Mindset: Going Beyond Physical Limits with Jonathan Bogner

[00:00:00] Les McDaniel: Hello and welcome to the Bearded Wisdom Podcast. I am your host, Les McDaniel, your huckleberry Finn to your m sawer as we explore this wild raging ride of a river that we call life. This show is here to inspire the uninspired to unstick what is stuck and to liberate the leader within you. But before we unlock the mysteries within you, I wanna remind you that you can connect with me on Instagram and facebook@epicfusion.life, or you can find us on TikTok and YouTube at Bearded Wisdom.

[00:00:29] Les McDaniel: Just as the podcast show is titled.

[00:00:33] Les McDaniel: This week has been all about conquering that chaos. That can sometimes sneak up on us. Sometimes it slaps across the face, and other times it just feels like the river is just holding us under the water.

[00:00:44] Les McDaniel: But on today's episode, we are going to chat about the piece, like a river, that, that somehow Raging River being peaceful, I didn't mean, you know, what is that all about? But recently, I gotta tell you, I've committed to discovering that that piece that resides deep within us, that foundational piece, that is our true existence.

[00:01:03] Les McDaniel: And what I'm learning in this moment is that there are a lot of things in this world that promote air quote. For those of you can't see me doing it. Peace. It's the stuff that we get. It's the unsupport of our toxic relationships and the events that you engage in with them, like drinking and distractions and all the things we feel like we gotta do to entertain ourselves.

[00:01:25] Les McDaniel: It's me learning to let go of that fomo, especially the kind of FOMO where all the people that I love to be with that are, you know, tapping into that piece or training me and teaching me. Learning that next thing, I sometimes have to learn to let go of those things. I also have to let go of that fear of failure and that scarcity mindset that can sneak up on me.

[00:01:47] Les McDaniel: And ironically, all of these things are not too far removed from the other. But what I need to do and what I'm learning to do, it's not about need. It's about learning to let go in such a way that I exchange this idea of what the world says is peace for really beginning to trust my own inner self.

[00:02:09] Les McDaniel: it's a really challenging thing to begin to go backwards, especially in a world that is so uh, has such an affront to anything that sounds spiritual or religious or, I don't know. I mean, it's almost like we have a real affront to wisdom and, and I think where this really starts for me is I look back throughout history and we can, we can see times in throughout history where people gained a great deal of knowledge about a particular.

[00:02:34] Les McDaniel: Event or such. I think I've actually talked about this in one of our first podcast episode. But it's like back in the day when the, when the Catholic church, you know, all they had control, and maybe you don't even know this, but at one point the Catholic church early on had complete control over scripture.

[00:02:50] Les McDaniel: They had complete control over the story of God because they spoke it in Latin and that's all they did. They spoke, they read it in Latin. And so people would show up no matter what language they spoke and sit and witness and, and the whole idea of what it meant to be in a relationship with God or to be saved or to be have all these things was, and there's a whole lot of stuff.

[00:03:09] Les McDaniel: There was really just simply about this idea of well, and this control of information at one point got broke free. when you hear the story of, of Martin Luther who came in and posted the 95 thesis on the door, and then the printing press was, was created and all of a sudden the Bible began to be printed in the language of people.

[00:03:33] Les McDaniel: Now, it took a while because these were uneducated people, most, most oftentimes across the board and, and what happened in those situations. They would gain access to this information and they would gain the knowledge. They would read the words, but they didn't have the full context to understand what they were actually reading.

[00:03:53] Les McDaniel: And it was at this point that the chaos that ensued in our world around religion, mind you, this was a time when religion was really the only thing. It was the way of life.

[00:04:04] Les McDaniel: It was literally the only thing you did in life, aside from your political or business endeavors, was go to. Church and you would go to the church and you would witness the sacraments and see the weird sorts of things that supposedly were all over the place. Like everyone had a four skin of Jesus. Maybe that's gross to you.

[00:04:25] Les McDaniel: Sorry if it is, but it's true. It was. If you witnessed this and you saw this, this four skin of Jesus, what you would realize in those, that moment was. You somehow were saved. There was an energetic response that was being told to you that you would receive salvation just by witnessing this, witnessing the sacraments of, of the Eucharist.

[00:04:46] Les McDaniel: You would see this by listening to them, you know, say their mantras and go through this, this process of just, I mean, it was just us witnessing it and, and what happens in those moments is that this information that we all of a sudden now have complete access to. And as those who could learn to read who were also the well and educated and powerful people, as they gained control of this, they started to also be able to use this in ways that would manipulate and control and pull and push and do all sorts of things to to start to manage and create chaos.

[00:05:23] Les McDaniel: And this led to a long series of wars throughout the church, and we fought among one another. And we destroyed each other over the most silly things like pianos in the church and, and whether or not you actually had to witness the sacraments or could take the sacraments or could you, could someone, could a, a person that wasn't clergy pray.

[00:05:46] Les McDaniel: There were, there were so many different things like it, it is unbelievable the things that we fought over during that period of time. And what I can tell you is, is that there wasn't a whole lot of peace in those moments. I can't help but think too fast forward to today, and while today it's not all about religion and it's not all about that, that kind of idea of salvation and all these kinds of things, though, that is still playing a part in certain places in our world.

[00:06:12] Les McDaniel: The truth is, is that we have been overloaded with information in this digital age. It is flying at us a thousand miles an hour, a million miles an. We are bombarded, we are seeing further into the universe and don't know what to do with what we're seeing. We are getting, we are seeing granular, smaller, microscopic things that we never even knew could be seen.

[00:06:36] Les McDaniel: And it just keeps getting smaller. And no matter how small we go, things get smaller. No matter matter how macro and big we go. It just keeps expanding and expanding and we are all trying to take it all in across the board. Just even thinking about the weight that comes down upon us all the boxes that we have to check in order to just be okay to be enough in this world.

[00:07:00] Les McDaniel: It's really, really painstaking to see us going through this cuz we are all attention intention with one another. We are fighting a against each other because none of us really know how to handle what's being thrown at. But what I want you to understand is, is that just because you don't understand does not mean that peace does not reside at the foundation of who we are.

[00:07:23] Les McDaniel: As we've discussed throughout this whole series of conquering chaos, the chaos that is ensuing upon us is, ours. It is that our bay, we can hold it back. We can create boundaries within ourselves to protect our hearts and our minds and our spirit in such a way that it allows us to begin to be able to, well just be at peace in this river.

[00:07:46] Les McDaniel: And I know what you're saying. This river of life is raging. I feel like I've been pinned down in the rapids of life. Just everything coming down upon me and it's just tumbling over the rocks and I've landed at the bottom and I cannot get out. And we are fighting and, and trying. We don't know which ways up.

[00:08:04] Les McDaniel: We don't know how to get out of this drowning mess We're in. I see this playing out. So oftentimes in, in with parents that I work with, I'm in a, a group of dads who are regularly the front row dads. It's amazing group. I'm so privileged to be a part of it, and they support and they nourish me, and they, they are, they're great people.

[00:08:22] Les McDaniel: They're absolutely amazing huckleberries to have on, on your raft. I gotta tell you, you, you, you definitely want river guides like these. If you're gonna be a part of a. In this life, but they are a group of dads who are entrepreneurial, business minded folks who truly wanna place family ahead of business.

[00:08:39] Les McDaniel: It's a powerful group, and yet even in this group, we get caught in this unbelievable amount of information that's thrown at us. We, I mean, I have book after book after book that I've bought as a result of this because of one little thing that might have been spoken and you hear people regurgitate their knowledge with one liners and then they quote the book and the chapter and all this kind of stuff.

[00:09:00] Les McDaniel: And it sounds just like church quoting book chapter in verse in, in somebody else's work without truly having experienced it deep within. And we take that and we, we go around spreading this information without actually taking the time to breathe. And it's like these books are the river that are collapsing over us, just crushing us and drowning us, and we never can get enough.

[00:09:28] Les McDaniel: And we don't trust ourselves with the instincts that we've been given to be good dads and good moms. This is what we face today in our. We face this information overload where you turn on TikTok, you turn on YouTube and you're being told by just one more book or that you get just this one more course and they are all prey on us unintentionally.

[00:09:50] Les McDaniel: I think there's some really good information in all of this and there's some deep wisdom. Some people who are giving us great information have applied it in our, are sharing it with us as wisdom. But even as we speak today, I gotta tell you that I'm still struggling many days with the chaos of starting a new business and having a wife that has been struggling a little bit with her health and, and expressing this new life as empty nesters in ways that are so exciting and fun.

[00:10:15] Les McDaniel: But, It, but still very challenging because it's new and it's not yet fully ingrained in me what it looks like to walk in these shoes as this person today, because today is not the same as yesterday, nor will today be the same as tomorrow. But all I can do is be in this present moment and yet layer upon layer of my history or your history, or the book's history, or the way things should be, or the way things were, are laying upon us.

[00:10:44] Les McDaniel: Things that may not be suitable exactly as they're being presented to us. This is what we call knowledge, but what wisdom is, but what wisdom really looks like. It really, really looks like us being bombarded with this unbelievable amount of information that is threatening to push us down. But you and I choosing.

[00:11:10] Les McDaniel: To just give in to the, the, the rip tides. I don't know there's rip tides in rivers, but we're gonna go for it. The way we just give into the currents, let's go with that. Currents is a better one than rivers, but we just give into the rivers just natural progression. And recognize that we are actually being held by something much bigger.

[00:11:31] Les McDaniel: That is, that is truly creating the boundaries, that we can't go past that this divine essence is all around us. that this river is cradled with something that has foundational grounding to it that keeps us grounded. And yet we sometimes choose to dive deep and try to swim to the top, and we are actually swimming down or we try to swim to the side, and yet we're just missing every branch and every possible rescue that there is when sometimes we just need to let go and take a deep breath and stay afloat and sometimes go into water and just recognize that life is like a wild, raging river and it's an exciting ride.

[00:12:13] Les McDaniel: There's ups and down. Sometimes it's painful and sometimes we actually do die. I don't know if you guys know this, but you know, good stoic wisdom says, and you will die . We, I don't know anybody who hasn't yet. I don't know anyone who hasn't yet. Sometimes we get hurt. And some of us are just floating on by in the absolute peace, calm of the still waters of the river.

[00:12:38] Les McDaniel: And we think that this is what life is. And we go out there touting our story of, of our information, how this is how we did it and this is how we land it. When in the meantime we really have no idea because we haven't been truly challenged yet. Cause we haven't hit the rapids. But I gotta tell you, the rapids truly are coming.

[00:12:59] Les McDaniel: Now I know, I know. I have found myself oftentimes being the, obstacle in the way of my own life. And what we have to realize is that that obstacle that is, that is coming up as we're flowing down this river as we are, the water flowing down this river, being cradled by something divine and bigger than any of us.

[00:13:20] Les McDaniel: We're gonna see these objects and obstacles that we feel like we've got to somehow gotta weave and duck and get out of the way up. But the truth is, is that those things are already being taken care of for us. And so my challenge is as we move forward in this life together, and I don't wanna just stop it as we move forward in this, I'm talking about this life as we are, are huckleberry and our Tom.

[00:13:45] Les McDaniel: Riding in this beautiful Rapid River . I gotta tell you, sometimes we've just gotta learn to just trust ourselves in those moments. we've gotta stop ourselves sometimes and remember that we are the water, not something that is in the river floating down the river.

[00:14:04] Les McDaniel: We are the ones that have been brought forth through this. I mean, our bodies literally are made up of 50% plus of water and when we are sitting around talking about how dried up, we feel we actually are limiting our ability to embrace and absorb the beautiful thing that we truly are. We're denying our very existence in exchange for something else, something more material, something less movement.

[00:14:31] Les McDaniel: And we're believing that all the information that is colliding upon us is something that we have to fit into. When all along we are just one with it. You see within you, there are gifts. Within you, there is nothing else needed within you. There is a power that is literally just ready to come out and begin to share, and it's not something that you're just gonna snap your fingers and then show up and be able to, to give into.

[00:14:58] Les McDaniel: You've gotta surround yourself with people who are telling you that you're enough and are supporting you in helping you find those gifts. Not trying to sell you something so that, that you can become like them as though they've got all the answers in the world. But to understand that this information that you're being given is truly nothing more than resources.

[00:15:16] Les McDaniel: They are resources for you to continue to float down the river of life. you don't need a raft for this river. You don't need to be in something to protect yourself. Peace resides in the letting go. It doesn't mean that sometimes we don't move to and fro. It doesn't sometimes mean that we understand exactly where we are or that we don't have to pave new pathways and, and hit the boundaries of our life and start to create new little outlets or inlets of, of the river that that nourish other areas of dry soil.

[00:15:50] Les McDaniel: I can abuse this metaphor to death, and maybe you're already going, Okay, let's, We get it, we get it. I'm a river, I'm, I'm water, I'm all those things. But if you're pushing against this idea, and you're even hearing this as though this is some sort of prescriptive idea, it's not. Life is not about some prescription.

[00:16:08] Les McDaniel: It's about awareness. It's about remembering who we. Forgetting a lot of the stuff that we've been taught. Unlearning is a great part of remembering that we are the water in the river, not something that is stuck there. So one of the keys to my life as I've moved into this particular period of life is, is really to have an intention, a deep set emotional commitment.

[00:16:38] Les McDaniel: To peace. it is a commitment to the awareness within me that I desire nothing more than to just be able to float. I mean, we all like to float the rivers or float on water. We, we like that. And yet so many of us just, we think we have to be great swimmers and we're afraid of that very thing that is there to take us on this journey and to provide for us and to nourish all the other things around us.

[00:17:03] Les McDaniel: and we get swept away in this. Now, maybe there's a place where this breaks down. Maybe it's a, it's a false notion that I'm talking about and I, and I don't want you to buy into what I'm saying is the absolute truth. That would be the opposite of wisdom. What I ask is that you challenge your current way of thinking about things.

[00:17:22] Les McDaniel: That you take a minute and you ask yourself, how much emphasis have I placed on these notes that I've taken in my journal from the last entrepreneurial seminar or a parenting seminar or, or marriage seminar? how many notes have I taken? because here's what happens when we start to have those notes, here's what happens when we start to have these bullet points that try to oversimplify life.

[00:17:42] Les McDaniel: What we're doing is we're, we're putting down groundwork that isn't really ours to lay. And when we lay down the groundwork, and I have my understanding of, of one thing, and you have the, Actually I'll back up. Let's say it this way. Everything that I've said today, you're gonna hear it one way and another person's gonna hear it another way.

[00:18:02] Les McDaniel: And the takeaways are gonna be very different. And in our world, the way that that is handled is person A. Takes this content and says this is law and person B takes their view of it and they say, This is law. And we both may be saying that there is truth in each that is similar, that we are a water, but one of us may saying we are purified water.

[00:18:29] Les McDaniel: That has been through the this unbelievable process of becoming clean. And the other one may be saying, don't drink the water. Cause if you drink this water, you surely will die. But you can definitely float down this water. And both are saying we're water, but both have very different views and neither one of them is wrong and neither one of them is right.

[00:18:51] Les McDaniel: We are not equally the same in how we've been brought into this world. We're individuals with our own unique gifts. And I can't tell you how to live your life. I can't tell you the exact right path, but I can tell you that I believe deep within my soul that when you become that self-aware being, when you truly know yourself and you are willing to face every little tendency that seems to squeak into you, that that disrupts your piece.

[00:19:19] Les McDaniel: When you're able to do that, my friend, something powerful happens within us. When we see you being so self-aware, when we see you not being afraid of those things that, that you've hidden in your closet, those skeletons that hide there, hanging, waiting for some day to be discovered or dealt with or swept under the rug, or whatever it might be.

[00:19:42] Les McDaniel: When we see you being willing to show us who you are, fully and truly, we begin to find peace for ourselves. Being around peaceful people can also begin to help us fall into the flow that you might be on. I surround myself with a lot of people who are very peaceful, especially during this time when life does seem really chaotic and I really don't wanna to, to simplify this.

[00:20:11] Les McDaniel: We, we, my wife and I heavily are really, we've been through some challenging times. Part of the reason why we're able to make it through these challenging times is because we lean on one another and we lean on our friends. We lean on those who are in our community to be able to be those who can bring us peace, who can be playful with us.

[00:20:32] Les McDaniel: Sometimes we fall into the distractions too. And it's not a matter of perfection. It's not about right or wrong. The distractions are also floating down the river. That is us, ak, the A, the water we're, we are carrying those distractions with us. We can't stop the river. Sometimes we swim upstream and we fight so hard and we battle the currents and we try to swim.

[00:20:54] Les McDaniel: We just try not to drown. we think we know where we want to go when, when the truth is we're going where we're going. and we just have this luxury and this beautiful opportunity to truly tap into that and begin to find ways down river where we can, where we can see the areas that need to be nourished and give new life to, to things that are on the banks of the river, I mean, just think of a valley where this beau, I mean when peace like a river is all about this idea of. just flowing in such a way that there is nothing that this world is for us. When you think about the idea of a river, it's, it's this beautiful gift that has been given to us that nourishes our very soul.

[00:21:37] Les McDaniel: We become the trees. That are planted by still waters because we nourish the tree and when we nourish the tree, we become one with the tree. It's not something we have to force. It's all desiring to, to have us as a part of this we're, we are, this world is for us and as longing for us to be true to our very nature as that thing that nourishes life.

[00:22:02] Les McDaniel: And so can you be a life nourisher? Can you be someone who waters the grounds all around you? That, that seeps into the soil and is okay with being at the bottom of the river, nourishing those, those animals, those fish, those things that, thrive on that incredible nourishment. can you be grateful for your, your role of, of being able to be absorbed by the banks that then carry the water into new areas and feed and nourish the grasses and the trees and the flowers and the beauty that's all around us.

[00:22:37] Les McDaniel: It sounds really peaceful to me. Now, am I saying this is gonna be perfect? No, but I do wanna encourage you and inspire you, hopefully, to join me on this intentional commitment towards peace, to tapping back into that foundation that is within me, not as something that I've gotta dive into, but truly just releasing and letting go of all of my expectations.

[00:23:01] Les McDaniel: In hopes that the very desires that are within me are, are divinely given to me. Not something that I, that I can't do or don't know how to do, but it's there waiting for me to just let go to receive it and to be guided down the banks of this beautiful wild river. Be called life. Well, for whatever it's worth, there's our Friday free for all. It was a little bit of a free for all I guess. It was also kind of fun. It's kind of fun to have this exploration of things and you could expect more of this on Friday.

[00:23:34] Les McDaniel: Well, this concludes our Friday free for all, and I hope that you can experience this unbelievable time in such a way that it truly enlivens you to be one who's willing to dive deep into, well, what is, what's, what's keeping you from peace?

[00:23:47] Les McDaniel: What's keeping you from being able to just let go and trust that this world is truly for. I gotta tell you that we've got a lot more ground to cover over. That's, it's funny to talk about a river and then say we got a lot more ground to cover. But that's what we got and I, I look forward to spending some time discovering what this looks like, discovering what it means to really dig into self-awareness.

[00:24:11] Les McDaniel: To understand how we operate. And so what's coming next is this awesome, awesome new series on the five Gears. And the five Gears is a powerful, powerful way of looking at life. Using this example of how we, how we arrive and show up and or connecting with people or not. You know, you may not be connecting with people, in which case, The five gears are gonna help us discover, and it's gonna be a deeper dive into self-awareness and we will start that next week.

[00:24:42] Les McDaniel: So I look forward to seeing you back here as we jump into the five gears and learn about a way of living a life that allows us to spend time with those that we love in deep connection and to have amazing relational IQ as we go down this river of life together For now. Peace be with you. Talk to you soon.