Podcasts about prickly

You better be hungry for this episode! Artemis Program Manager Annita Lucchesi shows Artemis Coordinator Paige McMahon and YOU how to make contemporary recipes with Indigenous ingredients such as steelhead, elk, huckleberries, and wild rice.  RECIPE  While these recipes are not traditional to any tribe, they do utilize traditional Indigenous foods. The goal in sharing these recipes is to remind folks that Indigenous foods are more accessible than we realize, highly versatile, easy to work with, and usable in a wide variety of cooking styles. Whether you're Indigenous or not, Indigenous foods belong in your kitchen! Every ingredient used is Indigenous to the Americas.   Note: I am a home cook that does not believe in precise measurements. For that reason, you won't see specific measurements in the ingredient lists below. Instead, I use descriptions of texture to give you a feel for what it should look or feel like as you go. As always, do what feels right for your palate and the size of the party you're cooking for.   Prickly Pear Glazed Steelhead  Ingredients:  Steelhead filet  Prickly pear jam  Sunflower oil  Coarse sea salt  Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a small bowl, mix sunflower oil, salt, and prickly pear jam until evenly blended. Consistency should be similar to a thick salad dressing – thin enough to drizzle, but thick enough to lather onto the fish.   Place steelhead filet in an oven-safe pan. Spoon prickly pear glaze over the fish, making sure to spread a medium-thick layer evenly.   Bake steelhead in the oven until it is cooked to desired texture.     Wild Rice & Elk Meatballs  Ingredients:  Ground elk meat  Huckleberries  Wild rice  Mixed wild mushrooms (chanterelles recommended)  Flat (mountain) cedar  Bear root (or osha root)  Coarse sea salt  Directions:  In a large deep pan, add mushrooms, small chunks of bear root, and a pinch of cedar to water. Fill level should be deep enough to create a broth to cook the meatballs in, but not so deep that it will boil over once you add the meatballs. Place the pan on the stove on medium heat, high enough to create a flavored broth.   In a large bowl, mix ground elk, huckleberries, wild rice, a pinch of flat cedar, and salt. The final texture of the mix should be sticky enough for the meatballs to hold shape, but wet enough to remain moist after cooking in the broth.   Form meatballs by rolling between your palms – they should be approximately 1” thick.   Place meatballs directly into the broth on the stove. Turn as needed, and add additional water as needed (the rice will soak up the broth as they cook; the pan should always maintain broth in it because the rice needs the moisture). Cook thoroughly, until meat and rice are fully cooked.     Roasted Maple Chili Sweet Potatoes & Mushrooms  Ingredients:  Diced sweet potatoes  Chanterelle mushrooms (or other wild mushrooms)  Maple syrup  Guajillo chili powder  Sunflower oil  Coarse sea salt  Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.   Place diced sweet potatoes and mushrooms in an oven-safe pan (cast iron preferred).   In a small bowl, stir sunflower oil, salt, guajillo, and maple syrup until evenly mixed. Feel free to taste as you go and modify the sweet/spicy level to your preference.   Pour the glaze over the potatoes and mushrooms, and stir to ensure pieces are evenly coated.   Bake until potatoes are soft and easily broken with a fork.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We learn more about these cute but pokey little creatures.

We learn all about these adorable little animals.

Navigating difficult conversations is a critical skill for supervisors and supervisees alike. In this episode of Supervision Simplified, Dr. Amy Parks and Valarie Harris dive into the complexities of addressing uncomfortable topics within the supervisory relationship. From offering constructive feedback to supervisees, to building trust so supervisees feel safe bringing concerns to their supervisors, this episode explores strategies for fostering open communication. Amy and Valarie share personal stories, lessons learned, and practical tips for navigating these "prickly" moments with grace and professionalism. Whether you're a clinical supervisor, an intern, or simply navigating hard conversations in your practice, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you grow.

The best alternative to living in a society of narcissistic egos is to move into nonduality. There is, after all, only one Real Self. Why be crowded when you can enjoy infinite spaciousness?

PREVIEW: NSDAP: 1933: Author Timothy Ryback, "Takeover," portrays President of the Reich Otto von Hindenburg as a prickly, exhausted, prideful elder who only welcomed praise and solitude. More later. 1931

Before you offer someone else an advice about their flaws, it's a good idea to understand your own. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/779/29

Two Turtle Doves, or Dildos?Based on a post by SandyMarl, in 4 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories. Dana returned to the kitchen as Orlando was finishing drying the stemware. She leaned back against the counter, crossing her arms in front of her tits as she tried to give a confident look, though a drunken squirrel was racing around inside her chest.Orlando folded the dish towel, set it down as he stepped to her side. He reached around her waist and pulled her close, brushing her hair back, he whispered into her ear, "Strange as it is, there are some people who have a difficult time accepting good things that are given to them. You have been given a set of good and close girlfriends Dana." Orlando placed his fingertips at the base of her jaw, "Your pulse is beating hard, I sense that you are understandably nervous to find yourself in a position to accept or reject a special, intimate gift that has been tenderly offered to you." Continuing to whisper into her ear in a mesmerizing, deep masculine voice. "It is my hope that you will be accepting of all the pleasures and dreams which are before you."Dana gulped, wanting some words to come out of her throat, but nothing happened. She wasn't sure if those stuck words ever made it onto her tongue what they would say to Orlando's proposition. She liked the idea that they could be a 'yes', but something held her back from giving an answer. She let her emotions bubble hot inside of her, waiting until they were ready to come out in their own time; she wished and hoped they'd be an accepting 'yes', but she wasn't sure.The roaming fingers of her cooing partridge traced down the side of her neck, parting her collar from her prickly, heated skin. His fingers found her bra strap and followed it lower along the pathway that brought his touch to the slope of her tit. With one hand, the tips of his fingers ran along the upper rim of her black lacy cup while the other hand undid the top button of her blouse. Orlando breathed his warm, moist breath into her ear. "You've changed into something lacy since I've arrived," was Orlando's observation. "You have not given me a spoken answer as to whether you'll accept an intimate gift, but I have gotten your subtle answer by my discovery of your hidden charms. You are a charming woman," Orlando breathed into her ear in a husky voice, and then gave her a small kiss on the cheek.Dana let out a small moan as she unconsciously tipped her head back, exposing her throat and lifting her tits as Orlando teased her flesh as he continued with his light touch running along the contours of her bra. Her gift lover recognized the moan, the short breaths, the exposed throat and the visible flush of her chest as the tell-tale signs of a woman drifting into seduction. Dana didn't have to speak; she had already extended an invitation in the wordless language of lovers for Orlando to take her wherever he wanted to go.Orlando worked deliberately, unfastening each button as he pressed his warm lips to her throat followed by tiny, wet touches with the tip of his tongue. Dana let his attention wash over her skin, floating on warm waves that rippled through her insides. With the bottom button undone, he rolled his fingers around her cups, petting her ribs before setting his fingers between her fingers, lifting their entwined hands and guiding Dana out of the kitchen, floating toward the back of the house.Lifting her unfastened shirt off her shoulders, Orlando tossed it over a chair in the corner and then pressed her with his palm, forcing Dana to fall back onto the bed. Dana landed on her back with a giggle, loving the feeling of being desired and taken. She placed her hands behind her head, accentuating her tits covered in the gossamer black fabric of her cups. She relished watching Orlando, waiting to see his next move.Orlando reached into the side pocket of his jacket, tossing a small bottle onto the bed. "What's that?" asked Dana from her reclining pin-up girl pose."Consider it 'partridge oil,' my little chickpea. Some of us more experienced partridges find that a dab or two on a partridge's pecker makes for smoother night's nesting in our chosen pear tree."Dana broke into a broad grin, "I never knew partridges were such considerate birds," she said."Not all partridges are, some will leave droppings on your car. But when a partridge finds an attractive limb or two, we partridges are known to be considerate nesters." Orlando tossed his jacket over the back of the corner chair and then stripped off his shirt, shoes and socks."Now, I believe this old, experienced partridge has found a pair of attractive limbs that interest me a great deal." Orlando crawled onto the bed, unsnapped Dana's pants and pulled them off as she lifted her lower limbs skyward. Orlando admired her matching lacy black panties for a moment before he swooped in and removed the pair just as he'd done with her pants. "Ah, there is a pretty little partridge nest at the top of a pair of attractive limbs," announced Orlando, more to himself than to Dana.Dana felt shy, but at the same time pleased to be the object of a man's intimate attention for the first time in a long time. She lay on the bed, her cunny and pubic hair exposed to Orlando's admiring eyes while still trussed up in her bra. She squirmed over to retrieve the bottle of lubricant that Orlando had tossed onto the quilt. She shook it in front of the shirtless man lying next to her, teasing him she asked, "Don't you have to molt or something before this 'partridge oil' can be applied to your pecker?" She was pleased to see the fabric at his crotch stretched over a nice, rigid form."I'm getting the urge to roost, but I'd enjoy a little more playtime." Orlando tucked his targeted pear tree under the heavy quilt, slipping under to join her. He pulled her over to cuddle next to him. He slipped her straps off her shoulders, massaging and nibbling at her back as he unhooked the last of her garments, discarding it over the side of the bed. He rolled her onto her back, cupping and squeezing her tits as he kissed her arms, working his lips to the top of her tit, bunching her tit in his firm grip as he pushed her erect nipple into his mouth. He inhaled her exquisitely sensitive titty tip with a vigorous suction that filled his hot, wet mouth. His tongue darted and circled around her puffed up bits, sending sparks shooting into her clit. He worked her fleshy mounds over with his mouth, drooling over her melons and adding to the juicy wet sensation she was getting between her thighs.As he lapped at her nipples, caressing, licking, squeezing and mashing her mammaries with his right hand, his left hand traveled across her belly, inching its way lower on her body. Dana opened herself, thrilled to once again feel the pleasure of a man intimately handling all of her excited girl parts. Her cunny was more than moist, her breathing shallow and her brain swimming in a warm fog. Dana arched her hips as Orlando's hand petted her bush; her little princess ached to once again be embraced by a dancing partner. It has been so long. Her warm, buttery inner parts were feeling more wonderful than she ever remembered.Orlando's fingers passed over her dewy vulva with a firm pressure. His hand made a tight circular grinding motion before he spread her puffy lips open, probing along her slick walls, climbing up her canyon. Dana held her breath, she wanted to squeal before he got to her clit, but she held her silence with closed eyes, letting the anticipation of first contact build in her lungs and in her loins.Orlando's fingertip crept up the underside of her rigid clit, painting her in her own sex juices. He circled her aroused bud, triggering a flash of blue electricity that shot under her skin to her toes. Dana's hips bucked; her ass arched as she pushed her sex trigger into her lover's fingers. He ran a couple of his fingers into her slippery cunny, drawing them up to her clit, bathing her in her own nectar. Dana burst into a series of brusque chirps, half-screaming, half-moaning as she was seized by convulsing and shaking legs. She choked out in shallow breaths, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Oh god, oh fuck. Oh, fucking fuck."Orlando let her convulsions subside. Dana covered her eyes with her hands, gasping for breath as his fingers rested, half filling her pulsing cunny. "I could be wrong -- but I'm not; you have a lot more in the tank my little chickpea." Orlando stuffed his fingers further up inside her cunt as if he was taking the measure of her tank. He pulled out slowly, making sure he tickled her g-spot as he withdrew from her throbbing void."I might have forgotten about the next element in your Secret Santa swap tonight, except it is so fucking uncomfortable right now. I'm afraid you'll have to perform the final plucking of your evening's gift partridge. I will need the skilled digits of my beautiful assistant; would you please remove my remaining apparel. I have been instructed by the one who sent me, to inform you that there is a special package waiting for you underneath."With the glee of a young girl selecting her wrapped package from under the Christmas tree, Dana rolled on her side, unzipping Orlando's white trousers and pulling them off. His erection was obvious under his holiday themed underwear, yet it looked as if his underwear was packing more than expected. Curious about his cock and whatever extras accompanied his package, she tugged his last bit of wrapping away to reveal the full package. Dana whooped in surprise, and laughed a hearty laugh, admiring the red bow adding a festive cheer to his stiff prick. "Oh my! Is this all for me?" she giggled.Orlando shrugged, "I suggest you read the label. If it's not addressed to you, I've made a terrible mistake."Dana picked up the card hanging from the red bow, dangling below Orlando's Christmas balls: "On the First Day of Christmas, My True Friend gave to me, A Partridge in a Pear Tree. Dear Dana, I hope you enjoy the Christmas package I've selected for you. I've decided to exchange more than cookies after our usual Christmas Cookie Exchange. Dana, Merry Fucking Christmas! -- McNally."Dana let a little squeak escape, "This is all so very naughty."Orlando thrust his hips toward Dana, "Yes it is. Would you do me a favor and unknot me?" he said, shaking his boner in front of her to get her to remove the bow and gift card from his masculine package.Dana's eyes flashed with a mischievous grin, she wiggled her fingers in excitement before blushing as she reached to the base of the proud cock, lifting the elastic band at the base to un-decorate Orlando's extended organ."Thank you," was his response as his partridge cock was now as free as a bird. He searched the folds of the bed cover, looking to find the bottle of partridge pecker oil he'd tossed onto the bed earlier. Dana found it under her bottom, showing her find to Orlando."May I?" was her question as she managed a sheepish look up into Orlando's eyes."The pleasure would be all mine," he replied.Dana reached out to grab his manhandle, coaxing him into bed. She crawled over him, letting her tits hang down, dangling in his face. She dropped her shoulders, let one nipple land on his lips, he gave her a lick, and then she plopped her other nipple to his lips, receiving a second exhilarating lick. She scooted down, grasping the base of his cock, about to apply a dab of lube, when she thought better of her idea.She wrapped her fingers around his shaft, marveling at the inflexible piece of anatomy, trying to recall the fun of having a man's stiff cock penetrating her. It had been a while since she had even imagined enjoying the pleasure of a good fucking. She admired his towering erection, abandoned her last bit of hesitation holding her back and opened her lips and took him in deep. She moved her hands to his nuts, caressed them as she swabbed the hot pink shaft with her tongue. She sucked and stroked him, bringing him to maximum stiffness without a hint of gagging, feeling proud of her accomplishment.Orlando held her head tight between his hands as she bobbed up and down in slow, long strokes with her lips. Orlando's hands reached under her, grabbing a handful of titties in each hand, massaging her boobs and making sure she had her plush nips squeezed between his fingers just the right amount of rough, stimulating pleasure.Dana was getting lathered up again, her lady parts were plump and wet with the thrill of sucking a thick cock and the powerful handling of her tits, making her want that cock to leave her lips and tongue and find its way down to her labia and clit. Dana let Orlando's erection pull out of her mouth with a satisfying plop. She closed her eyes and made the deep humming sound of an aroused woman wanting and waiting to be taken.Orlando positioned his hand under her hanging udders, holding them in his solid grasp; he tilted her onto her back. Picking up the bottle of lube, he poured a small stream over her steaming cunt, rubbing his shaft with a second slathering. Dana's humming picked up in pitch as the cold lube oil fell on her labia, but Orlando's warm hands worked it into her soft girly flesh and made her feel happy and aroused to be pampered with floral scented oil on her feminine folds.Orlando had a well-oiled tool after a couple of strokes. He was eager to climb into his pear tree after great stimulating oral sex and the delight of handling Dana's attractive and suitably large and pendulous tits. He spread Dana's legs, pushing her knees wide after oiling her inner thighs. With a little bounce he crow-hopped between Dana's outstretched legs, landing on the gaping fruit of his pear tree. His partridge flew into her, surprising her with his sudden furious first fuck. He was thick and forced her apart, she felt stuffed; startled at the filling sensation, surprised at the penetration and swoopy with the undulating, gripping response of her unpracticed sex muscles to Orlando's perching inside her cunt.Orlando gripped her hips, Dana's legs pointed up as he pounded her with scooping, hungry thrusts of his hips, poking, prodding, pushing his pecker deeper into her ravenous nether regions. Her screams began with his first humping thrust; each blow between her legs brought a corresponding scream, he was the hammer, she was the anvil. The hammer hit her with shuddering force, the anvil of her sex rang out with each blow in an echoing scream of unbridled pleasure. She was being pounded into a form of malleable feminine flesh as her lover worked her over.Dana had been fucked many times before, she and Sander had made love, mad love, lazy love, hungry love and yet this was new for her. She let each throbbing thrust push her higher. She let Orlando's prick hammer her hard, pushing her to that orgasmic edge, an edge that was always a mystery. Dana never knew what was over the edge, at least not until she had been pushed over it and was falling into its abyss, filled with swirling clouds and tumbling waves of passion. She gave herself away, letting Orlando push her to the edge.She was hanging at the edge of her orgasm, she felt her lover's muscles tighten along his lean body, his breathing was labored, her desire was to feel him cum inside her. She wanted to give herself to him. In giving herself up to his explosive ejaculation, she would be blasted into deep space. The lovers would be swept away together in a perfect climax.Dana tensed in response to the man fucking her as he strained to gather his energy like a coiled spring planted deep inside her sex chamber. With a throaty groan, Orlando let his seed burst from his loins, flooding Dana with white hot fluid. She felt his release. His energy tripped her delicately balanced desire. Orlando's hot splash burst against the back of her vibrating inner hollow, exploding out through her lungs, rattling her pelvis as she shook and collapsed at its seductive power. The heat of her explosion radiated through all her muscles, warping the dimensions of her bedroom.Orlando rolled off her, pulling the heavy quilt over the two of them. He pulled Dana close to him, spooning with her as he buried his nose in her hair, letting his hand rest on her tit as dreams of sugar plums danced in their heads as they snuggled into a relaxed sleep like a contented partridge in a sweet pear tree.December's late sunrise was filtering through the blinds when Dana opened her eyes at Orlando's touch on her bare back. He ran his hand over her skin, rubbing the small of her back as she rolled over on her stomach. Waking up to a man's roaming hands was a forgotten pleasure for Dana. Her night's partner massaged her rump as she purred. Orlando gave her a light smack across her ass, whispering, "You have a beautiful pear-shaped ass, fresh and firm." He bent over and took a tiny nip at her flank, Dana flinched, then he kissed it all better."I regret that I have an appointment for later this morning. Please excuse me, but I will take my leave after a wonderful experience." Dana watched him dress from under a wad of sheets and blankets."Mr. Partridge?" she called as he moved toward the bedroom door, Orlando smiled and turned toward the nude woman lying in bed."Yes?" he asked in a jaunty tone."Tell McNally, 'Have yourself a Merry Fucking Christmas to one and to all', would you?"Orlando chuckled, "That sounds like an inside joke among The Chix. I'll leave that one up to you to deliver that message, my little chickpea." Orlando let himself out of the house. Two Turtle DovesDana was reluctant to rise out of bed; she wished she could linger under the covers with a lover all day. But she was resigned to the fact that the day had to move forward. She locked the door, put on a pot of coffee and made her bed. Her phone pinged. She went to find it and red the incoming text.It was from Annie, 'Clear your calendar this afternoon girl. I'll be delivering a holiday surprise package to your house. You will need to be at home to receive it!' Dana's first thought was, how sweet of Annie.She was expecting a visit from Annie when the doorbell rang mid-afternoon. Dana was surprised to see Nelson on her doorstep. "Is Annie with you?" Dana asked with a quizzical look and a realization that she was experiencing a flash of deja vu all over again.Nelson stepped into the house carrying a small gift bag and handed Dana a scroll tied with a white ribbon. "What's this?" Dana asked as she cocked her head, taking the scroll from Nelson. "This is all so mysterious - again," she said with her eyes and smile flashing in obvious enjoyment of the unfolding mystery in her entry hall. Dana ran her eyes up and down the broad, well-toned frame of the dark-haired man whom she had known as a friend for many years.Dana unfurled the scroll, feeling a hot flush ignite her face as she red Annie's words while her complexion blushed to contrast with the scroll's ribbon. Dana sucked in her breath; her eyes grew wide as she red what had just been handed to her. From what was written in the scroll, it sounded like Annie had sent her husband, Nelson over to her as a special gift. Nelson was here to give her 'a time of holiday magic.' Annie's introduction stated that 'Nelson was 'prepared to fulfill her wish list', and for this one time only, Santa would be unloading his sack and giving his gifts to one of the naughty girls on his list.' According to the instructions, all she had to do was 'to be swept away and be surprised by the goodies that were stuffed into her stocking.'Dana took another short breath as she finished reading; she understood that the text Annie had sent this morning was but a pretext, a set up. Her lips parted as she realized that there were waves of warm desire flowing in her center as she detected a sudden firming within her lady parts. She was pleasantly embarrassed as she felt another blush rise to her nipples, throat and face.Nelson stared at Dana, analyzing her expressions, making sure she had figured out the reason for his visit. Dana knew he was watching her for a sign of her willingness to have him romance the pants off of her. Nelson's stare made her feel bashful as she kept her secret of wanting to be desired and ravaged by a man who had been off limits -- until now.Nelson saw enough in Dana's eyes, shy smile and crimson blush to pursue Annie's plan. "You understand why Annie sent me over here, don't you?"Dana wanted to reach out to touch him to affirm that she did, but she kept her hands to herself. She folded herself up in a demure stance and waited for Nelson to make his move. "Annie said you might need some convincing, but that my appearance and purpose would not be a total surprise to you -- whatever that may mean." Nelson put his hands on her shoulders, whispered into her ear, "Merry Trystmas, from me and Annie to you."Dana spun away as Nelson was moving his hands toward her tits, but not too far away. "What's in the bag Nelson?" she said as she lifted her neck to peek at the gift bag on the floor behind him."Ah, glad you asked. Allow me to say that I have been sent to your lovely side in this special season and my quest is to hunt for turtle doves. It is my understanding that turtle doves always, always come in pairs. I am a connoisseur of turtle doves, and I will search high and low to find such a pair. I assure you that I will leave no stone, or garment, unturned in my assigned quest to find a pair of white turtle doves." Nelson lifted the bag, "May I share with you my turtle dove hunting strategy?" he asked as he nudged Dana into her kitchen.Dana crossed her arms over her chest, "I would be very interested in your proposed hunting strategy. But I've heard it takes a bit of skill and charm and a degree of luck to flush a pair of turtle doves out into the open. Is that true?" Dana rocked her shoulders in a coquettish fashion as she let Nelson follow her to the kitchen table."Luck, my lady, has nothing to do with it." Nelson put the bag of goodies on the table, "It is all charm and skill," he let out a good-natured laugh at his exaggerated sexual swagger to his longtime friend and with a little luck, soon to be lover. "Let me show you some of the enticing baits that have worked well for generations of turtle dove poachers. Nelson reached into the bag and drew out a small, ornate candy box.He handed it to Dana, "Go ahead, open it," he insisted. Dana removed the ribbon and lifted the lid. Inside were a half-dozen chocolate covered pecans clusters."Oh yes, I see why these might work. They're turtle candies -- like decoys. You're a very clever hunter Nelson. You say these are used as bait to lure turtle doves out into the open?"Nelson was pleased with Dana's playful reaction, "Yes indeed, that's the plan. It's in all the field guides that I've red. The use of these little chocolates makes me a master baiter."Dana snorted at Nelson's set up. "I guess I should've seen that cumming," she added once she'd caught her breath.Nelson nodded to her with a sly smile, acknowledging her playful comeback. "The old-time hunters have a saying, 'Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.' But I'm of the opinion that the hunt can be as much fun as the capture."Dana straightened her spine and rounded her shoulders to emphasize her cleavage as she smirked at the great hunter seated across the table from her. "When does hunting season open?""I got another trick in my bag." Nelson pulled out a squeeze bottle of chocolate syrup, holding it in front of Dana."Oh, you are a clever man, Nelson. I see what you've done; chocolate turtle decoys and Dove chocolate sauce, yes, quite clever preparations for a turtle dove safari." Dana was suppressing a giggle at the sight of Nelson's selected ingredients on her table. "But I have no idea how such items are combined with a hunter's skill and charm."Nelson snickered at Dana's pretend gullibility, "That's just the segue that an old, out of practice turtle dove hunter needs," he said in appreciation of her beguiling playfulness. "Allow me to demonstrate."Nelson held a turtle candy to her lips; Dana stuck out her tongue as he fed it to her. Dana licked and smacked her lips seductively as she devoured the bait. Nelson selected a second turtle, covering it with a squirt of chocolate syrup before he held it to her lips. Dana stuck out her tongue; Nelson missed her mouth, smearing gooey syrup over her chin and running down her jaw. "Oops. I might not be the skilled master baiter that I thought I was," he said as he picked up a napkin from the table. Nelson, dabbed at her face and neck, but ended up smearing the syrup into a larger mess. "Oops. How clumsy of me. This isn't working so well, let me try something else." Nelson moved in close to Dana and began licking her face in long, slow scoops. Dana held still as he worked his tongue off her chin and down her throat.Dana began to coo as she enjoyed the wet, messy sensation of being devoured."I hear the cooing sounds of turtle doves," whispered Nelson between his slow slurps mixed with kisses. "There must be a pair nearby. Let me see if I can sneak up on them.""I think they're hiding somewhere in here." Nelson inserted his hands under the front of Dana's blouse, rambling among the straps and cups. Nelson unbuttoned the upper buttons, reaching over to the bottle of chocolate syrup and dribbled a little stream on her throat. Dana tossed her head back, exposing the dark vein and inviting Nelson to clean her up with his tongue.Nelson sucked and licked his way down her throat to her chest while he finished undoing her top. After removing her shirt, he had her rise from her chair. He held his hands behind her head, working them down to her bra. With a deft snap of his fingers, Dana was undone. "Ah, these two turtle doves are too beautiful to be hidden away, caged and cooped up. Let me free these gentle beasts." Nelson draped her bra over the back of the chair before dribbling more Dove chocolate syrup on her upper chest."Yum, you taste so good for a bad girl." Nelson pushed Dana with his tongue and hands, making her lie back on the tabletop, tits up. More syrup was applied to her tits as Nelson dipped in, licking under her titties before grasping them like an ice cream cone and taking big licks across her accentuated nipples rising stiff and bright as a red, glowing holiday light atop the Christmas tree. Nelson's hot and eager mouth enveloped her exposed chocolate covered cherries; licking and smacking with his lashing tongue, rolling across her rounded holiday orbs, flush with excitement at the naughty attention they were garnering.Dana's pants and panties were off before she knew what was happening. She was bathed in ribbons of chocolate syrup from the tip of her two tits down to hip bones. Nelson lapped at her in a voracious, tooth-snapping fashion. He paused to admire her up-thrust boobs, "You are one of my new favorite Christmas treats; big, round teats like milky scoops topped off with tasty red berries, then covered in chocolate. Yum, yum-yum!"Dana had thrown her hands up over her head in sweet surrender as she was consumed figuratively by glowing desire and literally by the ravenous lips and tongue of her lover. She shifted further over the table, opening her thighs and dangling her legs off the table's edge, hoping she looked yummy and delicious. Offering herself as a holiday treat to the man she hoped to entice to keep on licking all the way down to her Christmas wonderland.Dana was not disappointed. Her bare chest was cleaned up well by Nelson's fastidious fussing over her naked body slathered in sweetness. Nelson let his tongue flow downstream, following the rivulet of syrup that ran along the contours of her body. Taking a seat in the chair Dana had just vacated, he pushed her thighs apart, running his fingers up from her knees to the intimate interior canyon that opened between her legs. Spreading her puffy, pink labia, Nelson held her open to peek at her engorged twat protruding beyond the folds of delicate flesh. Dana's half-hidden clit looked like a poorly re-wrapped gift after a curious child had taken a little peek underneath, unable to wait until Christmas morning to find out what was inside.Nelson's own package was straining to break out of his trousers and feeling even more uncomfortable with the bow and tag that Annie had made him wear before coming to seduce their friend Dana under the pretense of looking for two turtle doves. "Excuse me, I almost forgot, I have a package that is for you," Nelson mumbled as he looked over Dana's fuzzy pubic mound up toward her face. He stood, took off his blazer, shirt and boots and socks and then dropped his trousers.Dana lifted her head enough to see Nelson's erection had a pretty bow attached to its base. She exclaimed, "Is that package for me?""Read the gift tag," he said as he turned so that Dana red the attached card:"Dear Dana, I hope you enjoy the Christmas package I've selected for you. If you decide to be a bad girl this year, you may find a couple of turtle dove eggs laid upon your nest. Merry Fucking Christmas! Annie."Dana pulled off his phallic decoration, caressing his eggs after unwrapping his package. "The card says if I am a bad girl, my two turtle doves might get me laid and I might find a couple of eggs on my pussy's nest.""Ho ho ho, have you been a good girl or a bad girl this year?" Nelson inquired with a prurient interest as he filled her excited crevasse with a couple of slow, pumping fingers."I've been feeling so bad that I've been so good - that is up until recently. Now that I've become a bad girl, I've been feeling pretty good. Nelson, when you're looking over your list of who's naughty and who's nice; if I told you I want your hot cock stuffed down my chimney, would you hold it against me?"Nelson was in no mood to joke around now that his proud member was trimmed for action. He slipped his hands under Dana's ass, leaned into her cunt and gave her clit several flicks with his tongue. Dana squirmed and squealed at the soft, fleshy contact with her clit."Um, this is the moist wonderful time of the year," proclaimed Nelson as he came between her legs, driving into her cunt, stuffing her good and plenty.Dana's breath burst in a big whoosh as her sex muscles clamped down on the stiff man-flesh pumping into her pulsing parts. Nelson kept up a rhythmic pumping as he ran the pad of his thumb around her wild clitoris.Dana's hips bucked in response to the driving, throbbing action of a cock, forcing her intimate space to yield to its girth. Prickly sparks shot out into her toes as her twat was twiddled in a pool of chocolate syrup her lover had dripped over her pink jellybean.Dana's legs lifted into the air, she opened herself to a full throttle fucking. Nelson's bush-beating stick pounded her flesh; each heavy pumping stroke pushed her higher and higher. Dana felt herself rising to her orgasmic peak.Nelson could feel the sexual tension inside her as she offered counter thrusts. He could hear her swelling orgasm in her swooning moans. He continued his pace, knowing it was driving her toward a shattering orgasm.Dana threw her hands over her face in ecstasy as the building orgasm exploded in her core, blasting away her breath as she barked out short, sharp moans. She was a hot pool of jelly on her kitchen table. She was a mess with chocolate syrup making her skin sticky sweet as it mixed with her salty sweat and gushing love juices.The fantastic vibrations echoing in her cunt were starting to mellow when Nelson reached under her and flipped her tits-down and had her spread eagle across the table. She lifted her hips as Nelson grabbed her ass cheeks, presenting her cunt for a doggy-style penetration. Nelson poured chocolate syrup over his turgid phallus and flew at her gaping cunt with a hearty and lusty thrust. He gave her a sharp spank that cracked across the kitchen as he yelled,"On Dasher, on Prancer, on Boner, oh fuck I'm Blitzen!Oh fuck, I'm cumming in your chimney tonight."Nelson pumped her cunt, poking Dana deep, she was moaning with every thrust and every command to his flying, fucking reindeer. Another spank on her flank and Nelson grunted as he stuffed himself deep into her consuming cunt. He held her ass tight to his balls as he shot a blizzard of white cum into Dana's happy cunt.Nelson dropped back into the chair, looking exhausted and quite pleased. Dana was warmed to see Nelson looking so satisfied. She gave him a kiss and then shook her tits, slapping his cheeks with her chocolate syrup painted orbs, making a bigger mess of his face.Dana crawled into his lap, feeling his used-up strength begin to fade. She was happy to have made such a big, fun mess in her kitchen again. "Come on. You're not done until you've cleaned your two turtle doves that you so charmingly flushed into the open." Dana led Nelson by the hand, pushing him into her warm shower where she joined him, making him soap up her lady parts and get them squeaky clean.They toweled one another dry, paying extra attention to those parts once dredged in Dove chocolate syrup, making sure all was spanking clean. Nelson tiptoed back to his pile of clothes on the kitchen floor, dressing himself and apologizing that, "There is some Holiday business I have to attend to at the station."Before walking back out through the door, he gave Dana a squeeze, "I'd fantasized about taking you on the kitchen table before, of course I never thought I would ever enjoy the opportunity. Honestly, Annie deserves a lot of credit for fulfilling my wish list - though I never mentioned this fantasy to her. She's uncanny sometimes." With a playful goose of Dana's two turtle doves, he whispered, "Merry Trystmas," shutting the door behind him as Dana heard a faint 'Ho Ho Ho' as Nelson flew out into the chilly December night. To be continued in part 3, based on the post by SandyMarl for Literotica.

Two Turtle Doves, or Dildos?Based on a post by SandyMarl, in 4 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories. Dana returned to the kitchen as Orlando was finishing drying the stemware. She leaned back against the counter, crossing her arms in front of her tits as she tried to give a confident look, though a drunken squirrel was racing around inside her chest.Orlando folded the dish towel, set it down as he stepped to her side. He reached around her waist and pulled her close, brushing her hair back, he whispered into her ear, "Strange as it is, there are some people who have a difficult time accepting good things that are given to them. You have been given a set of good and close girlfriends Dana." Orlando placed his fingertips at the base of her jaw, "Your pulse is beating hard, I sense that you are understandably nervous to find yourself in a position to accept or reject a special, intimate gift that has been tenderly offered to you." Continuing to whisper into her ear in a mesmerizing, deep masculine voice. "It is my hope that you will be accepting of all the pleasures and dreams which are before you."Dana gulped, wanting some words to come out of her throat, but nothing happened. She wasn't sure if those stuck words ever made it onto her tongue what they would say to Orlando's proposition. She liked the idea that they could be a 'yes', but something held her back from giving an answer. She let her emotions bubble hot inside of her, waiting until they were ready to come out in their own time; she wished and hoped they'd be an accepting 'yes', but she wasn't sure.The roaming fingers of her cooing partridge traced down the side of her neck, parting her collar from her prickly, heated skin. His fingers found her bra strap and followed it lower along the pathway that brought his touch to the slope of her tit. With one hand, the tips of his fingers ran along the upper rim of her black lacy cup while the other hand undid the top button of her blouse. Orlando breathed his warm, moist breath into her ear. "You've changed into something lacy since I've arrived," was Orlando's observation. "You have not given me a spoken answer as to whether you'll accept an intimate gift, but I have gotten your subtle answer by my discovery of your hidden charms. You are a charming woman," Orlando breathed into her ear in a husky voice, and then gave her a small kiss on the cheek.Dana let out a small moan as she unconsciously tipped her head back, exposing her throat and lifting her tits as Orlando teased her flesh as he continued with his light touch running along the contours of her bra. Her gift lover recognized the moan, the short breaths, the exposed throat and the visible flush of her chest as the tell-tale signs of a woman drifting into seduction. Dana didn't have to speak; she had already extended an invitation in the wordless language of lovers for Orlando to take her wherever he wanted to go.Orlando worked deliberately, unfastening each button as he pressed his warm lips to her throat followed by tiny, wet touches with the tip of his tongue. Dana let his attention wash over her skin, floating on warm waves that rippled through her insides. With the bottom button undone, he rolled his fingers around her cups, petting her ribs before setting his fingers between her fingers, lifting their entwined hands and guiding Dana out of the kitchen, floating toward the back of the house.Lifting her unfastened shirt off her shoulders, Orlando tossed it over a chair in the corner and then pressed her with his palm, forcing Dana to fall back onto the bed. Dana landed on her back with a giggle, loving the feeling of being desired and taken. She placed her hands behind her head, accentuating her tits covered in the gossamer black fabric of her cups. She relished watching Orlando, waiting to see his next move.Orlando reached into the side pocket of his jacket, tossing a small bottle onto the bed. "What's that?" asked Dana from her reclining pin-up girl pose."Consider it 'partridge oil,' my little chickpea. Some of us more experienced partridges find that a dab or two on a partridge's pecker makes for smoother night's nesting in our chosen pear tree."Dana broke into a broad grin, "I never knew partridges were such considerate birds," she said."Not all partridges are, some will leave droppings on your car. But when a partridge finds an attractive limb or two, we partridges are known to be considerate nesters." Orlando tossed his jacket over the back of the corner chair and then stripped off his shirt, shoes and socks."Now, I believe this old, experienced partridge has found a pair of attractive limbs that interest me a great deal." Orlando crawled onto the bed, unsnapped Dana's pants and pulled them off as she lifted her lower limbs skyward. Orlando admired her matching lacy black panties for a moment before he swooped in and removed the pair just as he'd done with her pants. "Ah, there is a pretty little partridge nest at the top of a pair of attractive limbs," announced Orlando, more to himself than to Dana.Dana felt shy, but at the same time pleased to be the object of a man's intimate attention for the first time in a long time. She lay on the bed, her cunny and pubic hair exposed to Orlando's admiring eyes while still trussed up in her bra. She squirmed over to retrieve the bottle of lubricant that Orlando had tossed onto the quilt. She shook it in front of the shirtless man lying next to her, teasing him she asked, "Don't you have to molt or something before this 'partridge oil' can be applied to your pecker?" She was pleased to see the fabric at his crotch stretched over a nice, rigid form."I'm getting the urge to roost, but I'd enjoy a little more playtime." Orlando tucked his targeted pear tree under the heavy quilt, slipping under to join her. He pulled her over to cuddle next to him. He slipped her straps off her shoulders, massaging and nibbling at her back as he unhooked the last of her garments, discarding it over the side of the bed. He rolled her onto her back, cupping and squeezing her tits as he kissed her arms, working his lips to the top of her tit, bunching her tit in his firm grip as he pushed her erect nipple into his mouth. He inhaled her exquisitely sensitive titty tip with a vigorous suction that filled his hot, wet mouth. His tongue darted and circled around her puffed up bits, sending sparks shooting into her clit. He worked her fleshy mounds over with his mouth, drooling over her melons and adding to the juicy wet sensation she was getting between her thighs.As he lapped at her nipples, caressing, licking, squeezing and mashing her mammaries with his right hand, his left hand traveled across her belly, inching its way lower on her body. Dana opened herself, thrilled to once again feel the pleasure of a man intimately handling all of her excited girl parts. Her cunny was more than moist, her breathing shallow and her brain swimming in a warm fog. Dana arched her hips as Orlando's hand petted her bush; her little princess ached to once again be embraced by a dancing partner. It has been so long. Her warm, buttery inner parts were feeling more wonderful than she ever remembered.Orlando's fingers passed over her dewy vulva with a firm pressure. His hand made a tight circular grinding motion before he spread her puffy lips open, probing along her slick walls, climbing up her canyon. Dana held her breath, she wanted to squeal before he got to her clit, but she held her silence with closed eyes, letting the anticipation of first contact build in her lungs and in her loins.Orlando's fingertip crept up the underside of her rigid clit, painting her in her own sex juices. He circled her aroused bud, triggering a flash of blue electricity that shot under her skin to her toes. Dana's hips bucked; her ass arched as she pushed her sex trigger into her lover's fingers. He ran a couple of his fingers into her slippery cunny, drawing them up to her clit, bathing her in her own nectar. Dana burst into a series of brusque chirps, half-screaming, half-moaning as she was seized by convulsing and shaking legs. She choked out in shallow breaths, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Oh god, oh fuck. Oh, fucking fuck."Orlando let her convulsions subside. Dana covered her eyes with her hands, gasping for breath as his fingers rested, half filling her pulsing cunny. "I could be wrong -- but I'm not; you have a lot more in the tank my little chickpea." Orlando stuffed his fingers further up inside her cunt as if he was taking the measure of her tank. He pulled out slowly, making sure he tickled her g-spot as he withdrew from her throbbing void."I might have forgotten about the next element in your Secret Santa swap tonight, except it is so fucking uncomfortable right now. I'm afraid you'll have to perform the final plucking of your evening's gift partridge. I will need the skilled digits of my beautiful assistant; would you please remove my remaining apparel. I have been instructed by the one who sent me, to inform you that there is a special package waiting for you underneath."With the glee of a young girl selecting her wrapped package from under the Christmas tree, Dana rolled on her side, unzipping Orlando's white trousers and pulling them off. His erection was obvious under his holiday themed underwear, yet it looked as if his underwear was packing more than expected. Curious about his cock and whatever extras accompanied his package, she tugged his last bit of wrapping away to reveal the full package. Dana whooped in surprise, and laughed a hearty laugh, admiring the red bow adding a festive cheer to his stiff prick. "Oh my! Is this all for me?" she giggled.Orlando shrugged, "I suggest you read the label. If it's not addressed to you, I've made a terrible mistake."Dana picked up the card hanging from the red bow, dangling below Orlando's Christmas balls: "On the First Day of Christmas, My True Friend gave to me, A Partridge in a Pear Tree. Dear Dana, I hope you enjoy the Christmas package I've selected for you. I've decided to exchange more than cookies after our usual Christmas Cookie Exchange. Dana, Merry Fucking Christmas! -- McNally."Dana let a little squeak escape, "This is all so very naughty."Orlando thrust his hips toward Dana, "Yes it is. Would you do me a favor and unknot me?" he said, shaking his boner in front of her to get her to remove the bow and gift card from his masculine package.Dana's eyes flashed with a mischievous grin, she wiggled her fingers in excitement before blushing as she reached to the base of the proud cock, lifting the elastic band at the base to un-decorate Orlando's extended organ."Thank you," was his response as his partridge cock was now as free as a bird. He searched the folds of the bed cover, looking to find the bottle of partridge pecker oil he'd tossed onto the bed earlier. Dana found it under her bottom, showing her find to Orlando."May I?" was her question as she managed a sheepish look up into Orlando's eyes."The pleasure would be all mine," he replied.Dana reached out to grab his manhandle, coaxing him into bed. She crawled over him, letting her tits hang down, dangling in his face. She dropped her shoulders, let one nipple land on his lips, he gave her a lick, and then she plopped her other nipple to his lips, receiving a second exhilarating lick. She scooted down, grasping the base of his cock, about to apply a dab of lube, when she thought better of her idea.She wrapped her fingers around his shaft, marveling at the inflexible piece of anatomy, trying to recall the fun of having a man's stiff cock penetrating her. It had been a while since she had even imagined enjoying the pleasure of a good fucking. She admired his towering erection, abandoned her last bit of hesitation holding her back and opened her lips and took him in deep. She moved her hands to his nuts, caressed them as she swabbed the hot pink shaft with her tongue. She sucked and stroked him, bringing him to maximum stiffness without a hint of gagging, feeling proud of her accomplishment.Orlando held her head tight between his hands as she bobbed up and down in slow, long strokes with her lips. Orlando's hands reached under her, grabbing a handful of titties in each hand, massaging her boobs and making sure she had her plush nips squeezed between his fingers just the right amount of rough, stimulating pleasure.Dana was getting lathered up again, her lady parts were plump and wet with the thrill of sucking a thick cock and the powerful handling of her tits, making her want that cock to leave her lips and tongue and find its way down to her labia and clit. Dana let Orlando's erection pull out of her mouth with a satisfying plop. She closed her eyes and made the deep humming sound of an aroused woman wanting and waiting to be taken.Orlando positioned his hand under her hanging udders, holding them in his solid grasp; he tilted her onto her back. Picking up the bottle of lube, he poured a small stream over her steaming cunt, rubbing his shaft with a second slathering. Dana's humming picked up in pitch as the cold lube oil fell on her labia, but Orlando's warm hands worked it into her soft girly flesh and made her feel happy and aroused to be pampered with floral scented oil on her feminine folds.Orlando had a well-oiled tool after a couple of strokes. He was eager to climb into his pear tree after great stimulating oral sex and the delight of handling Dana's attractive and suitably large and pendulous tits. He spread Dana's legs, pushing her knees wide after oiling her inner thighs. With a little bounce he crow-hopped between Dana's outstretched legs, landing on the gaping fruit of his pear tree. His partridge flew into her, surprising her with his sudden furious first fuck. He was thick and forced her apart, she felt stuffed; startled at the filling sensation, surprised at the penetration and swoopy with the undulating, gripping response of her unpracticed sex muscles to Orlando's perching inside her cunt.Orlando gripped her hips, Dana's legs pointed up as he pounded her with scooping, hungry thrusts of his hips, poking, prodding, pushing his pecker deeper into her ravenous nether regions. Her screams began with his first humping thrust; each blow between her legs brought a corresponding scream, he was the hammer, she was the anvil. The hammer hit her with shuddering force, the anvil of her sex rang out with each blow in an echoing scream of unbridled pleasure. She was being pounded into a form of malleable feminine flesh as her lover worked her over.Dana had been fucked many times before, she and Sander had made love, mad love, lazy love, hungry love and yet this was new for her. She let each throbbing thrust push her higher. She let Orlando's prick hammer her hard, pushing her to that orgasmic edge, an edge that was always a mystery. Dana never knew what was over the edge, at least not until she had been pushed over it and was falling into its abyss, filled with swirling clouds and tumbling waves of passion. She gave herself away, letting Orlando push her to the edge.She was hanging at the edge of her orgasm, she felt her lover's muscles tighten along his lean body, his breathing was labored, her desire was to feel him cum inside her. She wanted to give herself to him. In giving herself up to his explosive ejaculation, she would be blasted into deep space. The lovers would be swept away together in a perfect climax.Dana tensed in response to the man fucking her as he strained to gather his energy like a coiled spring planted deep inside her sex chamber. With a throaty groan, Orlando let his seed burst from his loins, flooding Dana with white hot fluid. She felt his release. His energy tripped her delicately balanced desire. Orlando's hot splash burst against the back of her vibrating inner hollow, exploding out through her lungs, rattling her pelvis as she shook and collapsed at its seductive power. The heat of her explosion radiated through all her muscles, warping the dimensions of her bedroom.Orlando rolled off her, pulling the heavy quilt over the two of them. He pulled Dana close to him, spooning with her as he buried his nose in her hair, letting his hand rest on her tit as dreams of sugar plums danced in their heads as they snuggled into a relaxed sleep like a contented partridge in a sweet pear tree.December's late sunrise was filtering through the blinds when Dana opened her eyes at Orlando's touch on her bare back. He ran his hand over her skin, rubbing the small of her back as she rolled over on her stomach. Waking up to a man's roaming hands was a forgotten pleasure for Dana. Her night's partner massaged her rump as she purred. Orlando gave her a light smack across her ass, whispering, "You have a beautiful pear-shaped ass, fresh and firm." He bent over and took a tiny nip at her flank, Dana flinched, then he kissed it all better."I regret that I have an appointment for later this morning. Please excuse me, but I will take my leave after a wonderful experience." Dana watched him dress from under a wad of sheets and blankets."Mr. Partridge?" she called as he moved toward the bedroom door, Orlando smiled and turned toward the nude woman lying in bed."Yes?" he asked in a jaunty tone."Tell McNally, 'Have yourself a Merry Fucking Christmas to one and to all', would you?"Orlando chuckled, "That sounds like an inside joke among The Chix. I'll leave that one up to you to deliver that message, my little chickpea." Orlando let himself out of the house. Two Turtle DovesDana was reluctant to rise out of bed; she wished she could linger under the covers with a lover all day. But she was resigned to the fact that the day had to move forward. She locked the door, put on a pot of coffee and made her bed. Her phone pinged. She went to find it and red the incoming text.It was from Annie, 'Clear your calendar this afternoon girl. I'll be delivering a holiday surprise package to your house. You will need to be at home to receive it!' Dana's first thought was, how sweet of Annie.She was expecting a visit from Annie when the doorbell rang mid-afternoon. Dana was surprised to see Nelson on her doorstep. "Is Annie with you?" Dana asked with a quizzical look and a realization that she was experiencing a flash of deja vu all over again.Nelson stepped into the house carrying a small gift bag and handed Dana a scroll tied with a white ribbon. "What's this?" Dana asked as she cocked her head, taking the scroll from Nelson. "This is all so mysterious - again," she said with her eyes and smile flashing in obvious enjoyment of the unfolding mystery in her entry hall. Dana ran her eyes up and down the broad, well-toned frame of the dark-haired man whom she had known as a friend for many years.Dana unfurled the scroll, feeling a hot flush ignite her face as she red Annie's words while her complexion blushed to contrast with the scroll's ribbon. Dana sucked in her breath; her eyes grew wide as she red what had just been handed to her. From what was written in the scroll, it sounded like Annie had sent her husband, Nelson over to her as a special gift. Nelson was here to give her 'a time of holiday magic.' Annie's introduction stated that 'Nelson was 'prepared to fulfill her wish list', and for this one time only, Santa would be unloading his sack and giving his gifts to one of the naughty girls on his list.' According to the instructions, all she had to do was 'to be swept away and be surprised by the goodies that were stuffed into her stocking.'Dana took another short breath as she finished reading; she understood that the text Annie had sent this morning was but a pretext, a set up. Her lips parted as she realized that there were waves of warm desire flowing in her center as she detected a sudden firming within her lady parts. She was pleasantly embarrassed as she felt another blush rise to her nipples, throat and face.Nelson stared at Dana, analyzing her expressions, making sure she had figured out the reason for his visit. Dana knew he was watching her for a sign of her willingness to have him romance the pants off of her. Nelson's stare made her feel bashful as she kept her secret of wanting to be desired and ravaged by a man who had been off limits -- until now.Nelson saw enough in Dana's eyes, shy smile and crimson blush to pursue Annie's plan. "You understand why Annie sent me over here, don't you?"Dana wanted to reach out to touch him to affirm that she did, but she kept her hands to herself. She folded herself up in a demure stance and waited for Nelson to make his move. "Annie said you might need some convincing, but that my appearance and purpose would not be a total surprise to you -- whatever that may mean." Nelson put his hands on her shoulders, whispered into her ear, "Merry Trystmas, from me and Annie to you."Dana spun away as Nelson was moving his hands toward her tits, but not too far away. "What's in the bag Nelson?" she said as she lifted her neck to peek at the gift bag on the floor behind him."Ah, glad you asked. Allow me to say that I have been sent to your lovely side in this special season and my quest is to hunt for turtle doves. It is my understanding that turtle doves always, always come in pairs. I am a connoisseur of turtle doves, and I will search high and low to find such a pair. I assure you that I will leave no stone, or garment, unturned in my assigned quest to find a pair of white turtle doves." Nelson lifted the bag, "May I share with you my turtle dove hunting strategy?" he asked as he nudged Dana into her kitchen.Dana crossed her arms over her chest, "I would be very interested in your proposed hunting strategy. But I've heard it takes a bit of skill and charm and a degree of luck to flush a pair of turtle doves out into the open. Is that true?" Dana rocked her shoulders in a coquettish fashion as she let Nelson follow her to the kitchen table."Luck, my lady, has nothing to do with it." Nelson put the bag of goodies on the table, "It is all charm and skill," he let out a good-natured laugh at his exaggerated sexual swagger to his longtime friend and with a little luck, soon to be lover. "Let me show you some of the enticing baits that have worked well for generations of turtle dove poachers. Nelson reached into the bag and drew out a small, ornate candy box.He handed it to Dana, "Go ahead, open it," he insisted. Dana removed the ribbon and lifted the lid. Inside were a half-dozen chocolate covered pecans clusters."Oh yes, I see why these might work. They're turtle candies -- like decoys. You're a very clever hunter Nelson. You say these are used as bait to lure turtle doves out into the open?"Nelson was pleased with Dana's playful reaction, "Yes indeed, that's the plan. It's in all the field guides that I've red. The use of these little chocolates makes me a master baiter."Dana snorted at Nelson's set up. "I guess I should've seen that cumming," she added once she'd caught her breath.Nelson nodded to her with a sly smile, acknowledging her playful comeback. "The old-time hunters have a saying, 'Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.' But I'm of the opinion that the hunt can be as much fun as the capture."Dana straightened her spine and rounded her shoulders to emphasize her cleavage as she smirked at the great hunter seated across the table from her. "When does hunting season open?""I got another trick in my bag." Nelson pulled out a squeeze bottle of chocolate syrup, holding it in front of Dana."Oh, you are a clever man, Nelson. I see what you've done; chocolate turtle decoys and Dove chocolate sauce, yes, quite clever preparations for a turtle dove safari." Dana was suppressing a giggle at the sight of Nelson's selected ingredients on her table. "But I have no idea how such items are combined with a hunter's skill and charm."Nelson snickered at Dana's pretend gullibility, "That's just the segue that an old, out of practice turtle dove hunter needs," he said in appreciation of her beguiling playfulness. "Allow me to demonstrate."Nelson held a turtle candy to her lips; Dana stuck out her tongue as he fed it to her. Dana licked and smacked her lips seductively as she devoured the bait. Nelson selected a second turtle, covering it with a squirt of chocolate syrup before he held it to her lips. Dana stuck out her tongue; Nelson missed her mouth, smearing gooey syrup over her chin and running down her jaw. "Oops. I might not be the skilled master baiter that I thought I was," he said as he picked up a napkin from the table. Nelson, dabbed at her face and neck, but ended up smearing the syrup into a larger mess. "Oops. How clumsy of me. This isn't working so well, let me try something else." Nelson moved in close to Dana and began licking her face in long, slow scoops. Dana held still as he worked his tongue off her chin and down her throat.Dana began to coo as she enjoyed the wet, messy sensation of being devoured."I hear the cooing sounds of turtle doves," whispered Nelson between his slow slurps mixed with kisses. "There must be a pair nearby. Let me see if I can sneak up on them.""I think they're hiding somewhere in here." Nelson inserted his hands under the front of Dana's blouse, rambling among the straps and cups. Nelson unbuttoned the upper buttons, reaching over to the bottle of chocolate syrup and dribbled a little stream on her throat. Dana tossed her head back, exposing the dark vein and inviting Nelson to clean her up with his tongue.Nelson sucked and licked his way down her throat to her chest while he finished undoing her top. After removing her shirt, he had her rise from her chair. He held his hands behind her head, working them down to her bra. With a deft snap of his fingers, Dana was undone. "Ah, these two turtle doves are too beautiful to be hidden away, caged and cooped up. Let me free these gentle beasts." Nelson draped her bra over the back of the chair before dribbling more Dove chocolate syrup on her upper chest."Yum, you taste so good for a bad girl." Nelson pushed Dana with his tongue and hands, making her lie back on the tabletop, tits up. More syrup was applied to her tits as Nelson dipped in, licking under her titties before grasping them like an ice cream cone and taking big licks across her accentuated nipples rising stiff and bright as a red, glowing holiday light atop the Christmas tree. Nelson's hot and eager mouth enveloped her exposed chocolate covered cherries; licking and smacking with his lashing tongue, rolling across her rounded holiday orbs, flush with excitement at the naughty attention they were garnering.Dana's pants and panties were off before she knew what was happening. She was bathed in ribbons of chocolate syrup from the tip of her two tits down to hip bones. Nelson lapped at her in a voracious, tooth-snapping fashion. He paused to admire her up-thrust boobs, "You are one of my new favorite Christmas treats; big, round teats like milky scoops topped off with tasty red berries, then covered in chocolate. Yum, yum-yum!"Dana had thrown her hands up over her head in sweet surrender as she was consumed figuratively by glowing desire and literally by the ravenous lips and tongue of her lover. She shifted further over the table, opening her thighs and dangling her legs off the table's edge, hoping she looked yummy and delicious. Offering herself as a holiday treat to the man she hoped to entice to keep on licking all the way down to her Christmas wonderland.Dana was not disappointed. Her bare chest was cleaned up well by Nelson's fastidious fussing over her naked body slathered in sweetness. Nelson let his tongue flow downstream, following the rivulet of syrup that ran along the contours of her body. Taking a seat in the chair Dana had just vacated, he pushed her thighs apart, running his fingers up from her knees to the intimate interior canyon that opened between her legs. Spreading her puffy, pink labia, Nelson held her open to peek at her engorged twat protruding beyond the folds of delicate flesh. Dana's half-hidden clit looked like a poorly re-wrapped gift after a curious child had taken a little peek underneath, unable to wait until Christmas morning to find out what was inside.Nelson's own package was straining to break out of his trousers and feeling even more uncomfortable with the bow and tag that Annie had made him wear before coming to seduce their friend Dana under the pretense of looking for two turtle doves. "Excuse me, I almost forgot, I have a package that is for you," Nelson mumbled as he looked over Dana's fuzzy pubic mound up toward her face. He stood, took off his blazer, shirt and boots and socks and then dropped his trousers.Dana lifted her head enough to see Nelson's erection had a pretty bow attached to its base. She exclaimed, "Is that package for me?""Read the gift tag," he said as he turned so that Dana red the attached card:"Dear Dana, I hope you enjoy the Christmas package I've selected for you. If you decide to be a bad girl this year, you may find a couple of turtle dove eggs laid upon your nest. Merry Fucking Christmas! Annie."Dana pulled off his phallic decoration, caressing his eggs after unwrapping his package. "The card says if I am a bad girl, my two turtle doves might get me laid and I might find a couple of eggs on my pussy's nest.""Ho ho ho, have you been a good girl or a bad girl this year?" Nelson inquired with a prurient interest as he filled her excited crevasse with a couple of slow, pumping fingers."I've been feeling so bad that I've been so good - that is up until recently. Now that I've become a bad girl, I've been feeling pretty good. Nelson, when you're looking over your list of who's naughty and who's nice; if I told you I want your hot cock stuffed down my chimney, would you hold it against me?"Nelson was in no mood to joke around now that his proud member was trimmed for action. He slipped his hands under Dana's ass, leaned into her cunt and gave her clit several flicks with his tongue. Dana squirmed and squealed at the soft, fleshy contact with her clit."Um, this is the moist wonderful time of the year," proclaimed Nelson as he came between her legs, driving into her cunt, stuffing her good and plenty.Dana's breath burst in a big whoosh as her sex muscles clamped down on the stiff man-flesh pumping into her pulsing parts. Nelson kept up a rhythmic pumping as he ran the pad of his thumb around her wild clitoris.Dana's hips bucked in response to the driving, throbbing action of a cock, forcing her intimate space to yield to its girth. Prickly sparks shot out into her toes as her twat was twiddled in a pool of chocolate syrup her lover had dripped over her pink jellybean.Dana's legs lifted into the air, she opened herself to a full throttle fucking. Nelson's bush-beating stick pounded her flesh; each heavy pumping stroke pushed her higher and higher. Dana felt herself rising to her orgasmic peak.Nelson could feel the sexual tension inside her as she offered counter thrusts. He could hear her swelling orgasm in her swooning moans. He continued his pace, knowing it was driving her toward a shattering orgasm.Dana threw her hands over her face in ecstasy as the building orgasm exploded in her core, blasting away her breath as she barked out short, sharp moans. She was a hot pool of jelly on her kitchen table. She was a mess with chocolate syrup making her skin sticky sweet as it mixed with her salty sweat and gushing love juices.The fantastic vibrations echoing in her cunt were starting to mellow when Nelson reached under her and flipped her tits-down and had her spread eagle across the table. She lifted her hips as Nelson grabbed her ass cheeks, presenting her cunt for a doggy-style penetration. Nelson poured chocolate syrup over his turgid phallus and flew at her gaping cunt with a hearty and lusty thrust. He gave her a sharp spank that cracked across the kitchen as he yelled,"On Dasher, on Prancer, on Boner, oh fuck I'm Blitzen!Oh fuck, I'm cumming in your chimney tonight."Nelson pumped her cunt, poking Dana deep, she was moaning with every thrust and every command to his flying, fucking reindeer. Another spank on her flank and Nelson grunted as he stuffed himself deep into her consuming cunt. He held her ass tight to his balls as he shot a blizzard of white cum into Dana's happy cunt.Nelson dropped back into the chair, looking exhausted and quite pleased. Dana was warmed to see Nelson looking so satisfied. She gave him a kiss and then shook her tits, slapping his cheeks with her chocolate syrup painted orbs, making a bigger mess of his face.Dana crawled into his lap, feeling his used-up strength begin to fade. She was happy to have made such a big, fun mess in her kitchen again. "Come on. You're not done until you've cleaned your two turtle doves that you so charmingly flushed into the open." Dana led Nelson by the hand, pushing him into her warm shower where she joined him, making him soap up her lady parts and get them squeaky clean.They toweled one another dry, paying extra attention to those parts once dredged in Dove chocolate syrup, making sure all was spanking clean. Nelson tiptoed back to his pile of clothes on the kitchen floor, dressing himself and apologizing that, "There is some Holiday business I have to attend to at the station."Before walking back out through the door, he gave Dana a squeeze, "I'd fantasized about taking you on the kitchen table before, of course I never thought I would ever enjoy the opportunity. Honestly, Annie deserves a lot of credit for fulfilling my wish list - though I never mentioned this fantasy to her. She's uncanny sometimes." With a playful goose of Dana's two turtle doves, he whispered, "Merry Trystmas," shutting the door behind him as Dana heard a faint 'Ho Ho Ho' as Nelson flew out into the chilly December night. To be continued in part 3, based on the post by SandyMarl for Literotica.

This week's episode kind of has it all- botanical metal band pleas, nature's red flag, landscaping tips, old school roman ragers, and lightning! If you like the more eclectic episodes I think you'll like what we've got going this week!  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rooted-podcast/support

SummaryIn this episode of BizNinja Entrepreneur Radio, host Tyler Jorgenson sits down with Jonny Locarni, founder of Magic Cactus, a unique brand creating alcohol alternatives infused with hemp and functional ingredients. Jonny shares his entrepreneurial journey, starting with hustling as a young adult, to creating a product that fills a distinct market gap. He discusses the challenges of developing a commercially viable drink that provides the social experience of alcohol minus its negative effects. Tyler and Jonny dive deep into navigating regulations, consumer insights, and how Magic Cactus offers a mindful and inclusive drinking alternative to alcohol.Jonny explains the evolution of Magic Cactus from early formulation hurdles, like using coconut water, to finding the perfect balance with cactus water, which aligns with their brand's Arizona roots and offers health benefits without excess sugar. The two also explore the complexities of creating a brand that appeals to a broader audience, focusing not just on sobriety but on mindful consumption, showing how Magic Cactus is changing the way people approach social drinking. They also discuss the brand's vision for the future, regulatory hopes, and how they aim to expand their footprint.The episode closes with a reflection on building a brand that goes beyond selling a product by creating a community and reshaping perceptions around alcohol alternatives. Jonny's story highlights how branding, purpose, and market timing are pivotal to success. Listeners are encouraged to check out Magic Cactus and join their mission of creating a non-toxic and socially engaging drink alternative. Visit magiccactus.com to learn more. TakeawaysEntrepreneurial Spark & Innovation: Jonny Locarni's journey demonstrates how early business ventures can ignite a lifelong passion for entrepreneurship, leading to innovative solutions such as Magic Cactus, which offers a unique, healthier alternative to traditional alcoholic beverages.Formulation Challenges & Branding: Developing a commercially viable product requires overcoming multiple hurdles, including consumer taste preferences and nutritional balance. Magic Cactus's pivot from coconut water to cactus water shows how adapting to feedback can lead to better product alignment and brand storytelling.Mindful Drinking & Market Positioning: Magic Cactus isn't solely about promoting sobriety but encouraging mindful consumption. The brand's inclusive approach aims to cater to a broad spectrum of consumers, offering an alternative that bridges the gap between traditional drinking and healthier choices, while donating 10% of profits to support substance abuse treatment initiatives.

We join the table of Randall Hampton who brings his own RNG-made character: Zaxibus! He's a retired adventuring wizard now turned into tavern proprietor! Even more famous than this wizard is the horse that the bar is named after. Zaxibus is offering a lump sum of gold or a Mug Club(™) Lifetime Membership for the return of a fallen comrade's necklace...from the Goblin Fortress. And note: I've included the raw transcript from Zencastr for this episode as well (will work to go back and retrieve and upload others as I'm able). Please note the transcripts are the UNEDITED version, not the final edit you are listening to. Podcast art by Chauncy Riley (https://www.behance.net/graphicsbychauncy), Graphics by Chauncy. Visit our website at https://sidekicksandsidequests.com (https://sidekicksandsidequests.com) Twitter Page (https://twitter.com/SideKQPodcast) Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/SideKQPodcast) Subreddit Page (https://www.reddit.com/r/SideKQPodcast) Instagram Page (https://www.instagram.com/sidekqpodcast) Discord Server (https://discord.gg/yraJJ6JHEd) Support the podcast AND use Zencastr at the same time by going to my referral link (https://zencastr.com/?via=sidekqpodcast) Special Guest: Randall Hampton.

GRATITUDE STARTS AT HOME Colossians 3:14-15    “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of            perfectness.           And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are           called in one body; and be ye thankful.” Right before Paul speaks to the family in Col. 3:18-21, he calls on them to Love each other Let peace rule Learn to be Thankful   This passage in Colossians is a reflection of what Paul wrote to the Ephesians in Ephesians 5:20, “Giving Thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Which is followed by 5:22-6:4, Paul's “Hallmark” passage on marriage and family.) We can all look at the culture around us and recognize that entitlement and ungratefulness is rampant! There doesn't seem to be love and peace that Paul talks about in Col. 3. Is gratitude the key? Or A key? Our lives, our homes don't have to reflect the culture. We can have a “culture” of thankfulness in our homes, a place that fosters love and peace. 1.) Does gratitude matter? A.) Yes, because it is commanded and modeled in the Bible.   “give thanks”—71 verses “Thankful”—3 verses “thanksgiving”—27 verses.         (128 verses total) “thankfulness”—1 verse “thank”—26 verses   Psalm 30:12b, “…I will give thanks unto Thee for ever.” Psalm 100:4, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.” Psalm 107:1, “O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever.” Psalm 147:7, “Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God.”     *Jesus modeled thankfulness:   Matthew 15:36, “And He took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.” (Mark 8:6, John 6:11) Matthew 26:27, “And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to the them, saying, Drink ye all of it;” (Mark 14:23, Luke 22:17 and 19) Matthew 11:25, “…Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, …” (Luke 10:21, John 11:41     *Paul regularly gave thanks to God and others:   I Cor. 15:57, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” II Cor. 9:15, “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” Eph. 1:6, “Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you  in my prayers.” Col. 1:3, “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.” I Thess. 3:9, “For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God.”     *And Paul (under Inspiration) gave commands to give thanks:   Eph. 5:4, “Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.” I Thess. 5:18, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” I Timothy 2:1, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;”     *Love is mentioned in the Bible over 280 times…peace is mentioned 400 times! Thankfulness is mentioned several times right along with them. Maybe the love and peace we crave is only one “Thank you” away.*     B.) Yes, because it improves your health, attitude, and relationships. “The importance of this matter of gratitude can hardly be overstated. I've come to believe that few things are more becoming in a child of God than a grateful spirit. By the same token, there is probably nothing that makes a person more unattractive than the absence of a grateful spirit.” Choosing Gratitude, NDW, p23. Prov. 15:13, “A merry heart taketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” Proverbs 15:15, “All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.” Prov. 17:22, “A merry heart doth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drouth the bones.” (“A grateful heart is a happy heart.”)   An article by MayoClinic, December of 2022, adds, “Gratitude should be practiced daily, just as you'd take a ‘magic pill,' if it existed.” They added that practicing gratitude could lessen chronic pain and the risk of disease.   Gratitude improves our countenance, perspective, and outlook, making us much easier to be around or live with.   Grumpy people  vs Happy people Prickly people vs Gentle people Irrational people vs Restful people On Edge people vs At Ease people (go with the flow) Negative people vs Positive people Doom and Gloom people vs Scriptural people Entitled people vs Grateful people It may be that your personality leans toward “glass half empty,” rather than “glass half full,” but a grateful heart will temper your emotions and allow your loved ones to enjoy you better.

Adam Peacock and Brad Haddin join you to discuss the debate around Nathan McSweeney's selection as Australia's new Test opener, India coach Gautam Gambhir and Test legend Ricky Ponting in a war of words and the T20 series between Australia and Pakistan. Then, Mitch Marsh has a chat with Adam about how to hit a six. Finally, the guys return for Sundries for a look at the WBBL, Alex Carey's rich form, an Olympic-sized wicket celebration and Jimmy Anderson's new book. Sam Ferris50 Goulburn St, Sydney, NSW, 2000 Follow on Apple, Spotify and the LiSTNR app Watch on YouTube Drop us a message on Instagram and TikTok! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sometimes the best tales are the ones that go in a different direction than you expect, as with this story of an ingenious and optimistic young woman (channeling her inner Julia Sugarbaker!) who makes her dream come true, but on her terms. Based on The Swineherd by Hans Christian Andersen. Free, thanks to our friends at enVypillow.com and SierraSil.com. Drift is free, thanks to our wonderful sponsors: enVy Pillow and SierraSil. Both of them have been generous enough to offer 10% off all online purchases when you use the code drift.

This week's critter is the prickly shark (Echinorhinus cookie), an uncommon species of deep-sea shark that lives throughout the Pacific Ocean. All sharks have rough skin, but this shark has particularly prickly skin. They are described as 'stocky, dark coloured' with a 'flabby and cylindrical body.'

Hour 2 of the Saturday Show with Jake Hatch and Christian Esparza on August 10, 2024 Jake talks to Darius Lassiter and Ryner Swanson, two up and coming receiving threats at BYU 5 Minutes Of: NFL Preseason and US Olympic Basketball Deion's mysterious feud gets more context and the USWNT secures another gold in Paris

Hey yall!!! We got some guests today ayeeee! Our bros Rashad & Troy from Earn Your Leisure joined us for a deranged episode full of laughs. We discussed "paying the tab" etiquette, married people being friends with single people, Invest Fest, New York Culture, & so much more. Grab yo drank & Pour Up Pour Crew. Subscribe to our Patreon @ https://www.patreon.com/pourminds INVEST FEST TIX: https://investfest.com/ Send Fan Mail To: 1452 Chattahoochee Ave NW GA 30318 United States Wanna leave us a voicemail? Call 678.827.1826 Want Advice? Email us @ askpourminds@gmail.com MUSE BEAUTY: https://www.musebeautycollection.com Want To Be Featured For Item Of The Week? Email Us @: itemoftheweekpm@gmail.com Lex P Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4qrmX3c6okfpvdLNKeJYYE?si=a4e3170be3044b2d This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp; BetterHelp has connected over 3 million people with licensed therapists. It's convenient and accessible anywhere — 100% online. Learn more and save 10% off your first month at https://www.BetterHelp.com/POURMINDS No annual fees, large security deposits, or credit checks to apply. So start your credit journey with Chime. Sign up takes only two minutes and doesn't affect your credit score. Get started at https://www.chime.com/pourminds. That's https://www.chime.com/pourminds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a Text Message.Today is all about a great conversation with our friend Seneca Dewbre, who owns @okiepuncture. Acupuncture is one of those "if you know, you know" topics within the medical community that's not often talked about, but often used. We asked some of the most common questions as well as branching into other areas we've discussed in previous episodes (ice baths and saunas) as well as how it fits into a lifestyle focused on wellness and longevity. If you're interested in some more detailed information, you can read an author manuscript here that discusses some of the benefits of acupuncture.Have more questions? Let us know by sending a message here on our instagram so we can always give you the information you're looking for! Prime Health Associates

Large parts of the country are currently experiencing an intensely hot summer, with temperatures soaring to record levels. The extreme heat has already claimed lives in states like Bihar, Odisha, Gujarat and Delhi. So today, we dedicate this episode to discussing heat waves, how they affect our bodies, and the precautions you should take to stay safe. Joining us for this discussion is Dr. Dileep Mavalankar, honorary professor and former director of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar.Hosted and produced by Shashank BhargavaEdited and mixed by Suresh PawarTimestamps:What counts as a heatwave (01:21)What happens during a heat stroke (04:40)Prickly heat, heat cramps, and heat syncope (06:36)The difference between heat stroke and heat exhaustion (07:26)Precautions to take when stepping out (10:46)When your job requires you to be outside (12:53)Is electrolyte better than water? (14:23)Does the temperature of drinking water matter? (15:25)When you don't have access to air conditioning (18:42)Should you avoid showering when the water is not cool? (21:35)A note for kids and pregnant women (22:53)Why cities are getting hotter (23:41)The best time to exercise/workout (26:26)Changes that can be implemented to cities (27:06)

Starting off the week in Washington with a first stop in Tacoma, where we meet Prickly Paranoia. Grace and Austin introduce us to songs Shell, Lycan and Vacant Space.

And what, may you ask, is “polarity intelligence”? That is one of the topics we get to discuss this episode with the co-founders of the company, Missing Logic, Dr. Tracy Christopherson and Michelle Troseth. Their company was formed to help leaders overcome leadership norms that cause suffering and take them out of good work-life balance.   Tracy and Michelle come from healthcare backgrounds. Even though they formed their company only in 2017 they have been using the tools they develop more than 20 years ago to train leaders to better understand and balance polarities. The most common example of a polarity we all experience is inhaling and exhaling. You need to do both to survive.   As Tracy and Michelle explain, there are many polarities leaders in business face. The more leaders understand how to manage the various polarities in their environment the better their own lives and the lives of those around them will be. The balance between work and non-work is a polarity faced often by leaders especially throughout the business world. Recognizing this polarity and learning to adjust to accommodate both sides of it can greatly improve any leader's outlook and it will greatly reduce stress.   Our discussion this time ranges far and wide concerning the concepts of leadership and how people can become better leaders by understanding and using polarity intelligence. I leave it to Michelle and Tracy to explain all of this to us. All I can say is that I found this discussion extremely thought provoking and relevant to our world today. I hope you feel the same.     About the Guest:   Dr. Tracy Christopherson and Michelle Troseth are co-founders of MissingLogic®. The core of their work is to help leaders to overcome leadership norms that cause suffering, achieve work life balance, create healthy work cultures and environments by leveraging Polarity Intelligence™.   Tracy and Michelle are co-authors of the book Polarity Intelligence: The Missing Logic in Leadership and co-hosts of The TRU Leader Podcast (previously known as Healthcare's MissingLogic Podcast). The dynamic duo is known for helping leaders balance leading and living so they can be TRU leaders—thriving, resilient, and unstoppable. Tracy and Michelle are the creators of the Dynamic Balance Effect® Framework. They use this framework to support leaders in leveraging Polarity Intelligence to create a dynamic balance between their professional and personal lives. Tracy and Michelle frequently speak at national and international leadership conferences on the topics of Polarity Intelligence, Work–Life Balance, and Healthy Work Environments. ** ** Ways to connect with Tracy and Michelle:   COMPANY WEBSITE LINK: https://www.missinglogic.com/ SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: https://www.linkedin.com/company/missinglogic-llc https://www.facebook.com/missinglogicLLC https://twitter.com/MissingLogicLLC https://www.instagram.com/missinglogic_llc/   https://www.youtube.com/@missinglogic2077     About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. And today, we get to talk with two people who I've gotten to know a little bit and enjoy very much. We have Michelle Troseth And Tracy Christopherson, who my screen reader says Christopherson, which I think is kind of funny, and I've really learned the King's English, but what can I or, or at least Swedish, but you know, we we cope. But they have, I think an interesting story to tell they are co founders of a company. And I'm sure they're going to tell us about that along with all sorts of other stuff. So we're really glad that you're here listening. And we're glad that Tracy and Michelle are here to talk with us. I want to welcome both of you to unstoppable mindset.   Michelle Troseth ** 02:11 Well, thank you, Michael, thank you so much. We're excited to be here.   Michael Hingson ** 02:14 Yes, we are.   Michael Hingson ** 02:16 Well, cool. I'm excited to have you. So that's as good as it gets. And we can all have fun. As always one of the rules of doing this podcast, I tell people as we do have to have fun. So that is important. Well tell me about your lives a little bit growing up sort of early years of Tracy and Michelle are Michelle and Tracy, whichever one of you wants to talk first.   Michelle Troseth ** 02:38 This is Michelle, I'll go first. Oh, there we go. Yes, I'll go first. And we did grow up together. And many ways. We were still growing Michael. So our background is is we're both from the state of Michigan. And we started out our careers in health care. And I'm a nurse. And and actually Tracy and I we we met early in our careers, we cared for patients together. And then we became leaders, we went into leadership roles. And we kind of grew up as leaders learned our leadership skills. And we started working with a phenomenal mentor, who was changing practice environments and hospitals. And we joined that journey with her and did a lot of transformation work in hospitals across North America. We ended up in corporations as executives. And then in 2018, after many, many years of doing a lot of hard work. We we decided to start our own company. And so we did that in 2018. But the other thing I want you to know about Tracy and I is we are also very good friends. We're BFFs and our husbands are best friends as well. And we love to travel together and play cards and golf. And so we have a whole playful side twist as well.   Michael Hingson ** 03:54 There you go. Yes, my my mother in law was loved to play cards and we would all play cards with her. And we always said she cheats because she always won. I mean, always won. So we like to say that she cheated, but you know, she didn't but it was so much fun.   Tracy Christopherson ** 04:17 We'd like to think she was cheating anyway. Right?   Michael Hingson ** 04:19 Yeah, it's kind of more fun. You know, it's an excuse anyway, to, you know, to to say that. But she she she loved to play Liverpool rummy and just all sorts of things and, and had a lot of fun. And we all did when was fun to play with her. Occasionally. She let us win. That's, that's our line anyway.   Tracy Christopherson ** 04:38 Yeah, for sure. Wow, were we like Euchre and it's always the girls against the guys and so you know, yeah, sometimes we think they're cheating and sometimes they think we are too.   Michael Hingson ** 04:51 I won't tell ya. Okay. Well, Tracy, what do you want to add to you? Oh, go Yeah, yeah,   Tracy Christopherson ** 04:57 well, I was just gonna say so I'm a respiratory thing. therapist by profession. And, and actually, you know, I had, you know, this experience that Michelle and I had working with healthcare organizations all across the country really was my learning ground for leadership. And, but I'm a learner. And that's one of my strengths. And so I reached a point where, you know, their real life experience just wasn't quite enough. And I wanted to have, I knew I was missing something in my education. So I went back to school to get my bachelor's and then I was egged on to get my master's. And then, lo and behold, I found myself getting a PhD. So I was on like, a 13 year journey, just going back to school to get a degree, but I got multiple ones. And it was really driven by my passion for interprofessional collaboration, really bringing teams together with diverse experiences to work together and, and deliver services. And, and a lot of that was, you know, kind of Michelle and I and the journey together, right, we were doing interprofessional work and healthcare organizations for it was cool. For anybody really knew what it was. And we partnered on so many projects together. And so it really, you know, led to my passion to get a PhD in interprofessional health care studies, but we actually met in high end hospital orientation. So it was, you know, kind of the stand up and shake the hand of the person behind you. And that was me, and we like to say we've been shaking hands ever since. And, and you know, in our course of our journey as leaders and working with many leaders across North America, we really saw the challenges that they faced, and everybody thinks their challenges are unique, right to us. Yeah, but they're not. And we saw the pattern across multiple leaders, multiple organizations, they were facing the same challenges over and over and over and unable to resolve them. They were unsolvable problems. And we had been had the great fortune to be exposed to polarity thinking, or Barry Johnson, and had leverage that in our work. And so we knew when we left corporate America in 2017, that we were destined to do something really important. And we decided what was really important was to bring this missing logic or this competency to healthcare leaders and to leaders in general, all across the world. So that's what we're doing now. Wow.   Michael Hingson ** 07:31 So Michelle Tracy was respiratory therapist. What were   Michelle Troseth ** 07:35 you? I was a nurse. Ah,   Michael Hingson ** 07:40 I still am. So you guys met at hospital orientations? So you didn't know each other growing up in school?   Tracy Christopherson ** 07:46 No, no, no, no, we didn't grow up on the same side of the state. I grew up on the east side who grew up on the west side. So we didn't meet till we were adults, orienting to a new healthcare system. Now,   Michael Hingson ** 08:00 where do you guys live now?   Michelle Troseth ** 08:02 But I live just outside of Grand Rapids, in a community called Hudsonville, Michigan, so still in West Michigan.   Tracy Christopherson ** 08:10 And I live three hours north, and a small resort town called going city near Lake Michigan. And then I'm here in the spring in the summer, early fall, and then I go to California in the winter. I don't like snow. I leave her here and I come to visit though. Why   Michael Hingson ** 08:29 don't you come to California to Yeah, one of these days. So   Michael Hingson ** 08:34 we're in California. We're in California. Do you go?   Tracy Christopherson ** 08:37 I go to Ukiah. Okay. Northern California. Napa. Yeah, right.   Michael Hingson ** 08:44 I lived in Novato for 12 years. And so we loved to go to Napa. I've been to Ukiah. But we we love Napa. We were 45 minutes, maybe an hour away from from Napa. went up there and join the Gloria Ferrara wine club, which was great because if you go there as a member, you get four free glasses of I call them champagne. They say sparkling wine because they don't want to tick off the French but you know, say what you want. So I'm still a member, even though my wife has passed. The problem is I'm not drinking it as fast as it comes in because I'm just not that much of a wine drinker. So I'm going to have to find a way to start dealing with that I may have to call on health care to us or what saved me if I do too much of that.   Michael Hingson ** 09:31 But still, well, so what? So Trey, so Michelle, you   Michael Hingson ** 09:36 didn't say you went to college? Yes,   Michelle Troseth ** 09:38 I did. I got my bachelor's at Grand Valley State University here in West Michigan and my master's in nursing there as well. But   Michael Hingson ** 09:46 you haven't haven't been persuaded to go off and get a PhD to have equal billing or something like that. No,   Michelle Troseth ** 09:53 I was told by my husband and my best friend Tracy. I was not allowed to do that.   Michael Hingson ** 10:00 Definitely it. I have a master's degree and I'm fine with that. Yeah.   Michelle Troseth ** 10:09 I have to, I have to. And after watching Tracy and her journey, I'm just, I'm a good cheerleader.   Tracy Christopherson ** 10:16 A whole nother podcast, Michael.   Michael Hingson ** 10:20 There's always student loan debt. Right. So I   Tracy Christopherson ** 10:23 didn't have any of that I just had some challenging a challenging journey. But it was all done for me. Yeah, made me who I am today. I'm grateful for valuable thing. Oh, yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 10:33 And I understand, we all are a product of our choices, which is pretty cool. When you talk about this new competency that you're teaching leaders. And I'll, before I ask you specifically about that, why did you decide specifically to start a company to deal with addressing issues for leaders and so on?   Michelle Troseth ** 10:55 Well, we, because no one was talking about this really, or maybe just small pockets of people. And we knew what a game changer it was. And we had applied it into our own lives both personally. And we had helped organizations and I can tell you, Tracy and I do a lot of speaking. And whenever we would introduce this polarity concept, or having a polarity mindset to an audience, people always got excited, they would say things like, oh my gosh, this makes so much sense. Or I always knew these things were connected, but I never knew how. And it has such implications because we waste so much time, money and resources trying to fix the same problems, when they're not really problems, they really are polarities. And so we just knew this was something that was very needed. And we knew it starts with the leadership, if the leadership doesn't understand it, the staff don't have a chance and the organization's will never be able to sustain a lot of the hard work they put into fixing problems. So that's, that was our thing. We're like, we're gonna go out there and we're gonna bring this to the world. And we named it missing logic, because it's missing. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 12:07 I hear you, what do you mean by polarities?   Tracy Christopherson ** 12:11 So polarities are interdependent pairs of values or points of view or perspectives. And they are, they appear to be contradictory and, or opposing to each other. But they are interdependent, and they need each other over time to reach a greater purpose that neither value would alone. So you know, we have problems, problems, we use either or thinking we get more, you know, a couple different solutions. We pick the one we want to apply, and we're done. But polarities are ongoing, they never ends. And that's why these challenges that leaders were facing, and trying to apply either or thinking to wasn't working, right, because you can't treat a polarity that way, you have to use what we call a both and mindset, because these values are interdependent and need each other. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 13:08 Well, you've, you've written a book about, about all of this with polarities, too, haven't you? When did you write that?   Michelle Troseth ** 13:16 During COVID. Time to do it.   Tracy Christopherson ** 13:21 There you go, whatever you're gonna do, right? Yeah, we   Michelle Troseth ** 13:24 were locked up. And we said, Okay, this and and the other thing too, Michael, that was really great is we worked with leaders during COVID. We did virtual coaching sessions, virtual mentorship programs. So we were learning a ton. And then we thought, this is the perfect time to write this book. So the name of the book is polarity, intelligence, the missing logic in leadership. And what we're so proud of is we were able to take all the concepts we've been working with having a polarity or both and mindset, the need to have healthy relationships to engage your workforce and your colleagues and your family in a way that you come together with intention, and you have a shared purpose with why you are together and meaningful dialogue. And when you're dealing with polarities, and they cause tension. It's really important to have the communication skills, the dialogue skills, to invite conversation to understand those different perspectives as well. So we put all of those together and call it now polarity intelligence. And it's it's we have the first book coming out with it, so it's pretty exciting. So   Michael Hingson ** 14:33 it's polarity intelligence out.   Michelle Troseth ** 14:37 It is available for pre order right now. So you can go to your favorite bookstore and buy it and preorder it's going to be released on January 16 2024. And hot off the press. We just found out today we already hit the bestseller lists on Barnes and Noble. Wow. Get out the bubbles get up and go I'm   Michael Hingson ** 15:00 gonna go get one of those bottles of champagne here. Yeah. But I don't want to drink in front of you. So that is exciting. Yeah, sorry, that that's happening. Well, so. So tell me, I guess a little bit more about this whole concept of polarity intelligence? And how do you how do you teach it to people? And well, and how is it received? I guess from a book standpoint, it's received well, but in general, when you're dealing with people, how do they how do they receive it or deal with it?   15:33 Well, that's a great question, you know, so let's start with a little bit more about it. So people that so your listeners kind of have some context to what we're talking about. And a really easy way to understand a polarity is inhaling and exhaling. Because that is a polarity our body manages for us all day, every day. And we have to inhale to receive oxygen and exhale to remove carbon dioxide. And the greater purpose of that is to sustain life, and it's the only polarity that's leveraged or managed for us. And our body just takes care of that. And, and so we kind of really start there with helping people to understand what a polarity is in and of itself. And then our overall objective is to help them to understand how polarities work because there's some various principles that they operate on. And as an example, you know, when you have a polarity, you have two poles, they're interdependent, and they need each other. So one is not more important than the other. So inhaling is not more important than exhaling, I have to have both if I want to sustain life, and if I don't have both, I'm gonna die, right? That's a negative consequence. The another principle that we teach people is that when you over emphasize one pole and you neglect the other, there's always a negative consequence, you are always going to lose the positive benefits of the pole that you neglect. So there's always a consequence to that. And and then I think the other thing too, is really what we want to do is leverage these healthy relationships and the meaningful dialogue, when we sit in conversation with the if you think about the tensions we've experienced, as people in our countries internationally, you know, people are walking away from conversations because they don't want to engage, right? It's some very high values, people hold dearly, and it can create significant tension. And so to sit in that tension, and to sit in that those contradictory, or opposing perspectives, you really have to have a strong relationship, and you have to know how to have conversation. So we teach them the principles around healthy relationships. And we teach them the principles of dialogue, so that they can really transcend their own personal biases and open up to hear the perspectives of others because both perspectives are right. One is not more right than the other, it's just really understanding how the two work together. So those are a few ways that we kind of set some context for them, and then teach them the principles of how polarities operate. So they can understand it is a universal principle. So it applies to everybody. You can't ignore it, it's like gravity, we like to say, it's always there. They're always working on you, there's 1000s of them. And you really have to be able to recognize them to leverage them. So that's our initial steps is to help them understand them, recognize them, begin to leverage them, and develop the skills of healthy relationships, and meaningful dialogue. So they can do that as easily as possible.   Michael Hingson ** 18:55 If you would give me an example of polarities in business or leadership to do some sort of concrete example, if you can. Sure.   Michelle Troseth ** 19:05 So again, they're everywhere. But in businesses, does it matter if it's a small business like ours, or a really large business, they all deal with the same polarities, and probably a very common one is margin and mission, right? You have to always be balancing the margin coming into the organization so you can grow and thrive. And you have to be focused on mission of why you exist in order to create a sustainable business. So that's a major one, another one for businesses that we run into all the time and we leverage these in our business, Michael is individual and team. So every person in a business or a company has a role has a purpose. They need to they need to practice or deliver their services, the best they can individually and they're part of a team. So how the team works together is equally important. And, and you need to get that polarity, right size and well balance. So that's another common one. Also process and progress, right? You have to have infrastructures processes to run a business. And you need to be marking progress as you grow as well. And so that's another polarity that we use in our business. And there's, there's a lot more now leadership. I'm glad you said leadership too, because there's also polarities, that you have to leverage as a leader, such as candor, and diplomacy, your communication, again, is really important. In even leading and managing as a polarity, they have different attributes, they're to have different skills. And so we work with leaders on that one as well.   Michael Hingson ** 20:47 Too many bosses think they're leaders, I, you're with me, you're you're right there with me. Too many leaders, too many bosses think they're leaders and they may or nine, they may not be leaders at all. And you're right, they are totally different things. I know that. And I've talked about it here before, that, when I hire salespeople, one of the things I've always told them was, look, I hired you, I'm not here to boss you around. And my job, I believe, is to find ways to add value to you to help you be more successful. And you and I have to figure that out together. And that's a lot different than so many bosses would do. They missed the whole point of what would really make them a much more effective leader of the people they work with.   21:38 Yes, that. Yeah. And at the same time, you need some of those strengths of the manager, right, the one that's gonna make sure everything gets done and has all the processes and the infrastructures and manages that. So that's why you have to have both, but it's, it's balancing that knowing when the manager needs to step up, and knowing when the leader needs to step up in you, right, and you apply those, you know, you're looking for those outcomes simultaneously. But at different times, you're gonna need to be more of a manager at different times, you need to be more of a of a leader. And so it's really understanding that, but I think   Michael Hingson ** 22:14 the real issue is that people that work for you need to understand when you're a manager, why you're a manager, in other words, you you do have to set the boundaries, you do have to set the rules. Yeah. And people who understand that and internalize it will be a lot happier and a lot more successful in the workforce. Right? Yeah, that's true. That's true. Which is, which is kind of really important to be able to do, but it really is a fascinating concept, to you know, to do this. How do you. So you've been doing this now, since you said, What 2017 2018? Is   22:55 that business that we've been managing? for over 20 years? Right,   Michael Hingson ** 22:59 right. But now you have your own business? You're doing it?   23:03 How do you teach it? Well,   Michelle Troseth ** 23:07 we teach it in various ways, our most common way these days is virtually. And actually we like to tell the story that Tracy and I got zoom before anyone knew what it was, seems like. So we do we do virtual education, virtual coaching, we have virtual mentorship programs. And it's amazing how much teaching and application and connection you can do over the internet. But we also teach it in keynote speeches, just the concept to leaders. And we teach it in workshops. We have a group of leaders that there are out they love this so much. They're in a mastermind group. We work with them over the year, and they just deepen their understanding they achieve incredible outcomes, we get together face to face twice a year at our retreat. Location. And we do a lot with the whole polarity intelligence with him through those different experiences, and we teach it on our podcast. Yeah,   24:08 yeah. Well, go ahead. No, go ahead. Well, I was just gonna say, you know, from a kind of a concrete perspective, you can map a polarity. So we really use blueprints and maps so that people can make the polarity that they are trying to leverage concrete and actionable. So in these in these in person settings, we actually put a big polarity map on the floor and we walk this polarity map with them and, and help them to really dive deep and understand what the polarity really is, which is the outcomes that they want the consequences. They'll experience right the actions they need to take, and the early warning signs that will keep them on track and keep them from over focusing or emphasizing one or the other. So that's really a fun exercise and leaders love to kind have really stepped into it. And that in that real in person way.   Michael Hingson ** 25:05 Makes a lot of sense. Have you found people who resist it?   Tracy Christopherson ** 25:08 I've not found anybody who resisted it.   Michael Hingson ** 25:11 That's great.   25:11 I haven't either, I think because they haven't experienced of it, but they didn't know what it was. So we often have people come up to and say, Oh, my gosh, I finally know what it is I've been experiencing, I finally have words to describe it. And that's the benefit. Well, you know, what we're teaching it to say like, they have experienced it, like we experienced gravity. But they didn't have a common language to explain what it was and how it felt. And now they do. So when they read the book, or when we teach it, they'll have that common language and way to describe what it is that they're experiencing, and others will understand it as well.   Michael Hingson ** 25:51 That is pretty cool. And I was gonna say earlier. Yeah, I forgot you do have a podcast. Tell us about your podcast.   Michelle Troseth ** 25:59 Well, our podcast is in transition right now.   Michael Hingson ** 26:04 But from one hole to the other, I   26:08 couldn't resist.   Michelle Troseth ** 26:11 That was really great. That was really like,   Michael Hingson ** 26:12 it's yours. You can have it.   Michelle Troseth ** 26:16 Yeah, well, we started a podcast in 2019. The name of it is Healthcare's missing logic podcast, because our audience at that time was primarily healthcare leaders. But as we grew, and as more people listen to us, we got asked, Do you work with other leaders? Do you work with educators? Can you go work with Congress?   Michael Hingson ** 26:37 I mean, we've had some Well, there's another story there. Yeah.   26:41 That's another podcast episode that Yeah, another whole   Michael Hingson ** 26:43 podcast. But yeah.   Michelle Troseth ** 26:46 And so and now we have really developed a really robust, thriving, resilient, unstoppable, we call it true leader mentorship program, and we attract leaders that want to have thriving, resilient, unstoppable, which is why we like being on your podcast lives. And so we just, we're gonna change it to be more it's going to be the true leader podcast is really focused on balancing, leaving and living to represent both personal and professional poles as a leader.   Michael Hingson ** 27:18 And, and that brings up a very important point, you got to have that life balance between living and working and living and leading on the job and all that. And I'm sure that that must be one of the big issues that all too many people are victims of, if you will, that you find right.   27:41 Oh, yes. Oh, yes.   Michael Hingson ** 27:45 How do you how do you get them to deal with that, but I got to spend this time at my company, I can't not do that.   27:52 Well, the answer really comes in our true leader mentorship program, because it starts with understanding polarities, and that your professional life and your personal life is a polarity that work life balance isn't a problem to solve. It's not an either or, and that you actually have to give attention to both your personal life and professional life to get that highest quality life that you want to really thrive both at work and at home. And so we've developed a framework that's called the dynamic balance effect framework. And it has, has combination of strategies that when you put them together, enables leaders to create a dynamic balance lifestyle, and it becomes a part of who they are. So they leveraged polarities, they learn about that, that polarity, they create a blueprint, their own unique blueprint for how they're going to manage the tension between the two, you know, both the professional life and the personal life. And that's one aspect of it. And then we also help them to understand, one of the other pillars that we have is mindful choices. And we're always making choices, Michael, sometimes we're aware of the choices we're making, sometimes we make them unconsciously. But we're always making choices and living with the results of those choices. And what we want is make choices that are based on our highest values that are aligned with who we are, that we're live, help us to be in integrity. So you know, we want to make sure we're aligned to the values, we're clear on the values and we live by our principles. And so we really help them to get that clarity identify who it is they need to be in this new life that they're designing. And then another pillar really is personal alignment. And this is about harnessing tools and processes and infrastructures that help them to really kind of, you know, experience of peace and joy and the life that they want because they're aligning their actions to the essence of who they really are. They know what their purpose is. They know their streaks, everything. becomes a little bit more easy and effortless when you have that clarity. And so we kind of use these three pillars, combined together to help them get that dynamic balance effect. And it's a lot of reflection and looking at the beliefs that we hold the norms that we operate under, and letting go of some things that don't really just don't serve us. And sometimes those are blind spots. And so we shine a light on the blind spots, help them reveal them, and then work through your processes to overcome them.   Michael Hingson ** 30:28 What kind of a process do you go through to analyze any given individual or leader in terms of determining how best to apply the dynamic balance effect framework to them? Or to, to bring them into it? I mean, because obviously, you have to take while you have similarities, each case is different.   Michelle Troseth ** 30:50 Yeah, yeah. So there's a couple different things we do we do. We can do polarity assessments. So we actually have a methodology where we can actually assess how well you're managing different polarities, you know, how well are you managing your personal life and your professional life, your activity and rest, caring for yourself and caring for others, and we can show them, and then help them create more effective action steps and coach them around that. And then when it comes to personal alignment, we do spend a lot of time just getting to know their strengths. So we have various assessments that we do for that to really determine how are they wired, really what makes them tick, because everybody is different. And then they are able to apply those results to their blueprints, and their other tools that we provide them so they actually can accelerate and meet the goals that they're going after. And so those are, those are just some ways where we do measurement, and we do we also track progress with their goals over time as well. And they've had an amazing transformation results, it's been so much fun.   31:59 Well, they do a life inventory as well. So they look at their life, from a lot of different perspectives, all the components of their life, and they have others also look at their life, and others do the polarity assessment to get a perspective outside of themselves. So we invite them, to have people closest to them, give them some real, you know, candid perspectives about what they see in their life. And, and that's also very helpful for them. When it comes down to it, it's up to them to decide what's the most the highest priority polarity for me, what's the highest priority skill or habit I need to develop? And we just can, you know, provide them with a guidance and coach them along the way to remove any barriers, just keep getting the barriers out of the way, because that's, that's really 90% of it. That's just getting the barriers out of the way we know what we need to do, we just don't do it, right?   Michael Hingson ** 32:54 Well, you're right. And also, all too often, people are so resistive to, to change their resistive to really analyzing themselves, because we don't teach people how to do that. I'm a great fan of introspection, spending time at the end of the day, what went well, what didn't go well, even what went well, could I have done it better. And I have grown to not like liking to use the term failure, other than it's an opportunity to look at what I did, and figure out how to do it better. But we become so defeated so often. And like, I hear all the time, people are afraid of public speaking, and it's one of people's greatest fears. And it shouldn't be if we would learn what public speaking is really all about, which is talking with an audience, not to an audience. And again, it's just the kind of thing that people are so resistive to so many of the kinds of concepts I think that you're talking about. And leaders, hopefully are, in general a little bit different because they are leaders and they're open to it or you are able to work with them to get them to that point, but it must be a challenge.   34:13 Wow. Yeah, the truth is, aren't we're wired to stay in our comfort zones, right? Our brains are wired to keep us safe. And so we have, you know, we react physically, when we don't when we're uncertain about the future or what experience we're going to have. So any uncertainty can unleash a sense of anxiety and us or we can hear that little little, you know, chatter in our brain on you don't need to do that you just stay right where you're at. It's really nice and comfortable here. You know, it's not easy, but you know what you're dealing with. So this is a lot better than going out there and trying something different. What if you fail in our brains, our subconscious feeds us all this so it's really just increasing awareness of what We're saying to ourselves and how our brain is trying to keep us safe. It's what it's designed to do. But that's only because it doesn't know that it's okay to step out of the comfort zone. And so we really do a lot of coaching around that aspect. Because those are the things mostly that hold us back, is that we just resist, because it's ingrained in us to resist it's a part of our brain. So we have to train our brain. No, you know what, sometimes you just have to say, You know what, I appreciate what you're trying to do. But it's really okay for me to make this chance. It's really okay for me to take this chance to step out and do this. And you have to just kind of work with yourself around that.   Michael Hingson ** 35:41 I, I agree, I hear what you're saying. It's the other side of it, though, is that we don't teach people to deal with fear. I know that for me, having been in the World Trade Center and escaping. People always say, Well, you weren't afraid because you couldn't see what was going on. And it's so difficult to get people to understand. Keep in mind that the airplane in our building hit on if I were to average it between 93 and 99. Floor, the 96th floor on the north side of the building, and I was on the south side of the building on the 78th floor. How was I supposed to know what happened the last time I checked X ray vision, and Superman are fiction, right. And the reality is going down the stairs, no one knew no one knew that we had been attacked by terrorists, we figured out that an airplane hit the building, because we were spilling the fumes from burning jet fuel, and I identified that odor. But four floors down from when we entered the stairwell. So is probably about the 74th floor that I figured out that's the fumes from burning jet fuel when we figured that out. But I wasn't afraid going down the stairs. For I think a couple of reasons. One is, I always liked the concept. Don't worry about what you can control, focus on what you can and leave the rest alone because you can't do anything about it anyway, I didn't articulate that for the longest period of time. But I think that is something that's been in my makeup for a long time. The other part about it is, however, that I think that fear is something that is all too often taught and that if you have knowledge, and essentially what you're talking about, with knowledge, you can learn not to be blinded by fear, as I call it, or paralyzed by fear or overwhelmed, whatever you want to call it. But that fear can in fact, become a powerful tool for you, not against you. And so I'm actually working on on a book about that we actually, with a colleague, we've written a book about that. And the idea is that you can learn to control fear. And yeah, you may have some reactions when something doesn't go just the way you think. But you can learn to control your fears, and allow yourself to be able to move forward in a much more organized way that you don't have to let fear overwhelm you.   Tracy Christopherson ** 38:09 Right, right. Yeah. And I think it's important to know, where's the fear coming from? Right? What is it that we're afraid of? Right. And I think working through those processes, sometimes, just getting that deeper understanding can help you release that fear and realize, Well, really, there isn't anything, nothing terrible is going to happen, right? In many instances. So it's just kind of really getting to know yourself, and where your fears come from, I think is a very healthy way to look at fear. And   Michael Hingson ** 38:37 that's a lot of it. And the reality is that we we don't, we're not encouraged to do that kind of self reflecting and self analysis and internalizing of what's going on. So the result is we react rather than thinking more about it, which is, in a sense, maybe another kind of missing logic. Yeah.   38:59 Wow. Right. Right. But and it comes from our past. Yeah, to your point, because we haven't been educated or trained or haven't learned for that self reflection and, and right to do all that from the time we were children. We just respond based on our past programming based on the things that we've experienced in the past. That's what how our brain gets wired. So we don't have that to draw from so you have to build this skill to your brain.   Michael Hingson ** 39:27 Yeah, right. And I know for me, having been blind my whole life, I've been in a lot of situations where there have been unpredictable kinds of circumstances. I mean, heck, I lived. Well, anytime I cross the street. There's the potential of a car coming down the street that I missed, or that isn't stopping and I always have to be alert. What am I going to do about that? Or when I lived in in Massachusetts for three years? I live In the state that had the reputation of having had the eye, the highest accident rate per capita in the country, and I'm sitting there crossing the street with all these crazy cars coming down the street. So, for me, I learned that I have to be observant and not be afraid otherwise, why go out at all? And so that doesn't mean that you just go put yourself in danger. But it doesn't mean that you can deal with different things that go on.   Michael Hingson ** 40:31 Right? Yep. Yep. Great point. So   Michael Hingson ** 40:35 it becomes one of the the issues to deal with well, so we wrote a book about it called Live like a guide dog. And the end. And the point is that I've had a number of Guide Dogs and other dogs in my life. And the idea is that dogs can fear. But more often than not, fear is learned like my fifth guide dog, Roselle was not afraid of thunder at all. Until we moved to New Jersey and live there for almost a year before she started exhibiting fear reactions and shaking and shivering whenever there was a thunderstorm coming. What we also learned is that a lot of that had to do with the fact that as the storm would approach, the static build up on her, gave her this Prickly, uncomfortable feeling. And then you get the thunder that goes with it. It caused kind of a fear reaction. And again, now we know more about dealing with that. And there are ways to teach dogs that they don't need to be afraid of thunder treats always help. But you know, that's a part of it. But but the reality is, again, I think it's it's true for for humans, we need to learn that we can analyze what's going on, as you said earlier, and use that to better analyze ourselves and go Well, why are we reacting to this? Right? So you, you spend a lot of time obviously working with the people who you have the opportunity to work with to get to get them to to analyze all that. How long do you end up after on average working with clients? Or is it kind of almost a lifelong kind of thing?   Michelle Troseth ** 42:18 Well, sometimes they might be with us just for a 12 month program. And sometimes we've had leaders with this going on for years. So I just really depends on what their needs are, what their you know, what their goals are. But we do have some that, you know, they just love working with   42:39 us. All right, well, you know, they sign unity, right? Yeah, it's a community. It's   42:44 a community. Yeah, yeah. They like being a part of that community   42:47 and supporting each other and learning from each other. And so that's, that's another aspect of the work that we do, we really are strong believers in the community and the supportive community. And we know leaders are longing for that right now. And especially leaders that find themselves in, in environments that don't feel psychologically safe. They're really looking to connect with others that are experienced some of the same things they're experiencing. And so we do have an ongoing community that people engage in as well. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 43:21 immunity is a very strong tool that can help a lot too. Which is really, which is really pretty cool. Well, you know, leaders are people. Well, how come leaders often suffer from burnout? How come that happens?   Michelle Troseth ** 43:40 Well, what happens with when in leadership roles. Sometimes what happens is you're with other leaders, and there's an expectation of behavior and thoughts that are based on shared beliefs of how you should act as a leader, how things that's just the way things are here. And, and then you become even maybe unaware that you are doing those behaviors, behaviors or having those thoughts. And so what happens is leaders just develop a tracing I call leadership norms. And those norms can actually be harmful over time. So an example of one is servant leadership. You know, servant leadership is a good thing. And it reinforces everybody before me, the leader eats last and over time, that has a negative impact on the leader and they do suffer from exhaustion and burnout. And you know, we have learned a lot from the airline industry, that there's a reason why they have you put your oxygen mask on first so that you can help others. And it's not an it's not a norm for leaders to do that. They always think about even during COVID They thought more about their teams than they did about themselves. And you know just how hard you have to work as As a leader, there's a whole norm around that. Long hours work hard climbing the ladder. And another metaphor that Tracy and I like to use is, you know, marathon runners know, they have to pace themselves. And you don't become a marathon runner, you know, by running 26 miles the day of the race, you have to, you have to practice the polarity of activity, and rest. And, and that's a lot like leadership, we're in it for the long haul, we have to learn how to care for ourselves and care for others. And what leaders are developing is what Tracy and I call the imbalanced leader syndrome. And we we see it all the time, we have leaders every week that say, Yep, I have that, you know, because they got overflowing to do lists of competing priorities. There are financial and people resources are limited, which causes stress. They lack balance between their work and home. And they're basically just exhausted and unfulfilled. And they know, I think the key thing right now is they're really wondering if they can continue. And so they, they don't have a strategy for work life balance, that's the other thing that we really help them with. But that's some of the reasons we see leaders get burned out.   Michael Hingson ** 46:16 Yeah, and you know, it, I liked the concept. And I've always liked the concept of servant leadership, but I do understand that it can be carried too far. And we need to understand that the best servants are the ones who really are prepared to do it. And it's okay to be and I think is appropriate to be if you're a leader, a servant, because your job is to help but at the same time, you can't do that if you're not properly prepared either.   Tracy Christopherson ** 46:44 Right? Well, when it's, it's good until the point where you start to neglect yourself. And what happens is they prioritize everybody before themselves, and then they start to neglect their needs. Neglect, what you know, what's important to them. And they start to make mistakes, which cause burnout, right, like making themselves available and accessible 24/7 And saying yes, when they return request when they really want to say no, and bringing work home and staying late working on vacation, and sacrificing time with family and friends to work and all of those things add up and build up over time. And that's what you know, can also lead to that imbalance leader syndrome or to burnout and exhaustion because they don't give themselves a rest in the things that they need to thrive and survive. And, and we're not saying don't serve to your point to but take care of yourself so that you can be that incredible leader you want to be because the stronger your personal life is, the more you know resilience you're going to have, the more mental clarity you're going to have, the more stamina you're going to have, the more ability you're going to have to serve the way that you want to serve.   Michael Hingson ** 47:57 My most graphic example of that actually relates to one of my guide dogs. My six guide dog Merrill got Merrill in 2007. Roselle had to retire. She had guided for eight years, but she also contracted an immune disease immune mediated thrombocytopenia. So her body was going after her her immune system was going after platelets and so on. Anyway, so marrow came along, and it looked well for a little while. But then we started noticing that Meryl wouldn't play with the other dogs. We had two other dogs in the house, Rosella retired guide dog. And we also were what were called breeder keepers for Guide Dogs for the Blind. The breeding stock would not stay in kennels all the time, but would live in people's homes except when they were doing their puppy things. So Meryl wouldn't play with the other dogs. And it got worse and worse. And as I eventually described it, she had a type A personality, she could not leave work at the office, she wouldn't play with him. She followed me everywhere. And if they tried to play, she actually curled her lip a few times. And eventually, after about 18 months of well, once the bananas about 14 months of guiding. She started becoming very fearful of even guiding and wearing a guide dog harness. And eventually, the people that Guide Dogs for the Blind, observed her and agreed, and we had to retire her because she was just afraid to guide anymore. She just couldn't handle the stress of guiding on top of the stress that she was putting on herself. Oh, yeah. And the result is that, you know, she did, she did retire. And then we got Africa who was my seventh guide dog, whose mother was the breeder dog that we were caring for, which was just sort of a coincidence, but Africa was the total opposite of Maryland Africa did find around people. We have alimony, he does well, but it is interesting because to talk about Meryl, she just got to the point where she could not take the stress. And it was more self imposed, although she never realized that, of course, but it was well, and   50:15 that's true for people to write. Some of these norms are self imposed, and we follow them. And we don't have to, but people need permission to let it go. They need to know it's okay to do something different to behave differently. So   Michael Hingson ** 50:31 yeah, absolutely. That's, that's really the whole issue. Is that right? You got to learn that. And that was something that we could never teach Merrill, no matter what we tried. And so it just didn't work out that way. But it's just one of those things. But for me, so really graphic example of what you're talking about. And the other you know, if I were to also ask this, I just thought about it. We've been talking about leaders, what is the leader? How's that for a general question?   Michelle Troseth ** 51:01 Well, sometimes we say everybody's a leader. You know, I think there's leader roles in pretty much everywhere in organizations and churches and schools and businesses. Certainly, in families, there's leaders, you know, and so it everyone can step into a leadership role, and I think have leadership qualities, you know, I think there's the title, but there's also attributes of leadership that anybody can really exhibit.   51:36 So, and I think that's holding the vision, right? Yes, whether it's a family or an organization, it's really, you know, somebody that holds the vision for who we are, where we're headed. They, you know, to your point earlier, right, they're nurturing the people that are doing the work or taking the actions to move closer to the vision. And they're just that, you know, they're kind of that, you know, they're they're just that nurturing, they create a nurturing environment, and a healthy environment that enables people to bring their gifts, they lean into the strengths of others, and they bring people together, they connect people, to move the, you know, the efforts forward to move and strive towards the goals or the vision of who and who you're, who you are and what you're trying to achieve. And they kind of hold that container for people to really step into all they can be and, and guide that, you know, guide those individuals in groups and teams, I think. Yeah, so   Michael Hingson ** 52:45 think that, from a leader standpoint, one of the things that I have found is that true people who lead also know, when it's time to let someone else take the lead on some given thing, because they have some gift or tool that will serve the team better than the so called leader. And I think that's again, one of the differences going back to near the beginning of today, between a leader and a boss, because I don't think their bosses necessarily know that unless they truly understand leadership.   Michelle Troseth ** 53:23 Yeah, well, there's a there's a polarity and leading and following to sometimes you have to know when to follow, right? And sometimes you need to know when to lead. So yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 53:35 For me, again, going back to guide dogs, people mostly don't understand what a guide dog does. The purpose of a guide dog is to make sure that we walk safely, the dog doesn't know where I want to go, or how to get there. And very frankly, I don't want the dog to know where to go and how to get there. Because that's, that's not their job, and how are they going to know. And too many people think, oh, it's amazing how your dog just knows everything. Well, it's not quite the way it works. But it's also true that we in every sense of the word form a team dog has a job to do, I have a job to do. And we need to build up on an extremely high level of trust. And understanding that we both know what our jobs are, and we know what the other individuals jobs is, so that we can be the most successful as we're walking somewhere or going from place to place that we can. And again, it works really well when the dog knows that it can respect me, and that I'm going to respect the job of the dog and give the dog the support it needs. Because the dog in turn will do the same for me. Dogs want somebody to be as Cesar Mallanna would say a pack leader, but at the same time in the case of a guide dog and person, their time When the dog will be able to take the initiative? And should?   Michael Hingson ** 55:05 Yeah, that makes so much sense.   Michael Hingson ** 55:09 Yeah, it's, it's pretty cool to see it and really understand it when it happens. Well, if people want to reach out to you guys and make contact and so on and maybe explore working with you, how do they do that?   Michelle Troseth ** 55:27 Well, the best thing to do is to go to our website, which is missing logic.com. And both of our emails are on the website. So that's really great. And we also have a large LinkedIn following in their in our handle for LinkedIn is missing logic LLC. So that's another great place to find us and kind of follow what we're doing. And then we're also in the process of starting a polarity intelligence website for our book. So there will be information about the book, information about us as authors. And so that's another place where listeners can go   Michael Hingson ** 56:05 when the book comes out. Are you looking to make it an audio book as well? One would hope? Yes, yeah. And intent?   56:14 Oh, yeah, it takes a little bit. It takes a little bit of time after the book has to be out for a little bit before we can start that process. So but yes, definitely.   Michael Hingson ** 56:23 Are you self publishing? Or do you have a publisher?   56:26 We have a publisher, Morgan, James Publishing?   Michael Hingson ** 56:29 I'm sorry, what company?   Tracy Christopherson ** 56:30 Morgan, James Morgan, James.   Michael Hingson ** 56:32 Okay. Well, it's exciting that it's coming out and the name of the book again,   Michelle Troseth ** 56:37 polarity, intelligence, the missing logic in leadership.   Michael Hingson ** 56:41 There you go. Well, I hope people will seek out the book, and they will seek out you I think it's important to do that. And I think that you offer a lot. I certainly have appreciated you being here. Are there any kind of last things that you want to offer to people before we wrap this up? Well, I   Michelle Troseth ** 57:00 just want to thank you again, Michael. It's been just a joy to get to know you, and the unstoppable podcasts and the great work that you're doing in the world. And so it just, you know, I we knew it was gonna be a great conversation. It was so just leaving full of gratitude.   Michael Hingson ** 57:15 Yes,   Tracy Christopherson ** 57:16 thank you so much, Michael. It's really been a pleasure. Well, appreciate the opportunity.   Michael Hingson ** 57:21 Hi, as well, this has been absolutely enjoyable. And we should do it again. Sometime after the book comes out. I'm sure you'll have lots more stories to tell. Oh, yes,   Michael Hingson ** 57:29 yes, yes, we will do it. Well, thank   Michael Hingson ** 57:33 you. Thank you both again, and I want to thank you for listening. We hope you've enjoyed it. And Tracy and Michelle have a lot to offer. So please go seek them out. And I am sure if you are dealing with any kind of leadership issues or whatever, they will help you deal with the polarities and fix it. And they're absolutely right. Both sides of a pole or both polarities and anything have to be there or it doesn't work. I love to talk about magnets, you know, you need a north pole and a south pole. And the reality is that one doesn't really make the process work very well. You do have to have both. So thanks again for listening to us. If you'd like to reach out to me, I'd love to hear from you. Please email me at Michaelhi at accessiBe.com accessiBe spelled A c c e s s i b e and it's Michael m i c h a e l h i at accessibe.com. Or go to our podcast page, www www dot Michael m i c h a e l Hingson. H i n g s o n.com/podcast. And wherever you're listening, please give us a five star rating. We love those and really appreciate that and your reviews. We value your input and your thoughts very highly. And for both of you, as well as all of you listening, if you know anyone else who ought to be a guest on unstoppable mindset, please let us know. We're always looking for more people to bring on and have on his guests and have more fun conversations. So please don't hesitate to make any recommendations that you have. And so, one last time, Tracy and Michelle, I want to thank you both for being here very much.   Michelle Troseth ** 59:14 Thank you.   Michael Hingson ** 59:19 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Inspired by Arizona and our own desert, Prickly Perry get its name from the Prickly Pear fruit in this beverage.  A bold flavor and a beautiful color will have you obsessing over this time and time again.

Since this entire podcast is based on the Myers-Briggs system as well as the Enneagram, I highly recommend you listen to episode 2 and 3 at some point. For a quick review the Ox is a stable rule follower… think Ox living in a stable, the Lion is brave and craves freedom, the Eagle is independent, curious and proud, and the Human is emotional and relational. Lions and Eagles are challengers and difficult to parent! You will also hear me referring to “Types 1-9” and this comes from Episode 3 which is an introduction to an amazing system for growing human potential called the Enneagram. Today's episode applies to every human being on the planet! The perceiving and judging functions J and P in the Myers-Briggs system, determine how we live our lives. The P types are driving a convertible through life with the wind in their hair an no particular destination in mind. The J types are driving a sedan on a highway with a GPS. They are more serious, intentional, and structured. But what happens when you mix the two up and put them all under one roof? Opposites attract so there is a chance you could be a J married to a P. I will give a quick test in this episode so you can get an idea which one you are. We live in a J society but the Ps in our life make things fun. I was doing a seminar and one of the Lion dads was cracking a joke, and I made the mistake of saying your Pness is showing. I will never live that one down and will never do that again! Stay tuned to the end for five amazing tips for working with your P child. Perceiving and Judging, P or J, Free Spirit or Rule Follower Judgers live their lives by following the rules, checking things off the box, making lists, and sticking to time frames. Perceivers live their lives much more spontaneously, forging their own path and leaving their options open. The P or Perceiving and J or Judging preferences are most likely impacting your household in the biggest way since these preferences determine how we live our life on a day-to-day, minute-to-minute basis. Perceivers crave freedom and a top-down, wind-in-your-hair, convertible way of living life. Judgers crave structure and a more top-up, neatly coiffed, sedan existence. A true Perceiver is driving a convertible, without a GPS, on an off-the-beaten path, curvy road. A true Judger is in a sedan with a GPS on a straight, well-traveled highway. Many people bristle at the term Judger because people automatically associate it with being judgmental. However, Judging functions help us make decisions and limit our possibilities. Everyone has two Judging functions and two Perceiving functions that make up their personality. If there were no Judging functions, we would all be sitting around like useless blobs, unable to decide when to eat, sleep, or do anything else. Since all children tend to be somewhat free-spirited, these preferences can be harder to detect when they are younger. Perceivers hate being inhibited with too many boundaries, so it is possible that you will notice an extreme reaction when you stand in the way of their freedom. They prefer the unconventional way of doing things and tend to have difficulty finishing what they started. They also frequently struggle to be on time, follow directions, or stick to a plan. Judging children like to learn the “right way” to do something and are willing to follow conventional parenting styles. They like finishing what they start and knowing what to expect. It might sound like a Judging child is every parent's dream. For the most part, they are a bit easier to understand, but I get plenty of calls about Judging types that are too controlling. I worked with an amazing adoptive mom of four kids. I want to give a shout out to all my adoptive parents because you are some of the most amazing parents on the planet! Please share this podcast if you are friends with an adoptive parent. Sometimes these parents don't get to know these children as babies. It is the same way with the step parents I work with. This mom told me she had a voice inside her head that was always wondering if her kids were happy in their new home. One of her daughters, in particular, seemed quiet and reserved. No matter what this mom did to connect with this daughter, it didn't seem to register. She thought this daughter may have had some kind of attachment issue. Once we worked together, she realized that they were brain opposites. This mother's natural way of parenting was to be energetic, positive, full of surprises and spontaneity. She is an ENFP, extroverted feeling Human, a type seven, on the Enneagram.  Her daughter was a  reserved, structured and serious ISTJ introverted sensing thinking Ox type. We laughed as I suggested the mom do something completely counterintuitive. She should offer to do a puzzle with her daughter. This mom had never done a puzzle in her life! The daughter absolutely loved it! She loved just hanging out side-by-side with no pressure to talk, while doing a quiet activity. This mom, April Fallon, who is now host of the ADOPTION NOW podcast shared this quote with me. “Roadmap is what I say to people when I tell them about you. You gave us the map for our family and how we all function together. From the moment we met with you our whole lives changed. Learning who is an introvert and extrovert and helping my husband understand my son has transformed their relationship. His understanding of me changed too and now he is nicer to me too! The realization that one of my daughters is exactly the same as him was an eye-opener. I learned how to love them better and help them feel understood. I call them the koala bears. They love to achieve but only because they want the people they love close to them. They are the snuggly people. Three of us are team creative, however one of us is introverted and needs time away in her room. We designed her room to have a happy place that she has learned to adore. And finally, my Type 9 peacemaker, reserved daughter (the one I do puzzles with) notices everything and takes it in. Recently we found out she has auditory processing disorder and that was because we could pull apart what was personality versus what was a real issue. Once we found out, we could support her in the way she needs. She loves one on one time, verbal praise, and outdoor activities like hiking. I never ever ever wonder how or if she loves us or is happy anymore. I know her love runs deep and giving her a space to show it in her own way has been so healing.” If you would like to get the road map for understanding your family and having more peace in your home, go to WendyGossett.com and sign up for my Understanding Your Family 101 Session. You can also purchase my book on Amazon. Your Childs Inner Drive Parenting by Personality from Toddlers to Teens.   I worked with a mom, who is the only J or structured one in a family of P freedom seekers. She has often felt like she was paddling upstream, forcing her will upon everyone. She would schedule practice hours for her boys to do sports and keep close tabs on them. All her expectations weren't adding up. Everyone in her family needed freedom, which was the opposite of her parenting style. I had to ask her what was more important; the correction or the connection. I've had to ask this question to many parents when they are fighting battles over a clean room or how to load the dishwasher. Ask yourself what is more important; correction or connection? Over and over again, I have seen a huge change occur when the parents shift their focus to connection rather than correction. Her boys are both lion P types that had to learn from life and find their own way. It was difficult for her, an extroverted, thinking Ox, type one on the Enneagram, but she realized she had to let them fail. And failure is not as scary as you may think. Some people learn from failing. Whenever a baby is learning to walk, they have to fall over and over again. Pushing themselves up off the floor helps them get stronger. The most successful business people actually try to fail. They make a goal to fail five times in a month because failing means they are trying new things which leads to confidence and success. And it just so happens that P types who explore and try possibilities without thinking of the consequences are some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world. I'm getting these statistics from Myers Briggs. Sometimes Lion P types don't enjoy school. What comes naturally to them is being free to use their body in physical, practical pursuits. They like to learn from the school of hard knocks. Some J types use perfectionism as an excuse to not try. Often I have seen perfectionism as a mask for fear. so if you are a structured J parent pulling your hair out because your P child is not falling into line, chances are if you make connection your priority, they may not fall in line but they will land on their feet.  The T Thinking or Prickly and F Feeling or pleasing preferences I talk about in episode 6, play a significant role in how our child Judges or Perceives. If your child is a Thinker and a Judger or TJ, they will be very determined, rigid, and unyielding, which can make them very difficult to parent! If your child is a Feeler and a Perceiver or FP, pleasing you will be ALMOST as important to them as having the freedom to do things their way. They may still have meltdowns that seem to materialize out of nowhere, but for the most part, they are relaxed, go-with-the-flow children. If your child is a Thinker and a Perceiver or TP, get ready for a topsy-turvy time! One minute, they might be playful and relaxed, and the next minute, determined and unyielding. If your child is a Feeler and a Judger or FJ, sit back, make yourself a cup of tea, and relax. This child wants to please, desires structure, and thrives with conventional parenting. Parents with Feeling/Judging children as their firstborn often end up with a false sense of pride in their parenting ability. They can unintentionally make other parents feel inferior, causing them to question their parenting capabilities. Sadly, I was one of those parents. I painted my entire kitchen while my twelve-month-old son was perfectly content simply being in the same room with me, playing in his bouncy chair. My husband, Greg, and I were completely humbled when our Thinking/Perceiving daughter was born. We soon realized why bookstores are filled with so many parenting books! She was, and still is, an uncontained free spirit who plays by her own rules. If you are a Judging parent with a Perceiving child, take heart. Since we live in a Judging society that runs by rules, time frames, and deadlines, Perceivers tend to look more like Judgers as they mature and are “nurtured” by parents, teachers, and societal norms. In fact, this is one of the most common testing mistypes. Mature Perceivers who have learned to play efficiently by societal rules think they are Judgers. I was collaborating with a talented young programmer who had taken my test. Prior to our first meeting, I received his test result, which identified him as one of the most cautious and conservative J types. The minute I met him, I noticed he had an entire sleeve of brightly colored tattoos. Later, he informed me that the tattoos were the entire story of Dante's Inferno, and he was going to have the other arm done in black and white. I was pretty sure he had mis-tested himself. I don't want to fall into stereotyping, but I have seen thousands of patterns that usually fall into predictable outcomes. I am sure there are rare exceptions of extreme conservative J types with two complete tattoo sleeves, but there aren't many! Not only that, but a person's occupation also gives a great indication of their type. This programmer was very out of the box and creative, which are all traits of another type that has all the same letters, except for that oh-so-critical, free-spirited P. An ISTP and an ISTJ are very different, indeed! Email me at wendy@wendygossett.com to receive a an illustrated chart that shows these patterns. You will also find the quick test to determine who is J or P in your family. You will either be a P for Perceiving or a J for Judging. Keep in mind that 50ish% of the world are Perceivers and 50ish% are Judgers, although as adults, many Perceivers mis-test as Judgers since they have learned how to fit in with a Judging society. [1]   Perceiver Judger freedom structure spontaneous planned flexible procedures solid procedures change routine out of the box within the lines experience it control it relaxed hurried start it finish it P J               If you found it hard to pick one and felt tied on both you are most likely an introvert. I use the analogy of Js being sedans and Ps being convertibles, but  introverts are hybrids, meaning they are a little bit of both. If they are a J type, it means they are driving a sedan or in other words they like structure in the way they live their life, but their brain is Open and less decisive, just perceiving the world and taking it in. It's like they are driving a sedan on a road with no map. If you are an introverted P type. It's like you are driving a convertible but your brain is on a highway with a GPS. This type is concerned about their identity and can be stubborn when they set their mind to something. I worked with two introverted sensing Ox parents. They were about as structured and by the book as you could get. They had an introverted feeling Lion son, since he was a feeler Lion, he was very relational, compliant and easy-going throughout elementary school and junior high. When he got to high school, however he went off the rails. He had been following his parents rules his entire life, and because he was so relaxed it worked for him, but when he got to high school and could see his adult life looming before him, he realized he had to discover who he was. He had to discover what he stood for. His relaxed, convertible way of living, switched over to his decisive identity seeking brain. He went on a vision quest up in the mountains to become a ski instructor rather than going straight to college like his parents had always planned. Again, these parents had to decide what was more important. Their connection with their son or their expectations.  Here is an opposite story. An extroverted sensing thinking Lion child hated school. He just wanted to have fun and do sports. By the way, sports are the guard rails that will keep your Lions on track with their grades. They love sports and they love being competitive so this can be the motivation to help them get through school. By the time he was a senior, he still had no direction and had no idea what he wanted to do. His parents had a friend who worked as a sports medicine doctor. They let their son shadow him. Lions learn from watching and doing much more than learning from a textbook or hearing a lecture. His tactile extroverted sensory intelligence combined with his analytical introverted, thinking brain realized he could do exactly what this sports medicine doctor was doing. All of a sudden, he was the most determined Lion you ever saw. He went to school and studied from six in the morning to eight at night and became a surgeon making up for all his playing throughout school. If you have a story to share from your family, I would love to feature it on the podcast! Just email me at WendyGossett.com. Here are some tips for parenting, the P types in your household. 1.Your child is not wired for structured schedules. If they are doing well in school, be grateful because what comes naturally to them is to do their own thing in their own time. Luckily, they are competitive, which might motivate them to work hard in school. When they are home, they want to settle into their comfort zone and have more freedom to play and explore. Whenever you can make things fun or a game. Try making a morning routine playlist with a song for each task on the list. Rehearse the routine to make sure each song is the right length. If they can finish each task by the time the song ends and get down to breakfast, they can get a special treat they picked out. Music also works to make chores more fun. Research has shown that music makes anyone more cooperative. Have a tidy up the house dance party. Quick, in the moment rewards work best for P children. Speaking of fun, board games are more of a J thing. You can make game time more fun by adding an action element or a silly element. Games like Throw Throw Burrito where you get to run around our favorites of P children.   2.As a J Parent who likes plans, plan a time each day to be unplanned. A J parent with a P child needs to plan to be unplanned. All kids need structure, but P children need freedom just as much.  3.Don't lecture! Have clear rules and consequences for serious crimes.  The consequence speak for themselves. Ps need freedom so let them negotiate when it is a misdemeanor and not a crime. There's more to this, but that is the quick version. 4.Ps believe there is more than just one way to do things. if you are a perfectionist, you may need to have Elsa‘s anthem playing on repeat in your head. “Let it go”. Tell them the end goal you would like and let them pick the order or timeframe it's completed in. 5.. P Children often have ADHD. My daughter and son were both diagnosed. My daughter is a P and my son is a hybrid introverted J with that P brain…haha he just completed the MCAT but he has a P brain which is on a country road with no map. You can listen to episodes 11 and 12 where I interview both of them to hear more about this. All P types want the quick fix to life's problems because they want to get on with the fun. She wanted us to put her on ADHD medication. We hesitated with this decision for many months, but finally we came up with the idea to put her on a placebo and see if her performance would improve if she thought she was on the medication. We didn't let the teacher know but positive progress reports started coming home. Because my daughter is a sensor and very aware of her body as well as details and her environment she soon figured out the pill was a fake. She begged us to put her on the real medication. Once she was on it, she absolutely hated it because she felt like she was in a box. She couldn't be her normal, silly self and have the freedom in her spirit that she craved as a Lion. Life taught her that hard work was better than a pill. If you have P children in your home, I would also suggest you listen to episode seven and eight which are interviews with extroverted P types. All extroverted P types are driving a convertible through life and they are on a country road with no map! They are 100% perceiver!    Lion perceivers are different from Eagle and human perceivers. One is sensory and the other is intuitive and it makes a big difference in the behavior. Check out episode 13 on sensing and intuition.   My closing thought for today is from Abraham Lincoln. “In the end it's not the years in your life that count it's the life in your years. P types are playful and help us to enjoy life.” But for my J types out there which I am one and by the way, I am a sedan on a highway with the GPS so I am 100%  a J! But because I am intuitive I am a little more P like.  I also have a quote keeping the J types in mind. Here is a quote from Pele one of the worlds, most famous soccer players. Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying sacrifice, and most of all love of what you do. Email me at Wendy@WendyGossett.com for the other chart I mentioned in the episode. Website: Get FREE resources at Wendygossett.com Get a FREE Child Temperament Test when you join my Not So Normal Parenting Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/notsonormalparenting or on my podcast page. Book: Your Child's Inner Drive:Parenting by Personality from Toddlers to Teens on Amazon or  https://wendygossett.com/product/your-childs-inner-drive-parenting-by-personality-for-toddlers-to-teens/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaaOCjoDyOk4_gS1KCncLvQ Instagram is Wendy.Gossett  

Thank you for listening to this episode of "Health and Fitness" from the Nezpod Studios! Enjoy your night or the start of your day, spiced by our top-notch health and fitness/wellness updates coined from the best sources around the globe: made only for your utmost enjoyment and enlightenment… Click on subscribe to get more spicy episodes for free! See you again soon on the next episode of Health and Fitness Updates! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shane McInnes was on the end of a famous spray from the Saints coach...so there was only one man to chat to after the return of prickly Ross Lyon!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lindsay is joined by Jessie Browning from the Prickly & Blooming podcast to see if she can decipher what a couple of Victorian slang terms mean. Listen to Prickly & Blooming wherever you catch your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In hour 2: Jimmy Butler does what he wants to do which is cool as long as Playoff Jimmy shows up, Dave Hyde is not high on The Heat after the loss to The 76ers but is ready for The Dolphins Draft.

In this episode of Not So Normal Parenting, we delve into the fascinating realm of Thinkers and Feelers, exploring how these cognitive preferences shape not only decision-making but also parenting dynamics. Host [Host's Name] unpacks the essence of Thinking (T) and Feeling (F) in the context of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, shedding light on how individuals lean towards logic-driven judgments or decisions infused with empathy and consideration of emotions. Drawing from personal experiences and observations, [Host's Name] shares anecdotes about her own children, Nathan and Jordan, whose contrasting temperaments challenge societal norms. Nathan, a gentle soul with a penchant for empathy, defies the stereotype of competitive masculinity often associated with boys, while Jordan's determined and independent nature bucks the trend of nurturing femininity. Listeners are taken on a journey through the nuances of parenting Thinkers and Feelers, from early childhood indicators to navigating societal expectations. [Host's Name] emphasizes the importance of understanding and supporting children based on their unique temperaments rather than conforming to traditional gender roles. Through insightful anecdotes, [Host's Name] highlights the significance of parental adaptation, whether it's encouraging individual sports for a sensitive Feeler like Nathan or embracing a Thinker's unconventional choices, such as Jordan's foray into pole-vaulting. As the episode unfolds, listeners gain a deeper appreciation for the diverse ways in which children process information and make decisions, transcending gender stereotypes and societal pressures. Whether your child is a Thinker or a Feeler, this episode offers valuable insights and practical tips for navigating the intricate landscape of parenting. Tune in to Not So Normal Parenting and discover how understanding Thinkers and Feelers can revolutionize your approach to parenting and nurture a more empathetic, inclusive family dynamic.     Website: Get Free resources at WendyGossett.com Get a FREE Child Temperament Test when you join my Not So Normal Parenting Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/notsonormalparenting Book: Your Child's Inner Drive:Parenting by Personality from Toddlers to Teens on Amazon or  https://wendygossett.com/product/your-childs-inner-drive-parenting-by-personality-for-toddlers-to-teens/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaaOCjoDyOk4_gS1KCncLvQ Instagram is Wendy.Gossett

Become a monthly subscriber for just $1.99 per month and receive an additional two to three episodes per week!https://app.redcircle.com/shows/9472af5c-8580-45e1-b0dd-ff211db08a90/exclusive-contentIn this episode, Xochitl explain the various meanings related to the words: spicy, hot, and salty.Transcript:00:00:02XochitlHello A-Z English podcast listeners Jack and social are back with another episode for you and today we are doing a vocabulary builder so we want to do words that have two different meanings and we're going to expound or explain what these meanings are. So Jack, what are our first ones salty and salty, same words.00:00:21JackYeah, something salty. Yeah, salty is an adjective, right? Something is.00:00:23XochitlMeanings.00:00:26JackHealthy. Usually we use it when we're talking about food, so if this say this ohh these these French fries are too salty, it means it just has or this soup is too salty. There's like a lot of salt in it, I mean.00:00:42XochitlThe salt level is by.00:00:44JackYeah, it's making you thirsty. You're drinking a lot of water because you're like you're. Yeah, you're you. You could just, you know, when something has too much salt, you know, salt or you know what? I'm. I'm not even gonna say too much salt because pretzels are salty.00:00:48XochitlMaking your mouth sucker.00:01:02JackAnd I love pretzels because I have a I love salty food. So, you know, eating salty pretzels. It does make my mouth dry and and kind of, you know, want to drink water. I do enjoy the taste of it. I I do enjoy it.00:01:20XochitlHow that would say because if you like the salty flavor of of the soup at someone's house, don't say wow, the soup is salty. You know that not.00:01:28JackRight.00:01:28JackAnd.00:01:29XochitlHumble it use leaves me negatively, so just maybe the soup is delicious or something.00:01:29JackI.00:01:35JackYeah, just say this is delicious. Don't say this is salty because if you say salty, it means that's just the that's that's a coded word for too salty.00:01:45XochitlYeah, has too much salt. Yeah. No, Jack, what is the other meaning of the word salty?00:01:52JackYeah, this one's a little more complicated. This is when we, a word we ascribe to people, right? So when someone is salty, it means they're being standoffish. Prickly, cantankerous. Yeah. I'm using all these words that no one's going to know. So they're not helping you guys at all.00:02:04XochitlAnd and that.00:02:12JackGrumpy, you know, like, you know, salty.00:02:16XochitlGood word from SpongeBob.00:02:18JackWhat's that?00:02:19XochitlLike Squidward from SpongeBob?00:02:21JackYeah, like Squidward from from SpongeBob. He's a salty character. He's like, he's not nice.00:02:27JackHe's he's, you know, kind of kind of.00:02:28XochitlYeah.00:02:31XochitlFrankie Grumpy in a bad mood?00:02:32JackYeah, cranky, grumpy. He's short. He's.00:02:34JackShort tempered, he's you know when you ask him a question, he snaps back at you. It's not, you know, a a person that you would just sit and have a fun, casual conversation with. If someone is kind of salty, they're a little bit difficult to talk to, a little bit standoffish.00:02:54JackIt doesn't mean they're not nice, and it doesn't mean they're not helpful. It's just that their personality is they're they're kind of like a porcupine or a cactus. You know, they're prickly.00:03:04XochitlYeah, they're pretty.00:03:06JackYeah.00:03:07XochitlAgain, this isn't isn't really a neutral word, so don't describe someone as salty. If you mean well.00:03:15XochitlIt's not like an endearing term. It's kind. It's a negative term, so keep that in mind. But yeah, that is just all.00:03:21JackIt's a negative term, right? And with when I'm when I'm describing the pretzels, that's fine. This popcorn is salty. You know when you're eating.00:03:29JackUh. Movie theater popcorn. It should be salty, you know. But describing the soup, it should not be described as salty if it has the right salt content, then you say it's delicious.00:03:43JackAnd.00:03:43XochitlYeah, I would say when in doubt, don't call it salty. You know, when in doubt, just don't call it salty. But yeah, this is good. This is tasty. This is delicious. You know those other adjectives, but salty just means something that's highly salted and that.00:03:50JackRight, right.00:03:53JackJust say good. This is good, yeah.00:03:57발표자Yeah.00:04:03XochitlCan be positive, negative or new.00:04:05XochitlControl and when in reference to people, it's pretty much always a negative connotation, so just keep.00:04:11XochitlThat in mind.00:04:12XochitlYeah. Yeah. And so so our next one, we have spicy, spicy can mean something that is like a chili pepper where you take a bite out of it and your mouth is on fire. Right. Oh my God. So spicy.00:04:23JackMm-hmm.00:04:27XochitlA really spicy soup. You know, it has a lot of different Peppers.00:04:32XochitlAnd you know, you take a bite and again your mouth is on.00:04:35XochitlFire you gotta.00:04:37XochitlTug down some cold water or some yogurt or something that is 1 meaning spicy and the other meaning of spicy is something that is well spiced and that means it has a lot of condiments, but none of them are necessarily.00:04:54XochitlBringing your mouth on fire. So like a a Christmas cake like a.00:04:56JackRight.00:05:00XochitlOrange aniseed, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg could all be in there and it could be a well spiced cake. A spicy cake, but it's not spicy in the sense that your mouth is on fire, it just has a lot of different flavor profiles to.00:05:16XochitlOther I would say calling something spicy in the sense that it has a lot of spices is an old fashioned term, so people don't.00:05:24JackYeah.00:05:24XochitlUsually do that.00:05:27XochitlYou might say ohh this cake is nicely spiced, but that would be something you'd probably read in older literature and not something that you hear colloquially, meaning you don't hear like people speak that very often.00:05:30JackYeah.00:05:39JackI think flavorful would be a better one. You know better adjective. This is really flavorful because it's full of different flavors, you know and yeah.00:05:43XochitlYes.00:05:47XochitlBut yeah, that's a more common one. Yeah. So, but if you're reading, you know.00:05:53XochitlAn old English literature, but can you see someone called a Christmas cake spicy? They don't mean it has like hot Peppers.00:05:59JackIt's just, it doesn't mean there's 25, you know, little Thai Chili Peppers in there. Yeah. Jalapenos or a Carolina Reaper or something like that. You know, that's going to make your head explode.00:06:04XochitlHow old are you?00:06:12XochitlYeah, or like a.00:06:14XochitlIf you see a recipe for a spice cake online, that just means a cake that has a lot of spices, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, all those things. It doesn't mean that cake that has jalapenos in it, so that's just a distinction.00:06:21JackRight.00:06:28XochitlYeah, Jack, how about the next one? Hot. What are the two meanings for hot?00:06:34JackOhh yeah, this is a good one too because hot can mean spicy like and by spicy I mean.00:06:43XochitlHot pepper hot.00:06:44JackPepper, spicy, right. The kind your mouth on fire, you know.00:06:45XochitlHow can you?00:06:50JackSpicy. Yeah, but it also can mean temperature hot, so you know. Ohh Ouch. I burned my. I burned my mouth. I burned my tongue because the soup is too hot. You know, temperature wise. Yeah.00:07:04XochitlThe tea is too hot. Yeah. Ohh. This tea is so hot. This hot chocolate is so hot.00:07:10XochitlI burn my mouth.00:07:12XochitlWhereas if someone says ohh the soup is hot, you have to ask them before you try it. If they mean temperature hot or they mean spicy hot.00:07:22JackMHM.00:07:22XochitlSo remember, keep that in mind if you're a person who doesn't like spice or something because a lot of times in the US we will use hot interchangeably with temperature and spiciness, and it can mean both as well, like, oh, the soup is hot temperature wise and spice level wise, so that is.00:07:36JackYeah, like hot sauce. You know, is going to mean spicy. You know what I mean? Cause it's like there's no, it's not like you're going to heat up a bag of sauce, you know, like.00:07:41XochitlYeah.00:07:48XochitlYou something like hot ranch dressing or something?00:07:53JackYeah, just.00:07:56JackStraight out of the microwave. Yeah. No hot, hot sauce means spicy sauce, you know? So we we say hot sauce. That means spicy sauce. But hot soup. Yeah. Hot tea. Yeah. Hot tea is better. Yeah.00:08:08XochitlSorry, do you know hot tea is going to be temperature wise hot because it's going to be very weird for someone to put like jalapenos or Thai chilies in a cup of tea. Right? So you people are if you use contacts there, you'll realize people mean temperature.00:08:15JackRight.00:08:25XochitlHot.00:08:26XochitlSoup as Jack.00:08:27XochitlSaying that, one can go either way, so you have to ask, you know the clarifying.00:08:31XochitlMotion temperature. Hot or spicy hot and that would kind of get you an answer of neither or both or whatever. So yeah.00:08:42XochitlAll right, listeners.00:08:44XochitlThank you for joining us on this episode of A-Z English podcast. Make sure to leave a comment down below at AZ englishpodcast.com. Shoot us an e-mail at AZ English podcast at Gmail.00:08:55XochitlDot com.00:08:56XochitlAnd make sure to join and subscribe to our exclusive videos in order for us to keep the lights on. We really appreciate you guys.00:09:05XochitlSubscribing to that so that we can continue to make more content for you and we really appreciate you guys and your patronage and we will see you guys next time join our we chat, what's up groups to join the conversation. Bye bye.00:09:17JackBye bye.Podcast Website:https://atozenglishpodcast.com/vocabulary-spotlight-spicy-hot-and-salty/Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok: @atozenglish1Instagram: @atozenglish22Twitter: @atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds7JR-5dbarBfas4Ve4h8ABecome a member of Podchaser and leave a positive review!https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-a-to-z-english-podcast-4779670Join our Whatsapp group: https://forms.gle/zKCS8y1t9jwv2KTn7Intro/Outro Music: Daybird by Broke for Freehttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Directionless_EP/Broke_For_Free_-_Directionless_EP_-_03_Day_Bird/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcodeSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-a-to-z-english-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Welcome to today's podcast episode, where I'll be tackling your questions, including strategies for dealing with a challenging captain. Additionally, I'll be offering an exclusive glimpse into my Upgrade Initial Operating Experience (UIOE) trips. We'll dive into why United Airlines opted to divert to Stewart International in New Jersey instead of its intended destination, Newark, amidst windy conditions. Stay tuned as I share my insights and theories on this interesting scenario. LINKS:  The “gas station burger” restaurant in Gunnison, CO: PowerstopUnited flight diverts to Stewart International due to winds: United Flight 85 from Tel AvivREACH OUT!Submit your questions or aviation stories to the showContact: mannythecfi@gmail.comInstagram: climbvxBOOK YOUR APPEARANCE ON THE SHOWInterview availability dates 

Frank Carey with Valent USA and Tom Eubank with Nutrien Ag Solutions visit the Crops Doctors' Podcast studio in Stoneville for a deep dive on weed shifts in Mississippi over the last few years.  Frank, Tom, Jason, and Tom Allen discuss selection pressure, evolution of herbicide programs, cycles in management, etc. that have caused these weed species to become priorities over the last five years.  Please pardon the airplane noise during parts of the podcast. 

This time out, Jonathan and Gary consider the meaning of "cozy" (or "cosy") SF and fantasy, and whether cozy horror is even a thing. We trace the term back to cozy mystery novels and Brian W. Aldiss's characterization of certain British writers of the 1950s—especially John Wyndham—as "cozy catastrophes". Not surprisingly, this doesn't lead to any meaningful conclusions, but we do touch upon whether the notion of cozy has to do with the fiction itself, or just the reader's experience of it. Authors mentioned include Travis Baldree, Becky Chambers, Peter S. Beagle, Martha Wells, and Terry Pratchett. Then, with our usual lack of grace, we transition awkwardly into a discussion of the new Harlan Ellison's Greatest Hits, how well Ellison's fiction holds up, and some brief previews of forthcoming episodes.

This week we had a great networking event where we discussed the popular TED Talk, "How to avoid catching prickly emotions from other people". Did you know there's a cactus nicknamed the "jumping cholla" for it's tendency to seemingly shoot cactus spines into unsuspecting passersby? The same thing can happen when we get too close to people having big emotions. When a spouse or co-parent is angry, hostile or negative, we can get hurt if we catch those feelings from them. Today we're going to give you and your clients some information and tools to avoid this “jumping cholla effect” or what we call emotional contagion.First we dig into how emotional contagion happens, where emotion comes from and how to work with clients to raise awareness about how their beliefs, expectations and even physical symptoms can contribute to this process.Then we offer some strategies we call "bubble wrap" to provide protection from any pricks that might be flying your way. These include understanding mirror neurons; cognitive reappraisal; "OK, So what, Now What"; and of course, boundaries.Here's to staying safe out there.Watch the TED Talk: Catching Prickly EmotionsFind a DCA® Divorce Coach: www.divorcecoachesacademy.com/coach-locatorLearn more about DCA® or  any of the classes or events mentioned in this episode at the links below:Website: www.divorcecoachesacademy.comInstagram: www.instagram.com/divorcecoachesacademyLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/divorce-coaches-academyEmail: DCA@divorcecoachesacademy.com

And what, may you ask, is “polarity intelligence”? That is one of the topics we get to discuss this episode with the co-founders of the company, Missing Logic, Dr. Tracy Christopherson and Michelle Troseth. Their company was formed to help leaders overcome leadership norms that cause suffering and take them out of good work-life balance. Tracy and Michelle come from healthcare backgrounds. Even though they formed their company only in 2017 they have been using the tools they develop more than 20 years ago to train leaders to better understand and balance polarities. The most common example of a polarity we all experience is inhaling and exhaling. You need to do both to survive. As Tracy and Michelle explain, there are many polarities leaders in business face. The more leaders understand how to manage the various polarities in their environment the better their own lives and the lives of those around them will be. The balance between work and non-work is a polarity faced often by leaders especially throughout the business world. Recognizing this polarity and learning to adjust to accommodate both sides of it can greatly improve any leader's outlook and it will greatly reduce stress. Our discussion this time ranges far and wide concerning the concepts of leadership and how people can become better leaders by understanding and using polarity intelligence. I leave it to Michelle and Tracy to explain all of this to us. All I can say is that I found this discussion extremely thought provoking and relevant to our world today. I hope you feel the same. About the Guest: Dr. Tracy Christopherson and Michelle Troseth are co-founders of MissingLogic®. The core of their work is to help leaders to overcome leadership norms that cause suffering, achieve work life balance, create healthy work cultures and environments by leveraging Polarity Intelligence™. Tracy and Michelle are co-authors of the book Polarity Intelligence: The Missing Logic in Leadership and co-hosts of The TRU Leader Podcast (previously known as Healthcare's MissingLogic Podcast). The dynamic duo is known for helping leaders balance leading and living so they can be TRU leaders—thriving, resilient, and unstoppable. Tracy and Michelle are the creators of the Dynamic Balance Effect® Framework. They use this framework to support leaders in leveraging Polarity Intelligence to create a dynamic balance between their professional and personal lives. Tracy and Michelle frequently speak at national and international leadership conferences on the topics of Polarity Intelligence, Work–Life Balance, and Healthy Work Environments. Ways to connect with Dr. Tracy and Michelle: COMPANY WEBSITE LINK: https://www.missinglogic.com/ SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: https://www.linkedin.com/company/missinglogic-llc https://www.facebook.com/missinglogicLLC https://twitter.com/MissingLogicLLC https://www.instagram.com/missinglogic_llc/ https://www.youtube.com/@missinglogic2077 About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. **Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. **Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. And today, we get to talk with two people who I've gotten to know a little bit and enjoy very much. We have Michelle Troseth. And Tracy Christopherson, who my screen reader says Christopherson, which I think is kind of funny. And I've really learned the King's English, but what can I or where at least Swedish, but you know, we we cope. But they have, I think an interesting story to tell they are co founders of a company. And I'm sure they're going to tell us about that along with all sorts of other stuff. So we're really glad that you're here listening. And we're glad that Tracy and Michelle are here to talk with us. I want to welcome both of you to unstoppable mindset. **Michelle Troseth ** 02:10 Well, thank you, Michael, thank you so much. We're excited to be here. **Tracy Christopherson ** 02:14 Yes, we are. Well, **Michael Hingson ** 02:16 cool. I'm excited to have you. So that's as good as it gets. And we can all have fun. As always, one of the rules of doing this podcast I tell people is we do have to have fun. So that is important. Well tell me about your lives a little bit growing up sort of early years of Tracy and Michelle are Michelle and Tracy, whichever one of you wants to talk first. **Michelle Troseth ** 02:38 This is Michelle, I'll go first. Oh, there we go. Yes, I'll go first. And we did grow up together and many ways. We were still growing Michael. So our background is is we're both from the state of Michigan. And we started out our careers in health care. And I'm a nurse. And and actually Tracy and I we we met early in our careers, we cared for patients together. And then we became leaders, we went into leadership roles. And we kind of grew up as leaders learned our leadership skills. And we started working with a phenomenal mentor, who was changing practice environments and hospitals. And we joined that journey with her and did a lot of transformation work in hospitals across North America. We ended up in corporations as executives. And then in 2018, after many, many years of doing a lot of hard work. We we decided to start our own company. And so we did that in 2018. But the other thing I want you to know about Tracy and I is we are also very good friends. We're BFFs and our husbands are best friends as well. And we love to travel together and play cards and golf. And so we have a whole playful side twist as well. There **Michael Hingson ** 03:54 you go. Yes, my my mother in law was loved to play cards and we would all play cards with her. We always said she cheats because she always won. I mean, always won. So we like to say that she cheated, but you know, she didn't but it was so much fun. **Tracy Christopherson ** 04:17 We'd like to think she was cheating anyway. Right? Yeah, it's **Michael Hingson ** 04:20 kind of more fun. You know, it's an excuse anyway, to, you know, to to say that. But she she she loved to play Liverpool rummy and just all sorts of things and, and had a lot of fun. And we all did when was fun to play with her. Occasionally. She led us when that's, that's our line anyway. Yeah, **Tracy Christopherson ** 04:38 for sure. Wow, were we like Euchre and it's always the girls against the guys. And so, you know, sometimes we think they're cheating and sometimes they think we are too. **Michael Hingson ** 04:51 I won't tell ya. Okay. Well, Tracy, what do you want to add to you? Oh, yeah, **Tracy Christopherson ** 04:57 yeah, well, I was just gonna say so I'm a respiratory therapists by profession. And, and actually, you know, I had, you know, this experience that Michelle and I had working with healthcare organizations all across the country really was my learning ground for leadership. And, but I'm a learner. And that's one of my strengths. And so I reached a point where, you know, their real life experience just wasn't quite enough. And I wanted to have, I knew I was missing something in my education. So I went back to school to get my bachelor's and then I was egged on to get my masters. And then, lo and behold, I found myself getting a PhD. So I was on like, a 13 year journey, just going back to school to get a degree, but I got multiple ones. And it was really driven by my passion for interprofessional collaboration, really bringing teams together with diverse experiences to work together and, and deliver services. And, and a lot of that was, you know, kind of Michelle and I in the journey together, right, we were doing interprofessional work and healthcare organizations for it was cool. For anybody really knew what it was. And, and we partnered on so many projects together. And so it really, you know, led to my passion to get a PhD in interprofessional health care studies, but we actually met in high end hospital orientation. So it was, you know, kind of the stand up and shake the hand of the person behind you. And that was me, and we like to say we've been shaking hands ever since. And, and you know, in our course of our journey as leaders and working with many leaders across North America, we really saw the challenges that they face, and everybody thinks their challenges are unique, right to us. Yeah, but they're not. And we saw the pattern across multiple leaders, multiple organizations, they were facing the same challenges over and over and over and unable to resolve them. They were unsolvable problems. And we had been had the great fortune to be exposed to polarity thinking, or Barry Johnson, and had leverage that in our work. And so we knew when we left corporate America in 2017, that we were destined to do something really important. And we decided what was really important was to bring this missing logic or this competency to health care leaders and to leaders in general, all across the world. So that's what we're doing now. **Michael Hingson ** 07:30 Wow. So Michelle Tracy was respiratory therapist. What were you? **Michelle Troseth ** 07:36 I was a nurse. Ah, **Michael Hingson ** 07:40 I still am. So you guys met at hospital orientation? So you didn't know each other growing up in school? No, **Tracy Christopherson ** 07:46 no, no, no, we didn't grow up on the same side of the state. I grew up on the east side. She grew up on the west side. So we didn't meet till we were adults, orienting to a new healthcare system. **Michael Hingson ** 07:59 Now, where do you guys live now? **Michelle Troseth ** 08:02 But I live just outside of Grand Rapids, in a community called Hudsonville, Michigan, so still in West Michigan. **Tracy Christopherson ** 08:10 And I live three hours north, and a small resort town called going city near Lake Michigan. And then I'm here in the spring in the summer, early fall, and then I go to California in the winter. I don't like snow. I leave her here and I come to visit though. Why **Michael Hingson ** 08:30 don't you come to California to Yeah, one of these days. So we're in California. We're in California. Do you go? **Tracy Christopherson ** 08:37 I go to Ukiah. Okay. Northern California. Napa. Yeah, right. **Michael Hingson ** 08:44 I lived in Novato for 12 years. And so we loved to go to Napa up into Ukiah but we we love Napa. We were 45 minutes, maybe an hour away from from Napa. went up there and join the Gloria Ferrara wine club, which was great because if you go there as a member, you get for free glasses of I call them champagne. They say sparkling wine because they don't want to tick off the French but you know, say what you want. So I'm still a member even though my wife has passed. The problem is I'm not drinking it as fast as it comes in because I'm just not that much of a wine drinker. So I'm gonna have to find a way to start dealing with that. I may have to call on healthcare this or what saved me if I do too much of that. Yeah. But still, well, so what? So Trey? So Michelle, you didn't say you went to college? Yes, I **Michelle Troseth ** 09:39 did. I got my bachelor's at Grand Valley State University here in West Michigan and my master's in nursing there as well. **Michael Hingson ** 09:46 But you haven't haven't been persuaded to go off and get a PhD to have equal billing or something like that. **Michelle Troseth ** 09:53 No, I was told by my husband and my best friend Tracy. I was not allowed to do that. **Tracy Christopherson ** 10:00 He definitely it. **Michael Hingson ** 10:03 I have a master's degree and I'm fine with that. Yeah. **Michelle Troseth ** 10:09 I have to, I have to. And after watching Tracy and her journey, I'm just, I'm a good cheerleader. **Tracy Christopherson ** 10:16 A whole nother podcast, Michael. **Michael Hingson ** 10:20 There's always student loan debt. Right. So **Tracy Christopherson ** 10:23 I didn't have any of that I just had some challenging a challenging journey. But it was all done for me. Yeah, made me who I am today. I'm grateful for valuable thing. **Michael Hingson ** 10:33 Oh, yeah. And I understand, we all are a product of our choices, which is pretty cool. When you talk about this new competency that you're teaching leaders. And I'll, before I ask you specifically about that, why did you decide specifically to start a company to deal with addressing issues for leaders and so on? **Michelle Troseth ** 10:55 Why Well, we because no one was talking about this really, or maybe just small pockets of people. And we knew what a game changer it was. And we had applied it into our own lives both personally. And we had helped organizations and I can tell you, Tracy and I do a lot of speaking. And whenever we would introduce this polarity concept, or having a polarity mindset to an audience, people always got excited, they would say things like, oh my gosh, this makes so much sense. Or I always knew these things were connected, but I never knew how. And it has such implications because we waste so much time, money and resources trying to fix the same problems, when they're not really problems, they really are polarities. And so we just knew this was something that was very needed. And we knew it starts with the leadership, if the leadership doesn't understand it, the staff don't have a chance and the organization's will never be able to sustain a lot of the hard work they put into fixing problems. So that's, that was our thing. We're like, we're gonna go out there and we're gonna bring this to the world and we named it missing logic, because it's missing. **Michael Hingson ** 12:06 Yeah, I hear you, what do you mean by polarities? **Tracy Christopherson ** 12:11 So polarities are interdependent pairs of values or points of view, or perspectives. And they are, they appear to be contradictory, at or opposing to each other. But they are interdependent, and they need each other over time to reach a greater purpose that neither value would alone. So you know, we have problems, problems, we use either or thinking we get more, you know, a couple different solutions, we pick the one we want to apply, and we're done. But polarities are ongoing, they never ends. And that's why these challenges that leaders were facing, and trying to apply either or thinking to wasn't working, right, because you can't treat a polarity that way, you have to use what we call a both and mindset, because these values are interdependent and need each other. Yeah. **Michael Hingson ** 13:09 Well, you've, you've written a book about, about all of this with polarities, too, haven't you? When did you write that? **Michelle Troseth ** 13:16 During COVID time to do it. **Tracy Christopherson ** 13:22 There, you know, whatever you're gonna do, right? Yeah. **Michelle Troseth ** 13:24 We were locked up. And we said, Okay, this and and the other thing too, Michael, that was really great is we worked with leaders during COVID. We did virtual coaching sessions, virtual mentorship programs. So we were learning a ton. And then we thought, this is the perfect time to write this book. So the name of the book is clarity, intelligence, the missing logic in leadership. And what we're so proud of is we were able to take all the concepts we've been working with having a polarity or both and mindset, the need to have healthy relationships to engage your workforce and your colleagues and your family in a way that you come together with intention and you have a shared purpose with why you are together and meaningful dialogue. And when you're dealing with polarities and a cause tension, it's really important to have the communication skills, the dialogue skills to invite conversation to understand those different perspectives as well. So we put all of those together and call it now polarity intelligence. And it's it's we have the first book coming out with it, so it's pretty exciting. **Michael Hingson ** 14:33 So it's polarity intelligence out. **Michelle Troseth ** 14:37 It is available for pre order right now. So you can go to your favorite bookstore and buy and preorder it's going to be released on January 16 2024. And hot off the press. We just found out today we already hit the best seller list on Barnes and Noble Wow. Get on the bubbles get up **Michael Hingson ** 15:00 I'm gonna go get one of those bottles of champagne here. Yeah. But I don't want to drink in front of you. So that is exciting. Yeah, sorry, that that's happening. Well, so. So tell me, I guess a little bit more about this whole concept of polarity intelligence? And how do you how do you teach it to people? And well, and how is it received? I guess from a book standpoint, it's received well, but in general, when you're dealing with people, how do they how do they receive it or deal with it? **Tracy Christopherson ** 15:33 Well, that's a great question, you know, so let's start with a little bit more about it. So people that so your listeners kind of have some context to what we're talking about. And a really easy way to understand a polarity is inhaling and exhaling. Because that is a polarity our body manages for us all day, every day. And we have to inhale to receive oxygen and exhale to remove carbon dioxide. And the greater purpose of that is to sustain life, and it's the only polarity that's leveraged or managed for us. And our body just takes care of that. And, and so we kind of really start there with helping people to understand what a polarity is in and of itself. And then our overall objective is to help them to understand how polarities work because there's some various principles that they operate on. And as an example, you know, when you have a polarity, you have two poles, they're interdependent, and they need each other. So one is not more important than the other. So inhaling is not more important than exhaling, I have to have both if I want to sustain life, and if I don't have both, I'm going to die, right? That's a negative consequence. The another principle that we teach people is that when you over emphasize one pole and you neglect the other, there's always a negative consequence, you're always going to lose the positive benefits of the pole that you neglect. So there's always a consequence to that. And and then I think the other thing too, is really what we want to do is leverage these healthy relationships and the meaningful dialogue, when we sit in conversation with the if you think about the tensions we've experienced, as people in our countries internationally, you know, people are walking away from conversations because they don't want to engage, right? It's some very high values, people hold dearly, and it can create significant tension. And so to sit in that tension, and to sit in that those contradictory, or opposing perspectives, you really have to have a strong relationship, and you have to know how to have conversation. So we teach them the principles around healthy relationships. And we teach them the principles of dialogue, so that they can really transcend their own personal biases and open up to hear the perspectives of others because both perspectives are right. One is not more right than the other, it's just really understanding how the two work together. So those are a few ways that we kind of set some context for them, and then teach them the principles of how polarities operate. So they can understand it is a universal principle. So it applies to everybody. You can't ignore it, it's like gravity, we like to say, it's always there. They're always working on you, there's 1000s of them. And you really have to be able to recognize them to leverage them. So that's our initial steps is to help them understand them, recognize them, begin to leverage them, and develop the skills of healthy relationships, and meaningful dialogue. So they can do that as easily as possible. **Michael Hingson ** 18:55 If you would give me an example of polarities in business or leadership, to do some sort of concrete example, if you can. Sure. **Michelle Troseth ** 19:05 So again, they're everywhere, but in businesses doesn't matter if it's a small business like ours are a really large business, they all deal with the same polarities, and probably a very common one is margin and mission, right? You have to always be balancing the margin coming into the organization so you can grow and thrive. And you have to be focused on mission of why you exist in order to create a sustainable business. So that's a major one. Another one for businesses that we run into all the time and we leverage these in our business, Michael is individual and team. So every person in a business or a company has a role has a purpose. They need to they need to practice or deliver their services, the best they can individually and they're part of a team. So how the team works together is equal be important. And you need to get that polarity, right size and well balance. So that's another common one. Also process and progress, right? You have to have infrastructures processes to run a business. And you need to be marking progress as you grow as well. And so that's another polarity that we use in our business. And there's, there's a lot more now leadership. I'm glad you said leadership too, because there's also polarities, that you have to leverage as a leader, such as candor, and diplomacy, your communication, again, is really important. In even leading and managing as a polarity, they have different attributes, they're to have different skills. And so we work with leaders on that one as well. **Michael Hingson ** 20:47 Too many bosses think they're leaders. I, you're with me, you're you're right there with me. Too many leaders, too many bosses think they're leaders and they may or night, they may not be leaders at all. And you're right, they're totally different things. I know that. And I've talked about it here before, that, when I hire salespeople, one of the things I've always told them was, look, I hired you, I'm not here to boss you around. And my job, I believe, is to find ways to add value to you to help you be more successful. And you and I have to figure that out together. And that's a lot different than so many bosses would do. They missed the whole point of what would really make them a much more effective leader of the people they work with. **Michelle Troseth ** 21:38 Yes, that. **Tracy Christopherson ** 21:39 Yeah. And at the same time, you need some of those strengths of the manager, right, the one that's gonna make sure everything gets done and has all the processes and the infrastructures and manages that. So that's why you have to have both, but it's, it's balancing that knowing when the manager needs to step up, and knowing when the leader needs to step up in you, right, and you apply those, you know, you're looking for those outcomes simultaneously. But at different times, you're gonna need to be more of a manager at different times, you need to be more of a of a leader. And so it's really understanding that, **Michael Hingson ** 22:14 but I think the real issue is that people that work for you need to understand when you're a manager, why you're a manager, in other words, you you do have to set the boundaries, you do have to set the rules. Yeah. And people who understand that and internalize it will be a lot happier and a lot more successful in the workforce. Right? Yeah, that's true. That's true. Which is, which is kind of really important to be able to do, but it really is a fascinating concept, to you know, to do this. How do you. So you've been doing this now, since you said, What 2017 2018? Is **Tracy Christopherson ** 22:56 that business that we've been managing your piece for over 20 years? Right, **Michael Hingson ** 22:59 right. But now you have your own business? You're doing it? How do you teach it? **Michelle Troseth ** 23:07 Well, we teach it in various ways, our most common way these days is virtually. And actually we like to tell the story that Tracy and I got zoom before anyone knew what it was, it seems like. So we do we do virtual education, virtual coaching, we have virtual mentorship programs. And it's amazing how much teaching and application and connection you can do over the internet. But we also teach it and keynote speeches, just the concept to leaders. And we teach it in workshops. We have a group of leaders that there are out they love this so much. They're in a mastermind group. We work with them over the year, and they just deepen their understanding they achieve incredible outcomes, we get together face to face twice a year at our retreat. Location. And we do a lot with the whole polarity intelligence with him through those different experiences, and we teach it on our podcast. Yeah, **Tracy Christopherson ** 24:11 yeah. Well, go ahead. No, go ahead. Well, I was just gonna say, you know, from a kind of a concrete perspective, you can map a polarity. So we really use blueprints and maps so that people can make the polarity that they are trying to leverage concrete and actionable. So in these in these in person settings, we actually put a big polarity map on the floor and we walk this polarity map with them and, and help them to really dive deep and understand what the polarity really is, which is the outcomes that they want the consequences. They'll experience right the actions they need to take, and the early warning signs that will keep them on track and keep them from over focusing or emphasizing one or the other. So that's really a fun Exercise and leaders love to kind of really step into it and they are in that real in person way. **Michael Hingson ** 25:07 Makes a lot of sense. Have you found people who resist it? **Tracy Christopherson ** 25:12 I have not found anybody who resisted it. Yeah, that's **Michael Hingson ** 25:14 great. **Michelle Troseth ** 25:15 I haven't either, **Tracy Christopherson ** 25:16 I think because they have an experience of it, but they didn't know what it was. So we often have people come up to us say, oh, my gosh, I finally know what it is I've been experiencing, I finally have words to describe it. And that's the benefit. Well, you know, what we're teaching it to say like, they have experienced it, like we experienced gravity. But they didn't have a common language to explain what it was and how it felt. And now they do. So when they read the book, or when we teach it, they'll have that common language and way to describe what it is that they're experiencing, and others will understand it as well. **Michael Hingson ** 25:54 That is pretty cool. And I was gonna say earlier, I forgot you do have a podcast. Tell us about your podcast. **Michelle Troseth ** 26:03 Well, our podcast is in transition right now. **Michael Hingson ** 26:08 But from one hole to the other, I couldn't resist. **Michelle Troseth ** 26:15 That was really great. That was really like that. **Michael Hingson ** 26:16 It's yours. You can have it. **Michelle Troseth ** 26:20 Yeah, well, we started a podcast in 2019. The name of it is healthcare is missing logic podcast course our audience at that time was primarily healthcare leaders. But as we grew, and as more people listened to us, we got asked, Do you work with other leaders? Do you work with educators? Can you go work with Congress? **Michael Hingson ** 26:41 I mean, we've had some Well, there's another story there. Yeah. **Tracy Christopherson ** 26:44 That's another podcast episode that Yeah, another whole podcast. **Michael Hingson ** 26:47 But yeah. **Michelle Troseth ** 26:49 And so and now we have really developed a really robust, thriving, resilient, unstoppable, we call it true leader mentorship program, and we attract leaders that want to have thriving, resilient, unstoppable, which is why we like being on your podcast lives. And so we just, we're going to change it to be more, it's going to be the true leader podcast. And it's really focused on balancing, leading and living to represent both personal and professional poles as a leader. And, **Michael Hingson ** 27:23 and that brings up a very important point, you got to have that life balance between living and working and living and leading on the job and all that. And I'm sure that that must be one of the big issues that all too many people are victims of, if you will, that you find right. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. How do you how do you get them to deal with that, but I got to spend this time at my company, I can't not do that. Well, **Tracy Christopherson ** 27:55 the AI really comes in our true leader mentorship program, because it starts with understanding polarities, and that your professional life and your personal life is a polarity that work life balance isn't a problem to solve. It's not an either or, and that you actually have to give attention to both your personal life and professional life to get that highest quality life that you want to really thrive both at work and at home. And so we've developed a framework that's called the dynamic balance effect framework. And it has, has combination of strategies that when you put them together, enables leaders to create a dynamic, balanced lifestyle, and it becomes a part of who they are. So they leveraged polarities, they learn about that, that polarity, they create a blueprint, their own unique blueprint for how they're going to manage the tension between the two, you know, both the professional life and the personal life. And that's one aspect of it. And then we also help them to understand, one of the other pillars that we have is mindful choices. And we're always making choices, Michael, sometimes we're aware of the choices we're making, sometimes we make them unconsciously. But we're always making choices are living with the results of those choices. And what we want is make choices that are based on our highest values that are aligned with who we are that would help us to be in integrity. So you know, we want to make sure we're aligned to the values, we're clear on the values and we live by our principles. And so we really help them to get that clarity identify who it is they need to be in this new life that they're designing. And then another pillar really is personal alignment. And this is about harnessing tools and processes and infrastructures that help them to really kind of, you know, experience the peace and joy and the life that they want because they're aligning their actions to the essence of who they really are. They know what their purpose is, they know their strengths, everything becomes a little bit more easy and effortless when you have that clarity. And so we kind of use these three pillars, combined together to help them get that dynamic balance effect. And it's a lot of reflection and looking at the beliefs that we hold the norms that we operate under, and letting go of some things that don't really just don't serve us. And sometimes those are blind spots. And so we shine a light on the blind spots, help the reveal them, and then work through your processes to overcome them. What **Michael Hingson ** 30:33 kind of a process do you go through to analyze any given an individual or leader in terms of determining how best to apply the dynamic balance effect framework to them? Or to, to bring them into it? I mean, because obviously, you have to take while you have similarities, each case is different. **Michelle Troseth ** 30:54 Yeah, yeah. So there's a couple different things we do we do. We can do polarity assessments. So we actually have a methodology where we can actually assess how well you're managing different polarities, you know, how well are you managing your personal life and your professional life, your activity and rest, caring for yourself and caring for others, and we can show them, and then help them create more effective action steps and coach them around that. And then when it comes to personal alignment, we do spend a lot of time just getting to know their strengths. So we have various assessments that we do for that to really determine how are they wired, really what makes them tick, because everybody is different. And then they are able to apply those results to their blueprints, and their other tools that we provide them so they actually can accelerate and meet the goals that they're going after. And so those are, those are just some ways where we do measurement, and we do we also track progress with their goals over time as well. And they've had an amazing transformation results, it's been so much fun. **Tracy Christopherson ** 32:03 Well, they do a life inventory as well. So they look at their life, from a lot of different perspectives, all the components of their life, and they have others also look at their life, and others do the polarity assessment to get a perspective outside of themselves. So we invite them, to have people closest to them, give them some real, you know, candid perspectives about what they see in their life. And, and that's also very helpful for them. When it comes down to it, it's up to them to decide what's the most the highest priority polarity for me, what's the highest priority skill or habit I need to develop? And we just can provide them with a guidance and, and coach them along the way to remove any barriers just kept, keep getting the barriers out of the way, because that's, that's really 90% of it. Just getting the barriers out of the way we know we need to do we just don't do it. Right? **Michael Hingson ** 32:57 Well, you're right. And also, all too often, people are so resistive to to change their resistive to really analyzing themselves, because we don't teach people how to do that. I'm a great fan of introspection, spending time with the end of the day, what went well, what didn't go well, even what went well, could I have done it better. And I have grown to not like liking to use the term failure, other than it's an opportunity to look at what I did, and figure out how to do it better. But we become so defeated so often. And like I hear all the time, people are afraid of public speaking, and it's one of people's greatest fears. And it shouldn't be if we would learn what public speaking is really all about, which is talking with an audience, not to an audience. And again, it's just the kind of thing that people are so resistive to so many of the kinds of concepts I think that you're talking about. And leaders, hopefully are, in general a little bit different because they are leaders and they're open to it or you are able to work with him to get them to that point. But it must be a challenge. **Tracy Christopherson ** 34:16 Well, yeah, the truth is, aren't we're wired to stay in our comfort zones, right? Our brains are wired to keep us safe. And so we have, you know, we react physically, when we don't when we're uncertain about the future or what experience we're going to have. So any uncertainty can unleash a sense of anxiety and us or we can hear that little that little you know, chatter in our brain on you don't need to do that you just stay right where you're at. It's really nice and comfortable here. You know, it's not easy, but you know what you're dealing with. So this is a lot better than going out there and trying something different. What if you fail in our brains, our subconscious feeds us all this so it's really really just increasing awareness of what we're saying to ourselves and how our brain is trying to keep us safe. It's what it's designed to do. But that's only because it doesn't know that it's okay to step out of the comfort zone. And so we really do a lot of coaching around that aspect. Because those are the things mostly that hold us back, is that we just resist, because it's ingrained in us to resist it's a part of our brain. So we have to train our brain. No, you know what, sometimes you just have to say, You know what, I appreciate what you're trying to do. But it's really okay for me to make this chance. It's really okay for me to take this chance to step out and do this. And you have to just kind of work with yourself around that. **Michael Hingson ** 35:44 I, I agree, I hear what you're saying. It's the other side of it, though, is that we don't teach people to deal with fear. I know that for me, having been in the World Trade Center and escaping. People always say, Well, you weren't afraid because you couldn't see what was going on. And it's so difficult to get people to understand. Keep in mind that the airplane in our building hit on if I were to average it between 93 and 99. Floor, the 96th floor on the north side of the building, and I was on the south side of the building on the 78th floor. How was I supposed to know what happened the last time I checked X ray vision, and Superman are fiction, right. And the reality is going down the stairs, no one knew no one knew that we had been attacked by terrorists, we figured out that an aeroplane hit the building, because we were spilling the fumes from burning jet fuel. And I identified that odor, but four floors down from when we entered the stairwell. So it was probably about the 74th floor that I figured out that's the fumes from burning jet fuel when we figured that out. But I wasn't afraid going down the stairs. For I think a couple of reasons. One is, I always liked the concept. Don't worry about what you can control, focus on what you can and leave the rest alone because you can't do anything about it anyway, I didn't articulate that for the longest period of time. But I think that is something that's been in my makeup for a long time. The other part about it is, however, that I think that fear is something that is all too often taught and that if you have knowledge, and essentially what you're talking about, with knowledge, you can learn not to be blinded by fear, as I call it, or paralyzed by fear or overwhelmed, whatever you want to call it. But that fear can in fact, become a powerful tool for you, not against you. And so I'm actually working on on a book about that we actually, with a colleague, we've written a book about that. And the idea is that you can learn to control fear. And yeah, you may have some reactions when something doesn't go just the way you think. But you can learn to control your fears, and allow yourself to be able to move forward in a much more organized way that you don't have to let fear overwhelm you. Right, **Tracy Christopherson ** 38:13 right. Yeah. And I think it's important to know, where's the fear coming from? Right? What is it that we're afraid of? Right. And I think working through those processes, sometimes, just getting that deeper understanding can help you release that fear and realize, Well, really, there isn't anything, nothing terrible is going to happen, right? In many instances. So it's just kind of really getting to know you're self aware your fears come from, I think is a very healthy way to look at fear. **Michael Hingson ** 38:41 And that's a lot of it. And the reality is that we we don't, we're not encouraged to do that kind of self reflecting and self analysis and internalizing of what's going on. So the result is we react rather than thinking more about it, which is, in a sense, maybe another kind of missing logic. Yeah. **Tracy Christopherson ** 39:02 Wow. Right. Right. But and it comes from our past. Yeah, to your point, because we haven't been educated or trained or haven't learned for that self reflection and, and right to do all that from the time we were children. We just respond based on our past programming based on the things that we've experienced in the past. That's what how our brain gets wired. So we don't have that to draw from so you have to build that skill to your right. **Michael Hingson ** 39:31 Yeah, right. And I know for me, having been blind my whole life, I've been in a lot of situations where there have been unpredictable kinds of circumstances. I mean, heck, I lived. Well, anytime I cross the street. There's the potential of a car coming down the street that I missed, or that isn't stopping and I always have to be alert. What am I going to do about that or when I lived in in mass such UCITS for three years, I lived in the state that had the reputation of having had the I the highest accident rate per capita in the country. And I'm sitting there crossing the street with all these crazy cars coming down the street. So, for me, I learned that I have to be observant and not be afraid. Otherwise, why go out at all? And so it that doesn't mean that you just go put yourself in danger. But it does mean that you can deal with different things that go on. Right? Yeah. Yep. Great point. So it becomes one of the the issues to deal with well, so we wrote a book about it called Live like a guide dog. And the end. And the point is that I've had a number of Guide Dogs and other dogs in my life. And the idea is that dogs can fear. But more often than not, fear is learned like my fifth guide dog, Roselle was not afraid of thunder at all. Until we moved to New Jersey and live there for almost a year before she started exhibiting fear reactions and shaking and shivering whenever there was a thunderstorm coming. What we also learned is that a lot of that had to do with the fact that as the storm would approach, the static build up on her, gave her this Prickly, uncomfortable feeling. And then you get the thunder that goes with it. It caused kind of a fear reaction. And again, now we know more about dealing with that. And there are ways to teach dogs that they don't need to be afraid of thunder treats always help. But you know, that's a part of it. But but the reality is, again, I think it's as true for for humans, we need to learn that we can analyze what's going on, as you said earlier, and use that to better analyze ourselves and go Well, why are we reacting to this? Right? So you, you spend a lot of time obviously working with the people who you have the opportunity to, to work with to get to get them to to analyze all that. How long do you end up after on average working with clients? Or is it kind of almost a lifelong kind of thing? Well, **Michelle Troseth ** 42:24 sometimes they might be with us just for a 12 month program. And sometimes we've had leaders with this going on for years. So I just really depends on what their needs are, what their you know, what their goals are. But we do have some that, you know, they just love working with. **Tracy Christopherson ** 42:46 All right, well, unity, right. Yeah. **Michelle Troseth ** 42:49 It's a community to communities. Yeah. Yeah. They like being a **Tracy Christopherson ** 42:53 part of that community. Yeah, putting each other and learning from each other. And so that's, that's another aspect of the work that we do, we really are strong believers in the community and the supportive community. And we know leaders are longing for that right now. And especially leaders that find themselves in, in environments that don't feel psychologically safe. They're really looking to connect with others that are experienced some of the same things they're experiencing. And so we do have an ongoing community that people engage in as well. Yeah. **Michael Hingson ** 43:27 immunity is a very strong tool that can help a lot too. Yeah. Yeah. Which is really, which is really pretty cool. Well, you know, leaders are people. Well, how come leaders often suffer from burnout? How come that happens? **Michelle Troseth ** 43:47 Well, what happens with when in leadership roles. Sometimes what happens is you're with other leaders, and there's an expectation of behavior and thoughts that are based on shared beliefs of how you should act as a leader, how things that's just the way things are here. And, and then you become even maybe unaware that you are doing those behaviors or having those thoughts. And so what happens is leaders just develop a tracing I called Leadership norms. And those norms can actually be harmful over time. So an example of one is servant leadership. You know, servant leadership is a good thing. And it reinforces everybody before me, the leader eats last and over time, that has a negative impact on the leader and they do suffer from exhaustion and burnout. And you know, we have learned a lot from the airline industry, that there's a reason why they have you put your oxygen mask on first so that you can help others. And it's not an it's not a norm for leaders to do that they always think about even during cold I thought more about their teams than they did about themselves. And you know, just how hard you have to work as a leader, there's a whole norm around that. Long hours work hard climbing the ladder. And another metaphor that Tracy and I like to use is, you know, marathon runners know, they have to pace themselves. And you don't become a marathon runner, you know, by running 26 miles the day of the race, you have to, you have to practice the polarity of activity, and rest. And, and that's a lot like leadership, we're in it for the long haul, we have to learn how to care for ourselves and care for others. And what leaders are developing is what Tracy and I call the imbalanced leader syndrome. And we we see it all the time, we have leaders every week that say, Yep, I have that, you know, because they got overflowing to do lists of competing priorities, their financial and people resources are limited, which causes stress. They lack balance between their work and home, and they're basically just exhausted and unfulfilled. And they know, I think the key thing right now is they're really wondering if they can continue. And so they, they don't have a strategy for work life balance, that's the other thing that we really help them with. But that's some of the reasons we see leaders get burned out. **Michael Hingson ** 46:24 Yeah, and you know, it, I liked the concept. And I've always liked the concept of servant leadership, but I do understand that it can be carried too far. And we need to understand that the best servants are the ones who really are prepared to do it. And it's okay to be and I think is appropriate to be if you're a leader, a servant, because your job is to help but at the same time, you can't do that if you're not properly prepared either. **Tracy Christopherson ** 46:51 Right? Well, when it's, it's good until the point where you start to neglect yourself. And what happens is they prioritize everybody before themselves, and then they start to neglect their needs. Neglect, what you know, what's important to them. And they start to make mistakes, which cause burnout, right, like making themselves available and accessible 24/7 And saying yes, when they reach a request, when they really want to say no, and bringing work home and staying late working on vacation, and sacrificing time with family and friends to work and all of those things add up and build up over time. And that's what you know, can also lead to that imbalance leader syndrome or to burnout and exhaustion because they don't give themselves the rest and the things that they need to thrive and survive. And, and we're not saying don't serve to your point to write, but take care of yourself so that you can be that incredible leader you want to be because the stronger your personal life is, the more you know resilience you're going to have, the more mental clarity you're going to have, the more stamina you're going to have, the more ability you're going to have to serve the way that you want to serve. **Michael Hingson ** 48:04 My most graphic example of that actually relates to one of my guide dogs, my six guide dog Meryl got Meryl in 2007. Roselle had to retire. She had guided for eight years, but she also contracted an immune disease immune mediated thrombocytopenia. So her body was going after her her immune system was going after platelets and so on. Anyway, so marrow came along, and it looked well for a little while. But then we started noticing that Meryl wouldn't play with the other dogs. We had two other dogs in the house Rosella retired guide dog. And we also were what were called breeder keepers for Guide Dogs for the Blind. The breeding stock would not stay in kennels all the time, but would live in people's homes except when they were doing their puppy things. So Meryl wouldn't play with the other dogs. And it got worse and worse. And as I eventually described it, she had a type A personality, she could not leave work at the office, she wouldn't play with them. She followed me everywhere. And if they tried to play she actually curled her lip a few times. And eventually after about 18 months of what wasn't even that was about 14 months of guiding. She started becoming very fearful of even guiding and wearing a guide dog harness. And eventually, the people like Eye Dogs for the Blind, observed her and agreed. And we had to retire her because she was just afraid to guide anymore. She just couldn't handle the stress of guiding on top of the stress that she was putting on herself. Oh, yeah. And the result is that, you know, she did she did retire. And then we got Africa who was my seventh guide dog, whose mother was the breeder dog that we were caring for which was just sort of a coincidence but Africa was the total opposite of Maryland, Africa did fine around people. Now we have Alamo and he does well. But it is interesting because to talk about Meryl, she just got to the point where she could not take the stress. And it was more self imposed, although she never realized that, of course, but it was. Well, **Tracy Christopherson ** 50:21 and that's true for people to write. Some of these norms are self imposed, and we follow them. And we don't have to, but people need permission to let it go. They need to know it's okay to do something different to behave differently. So no, **Michael Hingson ** 50:37 yeah, absolutely. That's, that's really the whole issue is that, you got to learn that and that was something that we could never teach Merrill, no matter what we tried. And so it just didn't work out that way. But it's just one of those things. But for me, so really graphic example of what you're talking about. And the other you know, if I were to also ask this, I just thought about it. We've been talking about leaders, what is the leader? How's that for a general question? **Michelle Troseth ** 51:10 Well, sometimes we say everybody's a leader. You know, I think there's leader roles in pretty much everywhere in organizations and churches and schools and businesses. Certainly, in families, there's leaders, you know, and so it everyone can step into a leadership role, and I think have leadership qualities, you know, I think there's the title, but there's also attributes of leadership that anybody can really exhibit. **Tracy Christopherson ** 51:45 So, and I think that's holding the vision, right? Yes, whether it's a family or an organization, it's really, you know, somebody that holds the vision for who we are, where we're headed. They, you know, to your point earlier, right, they're nurturing the people that are doing the work or taking the actions to move closer to the vision. And they're just that, you know, they're kind of that, you know, they're they're just that nurturing, they create a nurturing environment, and a healthy environment that enables people to bring their gifts, they lean into the strengths of others, and they bring people together, they connect people, to move the, you know, the efforts forward to move and strive towards the goals or the vision of who and who you who you are, and what you're trying to achieve. And they kind of hold that container for people to really step into all they can be and, and guide that, you know, guide those individuals in groups and teams, I think. Yeah, so think **Michael Hingson ** 52:55 that, from a leader standpoint, one of the things that I have found is that true people who lead also know when it's time to let someone else take the lead on some given thing, because they have some gift or tool that will serve the team better than the so called leader. And I think that's again, one of the differences going back to near the beginning of today, between a leader and a boss, because I don't think bosses necessarily know that unless they truly understand leadership. **Michelle Troseth ** 53:32 Yeah, well, there's a there's a polarity and leading and following to sometimes you have to know when to follow, right? And sometimes you need to know when to lead. So yeah. **Michael Hingson ** 53:43 For me, again, going back to guide dogs, people mostly don't understand what a guide dog does. The purpose of a guide dog is to make sure that we walk safely, the dog doesn't know where I want to go or how to get there. And very frankly, I don't want the dog to know where to go and how to get there. Because that's, that's not their job, and how are they going to know. And too many people think, oh, it's amazing how your dog just knows everything. Well, it's not quite the way it works. But it's also true that we in every sense of the word form a team dog has a job to do, I have a job to do. And we need to build up on an extremely high level of trust. And understanding that we both know what our jobs are, and we know what the other individuals jobs is, so that we can be the most successful as we're walking somewhere or going from place to place that we can. And again, it works really well when the dog knows that it can respect me and that I'm going to respect the job of the dog and give the dog the support it needs. Because the dog in turn will do the same for me. Dogs want somebody To be a Cesar Mallanna would say, a pack leader. But at the same time, in the case of a guide, dog and person, there are times when the dog will be able to take the initiative. And should. **Michelle Troseth ** 55:14 Yeah, that makes so much sense. **Michael Hingson ** 55:18 Yeah, it's, it's pretty cool to see it and really understand it when it happens. Well, if people want to reach out to you guys, and make contact, and so on, and maybe explore working with you, how do they do that? **Tracy Christopherson ** 55:36 Well, the best thing to do is to go to our website, which is missing logic.com. And both of our emails are on the website. So that's really great. And we also have a large LinkedIn following in there. And our handle for LinkedIn is Missing Logic LLC. So that's another great place to find us and kind of follow what we're doing. And then we're also in the process of starting a polarity intelligence website for our book. So there will be information about the book, information about us as authors. And so that's another place where listeners can go **Michael Hingson ** 56:13 when the book comes out. Are you looking to make it an audio book as well? One would hope? Yes, yeah. Intent? **Tracy Christopherson ** 56:22 Oh, yeah, it takes a little bit. It takes a little bit of time after the book has to be out for a little bit before we can start that process. So but yes, definitely. **Michael Hingson ** 56:31 Are you self publishing? Or do you have a publisher? **Tracy Christopherson ** 56:34 We have a publisher, Morgan, James Publishing? **Michael Hingson ** 56:37 I'm sorry, what company? **Tracy Christopherson ** 56:39 Morgan, James Morgan, James. **Michael Hingson ** 56:40 Okay. Well, it's exciting that it's coming out and the name of the book again, **Michelle Troseth ** 56:45 polarity, intelligence, the missing logic in leadership. There **Michael Hingson ** 56:50 you go. Well, I hope people will seek out the book, and they will seek out you I think it's important to do that. And I think that you offer a lot. I certainly have appreciated you being here. Are there any kind of last things that you want to offer to people before we wrap this up? **Michelle Troseth ** 57:09 Well, I just want to thank you again, Michael. It's been just a joy to get to know you, and the unstoppable podcasts and the great work that you're doing in the world. And so and just, you know, I knew it was gonna be a great conversation. It was so just leaving full of gratitude. **Tracy Christopherson ** 57:25 Yes, thank you so much, Michael. It's really been a pleasure. Well, appreciate the opportunity. **Michael Hingson ** 57:31 Hi, as well, this has been absolutely enjoyable. And we should do it again. Sometime after the book comes out. I'm sure you'll have lots more stories to tell. Oh, yes. Yes, yes, we well. Well, thank you. Thank you both again, and I want to thank you for listening. We hope you've enjoyed it. And Tracy and Michelle have a lot to offer. So please go seek them out. And I am sure if you are dealing with any kind of leadership issues or whatever, they will help you deal with the polarities and fix it. And they're absolutely right. Both sides of a pole or both polarities in anything, have to be there or it doesn't work. I love to talk about magnets, you know, you need a north pole and a south pole. And the reality is that one doesn't really make the process work very well. You do have to have both. So thanks again for listening to us. If you'd like to reach out to me, I'd love to hear from you. Please email me at Michaelhi at accessibe.com accessibe is spelled A C C E S S I B E. And it's Michael M I C H A E L H I at accessibe.com or go to our podcast page, WW dot, www dot Michael m i c h e a l Hingson. H i n g s o n.com/podcast. And wherever you're listening, please give us a five star rating. We love those and really appreciate that and your reviews. We value your input and your thoughts very highly. And for both of you, as well as all of you listening, if you know anyone else who want to be a guest on unstoppable mindset, please let us know. We're always looking for more people to bring on and have on his guests and have more fun conversation. So please don't hesitate to make any recommendations that you have. And so, one last time, Tracy and Michelle, I want to thank you both for being here very much. Thank you.  **Michael Hingson ** 59:29 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Welcome, adventurous friends, to an awesome journey into the captivating world of the legendary Cactus Cat!  References:

Nerd Rage Radio Episode 437: Prickly NERD WEEKS The List! McFarlane x Hasbro Major Marvel Issues Black Panther TV Hasbro Layoffs https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/hasbro-cuts-1100-jobs-20-workforce-prompted-ongoing-105567259?fbclid=IwAR0UUf26iPNEboZ8F3ZjEIhmRVqrab4LjMSzrUehrjy2qEwyd7B0BV-zRsA_aem_AQ0RIsjHDOltMUPTjSy4kXf5TY3akyj6PJ5cNGxCzvB7HXIwIoPHwFys7KKv6pQN_0Y Best/worst of 2023 SHOUT OUTS Show is available on MANY PLATFORMS https://linktr.ee/Nerdrageradio?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=381057fc-8547-43e4-a4a6-a77597494dcc SUPPORT US ON PATREON & GET TONS OF BONUS CONTENT!!! https://www.patreon.com/Nerdrageradio FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook.com/nerdrageradiopodcast Instagram @nerdrageradioig Twitter @nerdragecast WRITE IN TO THE SHOW Email: nerdrageradiomail@gmail.com

Why did God include the detail about the leaf? Why was it a fig leaf? Why not any other king of leaf? Or why not just say it was a generic leaf? Everything in the Bible is there for a reason. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why did God include the detail about the leaf? Why was it a fig leaf? Why not any other king of leaf? Or why not just say it was a generic leaf? Everything in the Bible is there for a reason. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Human rights and the rule-of-law received rare scrutiny in a well-conducted first debate.  Awkward moments occurred for Prabowo Subianto, but new polling shows him very well cushioned.  Also discussed: a bill to end Jakarta governor elections, with bewilderingly broad support; and ministers narrowly avert (for now) a broad-backed effort to boost Anwar Usman and perhaps restore him as Constitutional Court chief justice.  And in memoriam: the passing of Southeast Asia's longest-serving foreign correspondent, John McBeth, dearly departed at age 79.Get our special episode on the 4th Presidential Debate on:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/reformasi/extrasSupport us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi

On the latest Molby On The Spot, Trev Downey and Liverpool legend Jan Molby look back over three wins and ahead to the game against Crystal Palace. Along the way they discuss the usual myriad of topics, including: the state of affairs at United and whether or not Ten Haag is the man to bring back the glory; Klopp's prickly interview with Marcus Buckland; flashback to the days of Kenny Dalglish and the difference between his two managerial stints from the point of view of his media relations; the sacking of Dalglish and the Sky search for comments from a posse of drunken ex-Reds; Liverpool finding a way to win games regardless of the performance; VVD back to his best and the advantage that gives us as a team; Ibrahima Konaté and the need to see a long run of games from the talented defender before we can assess his true status; Wataru Endo and the moments that may have transformed his Liverpool career; Roy Hodgson and his usual pattern and the challenge posed at the weekend by Crystal Palace. All this and much more on another show with the best pundit in the business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

V is for Vomit, that's good enough for me. It's Funny Scott Day On TMS. Opening a Can of Whoop Worms. Today's episode is brought to you by the letters U, V, and H. We should have mugged 2500. The mirror takes no reflection and leaves no reflection. Wasn't There a Show with Jon Stewart Called the Jon Something Show? Pop rocks carbonated the bad meat. Please un-lurk and speak up. Dashing behind the peaches. Please hit me so I can get a new car. Can mirrors see, because stoners, like, really want to know! I Don't Know Why That Played. I played bass with Somerset Gimp in the 90s. Baby faced Nick gets hitched. I'm the problem with Wendi and more on this episode of The Morning Stream. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

V is for Vomit, that's good enough for me. It's Funny Scott Day On TMS. Opening a Can of Whoop Worms. Today's episode is brought to you by the letters U, V, and H. We should have mugged 2500. The mirror takes no reflection and leaves no reflection. Wasn't There a Show with Jon Stewart Called the Jon Something Show? Pop rocks carbonated the bad meat. Please un-lurk and speak up. Dashing behind the peaches. Please hit me so I can get a new car. Can mirrors see, because stoners, like, really want to know! I Don't Know Why That Played. I played bass with Somerset Gimp in the 90s. Baby faced Nick gets hitched. I'm the problem with Wendi and more on this episode of The Morning Stream. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hour 1 - Jones, Mego, and Arcand debate who is the most important Celtic outside of Jayson Tatum? The crew also reacts to a prickly Joe Mazzulla in last night's postgame press conference after the Celtics lost a second straight game. 

Hour 3 - Jones, Mego, and Arcand circle back to the Big Q @ 2, debating the most important Celtic not named Jayson Tatum. The crew dissect more of Joe Mazzulla's postgame interaction with Gary Washburn last night. Jones and Mego give out their Thursday Report Card grades in today's Triple Play. 

Jones, Mego, and Arcand dissect Joe Mazzulla's interesting interaction with Gary Washburn in the postgame press conference following the Celtics loss to the 76ers. 

This Okay listener shares how seeing a prickly pear cactus with a heart-shaped pad helped her get through a tough day at work. “It's Going To Be OK” is a daily podcast from Feelings and Co. Each morning, we bring you a short story, essay, or interview about one thing that makes us (or our guests) feel like it might not all be so bad – even if some things are. Share your OK thing at 612.568.4441 or by emailing IGTBO@feelingsand.co. _ “It's Going To Be OK” is brought to you by The Hartford. The Hartford is a leading insurance provider that's helping to simplify employee benefits by making them more personal and easier to understand. The IGTBO team is Nora McInerny, Megan Palmer, Claire McInerny and Marcel Malekebu. – The transcript for this episode can be found here. Find all our shows and our store at www.feelingsand.co.

One common theme we hear from our couples at Awesome Marriage is that life and marriage have been difficult the past few years. The unexpected and unpredictable realities have taken a toll on many of us, and the anxiety and angst have made us quite “prickly.”  In today's episode, Dr. Kim and Christina talk about that prickliness and help you evaluate if you've been a little prickly and if so, how to work through it.  We pray this episode is helpful to you and your marriage.  Episode highlights include:  Defining exactly what we mean by “prickly”  Dr. Kim shares some healthy ways to deal with the pain Red flags that can help show us our prickliness  What do I do if this is me? What if it's my spouse?    Subscribe to Podcast Email to make sure you never miss an episode. When you sign up, you will get our 4 Week Connection Challenge for free! Plus you will get noteworthy quotes, resources, and more delivered straight to your inbox. *Music for this podcast is created by Noah Copeland. Check him out here!    RESOURCES Dr. Kim and Nancy's book, Love, Intimacy and Sex in Second Half is out now! Click HERE to grab your copy!  27 Scripture Prayer Cards combine the power of prayer and the power of God's Word, designed beautifully to help you invite God's to work in your marriage