July 2, 2025
Finding Grace When Everything Goes Wrong: Lessons in Gratitude
Breaking a streak of bad luck doesn't require perfect circumstances – it demands a perspective shift that transforms how we experience life's inevitable challenges. As I celebrate the milestone of 260 episodes spanning five consecutive years of Share the Struggle, I find myself reflecting on a chaotic 24-hour period that perfectly illustrates this truth. From malfunctioning equipment and surprise mortgage payments to vehicle breakdowns, the universe seemed determined to test my resilience. Y...
Breaking a streak of bad luck doesn't require perfect circumstances – it demands a perspective shift that transforms how we experience life's inevitable challenges. As I celebrate the milestone of 260 episodes spanning five consecutive years of Share the Struggle, I find myself reflecting on a chaotic 24-hour period that perfectly illustrates this truth.
From malfunctioning equipment and surprise mortgage payments to vehicle breakdowns, the universe seemed determined to test my resilience. Yet through each frustrating moment, I discovered pockets of gratitude hiding in plain sight – the blessing of finding mechanical problems before they stranded my family on a lengthy road trip, meaningful conversations that might never have happened otherwise, and precious moments with my daughter that I'll cherish forever.
The hardest lesson I've learned since losing my father is captured in a simple phrase: "What I wouldn't do to do something I didn't want to do." Those frustrating chores and difficult interactions I once dreaded with him? I'd give anything to experience them again. This perspective has transformed how I approach daily challenges, reminding me that today's annoyances might become tomorrow's cherished memories.
We often postpone our happiness with phrases like "I'll be happy when..." or "I'll enjoy it when..." – dangerous mindsets that defer joy to some idealized future that may never arrive. Life doesn't have to be perfect for us to enjoy it. Perfect doesn't exist. The key is finding ways to celebrate milestones and count blessings even in imperfect moments.
Whether you're facing your own streak of bad luck or simply navigating life's everyday challenges, remember that the choice is yours – you can go through it or grow through it. Struggle becomes strength when we approach it with gratitude, perspective, and faith. As we mark five years of this podcast journey together, I'm grateful for every listener who has shared in the struggle – and the growth – alongside me.
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00:00 - Breaking the Bad Luck Streak
04:23 - Celebrating Five Years of Podcasting
09:33 - The 24-Hour Chaos Begins
18:47 - Missed Mortgage and Bus Troubles
32:02 - Finding Gratitude in Difficult Moments
41:19 - Life is Difficult: Get Over It
46:07 - Don't Wait to Be Happy
WEBVTT
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Have you ever had a bad day, maybe a bad couple of days?
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What about a bad week?
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Or even a bad month?
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What do you do?
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How do you get over it?
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How do you pack up?
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How do you move on?
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Let's just say I've been dealing with my fair share of bad luck and today we're going to break the streak, we're going to bust the slump and I'm going to tell you how to put bad luck in the dump.
00:00:28.786 --> 00:00:32.134
Let me tell you something Everybody struggles.
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The difference is some people choose to go through it and some choose to grow through it.
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The choice is completely yours.
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Which one you choose will have a very profound effect on the way you live your life.
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If you find strength in the struggle, then this podcast is for you.
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Do you have a relationship that is comfortable with uncomfortable conversations?
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Uncomfortable conversations challenge you, humble you and they build you.
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When you sprinkle a little time and distance on it, it all makes sense.
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Most disagreements, they stem from our own insecurities.
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You are right where you need to be.
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What it do, what it do Hot diddity.
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Damn Good, lord almighty, am I so excited to be back with you.
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Oh, it's true.
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It is damn true, because I miss you, boo, episode 260.
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Two, six, hey, you know what that means by the art of bus math.
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If I were to take the number 260 and let's say we divided it Actually, let's not do that Division might not be my thing.
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I'm not here to divide, I'm here to unite.
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I'm here to multiply, okay, I am here to multiply positive vibes.
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So if I ask of you to take 52, because, why 52?
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Because there's 52 weeks in a year, am I right?
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52 weeks?
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That's how that works.
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I know it's how it works.
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Take 52, if you would, my good man, my fair lady, if you would take 52 and times it by five.
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Why five?
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Because five would signify five beautiful, long, luscious years.
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52 times 5 gives to you 260.
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Y'all, do you believe it?
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We achieved it 2-6-0.
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Now, I may be mistaken here, but by the art of bus math, 52 weeks in a year times 5 years gives me 260 episodes In a year.
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Times five years gives me 260 episodes.
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That means we have reached five consecutive years of Share, the Struggle podcast, this little spiritual journey that we started all the way back in the pandemic because we just could not deal with not being together.
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I could not handle not being with all y'all, could not handle not being with all y'all.
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So we started this show as a way to stick together, as a way to spread a positive vibe and to grow a positive tribe.
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And here we are, five long years later, boys and girls, I am proud to say we have not missed one weekly episode for five long years.
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That means that you can tune in to share the struggle podcast.
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One episode a week for five years and if you keep listening to the show, you could technically do two weeks or episodes a week for, you know, five more years if you want it.
00:04:07.460 --> 00:04:08.907
Because we're just going to keep this thing a-rolling.
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Okay, we're just going to keep this show rocking and rolling.
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I got no plans of letting it go, because I have heard from many of you and I've seen good growth over the past few months.
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We've got a lot of new listeners joining us, so I just wanted to say welcome aboard to all the new listeners.
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Choo-choo, climb on in.
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We are leaving the station and I must take the opportunity to put my ones up To all you listening out there, to all the loyal ones, to all the day ones.
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I know who you are.
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There's a bunch of you listening right now that you've been here since July 2020.
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You were here all the way back in episode one and here we are on 260.
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I acknowledge you, I love you and I appreciate you.
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Put your ones up, celebrate it with me, because if it wasn't for you, there wouldn't be an us.
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I'm here because of you.
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I'm keeping this show rocking and rolling because of you.
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260 episodes, that is one episode a week for five long, beautiful years.
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Oh, there he is, yeah, yeah, it's me, your favorite little character.
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Here I am.
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Yeah, I'm the mom from Nutty Professor and I'm here to say look at him, oh, congratulations.
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Look at him celebrating.
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You guys, you can't see him Because he's not on video, but he's, he's cheesing, he's a big cheese ball With his Budgy little fists and little biceps and his big old cheeks and smiling Cheers.
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Congratulations, big Ears.
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Yeah, he did it.
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Woo, we did it, 260.
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And your face, I don't know that was for, but there's some people out there those are for the doubters and the haters out there.
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I mean, we got to.
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Every once in a while you're going to, you got to rub the dowels in it.
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Okay, I'm clearly off the tracks, but it's hot and I'm recording in the garage.
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I'm sweating a little bit because I'm off schedule.
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I'm off kilter.
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I've been going through it.
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Okay, I've been dealing with some stuff.
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Y'all Things haven't been going according to plan, but I wasn't going to leave this streak unattended.
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Okay, I wasn't going to miss our consecutive streak for five freaking years.
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Because I'm getting dealt a little bad hand, because I'm experiencing some bad luck no, I don't give a.
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Hmm, he's a bad mother.
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Watch your mouth.
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See that what I did right there, I almost swore, because you know what rhymes with luck and you know I love to say it, but I'm turning a new leaf.
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I'm trying to do better y'all.
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I know you don't believe it.
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I probably don't believe it either, but the reason I'm saying all this is because I've been dealt a little bad luck.
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Maybe I earned some bad luck, maybe I deserve some bad luck, but I've been going through it, okay, and I don't want to just paint a big old, nasty recipe here.
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I don't want to just open the floodgates on the poop tank of luck I've been going through.
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So, no, I'm just going to share with you like a 24-hour period to kind of set the scene, to pave the road, to paint the picture, to make sure the story's told.
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Okay, that's what we're going to be doing here.
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We're not talking about woe is me and oh, my goodness, wow, wah, wah.
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That's not what we're talking about.
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I'm also not talking about big depressing stuff.
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Okay, I'm not talking about medical diagnosis.
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I'm not talking about difficult decisions.
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I'm not talking about that.
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I'm just talking about shit.
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I can't believe that went wrong again, type of stuff.
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And I'm saying this because I know of all of you listening, none of us are immune to bad luck.
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None of us are immune to a little bullshit.
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All right, I can still say shit.
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I think that's fair enough.
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I mean, I'm not.
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I'm not a saint.
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Okay, I'm trying to lay back on the F-bombs so they have a little more impact, but I'm still going to say shit.
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All right, anyways, so they have a little more impact, but I'm still going to say shit, all right.
00:08:05.505 --> 00:08:06.867
Anyways, here's the thing, y'all.
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We're not talking about depressing stuff, we're just talking about son of a C biscuit.
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I can't believe that keeps happening, all right, so let's just take you through like a 24, 36-hour type of scenario, just for you to understand what's going on.
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So I'm going to roll the curtain back to Sunday.
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I'm in the office working.
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Our schedule is about to get pretty crazy, right?
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We've got some big events coming up, we've got some craziness happening, and so I'm in the office just plugging ahead trying to get as much stuff done as possible.
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If you've been listening on, you know this year is a little different for us because financially I wasn't able to prepare like I always do.
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Financially, I didn't have the ability to just stock the shelves and set the season and just say, team Bronco, set it and forget it, put it in the smoker and I'll collect it in 13 hours.
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No, I need to make things as we make money.
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So as I go someplace and I get a little bread, I pay some bills and I make another sandwich.
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You know what I'm saying.
00:09:06.482 --> 00:09:09.471
I pay for something and then I buy something new.
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So I pay a bill for the family, I buy a new product for the business, I restock an item and we're building that way.
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It's not ideal and I'm certain it probably holds me back from a few sales, but it is what it is and it's just how it has to be until things break loose.
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But I've got endless optimism about how successful my July is going to be.
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This is the month for me.
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All things are going to change this month, but as I'm setting the scene for you on Sunday, I'm working with what I've got.
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I am in the office producing, I'm working, I'm making things happen and all of a sudden, things start going wrong.
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I start making mistakes, I start having mishaps, I start how do we say?
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Destroying product, which is not something that I like to do and it's not something that I am accustomed to.
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As of late In my early years, that happened.
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But after you know, over five years of business, I've seen a lot of things.
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I can adjust to some things.
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So the issue that was happening comes down to a couple of things that I can narrow it down to Over my experience.
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One of those things is temperature and humidity.
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Now, a few years ago, this happened and I was just racking my brain, beating my head against a freaking wall to try to figure out what was going on.
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Why was I ruining so many things and all the research I did?
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I had a dehumidifier going and all these things and I said air conditioner.
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And my old man being the beast that he is, he said, well, let's fix that.
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And he took a hacksaw and we cut a giant hole in the side of my parents' wall in the garage or basement, I should say and we chucked an air conditioner through a hole in the wall, plugged it in, and he said there you go, get to making shit.
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And it fixed it.
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Okay, but with that said, I had to take the air conditioner out and be an adult and try to put the house back together and put a window in.
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I didn't want to open the hole any bigger than it already was.
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So when I put the window in, I knew ahead of time it was just a small window and we had cut the hole in the wall based off the size of the air conditioner frame, not for the frame of the window.
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So I knew that AC wasn't going to work, no big deal.
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Anyways, here we are.
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I'm at that point where I'm breaking things on Sunday and I say to myself self you got to cool this place down and I can't fit an air conditioner any of our ACs into the window that I purchased.
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So bring on the marketplace support group, get the wife on there looking for air conditioners.
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We find a portable one with a hose.
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I know that's going to work.
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Longer, short of it, I decided I'm going to get a bigger version of what we already have in our house.
00:11:42.154 --> 00:11:45.749
Put the bigger version in the house, because I found a great deal on it.
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Take the smaller version from my house and put it into the office.
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Bada, bing, bada, boom.
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Coolest guy in the room.
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You understand what I'm saying.
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No pun intended.
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We're talking AC over here.
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It's an HVAC joke.
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You feel me?
00:11:58.442 --> 00:12:04.248
You're an idiot and you're sweating profusely because you left the windows open in the garage.
00:12:04.248 --> 00:12:07.913
But back on track, scuba, steve.
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So this is the plan.
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This is what we're going to do.
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I found this little old timer.
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He sells air conditioners on Marketplace.
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Come to find out.
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He's retired.
00:12:17.386 --> 00:12:18.924
His buddy does HVAC.
00:12:18.924 --> 00:12:27.081
He's going around putting mini splits in houses and every time he does, the people give them their ACs and then he fixes them up and flips them.
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Now I have a mini split in my house but it's not working.
00:12:29.990 --> 00:12:38.167
It's a great wall ornament that leaks all over the freaking sheetrock, but we're going to change that subject to another freaking show, okay, because it's sensitive.
00:12:38.167 --> 00:12:45.871
Anyways, I meet this guy in Topsom at 9.30 PM on a Sunday.
00:12:45.871 --> 00:12:47.917
I get home at about 10.30.
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I'm going to install the air conditioner on Monday morning.
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Right Now, with all this said, it's approaching baby's bedtime, so Allie stays home and me and my mom take the ride together.
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She accompanies me to Topsum to pick up the air conditioner.
00:13:05.395 --> 00:13:16.606
Now on this ride, ironically, me and my mom got into an in-depth conversation and it was a conversation that needed to happen.
00:13:16.606 --> 00:13:22.488
And it was a conversation that I guess I didn't realize needed to happen, but it was clearly on my mom's mind.
00:13:22.488 --> 00:13:27.570
She needed to talk and this gave her an opportunity to have some real heartfelt conversation with me.
00:13:27.570 --> 00:13:38.028
And you know, we just kind of worked through some things together because you know, losing my dad, as tough as that is on me, it's way harder on my mother Like let's, let's be honest, they're married for over 40 years.
00:13:38.028 --> 00:13:44.086
So you know, we're going through some of those things and talking through some of those emotions and it was a conversation that really needed to happen.
00:13:44.086 --> 00:13:54.809
And that conversation was difficult, it was heart-wrenching, it was emotional, but it was also happy and productive at the same time.
00:13:54.809 --> 00:13:59.533
And when I was talking to my mom, it also molded into a business conversation.
00:13:59.573 --> 00:14:11.942
And in that business conversation we started to kind of talk about much of the things that I just said to you guys, where, hey, I'm not as prepared or as planned out this year as I should be, but I have confidence that it's going to work out.
00:14:11.942 --> 00:14:29.556
And one of the things that I've been trying to do and recently my wife's been really working on doing, is when you hit this wall, when you have these struggles and you just can't find an answer to them, then all that's left to do is give it to God.
00:14:29.556 --> 00:14:41.664
You know, you just you have that conversation with God and you just hand it over and say I don't have the ability, I don't have the strength, I can't handle this, I don't know how to process this, I don't know what to do with this.
00:14:41.664 --> 00:14:48.037
I'm going to give this to you and you help guide me and you help direct me, and that's one of the things that we've had to do.
00:14:48.037 --> 00:14:51.488
And, as we are talking about bad luck and some of these things.
00:14:51.488 --> 00:15:00.985
As we roll through conversation, we're going to highlight some points and some tips and some tricks and some techniques, and that's one of the biggest things I can give you is talk to God and give it over.
00:15:00.985 --> 00:15:03.149
Okay, that's one of the biggest things that I can.
00:15:03.149 --> 00:15:12.414
I can say to you and I should have saved that for the end but I want to do this in a in a chronological order for you so you guys can kind of understand the conversation and the scenario.
00:15:12.414 --> 00:15:27.176
So, as we're talking about business and all these struggles and I just tell my mom like really all I can do is just hand it over to God and say you know, I'm trusting you and just work as hard as I can with the right intentions in the right direction and hope and pray for the best.
00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:36.919
One other thing that I need to highlight and I think this is critical in this scenario is there's a life lesson that I learned with losing my father.
00:15:36.919 --> 00:15:43.293
There's a life lesson that I've learned with watching him battle and having to say goodbye.
00:15:43.293 --> 00:15:49.847
Watching him battle and having to say goodbye and then, over the course of you know, the year plus since he's passed, one of the things.
00:15:49.847 --> 00:16:10.712
That has helped me get through bad scenarios, negative scenarios, difficult experiences is learning to appreciate what you do have and learning to appreciate the opportunity that's in front of you, learning to be grateful for what's happening right there in the moment with you.
00:16:10.712 --> 00:16:18.931
And what I really mean by this is I try to elaborate on this is oftentimes there's going to be difficult things in life that you just don't want to do.
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There's going to be things that you've really been putting off.
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Maybe they've been on the back burner, they've been on your to-do list for the longest time and you just don't want to do them, but you know you have to do them.
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Maybe there's these conversations, these meetings, these difficult things, whatever it is.
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Imagine something in your life that's super difficult, that you don't want to do, that you don't want to deal with, that you don't want to have to handle, and then to reframe that scenario.
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I try to be grateful for the opportunity to go through it and and for me to kind of just really kind of paint a picture for you so that you can understand my perspective when I'm talking about losing my dad and how this really opened my eyes to things.
00:17:00.557 --> 00:17:01.458
Is I?
00:17:02.760 --> 00:17:11.974
There are so many things that my dad did with me, like chores or projects or working for him that I absolutely hated.
00:17:11.974 --> 00:17:42.730
If you've listened to my story, if anniversary, if I think back to episode one where it all begun, the greatest life lesson I ever learned was a lesson from my father on hard work, and I kind of go through the whole story of what it was like and if you guys are new here and you're listening to this episode, I highly encourage you to go back to episode one.
00:17:42.730 --> 00:17:49.005
Ironically, I think it's one of my favorite episodes and it's the biggest lesson I ever learned in life.
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But if you listen to that episode, you know there's many opportunities in there where I had to work with my dad or do something with my dad and I just didn't want to.
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He was humiliating, right, and there were so many times where I'm being yelled and screamed at in public.
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I'm a sensitive kid at the time time and I'm taking things personal.
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I'm struggling.
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There's all these things that were so difficult and things that I never wanted to do.
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But here I am now, over a year after my dad's passed, as I'm approaching, actually, two years of his passing I can't tell you what I wouldn't do and what I wouldn't give to go back and be yelled at again.
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Does that make sense for you guys?
00:18:32.645 --> 00:18:50.935
Some of the tasks, some of the chores, some of the jobs that I just despised and I never wanted to do, I can't tell you what I would give up today to go back or to have to do that task and chore again today if my father was by my side.
00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:59.053
There's things in life that we just dreaded and regretted and hated to do.
00:18:59.053 --> 00:19:14.432
But when the person that you were doing them with meant so much to you and now they're no longer here you would gladly go through the abuse, you would gladly go through all the difficulty if it meant you got to do that task with them.
00:19:14.432 --> 00:19:27.739
So in my conversation with my mother we're talking about some of the things that we have to do and some of the things that we're going through and growing through, and my mom doesn't want to feel like a burden and I had said to her you're not a burden at all.
00:19:27.739 --> 00:19:37.846
Nothing about you and our relationship is a burden, because I need you to understand I wouldn't change anything for the opportunity to spend time with you.
00:19:37.846 --> 00:19:48.489
Losing my father made me realize you need to cherish the opportunity to spend time with the people that you love, no matter what the circumstance, no matter what the situation.
00:19:48.489 --> 00:19:51.994
Having that philosophy has helped me get through things.
00:19:52.460 --> 00:20:00.691
A few weeks ago I mentioned to you guys that the wife and the baby and I broke down on the side of 295 and Matt and Sarah Perkins came out and saved us.
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I didn't get worked up, I didn't get stressed out about sitting on the side of the road for an hour and a half or whatever it was, because it was an opportunity for me to slow down and sit down with my wife and my kid.
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You got to cherish those things.
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Sometimes things just happen to make you slow down and enjoy them.
00:20:18.682 --> 00:20:27.932
But you also need to realize when you're in that moment and you're stressed out and maybe you're doing something you don't want to do or you're dealing with something that you don't want to have to handle and process.
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Ask yourself the people that are around you that you get to work through those things with.
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Be grateful for them, because someday, if they're not here with you, you will completely regret not taking advantage of the opportunity that lies in front of you.
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So, no matter how difficult the situation is, if you get to go through that or grow through that with a significant other, with a friend, with a child, with a mother, with a brother, whoever it is, be thankful, be grateful, embrace it.
00:20:54.145 --> 00:20:56.270
Those are one of the things that I look at.
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When I'm stuck in a situation that I don't really want to do, I think about it and say, hey, if I had to sit here at a doctor's appointment with my dad for an hour, would I do it if that meant I got to sit here with my dad for an hour?
00:21:07.469 --> 00:21:08.671
Absolutely.
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So there's so many things that you're going to have to do and you're going to have to put up with, but when you sprinkle on that perspective, I think it opens up a whole new avenue for you.
00:21:18.329 --> 00:21:29.461
So that was really a great part of the conversation that me and my mom were having and I was just saying you know, right now in our situation, we're all working very hard for different things.
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You know, getting over my father's loss, my mom dealing with that, my wife and I dealing with that.
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Raising our first child, my mom helping out with raising our child, the getting my mom to work, all those things Me being on the road, sometimes, them coming with me, other times my workload being dropped on them.
00:21:46.848 --> 00:21:52.291
When you think about it, the opportunity for all of us to work on these things together.
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I'll take the difficulty.
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Does that make sense with you guys?
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I'll deal with the difficulty if it means that we get to do it together and that's kind of the conversation that we had on the ride home.
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So the very next morning, to continue continue the story here, to get back on track I I follow the wife to um the garage to drop her car off.
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That's getting some warranty work done and um.
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So I'm following her so that she can drop her car off and then return back and um take another vehicle and and and drive to work type of deal.
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