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Foreign. They literally took off running because they had to. But this is important to me because I've. Thanksgiving's always been my favorite holiday, and I could never really figure out why. And learning about me, like, we have some podcast where I just kind of talk about my life and stuff, and I did the part one and. But there's no real. It's just. I'm just gonna go how I feel. It's Thanksgiving. And I think the idea of Thanksgiving from a man's point of view is the best holiday as a provider. And I don't know, like, you want to be able to have this giant feast to celebrate a year of hard work and success and going into Christmas knowing that you're going to be able to provide for your family whatever presents they wanted. You know, this, that, whatever the other side of it is, it can be the most stressful holiday for a man because you're limping into Thanksgiving. Maybe you're behind on bills, maybe you haven't even thought about Christmas shopping for your family, your loved ones or whatever, or you're not making enough money and, you know, things just aren't going your way. And I've had a lot of years like that, because when I look back and think about why I love Thanksgiving, I think it was the idea that you would sit at a table and everyone would say, you know, thank you for your hard work this year. Thank you for providing. You did a great job, dad. You did a great job, husband or boyfriend or whatever the situation was. So for me, I think that's what the idea of being at the top of the mountain or at the head of the table at Thanksgiving, with my family there, friends there, I'm able to fly people in, and they have this giant celebration of what it is to have things and to work hard. So I think that's why I love the idea of Thanksgiving. The hard part is I could say that I probably had more unsuccessful Thanksgivings than successful Thanksgivings in my life. And what I mean by that is, like, not where I wanted to be, not having a family connection, just going through worrying about bills, going into Christmas and. And making sure, like, who, if you're going to see what kid and, you know, just all the stuff that goes with trying to make it. When you have put yourself into situations in life where you have to make sacrifices and you have to earn a living, you have to be able to take care of your wife, your kids, your kids that don't live with you. Maybe you have a family member who's not doing well. You know, or whatever. Whatever you. Whatever burden you put on your shoulders as a man. Thanksgiving, I think, is the litmus test. It lets you know how you're doing. I love the challenge of it, and you accept the failure of it, and you still have some time to turn things around before Christmas. I think it's also a time when you see how selfish and unselfish you are. It sees how much you feel loved and respected by your circle, or in some cases, when you realize that your circle's too big or that you focus so much on one aspect of your life. Let's say in my case, working, work, work, work, work. Because if you work, and because my job, I work in front of the camera, so I basically get a ratings test how I'm doing at my job, because I can say, Whoa, you know, 3 million people are watching us every night in gut feel we're doing good, and then all of a sudden, hey, 100,000 people are watching us. Oh, shit, we're doing bad. So you can kind of gauge where you're going. But the problem is that you want to do well so bad. And you become yes to. To everything, every TV show, everything, because you just want to be out there. And the more you're out there, the more opportunities you have to succeed, the more opportunities you have to maybe get your own show, the more opportunities you have to provide for your family. And selfishly, you do it also for the recognition. I work hard for all this. And you want everyone to, I guess, selfishly or arrogantly, or maybe it's just. Maybe it's just a natural human feeling that you want to be appreciated. Like, you know, this is the. The holiday that everyone's thankful for Dad's hard work or your hard work. But also it lets everyone know when you. When you didn't produce, when you didn't. Thanksgivings, oh, we can't. We can't fly to relatives this year. Or we're just gonna keep it real simple because we got Christmas coming up, you know, or whatever the case may be, you can always judge yourself. At least me personally. Thanksgiving is my litmus test that lets me know how my ear. My year is ending. Am I a good provider this year? Do I have enough money, or do I have enough situation where all my family's bellies are full, roofs over their heads, everybody's good. I'm okay. You know, that's what Thanksgiving has meant to me, and I think it was why it's so important to me. But there is. The other side of it, is that you work so hard for everyone to be thankful, but you're not around, so they're not really thankful because you're not around. Like you're there and it's not a big deal to them because it's just another day at the house for them. But you're a visitor even though you're the provider. So it can be difficult at times because you're trying to measure is it better to have or don't have but be there? Is time more important than status or making sure everyone has what they need? There's no, there's no right answer. I really don't. I would argue with anyone. You provide everyone, have a good life and to make less work for the people you love around you. So therefore you're not going to be there, you know, so you have to accept that. But then you come a point and typically when you're struggling with other things, your own, your weight, your, you're getting older, you've been sick, whatever the deal is, you go through moments of when you look at your life and be like, is this what it's all about? Is this what I'm supposed to be doing? Working in front of a camera, you know, five days a week in a different place, don't see any of my kids, don't, you know, never get alone time with the wife or anything like that? You think, you start thinking, man, I blew it. I should have been home more. I shouldn't have worked so much. And then the other side of it is you see that the bills are paid three months ahead of time. Everybody has nice things, everyone's clothes are clean. You know, nobody's got a bad report card because they go to a nice school or they're homeschooled or, you know, no one has a car that doesn't have a 225 date on it or a 2024 date on it. Like, you know, you've, you've done it, but you always look at the other side, the grass is always greener at the other side. You always see the guy who gets to be home with his kids and his wife every day and come home to him and you think, man, that lucky bastard. But then he'll look across the street at you in your bigger house and your cars, or see you on TV and go, oh man, that lucky bastard. So there's really, it's like, it's a double edged sword, success versus time. And in a perfect world you can mend it and have it all, you know, but sometimes it doesn't Work out like that. You know, in my case, where I have to work in a different state or I have to travel in different states to be able to give my family a great life or give my kids the best start. Now, a couple things, like I said, do not have for children by four different women. Don't recommend it. Love my kids. Wouldn't change them, Wouldn't change anything for the world now. But if you're smart, you marry smart, you build a relationship with that person, you build a friendship with that person, you build a trust with that person, you accept them for their mistakes. You, you work through things and then once you guys get to a point, then you have kids. You have to think three steps ahead. And it's difficult to do sometimes when you're always behind the eight ball. And for a long time I was always behind the eight ball. And you become impulsive and you do things and you make a lot of excuses and you forget you ain't thankful for shit because you think everybody owes you something. So Thanksgiving to you really doesn't mean much because you're not happy with who you are or what you are. And there's just a lot of, a lot of things that go with this. Everyone's anti aging. Everyone, you know, everyone doesn't want to get old. Everyone wants to be young forever. Everybody wants their hair to stay. In my case, beautiful strawberry blonde, brown punch in the mouth. Testosterone, man beard. Or salty, you can call it that too. But when you start to age, right, for men, it's not, it's not so much looks, at least for myself, I didn't really care about. I didn't. I haven't gotten old ugly or anything. But like you, you start to notice things you can't do anymore. For me, athletically, things were, were changing, like not being able to dunk a basketball or jumping up and down and all of a sudden everything hurts or you know, bumping, feeding and wrestling. Like things start to go just like little things like playing with your son and he grabs you and normally you would just snatch him up and put him over your head. And now it's. You got to work, you know, and it's just gradual. Little things start to. You start to feel a weakness in the, in the gym and you're tired and it takes you longer to, to kick out, you know, those things start to weigh on you and you start to feel, I mean, you're dying. The, the process is like, that's what happens the day we born. The day we are born, we start to die. So you start to feel that mortality. What have I done with my life? When you get in that 50 age and you start looking at your life. I live a life of athleticism and I played sports and I wrestled and I traveled the world. And you kind of look at those things and then you think about the people were affected while you were on this great adventure, what their life was like for you. And then you find out when you slow down, when you aren't the man you used to be physically, you're not that, you know, imposing monster. Still, you're starting to kind of have like a friendliness to you. You're, you're, you're getting older. There's a weakness there. But you don't understand. You haven't. You're training your, your physical strength for mental strength, wisdom and understanding things and patience. And your testosterone's not as, you know, you don't want to no longer fight. You want to figure it out. And so that's a power, that's an upgrade. But you don't necessarily always see it that way. And you go through phases where you wonder the sacrifices that you took on, like I took on willingly, but I didn't ask the people that love me if they were good with them. So you kind of go through a point where now you're starting to feel there's a vin. You feel there's a level of invincibility when you're in entertainment or you're an athlete and people pay to watch you, or you put asses in the seats and, and there's, you know, people have your action figure or they buy your book or they walk up to you and ask you for your autograph. There's a certain high to that. There's a certain, like, what's the best way to describe it? It's a false love. It's important. Like your fans, admiration is important. It matters. It shouldn't be the most important thing in your life. The people that are in your day to day struggle in your circle. That should be your most important thing. But I think you can acknowledge it. I think you can feed off it. I think it can inspire you. I think you can be humble and thankful for it. I always laugh when guys complain about. Everywhere I go, people recognize me. I'm like, that's a first world problem, bro. And that means what you're doing is working. Because eventually they're not. Happens to everyone. You know, I used to tell all my buddies in wrestling, I'm like, hey, look, we're all getting fired. It doesn't matter. You're getting fired. Cut. However you want to put it. Tv, same thing. Eventually somebody will be a little funnier, probably a little easier to get along, probably a better dresser, probably wears pant leg down, you know, and it just happens. Or as the new blood comes in, maybe my memory is starting to go a little bit, or maybe I'm not as quick with the wit as I used to be or I'm forgetful or whatever. You age, you know, and that's when I think you start to get scared. That's when Thanksgiving starts to matter. Because you look at the people around you on Thanksgiving as you are feeling your own mortality, and maybe they're not thankful for you. Maybe they, they think the life that you led wasn't the life they wanted. You know, and when they're kids or a wife or a boyfriend, girlfriend, or whatever your situation is, and they've been with you on this and they stayed for whatever reason they stayed. Sometimes it's. They stay for like the financial security know, which is I think probably the worst reason to stay with some money because that means you have to like fake everything just, you know, just so you can have money. And I think that's. I think if you don't love somebody, you should tell them. I think if, if you don't know them anymore, you should tell them. Preferably, you know, not two minutes before they go on tv, but, you know what I'm saying? But like the same thing, you don't call home, you know, the morning of you're coming home for Thanksgiving, you're like, hey, hey, honey, I'm never coming home. You don't do that either. But I just feel like there's, from my point of view, as you get older and you've worked this life or you've lived this life and you've made the type of mistakes that I have made in my life. And you've tried to rectify everything and you've tried to do right and you've tried to apologize and make things right with the people you've hurt. And I've really made a conscious effort to try to, to do that. For some people, that's not going to be enough. And a man, I think is truly judged by how he's treated by his family when he's not himself anymore, when the fear is gone, when there's just the not shell. But like, you're not, you're, you're older, you're. You can't do things. You can't walk as fast as you Used to. You can't. You got to wear glasses when you read, you know, and. And you start talking about good old days more than you make new days, because it's just a lot more comfortable to sit in your chair, a little sun on your face. That's when you're going to know who's thankful for you and who's not. And you see it a lot when guys that you saw on TV that you thought were these great dudes because you fell in love with the character on tv, but they were not good to the people that were closest to them. So when they're not on TV anymore and they're old and they have to rely or they're sick or their health is going, or they're getting up in age and their family doesn't embrace them, or they're a nuisance or a burden, which I think is every. I think men fear that the most is being a burden. I gotta. I gotta take grandpa outside, you know, like, you don't, you don't want people to ever not be proud of what you've done for them. I think that's a big driving force in a man's life. But at the same time, like, it's all about how you got there. Like, what did they lose that you weren't necessarily aware of or didn't care in some cases is. Did you do enough good in your life to the people that loved you to where. When you're fallen, when you're not an alpha anymore, when you need help getting up, when they, when you need a cane, when you got to take your medications or whatever the hell, or they got to help you to the bathroom or whatever. When your point in that life, when it gets to that point, were you good enough for them to want to do that for you with a smile on your face? And I think that also is when a man's at his weakest because you're, you're not as strong as you used to be, you're no longer the guy, you know. And so I think, I think when it comes to Thanksgiving, those are the type of things that, as I get older, pop into my head even more so then as you get ready to. For Thanksgiving. And, and you hear more about the nuisance of Thanksgiving, the planning, the food, the cooking, the this, the that. And you're, you're, you're. You interpret that for, they're not really thankful for me anymore. You know, you just, it's. And you can interpret a lot of things the wrong way, the right way, and I Think, just when you think about what it is to be thankful, it's one of those things in this country that I think we've kind of lost our way with. I think we've forgotten what people have done for us. And every day, like little things that we should be like, thankful. You should, you know, you should thank somebody for. Working with you every day or helping you or. But whatever your situation is, your co workers, your friends, like, be thankful that they take the time out of their day to acknowledge you. I ask kiss and fest because the street works both ways. But I'm just saying when you think about what it is to really be thankful for, you want to be thankful for your health, you want to be thankful for your success, your family, your friends. And also it should be a time of reflection. How am I doing? Am I a good person? Am I a good man? Am I a good provider? Am I doing it right? You know, then that's, I think, why the happy ones, the ones who are thankful, probably why they take that little nap. I don't think it's, itis. I think it's being super comfortable where you take that turkey nap while your game's on and all the things that you work hard all year for, to be surrounded by the people who love you. And it's, it should be like cold outside, but like you don't need a blanket, but like you're on the couch dozing off, you know, and you're just, you're just power sleeping so you can digest for round two. But it's, you know, but like it's a happy time where everyone is kind of taking that moment to enjoy each other and to enjoy the year and to talk about stuff and start planning for the big Christmas because the kids love Christmas, the wife loves Christmas, your friends love Christmas. I'm more of a grouch, a grinch about Christmas because I know that's gonna, my bottom line suffers and I gotta pick up a ton of shifts in July and Jan, I'm sorry, January, because I know that I, I tend to over give because I'm gone a lot. So I try to really wow you. And that, as you know, that's another thing too is like you, you buy these amazing gifts for the people you love because you're gone all the time. And then they'll look at and be like, yeah, but I wish you were home more. Like, yeah, I appreciate the new car, but I really wish you're home. I don't know, I'll keep the car, but I'm Just saying, like, I wish you were, you were here more. And that's the, that's the tough thing is when you, when do you draw the line? When do you say, okay, I've spent 30 years on the road. Provide a good life for everyone. I think I'm going to slow down. That's another litmus test. You'll find out real quick whether it's they want time with you or they want you to keep earning. So there's a lot of thing, a lot of levels to being thankful as a man. I think it has 1000% to do with the feelings of the people around you. If you're a man who's taken on the challenge of being a provider and trying to make a better life for your family. But even as rough as that sounds, there's no substitute for sweet potato casserole. Just putting it out there. You can be having the worst day ever. There's something about marshmallows. Not burnt on the top, just kind of browned. Phenomenal. But my all time favorite that I'm always thankful for is my canned cranberry sauce that, like my pant leg up is a staple. It is my favorite thing. I don't, I, I didn't know it came in the can as I was, I was a kid and the very few, the very many, few times I got to go to Thanksgiving with like my grandmother and actually be at the same table. Never at their house, but they came out to California one time and my grandmother cooked and I saw these perfectly sliced cranberry sauce and it was like a gel. I was like, how did she do that? That's amazing. And I remember asking her, like, how did you get the cranberry like that? And she's like, it's an old family secret. One day I'll tell you, I had no idea it was in the can, you know, but like, to me it was magical. And so I would be like, grandma, could you make some more of that cranberry sauce? And she'd be like, sure. And she would always like, go in the other. Wouldn't let me see it because she was just opening the can, dumping it out and she'd cut it. And I remember, I think it was my brother ruined it for me because she left. And I was like, man, that cranberry sauce that grandma makes is gone. He's like, what are you talking about, fool? There's like six cans in the cabinet. It's not cans. She may. And then my mom was like, yeah, she opens it up, look, and it comes right out. And I was like, oh, can we keep this in the house always? So I literally always have a can of cranberry sauce somewhere in the house, because even though my grandmother did, I wouldn't call it a lie, but she. Yes, it was a lie, but, like, it was. It was kind of like a cool, funny family thing. She was playing with me because I really believed that she, you know, mixed up this cranberry sauce and somehow got it in a perfect. I mean, yes, clearly, it looks like it comes out of a can now, but at the time, I would have believed anything that my grandmother would have told me. If she would have told me that Puff the Magic Dragon was her Siamese twin and they had to get separated at birth and he died, I would have believed her because she was. She was just that important to me. I didn't get a lot of time with her, but I did fall for all her little. Her little tricks and stuff. And it worked because I think of it fondly to this day. Like, if you brought me the freshest cranberries from all the land, I'd be like, nope, you got it in a can. And I literally, if. If I am going. I don't like to go to other people's houses for Thanksgiving because of what I just talked about. As far as, like, an alpha man, it's like, your territory, your thing. But if I was. And they said to me, like, well, what do you make? What do you bring? I'll be like, well, we could. We could do the casserole. We could. You know, we could. We could order a Truduckin, maybe. Phenomenal. I highly recommend them. Very good. Or, you know, whatever. But I don't think you bring another turkey to another man's house. It's rude. You know, it's like, be like asking his wife on a date. You just don't do that. So. But you can, like, if you have a special dish or whatever, and I would literally, I would be like, do you have cranberry sauce? And they'd be like, yes, of course. In the can. No. Okay, fine. That's what we're bringing, you know, but then I. I won't want to share it. So, you know, I'll. I'll just kind of look at people when they take it, and that's my issue. I got to work through that. But, like, canned cranberry sauce is my favorite thing. And then, of course, the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, good gravy. Sweet potato casserole rolls are always good. Green bee casserole. Is fine. Although, let's be honest, it's not a day for greenery. Really isn't. Sounds good. Sounds good on paper. That's not what it's about. It's about carbs and sugars and some serious protein. That's. That's. It's that day. It's the low. It's a loading day. It's a loading day. You're going to have some amazing gains over the next couple of days. So prepare yourself, train for it fast going into it, and then, you know, go full regalia. Give yourself two to three days, and then once it's out your system, once you've had the leftover sandwich, you clean it all up, you put it away and you get back to work. Because now you start, now you're on the ground grind. Now it's time for. It's time for Christmas.