This week, the boys felt compelled to talk about one of the most constant battles within each of us. That is, the perpetual struggle with trying to minimize, break, and move on from a continual loop of negative thoughts. Everyone will experience this in their existence. So how do we manage it? Everyone has their own nuanced way of approaching this, but in this conversation between the boys materialized some common ground. All three agree that the worst thing you can do is isolate yourself or incubate your thoughts when you can’t break the cycle. They all agree on the importance of speaking out. Preferably to a close friend and ally who can be an unbiased sounding board. Raf talks about the effectiveness of mastering the basics in the great times, where you exercise gratitude and love, because it is those exact skills that will help you not just survive, but thrive in your darkest moments. Melon gave an analogy of walking through a hall of mirrors. In simple terms, when you find yourself in those dark negative spaces, you should stop and acknowledge what it is you’ve done to arrive there. Really truly, own that responsibility, but in that moment, you can also acknowledge that you have the equal ability to move out of that state and correct the wrongs that put you there. Mike shared the effectiveness of daily dialogue with close friends who knew about his situation, but more importantly, the ability to self identify when you aren’t in the most effective state of mind, and pull yourself out of a space where people depend on  you for their own safety.. This is exceptionally important in Mike’s line of work, because of the immense inherent risk that SOF soldiers find themselves doing daily. We know that this loop of negative thoughts varies in magnitude, and we know it will affect every single one of us until our last breath. However, we hope we can embolden everyone around us to be more vocal about it when they’re experiencing it, because talking about it is the first and most effective step. 

 Please share your thoughts about this episode and more importantly, we hope this encourages our listeners to spend some time thinking about what might be effective for you to break these insidious cycles. We love reading your insights, feedback, and how we can add more value to your day. 

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