Episode 88
Episode #85 - The Finer Points Of Life Not Explained Earlier
There are some common lessons that we learn through hard experiences, or those events in our life that we learn first hand. However, most of those lessons are either shown or discussed in parts of our life that have not much meaning until now: budgeting, sewing, hard work ethic, and resolving differences. In this episode, we will revisit these age-old subjects, but apply them to how we can align them into the best versions of ourselves.
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Intro/Outro By: Michael Dugan, Podcast Host: Voice4Chefs
Transcript
Welcome to the podcast where relationships, confidence, and
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:determination all converge into
an amazing, heartfelt experience.
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:This is Speaking From The Heart.
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:Joshua: Welcome back to episode number
85 of Speaking from the Heart, and if
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:you were a kid growing up, I know that
you might have had some opportunities
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:to learn a lot of different skills such
as sewing, cooking, maybe even figured
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:out how to balance a budget, maybe
you even learned how to write a check,
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:but some of these things that I even
just discussed are becoming a dying
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:art, especially as we enter the year
:
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:those are the things that we should
really be focusing on more than others.
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:Especially when we think about the fact
that those skills, the things that we
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:easily learn as a kid, are often forgot
about as an adult, and then we realize
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:that those things that were being taught,,
about 18 to 20 years ago catch up to us.
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:Now, it doesn't have to be necessarily
that time range, but it certainly can
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:catch up to us at any point of our
lives, so today's episode is in honor
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:of all those home ec teachers, all
those budgeting teachers, all those
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:finance teachers, all those different
types of people in our lives that
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:have helped us to become not just the
best versions of ourselves as a kid,
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:but now making us realize and scratch
our head that we should have been
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:paying attention a little bit more.
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:I remember my home ec days, and also
learning a lot about what it meant
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:to write a check for that matter.
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:One of the teachers that
I had growing up was Mrs.
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:Gundrum.
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:She was a wonderful lady that, even
in high school, she showed so much of
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:herself, not only in the way in which she
taught, but she also showed ways in which
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:she cared about her students and was very
strict when it came to her grading policy.
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:Not only did I learn how to write
a check, but I also learned how to
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:balance a budget, understand what
credit cards mean, the whole nine yards
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:when it came to the finance world.
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:Now, you would have thought that I
would have went into some sort of
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:business major when I went to college,
but that was certainly not the case.
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:I went a completely different path,
going into political science, and
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:even journalism for that matter;
so much for the journalism degree.
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:I never even wrote on a newspaper!,
but even with all those things, I
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:learned so much about the world of
business and what it meant to actually
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:take a hold of what my destiny is.
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:My mom was a great sewer.
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:She was able to sew so many different
types of quilts, and even to this day,
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:I still have some of the remnants of
those quilts from my childhood, and
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:what she has given me as she starts
to continue to declutter in her house,
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:but I love the fact that even with
these skills we are learning so much
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:more about taking care of ourselves.
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:If you ever think about the fact that
in Home Ec, we learned so many different
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:things about cooking, measuring, how to
make sure that we knead the bread, how
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:we were able to learn so many different
things about the stove, even the spice
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:rack, which we take for granted today,
especially in the kitchen, and I know
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:that for many of us, we might not have
that opportunity to cook every single day,
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:let alone balance a budget, because we
delegate those services to someone else.
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:Who would have thought?
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:The very skills that we learn, the life
skills, are essentially sold as a product
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:or service that blow up our news feed,
our Twitter feed, regardless of what it
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:is, it has certainly taken control of
our lives, but even with those aspects
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:in mind, have you really stopped to think
of the importance of what those skills
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:can really create, not just in the best
version of who we are, but also represent
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:the different attitudes and shifting
perceptions, which we've recently talked
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:about in another episode, about the
importance of taking care of ourselves.
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:I know that, for many years, I wasn't
taking care of myself using some of those
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:basic skills, and now I am regretting it.
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:Thinking about my mom and her sewing
skills really put me to shame: the rips
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:that I have in my pants, the rips that I
have in my socks; now, I'm not quite sure
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:how to sew, because I was not utilizing
those skills quite often, and those were
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:really the finer points of life that I
should have really been paying attention
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:more to, instead of worrying about
what was happening with other people.
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:I think that's really putting into
perspective the fact that sometimes we
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:give our attention to the things that we
should never, ever give our attention to.
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:Nasty people.
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:Difficult bosses.
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:Unappreciative friends.
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:Situations in which
are out of our control.
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:Those subjects and so much more were
not covered in any sort of class,
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:but yet, if we would have been able
to understand those finer skills of
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:learning how to resolve conflicts,
having a hard work ethic, let alone
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:being able to learn firsthand all these
different types of skills that our high
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:school, college, or even other sort of
curricular activities could have taught
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:us, maybe we would have been better off.
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:Now, maybe you are one of my
listeners that has done such a great
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:job of taking care of yourself and
have utilized all those skills.
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:I will certainly hire you to teach me
all those things, because as I've always
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:said on this show, other people that
have the great skills and abilities to be
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:able to teach others that I don't cover
in my business, I will certainly hire
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:you, and would love to have you on the
show, but those finer points in life
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:weren't really explained until it was too
late for me to be able to learn and grow.
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:Now, you might be saying, "Josh.
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:You're almost 37 years of
age", which I really am.
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:My 37th birthday here in a few weeks.
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:"Are you really saying to me today that
you don't want to learn a new trick?
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:Are you saying that you can't teach
an old dog new tricks really true?"
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:Not at all.
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:As a matter of fact, I think that
anybody at any age can learn so
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:many different types of things.
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:It doesn't matter what that
number is in front of you.
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:It's really about your persistence
and your willingness to change, but as
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:I've gotten older, I've realized that
there are other things that I know and
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:I can invest in myself that I can say
to others and create that value that
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:allows them to not only feel a lot
better about who they are, but they are
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:able to learn some valuable skills in a
different sense, so for all those people
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:out there that are able to sew, for all
those people that are able to balance
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:a budget, which I am able to balance,
I think that we all are appreciative of
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:you, and you should appreciate yourself.
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:Give yourself a pat on the back
for the fact that you are able to
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:do some of the things that even
some others are not able to do.
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:I think that these subjects, regardless
of how you think, how you say, how you
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:feel, how you react to them, and maybe
they conjure up memories of the past,
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:they can really help you to create
those best versions of yourself if
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:you know just a little bit of each.
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:You don't have to be a master sewer like
my mom is; making quilts out of nothing,
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:and essentially creating these tapestries
that can hang on walls and be appreciative
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:because especially in the south central
part of Pennsylvania where we grew up the
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:most, those are the sort of aspects that
are tradition and help us to really learn
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:about not only the basic life skills, but
also make them feel a little bit better
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:about what they're providing to society.
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:Those are gifts.
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:Those are exchanges of not only value,
but also appreciation for others.
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:Now, before you go to the mailbox
and you send to Your Speaking Voice
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:LLC all your quilts, and all your
other projects that you've been able
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:to do so that I can feature them on
the show, think about it this way.
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:I don't want to see all those items,
because you should be giving those items
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:to somebody else that will have even
more value to appreciate from them.
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:"Huh?
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:What do you mean, Josh?
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:Appreciate other values?"
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:I've always been an advocate about the
fact that we need to be able to lean
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:into others; be able to help them grow,
be able to let them see what you truly
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:have to offer, and I know that in other
episodes we covered the fact that we need
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:to figure out how that really interplays,
not only in our own life personally, but
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:how we can extend that professionally and
beyond, and if you're still struggling
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:with figuring out what that is, I
encourage you to go listen to those other
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:episodes, and understand that maybe you
have a gift to give to this world, and
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:you have yet to unlock it, but I think
that maybe if you're thinking about some
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:of these subjects that I'm talking about
that conjure up some amazing memories, and
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:make you smile inside, maybe those are the
gifts that you should start to focus on.
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:Now, this might be the point of the
episode that I could easily end it and
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:say, thanks for being part of Speaking
From The Heart, but there's a little
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:bit something else that I really want to
share about this subject matter that is
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:really important for us to understand.
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:The lessons that we learn as a child,
especially growing up, are so important
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:for not only the ways in which we
develop ourselves into an adult,
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:but we often learn what those things
are that we need to have, or equip
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:ourselves with, at a very young age.
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:Many of us don't get that opportunity
to really be able to reteach
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:ourselves the skills that we might
have been mistaught growing up.
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:For example, being able to say "please"
and "thank you" is usually a courtesy
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:in itself by making sure that you're
polite to somebody else that has done
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:something for you and acknowledging
that they have given you something
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:of great value, but some people don't
know how to say please and thank you.
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:Some of them don't even know how
to open a door for somebody else,
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:especially somebody that is disabled.
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:I know for myself, whenever I go to a
gas station, or a grocery store that has
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:some manual doors that you have to open
as opposed to those automatic ones, I
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:always let that other person behind me
go first, and I don't know if that's just
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:because I was always instilled with that,
especially in elementary school, which
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:shout out to Oley Valley Elementary School
for teaching me some of those skills.
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:I think there's a lot more that meets
the pass when it comes to the different
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:opportunities that we have with not
only sharing what our gifts are, but
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:what we learn as a child are also those
same gifts that we share with others.
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:If you haven't never stopped to think
about the fact that as a child, we
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:learned so many different things about
the finer points of life, maybe you need
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:to reflect on the fact that those points
might have been missed, or maybe been
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:lost, along the way in becoming an adult.
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:I know for a fact that maybe you're
not opening a door, especially
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:when you're going to work, because
who wants to go to work, right?
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:Spend another 8 hour day, be able to earn
money, or even for my business owners,
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:working 12 to 16 hours, because we all
know that we work way over what we should
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:be doing, but yet, at the same time,
what if we extended the same courtesies
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:that we learned as a child, by saying
"please" and "thank you" to the workforce?
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:I know it sounds like a very
childish, simple concept.
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:But if you really think about it, our
world needs a lot more manners, and
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:our world needs to relearn a lot of
basic skills, to be able to teach and
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:educate far beyond into the future.
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:This episode isn't to lecture or educate
on the importance of having those sort of
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:skills, because If you read any sort of
trade article, let alone even the "news
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:media" about the importance of having
this because we're losing it, I feel
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:like you're missing a bigger part of the
overall conversation that should be had.
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:I think that we need to learn the fact
that those skills, let alone those
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:opportunities that we've been granted
as a kid, whether it's writing a check,
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:balancing our checkbook, regardless of
what it is, we need to be able to learn
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:not only those skills, but continue to
educate to others those same basic skills.
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:That doesn't mean that you need to show
somebody a cell phone and have them go
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:on YouTube to learn everything, because
that's the cheap way out, and I know.
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:It's so easy to turn to technology to help
us understand a lot of different things.
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:I know I had to learn to tie a tie,
because as many times as my dad showed
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:me, I couldn't quite pick up how he was
doing the knot, and he never would slow
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:down to show me how that tie was tied.
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:As an alternative, I went to YouTube, and
that's when I learned the famous Windsor
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:Knot, and oh yes, ladies and gentlemen,
and especially my gentlemen, if you
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:know what I'm talking about with tying a
Windsor Knot, it's pretty simple when you
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:think about it, but those basic skills,
especially being taught by somebody else,
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:that we are able to create and function
with, and we show it to somebody else,
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:creates a personal connection that we
never thought we could ever have because
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:we're now forming a relationship.
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:Now you might have been wondering when
I was finally going to get to one of
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:my values; there you go, but it isn't
just about the values of my business.
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:The values of who you are.
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:It's learning about how to work hard, how
to resolve differences, how to open the
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:door, how to say "please" and "thank you."
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:It's not just all those things, but it's
so much more than that, and I know that
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:it might be really easy for us to adapt
these today, and maybe we have already
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:adapted them as a child, and we can
continue to walk that path, but some of
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:us have forgotten how to walk that path.
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:Robert Frost wrote a wonderful
poem way back in his heyday
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:about the road less taken.
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:We have the road that has been paved, and
the road that hasn't been trudged upon,
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:and I think that for many of us, we might
have walked on the road that has not
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:been trudged upon so many times, because
it allows us to form new opportunities,
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:new relationships, and create different
attitudes about how we can move forward
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:in our lives, but sometimes, the paths
that have already been paved are also good
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:to walk onto, so never forget about the
fact that balance can help us so much with
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:not only explaining those finer points
in life, but also giving us some common
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:sense lessons that we should be able to
share with everybody, regardless of your
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:experience level, and don't only rely
on your parents, but also rely on your
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:grandparents and other acquaintances that
help you understand that maybe there are
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:some things that you can learn from them.
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:It's never too late to learn, to be
able to understand that maybe some of
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:the ideas, concepts, and knowledge of
this world have yet to be untapped,
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:but yet at the same time, even if
you have tapped into that knowledge
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:previously, it's always nice to have
a little bit of a refresher, because
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:I don't know if you have a Mrs.
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:Gundram or any other type of home ec
teacher in your life has created those
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:opportunities to help you grow and
learn a lot of different basic skills,
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:because even as I reflect on this
whole opportunity in our lives to be
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:able to align with the best versions
of ourselves, it sometimes means going
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:back in the past, addressing some of
the deficiencies that we've had as a
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:child, and being able to relearn those
skills to create not just that best
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:version, not just those opportunities,
not just those personal and professional
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:endeavors, it allows us to learn a little
bit about humanity, and the last time
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:I checked, you and I are human beings.
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:In this world that's surrounded by AI,
artificial intelligence, technology
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:in which we have information at our
fingertips, and the ability to interact
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:through social media, let alone the whole
world wide web that we call the Internet,
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:we forget about the fact that the spoken
word, the actions that we use with our
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:own two hands and our own two feet, for
that matter, can make such a wonderful,
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:long lasting impact on others, so get
out your needle, get out your calculator,
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:and get out your stove with all those
pots and pans, because maybe you can show
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:somebody else not only how to cook, not
only how to balance a budget, not only
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:manage their credit card debt, not only so
many other things, but maybe you will be
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:looked upon not only a mentor, not only a
leader, but somebody that has lived life
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:to the fullest, because the basic skills
are just as fulfilling as the complex.
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:Thanks for listening to episode
number 85 of Speaking From the
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:Heart, and I look forward to
hearing from your heart very soon.
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:Outro: Thanks for listening.
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:For more information about our podcast
and future shows, search for Speaking From
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:The Heart to subscribe and be notified
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:Visit us at www.yourspeakingvoice.biz
for more information about potential
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:services that can help you create
the best version of yourself.
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:See you next time.
