The Importance Of Keeping & Creating Traditions 180

Okay, y'all, if you didn't realize, it is the holidays. Yeah, we're officially in it, y'all. Christmas is less than a week away and I'm here to say the holiday season provides the perfect opportunity to keep and create traditions. Whether this is your first Christmas single, your first Christmas married, your first Christmas with a child, or your first Christmas without a loved one, traditions provide structure and comfort and they foster a sense of being. This year, more than ever, I realize the benefits of keeping and creating traditions. Let me tell you something Everybody struggles. The difference is some people choose to go through it and some choose to grow through it. The choice is completely yours. Which one you choose will have a very profound effect on the way you live your life. If you find strength in the struggle, then this podcast is for you. You have a relationship that is comfortable with uncomfortable conversations. Uncomfortable conversations challenge you, humble you and they build you. When you sprinkle a little time and distance on it, it all makes sense. Most disagreements, they stem from our own insecurities. You are right where you need to be. What a deal. What a deal, hot dickety. Damn, am I so excited to be back with you? Hot deal, you do. Man. Episode 180, pretty lady. Yeah, I have a special one for me to you with my new sensual voice. Aka, my face is stuffed up y'all man, the hits keep on coming. I don't know what it is this year. I thought I was having a great 2023, but between you and me, I'm ready to get this shit behind me. It's trying to kick my ass on the way out. To add into everything else we've been dealing with for the past week, the wife and I have gotten pretty sick. We're feeling better now, just feels like super congested. You know what I mean. I feel like I'm talking out of a straw and breathing out of a catheter. That's really messed up, but it is what it is. What I'm here to say, y'all is I feel like shit, but I won't quit. Episode 180, pretty lady. We're going to keep the streak rolling on. That's right. If y'all listening out there, you're at day one, put your fingers up, thank you for being here. But a cup, 180 consecutive weeks of you and me, that's something really special. So I appreciate you each and every one of you. Don't forget you can find all things podcasts related over to wwwsharethestrugglepodcastcom. Leave a review. Say how do you do Now, before we get rocking and rolling. I realized something really cool this week. Actually, I didn't realize it at all, my wife did, and it just continues the trend we've been having over the past month going over signs and I don't really want to make this episode another episode about my loss and all those things. We're going to kind of hover around some of that. But today actually marks one month. It's been one month since I lost my dad. The wife realized something the other day and I want to kind of point that out to y'all. If you guys are regular listeners, if you've been listening on to this story, whether you're at day one or your journey here has just begun and you're a month in. If you go back to those episodes, a little over a month ago in early October, when my dad got sick, when the wife and I were leaving the Freiburg Fair, when we were packing up and it was I don't know two o'clock in the morning we went down to the fairgrounds when it was closed up and just trying to pack everything to get out of town and to get home to see my old moon as quickly as we could, my wife found something in a trash pile and she found a dream catcher. If you guys listened to that episode. We talked about her finding that and it was a sign and it kind of tipped off her trend for us on signs following the next months of episodes. We didn't realize it then. The connection it was going to have now and if you have a really good memory, one better than mine, you would remember that on that dream catcher was a bald eagle. The wife noticed that the other day and I've been walking by that dream catcher every day since all this happened and I didn't make the connection. I've been walking by that dream catcher since my dad left us and that Monday morning, just over a month ago or nearly a month ago, when I was outside doing chores and that bald eagle circled our property and we felt that my dad has come back as an eagle to give us those signs of strength. When Ali realized that, it blew me away and it just kind of tore me up, but in a good way. It brought up all those emotions, all those raw realizations. But it's crazy, it's so crazy how life works, how those meanings happen, and someday I'll have Ali on here to tell you another good story to confirm this eagle connection here. But I don't want to take that story from her. I want to let her share that one with you. But I just walked by that dream catcher again on the way to record today, and it being one month to the day that I lost my dad, I can't believe that that item we took out of the trash, that dream catcher that Ali found in a pile of trash at the Freiburg Farragounds, was a dream catcher of a bald eagle man. That's full circle, y'all. That's absolutely full circle. I'm never gonna look at eagles and think about eagles the same, you know. So I just wanted to share that with y'all and I know it's emotional, but it's also touching, uplifting and encouraging at the same time, and that's really the theme for today's episode. I'm not gonna make this episode super emotional, but I'm hoping that it's uplifting, hoping that it's encouraging and I hope that my recent experiences can help to shine a light on the importance of traditions. So that's where we're headed today. Y'all. Loud Proud Americans share the struggle. Podcast 180,. Even if this pretty lady sounds like shit, go check. Loud Proud American is a lifestyle brand, dedicated and determined to represent the American spirit, with an unrelenting commitment to provide made and the USA products. If you would like to join the 2% of Americans that buy American and support American. Head on over to wwwloudproudamericanshop. Together we can bring back American manufacturing. All right, all right, all right, let's see what we can do. Today, folks Foiks Is that a word? Foiks? Folks, people, I don't know In the words of Gareth Brooks, blame it all on my cold meds. Well, I mean, he said roots because he showed up in boots, but I'm blaming it on cold meds because I can't carry an actual conversation, which, when you are trying to record a podcast, that can be rather difficult. And here we are already well off the rails. But I'm going to blame it on Elka Seltzer, a pseudo-fed, whoever those fine people are. Any Luhu, which sounded a lot like Cindy Luhu, which is going to get me back on track, because now we're talking holidays again. And how do you do? Here we are All right, squirrel, yeah, over here, over here, lock eyes with me, bucky, okay, and scene. So here's the thing people, traditions, now y'all. This is no new conversation between us. Okay, this is your first show, your first episode, and this might be new to you, but for those of you that have been around for some time, every year, every damn year, around the holidays. When we start approaching Christmas, I start getting on my high horse about traditions, because if you have a family much like mine that no longer has grandparents present, then your traditions are probably lacking, because I'm a firm believer that our grandparents were the ones that instilled tradition in all of us. Those are the pillars in our family that have always held our families together. And if we start thinking about today's society, this soft social media society that we live in, I feel like our culture has changed, that a lot of our beliefs and values have changed and a lot of that goes back it all really goes back to traditions. We're losing our sense of self being. We're losing those opportunities to come together to make memories and then to use those memories to feel like you're a part of something, to use those memories to instill beliefs and values. Traditions have died with our family members. So for me, I don't have any grandparents anymore and my grandparents were always the ones that held it together. I knew every year for Christmas Eve, my little ass better be at my grandparents house. I knew those traditions right. I knew how they wanted to celebrate and how those things happened, and it was one of those things that was always just ingrained. It was scheduled from the beginning of the year, right? And you knew the flip of the calendar on January 1st. I know where I'm going to be on Christmas Eve, right, you knew it. There's all these random traditions that your family might have that, let's say, if you're like me and you no longer have grandparents, you always grew up with those traditions and the first year you lost that grandparent, you kept the tradition up for the other grandparent, right? Or maybe you kept up the whole time until the other one passed, and then for a year you did it, or for two years you did it. But now you find yourself a few years later and all those things that you used to do they're no longer there, they're no longer present. And if you're somebody that has kids which I do not, but if you're somebody that has kids, I want you to think about it for a minute, those memories that you had, that you hold so dear, because I'm confident that some of your most fondest memories of your family you're probably going to revolve around the holidays. You're robbing that opportunity from your children if you don't create traditions now and even if you're in my situation where you have lost family, where you don't have those grandparents anymore you might have just lost somebody close to you it's even more important to you to either continue traditions or, if those traditions cannot be continued, then you need to create traditions, because those traditions that you create, they're going to keep you tied and connected to the loved ones that you've lost and they're going to create opportunities for you to carry on those traditions and provide new memories and legacies to those that you're bringing along the ride. You understand what I'm saying. You can be just like me with no grandparents and no children, but if you establish a tradition now, if you establish a tradition this year for Christmas, around the holiday season, and you continue that tradition because it brings you some sense of pride and joy, eventually, whether it's two years or 20 years from now, you're going to bring somebody else into that tradition and for that person that you bring into that tradition, their greatest memory of you, their fondest memory of you, might be the tradition that you gave to them. You understand what I'm saying here. You see where we're headed today. Traditions truly ground us because they provide structure and comfort. When you know that something is structured, it's scheduled, it's always going to happen. There's a sense of comfort there, right, we always talk about getting out of our comfort zones and there's great strength in getting out of our comfort zones and I encourage everybody to live a life outside of our comfort zones. But there comes a time when we all need comfort, we all need some structure, and Christmas, this season, is the perfect time for comfort, for structure. So start establishing those routines, start finding those comforts, because when you do, when you start welcoming other people and other, those traditions, it starts to foster this, this sense of being and a sense of belonging and being united and connected. Right now, for me, as I think about this, is about to be my first Christmas without my dad, as I'm, you know, really focused on In less than a week, for the first time in my life, my 41 years growing up I'm gonna wake up and not spend Christmas with my old man. Then the one thing that's gonna get me through my first Christmas without my old man is the 40 that I had. You understand what I'm saying. There's traditions and there's memories in the previous 40 that I need to call upon, that I need to draw on to get me through Christmas 41. So If I didn't have those opportunities and I didn't get my dad didn't instill these memories and traditions in me for Christmas, then I wouldn't have something that allows me to stay connected to him for this Christmas. I know I'm gonna struggle, I know it's gonna be tough, but I'm blessed to have had so many great memories to fall back on and to hold on to. So I'm asking of you to use my situation for a moment and think about. What is it that you're lacking this year? What is it that that you know? Is there a memory, is there a moment from the past that you haven't been able to replicate? Can you bring it back this year? Right? Maybe there's something that maybe you didn't have opportunities to create traditions. Maybe you come from a household that your parents didn't give you those traditions, right? I know that the personal tradition for my wife that she can't stand and that's that when she was growing up as a child, her parents would put a Christmas tree up on Christmas Eve and they would take it down on Christmas and it was over, and I know my wife's received I'll use for Christmas when she was growing up. So when she came to our family, my mom Welcomeed her, my dad welcomed her and they embraced her as one of their own and made it their their number one priority To give her the best Christmas possible. I remember having this conversation with my dad where he said she's gonna have a Christmas that she's never gonna forget because he knew what she came from right. So those are traditions, people, and if you're somebody that has those negative Memories like my wife has, it's up to you to make the change today, to make the memory for tomorrow. So we all have opportunities. We're a week away from Christmas. I challenge you now to start thinking about little things to do, and I'm not talking about just specifically like Christmas, a day of getting up and exchanging gifts, whether you do or you don't. I'm talking about the things that have been meaning for the season, that go into Christmas, and making those traditions, whether it's. You know, when I said about, I knew why I was gonna be at my grandparents house On Christmas Eve. That was the same thing for the whole family. Every one of my cousins was gonna be there. My aunts and uncles were gonna be there. So because of that, that was the one time of the year I knew I was gonna see all of my family. Those things bleed out into many different things. Right, it could be as big as an Event there and you get together, for it could also be something like hey, there's a local tree lighting in my town and you know we're gonna start making this, this tradition that we always attend this tree lighting and this is what we do and we're gonna. You know we make hot cocos and we do this. It can be a very simple thing. There's many traditions that are coming up for my family that on baking. When I was a kid, my mother, my grandmother, that we used to bake all this stuff and then go door-to-door and give it to people like, to neighbors, those same neighbors that my mom like I can think of this right now, as I'm saying this was a neighbor on my road that my mom baked baked him an apple pie every year for probably 30 years of my life. Right, that son of a bitch doesn't even look in our direction anymore. He basically flips us off. He didn't, you know, come to the funeral for a friend that he's had for 50, 60 years. None of those things right, that's traditions have fallen off the the list. And If I think about those baking traditions of us going around and doing all those things and how special it was to go To a neighbor's house and just give them baked goods and do all those things. That shit doesn't happen anymore. If it does, it's very minimal Situation. Or if you're out there near one of those people that are continuing that tradition, I'm so damn proud of you and and I thank you for continuing to do so. Traditions don't have to be this big hoopla scenario. It doesn't have to be a major event. Sometimes it's just a matter of getting together and doing the simplest of things. Sometimes it's, you know, that, that annual route of I'm gonna drive through these neighborhoods and check out these Christmas lights. I'm gonna, you know, we're gonna do these Carol, this caroling thing. We're gonna do a sleigh ride, we're gonna do, you know, midnight mass, whatever those things are, those traditions are. If you stay diligent in those traditions and you continue to carry those things out, then they're gonna start to form these memories and this year, as I relate things to my situation into what's been happening, I think about losing my dad and I think about the fact that I'm so surprised that Christmas is is just less than a week away, because my traditions have always been to fully embrace the holiday season and my traditions have been to hit the holidays Early and often so what I'm trying to say is, on on Thanksgiving, you know, after the Cowboys generally let me down, I try to block out my frustration by putting Christmas vacation on the TV and setting up my Christmas tree. Now I can tell you that we didn't put the Christmas tree up until I don't know, maybe like a week ago, and we really didn't decorate it until, you know, a few days ago or so. Let's say that that tradition for me is over a month behind, right, my true that traditions just about a month behind. And I Didn't realize how many things are behind. I didn't realize so many traditions that I that I have been neglecting. I told you before, like when my wife first went to my parents house for the first Christmas, she walked in there and I had to prepare it and say, hey, this one, you got to be ready for this. Okay, like You're about to enter the North Pole, all right. And when, when my wife walked in, mrs Claus pops her right between the blinkers, yeah, she pow right with spirit right between the eyes. So my wife had said to me it's like Christmas threw up in here. I don't understand what's going on, but she loved it so much. And then that tradition of my mother in decorating and all those things has trickled down, has been passed down, carried on to us and to our house. So we do the things my mother used to do about setting that tree up, decorating the tree and then over designing and over decorating the house. We have so many different Christmas decorations, we will buy Christmas decorations all year long, okay, so just gonna put this into perspective for you. What I can tell you is, as I'm recording this, we're less than a week away from Christmas and the other day I was outside getting some work done. I was working in the field all day and when I came in the wife had decorated a bunch of the house. That's weeks behind y'all that we didn't have a stitch of Christmas in this place and to this point we don't have all of our Christmas stuff out. But had she not dragged it out then it wouldn't be out, you understand. So by my wife doing that, it provided a little of that holiday cheer. Man, that Christmas spirit and all these things happening has made me realize how many traditions I've dismissed this year because I lost my dad. When you have these difficult times in your life when you lose somebody so close to you, someone that's important to you, or you just get derailed in life by life. Right, maybe you're sick, maybe you got some bad news, maybe you got laid off your spouse got laid off, maybe somebody broke up with you, I don't know, but these things happen and we lose sights of traditions and by removing those structures in our life, those moments of comfort, those things that we can lean into that are guaranteed to us, the more of those we take away from us, the more that foundation crumbles. So if you're dealing with something this year, if you like me, and you lost your dad, or you just lost your job, or someone just broke up with you, whether you've been dealt some difficult news and you've been distracted, those distractions have robbed you of those comfort creatures in your life. It's making your entire situation worse, because all those little things that you're used to, that provide a sense of just well-being, that provides a sense of you, those are your values, those are your beliefs. When you're dismissing those, when you're not participating in those, there's more of you changing than what needs to. It's more pivotal and critical for you to jump back on that tradition train to pull you through the difficult times and difficult days that are ahead of you. So this week I just realized man number one, I'm not ready for Christmas, and if you guys have listened to these podcasts, you know every year the buildup that goes into this. If you go all the way back, you can hear about when I lost my brother just before Christmas and then two weeks later I lost my grandfather on Christmas Eve and the meaning that has brought to the holidays for me. You would think that it would take the holidays away from me, but it doesn't. It makes me feel more connected to them because of the memories I made with them during the holidays. And you'll also know that it's so important to me to provide memorable gifts for people because it just feels like it's an opportunity to show somebody that you truly care about them. So I have this high priority that goes into all of this for me and this is the first year man like I'm a week off from Christmas going you really you didn't shop, you didn't do anything. There's no emotional connection to the things that you're doing. There's no like big glamorous plan in your head to show the people around you that you love them. It's the first time in my life that this hasn't happened for me. It's the first time in my life that I'm not doing those simple things and I'm not enjoying the holidays. And I was driving around with my mom about a week or so ago and she looked at me and said I don't want you to hate Christmas because her dad died. And I said I'm not, that's not the point. She's like no, you're different, like this is something's different. And I realized that the pressure to make the business rebound and to pay bills, and when you come up short on finances for some time and then you're just kind of just really feeling like you're being pulled in so many directions and all these things, it all starts to weigh on you and you lose sight of what's going on around you. And when you're dealing with some of the things we've dealt with, like losing my dad, it feels like the entire world keeps spinning. But you're standing still and eventually you wake up and say, wow, it's almost Christmas. Thankfully I've got time to make a difference. Thankfully I've realized that by not latching on to those traditions, those built-in just comforts, mechanisms in my life, by not doing what I'm supposed to do, what I always do, I've lost sight of who I am. I've lost sight of what I love to do. So it's a compound effect. It's that snowball effect that we talk about so many times, where you know if you get a positive ball rolling or a negative ball rolling. Once I start picking up steam and getting momentum, I just keep adding on and just adding on. So when you get that ball rolling downhill, that snowball's rolling downhill, if it's a negative snowball, it's gonna keep on adding negative. So for me, I look at hey, I lost my dad and that really, you know, crushes my world. And then I start thinking about the business and then I start not doing the things that I used to always do. All of a sudden, my mood changes and who I am changes, and I can stop that negative ball of energy by putting my foot down and latching on to the things that I've always done. That's part of getting that positive momentum, that's part of just pressing on, and I always talk about positive movement, right that sometimes you just gotta do something. And when you're feeling overwhelmed, when you're feeling stressed, it can be hard just to jump in, because there's not one thing, there's not one thing that's gonna fix everything. I can't just say, hey, I've pinpointed this one event and if I work on this it's gonna fix everything. So it becomes overwhelming. So I always say jump in and do something. As soon as you start knocking things off, then they're gonna start feeling productive. But for me there's also been something else Find those traditions that I can still do, find those traditions that I can still just participate in and be present in, and when those start to happen, when I start to make those things happen, there's another ball of positive energy that kicks in. So if on the business side you're starting to do some things and on the emotional side you're starting to say, grounded and connected to those traditional things, you start to really start to feel a little more like yourself. I'm not saying every day's the best day or that it's gonna be the easiest day, but I'm just gonna tell you it's gonna give you the best chance of having a good day. So to back up what it is that I'm saying here because I can get on my high horse and start running a muck around here I was just doing some research and I was just Googling the benefits of traditions and is there a benefit to holiday traditions? I found this article from the Biola University. It's a Center for Marriage and Relationships. It may identify seven benefits of traditions. So let's run through some of these real quick guides, see if we can draw a little connection here and maybe drive home what it is I've been saying to you. So seven ways that your family will benefit from holiday traditions. Number one traditions teach and reinforce your family's values. Holidays are a great opportunity to pass along the values that you think are important. We've already talked about that. Those memories made by grandparents if you were blessed enough to have them, those things that you did together For me. That's it, man. I feel like I can draw so much on. Like my past experience with my family is the reason why I'm always so motivated to create such a pleasant experience around holidays for my friends and family that are close to me. You understand what I'm saying. I feel like I've been so blessed and I have so many great memories that I've always felt that, like my family took the extra step to do something special for me. So I must continue that value. It's made me who I am, so I take it personal when I can't find something special to do for you. Number two traditions provide a source of identity. Isn't that freaking true. Whether your traditions reinforce your family, your faith or even your culture, they help establish a sense of this is us. When you're going through something, when you're growing through something, it's such a pivotal time and important time. To establish that sense of this is us. If you lost a loved one, if you lost a parent, if you lost a job, if you lost a girlfriend or boyfriend or a husband, you need to be grounded. This is one of the times where you actually need to find that comfort, and that comfort, in the words of many, comes from safety and numbers. Sometimes, when you're around like-minded people and you're around people that believe in you and love you, regardless of what's going on around you, to you, for you, when you have that sense of pride, that sense of belonging, that sense of this is us, you can overcome things. Right, there's safety and numbers there. So traditions provide a source of identity. Number three traditions help families bond closer together. Research shows that families that celebrate repeated traditions report stronger emotional connections and unity than families that don't. That's so true, right? If you're listening and you didn't have those holiday traditions, you didn't do those things, you might not enjoy Christmas right now, you might not enjoy these things. But maybe you married somebody that they grew up that way. They grew up with all these traditions and they're so excited and they love the season so much. Maybe it's starting to rub off on you and it's just something to say. Which, if you're thinking about being a parent, it's something to say. Which way would you rather grow up? Would those pleasant memories with that family bond or without it? Number four traditions ensure that people take time for emotional connection. Traditions ensure that people take time for emotional connection. In the midst of busy holiday planning and celebrating, it's all too easy for the holiday to slip by without really being present. That's so true, man. I've had, I've said it before, I have this like emotional letdown usually when Christmas is over. It's like this hangover that hits me, it's like PTSD from the holidays, because I always love how everything seems positive around Christmas, that families seem to bury the hatchet and be pleasant around each other and, no matter where you go, it just seems like everybody's in a better mood. And it feels like as soon as Christmas is over, like those things all go away when you don't have something to look forward to, when you put all this effort into that day, into that moment, into that tradition, into that memory. When it passes, I always have this letdown that happens. So over the past few years I've really focused on trying to be present, to be more present in the things we do. And if you're establishing traditions and you're doing things whether it's going to look at lights with the kids, if it's when I was a kid I used to make these little chocolates where you'd like color them in you know these chocolate molds and you'd make popsicles and stuff, all those things. The memory is only there when you're excited to do it, when you're present in the act of doing Not, when it's just a task right, when you're just like I'm just doing this because Keith said I needed to do this or because my wife wants me to do this. There's no memory that's going to be made in that moment, when you're just not present actually enjoying it. The next one traditions create lasting memories. For children, traditions help create warm nostalgic feelings we get when we think back to our childhood. As I've crossed over 10 years without my grandfather losing him on Christmas Eve. I always think about those Christmases of past, right. Those are the things that make me feel connected. I know already leading up to this Christmas, I've watched a handful of videos on my phone of my dad opening presents on Christmas. Those memories, those sayings, those looks on somebody's face, those are the things that, for me, it helps me get through today right. So think about the benefit it has for children if you can be present and then create those lasting memories for kids. Traditions provide kids with security. It's so true that the regular rituals and traditions can provide children with comfort in the midst of turmoil. So when there's think about you, let's say you're a parent, if you're going through something. We've already used these examples. I'm also going to continue on, so I don't reinvent the cart here. But whether you lost your job or you're going through a divorce or you lost a loved one, there's turmoil for your kids. If you don't stick to traditions or you don't create traditions, then their world keeps spinning. Man, give them the opportunity to slow down, to find comfort and to create those memories. So traditions are going to give your kids security when your life is spinning. Man, give them that sense of belonging and something to hold on to. The last one they have on here is traditions are a chance to celebrate whatever makes your family unique. Think about your family's values, sense of humor and philosophies. It's so true, man. Try to personalize your traditions, but they basically go on to talk about. You don't want to overdo it on things, right? You may love the idea of traditions and a deeper meaning and purpose that they can bring to the holidays. You may even have an ideal experience in mind for your family traditions. However, it's important to avoid the mindset of a Pinterest experience. That's so true, man. We all have that just belief in our head about unattainable perfection, right? That we always think the white picket fence in the big yard and all those things, right? We all have that, that great picture, that beautiful, perfect picture in our mind. If we're competing with somebody else's special memory and traditional and social media, you're never going to win. If you're creating these big, elaborate plans in your head, they're never going to go wrong. They're not going to happen. I think about when my brother was dying with cancer, when he was suffering with bone cancer. We knew it was going to be our last Christmas together. My mom was working so hard on making my brother's Christmas so perfect because she wanted every memory to be perfect that it was stressing her out that she wasn't enjoying the opportunity. She wasn't enjoying what was happening. Finally, I said you got to stop. She looked at me like what's the matter? What are you talking about? I said I know what you're doing. You're trying so hard to make this perfect, but nothing about the previous holidays we've had together have been perfect. They've been perfect for us, but we can't change them. We can't make them perfect. David's not expecting something to be perfect. Quit trying to make it perfect. Just enjoy what we have together. Be present. That's what we did. That's the truth y'all. We all get too distracted by trying to make things perfect. If you're preparing for perfect, you should be preparing for the letdown, because that's inevitably what's going to happen, is you're going to be let down. In an environment that's filled with stress, it's easy to lose the meaning behind the actions. If you're trying to create that memory, that legacy, that tradition, but if it's so stressful, then you're going to lose the meaning. You're just forcing yourself through it, you're not going to be doing things for the right reason and then that's not going to be a tradition that you remember, because those traditions that stress you out and cause arguments and tears and fights, those aren't the traditions you want. Man, we all have too many of those. We try not to repeat those. I cautioned you to not make things perfect. I cautioned you to be present in the moment. I cautioned you to step out of the norm, to enjoy the holidays, to be present in it, to find structure, to find comfort, because we all are allowed to be comfortable. I always encourage uncomfortable. I get it. You might be listening to saying what are you doing here, man? You're talking about being uncomfortable. There comes a time when we all need to slow down and become comfortable for a minute and enjoy what we have and who we have it with. That's what I beg of each and every one of you for Christmas this year. So, as it fastly approaches, I beg of you to find opportunities to create new traditions and to keep lasting traditions. By doing so, it's going to keep you connected to the ones that have moved on. It's going to provide memories for those of us that are together today that might not be together next year, because if we take the time to spend time to make memories this year, we don't know what's going to happen next year. There's no guarantee on you and me. So if we take advantage of every opportunity, then I truly think that you're giving ourselves the best chance at making the best memories. So if you're listening to this podcast on a winning Wednesday, then take your chance. You have the chance to form memories. You have the chance to keep traditions and to create traditions to provide that necessary structure and comfort. This is your opportunity. This is your chance to make this Christmas truly, truly special. Now, from the bottom of my heart, I truly thank each and every single one of you, as this Christmas is fastly upon us and I find myself counting blessings and feeling grateful. I really truly want to say to each and every one of you that I don't know how I would have made it through the past month of my life, today being the one month anniversary of me losing my dad. I don't know how I'm here today without each and every one of you. So, thank you, thank you so much. I've said it every day and week, but it bears repeating, because when I find myself with my family on Christmas, I'm also going to think about this family on Christmas, each and every one of you that have been listening, that have been tuning in, that have been sending messages, cards, paying visits, spending time, sharing love. It means so so much to me, and I got to think that, today being episode 180 of the podcast, that right there folks is a tradition worth keeping. Now, thank you for supporting my American dream. Now, go wash your fucking hands, you filthy savage. Ho, ho, ho, where's my fucking suit of it? That's it and that's all, biggie Smalls. If you're a loud, proud American and you find yourself just wanting more, find me on YouTube and Facebook at Loud, proud American Put the face page, as my mama calls it. If you're a fan of the Graham Cracker, you want to find me on Instagram. Or all the kids by tickety talking on the tick tock. You can find me on both of those at Loud, underscore, proud, underscore American. A big old thank you to the boys from the Guttruckers for the background beats and the theme song for this year's podcast. If you are enjoying what you're hearing, you can track down the Guttruckers on Facebook. Just search Guttruckers. Give them motherfuckers. I like to. I truly thank you for supporting my American dream. Now go wash your fucking hands, you filthy savage.