Living Young: The Adventure of Longevity - Episode 302

Welcome to the Gladden longevity podcast with Dr. Jeffrey Gladden, where our passion is helping you to become an AJ hacker. On this show, we want to help you optimize your life energy, longevity, health and human performance with impactful and actionable information by answering four questions. How good can we be? How do we make 100 the new 30? How do we live well beyond 120? And how do we live young for a lifetime? Now here's today's episode of the Gliden Longevity Podcast.

Welcome everybody to the Glide and Longevity Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Jeffrey Gladden and we're here to make you an age hacker. And in addition to answer the big questions in life, how good can we be? How do we make 130? How do we live well beyond 120? How do we live young for a lifetime? And how do we develop a 300 year old mind? And today I'm talking with a wild man, Valdemir Franco from Mexico City. And it's a really interesting conversation with Valdemar. He is an adventurer, he's an architect, he's a very conscious individual. And we have a really interesting conversation about his life challenges that he's overcome, flow states that he's gone into work that he's accomplished. I think you're going to really enjoy the perspective of this conversation because it ties into a sense of longevity and a sense of sustainability, if you will. So enjoy this conversation. I really did welcome everybody to the Gladden Longevity Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Jeffrey Gladden and I'm joined today by Voldemort Franco. I think I got that right and you know, this is going to be a really interesting conversation. Voldemort is basically a wild man and I, when I saw his bio come across, I'm like, oh, okay. Well this is right up my alley. So it looks like you've been on quite the journey. Do you want to tell us a little bit about how you got started on this wildman journey?

Yeah, I'd be glad to. Thank you. Thank you, Jeffrey. I guess I started started a long time ago when I was young. I was lucky to. My dad had a home in a Caribbean island near called Cozumel in the southern part of Mexico. So I was, I went with with him a bunch when I was really young and I started, he was a free diver way back there and so he taught me how to free dive when I was 8, 10 years old and I started spearfishing my little red snappers to cook.

Yeah.

And that kind of put me in this wild, I guess, thought in which I wanted to live a life of, of adventure, I guess. And when I, I went through high school, through high school, I started into mountain sports, so climbing. And then when I was just starting college, I got into whitewater paddling.

Okay. Is that in a canoe or a kayak or in a kayak. Kayak. Okay.

Yeah. And I started guiding, guiding different, different groups of people. Eventually I, I, I set up this, a small guiding what? Adventure guiding company in Mexico with a partner and, and started guiding and making some money while I was in college studying architecture.

Okay, and what kind of, what kind of trips are you taking people on?

Well, it was mostly river related trips, so river exploration, meaning rafting and kayaking, some canoeing and, and a lot of hiking and altitude climbing. There's, believe it or not, there's a couple of big volcanoes in Mexico that are climbing. Volcanoes. Yeah, we did a lot of climbing to the volcanoes and just jungle tracks and exploring.

Okay. Fun.

Yeah.

You know, it's really interesting to hear you talk about being 10 years old and your dad teaching you to free dive. You know, as a kid, I remember being on the lake in Michigan growing up and being introduced to the water that way. But something about being on the water with your dad when you're a kid growing up, there's just something super special about that. Right. It's, it's almost a little bit of a coming of age of manhood and some other things that go on there. And then probably your dad's sense of adventure was also rubbing off on, on you to some extent. And also your, your direct experience of adventure, you know, being down there, spearfishing, catching dinner, you know, eating dinner, all of that, it just, it gives you a connection to the planet and to life that you don't get if you grow up in the city. Going to the grocery store every day to get your food. Right. So, you know, I can see that that would really kind of make an impact on you.

Yeah, I think you put it really well. I have this really vivid image of, of us, you know, my, me, my dad and myself going on a little Zodiac boat, dropping the anchor and he, he would go down, I would stay up in the boat watching him. He would, you know, free dive, come up and give me the fish when I was younger and then eventually started diving with him. And I had this really vivid idea of that that's really cherished, you know.

Exactly. Right. It's a, that's a, that's a sacred memory right there. It's beautiful. Yeah. My dad was into fishing, and so I go out with him when I was too little to fish, actually, and then started fishing and catching fish, and we did fishing trips and some in Chile and some in Montana and Wyoming and, you know, places like this. Right. So. Yeah. Beautiful, beautiful memories. Really, that father energy. Right? That's really beautiful. Yeah.

Yeah.

Cool. So. So love of adventure is what I'm hearing kind of all the way through. And then you kind of expanded on that in your own way. But there's. There's more to it beyond your college days and your, Your adventure, guiding things. What, what. Tell us more about that. Because it's really kind of expanded into not just activities that you do, but kind of a life philosophy, if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah. So, you know, I started this guiding company, adventure Travel company. So I did a lot of guiding and then I started architecture. I started a small rafting lodge beside a river, and that eventually evolved into a hospitality business.

Okay.

Focused on small, boutique, active hotels in nature. I guess my professional career, meaning, you know, architecture, blended into my passion, which was adventure. And that's how I created the company called Rodavento, which, you know, which is what I've done for the last 35 years is, you know, keep on creating this concept of bringing people to. Closer to nature in a well designed, beautiful manner in small hotels. So that's, that's been my passion.

But so let me, let me ask you this. Are you, are you the architect of these hotels or the owner of these hotels or the purveyor of some sort or how. How does that work for you?

So I have a lot of hats on. I am the architect.

Okay.

And. And I am. I'm also the. The shareholder, bigger shell shareholder and operator. So I'm kind of doing everything.

Got it. Okay, cool. And how many hotels are there?

There's six.

Okay. And are they all in Mexico or are they scattered around or.

They're all in Mexico. Yeah, they're all in Mexico. Mexico is such a big, beautiful country. That's.

Oh, yeah.

In some, you know, some areas are very unexplored and undeveloped. Others aren't. But. But yeah, we tend to go to the unexplored areas.

Okay, cool.

Yeah. And so in this journey, mostly as I was guiding, I was always in this trend of trying to be strong and keep healthy and, and have big goals. Right. So I, I was always thinking of climbing a new mountain or doing a big new river descent. And that took me on this path of working and training really hard. And then, you know, Trying to accomplish the goal and then going back home and feeling exhausted and mentally tired and. And then wanting to not do anything for a little while, and then guilt start creeping in. And I said, oh, I need another goal.

Right.

I got into this cycle that I guess eventually started banging up my body, you know, and I had a lot of injuries and I was kind of tired and.

Injuries from the adventure activities is what I'm hearing. Is that correct?

Yeah.

Or the training. Was it the training or was it the actual activities?

It was more. I think it was more the training.

Okay. Yeah.

Yeah. Just training without a clear. More of a, I guess, deeper meaning of why I was training. Not only looking for or accomplishing a goal.

So, so, so, so what I'm hearing is that the training and being strong and getting ready and all of that was actually providing some sense of meaning for you. Is that what you're saying? Or you were trying to find meaning in it or what. What did you. What did you mean by that? By bringing meaning into the conversation?

I guess at that stage I was. It was more about my identity, you know, I was this guy.

I see.

And I just needed to be that, you know, and then I, you know, I'm 56 now. When I was 49, I had a water skiing crash and I tore my meniscus really badly on my left knee and I had surgery, and then that surgery didn't. I didn't feel good after, you know, some months, and I went through another surgery. So all in all, I was out for two years. Right. And during those two years, it was really. It was. I couldn't move much. You know, I couldn't jog for years. And that was a big, like, a big hit to my. Who I was.

Right, right, right, right. Your identity was tied up in your capability to some extent. Right? Yeah, yeah. So.

So I had to. And then the pandemic came and, you know, everybody kind of went. Something happened during the pandemic to each one of us, and I started thinking about how to. How to start training differently and, and, and looking at, I guess looking at just being healthier from the inside out instead of just, you know, going harder and harder, which I had done. And that's where I started kind of transforming the way I've developed and done my. My taking care of myself for. For the latter years. And that's how the find your wild flu, find your wild flow book came to be. Yeah.

So, you know, flow and flow state is a very, very cool thing. I imagine that what you're referring to when you talk about wild flow, it could be flow of a river or maybe it's a flow state that you're referring to. Is it one or the other or both or. What are you thinking when you say find your wild flow?

It's definitely both. Did you know, the times where I know I found my flow state on the deepest level was when I was paddling difficult rivers. That's when you really need to be in a total flow state, total focus. Nothing around matters, and you're just doing what you need to do. So that's. I remember that fondly. And. And I think that when you find this state of flow, it's. It's beautiful.

Totally. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I. You know, they talk about flow as being. That many people will report flow as being the best feeling that they ever have. You know, I read the book the Rise of Superman. It was written by Steven Kotler when it came out some years ago. And in there, he's. He's kind of building off the work of a Czechoslovakian psychologist. I can't pronounce his name. It's, you know, like 18 letters long with a bunch of C's and Q's in it. But the. The interesting thing is that people describe flow as being kind of the pinnacle experience of their life, the state of being in flow. And for me, I come. I've kind of come to understand flow is kind of like meditation in action, where you're fully, fully present, right? Like, you are in meditation and yet you're. And you're not, even though you're doing something. Like, I get into a flow state when I mountain bike, right? So you're. You're doing it, but you're also allowing it at the same time. And you're. You're. You're not really kind of overthinking it. You're just allowing the computer of your brain to just do the right thing. And it's. It's like it's happening. It's just such a beautiful feeling. I'm sure it's like that in a kayak. They talk a lot about whitewater rafting and kayaking and. And things. And, you know, skiing. I snowboard as well. So you can get into a flow state snowboarding in the trees and things like this, so. Or playing the guitar, playing music, or even in conversation. You can get into a flow state, so. But it's a beautiful experience. So it sounds like you had your most profound flow experiences when you were kayaking down these challenging rivers. Typically, it has to be a challenging kind of scenario.

So yeah, I think that this idea of challenge and even fear and dealing with being afraid enhances the flow state or gets you deeper into the flow state so that this fear is not something that becomes panic or impedes you from performing.

Yeah. They talk about it as being a challenge that's at 104%. So it's, it's a bit beyond, you know, kind of being all in. It's a bit beyond that. So there's enough say, intensity slash, fear activation. But it's not so much that you're overwhelmed by it. Right. It's, it's enough to kind of pull you in.

Yeah.

So. Yeah.

Yeah.

Cool.

And I really like that. I mean, I, I, I think that everybody should eventually feel that flow state. Like you say, singing or playing music or whatever thing, you know.

Yeah. Yeah. There are many, many, many, many ways to, to go into flow. And one of the things that we're working to build here at Glad Longevity beyond what it currently is, is to have a flow team where the team goes into a collective flow state. Right where we create from that place. This is, this is what we're working on right now. It's super fun. Wow.

It must be. Yeah, it must be. For sure.

Yeah. So tell us a little bit about, you know, you've had some transformations along the way and you talk about this striving to arrive, this flow path, your path of inner strength. You know, you've turned words like routine into ritual and some things like that. Do you want to talk a little bit about some of that?

Yeah, that, that idea of turning turning around routine into ritual was something that I worked on and it just clicked is that, you know, I've always thought about, I'm not a very routine oriented person in the first place. Like I'm, I'm more free flow.

Yeah. Yeah.

But so when I was, you know, always in my workouts, I was thinking about tomorrow. My routine is whatever, you know, pull ups and push ups and sprints or intervals or whatever. And it, it started to become something that had a, like a negative connotation in the sense that it was always repetitive. It had to be done no matter how I felt. If I was a little bit sad or I was feeling a little sick or whatever. My routine on Tuesday is what it is and you just go for it. And I think that when I turned it around and named it a ritual, for me, a ritual is something that I wake up to wanting to perform. Right. It's gives me joy, it kind of enhances me to Be better. So just that different. Click. It might be the same workout. Right. But it's just a different approach that makes it more about nourishing and growing and being better and feeling happier than performing what I need to do.

Yep.

And I think that tears down a lot of objections of why people stop moving or stop, you know, trying to keep healthier, because they're always thinking that it's. It's a battle. Right. It's an uphill climb and it's exhausting and it's hard. And I think when you turn around and start listening to your body and, you know, things, Things change and you do it with a different mentality.

Yeah, I think that's a wonderful insight. I think you can start to look at all of that. It becomes an opportunity instead of an obligation. Right. And it becomes something that you're grateful for as opposed to something that you're resisting. You move from kind of resistance into embracing it and enjoying it. And again, being present with it as opposed to feeling like it's something to get through so you can get to the other side. The joy itself is in. Is in the thing itself. It's not on the other side of the thing. Right. So it's. Yeah, it's a. It's the act of being present. I think for me, that's what presence is all about, is when you're fully present, it's like there's only this moment, there's only now. And so. Well, this is a beautiful moment. Right. And so you're just living in the beauty of that moment as they, as they link together. Yeah. Cool.

Yeah. And I, I think that either. Even though most of us have heard what you just said, and we, we hear it often. It's, it's, it's about today. It's about the journey, not the destination. But for example, in training, most people don't enjoy the training. They, they're training because they want to become or have a six pack or be leaner or be faster or whatever. Right. And I think that when you, when you enjoy every single part of the process, first of all, when you least think, think about it, you're there like you've become.

That's right.

And then, and then you, you enjoy the process, you know, you enjoy the path. I think it's more a path than a, than a goal.

Yeah, I agree with that. I think this idea of listening to your body is also important. You know, you were talking about waking up and it's Tuesday. So on Tuesday I do this. Right. That's an External prescription. I think it's better to write the prescription from inside. Like, what is my recovery score today? What is, how do I feel today? And then do something, but adapt to something, to where your body is now. It's much more nourishing for you to do it that way. Maybe today's a good recovery day. Maybe today's the day to do balance training or agility things or whatever. And then after a good night's rest and you feel like the virus you were fighting off is gone, it's like, oh, now's a good day to do the strength training. Really do the pull ups and the push ups and the sprints or whatever else. Right. But kind of adapting the workouts to suit your body as opposed to trying to adapt your body to the workout, I think is a much healthier way to avoid injury and also to make it fun and enjoyable. I don't know what your thoughts are about that, but, you know, I think.

You couldn't have said it better. I totally believe in, in listening to your body and it's from experience. I didn't listen to my body at all. I just did it. And after my knee thing and my recovery after my knee, the muscle in my, in my left thigh was the size of my arm. It was after two years and I was totally unbalanced. My body hurt and, and, and I, I needed to, to listen to it.

Yeah.

And, and like you say, I think that, that when you. I just on, on the weekend, I went paddling, actually white water paddling. I paddled quite a bit, but I think I drank some water of the river and got a big stomach infection.

Yep.

And you know, and I was, I was feeling weak.

Yeah.

And that's not the time to train. No, it's time to recover.

That's it.

Drink and recover and chill and think. And when the energy comes back, it's time, it's time to train. But if, if, like we're saying before Monday, the recipe is you go out and jog, then. Yeah. Then, then you'll eventually drop it. That's what I feel.

I think. So either that or you'll get injured. One or the other. Yeah. Right.

Yeah.

I think an injury, I think the tragedy of injury, as you discovered with your, with your knee injury while water skiing is an injury is the, you know, it sets us back so far, right. We, then we have to recover and it's, it's very difficult. Even, you know, if you're knocked out for seven days, eight days, you start to feel it. Right. You can Miss a day, right. You can miss three days, but after that, you know, you start to feel it. And so that's why avoiding injury and recovering from injury as quickly as possible, that's why we use a lot of peptides and things like that. And we're very proactive about an injury. If we get an injury, it's like, no, let's heal it now, let's heal it as quickly as possible. Well, let me see how it is three weeks from now. Right. Because we know we're going to be losing ground and then you got the work to kind of get that back. So. Yeah, interesting.

Yeah, yeah. I'm really keen into listening and I've had a big debate on, you know, the monitor, the new monitors, you know, the aura ring or the ever where you're.

Yeah, Garmin, whatever.

I guess it helps you understand your body, but I think it's, I think it's better or it's as good to learn how to listen to your body without technology and just confirming it with technology instead of.

That's right.

Just looking at your watch and saying, my watch said I didn't, I didn't sleep. Right.

So.

And then that creates anxiety and then you don't sleep anyway.

Right.

I don't know what, what your thoughts are about that, but.

Well, I think it can be a helpful training tool for me. It's like a continuous glucose monitor. Right. It can be helpful. It's, it can coach you. It's like real time coaching and that can be super helpful, particularly if you're not really attuned to how your body feels when your blood sugar go ups or how your body feels when you haven't gotten the right amount of sleep or you don't really realize, you know, how your heart rate variability is impacted by flying or things like that. So it's, it can be a great coach to give you more information than you could probably resource on your own. But after a while you kind of learn that and then I think to your point, you start to listen to your body and that's, there's a lot of wisdom right there. So. Yeah, yeah, that's how I think about it. Yeah. You know, you talk about feeling creative as being alive. Tell us a little bit about that. You're obviously a creative guy. You've started businesses, you're an architect, you're designing hotels, you're building hotels, you're operating hotels and there's a lot of creativity that goes into that. When did this creative element sort of kick in for you? Was it from the very beginning, or you didn't fully realize it until later, or how did that work?

I think I always had a lot of ideas, you know, from when I was really young, I think I was the little boy who had a bunch of ideas.

Mm.

I've never had an issue with creativity. I think that the downside of being too creative is that out of a hundred ideas that come to mind, maybe two work. So you have to deal with all the other 98 that didn't, you know, and say, well, it's part of the process of being creative. Right.

That's right.

And I think I want to always go back to what really makes my heart pump, is being out there and adventure in nature, is that I think creativity is a lot like exploration. When you go out exploring, be it in the mountains or the forest or whatever, or just exploring in business or whatever other scenario, you have to be creative. Like, you can't explore without creativity.

That's right.

You have to be there and invent stuff and try stuff and go out there and have ideas and then get rejected and go back to rethinking them. And I think that that's a big driver in life if. If you stop exploring, whatever your scenario is, I think it gets boring, you know?

Yeah, I think. I think for me, it does as well. I tend to explore everything. Right. I always take a learner's mindset to anything that I'm going into. I think that's really the best mindset. And I think trying things. I've always learned the best by trying things, because I'll figure it out. Back when I was practicing interventional cardiology, people would bring me new technologies and tell me what it did. And I would. After a while, I would say, no, just actually just give it to me. I'll actually tell you what it does because I knew that I would play with it and I would figure out what it was actually good for. Right. And then I would tell them what it was good for. And many times it was like, really? It'll do that. Yeah. This is actually really good for this. So. But it's the idea of. Of actually playing with it and having confidence in your ability to figure things out. Right. Be an explorer of life, if you will, which is something you talk about. Have you done any personality profiles that kind of highlight any of this for you? Like, there's things called a culture Index or Colby profile or things like that that actually highlight people that have kind of more of an adventurous creative, you know, psychology, if you will, or personality.

I haven't I haven't done. I should. Should understand them and get to know them.

Yeah, yeah. They're actually fun. Maybe I'll send you one you can take. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We do them for all of our clients. Culture indexes can be really enlightening for people, actually, so that's kind of fun. So you've learned how to balance entrepreneurship, adventure, and family. Tell us about that, the balancing of those three.

I think. I think it's about being. I don't know the word in English. Congruent.

Congruent. Yeah.

I think that when you're congruent in business and with the way you enjoy your family and interact with your family and your friends, the issue of having a balance becomes easier because everything makes sense. I think when those three aspects of important aspects of life don't talk to each other are not congruent with each other, then it becomes really difficult to balance them. Right. And give them priorities, say, prioritize them, say, you know, this. I should devote whatever hours or when they talk to each other, it's been easier. Of course, there's sometimes that you have to push hard in work, and then your kids start saying, hey, sure, you didn't, you didn't show up at the soccer game or whatever, you know, but. But I really, you know, have made an effort to, to make, make all my life be faithful to who I am, my work ethic. The, the way. The, the way I talk to people. The, the, the way I, I promote my business. I'm always thinking about me being the guest of my hotels and what I enjoy. Right. What, what would really bring bring me joy if I was the guest. And that's why design. So then it. Then it's easier to talk about your business to your, to your son. Right. And make him understand the whys.

That's right. Yeah. I think this, There's a richness to that idea of being congruent. It means that you can always show up as yourself. You never have to kind of put on a hat that doesn't fit you to actually go into an environment that you're not really comfortable with, but you're forced to be in. Right. You've. You've created. You've explored enough to find and create the environments that enable you to show up as who you really are. Right. And that's, that's really your own doing. You. You've created that.

Yeah.

So there's been a drive for you to want to be congruent. I would say that's the reason you're Congruent. And that's the reason you have the businesses and the family and, you know, the adventures that you have. Seems like.

Yeah, yeah. I've always. I've never seen myself as a salesman who's selling something that he doesn't believe in, you know?

Sure. No, same. Yeah. I mean.

Yeah, yeah. Everybody has their own path of life and their own needs, but I don't see myself doing that, you know, and that's given me the ability for all the aspects of my life to be in balance, you know, in sync, I would say. Instead of balance, it's easy to want.

To leverage ourselves for the sake of getting something that we think we need or want or will make us something or other. Right. Like either an education, a job, a certain amount of money. People leverage themselves, you know, kind of step outside their comfort zone to kind of create something. It doesn't mean we can't be uncomfortable doing something that we're committed to. That's not what I'm saying. But. But doing that to the extent where you kind of are putting your hope in finding fulfillment, meaning congruence, even in something that is yet to be attained, as opposed to living from a congruent place to starting today and then building from that place. Right. You'll be congruent the whole time, rather than kind of this delayed gratification of. It's always another, you know, X number of dollars, you know, further out there or, you know, whatever it is. Right. Three more health hotels, more, and it'll be there. Right. That kind of thing. You have the idea to be congruent now with one hotel, and then that can lead to two hotels and whatever. So, yeah, I think. I think there's a lot of wisdom in that. What that does is it really lowers inherent internal strife and stress in your system, which actually slows down the aging process is really what happens and enables you to be more youthful. That's. That's what we see. People that have leveraged themselves like that, when they come into the clinic here, we can measure their nervous system status, and we can see how leveraged they are. And even people that leverage themselves and then quit a decade ago may still carry the echoes of that. Of that leveraging of themselves in their nervous systems to this very day. Even though they don't feel stressed, we see that they're carrying tons of stress still in their. Yeah. In their nervous systems. And so then teaching them to be able to reprogram that. Right. Because it does accelerate aging, for sure. Wow. Yeah. It's very cool.

That's interesting.

Yeah.

I should go visit you.

Yeah. Yeah, come on up. Sure. Yeah. Be happy to. Be happy to do that. So. Well, it sounds like you're. Sounds like you're living an adventurous life. Sounds like you're living a life that you would like to be living is kind of what I'm hearing. Or is there. Or is there something I'm missing? There are other things that you're. You feel like you're missing, or where do you stand with that?

No, I think that. I mean, of course, we're always looking to be better in some aspect of. Of. Or maybe a sense of unfulfillment, trying to strive to be better. Right. And there's always this debate in. Inside my head in. In which I'm thinking, should I be devoting more time to a hobby instead of the work of putting together the investment for a hotel? You know, and I think it's always. It's always kind of the. The game of the. I have a friend who calls it the game of the sheet, you know, of a bed. If you pull one way, Right. The end of the bed gets uncovered.

Right.

So it's always this game of the sheet, Right?

Yeah.

So you. You have to play that game. And. And I think it's about being conscious. You know, I think it's about. I don't think nobody, anybody is super happy, and I'm as happy as I can be, and there's nothing more that I can do. I think that's a state that only maybe the Dalai Lama can accomplish. Right. But. So I think it's always about being conscious and saying, I know that maybe I'm pulling a little bit this way, and that has consequences, but I'm conscious, so I take care of it, of this other part of the bed that's uncovered, you know, and that's the way I see it. I'm in the stage now where I'm pulled towards work maybe a little bit more than I. Than I would want to because of a couple of new projects. And I know it, and I know that I have to be conscious and not get, you know, to pull away from my center.

Right.

There's other times in life where I've been really active in traveling and training or whatever, but I feel the lack of accomplishing something in work. Yeah, I think it's more about being conscious and being mindful of the different aspects.

Yeah, I think that's right. I think you can. In the moment, you can prioritize one thing over another, but the priorities can change as you Kind of move along and as things get completed or whatever. And quite honestly, the priorities can change from day to day. Like on a Saturday, your priorities can be completely different than they were on a Friday. So the flexibility to actually move through those states in a conscious way can give you balance, even though at any particular moment you're kind of pulling the sheet one a little bit further to this side of the bed. Right. So, yeah, yeah, I think that's right.

And I think it's. What I've experienced is in life there are short cycles like the one you described. Maybe the weakened. You're feeling something, and during the week there's another feeling, and then there's longer cycles in which, you know, there's three, four, five months where you. You're feeling some something, and then. And then you. You're feeling more energized or less energized or happier, sad, whatever. But it's these cycles in life that are sometimes, of course, you have to be mindful, but you have to let them ride them. Right?

Yeah, that's right.

Instead of fight them.

That's right. Yeah. Sometimes it's just called for. It's a season of this. Right. I think life does come in seasons, so, yeah, there's no doubt about it. I think embracing each season and finding the equilibrium in that season, even though the equilibrium may shift a little bit, you're still in equilibrium. Right. Like now I'm gonna.

Longer range. Right. Longer time frame.

That's right, that's right. Yeah. Yeah. And within that, there are short time frames also. Right. Where it is, you know, day to day. So, yeah, that gives you flexibility inside the longer time frame.

But I like the description of season. It is seasons. Yeah. And I guess the old ancient people used to live by the seasons much more than we do and acknowledge those seasons. Right?

That's right. That's right. Exactly.

We're like. We want to change season from one day to the other.

That's right. Now that's cool. Well, you're an interesting guy, Voldemort. You've. You've led a life of introspection. Right. In other words, being aware, keeping tabs on how you're feeling, listening not only your body, but your psyche, being creative, being an explorer, being an adventurer. And you've done it. You've done it consciously. I mean, what you're creating, you're doing consciously. You're aware of what you're doing while you're doing it. Right. And so that's. That's a great way to live. So very cool.

Thank you very much. I appreciate it coming from from you.

Oh yeah, my pleasure. Yeah, it was a pleasure to chat with you. Thanks so much.

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