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Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Thank you for tuning in. Had an interesting day. You know, first off, it was raining like crazy, but the weather has been so beautiful for the past six months. Actually probably the best I have experienced in the past decade or two that I'm like grateful for the rain. And even if it rains for the next five weeks, I'm cool with that. But I hopped on a scooter in the rain and it was like rain just slapping me in the face. I had some amapiano in my ears and I went to Staples to pick up some labels for my printer. You know, I'm shipping out the reminder deck to all of you who have purchased. Thank you so much by the way. It truly, you know, supports what we're doing over here. And I was checking out and the teller asked me if I wanted to join some like preferred customer program. And normally, you know, like, you know, I was gonna say no, but he was just so friendly and kind and he mentioned it cost me nothing. So I was like, alright, sure, whatever bro, Give me the pencil. And then he said, thank you because we have to fight the online. We have to put up this fight. And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I feel you. I wasn't really paying attention. And as I'm writing my name down, he says, we already lost our other store. AI is coming. You know, my job will be gone, this company will be gone. We're all going to feel it. And I looked at him, I was like, brother, trust me, I think about it every single day. I know. And he looked at me with the most serious face and said, it's a losing battle, but we must fight. He mentioned that he already knows his store has no chance for him. He said it's about his dignity. And this man was truly like an all star employee, you know, like kind, helpful. I like, I was almost confused like, bro, like, who cares? It's just staples. But he was the kind of worker who you actually remember when you walk out the store. I mean, like I'm talking about him right now, like that's how impactful he was. But in my mind I'm like, bro, you don't own this company. Like, why is your loyalty there? But then I realized that's also my individualistic mindset, you know, the Western mind speaking. You know, he was from the Philippines, he was older, probably late 50s, 60s. And then I realized maybe for him it wasn't even about the company, but maybe he found a lot of meaning in this position. Maybe he found pride, maybe he provided for his family with this position. Maybe it gave him structure, dignity, and a safe haven. Maybe the store was also like a small community for him, a place where he could serve and be seen. And because of that, he refuses to go out without a fight. He said, it's about my dignity. He refuses to lose. And as I was walking out, he called after me one more time. He's like, hey. He's like, I really appreciate you signing up. The battle is already lost, but we must still fight. And then he, like, threw up his fist. Like, it was like some monumental civil rights moment. And then there I am, you know, like, my fist in the air with the teller. With the teller at Staples, like, just having this moment. But you know what? I felt him. It was real. But I also questioned it as well. I was like, would I fight a losing battle? Something I know that I was going to lose? And I was really pondering on that question, and I stopped by nearest cafe to write about it. Then I ordered a black tea. It was a black tea lavender latte. Latte came up to, like, $8. I'm like, man, this is ridiculous. The end is truly near. The world is collapsing if a cup of tea with oat milk is $8. But it was good, I'm not gonna lie. And as I was sitting there sipping on this, you know, divine lavender black tea latte, I gotta make it sound even better than it was, because that was a heavy $8, you know, I thought about my home fights, the hills I'm climbing, and how some days they feel like it's a losing battle, but I'm still waking up and I'm still moving forward. I thought about the choices I'm making every single day, the choices we all make every single day, and ask myself again, would I still fight against something I knew I couldn't win? Then I realized I do that every day. I have no promise for life. I have no idea what's going to happen, but I still wake up. And so do you. It brought me back to my rule, you know, I made this rule a long time ago. I think, like, when I was in high school, I told myself, I will never quit on myself. I refuse to lose. I may pivot. I may change. I may even tread down a whole different path. But I would never throw in the towel on myself. I would never let go of myself fully. I would never stop growing, transforming, never stop trying, never stop developing new skills if I needed to. I refuse to lose in this life. I am dedicated in living the life that I love and loving it while I live it on my own accord. To me, that's true richness in life. And I realize that's what he's doing. It wasn't even about Staples. He just refuses to lose. He has that same fighting spirit, just like you, although he knows it's a losing battle. He refuses to lose. He refuses to lose himself, his hope, his dignity. And I feel like we're all standing at that same counter in some way, you know, looking at the receipts of our lives, adding up what we've lost, what we've gained, what the future might take away or bring. And sometimes we don't know. We don't know if we're fighting a losing battle. We don't know how life is going to truly pan out for us. We hope for the best, we do the best. But sometimes, let's be honest, sometimes it feels like we're trying so hard, but nothing is working out in our favor. Sometimes it feels like we're just literally being broken to the point of no return. And then that's when I thought about that one story in the Bible, which is really a messed up story, but beautiful in many ways. But that story's really messed up how, like, God and the devil are, like, conspiring against Job. It's weird, but Job had everything. He had major faith. He had wealth, he had family, he had health, you know, but the devil was like, hey, you know, of course he's got faith. Like, look at his life. He's like, I bet if we take it all away, you know, his faith would just completely drift away. And, you know, God was like, nah, Job is. Job is rooted. You know, go ahead, try. And they stripped it all away from him, and the man was crushed. And often we hear this story, like, you know, he never wavered, and he stood tall with unshakable faith. But the truth is, he did break. You know, he was staying strong for a long time. He was fighting. But he had his moments where he dwelled in doubt. He had his moments where he cursed the day he was born. He had his moments where he wished that he was never even there. He had his moments where he questioned if God was even there. But he fully didn't quit on himself. There was still a part of him that was alive. He didn't fully disconnect from the source. Even in his anger, even in his cries, even in his confusion. He stayed in that conversation, communicating with the most high, knowing life must be doing something for me, not against me. Even if I can understand it and I cannot see it he said, though he slay me, yet I will trust in him, but I will argue my ways to his face. He was having a living conversation with God, even when he was frustrated with him. But guess what? He was still in conversation. Even if he was angry, even if he was like, God, why are you doing this? He was still in conversation. And I think that's truly what God wants the most from us, just a conversation. Hey, you're scared. Talk to me. Hey, you're angry. Talk to me. Oh, you're angry at me. Talk to me. Oh, you're feeling gratitude. Tell me about it. Oh, you're having the best time of your life. Don't forget about me. Staying in that conversation is how you never quit on yourself. Your rule in life should be, I refuse to lose. That's it. Doesn't mean you won't take losses and failures, but you refuse to lose. Failure is just a chapter or two. The story's not done yet. You're actually just getting started. And we're not judging our life by a single day. Think of it in the grand scheme, envision the whole scope and just know we refuse to lose. We're not quitting on ourselves. When, where, now, Never. We're not going to quit growing. We're not going to accept less than. We're not going to accept people who aren't good for us just because maybe you're in a season of being alone. We're going to continue to recognize our own greatness. And even though it may be incredibly hard right now to do that, and maybe we're dwelling in our doubts, we may even have days where we're just self deprecating, you know? You know those days where you just like, you just self deprecate, oh, why me? I'm not good enough. You know, you just have those moments sometimes in life. It's okay, but stay in conversation and make that rule. I refuse to lose. And that's what I saw in the teller at Staples. It wasn't really about his loyalty to the company. I think it was about him refusing to lose himself, refusing to bow out silently refusing to let dignity slip away without a fight. Because even when the company goes down, that man will still have that fighting spirit alive. His strength would be sharp, ready for his next chapter. The man knew the system would swallow his store whole. He knew AI online giants, the economics, it is all stacked against him. But he still looked at me and said, it's a losing battle, but we must still fight. And it hit me different because it just reminded Me of my own seasons that I've been in where I have days where I feel like things are slipping away from me. I have days where I just worry as a father. Oh man, the world is changing. I gotta make sure my daughter, she knows how to navigate these times. I don't even know what the world's gonna look like. I gotta, you know, it's just, you know, the love of a father is so real. But we still show up, we still speak, we still fight. Because if we lose that we lose ourselves. And that's the most important thing that we have. You know, some of us are fighting to just keep our self worth alive. Some of us are fighting to keep our families together. Some of us are fighting to hold on to our or to be seen to be felt. Some of us are fighting just to wake up tomorrow with a little bit of hope. And sometimes it feels like a losing battle, doesn't it? Like the world's already decided the outcome. But the real question is, are you going to quit on yourself? You know, when people protest in the streets, sometimes it seems pointless, doesn't it? Because we're like, oh, like what's actually going to change? But sometimes it's not even about that. Sometimes it's just about birthing that fighting spirit within, standing up to the giant, regardless if you feel the odds are stacked against you. And that's why I live by this rule. I refuse to lose. I refuse to lose. Say that with me. I refuse to lose. No matter what giant is standing in front of me. No matter what hurdles I may have to jump. I refuse to lose. We may fail, we may pivot, we may have to tread down a different path, but we will never quit on ourselves. Job never won against the suffering. The suffering was real, the losses were real. But he refused to let go of his own voice. In the end, he kept talking to God, even if it was in anger. And in the end, Job gained back all the wealth and help, but he gained back something else. It was a proof that he could lose everything and still not lose himself and God. That was the true victory. You know, I was thinking the other day, I was like, if I had to choose between losing a hundred thousand dollars or losing myself, what would I choose? I was like, I choose the hundred thousand dollars every single time. Because what else matters? If we have ourselves, if we're rooted, if we believe in ourselves, if we recognize our abilities and our gifts, anything is possible. You can go and make $20 million, you can transform lives, you can fall in love, you can bridge your family back together again. Whatever it may be, just refuse to lose. Because in the end, we may lose things. We may go through seasons where we fail. And man, we may go through chapters and chapters where it feels like we're going backwards. But you don't want to lose yourself. And that, my friends, is what it means to put up a good fight. Then you done know in hindsight everything is going to be alright.