Mental Health Matters

I'll do the other things. Okay. Hey everybody, welcome to Mental Health Matters. It's Saturday night and my brain is good. Um, I taught a full class all day today. It's so much fun, but I feel like I run out of words after standing up in front of a class for 8 hours chit-chatting and whatnot. So what was Mental Health Matters? Why are we here? Because 2 of every 3 gun deaths are Suicides. And if we actually want to save lives, we need to talk about mental health because, ah, bonus, right? If we talk about mental health, not only can we help prevent suicides by firearm, we can also do it with any other gun, any other choice of un-deading yourself. I think it's a new term because we're not supposed to say the S-word, and I keep forgetting that, so we'll work on that. And the other part of that, when we work on our mental health, we also help people learn how to deal with their emotions versus coming out in violence. Because what is violence? Our inability to communicate with someone and we have to go physical versus cerebral. So there you go. Those are just some of the reasons we are here tonight. So for all you out there already watching, thank you so much. For those of you watching the replay, congrats. And whatever time it is, have a lovely whatever time of day it is for you. I see that Gun Websites was out there really early, about probably a minute after I posted this up while I was still in class. Because I realized I forgot to put the link up for y'all. So I appreciate those of you who share this out for me. G-Webs is definitely one of those. And I don't know if he's gonna watch the replay, but, you know, he was here at 4 o'clock this afternoon while I was still in class. I actually set this up from the range. So first time for everything. Oh, I had 4 new shooters today that got to shoot their very first firearm. So that's always fun. There's only 5 people in the class, so extra special fun, and they were all very excited. I got my son to help us, and so he did revolver, I did semi-automatic, everybody could try everything, and as far as I know, everyone had a great time. All right, um, Viejo, you were out there, uh, do send me an email please, sir. I tried to send you an email about your shirt. From last week, and I'd love to send that to you because it's my last one. And then that means I don't have any more to give away. Not that I don't love giving stuff away, but I hate mailing stuff. So, uh, if you can, since you said you're in, hopefully you are still here because that was also like early-ish. I mean, Crabby Turtle wins, of course, at 8:37. Um, G-Webs, I don't know, he popped in and I'm guessing he popped right back out. But anyway, I appreciate everybody's support So, um, oh my goodness. Oh, sir, um, DJ, do me a favor, please drop the link to Paul's new show. And I know it's not new. I think you're on episode more than I can count, um, because I've only seen one and a half of them so far. But, uh, my good friend Paul, he does this way longer than I ever did, and he like actually consistently has guests and fun stuff like that. But anyway, he's got a new show. DJ, uh, when you get a chance, pop his, um, thing, the link in there for Paul's new show. And I think it was, it was on just before this actually, because I know DJ got off your call and then came to mine. So everybody go check out Paul. All right, and I can't hide the thingy. Remember I said I'm always better if I don't touch the keyboard? It's true. So I'm gonna I'm gonna hide the chat for a minute so maybe I can talk to you guys without getting distracted by all you fine folks in the side chat, uh, talking to one another and encouraging myself and everybody else. Oh, last week I had the love sparkly hat and I showed you the, uh, you know, whatever this is, our flag sparkly hat. So I thought this week I should wear it because I've already got my merch on, so you know that you're at a Great Start Shooting school. And I never said I'm Brooke Cheney from a Great Start Shooting School. One of these days I'll work on an intro and actually have something that's regular. Okay. It is February 21st and it is wintertime for those of us who live in the cold places in America. And there's lots of cold places in America and there is snow on the ground for those of us who live in the cold places. For those of you who are looking at brown or green, well, you just, Whatever. Good luck. You have bigger bugs than we do. That's, that's why I live in cold places. Um, everybody loves where they live, I hope. Uh, I know DJ from Sometimes will tell me he does have coast envy, however, because he's 100% landlocked, and in the summer I get to go to the ocean and he does not. But y'all still have lakes, so water is still fun. Uh, Ash Wednesday was— Ash Wednesday was Wednesday. Hmm, state the obvious. Captain Obvious, anyone? Yes, Ash Wednesday was Wednesday, this past one. And DJ and I were talking just before the show, and the idea is, what do most people do for Lent? Well, we've got 40 days to give stuff up. Now, Mr. Ballinger's in here, and I believe I saw his statement, 9 weeks already without any nicotine. Everybody give him a round of applause, right? That, that is the applause going around, hence a round of applause, um, for having started that long before Lent. So us slackers— I mean me, not you guys, of course, just me— um, what would I like to give up for Lent? Well, DJ had a perfect, perfect thing for tonight. Y'all want to hear it, right? Okay, so if we're going to give something up, it needs to be something meaningful, something we do on a regular basis. And this may or may not be something you all do, but we do. Me and DJ, we agreed that this was a good thing. And, um, so we're gonna give something up for Lent. It's gotta be good and it's gotta be meaningful. Right? We're sacrificing for the 40 days that Jesus was in the— um, I guess that didn't work out the way I thought it did. Sorry, I thought I muted that, but you guys may not have heard that, so it's okay. So 40 days in the desert, Lent. I don't know if it's 40 days or not, but that's what I think of when I think of Lent and giving up all of this time for purification prior to the crucifixion and the— um, yeah, sorry, my thing is making noise. Hopefully you don't hear it. So we're giving stuff up to cleanse, and of all the things we could give up, like I said, DJ came up with the best, best idea. Have I built enough? What is it? Are you guys dying to know what it is that DJ came up with? Yeah, I think you should know. All right, so DJ said give up on getting down on yourself. Right? Genius. Who here does not beat themselves up from time to time? I know Taryn talks about it on her Facebook thing, and it's one of those things I know I do it, which is, oh, but I could have, or maybe I should have. Ah, you know what we say here? Stop shoulding all over yourself. Yes, yes. So give up on getting down on yourself. I should have made that a banner before before we got on, but we were too jibber-jabbering. So if we're going to give something up for Lent, that seems like a really great thing to give up on. And I even have a couple tools in my toolbox over here that help us figure out how to do that. Do you know what that is? You make a deal, you make a game, you play. And here is how we're gonna play. If you think anything derogatory about yourself— too fat, too tall, too short, too dumb, too smart, whatever your thing is you beat yourself up for. I just gave you all the things that I might or might not beat myself up for. Should have got more done. Oh, that S-word again. No, we're gonna say, hmm, could have got that done, or whatever your thing is. If you catch yourself saying it, Now here's the hard part. Here's where the rubber meets the road. And this is where I have a challenge. If I say something like, "I'm lazy." Now I noticed it. What do I have to do next? This is the hard part. Ready? You ready for this? This is the challenge part. Now I must say 3 things. And what are those 3 things? I must give myself 3 compliments if I say 1 bad thing. Where did I learn this? Hmm, Tony Robbins. Yes, yes, I did. So when you start paying attention to what you're thinking, if you think something, 1 thing negative, you got to come up with that 3 to 1. It's kind of like dry fire practice, honestly. 3 times that you go do your dry fire, 1 time you earn your time at the range. So that 3 to 1 ratio I say, oh, I look like garbage today, which I may or may not have said when I turned on the camera initially before I put makeup on. Yeah. Um, so now I got to say 3 nice things about me. So let's see. I am enthusiastic about my job. I love taking care of people and I am so blessed that I have a husband of all this time that puts up with me. Oh, wait a second. That puts up with me. Is that another negative one? So now I gotta come up with 3 more. You see how this goes? So you say one thing or you notice you've said one thing that is not empowering and positive for yourself. You gotta come up with 3 compliments. So now I gotta come up with 3 more compliments and not have the snide remark at the time. 1 put down, 3 put ups. Exactly. And I don't know, y'all might be better at this game than I am, but like, okay, what else can I say that I'm good at? Oh, I have a very exciting one. I mean, sorry, it's exciting for me. Y'all are probably gonna laugh at this, but for almost a full week, I have gone to bed with a clean sink. And I'm gonna put this as number 2 because I'm, I'm stretching here. And before I go to bed, regardless whether it's full or not, I run the dishwasher. So now in the mornings, I get up, and while I'm making my coffee or my husband's coffee or my son's coffee, I empty the dishwasher. So for almost a whole week, my kitchen has been clean, and I'm very excited about that. So that's a good job, and I get a round of applause for that. So you guys know how to play the game now, right? Just say yes, because I can't see you, but you can say yes in the chat. And about 6 seconds from now, you'll actually hear this. And then another 6 seconds from then, I'll actually see some replies, or DJ will see your replies. Because like I said, I turned that off so that I'm not getting distracted, so we could talk about just one technique of how to give up on getting down on yourself. So, Mr. DJ, would you like to— are there any other comments I should look at right now? And/or do you want to do the roll roll call right now, and you're not on the screen, but I am now.

Okay, because I'm like, yeah, I would, I would love to give you a roll call. It's great to see everybody out there. Uh, yeah, as you've mentioned already, first in the room tonight, Gun Websites, and he's back again. I've got, uh, Crabby Turtle, Yeho 2A is out there. How you doing, fella? Mike Bellinger's in the room, so is Taren Gomez. Chasing Ghosts is with us. Woods, the man of the great Pacific Northwest, good to see you, man. Paul Lathrop out off a show just an hour ago. Um, help me out, Uh, Jessender, did I get that right?

Marketing, I gotta know. Oh, oh, wait, wait, wait, are you caught?

C. Schneider?

C.E. Schneider? Yes, C.E.

Schneider. I will try to get it right next week then. Abigail Sorcha Finnegan is with us tonight, so is New York Outcast and Jamie JH5869, the last new one in the room. Glad to see everybody out there. Thanks for coming.

Very cool, very cool. All right, so since this was your thing, you got any additionals? Stuff to give up on the getting down on yourself? Suggestions, ideas, all of that?

Wow, I'm still like percolating on 3 other things right now. Yeah, we are our own worst critics. I mean, we didn't talk about this a lot in pre-show, but yeah, the, you know, time spent in the virtual world, and a lot of us spend an increasing amount of time in the virtual world, it doesn't allow for complete communication. Now, I don't mean like, I didn't hear what you said, could you repeat that again? I mean the nonverbal cues that we receive from people. As human beings, we express so much with our facial expressions, and I'm not cammed up right now, so you're not getting complete communication from me. You might be hearing the things that I'm trying to communicate verbally, but it's all that other stuff. And as the season, the coldest season, swallows us up, sometimes we decide we're not going out today, or we're not going to be out as much, or while we're crossing from our car to a store or out shoveling or whatever, our heads are down, we're focused. The environment itself is a little bit, it can be repressing, and that's not good for us either. So I guess I just wanna encourage everybody to go out and grab some of those real-life impressions from your friends and your neighbors and others, you know, that going back to say hello, give a summer hello to somebody and see how their face might brighten as their cheeks are being rosy by well, weather like I have outside the window right now, which is in single digits and pretty brutal.

Oh, it got really warm here, like 40 degrees here. It's like a balmy, ridiculous— I could be out in a t-shirt and shorts right now. It's insane. But it was freezing and everything was icing this morning, so that totally bit. All right, sir, while I have you, can we do a hey?

Hey.

No, 1, 2, 3 together, silly boy. All right, are you ready?

All right, sure.

1, 2, 3. Hey! All right, because I haven't seen Mr. Battle Bean in a while, so I just had to pull that one up. Oops, sorry, then I clicked it and then you clicked it. Um, all right, and, and you know, I always love clicking on Abigail. To be fair, makeup is simple. I like 40 minutes on eyeliner alone. Yeah, I can— I— people that are like that, God bless you all because you look awesome, but I just don't have time for that. Um, yeah, this, this is my— I don't know, the older I get, the longer it takes, but my 10-minute face, probably. Um, when I was in high school, my roommate, oh, she got so mad at me. Um, we had an away game and we had to go to this black tie event, prom-like thing, but I went to an all-girls school, so we don't have prom. Um, and I came home dirty and gross and sweaty from our soccer game because I'm goalie, so, you know, I dive in the mud and that sort of stuff. And within 20 minutes, I was ready to go. And she's like, I spent all afternoon. But Abigail, I'm guessing you just enjoy doing that because no one would do that if they just didn't want to. All right, so, um, oh, we got Mario on both sides. Oh, all right, because he was on the whatever that's called. On the Facebook side of things. All right. So Taryn, I saw a comment there and about a good rhyme. And DJ came— he disappeared already. But DJ came up with a really good rhyme amongst all of the stuff that he was just talking about. And it is: in the dark days, which he was just talking about, in the winter, in the blahs, grab some sun and have some fun. Right? And it's funny because I was actually— and again, we didn't talk about all of this in the pre-chat, but I was just thinking the other day how it's been too long since I've spent time outside in the woods. And part of it is my dog's fault, not entirely, but part of it, because normally we will take the dog out and go for a run and go hang out in the woods. But he's been on bed rest for going on 3 weeks now, Um, yeah, maybe 2 weeks. We're going on our 3rd week. But anyway, so we have to be delicate with the dogs. We can't go and play. And then I'm in my head, I'm like, oh, I should just go by myself and get down in the woods. But I haven't done that yet. So grab some sun and have some fun. And that is just another way to, um, yes, Mario, last week was a Love Bling. This time is the America. America Bling, um, and Viejo out on the West Coast. Yes, 40 degrees, y'all are shivering out there. You don't know what to do with that. And Miss Taryn Gomez, you have an adorable face too. So, um, anywho, I will try to leave that alone. All right, so what do you guys think? You're gonna come with me on our— whatever's left of left of Lent because— hold on, I'm gonna look here. We have— ooh, evil. Um, sorry, I hate daylight savings time with a passion, and that's a mere 2 Sundays from now. I hate it because— and oh, ready? Um, just in case you didn't know, the Monday after daylight savings time is the worst time to be on the road because that is when the most amount of accidents happen, which is how you know for real your sleep is the most important thing, because they steal an hour away from you. And it doesn't matter, they give it back to you in the fall, they steal an hour. All right, so we got a month and a week, basically a month and 2 weeks to give up for Lent. So here's the deal, I'm gonna write the give up on getting down on yourself and the 1 down equals 3 up. Right? And I will see if I can keep track of it. Also, I will go back and watch and see. Right now you can decide if you're going to give something like this up, or if there's something more important you need to give up besides giving up on getting down on yourself. Although, to be fair, I don't know there's anything more important than that. Um, uh, That is my thought. Oh yeah, sorry, so if you— yes, write it over there in the chat and let me know that yes, you're going to give up on getting down on yourself, or you're going to give up on something else. And we will see if I can actually keep track of this, and I'll hit a halfway mark maybe and check in on y'all. And that is my thought. Um, I did love G Web's comment though. I can save a lot of time by just not talking about myself then. Yes, that is how that works. And here is the thing, because it's easy to bust on yourself, and it's for a lot of people, I'm just talking about me, I don't know how you are with this, it becomes so much work to have to come up with those 3 compliments, you start catching yourself before you finish that negative thoughts because it's too much work to say, yes, I'm beautiful, kind, wonderful, etc. And then, you know, continue on your day. And then the next time it's like, wow, that was dumb. Oh wait, now I gotta go with 3 more. Okay, let's see what else. Oh, I'm a good mom and I can cook a really mean angel food cake. I actually did my first one from scratch not that long ago. And it came out way better than I expected, so that was exciting. And what else? Oh, dog mom. Yes, the bedrest dog Hawkeye. Yeah, he's— he's— all right, wait a second, let me see if I can— I have a very short cord on my, my, my camera, so I don't think I can do it. But over there on the dog, on the, on the floor there— oh wait, you can almost see him through, through the chair. Um, he is totally passed out. So that's the top half of the dog. Um, but anyway, I think that was 2 out of 3. And then if you're like me and you just get confused— yes, sir?

No, I was just coming in to put that on the stage.

Oh, very sweet. Um, did you get to— yeah, the dog paws over there. So yeah. Um, there's lots of fun stuff. DJ, what was your favorite pet you ever had?

Hank Dog.

What is it?

His name was Hank.

Hank Dog or cat or goldfish?

Hank Dog. Okay, it was my American Bulldog.

Yeah, very nice.

He and I covered a good portion of the United States together. Matter of fact, the western half easily.

Yeah.

Canada. Yeah. We didn't cross into Mexico because we didn't have his shots and whatnot. But yeah, 1974 Dodge Tradesman. I'm piloting that and he's my co-pilot. My, uh, my, my, my Wookiee. And yeah, I miss that guy a lot. I miss him a lot, but that's not what you were— you didn't ask me who, like, who I— what— which pet I missed most. You asked me—

yeah, yeah, but probably the same, uh, sort of, you know, it's like chances are if you miss them the most, then that probably was your favorite. Yeah, yeah. But I mean, oh, and like my girls that had their first shots today, there's nothing like the first one, um, and my first one I love the story about is because apparently the story I was told is I'm like, I'm old enough to speak, but not that much older than that. I got my first dog and apparently my mom brought him home. His name was going to be Potlet and my mom talked me into calling him Piglet. And so I had a dog named Piglet and then growing up in that same household, I then had a cat named Chicken. Um, and so yeah, we have, we have issues in our household. We don't know how to name animals. Um, but yeah, so all in all, um— oh wait, Guns and Barbecue is letting us know that his best pet is his rocks. And movie time. Yes, we need movies. Pet dust bunnies. Oh dude, you don't even know. I have so many pet dust bunnies, although not on my sink because my sink is clean, and that's very exciting. All right. Now I know GT3 said he thought today was going to be 2 hours long because, you know, he likes starting these rumors that are generally untrue. However, GT3, I promise you— well, I don't promise you. My theoretical expectation is when I get to the 10-year anniversary of this show, I will do a 24-hour marathon where I'm just going to put together a bunch of these and that's kind of it. Oh, all right. Male cat named Lucy. At least I'm not the only one who has like weird named animals. DJ, did you ever have any weird named animals, like a goldfish named Frank or anything?

I had a pet mouse, a female mouse named Otis, after Otis Redding.

Okay. All right. Uh, Wood— Woods actually had the dog. Um, and do you— well, have you seen Up, that cartoon movie?

Yes, I have.

Yeah, so for those who hadn't seen Up, Up is that— it's a Disney movie, I think, but dude puts a whole bunch of balloons on his house and it literally lifts up and flies away. And Doug is the talking dog, and somehow I think that makes sense for Woods. Uh, all right, we got the cat named Italy, so, uh, a hamster named Colonel Mustard. So who here plays Clue and knows who Colonel Mustard is? And did he do it with a candlestick or a rope in the library? That's what I want to know. Oh, when's the last time you played Clue, DJ?

Easily a decade or two, but we had it growing up, so I'm familiar. My mom always kicked our ass though.

Us moms, we know we stack the cards. Probably— no, I don't know. We've never played with my kids. It was always just something I played as children over at sleepovers at the Lights House. Uh, Mr. Ron 2A, favorite boxer. Look, you got boxers in common! Wait, that is what you said, right, DJ? Your dog was a boxer?

Oh, he was an American Bulldog, but I like boxers too. See, but every time I see a boxer I just laugh a little. To me, uh, boxers and pugs are how nature said, 'Oh, isn't that special?' Come on now. I'm not dissing either. I love them both.

Yeah, man, he's got— oh, but yeah. Um, oh my gosh, now everyone's giving us their animals. All right, female cat named Indigo. Uh, Mogwai, a little gremlin. Oh yes, um, oh yeah, gremlins, they're cute and then evil all at the same time. And, uh, yeah, dogs, people names, this is true. Um, all right, all right, Charles, if I send you a hamster, you can name it Rhino, I promise. Um, All right, I'm gonna go now. Mr. DJ, shall you have parting words and tell everyone goodbye who has joined us and thank everybody and all of those things that you're so good at doing?

I'd love to do that. I want to remind everybody this Lent, give up getting down on yourself. I guess that that was something that had been brewing in me for a couple of days, and it's a hard thing to do, y'all.. But whether you're countering each negative thought you might have about yourself with a few positive things, we are all here for each other. Pass those compliments along to your friends. Pass that cheery summer hello to somebody in a bitter cold parking lot. You don't know whose day you might be making, and it has made my day to be joined by so many of you. Gun Websites was first in the room tonight. We also had Crabby Turtle, Viejo 2A, Mike Ballinger, Taren Gomez, Chasing Ghosts, the man who takes the woods with him wherever he goes. Woods is out there. Paul Lathrop, thanks for stopping by. C.E. Snyder Marketing was with us tonight. Abigail Sorge Finnegan was in the room, so was New York Outcast, Jamie, JH5869, G23, Guns and Barbecue Mario, Mosen Fiona, Raw Garage Guy 879, and Ron 2A Matters. Thanks for joining us. Next week Bring a friend. Let's get this party started early. And, uh, have a great Lent. Be safe. Take care of yourselves and your crew. And rockward!