Unmasking Our True Selves

Have you ever felt the post-holiday slump, especially when Christmas hits smack in the middle of the week? Join me on Leo's Liberation as we navigate the hilarity and chaos of holiday timing, recounting tales of festive indulgences and the inevitable quest for gym redemption. From food comas to movie marathons and gaming sprees, I share my winter break adventures while humorously contemplating the shift in couple gifting—from luxurious to practical choices, like choosing a new gun over a dishwasher. Plus, a heartfelt shoutout to our Jewish listeners celebrating Hanukkah and reflections on the challenge of finding peace during a busy holiday season.

As we flip the calendar to a new year, let's ponder the dance between our professional personas and true selves, akin to the duality of David Banner and the Hulk. Drawing from my past life as a police officer, I unravel the complex web of maintaining authenticity while fulfilling roles that often demand an alter ego. It's a journey of self-reflection and a call to shed societal masks, embracing our core values free from the noise of social media. Tune in for a thought-provoking shower inspiration as we set the stage for our next episode on discovering truth.

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:04

Welcome to Leo's Liberation. I'm your host, dre, and welcome to the Friday after Christmas. Before we get started, I do want to apologize for that last episode. I noticed during editing there were a lot of up and down pitches in there. Some sounded like I was probably yelling in your ear, some of it probably sounded like I was moving back. I don't know if I was fidgety or what was going on, but yeah, that episode had a few issues with sound and I will do better to actually kind of conquer that this episode.

Speaker 1 0:33

Um, I do hope that the holiday was a relaxing one If you were off and at home or out of town. Um, if you had to work. I hope that everyone you encountered was in good spirits and I hope that they did make your life a little bit easier that day. Um, but you know I do have to talk about this. Uh, this way the holidays are set up on the calendar this year. A moment of honesty, if you will.

Speaker 1 0:54

I'm definitely the guy that says a day off is a day off. Um, I don't care when it is, I'll take it. Um, time off is more precious than anything, cause that's time that you have to family, friends and yourself, but you know it's for that holiday just to land in the middle of the week. It's just not my, it's not my favorite because you know, christmas in the middle of the week versus the beginning or the end of the week, that is just not my design or the setup that I would like. I like that three day, four day weekend because I think that's where you really get to kind of let things go. But you know, woke up this morning and it felt like a freaking Monday. I actually woke up thinking trash, I had to go out and all sorts of stuff. So I will definitely say, a holiday in the middle of the week does kind of throw you off, especially a great grand holiday like Christmas. You just kind of expect a longer time off. But you know, silly me for not taking vacation, right, um, but you know I was thankful to have it off. But, um, yeah again, just definitely not my setup. So I'll, I'll stop beating that dead horse for you guys, um, but you know, nonetheless, uh, the Christmas holiday for us it was a somewhat and I'll get to the somewhat part here in a few but it was lazy and relaxing, with a few moments of tension and that was all on me.

Speaker 1 2:06

I think Krampus had me by the coin purse this year, as discussed. You know, we did eat, we slept, we watched movies and we'd wake up, shower, do whatever, and we'd wash, rinse, repeat, which means we ate, slept and watch more movies than TV. Um, I didn't manage to sneak in some gaming as well, but you know, that's kind of therapeutic. Who doesn't love a good game of Dungeons and Dragons, right, um, yeah, nerd alert. So, uh, pretty sure I will uh need to visit the gym when this is all over with, though, because I'm pretty sure I definitely ate my weight in food over the past couple of days, which I've been doing so good until this point. But you know the goal was to be lazy and eat whatever we wanted, and that's exactly what we did. So I was not going to compromise on that Ginger snap cookies. If there's any fans out there with that stuff, best thing in the world, I tell you, oh, my gosh. Um. So anyway, uh, I will need the gym, and you know there's that there's that inflection again, but I will need the gym, um, after after all, this is over with.

Speaker 1 2:59

So, um, but, yeah, this year, uh, you know we did keep the gifts light, um, but I did say that we are starting to make great decisions because, instead of buying a new dishwasher for ourselves, you know, every year we try to do like couples gifts. We no longer do the. I think we're out of the phase of this year gift. That's my gift, I think. After you've been together for so long, I think you kind of look just for gifts that you can get together and you know we definitely need a new dishwasher. I think we've been with that one for a long time. But no, we decided to buy a gun this year, so that was our dishwasher. So, yay, smart decisions, right. But you do have to treat yourself, and that's at least what I hear.

Speaker 1 3:37

But you know, the world did feel quiet, as expected. But you know, I think my big challenge for this Christmas holiday was definitely keeping my mind quiet for the duration of the weekend. Um, I do suffer from idle hands and idle mind, kind of being the devil's play thing, and that's in a good way, in a bad way sometimes, depending on, uh, what day of the week it is and kind of where I'm at and what I'm doing. But, um, idle hands, idle mind I'm definitely not the guy to to have that issue. Um, yeah, things happen, usually things I can turn around and laugh at and no one gets hurt, but things do happen. So, you know which you know. This kind of leads me to my point on.

Speaker 1 4:14

You know, this Friday, and before I move any further, I do want to go ahead and say happy Hanukkah to all those celebrating. I do believe that it started at sundown on Christmas Day and it ends on January 2nd, but you know, it's been a busy year for the Jewish community, but then again it's been a busy year, or I should say a busy four years, for all of us. Um, so, as we always are, you know, we're looking forward to a fresh start. Um, so onto the thought for this Friday. Truth, literally. Uh, thought about this while I was showering before this podcast, and I can go down a rabbit hole on this one, but we like to try to keep the energy on a positive level. But I will ask for forgiveness if I do sway a bit, which I don't think I will, but just in case I do, I ask for your forgiveness.

Speaker 1 5:00

So, truth, I think we always say live in your truth. What does this mean to you? You know we always have these, like these sayings and I think people just say things because most of it's just us repeating stuff, but do we ever think about what they truly do mean to us and why we start saying these things? Some people adopt phrases because it really does mean something to them. You know some significant part of their life, but you know what does this mean to you? To live in your truth? You know, a few episodes ago I described the podcast as a way of self-discovery, and not only for me but for anyone who can listen and leave with a positive takeaway or negative takeaway, whichever encourages self-growth.

Speaker 1 5:42

Living in your truth is about truly knowing yourself, versus what the world wants from you or how they want to see you, and this is easier said than done. To live in your truth 100% of the time. There's some people who think you should do this 100% of the time, but let's be realistic here, guys. I think in the sense of conformity and moving along in society and actually advancing in society. You know, living in your truth 100% of the time sometimes ain't all that possible, and I'm not talking about, you know, some of the more serious situations, but I think I'm aiming at people who may be more free-spirited to kind of be themselves 100% of the time, which is great for you, I'm happy for you Do that.

Speaker 1 6:18

But having to swap this out, that's just that blessing and curse of being a social creature. And I'm not saying that it's impossible, I'm just saying for some of us it does require some practice, consistency and balance. And you know this means that you know this may require a little bit of work and you know I'm one of those people who requires work with. So when I say this, I'm not talking to the free spirit. Yet again, we guys know, you guys got it, you got it nailed down. You can be who you want to be and I'm definitely proud and happy for you. But you know, I will say, even free spirits sacrifice a bit of who they truly are just to meet those social norms, in a way not to offend or be shunned.

Speaker 1 6:56

And this unfortunate balance is required for those that serve. And when I say unfortunate balance, I'm talking about that balance of you know, that practicing consistency, and that balance of living your truth, the real you, versus the people, the face that everyone sees at work or out in public. But the unfortunate balance is required for those that serve and you know, like your military, your public safety, in the medical field. Those are just to name a few. I'm not saying these are the only professions, but you know these individuals, you know they kind of they have what you would call an alter ego. And I'm not saying this is the only profession.

Speaker 1 7:31

With this, with this issue, I think we all do it, um, and I think it's almost innate in a sense, to where you don't really realize that you're even doing it. But you know there's plenty of professions and lifestyles that sacrifice some part of their true selves, um, or their true values, for the betterment of the world, society, their family, whatever the case may be. There's a little bit of sacrifice, give and take, if you will. That has to happen. So you know this little tug of war with personalities as you try to harmonize those two lives.

Speaker 1 7:57

You know, believe it or not, this can be mentally and emotionally taxing on some people and I think I kind of live there at one point where it was just very taxing on me to kind of balance. You know more than one life and it's not saying that I'm lying to one person more so than the other, but you know one job or one part of you know how I live may require me to be a different way to kind of get things done, whether to help people or to stop people, or to get a job done, depending on how difficult it is. So, yeah, you know I used to be a police officer. So you know you definitely have an alter ego in that profession and you know there's a person at work and there's a person at home. You don't mix the two because you know that in most cases is unhealthy. So I will just say, you know, earlier I did mention that you know, um, that the Christmas holiday was somewhat relaxing or lazy, um, and that's because I found myself bored.

Speaker 1 8:51

You know, I've been going on fairly nonstop for most of the year, much to my fault, because I should know when to take a break, right Um, to have a day where I could literally turn things off. I found this a bit difficult and, believe me, there was plenty of inner dialogue happening, um, but somehow the work version of me didn't allow the real me to take over and just relax. And anyone who knows me knows that I'm a superhero fan. And here comes that analogy it was like david banner struggling for control from the hulk, and I feel better that I actually just made a nerd reference, which is great, um, but you know, as christmas day, down back to the point, but as Christmas Day wound down, I did return to a normal mood and I'm not sure if this was because I was more back into a work mindset now, or at least getting ready to go back into one.

Speaker 1 9:34

But I don't know much about anything people, but I do pay attention to myself and I know myself, or try to learn and know myself more and more each day, and I know that at work you know Dre is not present. Those of you who know me, you've seen me, you've seen me out in public and you've seen how fun I can be and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm not going to get into the details of it, but you know the other guy, that's the one that pays the bills, that's the one that contributes to society and pays the bills and keeps things moving. But me, the world, me, me. The world perspective, the contributions to society, the socialization and all the other good stuff is a part of that balance that I was talking about, and I think I just had a little bit of a glitch over the holiday.

Speaker 1 10:19

So you know, as I look at us moving into the new year, not sure how much of that little anecdote I just shared had anything to do with living in my truth, but somehow it it sounded right to me. But anyhow, as I look at us moving into the new year, this was a bit of a wake up call to basically stop dividing and separating lives. Balancing things out has become a task within itself and you know that my friends actually creates a silent killer in all of us and I, uh, you know that my friends actually creates a silent killer in all of us, and I think you know what I'm talking about. So, basically, um challenge for the weekend look inward and find your truth, find what you as a sole individual value in life, and the fun part about this is Try it without Googling or using social media. But sit there, you know, because, well, I say don't use social media or the Internet in general, because unfortunately, social media, the Internet, all this stuff basically is, you know, being social creatures and all this is just how we're designed. But you know, this influences what you believe in, what you value, and I'm not here to do that. I just want you to take a moment, you know, in the shower in your car, driving while you're taking down a Christmas decorations, and seriously have that talk with yourself, that inner dialogue. No one has to know you're doing it and you know, take a look at what you intrinsic, intrinsically value as a uh, as a, as an individual, as a person, as a human being. Um, it can be one thing or it can be several. Me personally, I like to start small and expand as I work to understand how things fit into my life. But you know, take that challenge and I look forward to seeing how this works out for you guys.

Speaker 1 11:49

And you can find me on Facebook if you actually search under Back Porch Banner. Or you can go to leosliberationbuzzsproutcom and leave a few notes if you feel like it. But you know, please follow me on whatever platform you're listening to this podcast on. Give me a like, a rating, and you know I'll talk with you folks here on Monday. I'm Dre, I'm going to be signing off another episode of Leo's Liberation. Take care of yourself and each other. Have a great one, guys. Thank you.