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Beyond the Provider, Protector, and Producer: A Holistic View of Manhood

On this episode of Essential Discourse Podcast, host Bruce Smith seeks to answer the age-old question: "What is a Man?" Despite receiving fewer responses than he expected, Bruce delves deep into the subject matter through personal study, including reading various books and articles. He acknowledges that people will have different definitions of what it means to be a man, but takes a holistic perspective on the issue. This episode serves as an introduction to the upcoming series exploring what it means to be a man beyond traditional roles. Listeners are encouraged to join the Essential Discourse community and provide feedback. Tune in to this episode for an enlightening and thought-provoking conversation. 

The Essential Discourse Podcast is available on your favorite streaming apps, including Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, and Amazon Music. 

The Essential Discourse Podcast is also online at https://www.edpshow.com/. 

Please follow and subscribe to The Essential Discourse Podcast on one or more of the following social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. I welcome and encourage your comments about the podcast, individual episodes, and other content. 

Thank you for all your feedback, support, and help in growing our presence. 

Sincerely, 
Bruce S. 

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As professionals and collective people, we all are taught conflict resolution. You can conduct a Google Search for conflict resolution and find a plethora of articles, self-education courses, etcetera concerning the subject matter by world-renowned experts.

Hardly anyone receives a thorough education in reference to Internal Conflict. Why is that? When you consider that all people will at some point have to contend with a war within one's self.

It occurred to me that we learn how to manage and come to positive resolutions regarding external conflicts (things we cannot control) but are left to fend for ourselves in reference to Internal Conflicts.

In this episode, I put forth an effort to (1) identify what Internal Conflict is & what causes Internal Conflict, (2) How Internal Conflict can negatively affect us, (3) Steps we can deploy to lessen the effects of Internal Conflict, and (4) how to make the best decisions possible despite being conflicted.   

Works Cited: 
n.d. Author Learning Center. Accessed March 3, 2023. https://www.authorlearningcenter.com/writing/fiction/w/creating-conflict/2912/conflict-101-internal-conflict---article.

Center, Author Learning. n.d. Author Learning Center. Accessed March 3, 2023. https://www.authorlearningcenter.com/writing/fiction/w/creating-conflict/2912/conflict-101-internal-conflict---article.

Harry, Jaime. 2022. UT Sothwestern Medical Center. August 10. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/about-us/faculty-wellness/archives/thrive/inner-conflict.html#:~:text=You%20must%20first%20identify%20who,issue%20and%20find%20a%20resolution.

Luna, Aletheia. 2021. Loner Wolf. August 3. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://lonerwolf.com/internal-conflict-types/.

The Essential Discourse Podcast is available on your favorite streaming apps, including Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, and Amazon Music. 

The Essential Discourse Podcast is also online at https://www.edpshow.com/. 

Please follow and subscribe to The Essential Discourse Podcast on one or more of the following social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. I welcome and encourage your comments about the podcast, individual episodes, and other content. 

Thank you for all your feedback, support, and help in growing our presence. 

Sincerely, 
Bruce S. 

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It never ceases to amaze me how older people, particularly "church folk" with vast experiential knowledge act as if they've always been as mature as they are currently. As if they've always been PERFECT. 

Obviously, better stated, hopefully, the 24-year-old version of you wouldn't behave, dress, speak, think, etc. like the 14-year-old version of you. However, the 30, 40, and so on versions of ourselves tend to develop convenient amnesia regarding our past. Specifically, our poor choices, decision-making, and the lesson learned from the series of consequences resulting from our choices. 

Many of us unmercifully bash the younger generations and our peers as if we are perfect, without faults or sins. For this, we ought to be ashamed of ourselves. We oftentimes miss opportunities to draw people in with loving-kindness. Instead, we push people out and away with #Hypocritical #Condemnation rhetoric. 

We often fail to extend to others the measure of grace, compassion, empathy, and encouragement we received. We tend to act as if we've always had it together. You and I know that is not true. 

Understanding this truth, why do we continue to participate in and or perpetuate the Hypocritical Condemnation of those who have yet to arrive at a higher level of growth and maturity? Why do we not seize these opportunities to share our testimonies to strengthen, encourage and provide hope? Why do "so-called Christians" not find value in paying it forward? It is the Love of the Christ. 

Oftentimes, "So-Called Christians" who self-identify as Evangelicals, Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Catholics, etc., can not be distinguished from non-Believers. One could contend that there's no love, life, or power within these particular people. And because of this, they stand and present as poor representatives of Christ, Christianity, and the Church. 

It's past time for True Believers to take a stand. It's time for True Believers to model Christ and be the best Ambassadors we can be. Live the Christian Life and put an end to Hypocritical Condemnation. 
John 3:16-17 | Romans 8:1-2 | Matthew 22:36-40 

The Essential Discourse Podcast is available on your favorite streaming apps, including Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, and Amazon Music. 

The Essential Discourse Podcast is also online at https://www.edpshow.com/. 

Please follow and subscribe to The Essential Discourse Podcast on one or more of the following social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. I welcome and encourage your comments about the podcast, individual episodes, and other content. 

Thank you for all your feedback, support, and help in growing our presence. 

Sincerely, 
Bruce S. 

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This one thing is certain, he, her, them, they, you, and I will eventually die. There's no escaping this fact. Have you prepared for this appointment? Have you prepared to ensure that your spouse/partner and immediate family will be financially taken care of?

With the passing of each day, you become more difficult to ensure. Do you know the different types of Life Insurance? If you have Life Insurance, are you under or over-insured? Is your insurance have high standards and integrity? Do you even need Life Insurance?

These are but a few questions I asked of my guest, Marcus Kennedy, as we explored this first Essential Topic of Discourse of 2023 "Life Insurance: What We Should Know & Understand".

Join us as we shed light on the topic. 

The Essential Discourse Podcast is available on your favorite streaming apps, including Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, and Amazon Music. 

The Essential Discourse Podcast is also online at https://www.edpshow.com/. 

Please follow and subscribe to The Essential Discourse Podcast on one or more of the following social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. I welcome and encourage your comments about the podcast, individual episodes, and other content. 

Thank you for all your feedback, support, and help in growing our presence. 

Sincerely, 
Bruce S. 

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The Mid-Term Election is nearly over.    

Excluding Georgia's Senate runoff, the control of the Legislative Branch of the Federal Government has been decided. Many states' leadership positions, governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and others have been decided. 

What role did you play? Were you an active participant? Were you one of the millions of citizens who choose to sit this one out? These are all reflective questions. Regardless of how you answer the question, Political Maturity or the lack thereof was on full display. 

Many people exercise their power to identify problems, talk about these problems, and verbally rail against the systems and elected officials. Beyond the talk, beyond the insults, beyond repeating what you've been programmed to believe on FOX, CNN and etc., what actions have any of us taken to bring about the change we say we want? 

Political Maturity 2 revisits the episode I published in Feb 2022. This episode got a resounding 17 downloads (LOL). Many of the things seen during this cycle were discussed in detail in the episode. I encourage you all the actually listen to it. This, Political Maturity 2 isn't that. This episode highlights the consequential effects on the majority ( the working poor) that continues to reign supreme as a result of the majority's ignorance (intentional or unintentional), callousness, divisive nature, distracted mindsets, and disregard for the process. Without Political Maturity, there can be no community ownership, group economics, or community power because there is no unity among the majority..."The Working Poor".

This podcast cast episode is 47 minutes long. 47 minutes of truth you may not want.  However, this truth is what we desperately need.       

The Essential Discourse Podcast is available on your favorite streaming apps, including Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, and Amazon Music. 

The Essential Discourse Podcast is also online at https://www.edpshow.com/. 

Please follow and subscribe to The Essential Discourse Podcast on one or more of the following social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. I welcome and encourage your comments about the podcast, individual episodes, and other content. 

Thank you for all your feedback, support, and help in growing our presence. 

Sincerely, 
Bruce S. 

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One of the biggest hindrances to establishing and maintaining healthy relationships is "Misconceptions".  A misconception is defined as a view or opinion that is incorrect because it is based on faulty thinking or understanding. 

If "Misconceptions" hinder ordinary relationships, what are their effects on marriages, parent-child, and other intimate relationships? 

Many people who enter these relationships have misconceptions about what love is, how love is or should be displayed, and have faulty expectations that love is all about "Happiness" and "Happy Feelings".   

In this episode, my guest,  Yulonda Washington, and I discuss 8 common "Love Misconceptions in a Relevant, Restorative, Reasonable, and Responsible manner. The listener, by the end of this episode, will be better equipped to not identify issues and employ solutions to remedy the issues including Family / Marriage Counseling, Effective Communication Techniques, and more.   

The Essential Discourse Podcast is available on your favorite streaming apps, including Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, and Amazon Music. 

The Essential Discourse Podcast is also online at https://www.edpshow.com/. 

Please follow and subscribe to The Essential Discourse Podcast on one or more of the following social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. I welcome and encourage your comments about the podcast, individual episodes, and other content. 

Thank you for all your feedback, support, and help in growing our presence. 

Sincerely, 
Bruce S. 

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So often, we tend to overlook acts of kindness. Acts that meet a specific need in our lives. A kind word, a smile, the sharing of information, and etcetera are a few examples of this.  

The danger in this is,  if we continue to discount the seemingly small things, we may come to have a decreased appreciation for the not-so-small things that our brothers and sister do to meet our needs. We refer to this as "Entitlement".  

I don't know anyone who enjoys the company and or behaviors of "Entitled" people. 
Common sense says, when someone does something for you, you ought to say "Thank You". 

Better yet, the recipient of the kindness and compassion should put on display Genuine Gratitude. 

In this short episode, I point out the related connection to Genuine Gratitude and the effect it should have on all persons evolved.  

The Essential Discourse Podcast is available on your favorite streaming apps, including Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, and Amazon Music. 

The Essential Discourse Podcast is also online at https://www.edpshow.com/. 

Please follow and subscribe to The Essential Discourse Podcast on one or more of the following social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. I welcome and encourage your comments about the podcast, individual episodes, and other content. 

Thank you for all your feedback, support, and help in growing our presence. 

Sincerely, 
Bruce S. 

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Disappointment is an unavoidable adversary to every human being. Disappointment, unchecked, clouds one’s judgment, attitude, and perspective of not only his/her life but also limits his/her ability to fellowship with other humans. 

Few people immediately look for the opportunities that disappointment offers. What if I told you that disappointment is an agent of growth and maturity? No, being disappointed isn’t pleasurable or desirable. Disappointment cuts, scars, and bruises. However, when you resolve to dominate over and against disappointment, the effect becomes less excruciating. The fact that disappointment’s effect becomes less excruciating is proof of your development.  

This development doesn’t cause you to seek “an eye for an eye” or throw yourself a pity party. This development causes you to be more resilient, wiser, and more knowledgeable in ways that you would not have obtained if it were not for the lesson wrapped in the pain of disappointment. 

The episode includes “The Fight With Frustration", TD Jakes 2014
Sources: 
"How to Get Over Disappointment", Blog, BerkeleyWellbeing.com
"The psychology of Disappointment", Blog, BestPsychologyDegrees.org, 2013

#Buzzsprout 
#PodcastMovement 
#TexasIndyPodcasters
#LetsWorkTogether

The Essential Discourse Podcast is available on your favorite streaming apps, including Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, and Amazon Music. 

The Essential Discourse Podcast is also online at https://www.edpshow.com/. 

Please follow and subscribe to The Essential Discourse Podcast on one or more of the following social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. I welcome and encourage your comments about the podcast, individual episodes, and other content. 

Thank you for all your feedback, support, and help in growing our presence. 

Sincerely, 
Bruce S. 

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The cost of education has increased by as much as 19% over the last ten years. A Bachelor's Degree is as helpful as a High School Diploma. Everyone knows at least three people who attended and graduated college who aren't working in their field of study. It seems the only thing attending college assures you of is debit. 

So, remind me of why I should attend college again....

As a parent, you want the absolute best for your child | children. I think we'd all agree that not having to work an entry-level position after obtaining his Master's Degree, additional debit to his already ballooned payments, isn't ideal. 

In this episode, we'll survey a reasonable approach to determining if attending college,  not just for a child but also for anyone else thinking about it, is indeed worth it. 

#Buzzsprout
#EDPSHOW.COM
#EssentialDiscourseWithBruceSmith

  

The Essential Discourse Podcast is available on your favorite streaming apps, including Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, and Amazon Music. 

The Essential Discourse Podcast is also online at https://www.edpshow.com/. 

Please follow and subscribe to The Essential Discourse Podcast on one or more of the following social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. I welcome and encourage your comments about the podcast, individual episodes, and other content. 

Thank you for all your feedback, support, and help in growing our presence. 

Sincerely, 
Bruce S. 

Send a text message to the show!

Words have meanings. Unfortunately, many of us give no thought to the words that fall off our lips. Specifically, the titles we place upon people. Titles given and not earned. 

One such word is #Friend. 

What do you actually know about your "friend"? Do you really know your "friend"? What qualifies this person as a "friend"? Has this "friend" proven that he or she is in the "friendship" with you? 

I'm will the wager that many of us are involved in nonreciprocal relationships right now with so-call friends. "Friends" who unreliable, never check on your well being, always have an excuse as to why the can't do what you ask, never speak encouragement into your life, lie to your face and scandalize your name when you're not around. However, these same "friends"can count on you to bail the out of a jam, provide support, money and other needs. 

You don't have a friend. You have a #frenemy. Someone who only comes around when they're in need or when you have the means to grant them access to something they want. Again, words have meanings.  You should be extremely cautious with whom you label as your "friend". 

As you listen to this episode, I'll explain why and how to avoid making the mistake of unwisely giving users, abusers, and those with alternative motives the title of FRIEND.     

The Essential Discourse Podcast is available on your favorite streaming apps, including Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, and Amazon Music. 

The Essential Discourse Podcast is also online at https://www.edpshow.com/. 

Please follow and subscribe to The Essential Discourse Podcast on one or more of the following social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. I welcome and encourage your comments about the podcast, individual episodes, and other content. 

Thank you for all your feedback, support, and help in growing our presence. 

Sincerely, 
Bruce S.