Yes, yes, I am Dramas and this is the Street Stoic Podcast, bringing your daily dose a timeless stoic philosophy, a remix for the hip hop generation. We are combining ancient philosophy with lyrics and quotes and some of the greatest who ever grace a microphone. Now, with that in mind, let's get things started with your daily shot of inspiration. Now today, we are gonna be focusing all around the idea of gratitude, right, and you can tackle gratitude, I think from so many different angles, and we have on the show before and we will continue to do so. But I was trying to find a different sort of perspective that I feel like I haven't really gone down, and kind of in doing that research, I recognize it's something we haven't really touched on, is appreciation for those that love you and those that you love, right, and how just important those relationships are to our fulfillment and our happiness. And one of the lyrics that came up for me was from Beyonce in the song Dangerously in Love Too. And of course this is like some beautiful, mushy love type stuff, but in the record, Beyonce says, I know it ain't easy easy loving me. I appreciate the love and dedication from you to me. Later on in my destiny, I see myself having your child, I see myself being your wife, and I see my whole future in your eyes. The thought of all your love for me sometimes makes me want to cry. I realize all my blessings. I'm grateful to have you by my side. First of it's just like beautiful. You know, if you are in love, it makes you want to go hug your person. If you're not in love, it makes you wish it you were right. But beyond that, I think it's so easy, unfortunately, and it's such human nature to take for granted those closest to us, right to take their love for granted, to take all the things that they're willing to do for us, To take all of that for granted. I think that's that's such a huge mistake that so many of us make on a regular basis. Right. And this leads to a quote from one of the Stoic Senega where he says joy comes to us from those whom we love even when they are absent. When present, seeing them and associating intimately with them, yields real pleasure. And I think this is beyond the idea of like you and the person that you love or the people that you love. It's the idea of the joy that having that love brings to your life, right, And I think that's where the gratitude needs to come to play, because it's bigger than just the interactions that you have with them. You know, when you feel loved by someone or you know other people, it's innately just going to leave a thumbprint on your life and the rest of your day, right, Like when you are able to think back to moments with that person or the joy you feel, like He's saying, when you see that person, you immediately feel happiness. Like that's a gift, right, And that's not something to be taken for granted. And it's also an essential part of life, right Like everything in life begins and ends with love. You know, without it, it's impossible to be happy or fulfilled. Right. And again, I don't just mean you need to have a wife, a husband, a partner. You know, you need to be in a relationship in order to be happy. I don't believe that, but you do need to have some sort of form of love. And you know, I relate to this on a few different levels. I mean, I'm not currently in a relationship, so I can't relate on that level. But I was listening to a book recently Humble the poet shout out to him. The book is called How to Be Loved, But he was talking about a friend of his who was a mother, and she was so sort of telling him that he doesn't know what love is, right, That you don't actually know love until you have children, right, that that children teach you how to how to really love. And I don't personally have kids, so I can't relate on that level. But I think about my relationship with my parents, and you know, we've had our rocky moments. We've had a point in time where we still saw each other, but we don't have we didn't have the level of relationship that we have now. Right now, I have an amazing relationship with my parents. You know, we spend a lot of time together and there's a deep love and respect there, you know. And what I've sort of recognized in thinking about that that sort of line that I got from the book and sort of just using it in terms of my own relationship with my parents is I'm so grateful for them and their love, right and appreciating their unconditional love because of the happiness that's brought to my life. Right, I can't imagine not having a relationship or not having them in my life, and not having people in my life like them, who I know that no matter what happens, good or bad, they're always going to be there by my side, right, I'm always going to have them on my team. Right. And they might they might give me harsh you know, sort of reality checks at times, but at the end of the day, they're never going to abandon me, you know, just because I fall in short as a human being. And I think in knowing that it allows you to push past the tough times in this life, you know, and then when the good things do happen, having that cheering section, you know, of people who are genuinely happy for you allows you to really feel that joy to an extent that I think you wouldn't if you were by yourself. Now, with that said, we have heard from Beyonce the Queen, we have heard from one of the stoics, Seneca. I've given you a bit of my own insight into this whole concept of gratitude, specifically from the lens of appreciating those who love you and are a part of your life. Now, let's talk about how you can make it your mantra for today. First, let's take a quick break and then we'll be all right. So we are talking all about the idea of gratitude today, right, And we've heard from Beyonce, We've heard from one of the stoics, Seneca. I've talked a bit about my relationship with my parents, and I think all that comes up for me in this conversation is a reminder to be present, right, to stop and to think about the people that are closest to us. Right, And if we are fortunate enough to have people in our life that we know genuinely love us and we love them, we need to constantly remind ourselves that we're in possession of the greatest gift that a person could ever ask for, love and all that it brings into our lives, and all that it allows us to take with us, and the fuel that it gives us to be the person you want to be. Like Again, there's no greater gift. It's not something that money can buy. It is not something that money can can feel, you know, not avoid that money can fill. It really is something special and the irony of it, even though it's such an important part of our lives and it's something we probably all could recognize all that it brings us, It's probably the one thing that we take for granted more than anything else. The people that are closest to us and the people that are unconditionally there to support and love us, we end up taking them for granted and not really appreciating just how special that connection is, right, And I think that's sort of the main thing I want to drive home and remind you to just get present to that, especially you're having a bad day, you're going through a rough moment, like, remind yourself that if there's someone out there that you know you can call, that loves you and that you love back, like you are in possession of the greatest gift known to man, right and if you are, you know, not in that position right now, you don't feel like you have people like that in your life. Maybe that's a focus that you need to start making a priority of how you can begin to invite those types of relationships into your life, be it mending you know, strained relationships or putting yourself out there to meet others, because again, without it, you are sacrificing one of the best things that we can be blessed with as human beings. So to recap all that we've been talking about today, man, we've heard from Beyonce and her just really breaking it down in simple terms and recognizing the importance and the beauty of somebody who is loving you, even if it isn't easy, right, having that gratitude and not taking that person who's closest to you for granted. Right. We've heard from from Seneca and him talking about how joy comes to us from the relationships that we have involving love in our lives, you know, platonic, be it, romantic, whatever it is like, joy all begins with that, right. And from my own personal story recognizing how, you know, my appreciation for my parents has really transformed my level of happiness and fulfillment in this life. And feeling their love unconditionally and pushing myself to try and remain present to it and remain grateful to it and not take it for granted allows me to walk around with but just a bit more happiness and just a bit more joy than I would otherwise. Right now, With that said, thank you for checking out The Streets So podcasts. Do your best to apply these concepts that we discussed into you everyday life, and I'll catch you next time. The Streets Though podcast and a production of Iheart's Mica podcast network

Yes, yes, I am Dramas and this is the Street Stoic Podcast, bringing your daily dose a timeless stoic philosophy, a remix for the hip hop generation. We are combining ancient philosophy with lyrics and quotes and some of the greatest who ever grace a microphone. Now, with that in mind, let's get things started with your daily shot of inspiration. Now today, we are gonna be focusing all around the idea of gratitude, right, and you can tackle gratitude, I think from so many different angles, and we have on the show before and we will continue to do so. But I was trying to find a different sort of perspective that I feel like I haven't really gone down, and kind of in doing that research, I recognize it's something we haven't really touched on, is appreciation for those that love you and those that you love, right, and how just important those relationships are to our fulfillment and our happiness. And one of the lyrics that came up for me was from Beyonce in the song Dangerously in Love Too. And of course this is like some beautiful, mushy love type stuff, but in the record, Beyonce says, I know it ain't easy easy loving me. I appreciate the love and dedication from you to me. Later on in my destiny, I see myself having your child, I see myself being your wife, and I see my whole future in your eyes. The thought of all your love for me sometimes makes me want to cry. I realize all my blessings. I'm grateful to have you by my side. First of it's just like beautiful. You know, if you are in love, it makes you want to go hug your person. If you're not in love, it makes you wish it you were right. But beyond that, I think it's so easy, unfortunately, and it's such human nature to take for granted those closest to us, right to take their love for granted, to take all the things that they're willing to do for us, To take all of that for granted. I think that's that's such a huge mistake that so many of us make on a regular basis. Right. And this leads to a quote from one of the Stoic Senega where he says joy comes to us from those whom we love even when they are absent. When present, seeing them and associating intimately with them, yields real pleasure. And I think this is beyond the idea of like you and the person that you love or the people that you love. It's the idea of the joy that having that love brings to your life, right, And I think that's where the gratitude needs to come to play, because it's bigger than just the interactions that you have with them. You know, when you feel loved by someone or you know other people, it's innately just going to leave a thumbprint on your life and the rest of your day, right, Like when you are able to think back to moments with that person or the joy you feel, like He's saying, when you see that person, you immediately feel happiness. Like that's a gift, right, And that's not something to be taken for granted. And it's also an essential part of life, right Like everything in life begins and ends with love. You know, without it, it's impossible to be happy or fulfilled. Right. And again, I don't just mean you need to have a wife, a husband, a partner. You know, you need to be in a relationship in order to be happy. I don't believe that, but you do need to have some sort of form of love. And you know, I relate to this on a few different levels. I mean, I'm not currently in a relationship, so I can't relate on that level. But I was listening to a book recently Humble the poet shout out to him. The book is called How to Be Loved, But he was talking about a friend of his who was a mother, and she was so sort of telling him that he doesn't know what love is, right, That you don't actually know love until you have children, right, that that children teach you how to how to really love. And I don't personally have kids, so I can't relate on that level. But I think about my relationship with my parents, and you know, we've had our rocky moments. We've had a point in time where we still saw each other, but we don't have we didn't have the level of relationship that we have now. Right now, I have an amazing relationship with my parents. You know, we spend a lot of time together and there's a deep love and respect there, you know. And what I've sort of recognized in thinking about that that sort of line that I got from the book and sort of just using it in terms of my own relationship with my parents is I'm so grateful for them and their love, right and appreciating their unconditional love because of the happiness that's brought to my life. Right, I can't imagine not having a relationship or not having them in my life, and not having people in my life like them, who I know that no matter what happens, good or bad, they're always going to be there by my side, right, I'm always going to have them on my team. Right. And they might they might give me harsh you know, sort of reality checks at times, but at the end of the day, they're never going to abandon me, you know, just because I fall in short as a human being. And I think in knowing that it allows you to push past the tough times in this life, you know, and then when the good things do happen, having that cheering section, you know, of people who are genuinely happy for you allows you to really feel that joy to an extent that I think you wouldn't if you were by yourself. Now, with that said, we have heard from Beyonce the Queen, we have heard from one of the stoics, Seneca. I've given you a bit of my own insight into this whole concept of gratitude, specifically from the lens of appreciating those who love you and are a part of your life. Now, let's talk about how you can make it your mantra for today. First, let's take a quick break and then we'll be all right. So we are talking all about the idea of gratitude today, right, And we've heard from Beyonce, We've heard from one of the stoics, Seneca. I've talked a bit about my relationship with my parents, and I think all that comes up for me in this conversation is a reminder to be present, right, to stop and to think about the people that are closest to us. Right, And if we are fortunate enough to have people in our life that we know genuinely love us and we love them, we need to constantly remind ourselves that we're in possession of the greatest gift that a person could ever ask for, love and all that it brings into our lives, and all that it allows us to take with us, and the fuel that it gives us to be the person you want to be. Like Again, there's no greater gift. It's not something that money can buy. It is not something that money can can feel, you know, not avoid that money can fill. It really is something special and the irony of it, even though it's such an important part of our lives and it's something we probably all could recognize all that it brings us, It's probably the one thing that we take for granted more than anything else. The people that are closest to us and the people that are unconditionally there to support and love us, we end up taking them for granted and not really appreciating just how special that connection is, right, And I think that's sort of the main thing I want to drive home and remind you to just get present to that, especially you're having a bad day, you're going through a rough moment, like, remind yourself that if there's someone out there that you know you can call, that loves you and that you love back, like you are in possession of the greatest gift known to man, right and if you are, you know, not in that position right now, you don't feel like you have people like that in your life. Maybe that's a focus that you need to start making a priority of how you can begin to invite those types of relationships into your life, be it mending you know, strained relationships or putting yourself out there to meet others, because again, without it, you are sacrificing one of the best things that we can be blessed with as human beings. So to recap all that we've been talking about today, man, we've heard from Beyonce and her just really breaking it down in simple terms and recognizing the importance and the beauty of somebody who is loving you, even if it isn't easy, right, having that gratitude and not taking that person who's closest to you for granted. Right. We've heard from from Seneca and him talking about how joy comes to us from the relationships that we have involving love in our lives, you know, platonic, be it, romantic, whatever it is like, joy all begins with that, right. And from my own personal story recognizing how, you know, my appreciation for my parents has really transformed my level of happiness and fulfillment in this life. And feeling their love unconditionally and pushing myself to try and remain present to it and remain grateful to it and not take it for granted allows me to walk around with but just a bit more happiness and just a bit more joy than I would otherwise. Right now, With that said, thank you for checking out The Streets So podcasts. Do your best to apply these concepts that we discussed into you everyday life, and I'll catch you next time. The Streets Though podcast and a production of Iheart's Mica podcast network