Time To Awaken

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This program is designed to provide general
information with regards to the subject matters covered.

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This information is given with the understanding
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legal counseling, professional service, or
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services of competent professionals before applying or
trying any suggested ideas. At the end

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of the day, it's not about
what you have or even what you've accomplished.

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It's about what you've done with those
accomplishments. It's about who you've lifted

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up, who you've made better.
It's about what you've given back. Denzel

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Washington, Welcome to Inspire Vision.
Our sole purpose is to elevate the lives

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of others and to inspire you to
do the same. Or Nate Rich,

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Welcome to the show. Hi Douc, thank you for having me. Hey,

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thanks for being on the show.
You know, I love what you're

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doing, and I think with what's
going on in the world today and so

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forth, that this is going to
be a very timely discussion, and what

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I'd love for you to do for
the audience is kind of explain who you

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are and kind of your story,
your journey to where you were at this

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point, some of the books that
you've written, and then we'll talk specifically

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about the most recent book that you've
written. I'm a mindfulness author. I

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am a mindfulness practitioner. And for
those that are listening and don't know what

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mindfulness is, mindfulness is the practice
of being in the present moment with total

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awareness. It's an inherent quality that
each and every one of us has,

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but we might not know how to
use it. And I teach people how

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to use this inherent quality, the
ability to be mindfully aware of themselves,

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their environment, to other and the
world. Basically, it's a heightened sense

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of awareness and it's good to be
very aware because of the times that we're

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in. There's a lot going on
in the world, as you know,

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and I think that the more aware
people are, the better they can navigate

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the difficult and shoppy waters of life
today. It has a lot of challenges.

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So I've written my last book,
Time to Awaken. It's really my

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fifth book if you include my journal, my Live True Journal. Lived True

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was a book that I wrote on
mindfulness and the authentic self, and it

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was voted as one of the top
one hundred mindfulness books by book authority.

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And I've been practicing mindfulness for many, many years. I was a life

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coach for over ten years. I
created a new niche of coaching called thought

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coaching because I felt that coaching life
coaching was rather broad, and as a

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life coach myself, I realized that
I was helping people come to understand their

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thinking mind better and to be able
to use thoughts that were serving their well

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being and know how to let go
of thoughts that were not. And that

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was based on my first book called
says Who, and I created a method,

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a cognitive method called the says Who
Method, which is a method for

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transforming negative and fear based thoughts.
So I've been practicing, teaching and writing

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about mindfulness for a very long time. I've done many workshops on mindfulness.

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I've been a keynote speaker around mindfulness. I've written for so many of the

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top magazines and journals on mindfulness.
So I've really been doing it for a

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very long time. I started with
the Huffington Post. I was one of

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their mindfulness experts. So it's been
a long journey and I'm still doing it.

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And I love it because it really
helps me help people come to understand

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how to become much more aware,
as I said, about themselves, about

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the thoughts that they have to understand, you know, the difference between negative

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and supportive and productive thoughts, how
to really cultivate a healthy thinking mind,

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and how to let go of thoughts
that really are no longer serving your well

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being. And I think that's pretty
much, you know, to keep you

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up to up to now about what
I've been doing. All right, So

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I'm curious what was what was that
moment or was it a gradual thing that

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brought you to really focus on mindfulness? What happened? Was there an experience

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you had or whatever that brought you
to this area of mindfulness and wanting to

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help people really experience that. Yes, I was very much on a psycho

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spiritual journey myself for a very long
time, you know. I embarked on

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that journey, you know, well
over thirty years ago, and I was

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an actress for ten years and a
screenwriter, and I wanted to learn different

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modalities of how to you know,
things like meditate and work with different modalities

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and therapies that could help me understand
myself better. It was something that I

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was very drawn to, and so
I learned, I studied, I got

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certified many different areas of in the
psycho spiritual world, if you will.

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I was a meditator while I was
an actress. I did transcendental meditation,

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which is also called TM meditation,
and it was incredibly helpful for me while

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I was an actress, and I
so benefited from being a meditator, But

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I wanted to learn different ways to
meditate, not just transcendental meditation, and

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I went into the area of mindfulness. I started to read a lot of

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books about mindfulness, and I decided
to become certified as a mindfulness meditation teacher,

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and I just loved it. I
thought it was incredibly helpful and useful

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and so abundant in how it can
really change your life when you become a

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much more conscious, aware, away
human being. So I became a life

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coach. As I said, I
did that for almost ten years, and

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my mindfulness work has really helped so
many people over the course of me working

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with it, and I just find
it to be incredibly beneficial and helpful for

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people. Well, and you know, it was interesting. I was reading

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an ratcle let me see if I
can pull it up here. It just

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came out yesterday and it was saying
that in a recent survey, sixty one

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percent of Americans say that their stress
levels are higher than ever, and fifty

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five claim that the level of stress
prevents them from enjoying life. And then

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it goes in and this cost of
living eighty percent, inflation, seventy three

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percent, personal finances, mental health
debt, physical health, home relationships,

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jobs, and so forth. So, you know, I found that fascinating

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to see where, you know,
there are so many things that are going

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on right now, and then we
talk about the wars that are going on,

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the conflicts and politically the anger that's
existing throughout the US and other places.

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It's creating such a situation for people. And you know, as you

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said, this great the world is
changing. How how do you feel that

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people can start to deal with these
issues in a way that's going to be

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mentally, emotionally as and it also
becomes physically healthy for them. You know,

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Doug, You're absolutely right, and
the world has changed, and it

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changed three years ago when we had
to deal with COVID and people went into

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their homes and they went into lockdowns
and they had to really change their lives

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radically, do you know, which
was highly unnatural. So people were already

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very stressed out about that. They
went into a heightened state of fear,

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which is a fight or flight state, and decisions were made in that state,

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and it affected everything from people's work, their home life, children,

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and education, you know, it
just across the board. This was unprecedented.

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So we had a very very heightened
sense of fear and concern and worry.

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And this type of emotional state that
people found themselves in created just unnatural

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spike levels of stress. So we've
already had that for the last three years,

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and just as we're trying to come
out of that, now there's a

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war in Israel and that's got people
really worked up about that. And you

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have a lot of political descent people
who are very polarized. This has been

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going on, as I said,
for the last three years, and now

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we are seeing it carry over into
the political mainstream where people are, you

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know, differing in their opinions about
you know, not only what they felt

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about COVID, but now it's about
a war. And even before the Israel

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war, it was the Ukraine War. So we've had just one thing after

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the next, you know, and
people can barely come up for air and

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they're being bombarded and blitzcreed daily.
By watching this on the news and seeing

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one horrific story after the next,
it can make people feel not only stressed

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and anxious and depressed, but rather
hopeless. Do you know? So this

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is a time where we really do
need to bump up our self care,

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which is why I think having an
awareness of what to do is very important

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and I try and teach that with
my mindfulness work, things like be very

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mindfully aware of how much news are
you watching, and be very mindfully aware

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of how much time you're spending on
your phone and your gadgets, and how

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much of this negativity are you allowing
to come in on a daily basis,

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and are you balancing that with other
things that are about self care and nurturing

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and calming down the nervous system.
Do you know? So people really need

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to understand that they are inundated with
negativity, and you know, all of

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these news stories that are frightening and
their negative and it's very fear agitating.

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It's a lot, it's a lot
for people to connect with. And yeah,

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it is, and as you said, you know, started with COVID

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and then it's just gone on and
on and on. And you mentioned one

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thing about this awareness, you know, and you're saying time to awaken and

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you know, be aware. How
how do you suggest so many people experience

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all of the stress in their lives, they're experiencing the fear, they're experiencing

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all of these dynamics, and I
think a lot of them feel really lost.

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And you mentioned one thing that really
struck me was when you're actually experiencing

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life, it's time to actually look
at that and go is this positive or

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is this negative? And how how
do you how do you help them to

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become aware and to be willing to
actually look at their life and go,

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you know what, this isn't right, This isn't the way I want to

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be able to live exactly. Well, first of all, a lot of

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people are feeling things and they don't
know why. Well, what I just

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mentioned, all the things that we've
been through over the last three years is

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a lot. So when people are
feeling different emotions and different feelings and feeling

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a sense of you know, even
depression or anxiety, they might not know

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it's because they've been inundated for the
last three years with so many things that

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are jarring to the nervous system.
Do you know? So, how I

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really try and encourage people to be
more aware is to understand, first of

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all, you're not the only one
that's going through this. This is something

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that I would venture to say,
millions of people are feeling. I mean,

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we've had a lot of very heavy
stuff happen over the last three years,

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which is why I really encourage the
balance of to make sure you don't

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just allow yourself to be consumed by
all of these negative news stories. Do

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you know so when you say they
feel lost, yes, they may feel

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very lost. But I want people
also to know that they're not alone because

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a lot of people also feel alone. They feel like they're in a vacuum,

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they feel like they're in this bubble, they feel like they're in this

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surreal you know movie that they want
to wake up the next day and go

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what happened to happier days? What
happened to the times when we weren't so

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stressed out with all of the things
that are happening in the world. And

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again, you know, these things
are happening, we have to acknowledge them.

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We have to understand that this is
happening in real time. But what

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I want to encourage people to do
is make a concerted effort to balance so

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that you are doing things that are
about encouraging being a more more aware of

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human being, aware of your health, aware of your stress levels, aware

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of are you in polarized dynamics with
people because you may not agree. So

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there's tension with friends and family members
and loved ones because we've become very polarized.

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You know, there's a lot of
political polarization. There's a lot of

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polarization about what people felt about the
pandemic. Do you know people should honor

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their own feelings. They should trust
that what they feel in their own hearts

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and in their own souls needs to
be paid attention to. That. You

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have a right to feel how you
feel, and you have a right to

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honor how you feel and be able
to ask questions. You know, share

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your feelings and your insights with the
people that you feel comfortable with and that

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you can trust. And we need
to have civil discourse. We need to

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be able to have conversations where we're
not arguing, where we don't feel like

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we're politically pulled apart from one another. I think it's more important now than

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ever before that we have to cultivate
healthy dynamics with people around us. When

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times are challenging, that's the time
when we need to really support one another.

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We need to nurture one another,
we need to understand one another.

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What you know, it's interesting,
as you said, you know COVID and

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probably just a little bit before that
too, But what would you say the

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foundation of this polarization has been.
Is it a generational situation? Because you

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know, in our generation you didn't
see quite this much polarization going on,

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and then as time has gone on, all of a sudden, we're seeing

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greater and greater polarization. And as
you say, it isn't just a matter

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of polarization, but it's a matter
of anger you see people now, you

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know, as you said, it's
one thing, you know, you and

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I may disagree on politics, we
may disagree on religion, we may disagree

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on all sorts of things. But
to be able to have a conversation and

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smile about that and being able to
understand the other person and give them the

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right to you know, feel and
think the way that they do, that's

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a different attitude than what we're experiencing. Now, what do you think broad

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about Is this a generational thing or
why all of a sudden is there such

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greater polarization going on. I don't
think it's a generational thing, per se,

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Doug, because I have the same
observation you have, and I was

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just talking about this recently. Why
is there so much anger? Why is

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there's such an expression of hatred?
Do you know? It's some I've never

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seen anything like it, do you
know? Now, let's just take I

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mean I saw it with I would
say I saw it during COVID. I

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saw a lot of people who had
different opinions about what was happening with COVID.

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You know, there were people that
were pro vaccine, people that were

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felt very connected to bodily autonomy and
natural immunity, and people were polarizing each

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other whether they were vaccinated or they
weren't vaccinated. And there was a lot

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of dissent and a lot of fighting
and arguing amongst family members and loved ones.

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So we already started seeing that come
about because again, we were in

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a very unnatural, unprecedented situation.
There was a declared pandemic globally and Not

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everybody had the same opinions about it. Not everybody had the same opinions about

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being locked down and about not being
able to go to work, or your

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children that were doing virtual learning and
you were still paying you know, school

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tuitions and their learning was cut in
half. You know, people felt resentful

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that they couldn't go back to work, or they were being vilified if they

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held certain personal health and or religious
beliefs about their health. So that already

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stirred up tremendous polarization. Now think
about how we start to pile things on.

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We've got that as this unprecedented situation
that polarized us. Then we had

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you know, we had the bl
riots that came right after that. Then

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I mean, I'm trying to do
the proper timeline here. Then we had

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the the you know, we pulled
out of Afghanistan, and then we had

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the Ukrainian the Ukraine War. Now
we're having the Israel War. It's like

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one thing being piled up on top
of the other. And what it's doing

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is it's getting people that much more
worked up. It's getting people that much

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more stuck in their position of beliefs, or their political beliefs or their you

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know, biases, because some people
feel that this is this way or the

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highway. So we're not we're talking
past each other, we're not even listening

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to each other. And I think
it's really important right now. This is

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what I subscribe to, and I
really did subscribe to this over the last

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couple of years. I didn't want
to just listen to people that agreed with

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me. I didn't want to just
listen to people that had the exact same

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opinions and beliefs, because I like
to grow and I like to learn about

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what someone else thinks and what someone
else feels. We can't live in these

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little bubbles, these little, you
know, vacuums that we only relate to

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people that think exactly like we think. You know, I think it's important

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to have civil discourse and be able
to hear why someone has a different opinion

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than you, whether you're on the
right of politics or the left of politics,

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or you're in the middle, or
you're one religion or another religion.

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I think the way a lot of
things are set up in life is to

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polarize us is to look at each
other like, well, you're the other,

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there's me, and then you're the
other, and if I don't agree

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with the other, that I'm going
to And now we live in a time

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where you can get you know,
censored and canceled, and you know,

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it's just these are very different times. And I think either you or I

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can remember growing up in do you
know, it's a real game changer.

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So back to what you said,
and I have the same observation as you

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the level of disrespect, the type
of anger that I'm seeing. I mean,

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I'm seeing specifically when you said generational
thing to what I'm seeing, let's

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say, on college campuses, you
know, as far as kids really expressing

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their feelings about the war in Israel. I'm seeing these young students at some

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of the most coveted colleges in the
country, and they're talking to each other

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so disrespectfully, you know, just
because they don't agree with one another,

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or they're viewing each other very judgmentally. Now you have to wonder like,

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is this something that is being taught. Is this something that is a type

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of indoctrination. Is it a type
of brainwashing? Is this coming from their

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own personal beliefs? Is this coming
from their own you know, biases or

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the way they grew up or what
they heard in the household. But it's

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really come to full exposure now and
I think that it makes us look at

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how far we've gone away from being
civil to one another. There's so much

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incivility today and I look at them
and I think, wow, we've really

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come such a such a far distance
from you know, a type of interaction

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and a type of you know,
utification as a humanity that I think it's

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important for us to really look at
and we each it's a comb that I

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believe for each and every one of
us to look at that within ourselves and

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where mindfulness just to bring mindfulness into
this point where mindfulness comes in so helpfully

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is that it's again it's awareness building. It means that if I'm going to

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say something to you and I don't
agree with you, how do I want

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to convey that to you? Do
I want to say it angrily? Do

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I want to be disrespectful? Or
do I want to say, hey,

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Doug, you know what, I
don't really agree with you about this point

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that you're making, and here's why, so that we can hear one another.

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And I think that if I do
that, if I make a concerted

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effort to be a more mindful communicator, and you make an effort to be

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a more mindful communicator. We're sending
that message out wide and far, and

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we will no longer accept this type
of interaction that seems so fueled with anger

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unnecessarily. Yeah, and it's interesting, I think, you know I,

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as I have researched and studied and
so forth. One of the comments that

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has really hit me for a long
time is people have this need to be

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right. It's just an eternal aspect
that they need to be right. And

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you know, so often you get
into these discussions and if you have two

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people that need to be right,
you've got fighting going on, You've got

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anger, you've got arguments, and
so forth. When you have two people

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that can you know, comfortably agree
to disagree, you respect the other person.

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You give them the right to have
their thoughts and their processes whatever that

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happens to be. But you don't
have this sense that you have to be

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right. So when we talk about
your book, Time to Awaken, and

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of course you know that is so
pertinent right now, what you talk about

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these college kids and what's going on
in these colleges, whether it's you know,

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the top colleges and on top colleges. It's going on everywhere. You've

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got the people that are just so
angry and so unkind and doing both you

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know, physical as well as verbal
type of situations. How how do we

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address that in a way to help
them to start to minimize that? I

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mean, how how do you take
me if I'm just all angry and so

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forth? How do you help me
to number one, be aware that you

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know that isn't healthy, number one? But number two, to start to

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make those changes. You know,
It's interesting because I do think that you

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know, those those interactions are so
heated and there's a lot of I don't

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know how much you've seen. I'm
on social media, but specifically on Instagram

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is the one that I'm on the
most. I really, you know,

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I don't go on x as much, and I don't really go on Facebook

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very much, but Instagram is the
one that I'm on the most, and

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I've seen just horrific, Like it's
it's verbal barbarism, is what I'm calling

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it. The way in which people
are these these especially these young adults.

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But you also see it at the
protests and the rallies, you know,

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and I'm just observing like, which
are the rallies that feel very that look

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very feeled with anger and even hate, And which are the rallies that are

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being conducted peacefully with civil you know, discourse, or you know the way

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in which people are are interacting.
And I think it's pretty obvious. I

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think all you have to do is
just watch. But if I'm to answer

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your question, if I'm interacting with
somebody who's really coming from a place of

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anger and coming from a place of
hey, I think what I would say

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is, why are you so angry? And why are you talking to me

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like I'm your enemy. I'm not
your enemy. None of us are the

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enemy we're talking about. You know
a lot of specifically what I'm bringing up

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is because of the war in Israel, you have a very divided narrative.

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You have the pro Palestinian narrative and
you have the pro Israel narrative. And

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I like to say I'm pro humanity, do you know what I mean?

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People feel very forced to take a
side, and if you take a side,

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you're attack for taking that side because
then you're opposing the other side.

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So it's like we're being set up
already. It's like this perfect, you

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know, storm if you will to
set yourself up to be adversarial with somebody,

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and I do think by you know, taking a breath, which is

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part of the mindfulness, you know
technique of you know, taking a pause

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and saying, what can I say
to this person who's really being radioactive and

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really coming from a place of anger
and hatred? What I would say?

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And it's really come up for me, just very spontaneously, for you asking

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me that question, I would ask
them, why are you speaking to me

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with so much anger and hate?
I'm not your enemy, do you know

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the we're not responsible for the war
in Israel? You know, taking that

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hate and anger at at one another
for a war that's happening in a country

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that we're not in. We can
feel deep compassion for all of the innocent

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civilians, the non combatants that are
have lost their life so tragically. It's

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heartbreaking. It's truly heartbreaking to see
that. But when you take that which

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should really evoke not anger and hatred, it should voke like compassion and a

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genuine feeling of sadness. And then
you're interacting with someone who's just fueled with

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anger and hate. They're missing the
whole point. They're they're actually recreating the

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very problem that is in a country
that's feuding, do you know what I

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mean? So it's like so the
macro micro, it's people recreating the very

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problem that they seem to be trying
to protest against, and they're doing the

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very thing with one another. It's
it doesn't make any sense at all.

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So I would try to reach that
person as best I could to say,

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is there a way that you could
express yourself that's not so full of anger

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and hate? Because really what you're
doing is you're recreating the very problem that

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you're feeling that's happening in that in
Israel. Do you know? Well?

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And you know what strikes me?
As I mentioned before with some of my

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other interviews, I'm actually in Thailand
right now. Oh wonderful. Oh yeah,

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And as fascinating as I'm getting to
know the culture and watching people who

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you know, and I think ninety
five percent of the people here are Buddhists,

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right, and yet they have just
such total respect. It was fascinating.

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I was visiting. I love to
take pictures, so I was going

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to different temples and getting pictures and
so forth. And I went to one

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and here was this beautiful Buddhist temple, and then off to the side was

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another beautiful building, and I asked
the guy, I said, what is

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that, and they go, well, that's the Muslim temple. And literally

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they had built a separate temple for
the Muslims so that they could worship very

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close to the Buddhist temple where people
are worshiping. And I thought to myself,

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Wow, we don't see that here
in the US, you know,

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No, You're so right, we
don't. And that's the kind of embracing

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of oneness, which is really one, you know, one of the tenets

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of Buddhism, that we're not separate
from each other, but that we're actually

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one and that we're unified. And
yet look at all this feuding, look

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at all this polarization. You bringing
up a Buddhist temple, which I'm you

356
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know, I've always loved the tenets
of Buddhism, which really is about you

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know, being connected and not feeling
separate from anyone or anything. So it

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would be lovely to be able to
coexist and being in an environment where we

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could all respect each other's differences,
each other's faiths, you know, whatever

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it is that that calls to us
that we don't want to hurt one another

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because of our differences, but we
want to embrace one another because we are

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really not separate in so many ways. We're actually more alike than we are

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separate. Well, and it really, it really, in my mind gets

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to this point of this individual work, and we're going to get into meditative.

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I want to talk about meditation a
bit here because what I'm finding is,

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you know, I tend to have
very much left brain, strong personality

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and so forth. And as I've
started to observe all of these people who

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are, for the most part,
there's always exceptions, but for the most

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part are experiencing life calmly, happily, regardless of what their circumstances are.

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And some of them are in really
tough circumstances. And as you say,

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as I've been looking at Buddhism as
well as other approaches, what comes to

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my mind is it really boils down
to me. It boils down to who

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am I and who am I becoming? And if I'm mindful enough to say

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you know what, you know,
I get frustrated, Well how do I

375
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how do I start to that?
And all of a sudden you get into

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this concept of meditation of how do
we change ourselves? Because I don't believe

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that we can change the world in
the environment of the world unless we're willing

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to change ourselves absolutely. And that's
why the path of you know, the

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spiritual path, of the mindful path
or being on the path of self realization

380
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if you will, is really about
to know oneself, you know, and

381
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that you take that journey within so
that you can understand yourself better. And

382
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again from the mindfulness perspective, is
that you become aware of your actions,

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your words, your deeds, your
behaviors, so that your participation in life

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is it a mindful approach to living? And are you being somebody who's coming

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from a place of kindness and compassion
towards others? You know? Again talking

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about the awareness being an aware human
being so that you take responsibility for how

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you are out in the world.
Mindfulness is like the informal practice of meditation.

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It's easy to sit in meditation for
twenty minutes or forty five minutes and

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quiet the mind and try to connect
and align yourself with something that holds greater

390
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meaning for you. But who are
you when you get off a yoga mat

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or the meditation pillow. You still
want to be a conscious human being.

392
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Well, that's right, and you
know we're talking we haven't even gotten into

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your book, Time to Awaken,
but probably we have conceptually. But what

394
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I mean, you wrote this book
for this time because you know how important

395
00:32:42.039 --> 00:32:45.599
that is. What what are some
of the points that you make in your

396
00:32:45.640 --> 00:32:52.720
book Time to Awaken that you feel
are so pertinent to what's going on right

397
00:32:52.759 --> 00:32:59.960
now? I really, I really
invite my reader to embark on the journey

398
00:33:00.039 --> 00:33:02.319
of awakening, which is another way
of saying as we're talking about, you

399
00:33:02.359 --> 00:33:07.200
know, if you want to talk
about Buddhism or mentioning that that it's the

400
00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:10.480
path of self awareness. And so
to be self aware, you have to

401
00:33:10.519 --> 00:33:15.039
be an awake human being. You
don't want to be in a semi conscious

402
00:33:15.079 --> 00:33:17.799
state. We're in a semi conscious
state when we're sleeping, you know.

403
00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:22.039
So we want to be in an
awake state in our awakened moments, so

404
00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:28.720
that we can be a very conscious, aware human being. And I wrote

405
00:33:28.759 --> 00:33:32.440
my book, you know, wanting
to understand what happened over the last three

406
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years, because so much a change, as we talked about earlier, the

407
00:33:36.920 --> 00:33:42.279
world has changed so radically. It
feels like we're just in a very different

408
00:33:42.279 --> 00:33:47.279
world today, so that I feel
that being awake is extremely important because of

409
00:33:47.319 --> 00:33:52.359
the changes that we've embarked on and
that they're going to be even more changes

410
00:33:52.440 --> 00:33:54.640
in the days to come. So
you don't want to be somebody who's like

411
00:33:54.720 --> 00:34:00.920
completely unaware and suddenly the world has
changed in so many ways and you're like,

412
00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:05.599
well, what just happened, you
know, because there's so many changes

413
00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:08.280
that we are seeing, and that
there will be more changes. We've got

414
00:34:08.679 --> 00:34:15.599
such advanced technology, we've got people
that are changing, and this polarization that

415
00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:19.800
you and I are talking about,
that it's more important to be aware and

416
00:34:19.880 --> 00:34:24.119
awake than now, more than ever
before, I believe, because of the

417
00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:29.320
fact that the world has changed so
much and it's going to keep on changing

418
00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:36.639
because we've moved so fast into these
advanced technologies that we're going to really see

419
00:34:36.679 --> 00:34:38.440
a lot of changes all around us. And I just want people to be

420
00:34:38.519 --> 00:34:47.480
prepared well. And you know,
you talk about fear and unconsciousness, and

421
00:34:47.880 --> 00:34:52.840
you know it's interesting. Yeah,
I've been you know you you you're into

422
00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:57.519
Instagram and I like that, and
you know, I look at some of

423
00:34:57.559 --> 00:35:01.599
the other ones. And I've been
watching a little bit of TikTok because I've

424
00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:09.800
been fascinated by sitting as an outside
observer seeing what's going on, and it

425
00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:14.199
fascinates me. Here's someone just talking
about fact fact, fact, fact,

426
00:35:14.199 --> 00:35:15.519
fact, and I you know,
I'll google and it's like, no,

427
00:35:16.039 --> 00:35:21.360
that's not true. You're saying something
is fact and it's not true. Or

428
00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:27.000
someone gets on a bandwagon, you
know, years ago, the vaccination,

429
00:35:27.199 --> 00:35:30.519
but even now, different things that
are going on and just hitting hard and

430
00:35:30.599 --> 00:35:37.400
hitting hard, and then people join
in. What's your thoughts about all of

431
00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:40.639
this going on? And you know, whether it's YouTube or whether it's you

432
00:35:40.679 --> 00:35:46.239
know, TikTok or Facebook or all
these social media is what is the effect

433
00:35:46.280 --> 00:35:54.719
of social media having on our awareness
and our mentality and our mindfulness. Well,

434
00:35:55.159 --> 00:36:00.239
you know, social media is a
great tool to use for connecting,

435
00:36:00.920 --> 00:36:07.000
so we can say that that it's
it's it allows us to connect with one

436
00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:10.360
another all over the world. So
that's a good thing, okay, But

437
00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:15.440
it's also like the information highway,
and it's also getting people a platform.

438
00:36:15.559 --> 00:36:20.760
So suddenly everybody's an expert. Everybody
can weigh in, everybody can say that

439
00:36:20.800 --> 00:36:22.719
they're an expert at this, and
they're an expert at that, and they're

440
00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:30.079
getting their information what they call facts
via TikTok or a YouTube, you know,

441
00:36:30.679 --> 00:36:36.360
and they can watch anything they want
that resonates to their particular biases or

442
00:36:36.440 --> 00:36:39.199
narratives, and they're like, well, I'm right and you're wrong, and

443
00:36:39.400 --> 00:36:44.280
I can then go on my platform
and I can espouse, you know,

444
00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:49.000
and pontificate all of these reasons why
I know for a fact that I'm right

445
00:36:49.360 --> 00:36:52.960
and everybody else is wrong. So, you know, it's I think it's

446
00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:55.880
both a very helpful tool, but
it can also be used as a weapon,

447
00:36:57.679 --> 00:37:01.039
and it's you know, it has
it has its dangers because of that,

448
00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:06.320
because it gives people a right to
just say whatever they want, and

449
00:37:06.360 --> 00:37:08.559
they wouldn't say that if they were
really physically in front of each other.

450
00:37:09.079 --> 00:37:13.440
They can say it because they know
they're in a safe zone and they can

451
00:37:13.519 --> 00:37:17.360
just say the most horrible, crazy
things and they're not going to have somebody

452
00:37:17.400 --> 00:37:21.440
that's going to come after them physically, do you know. So a lot

453
00:37:21.480 --> 00:37:25.719
of people use it consciously and a
lot of people use it unconsciously, and

454
00:37:25.760 --> 00:37:30.400
they abuse it and they misuse it. So we're seeing a lot of that.

455
00:37:30.519 --> 00:37:36.280
We're seeing a lot of everything at
this point. Well, there's a

456
00:37:36.320 --> 00:37:39.400
couple of words that you use as
I've done a little research here and I'd

457
00:37:39.400 --> 00:37:43.159
love for you to talk a little
bit about it. One, obviously,

458
00:37:43.239 --> 00:37:52.639
is AI virtual reality, transhumanism?
What are those concepts? Well, you

459
00:37:52.679 --> 00:37:58.880
know, Doug, when I was
really researching my book, I really want

460
00:37:58.920 --> 00:38:02.960
into areas that I I was curious
about because when I talk about advanced technology,

461
00:38:04.760 --> 00:38:07.920
we have so many things. I
mean, the world has just changed.

462
00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:12.079
It's like, whoa, what just
happened? Do you know? So

463
00:38:12.239 --> 00:38:15.199
you better be awake or else you're
going to miss the boat, is the

464
00:38:15.199 --> 00:38:19.719
way I look at it. And
in my research I wanted to understand like

465
00:38:19.760 --> 00:38:24.519
even something now with let's take the
film industry, there have been in negotiations

466
00:38:24.599 --> 00:38:30.199
because AI poses a threat for the
industry in that. An example would be

467
00:38:30.760 --> 00:38:40.559
that what is it that AI tool
chat GPT so GPT GP three that you

468
00:38:40.599 --> 00:38:45.039
can literally have chat have AI write
an entire book for you. You know,

469
00:38:45.239 --> 00:38:50.599
kids can do their entire thesis written
by AI. I mean, this

470
00:38:50.760 --> 00:38:55.800
is a huge game changer. So
when I researched AI artificial intelligence, you

471
00:38:55.840 --> 00:39:00.320
know, I know that you can. You know, there are positives out

472
00:39:00.480 --> 00:39:04.000
some of this technology that's being used
in the area in the medical field,

473
00:39:04.119 --> 00:39:07.599
it's being used in you know,
the science, the sciences, and all

474
00:39:07.679 --> 00:39:13.639
the areas of learning. But the
way in which it can really present a

475
00:39:13.679 --> 00:39:16.239
tremendous problem I think, you know, I quote even Elon Musk in my

476
00:39:16.320 --> 00:39:22.599
book, he says he feels that
AI can be, you know, a

477
00:39:22.760 --> 00:39:25.679
very dangerous thing and one of the
most dangerous things for our civilization in the

478
00:39:25.719 --> 00:39:32.320
next five years because it's advancing so
quickly. So if people aren't conscious going

479
00:39:32.360 --> 00:39:37.920
back to a mindful awareness, and
they're the ones that are building these virtual

480
00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:42.639
realities. You take someone like Zuckerberg, Mark Zuckerberg with Facebook and creating the

481
00:39:42.679 --> 00:39:47.599
metaverse. You know, what is
this rush to try and change the real

482
00:39:47.679 --> 00:39:52.440
world into a virtual reality? Why
is that so appealing? Why is there

483
00:39:52.519 --> 00:40:00.719
such a disgusted with being a human
being and being in human you know form.

484
00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:07.320
And when I researched things like transhumanism, I saw that it was you

485
00:40:07.320 --> 00:40:14.599
know, people that really are looking
forward to moving our universe into a very

486
00:40:14.639 --> 00:40:22.119
advanced technological state where we become almost
like supercomputers. And it sounds so science

487
00:40:22.119 --> 00:40:27.039
fiction. And the thing that I
also saw about it that was, you

488
00:40:27.079 --> 00:40:30.840
know, kind of I want to
say disturbing, is that a lot of

489
00:40:30.880 --> 00:40:36.920
people that are really subscribed to advancing
our technologies and moving us really into the

490
00:40:36.960 --> 00:40:43.039
future, is that they're they really
have no interest in anything spiritual. There

491
00:40:43.079 --> 00:40:47.599
A lot of them are atheists and
they don't believe in God or whatever you

492
00:40:47.639 --> 00:40:53.119
know that means to you or to
me, and they really feel that we

493
00:40:53.199 --> 00:40:59.440
need to advance ourselves so that we
can live forever, like a computer will

494
00:40:59.480 --> 00:41:04.440
be connected to the cloud and will
live forever. It's just this dystopian,

495
00:41:05.400 --> 00:41:09.920
science fiction esque vision of the future
that a lot of people that are in

496
00:41:10.039 --> 00:41:14.760
power feel that we should all live
like that. So when I said earlier

497
00:41:14.800 --> 00:41:20.039
about people need to wake up things
like with advanced technology, it can be

498
00:41:20.119 --> 00:41:23.400
that you go into a market and
they no longer take cash, and they've

499
00:41:23.440 --> 00:41:30.000
got these digital devices that you just
wave your hand over that there are theories

500
00:41:30.039 --> 00:41:35.760
that that could be about data mining, you know, that it's like surveillance,

501
00:41:36.360 --> 00:41:40.760
and these are not conspiracy theories anymore. The markets are changing. Public

502
00:41:40.800 --> 00:41:45.239
places. You're going into a concert, you're going into, you know,

503
00:41:45.280 --> 00:41:52.639
an aquarium, which I was in
recently. You know, it's it's types

504
00:41:52.679 --> 00:41:57.039
of tools that are being used that
look like you're in China. It's like

505
00:41:57.360 --> 00:42:02.519
cameras that have you know, serve
a balance technology, digital technology. Some

506
00:42:02.559 --> 00:42:06.239
people might go, well, what's
wrong with that? You know, and

507
00:42:06.920 --> 00:42:09.320
we're in the future, so so
big deal. But how far do you

508
00:42:09.400 --> 00:42:13.039
take it? Do you know?
Does that mean that we should all go

509
00:42:13.119 --> 00:42:17.480
be microchipped so that we could,
you know, do all sorts of things

510
00:42:17.519 --> 00:42:22.519
that look like a science fiction movie, so that it's a level of convenience

511
00:42:22.599 --> 00:42:25.719
the way we get through life.
I think we're in a very delicate balance

512
00:42:25.719 --> 00:42:30.239
in our humanity in that we are. You know, there's a great quote

513
00:42:30.239 --> 00:42:34.719
by I think it's Einstein. I
believe where he said, I don't I

514
00:42:34.719 --> 00:42:39.400
don't worry too much about the future
because it's already here. So yeah,

515
00:42:39.920 --> 00:42:44.719
we're already We're already in it.
It's already arrived, and I think we

516
00:42:44.920 --> 00:42:50.119
want to be very mindful about our
participation in it. What resonates for us,

517
00:42:50.159 --> 00:42:52.039
what doesn't resonate for us? And
I think that's why it's so important

518
00:42:52.079 --> 00:42:55.800
to be a good critical thinker and
think for yourself. You know, if

519
00:42:55.800 --> 00:42:59.880
you want to participate in life in
that way, or to make it just

520
00:43:00.039 --> 00:43:04.840
vision that you don't want to participate
in life that way. How much how

521
00:43:04.920 --> 00:43:12.440
much of this do you think is
people not really enjoying their life and wanting

522
00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:16.400
to create a better life in their
own mind, whatever that reality is for

523
00:43:16.480 --> 00:43:20.960
them. I mean, as you're
talking, I'm thinking, you know,

524
00:43:21.000 --> 00:43:28.920
what, life is so good and
we can experience such happiness and joy in

525
00:43:28.960 --> 00:43:34.599
our existence as it is now,
And why why this need to create this

526
00:43:34.760 --> 00:43:38.280
and to create that in as you
say, the transhumanism and the virtual reality

527
00:43:38.320 --> 00:43:42.800
and the AI and all of those
types of things. What's it going to

528
00:43:42.840 --> 00:43:47.360
create? It is we're going to
lose, We're going to lose the ability

529
00:43:47.400 --> 00:43:52.000
of who we really are. I
couldn't agree with you more. You know,

530
00:43:52.199 --> 00:43:57.679
do we want the convenience and the
you know, the sort of advancement

531
00:43:57.719 --> 00:44:00.320
of our technology so that we have
you know, that we live in this

532
00:44:00.880 --> 00:44:06.840
virtual reality that we don't have to
do, we don't have to contend with

533
00:44:07.079 --> 00:44:12.880
things that are rather beautiful about our
own evolution of the life and death cycle.

534
00:44:13.320 --> 00:44:15.480
You know, maybe people feel,
oh, well, it's going to

535
00:44:15.519 --> 00:44:17.960
be better. It's you know,
it's always this need to make something better.

536
00:44:19.360 --> 00:44:22.599
Let's make it better, Let's make
it more perfect, Let's make it

537
00:44:22.639 --> 00:44:25.920
more this, and make it more
that, and not really appreciating life for

538
00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:31.239
what it is. If we're so
busy trying to change that which is good,

539
00:44:31.320 --> 00:44:36.599
why can't we improve things that we
don't like. Let's improve pollution,

540
00:44:37.320 --> 00:44:43.679
Let's improve the way we're in which
we're robbing this planet of its natural resources,

541
00:44:43.760 --> 00:44:46.480
and we're doing things by polluting the
planet and hurting the planet. But

542
00:44:46.519 --> 00:44:52.039
instead what we want to like,
forget that and just create some virtual reality

543
00:44:52.119 --> 00:44:55.880
so that all this other stuff will
just magically go away. It seems very

544
00:44:55.920 --> 00:45:01.920
greedy to me. It seems very
selfish that we want to constantly reach for

545
00:45:02.039 --> 00:45:07.639
something that's just going to make all
the other stuff that we don't like go

546
00:45:07.760 --> 00:45:14.320
away, not take responsibility for it, and then create this advanced technology that

547
00:45:14.639 --> 00:45:19.440
is going to make us feel superhuman. It's very egoic for me. It's

548
00:45:19.559 --> 00:45:22.679
very much being in the ego.
And I think of a lot of the

549
00:45:22.719 --> 00:45:29.159
people that are behind these movements,
these futurist type of transhumanist movements. You

550
00:45:29.199 --> 00:45:34.039
know, a lot of them are
extremely wealthy people. You know they can

551
00:45:34.119 --> 00:45:37.039
afford to I mean I know.
I read in my research of my book

552
00:45:37.079 --> 00:45:43.360
that Mark Zuckerberg has a robot called
Jarvis that he's you know, he can

553
00:45:43.440 --> 00:45:49.320
afford to create a robot for himself, and he's called it his intellectual equal.

554
00:45:50.400 --> 00:45:52.880
It's like, oh, I guess
you know, the robot is more

555
00:45:53.079 --> 00:45:58.639
your intellectual equal than a human being. So I can't get into the heads

556
00:45:58.639 --> 00:46:01.199
and minds of these people that,
you know, as wealthy as they are,

557
00:46:01.320 --> 00:46:04.880
if that's their vision of the future. You know what, Doug,

558
00:46:04.960 --> 00:46:07.159
it's not my vision of the future. And I think that's why it's important

559
00:46:07.199 --> 00:46:10.800
to think for yourself. That's why
it's important to be awake and to be

560
00:46:10.880 --> 00:46:15.719
aware and to be a good critical
thinker and say, I don't resonate to

561
00:46:15.760 --> 00:46:17.440
that at all. That doesn't call
to me at all. I don't want

562
00:46:17.440 --> 00:46:21.320
to live like that. You know, we have to say in the matter,

563
00:46:22.480 --> 00:46:27.159
Well, and so what is your
message? What is your message to

564
00:46:27.199 --> 00:46:32.599
the audience that's listening to this podcast
as we finish up today, What would

565
00:46:32.599 --> 00:46:37.519
be the message that you want to
share with them. I think the message

566
00:46:37.559 --> 00:46:44.840
that I really want to share with
people is to get in touch with who

567
00:46:44.920 --> 00:46:49.440
you are, you know, get
in touch with your authentic self. You

568
00:46:49.480 --> 00:46:53.079
know, advocate for yourself. You
know, come to know who you are

569
00:46:53.480 --> 00:47:01.719
and that you're a sovereign human being
who has the right to live this life

570
00:47:01.800 --> 00:47:06.360
out the way you want to live
it out. But you need to know

571
00:47:06.400 --> 00:47:10.039
what that means for you, and
so it's important to be aware of what

572
00:47:10.079 --> 00:47:14.199
that means for you so that you
can look at the things that you and

573
00:47:14.280 --> 00:47:17.719
I talked about today and say,
yes, I agree with that, or

574
00:47:17.840 --> 00:47:21.840
no, I don't want to live
my life like that, And I have

575
00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:27.079
a right to live my life and
have agency over myself and live my life

576
00:47:27.079 --> 00:47:30.679
in the way that it feels really
authentic to me. It doesn't matter what

577
00:47:30.760 --> 00:47:34.320
other people are doing. You don't
need to follow the herd. We're not

578
00:47:34.599 --> 00:47:38.039
cheap. We don't need to go
along with what everybody else thinks is in

579
00:47:38.159 --> 00:47:44.800
vogue right now when it doesn't ring
true for us. So have a mindful

580
00:47:44.840 --> 00:47:51.480
awareness of your true, authentic self
and live that life and know that you

581
00:47:51.639 --> 00:47:55.440
deserve to live that life. But
really listen to what is being said and

582
00:47:55.599 --> 00:48:00.719
listen to the changes that you're observing
so that you can have a better sense

583
00:48:00.719 --> 00:48:06.000
of what they are and that you
can decide for yourself whether you want to

584
00:48:06.000 --> 00:48:09.400
go along with these narratives or that
you don't, and that you can live

585
00:48:09.440 --> 00:48:15.239
the life that you want to live
for yourself, live the authentic life you

586
00:48:15.320 --> 00:48:21.239
deserve that in your lifetime. Well
said, So, how do the folks

587
00:48:21.280 --> 00:48:24.280
find your books and how do they
find you? They can go to my

588
00:48:24.360 --> 00:48:29.239
website or a nidrich dot com and
if they want to order my books,

589
00:48:29.880 --> 00:48:35.679
Amazon is always the fastest way to
get them. All right, or thank

590
00:48:35.719 --> 00:48:38.400
you so much. This has been
a fascinating conversation. Oh my goodness,

591
00:48:38.159 --> 00:48:43.559
there's so much going on, and
you know it's I'm not sure there's a

592
00:48:43.599 --> 00:48:47.639
solution, but I think you've hit
on the point. The solution is the

593
00:48:47.760 --> 00:48:54.719
self and starting to really become who
you truly are and understanding who you really

594
00:48:54.800 --> 00:49:00.199
are. Absolutely, yes, that's
exactly right. Thank you. I appreciate

595
00:49:00.199 --> 00:49:04.719
you being on the show. Thanks
so much, folks, thanks for listening.

596
00:49:05.440 --> 00:49:08.480
I hope that you'll really get involved
in this and start to really create

597
00:49:08.559 --> 00:49:14.800
that curiosity within yourself to think about
how it is that you can get out

598
00:49:14.840 --> 00:49:20.840
of this sense of fear and really
become and understand who you are and allow

599
00:49:21.000 --> 00:49:23.679
other people the same. Right.
So thanks for listening. Hope you'll join

600
00:49:23.719 --> 00:49:28.039
with us soon. This is doctor
Doug saying have a wonderful week.