much publicly, but the time has come.

De'Vannon Seráphino: This this shirt that I have on is my family coat of arms. I posted this on my social media. And it's pretty difficult to see on here, but it is quite clear, you know, like on the, or at least it's on my TikTok channel. I always wanted a family coat of arms. Now that I am the first of my kind, which is cool as fuck to say it's like some damn Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones shit, but like I actually am the first of my kind.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So it's, it's, it's me, me and my two cats. We are the three Serafinos, Devan and Serafino, Felicity Serafino, and Felix Serafino. And this emblem is a [00:12:00] seraphim, and this, the orange and red are the colors of House Seraphino, and it all has to do with that dream that I had. I had a dream when I was in Dubai, a year before last, when I was turning 40, or about to turn 40, when I was still in that old relationship, and I had a dream about my mother being in a car.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Fire that can completely gets consumed everything. And when we have dreams like that, it's not about our parents about changes getting ready to happen within us. It was about 3 a. m. and I was at the Metropolitan Hotel in Dubai and I woke up, you know, terrified and all shook up, you know, you know, from that.

De'Vannon Seráphino: From that dream and then a couple of months later, I discovered all the evil that the, that the ex had been doing and then everything unraveled from there, and you know, and so I told God, you know what, let's keep this fire going, you know, I don't want it to go out, you know, it was uncomfortable as fuck, but the lessons that I learned from going through that terrible nightmare.

De'Vannon Seráphino: turned me into a completely new person. [00:13:00] So I, I used to ask God to keep me away from troubles. I didn't want to go through, you know, being homeless again and all of that. But now, now I realize the value and the pain. So I said, you know, let's keep this fire going. And so that I created this image and everything, which I'll get into in more detail on a deeper show, because everything there's a dove on it.

De'Vannon Seráphino: There's a thorny crown on it. I have Yahweh in Hebrew on it. There's like a whole, it's all very intentional, but That's a part of the reason why I changed my name, why I chose the name Seraphino, it's a nod to my very strong relationship that I have with the Seraphim, and and the fire that always burns.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Talk to us about your name change and the power that that had. Or, of course, you can comment on what I said, of course. Wow. 

Branch Isole: Well, the comment is, you said it when you opened this vein, there are those [00:14:00]who are moved to change their lives, right? And there are those of us who are moved to make that change permanent.

Branch Isole: And the only way you can make that change permanent is to experience it. So, I'm now, what am I, 20, 26 years. on this path with a new name. And yeah, you had mentioned before, I lived embracing the world for the first 40 years and did a pretty good job of it, but it didn't serve me very well. You know, I ended up like a lot of people at the very bottom of the barrel.

Branch Isole: So when I decided to change my life and change my path, the next thing, you know, in the checkbox was changed the name. And so I changed my name to. Like you, start fresh, start anew, but to [00:15:00] truly change who I was, you know because I'm a student of scripture when the old you dies or the old you is put away and the new you, you know, is manifested, reborn birthed, however you want to look at it, that change allows you to literally become a new you.

Branch Isole: Now, it's determinate, of course, by how much energy You know, you put into that, that transformation, but to put away the old or to say you're dead to the old mentally and psychologically sort of gives you a boost. Now the situation therefore is, okay, well now you have to live it in order to experience it.

Branch Isole: And if you live it with that new thought, new name, new direction, you [00:16:00] know, as the focal point. The further down that path that you go, the more that you find you are the new you. And so the name changed just, you know, at that point, it's just natural. It's kind of funny. We were talking before the show and I told the van that, you know, some of my family still, you know, by Freudian slip standards, I guess, calls me by my other name, my last name, my old name.

Branch Isole: And I forgive them. And I bring up, you know, if you can remember the new name of a married woman or man, why do you have so much trouble with mine? Well, you know, you got to dig deep into that hole of childhood and past stuff. And I don't have time to go through that with them. So anyway the new name, the new persona, the new you.

Branch Isole: It gives you that opportunity to embrace a true change in your life. Now, you don't have to change your name to do that, but when you make that kind of [00:17:00] commitment it sort of releases you from the ties and the bonds of what perhaps used to hold you back a little bit more. It's just a totality of trying to recreate yourself, you know, for your purposes.

Branch Isole: And we see people, especially in other areas who recreate themselves all the time. So if they can do it, you can do it too. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: You're nicer than I would be, you know, with, with your blood family and people still having those Freudian slips as you so politely call it. If any motherfucking person Not that I even really socialize with that many people from my, like, former life, most of them have been cut off and discarded, you know, you know, because they were an energetic risk to me of somehow, you know, they were either about bullshit or they weren't serious about their spiritual growth.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Or they were abusive or narcissistic or something like that. You know, for me to get rid of a [00:18:00] person is no small thing. You know, but I'm not going to accept any foolishness, you know, from nobody on no level. I'll give a damn who they are. And but if anybody acts like they can't accept. Serafino, and wants to call me by that old name, I guarantee you that'll be the last damn conversation they have with me.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Period. And so, but bless your southern little heart down there Branch, you know, with all that niceness. I'm too, I'm too fiery for that shit. The name is Serafino. Then if you can't deal with that, then you're going to have to fuck off. And so generally I'm talking to the world now, you know, branch knows how to adjust problems with that.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So, you had said, like, how it, you know, the more you walk down the path of the name, it, the more you become it. That's something I had to learn. I was so [00:19:00] ready to let go of everything attached to that old name that I wanted it to be done instantly. And I found that it was a process. And, It was good on me for being willing to let go of the shit, but what I had to be humbled and to accept was that I had to wait for the changes to fully develop, like I wanted to be out of that old relationship and I wanted all of that, all of his energy gone, but I sat there and stewed in the shit for all those years just because I was ready to snap my fingers and get rid of it.

De'Vannon Seráphino: It didn't fucking work that way. And so I had to go through all the processes and the counseling and the shamanic ceremonies to undo all of those years. And so I had to sit there and wait for it to happen, then I had to just keep trying. And eventually I became more of a seraphino than I was the of whatever it was, but it was, and it's, it's a beautiful thing, you know, now that I look at it, because I get to [00:20:00] experience, you know, a lifetime of discovering what it means to be this new person, you know, as opposed to it all happening all at once, like I was trying to force it to happen, you know, it's much better, you know, this way, because it's, it's a limitless potential and what it means to be Seraphina.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And it's all, it's all me and God and the Seraphim angels, you know, deciding. You know, all of this and so people talk about generational curses and I will get more in depth into this when I do like a standalone episode on the name change. One, in my opinion, way to get away from the bad shit attached to people's blood families is to change your own name.

De'Vannon Seráphino: You don't have to wait, because names carry energy. It's like in the Hebrew traditions, you know, they didn't just name people whatever the fuck, you know, they named people. With the idea that that kid was going to live out the meaning of that name. And so if you come from a fucked up family full of narcissists and shit, like how I did, [00:21:00] you know, and you want to get away from the bullshit and break that damn cycle, you don't have to change your name to do it.

De'Vannon Seráphino: But that's damn sure is one strong way to get away from it because every time you say that name, it's like you're reinforcing whatever it means, you know, So when people get married and they take on a new name, you're taking on the energy from that family, whatever that name stands for, I think it's beautiful if two people get married and take neither one of the names and they just come up with their own name to represent what their union is going to represent and completely get away from the energies from either side of the family.

De'Vannon Seráphino: That way it's about them. So what do you think energetically about these names though?

Branch Isole: Well, you know, like you said, you take the new name and it's like other things, other changes, you know, we want it to be instantaneous. We want it to be immediate. We want to reap the goodness [00:22:00] that we are expecting from it right away. It's like people who finally decide that they're going to come to the Lord and, you know, they had the kinds of experiences as you and I have had, we finally had enough, right, to go.

Branch Isole: All right, God, I've had enough. I'm going to be with you. I understand it. Come and do what you gotta do. Crickets, right? God doesn't work that way. You know, so many times, especially as children or young people, you know, we manage to dig a hole and get ourselves in there and we go, Oh, if you just get me out of this one, you know.

Branch Isole: I'll go to church every every Sunday. I go to temple every Friday. You know, I'll change. I'll change. I'll change, right? And as soon as we get relief, bam, we're right back to our old behaviors, old patterns. You know, that's who we are. That's our nature. [00:23:00] And so when we're making big changes, you get married, right?

Branch Isole: You automatically start to expect, okay, this is going to be great. We're going to do these things, going to change. And all of a sudden you find out that your spouse or your partner, you know, isn't really interested in going down that path. Right? There's just so many things that get in the way of our desires and our wishes.

Branch Isole: And when we change our life, whatever that might look like, It's not going to be automatic and it's not going to be instantaneous. These things take time. Everything is a process. And that's the key is growth, right? That's the whole point of being here in this physical environment in this time and place is so that you have the opportunity to grow, to become a better you, a bigger you.

Branch Isole: A more loving you. And like you said, all of these are lessons that have a purpose, but [00:24:00] ultimately that purpose is to help you grow and become a better person. And so every time you make a major change, there's going to be some pushback. There's going to be some resistance. There's going to people who are going to talk behind your back.

Branch Isole: You know, why the hell did he do that stupid thing? Okay. Well, they don't understand where you are on your path. It's as simple as that. It's like people who, you know, have grown up in unhealthy or abusive childhoods, right? And they drag that stuff with them all through life. At some point, you've got to let it go.

Branch Isole: You have to forgive that person for their inability to come from a higher place. And, you know, I experienced this myself. There's so many people. I grew up in a very unhealthy childhood. And [00:25:00] you know, my father was very abusive to me and it took me a long time. In fact, it wasn't until he died, you know, that I was able to go to his gravesite and forgive him for all the trauma that he imposed on me and he put me through.

Branch Isole: But I realized in that path, in that growth path, that he was just who he was. He was a product of his upbringing, right? What he learned from his father is what he perpetrated on his family. And he was not a loving guy. He didn't know how to love. He don't have discipline and abuse, but he didn't know how to love.

Branch Isole: He had never experienced that in his childhood or growing up. And I knew his history. I knew that he and his father you know, had a contentious relationship, so much so that he joined the military, you know, and [00:26:00] went to war in the second world war just to get away. So you gotta forgive those kind of people.

Branch Isole: They're just who they are. They're just products of their environment and their education and their upbringing. Once you forgive them and let it go, you can truly let it go. If you don't forgive them and understand that's just who they were because they didn't care or learn or grow to be any different.

Branch Isole: And it takes time. It's all a process, but if you want to change your life, you can change your life. Whatever that looks like, change your name, change your job, change your focus. It's all about your thought process. And, you know, there's so many podcasts now that talk about, you know, fulfilling your dreams and reaching those plateaus and, and those accolade places.

Branch Isole: And, and, you know, if that's all you want to do, go ahead. But if you don't [00:27:00]change who you are in the process, you'll never enjoy You know, the benefits and the rewards of your, your stress and your struggle. So if you've got somebody who, you know, you're dragging with you mentally because they treated you or mistreated you inappropriately, let it go.

Branch Isole: You know, if you have a chance to tell them face to face or in writing, you know, just tell them that you forgive them and you understand they were just who they were. And you can move on. And no, that's my thought on that. Hmm, 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Savage, Savage Garden, you know, everyone's favorite band from the nineties wrote a song called affirmation.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And in this song, he's talking about, you know, the things that he affirms, you know, like you can't control or choose your sexuality and trust is more important than monogamy [00:28:00] and things like that. And he, he, one of the things that he affirms in there that he believes that Your parents did the best job that they knew how to do.

De'Vannon Seráphino: This is interesting because this means that Even like the abusive parent, be it physically, emotionally, mentally, whatever, whatever level they operated at was the maximum of their capacity. So what Brent is saying is right, and that is why we forgive them. Doesn't mean that they weren't an asshole. You know, it doesn't mean that they don't need to be slapped and won't get, I don't know, have like, very, very bad karma and everything like that.

De'Vannon Seráphino: They do, and they will, but the bottom line is it doesn't make any sense to stay angry because we're yet in this flesh and who the fuck knows what we're going to do from one day to the next and need forgiveness. It doesn't. So we gotta let it go. You know, no matter what evil our parents did to us, that's literally the [00:29:00] best that they knew how to do.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And so had they been able to do better, they would have done better. But like Branch is saying, they came from their own fucked up edness and broken ness. I, you know, I'm going to have a conversation whenever I go back to Louisiana, you know, with my dad and give him one last chance to, before I cut him out of my life permanently, like I have other people, to address his cheating, his dick slinging all over town, you know, hitting me and, you know, yelling at me in front of the schools and the fucked up shit that he did, that I'm, you know, healing my inner child over now.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Just to at least see if he'll acknowledge the shit, you know. Because before, when I brought up the things that he put my mom through, I mean, before I could say two words, he had his narcissistic excuses, and it was this person's fault, and that. And now he's found Jesus, and everything is great in the world for him.

De'Vannon Seráphino: But nothing about You [00:30:00] know, and he didn't much bother with, like, how I'm going to, like, how you mentioned in one of your shows, I'm going to talk about in a second, an insincere apology. He didn't even bother trying with that. He just skipped to the finger pointing and shit like that. Now that I'm clean, house of all bullshit ass assholes, I'm gonna give him, just cause he is my dad, I'm gonna give him one fucking last chance before I banish him, you know, to, you know, into the abyss like I have everybody else.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So, it'll be interesting to see how he chooses to respond, because I'm not gonna tolerate this being around him. With no acknowledgement of the fact that I'm yet dealing with the shit that he put me through. I'm not mad at him, all is forgiven, but he's got to take ownership of it, or he's got to get the fuck out, because that's doing more damage to me by having a fake relationship with him, coming over to the house to fix shit, you know, or buying me a car or [00:31:00] whatever.

De'Vannon Seráphino: It's like, it's insulting when you think about it. You know, and then I'm hearing echoes from within the family of how he's telling the younger children growing up, going and explaining to them the affairs that he had, but he's never had those conversations with me. Okay. Those are not his children. They weren't alive when he went and slept with those women.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Okay, so it's insulting to me to see that, because narcissists do that. They try to control the narrative and that's what he's doing. And so, okay, so we're gonna see, but I'm not gonna be disrespected or be insulted while he's smiling in my face and doing all his narcissistic things. Not to mention the way he still looks at my mother to this day when she turns around to walk away from him like he hates her.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And so, I don't know why she's still with him. So, I'm saying all that now because there will be a follow up. But cause it's still to be decided exactly how this is gonna go with him. And, [00:32:00] dammit I got off track with that. So let me just go right on ahead. I know what I was gonna ask you. Do you care to tell us?

De'Vannon Seráphino: Anything specific about what your father did in terms of trauma? You said there was you as long as he lived that you couldn't forgive him and there was no peace. What did he do? Do you have any kind of examples you care to share specifically?

De'Vannon Seráphino: Oh, he's physically 

Branch Isole: abusive. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Okay, well, 

Branch Isole: that ain't He was in the military. I grew up in a military family. And, well, that, that only exacerbated, you know, his inability to cope with family or relationship situations. But, in the military at that time, I don't know how it is now, and I don't know what it [00:33:00] was like when you were in, in the military in those days, a parent, a military parent was responsible for all of the actions of their family members.

Branch Isole: And if you did something that got you into trouble, you know, with the law or the authorities or whatever, they didn't worry about, you know, in the air force, they didn't worry about putting you in jail for some offense. They simply had the commander call in your parent and explain that he or she was responsible for your behavior and as such because your behavior was inappropriate there would be a notation put in your records and it would not be good.

Branch Isole: And every, bad mark in [00:34:00] your records to keep you from promotion. So that's how they control is your ability to be promoted to a higher rank and make more money in that rank or more responsibility was as dependent upon how you controlled your family members as it was about how you did your job. So I grew up.

Branch Isole: Embracing the ways of the world. And I was not a delinquent kid, but I was always trying to cut the edges, right? Always trying to implement. ideas and thoughts that I had and Not anything criminal at that point in my life, but you know out out of bounds for a teenager. So his way to reprimand me was physical

Branch Isole: Well, 

De'Vannon Seráphino: yeah, that sounds about on [00:35:00] par for, I mean, I'm sorry that you went through that. Unfortunately, I can totally relate with the physical abuse aspect of it. To my knowledge, I don't think that my dad was in the military. I didn't tell you anything about his history because he doesn't discuss such things, at least not with me, because he knows I'm not going to go for no fucking okie doke and no damn lie.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So he doesn't even bother. So I don't know a damn thing about his history. You're only what you like. My grandmother told me what I've heard. He's been a complete closed book to me. But yes, when I was in the, in the Air Force, the the military member was still held accountable for whatever their family did and all of that, which is just absolutely abusive to the military member.

De'Vannon Seráphino: That's way too much pressure to make somebody accountable for other motherfucking people or to act like they have to be perfect in the first damn place. Things like that bred insanity and deep psychosis and a lot of mental health problems. Within the [00:36:00] military members, within the military brats, as they're so unaffectionately called, you know, the military children who move around, you know, it was just all fucked up, you know, the families, the kids, the military members, and that's a huge reason why I didn't stay in there.

De'Vannon Seráphino: You know, like it's only 20 years to retire, but what mind will you have left? You know, you know, in those 20 years, you got to be like all fucked up and shit. You know, they, the department of veterans affairs does not exist out of like sympathy, you know? When we go to the military, we, that's that little clause that says that if they need to reactivate us, if the whole world goes to shit and, you know, they're doing it out of self interest, you know, for the country, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the health care is not altruistic.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And they damaged us, but it's just in case they need us again. And so cause when I left after six years, you know, people were like, why didn't you just stay in and retire? I was like, [00:37:00] girl, bye. Bye. No. Because I, you know, because I, because through wisdom, I was warned, you know, what you get out of there while I still had a mind left, you know, my, my, my, my prophetess, counselee evangelist knows that or warned me that, you know, that I needed to leave when I left and I'm glad that I did.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Okay, https: otter. ai And and, and let's talk more about your, your show, Small Changes, Big Dividends. Why that name?

Branch Isole: Wow. You know, trying to find a name for a podcast is like trying to name a child, right? Every name you come up with, you find all kinds of reasons not to use it. And it just so happens [00:38:00] that when this was taking place, my two sons happened to be home visiting. For the first time in many years for one of them, and I told him what was about to happen with the podcast launch.

Branch Isole: And so They were coming up with all kinds of names for the podcast. And, one of them just said, You know, you deal so much with trying to share how people can change their lives and grow. Maybe it should be small changes. And then the other one chimes in and he says, Big dividends. That's how it came about.

Branch Isole: And What's interesting is I have a lot of people who come to the to the podcast thinking it's about finances, right? How they can make more how they can make more money and are they ever shocked so it's about change and growth just like we've been talking about and [00:39:00] 24th episode yesterday, and there's a pattern and a process.

Branch Isole: Thank you. Thank you to, to what I've been presenting. The first four episodes talk about you, the listener, and, perhaps some of the things that are happening in your life in terms of relationships and your own growth. And then we sort of switch gears and the next. Three episodes talk about three powers that we all possess within us and very seldom use.

Branch Isole: And that's the power of truth, the power of choice and consequence, and And then it switches gears again, and it goes into two other new episodes that sort of bring you into the realm of spiritual growth and spiritual [00:40:00] strength. So the whole process is just like my books, right? In my poetry life, I write as the voyeuristic poet.

Branch Isole: And people say, Oh, you talk about sex. Well, sometimes, but what I'm talking about is looking out and seeing in, right? So the idea is my poetry works, ask you or ask you to consider or stimulate you the reader to look outside of yourself, look outside of the problems and the issues you're grappling with in your daily life and look outside yourself to see how others have faced those same situations because you're not the only one who's ever been cheated on, and you're not the only one who's ever been knocked in the dirt, and you're not the only one who's been armed.

Branch Isole: You know, this has happened to everyone breathing. So it gives the reader a chance to kind of get out of [00:41:00] themselves and look at their issue or their problem and a possible solution. from an outside, you know, viewpoint. And so that's the same process that I use in the podcast. I start with you, the listener, and we build out from there so that you can see how other people have handled similar situations.

Branch Isole: And so then there's a bunch of episodes on End Times, Last Days, Prophecy, because that's my focal point right now. And then there's the last four episodes have been on truth and some other internal things, you know, as we do, we go out and then we come back in and dig deeper, right? And so the podcast formula follows the same kind of pattern as, as the writing formula.

Branch Isole: It's looking out to see [00:42:00] what works and what doesn't work in situations and then bringing that back in and applying it to your own situation. So that's sort of, where I'm going with it. And like you say, when, when people listen, it's usually not what they're expecting to hear. And it's like my, my poetry, you know, I get people who love it and I get people who hate it and I get scathing comments about how, how can I possibly talk about rape or suicide or, you know, abuse or, all of these kind of crazy things that we experience and go through, some of us.

Branch Isole: And how, how can I talk about those things? And what I find is the people who hate it the most, are the ones who keep reading, right? They keep reading to find the next selection or the next story or the next poem where they can grunch at me again. Well, you know, whether you love or you hate, if you keep reading, I'm doing my job [00:43:00] because that's what a writer does.

Branch Isole: A writer sort of casts the bait and continues to reel in. And when you get somebody on the hook, You want to reel them in enough so they go, wow, I hadn't thought about it that way. You know, I hadn't looked at it that way. And by doing that, by making it personal to them, but not indicting them, it allows them to, whether they love it or hate it, look for more stories like that, where they can go, wow, that was great.

Branch Isole: There was such a twist at the end. I wasn't expecting it. Or there he goes again, you know, looking under my skin and finding all of my secrets. Gee, I wonder if he can find the next one so they keep reading. So that's the intent, is to invite you in, show you a little bit of truth, a little bit of reality, a lot of [00:44:00] growth opportunities, and have you reflect on what you're reading and how it might or might not apply to your life.

Branch Isole: Maybe, 

De'Vannon Seráphino: maybe, maybe your critics, like your harshest critics secretly are like hot for you and don't know how to just say that they like want you and it comes out all fucked up that way. You know, that's what, that's what I'm thinking here. That's what I'm picking up on. So. Y'all branch is happily married.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Get over it. 

Branch Isole: I have this little book. It's called Writer's Quotation Book. You can see it's been used. It's really been used, but there's a, there's a quote in here that I, in fact, I just sent it to somebody on LinkedIn yesterday because they were grunching about somebody giving them you know, a [00:45:00]bad review or whatever it is.

Branch Isole: And this is what Samuel Johnson, a really famous writer way, way back said, It's advantageous to an author that his book should be attacked as well as praised. Fame is a shuttlecock. If it'd be struck at one end of the room only, it will soon fall to the ground. To keep it up, it must be struck at both ends.

Branch Isole: And so the colloquial 20th century take on that is, there's no such thing as bad publicity.

Branch Isole: No, it's not. So if they want to praise you, Or they want to condemn you, either way you're doing your job, because you've got their attention. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Amen to that. And I also want to say, you know, I think Branch has a good balance of both natural and spiritual, which, you [00:46:00] know, God operates in that. But even in the Bible, there is talk about rape.

De'Vannon Seráphino: The book Song of Solomon, which is something you'll never ever hear a contemporary modern day preacher talk about. Preach on. It's like they act like they, that, that, that book isn't in the Bible. It's talking all about titties and sex and everything like that. It's purely pretty fucking sexual. You know, that's in the Bible, y'all.

De'Vannon Seráphino: You know, it's in there. It's a part of life. Sex is totally fine and okay. By the time this show comes out, in the next eight weeks, I will have a blog on my website. I teamed up with the two shamans that I know to write a blog about the spiritual implications of sex. So I'm just gonna like plug that now we're gonna get into what's happening to you when you orgasm.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Is it, you know, how people open themselves up to like sex magic and different things like that. So, you know, to warn people about what the fuck they're doing. And so that just made me think of that. So to two of them, I'm keeping in that same [00:47:00] vein of spiritual and natural. Branch does speak about the end times.

De'Vannon Seráphino: I talk about him too, but you know, we also are very well grounded and we're here on this earth with obligations and duties and pleasures in life. Like we're saying, there's nothing wrong with sex. So, his shows talk about real life practical things. Two of them that stood out to me, the titles of one of them was Seven Steps of Relationship Repair, and the other one was Twelve Life Lessons We All Experienced.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So, Some of his shows are more purely spiritual. Some of them is down to earth, like basic day to day shit that everybody can use. And the seven steps of relationship repair, that's when he talks about like the insincere apologies. And all I'm going to say about that, if you're with somebody that gives insincere apologies, then just fucking leave because you can't do anything with that.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And so that's my humble damn advice. But within that show, you mentioned that life is all about relationships. Healthy relationships is what you want to have. [00:48:00] What's your point? Can you tell us how somebody can tell the difference in between a healthy relationship and an unhealthy relationship? Because sometimes unhealthy relationships provide intense sex and people misinterpret that as being good when really it's a distraction from emotional attachment.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Or unhealthy relationships, Like you said in the episode give people a certain type of misery that they get comfortable with So people can't tell what the fuck is healthy or unhealthy. So what is the difference between healthy and unhealthy? your relationships

Branch Isole: Well, I'm not a clinical psychologist Or a marriage counselor, but I can tell you this you have the Spirit of God living within you from birth because you are a part of creation and God as creator, his character and nature are [00:49:00] truth and love. So you have that spiritual essence of truth and love living within you from your first breath.

Branch Isole: Now, what happens is because we live in the world and that's all we know, we accept and assimilate into the world and the world's ways. Whenever you're in a situation and you see a red flag in your mind's eye or you are in a situation that is unhealthy, that little spirit living within your spirit down in your soul alerts you to the fact that this is not in your best interest, right?

Branch Isole: You automatically know that. But because you've been buried under layer upon layer. upon layer [00:50:00] upon layer of the world and the world's ways. You don't want to recognize it, right? You don't want to recognize that you're being misused or abused or inappropriately handled or behaved. Yes, you know it. It's there and you know it mentally.

Branch Isole: Mentally, we call it a red flag, but because your spirit knows the truth, You know the truth. It's very easy to recognize anyone, not anyone, but let's say anyone who has the capacity to recognize loving behavior can do so. You know what loving behavior looks like because at some point you've experienced it.

Branch Isole: You also know what inappropriate or unloving behavior looks like because you've experienced it.[00:51:00]

Branch Isole: You know, inside the dilemma of living in life is everything requires that we make a choice and you can either choose to accept or put up with or be okay with, or, you know, give it a reason, whatever you want to do. You know, what loving behavior looks like, and you know, therefore what unloving behavior looks like.

Branch Isole: The choice is yours. of how you're going to respond and what you're going to do about it. And because we're buried under the world's ways, we don't allow ourselves to see it and we don't allow ourselves to act upon it. And every time we don't act upon it in our own best interest, that just gives power to our abuser.

Branch Isole: to continue [00:52:00] that kind of behavior. The interesting thing about the seven steps of relationship repair and reconciliation, I just had this conversation with my wife. When people are having problems, whether it's couples, married couples, partners, You and your teenager, you and somebody at work, right?

Branch Isole: Whenever there's an issue and one party has offended or transgressed against the other person, you know when that behavior has happened, right? And so what happens? In most cases, The couple or the partners are having an issue, which is not necessarily a new issue. It's usually an old issue, right? Coming up again.

Branch Isole: And one person who has transgressed or offended finally comes to that place where they say, I'm sorry. And of course they really don't mean it [00:53:00] in most cases. So the agitation continues and they come back and they say, I really am sorry. Right. And whether or not they are, the agitation continues, and they finally come back and they say, I really am sorry.

Branch Isole: I understand how much I hurt you. Can we move on? Crickets. Why? Because nobody in the relationship knows what the next step is after can't we just move on? And because neither party knows what that next step to reconciliation and or repair is, sooner or later, Here comes the issue again, right? And it rears its head, and we repeat this whole cycle.

Branch Isole: And every time we repeat it, it gets more and more abusive and more and more dangerous. [00:54:00] Well, how do we solve that problem? Well, the first thing you have to understand is, there are three depths of pain associated with the act or the action, no matter what the action was. The first pain is, one of the manifested action itself.

Branch Isole: You did something, you know, that was offensive or transgressed, or was outside the bounds of our agreement. And I'm really mad and upset about the act that you committed. But the next deeper level in that is the pain of not only did you commit the act, but, you breach the trust, right? And once we breach the trust, there's usually no going back unless there's some [00:55:00] major compensation and change done.

Branch Isole: Well, because we get in that relationship, And we don't know what the step is. We never actually look at the depth of pain. You know, we just want to, Okay, I'm sorry. I did that. I committed that act. Let's move on. But you haven't addressed the deep seated pain, right? So that's why the seven steps of the relationship repair are so important because it forces us to not only address the action.

Branch Isole: It makes us address the pain and the hurt. Okay. that still exists, you know, after we go, okay, I understand you're sorry you committed adultery, but that's not really the issue, right? You've hurt me deeper than that. So the seven steps give us an opportunity to step by step, again, in the process, address not only the action, but also the [00:56:00] pain.

Branch Isole: And that's why the seven steps are so important. It gives us the answer to that question. How can we move on? What's the next step? And of course, it doesn't take the place of professional help or clinical help or any of those kinds of things, but it will give you the opportunity to start the process So that if you find you need professional help, when you get to that stage, you've already, you know, got all the minutia and minutia out of the way and you've identified what the problem is and what the pain is.

Branch Isole: So you're, you know, halfway to what the, professional person is going to charge you the first three sessions to find out. Plus, you can tell them, okay, this is what we discovered about ourselves, this is what we're doing about it, this is where we are in the process, and then that professional can take it up from there.

Branch Isole: So the answer to your [00:57:00] question is, what's the next step after can't we just move on? And that's what the seven steps does. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: I always thought that word, that's a very good breakdown, Nancy Pelosi clap for you. I always thought that word minutia should have been pronounced minutee, because in the different languages I've studied, that's how it would, like minutee or something like that, because it, It feels more impactful to me.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And this is just me going on a caveat and getting on my soapbox here, because I don't agree with the college of people who get together and come up with English or with words in general, because sometimes. I feel like the, it could have been more impactful. It's like the word alchemize. I feel like if it would have kept the T at the end of it and been like [00:58:00] alchematize, it would have, it sounds stronger.

De'Vannon Seráphino: To me, you know, and that's just me. I'm a bit of a word nerd and I really, really like words a lot and I pride myself on having a diverse lexicon and so which is just like a lexicon, just like your personal fucking words that you fucking keep in your fucking noggin and that you use. And so. Anyway, that's just so like, I love the word minutiae.

De'Vannon Seráphino: I think it should have been pronounced minutae. Sometimes I still say the shit the way that I fucking want to say it because all that's required is for people to understand what the fuck you're saying and then it's a word. So. That doesn't have to be agreed upon by Miriam Webster, whoever the fuck those people are supposed to be, that hell don't know shit.

De'Vannon Seráphino: She don't know if she's talking about any damn way . And so, well, 

Branch Isole: when, when you, as the Alchemist, Danna, and when you, as the Alchemist turned, lead into gold. Trust me, everyone [00:59:00] will pronounce a minuté or minutiae the way you want it to be done. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Well, I've just about got that process refined and figured out, so get ready for a whole new dictionary, bitches.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And so So from

De'Vannon Seráphino: the 12 life, let me think about everything that you just said from the, you, you might not be a counselor and we might not be counselors, but I'm gonna tell you this, when you live through relationships, be they with your friends, lovers, whatever. I don't feel like since we're in this space, we got to give those disclaimers. I have them on my website and everything and you know, over my podcast for sure.

De'Vannon Seráphino: But damn it. When you live through some shit, you know, You know what you're talking about, and I feel like that we know what we're talking about better than a lot of [01:00:00]people with, who've been to school for it, because we lived through it. There's this meme that I was looking at on social media, talking about those of us who have survived narcissistic personality disorder abuse, how we got like PhDs and NPD because we had to learn about it to understand that we weren't going fucking crazy, and we know what the hell happened to us.

De'Vannon Seráphino: But we were like, Like, so we got this fucking credential, we know how to diagnose somebody, okay, but we didn't go to school for it, so it's not technically official, but goddammit, we know, and we also agree that the cost of that education was, was costly, but, but goddammit, we know it now, so, lived experience is worth more to me than somebody with a degree, but we gotta give the disclaimers and everything, because that's the world we live in.

De'Vannon Seráphino: In your 12 life lessons, you mentioned something about your take on insecurities and you told people these are your insecurities. You have ownership of them so [01:01:00]you can do with them what you will. This is the last thing that we're going to talk about before we switch over into the dad joke. So talk to us about insecurities and what you think about those.

Branch Isole: Well, we all have them. Nobody gets out of being insecure. That's just part of the process. Like I said, when we grow up, you know, in the world and out of the world, the world is very critical. And so None of us is perfect none of us has the perfect mind, the perfect body, all of those kind of things, so we're all carrying something with us that we've discovered about ourselves that we probably don't like a whole lot, or at least it bothers us enough to be that born, you know, back in the back of the brain, realizing that it's always there.

Branch Isole: And it's always ready to help make us [01:02:00] feel insecure even more. So we've all got them. Everybody's different. You know, I wish I was smarter. I wish I was taller. I wish I had hair. I wish, I wish, I wish I wasn't, you know, overweight. I wish I was popular. Whatever it may be, we all deal with insecurities.

Branch Isole: They come from our childhood. It's part of our identity, maybe not the one we want, the one we get at school, you know elementary and middle school children and students can be very harsh and critical of others. So we've all got them. And as long as you carry them with you. they will always hold you back.

Branch Isole: So just like in our forgiveness model of not forgetting, but forgiving those who trespassed against us somehow, Insecurity falls in that same vein. [01:03:00] We've got them and we've got them with us at all times. They're always in the back of our mind. So what do we do about them? You know, well, you have to overcome them.

Branch Isole: You have to get through it. You have to get over it. Somehow you've got to deal with your insecurity so that you can release yourself from the grasp of insecurity. That it holds you in. And as long as you've got that insecurity and it's a big part of your life, you're never going to be able to fulfill your dreams.

Branch Isole: It's that simple. It's a dream stopper. It's a progress stopper. Insecurities are a forward moving stopper. So what do you do? Well, you look at yourself and you realize, you know, I've got this issue that I don't like or that bothers me. Well, look around, you know, you'll find that everybody is dealing with [01:04:00] something.

Branch Isole: They're all trying to overcome something. They're all trying to put something out of their life. That's the wrong approach. I can't grow any taller, right? I can wish I was taller, but it's not going to happen. So I can't exert any energy or any time on, gee, maybe I'll grow two inches someday. Not going to happen.

Branch Isole: So I let it go. You know, I am who I am. This is my height that's never held me back up to now. So why should it hold me back going forward? And what you do is you start to build your confidence that your insecurity, It's not who you are. It doesn't make you who you are. If it's something that you can change, yeah, why not try and change it?

Branch Isole: Ultimately, you want to let go of it. Don't give it any more power. It's just like the abuse of people we're talking about. If you don't allow them [01:05:00] the power to do that, they won't do it. And if you have to extract them from your life, then maybe that's what you have to do. So the problem is, Insecurity is the base level at which we all start life, right?

Branch Isole: We come into life from first breath. We are dependent on somebody else. Unlike most of nature, right? The bird gets fed, gets big enough, they kick him out of the nest. You know, he either flies away or he hits the ground and he runs away. But you got to overcome the insecurity by letting go of the insecurity.

Branch Isole: Once you do that, because here's the 12 lessons. I'm going to read them off real quick, because I know you want to get it going. Responsibility, dependability, reliability. Accountability, credibility. Now, those are the base five, and they build up from insecurity. Number seven is risk. [01:06:00] The next ones at the top are commitment, trust, forgiveness, truth, and love.

Branch Isole: And so the idea when you start to grow in life is you're trying to scale this wall or go up this ladder, right? And so. Anytime you've got insecurity, it's going to hold you back. So if you're on a job and you have a responsibility and your insecurity gets in the way of you completing that responsibility, you know, you're not going to be pulling your weight.

Branch Isole: You're not going to be a team member. You may have to be let go from your job. So you let go of the insecurity and lo and behold, you can take on the responsibility. The more responsible you become, The more dependable you become, the more dependable you become, the more reliable you become, the more reliable you are, the more accountable [01:07:00] you are, and the more accountable you are, the more credibility you have.

Branch Isole: So you're growing and you're building upon these lessons of life that are thrown at you every day from different people, different circumstances, different events. This is why it's so difficult. You never know which one's coming next. So you get to the credibility part and you're dependable, reliable, credible, accountable.

Branch Isole: You're the sort of like the perfect employee or the perfect daily person in the relationship. All right, you get to that point and you'll notice that these are all heavily male oriented and career oriented. Kinds of, of lessons, right? Now you get them in your personal life too, but they're real career focused.

Branch Isole: This is the things you have to do to advance in your career. Then you get to number seven, which [01:08:00] is the kicker and it's risk. Okay. Well, do I want to risk? tackling these others, these more esoteric ones at the top, or am I comfortable just being, you know, this guy or this woman who is really dependable and credible and accountable?

Branch Isole: Okay, well, I want to keep growing, right? I want to be a better person. So I need to risk some of these things that I'm not so familiar with or don't handle as easily. And that is commitment. trust, forgiveness, truth, and love. Now you'll notice these have a whole different focus. The first ones were real male kind of oriented.

Branch Isole: The second group are very female leaning. Nurturing and nature. And so I say, okay, well, I'm, I'm want to keep growing. So I'm going to deal with the one about [01:09:00] commitment, right? And when I know what commitment looks like, then I can be trusted. So I'm going to deal with trust. And then when I know what trust is all about, I have the capacity forgive.

Branch Isole: And once I have the capacity forgive, I understand what love truly is. But to get to love, I have to come from truth. So these are the 12 lessons. And like I say, the problem is you go out the door in the morning, you're ready to tackle the world and bam, you know, you get one of these lessons and you're dealing with it and you're struggling with it.

Branch Isole: And all of a sudden, the guy cuts you off in front of you going to work and bam, there's another lesson, right? And it's never sequential. And you never know where it's coming from. Every person, every event, every circumstance you face during your daily life at work or at home has one of these lessons ready to take you on.

Branch Isole: [01:10:00] And if you're insecure, you know, you're going nowhere. That's just a simple fact. So you ditch the insecurities, you tackle the ones that you can tackle. And with each one you figure out, okay, how do I make this work for my benefit, for my best interest? Right? And as you become more responsible, more dependable, more reliable, more accountable, more credible, you can then risk taking on the ones that you may have not done so well within relationships in the past, because these are kind of relationship based.

Branch Isole: But again, it can be relationship at home or work, but these are the ones that are going to help you blossom. They're going to help you bloom as a person. You want to know how to be a better person tomorrow? To do two things, come from your highest loving self and come from the truth. If you will do those [01:11:00] two things with the people, the events, and the circumstances in your life, It's going to be hard at first because you've not done it your entire, you spent a whole lifetime avoiding being truthful or coming from your highest loving self.

Branch Isole: That's not what the world wants you to do. The world wants to keep you enslaved so that you struggle and you're stressed and you're pressured so that when you respond to people and when you behave to situations, It's always with this thought of what's in it for me, because that's the way of the world.

Branch Isole: The world wants you to think that the way you get ahead in this life and in your relationships is to crush every opponent, even if they're not your opponent. If you crush them all, then you get to the top. Well, we see how well that's worked for Trump, and that's just an aside. Okay, so you do the 12 lessons, but the 12 lessons [01:12:00] never end.

Branch Isole: It's a process. It's a life process. Because as long as you're breathing, you're going to have challenges to all of these things. character traits, right? But the more you not struggle with, the more you struggle with, and the more you overcome or figure out how these character traits work with you and for you, insecurity will be the last thing you've got on your mind.

Branch Isole: You'll be crushing it because you're coming from your highest loving self, and you're coming from the truth. And if you'll do those two things, None of these 12 lessons will ever hold you back. Why? Real simple. The one thing, the three things actually that everyone craves, right? Truth, approval, and love.

Branch Isole: That's at your core. That's what makes you operate the way you do. We all crave [01:13:00] truth because it's buried inside of us from creation. We all crave approval because, you know, we had to grow up in a family with parents and siblings, and that's how you prove your worth. approval. But down deep, we all crave love because that's what life is about.

Branch Isole: It's about sharing your life with other people who you care enough about to love unconditionally. Come from your highest loving self and come from the truth. Like I mentioned, will it be hard? Maybe. You haven't done that for most of your life or all of your life. So it's going to be different, but I will guarantee you one thing and Devanin and I can attest to it.

Branch Isole: When you come from those two places, a place of truth and a place of love, the interesting thing is, because the world craves love, and because the world is not a [01:14:00] place of love, and it's certainly not a place of truth, those who are afraid of or don't want the truth or love in their life will leave you.

Branch Isole: The one thing about people is they don't want to be confronted with the truth. They'll have every excuse, every lie, every fabrication they can come up with to avoid looking at the truth. And for people who refuse to look at the truth, look around you. You see that kind of behavior every day. everywhere.

Branch Isole: And it's not what God is about, and it's not what your life is about, and it's not what your relationships are supposed to be about. How do you come from truth? How do you come from your highest loving self? I hate to toot my own horn, but listen to my podcast. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: And you should know the truth and the truth should make you [01:15:00] free.

De'Vannon Seráphino: One thing I wanted to, one thing I wanted to mention before I get you to say a specific kind of prayer, usually I would give my guests like the last word, but this today I want you to do a specific prayer before we get over into our dad jokes. Yo, Branch mentioned, like, those masculine traits and those feminine traits.

De'Vannon Seráphino: I just wanted to remind you masculinity and femininity are more like, it's an energy, it's an essence, it's a spiritual thing. It's also, like, an action. So if to be masculine is more, Protective and feminine is more nurturing. It's, it's, those are not just feelings. That's something you have to do. And so everybody embodies all of this.

De'Vannon Seráphino: It's just that people who feel like they're, they're masculine tend to lean more towards that. And people who feel feminine team tend to lean more towards what people collectively have identified as these traits has nothing to do with your anatomy. It just, this is, this is, this is something you [01:16:00] have to do, you know, like, and feel, it's not just, like, an ideal.

De'Vannon Seráphino: This, this stood out to me because I was talking to somebody who's, like, non binary the other day, and I was talking about how, you know, like, I'm not really, like, on the spectrum. Me, personally, I don't know if I'd call myself, like, more masculine or feminine or non binary, I'm just aware. of masculine and feminine energies, how they can be beneficial.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And I draw on them all at will, you know, like the Lord told Moses from the burning bush, he said, I am that I am, you know, not male, not female, not whatever, you know, I know in Genesis, they say male and female, but then again, God said, he is that he is. So we've got a lot of options at our disposal here.

De'Vannon Seráphino: This particular non binary person though, Was like, they didn't feel like they specifically said that they don't have access to either, you know, the masculine or the feminine, which means that they're cut off, you know, they don't know, [01:17:00] it's like they're still trying to search and in that moment, I could see how unanchored that they are.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So when we're just sorting out ourselves and everything like that, for me, if I'm non binary, that just means because I feel like I'm like the perfect balance of masculine, feminine, I don't need to identify as either, as opposed to. being in this void space where I'm detached from both. So be careful, you know, people trying to figure out who you are, that you embrace masculine and feminine understanding.

De'Vannon Seráphino: You don't have to identify as either, but you need to know the power that's available within both. Don't get lost to trying to be so different or come from a space of not wanting to be like what you seem, but know who the fuck you are, but you gotta. Draw on these powers in some type of way, call it what you will, but everybody's got to be a little bit of a mix of all of these things here.

De'Vannon Seráphino: I would like you, [01:18:00] yeah, 

Branch Isole: we're all, we're all drawn to our strengths, right? I mean, that's where we are most comfortable, but the challenge is if we want to grow, we've got to find those other parts of us because they're in there. You know, these 12 are not exclusive. We all are interacting with these 12 all the time, every day.

Branch Isole: If we only go to our strengths, we're never going to grow. This is why you see so many wealthy people and entrepreneur. I see this on LinkedIn every day, you know, just maddening. It's all about this achievement and the money and the stuff and, you know, all using all of my strengths, but refusing to grow as a person.

Branch Isole: You know, we never know what goes on behind closed doors. And so the one who shines the [01:19:00] brightest at work may be the worst abuser behind closed doors. That's the person who's, you know, mastered to the max. The first six, but dare not look at the next five. And you know, go to your strengths, but use your strengths to help grow in these other places.

Branch Isole: The more you grow, the stronger you will be as a total person.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Amen. Amen. On a Thursday, Thursday night. So as we get ready to close this out, and I thank you for your time and your attention to detail and your descriptions of every, your descriptive word today, I'd like you to, I want you to pray a prayer for people who are the weakest among us. Now, this doesn't necessarily need to be like an altar call y [01:20:00] type of a prayer, but you know, whatever it is that you feel led to do, I want you to pray for the weak.

De'Vannon Seráphino: For people who are struggling to find out who the fuck they are. For people who are struggling to find their place in this world, for people overrun with insecurities, for people who are neither here nor there, I would like you to pray for the weak. If you would be so kind, then I'll ask you some dad jokes.

Branch Isole: Well, praying for the weak, that's all of us. You know, that's all of us. We are all strong and we're all weak. So this prayer is to anybody, you know, who, who wants the prayer. Lord in heaven. Maker of all things, judge of all men, we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness against thee and thy divine majesty, in thought, word, and deed.

Branch Isole: Have mercy on our souls. [01:21:00] Grant that we may hereafter walk in newness of life, with the light of the world, Jesus Christ lighting our way. For he is the power and the strength, he is the rock and the redeemer, he is the fortress and the shield. For all believers. Amen, brother. All 

De'Vannon Seráphino: right. Thank you, so today's na jokes come from men's health.com and the first one is, who were, he'll start with this one since we, to mention in politics a second ago, who were the greenest presidents in US history?

De'Vannon Seráphino: The what Presidents Green, who, which were, which were the greenest. Green? 

Branch Isole: The color green? Yeah. As, as in the green [01:22:00] party kind of 

De'Vannon Seráphino: thing? Oh, no. Just green. Just like, green, like a plant, or the color green, or just green. It's a dad joke now. It's just, loosely.

Branch Isole: Green. Wow. Teddy Roosevelt. Jimmy Carter.

Branch Isole: Alexander Hamilton

De'Vannon Seráphino: I did love that musical, but and no, the, the answer is actually the bushes.

Branch Isole: All right, I know where we're going.

Branch Isole: Yeah, the bush is hiding all those WMDs. Yeah, 

De'Vannon Seráphino: hiding [01:23:00] in the bushes. That's why they were the green is okay. Second 1, which which days of the week are the strongest

De'Vannon Seráphino: or which just which days are the strongest of all the 7.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Friday.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Why would you say Friday? 

Branch Isole: It's just the day everybody looks forward to. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Actually, the, I mean, that's, that's, that's a, that's a good logic and reasoning, but, actually, the answer is Saturday and Sunday because the rest of the days are week days, so they can't be the strongest. Okay, 0 for 

Branch Isole: 2, here we go, number 3.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Oh, most people don't get these because they're you, if [01:24:00] somebody was like high on weed or shrooms or LSD, they probably get these every time. But let's see. So they'd be 

Branch Isole: zoning. Yeah, they'd get it. Okay. Last one. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: So why did. Why did the man break up with his girlfriend who was a mathematician?

De'Vannon Seráphino: She had a bad 

Branch Isole: figure.

De'Vannon Seráphino: You know what? I'll give you that one because it's in, it's in the vein of the spirit of this, of this joke. So, cause there's no like one answer to a bad, to a dad joke. In my opinion, as long as it's in the spirit of it, I think that it counts. So I'll give you this one. So you'll be, you will have one. The answer on menshealth.

De'Vannon Seráphino: com was because she was obsessed with an ex.

De'Vannon Seráphino: But, what you said works too, because you had a bad figure, so it [01:25:00] all, because the X, the X in this case is, you know, a figure is a variable, so, so you get one, so yay. Y'all his website is branchesoleil. com. He's on Facebook, LinkedIn, and on YouTube. This, all of this will go in the showy notes as it always does.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Thank you so much Branch, for your encouragement, your truth, your depth, your honesty, your Christ like love, and your truth. Thank you so much for coming back on the show, and we shall have you again. 

Branch Isole: Thank you, my brother. I'll tell your audience if they want to follow, two unique podcasts, It's yours and mine, brother.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Well, I'm so happy to be able to say that. You know, now, now that you, there's your podcast host as well. Big dividends. I look for big dividends coming your way. Amen. 

Branch Isole: Thank you, [01:26:00] sir.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Thank you all so much for joining us today and for taking some time to invest into yourself and into the lives of your loved ones, please visit us at sex drugs and jesus. com and check out our resource page, our spiritual service offerings, my blog, my books, and other writings that God has partnered with me to create.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Find us on any social media platform, stay strong, my people, and just remember that everything is going to be all right.

De'Vannon Seráphino: