Basic Human Decency in the Face of a Conservative Storm

How do you feel about change? I was thinking about them this morning. And by the way, I'm having a hardcore Monday on a Wednesday. I know you're gonna see this on Thursday, but trust me, it's one of those days where anything I'm trying to do seems to be like swimming upstream. So bear with me. As I was saying, how do you feel about change? I was thinking about it this morning and I came up with like three, four types of people. And I think you may or may not be a combination of these types. Except for type 1. Type 1 hates change. Across the board, hate change. These are the people that want everything to stay the same always. They take comfort in the routine. The problem. These also could be anxious people because the reality is nothing stays the same. You, you're not the same person you were yesterday. You're older. The seasons are changing, the weather is changing, politics is changing, relationships change. Your children are growing up, your partner is changing, your job is changing, the industry and the economy are changing. Everything is changing. And that's enough to send some people into a panic attack until you embrace that. Easier for me to say, Nishnaabe. We don't control things. The second group, they're okay with change across the board. So it's the other end of the spectrum. Known, unknown, change. They don't care. They understand change is part of the the life journey. They're totally cool with it. If only we could be that type. The third one is okay with change if it's known. I know my job's going to end in six months. I know winter is. I know who the new boss at work is going to be. You know there's a change, but you know what the change is. And the last group are the people that initiate change. Now, I know without a doubt that I'm a combination of three and four. I most definitely initiate change. I'm an entrepreneur. I'm always doing things differently. Why a thumbs down? That's not a bad thing. Hey, photo booth, smarten up. But when it comes to change, I don't control change from outside forces. Do I know it's going to happen? Yes. Do I know? I don't control the world, the universe, other people? Absolutely. But when change is going to happen, that affects me. I am definitely one of those people that prefer the known to the unknown. I can handle bad news if I know what's going to happen. It's the unknown that scares the daylights out of me, which could easily be how you describe this political era we're in with everything that happens south of the 49th and everyone trying to guess how it's going to affect us up here in the north, it's a time of change for sure. So first off, as always, I think this is going to be a new habit of mine. How are you doing? Scale of one to ten? One. You're barely hanging in there. Ten. You're crushing it. I hope you're doing okay. And if you're not, I hope you're here. How does it. How am I doing? How's it look to me through Indigenous eyes? I think scary times are coming. I think I would be very, very surprised if the Conservatives did not get in power, come back into power in Canada. The Conservatives do not have a history of being pro Indigenous initiatives. I think that's going to get worse. And being Indigenous in Canada, we always endure every single day. That is just the nature of the beast. To think of that even getting worse is scary. Which is why of late in my videos, I've really focused on what can we do? And I the two sides of the feather. What can you do for you and what can we do to make sure this storm is not a tornado? So let's talk about it. Hi, everybody. My name is Sandy Boucher. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Moon Clan, a proud member of Seine River first nation in Treaty 3 territory in Northern Ontario. And yes, I bit the inside of my mouth. So every now and then you're gonna hear it sounds like I have a lisp. I don't. Well, I guess I do. Today there's another change for you. As I mentioned in the opening, we're living in a storm right now. We're living in a season of change and we don't know the extent of that change yet and what it's going to mean for marginalized people. And of course, my focus on this channel is the Indigenous people living within Canadian borders. For 15 years, I've dedicated myself to reconciliation, Indigenous Canadian reconciliation. I work in first nation communities, helping them to heal and remember our resilience and the power of our teachings. And I help mainstream non Indigenous Canadian entities, whether it's universities, colleges, hospitals, government entities or corporations, understand how best to serve the Indigenous people they work with or want as customers. And even get into the realm of recruitment and retention, which is a huge challenge for employers. I think we were just starting. It felt like we were starting to make headway. And then wtf? Like the. Who saw that coming in the States? Well, I guess half the population saw that coming because that's what they voted for. So today we could talk about that insanity. I'm not going to. Instead, I love. I've survived. I've overcome poverty and become a successful business person by focusing on what I can control and not what I can't. So I wanted to touch on a few of those things today and maybe if they resonate with you, it's something that can help you if you're feeling uneasy in this era. So first off, I did my social media post today is all say my name, say my name. What is that? Destiny's Child really embracing that song of late, even though it's an oldie. Because if you follow my work, you know, in the last month or so, I don't even know how long ago now, it wasn't that long ago, I made some serious changes in my business. I've been in business for 15 years now. I had a couple of different sites and business entities and I've decided to shutter a few of them and instead focus all my work under the umbrella of my name. It's sandybouchet.com and that's where you'll find everything I do and hopefully some inspiration and help for whatever you're struggling with. And I have to admit, like, I didn't see it coming. So that would be a change. I didn't know, but it was positive. I knew. I know I'm only going to be in business for 10 more years. After that, I'm gonna go return back to the days where I just go where I'm asked to go and the marketing and all of that business generation end. Will end. I'm going to be 70 in 10 years. I think that's reasonable. So it's amazing how putting that deadline, knowing I only have 10 more years to do this work, how that has accelerated my effort and my interest in my passion. So that's been exciting. The other thing that's been exciting is realizing how powerful it was to do work under my name. That because when I was operating under the other business names, I mean I was literally under the business name. I didn't intend on it, but now it feels like I was hiding. And that got me thinking about all of those social media names, the, the fake names that people use on different platforms. And it made me think of the comments and how easy it is to be ugly when your name is not attached to it. And like the trolls come to mind. So I guess my question to you or my challenge or my pleading with you is make sure that what you say or what you type or what you post, do it attached to your name even if your name is not showing. Think of it that way. Is this how I want to be known? Is this the person I want? My children and grandchildren and friends and family and parents, if you're lucky enough to see, still have your parents. Is this how I want to be known? Now I know there's some ugly people out there right now who take pride in being ugly. Take pride in I'm just going to leave it at being ugly. And well, I guess on the good side we can say thank you for showing your true colors. Cuz I don't want to be anywhere near you because like society doesn't exist person by person. Society requires caring about another person. And so you know what? Just when you post, I gotta get better at this too. Asking why. Even if you just ask yourself, wonder why that person seems so upset. I wonder why this image triggered them. I wonder why they felt the need to share that. I wonder why. I wonder why. I wonder what's going on in their world. I wonder why they're so upset. I wonder why they're so angry or frustrated or whatever the case may be. And two, to ask why. So first and foremost, post and talk like everything is under your name. That's the first thing on my list here. I got a list in front of me. The second thing, Holy moll with the assumptions. We all know that saying assumptions make up out of you and me, first three letters of the word assumptions. If you didn't know that. Yesterday I posted something. I think it was a comment on my video about this storm that's coming, this conservative storm. And I think that's a valid analogy. Obviously, that's why I'm using it. And I had someone. It still makes me giggle. I had someone comment on, I believe it was on Facebook. Comment on my thread and tell me that I should stop watching the View. You know, the daytime TV show, the Four Women. Is it four? Five? Sitting around the table talking. Okay, for one, I run a business. I have staff, I have payroll to meet. I'm not sitting around watching daytime tv. And honestly, honestly, the View is not something I'd be watching. I don't need to watch four women talking about things that they may or may not be experts in. Like, no. How would watching the View benefit me in any way, shape or form? So I laughed because it was a really nice assumption. And it was a guy, by the way, just putting that out there. But for him to assume that I was concerned about a conservative storm Because I watched the View. Maybe he didn't realize I was indigenous, which, like, if he made it to that part of the video, maybe he didn't, he just saw the thumbnail. I don't know. I'm not making any assumptions, but I thought that was funny and I thought it was funny and also relevant because Step two, a conflict resolution. I shared this in a video a week or so ago. Three steps to conflict resolution. Move towards the conflict. You know nothing. And if you do, pretend you know nothing and don't be afraid of the silence, embrace it. So not making assumptions, asking why is all of that? I know nothing. Because if there's one thing I've seen time and time again, when we talk about staff members not getting along and I get called in to do training in those situations on a regular basis, if you assume that someone's actions are because they're insert some word I can't say on YouTube, that's not going to help you. If you assume the worst of people, that's a horrible negative existence you just built for yourself. And by the way, you built it for yourself. If instead you assume that they didn't meet that deadline because something's wrong and you go to them and ask them if they're okay rather than attacking or judging. Now we're building bridges and building a cohesive team. So backing away from the judgments and the assumptions is how we solve these conflicts. And, and I guess that's where I'm struggling to go to this political realm for a second. I mentioned, I don't know, yesterday's video the day before. I think actually in both of the videos of late, I mentioned Leo Bernier and the Conservative Member of Parliament that lived down the street in my hometown. I come from a town of 400 people, you know, who lives there. And I was thinking back, I'm 60 years old, I've been around for a while and I realized I've been through conservative governments before, like, and you know, I may or may not have been happy with it, but it was not earth shattering, it wasn't devastating. So why is it different? There's the asking why again. And I don't think I can just see people in the comments like, it's different, because it is different. It's ugly. This time, it's attacking. It's, it's, it's not just another political party. I mean, ax the tax, hello Mother Earth, the environment, like sticking your head in the sand ostrich principle is not going to help. We get the carbon tax rebate that covers the extra you're going to pay at the gas tank in a lot of cases. I know. My brother and I were talking about this. So turning your back on the environment for short term relief, destroying the future of your children and grandchildren so that you don't have to pay as much now is ludicrous, selfish, self centered, short sighted, whatever words you want to use. And the attacking, like I said, is just, it's, it's disgusting. For a second there I was thinking I'm gonna have to start watching what Polly Ev says so I can comment on it. I'm not bringing that level of ugly or that frequency of ugly into my life. So no, I love how I'm having informed conversations with people that have a different view. But if you're going to insult my intelligence because I don't like Pierre Poliev, I'm not talking to you because that's more of the ugly that I don't want. Right. So can we adult, I guess is the question. So. So I am nervous about this new PC government largely because of what's going on south of the border. I don't know if you saw it last night on X again, I still haven't figured out it's not tweeting, so I don't know what it's called when you post on X now, but whatever. Trump has appointed Vivek Run Ramaswamy and Elon Musk to the be the head of doge of the Department of Government Expenditures. And they want to look manage the government like they're entrepreneurs. I'm an entrepreneur. I get that they want to slash government expenditure. Actually I have another. This is from npr. Trump Taps must lead a Department of Government Efficiency. So what did they say? Ddt. Together these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies essential to the Save America movement. I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to the federal bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and at the same time making life better for all Americans. There was another quote here I wanted this will send shockwaves through the system and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people, Musk was quoted as saying. Another thing I want to invite you to as you listen to politics or listen to the reporting, be pay attention to the words they use. Like I was saying earlier with the name you carry, the way people describe things is really important. And in the States when they're talking about pensions, old Age, security, wealth, I think they still call it welfare, health care, all of those. They are now in the habit of referring to those type of benefits or payments or pensions as entitlements. Now I don't know about you, but entitlement, entitlements was always a negative in my world. What do you think you're entitled to this. When you start classing those things and referring to those things as entitlements, then you sound like the good guy when you take it away. That and they talked in another article. Elon and Trump were referring to how it's going to be painful in the immediate future, but it'll be a long term benefit. My fear, the pensions are going to disappear, the health care is going to disappear, those are going to be seen as drains on the government coffers and heck, what it'll do to people. And we gotta be careful because we see I live in Ontario that have as a provincial conservative government and they have done their best to disempower and dismantle the education system and our health care system. They love for profit health care. If you have the money, you get the health care. I like our universal health care, our free health care here in Canada. And yes, people will argue it's not free because I had to wait eight hours and emerge. Yeah, but it didn't cost you $500,000 when you finally got to see the doctor. Go talk to your American friends about what they paid to have a baby, what they pay for a Tylenol in the hospital. I could tell you stories. So be careful. The storm is coming. So what else are we going to talk about? Oh, we talked about the name calling. Like, jeez, how, when I wrote down how old are you? How disrespectful are you? How abusive are you? Make a point, ask a question, don't call a name. Let's remember we're adults. We can have differences of opinion. We can agree. Got to be careful here. We can agree to disagree unless what you believe in is going to hurt me. If like the whole thing in the States, if you believe that you should take away my human rights, then I have an issue. That's not a difference in opinion, that's a policy that's going to hurt me. And if you want to hurt me, you're not a friend or an ally. That's easy peasy lemon squeezy. So we got to be careful on that. Last but not least. Oh, I had a couple quotes I wanted to share with you. I gotta find my phone, my Desk is a disaster. I told you I was having a Monday on a Wednesday here. So here's the first quote that really just resonated. And I thought this was just so perfect for this time. This is from Scotty Pippen. Who's Scotty Pippen? I should Google that. Leadershipright.com posted it. Most people don't want to be part of the process. They just want to be part of the outcome. But the process is where you figure out who's worth being part of the outcome. I thought that was amazing. Amazing. And then this one. Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. Get busy, get busy. Do something that helps. Last but not least. Oh, there was one more quote. I can see. I wrote it down. Let's see if I can find it. Oh, there's two great leaders don't send out to be a leader. They set out to make a difference. It's never about the role. It's always about the goal. We gotta start asking our leadership what their goal is. The last one is it was just a. A Pinterest quote. You know what I would really like to see go viral? Basic human decency. Just because we disagree doesn't mean you get to call me a nasty name. Finally, I'm going to leave it. I'm going to lean on my mom like I always do. Teach other people how to treat you. And that means you have to treat yourself like a person of value. If you were at home and everyone you loved was comfy, you're there by yourself. Everything is done. There's no chores, whatever. What would you do? If sleep comes to mind, there's a heads up. You need some sleep. Do that for yourself. If pigging out comes to mind. Well, that's usually comfort food. Why do you need comfort? Maybe unpack. That gonna get in a good work workout. All the power to you. If you're gonna tune out on the TV for a while, what are you tuning out from? And how can you fix that? Bottom line, don't do things that are gonna hurt you. Don't do the short term fix. That's gonna. You're gonna paint the spades. In the long term, you're talking to a woman that just got a diabetes diagnosis. Wish I could turn back the clock on that. And trust me, I'm doing everything I can. Not medicated. Regulated through my diet and exercise. I'm doing good that way. But still, we gotta treat ourselves like value and quit putting ourselves last on the list. Because if we put ourselves last, we can't be surprised when other people do same because we taught them to do that. Last. I said last. But here's the quote I wrote down like or the point. I wrote down self respect grows respect for others. If you have self respect, it is way easier to respect other people. And if it's self hatred you're dealing with, that might explain some of the ugly. So that's what's running through and in front of these indigenous eyes. I hope you know, I. I wouldn't be surprised if some of that resonated with you. Whatever your background is, I hope you're taking care of you. I hope you're packing a good canoe, as my elder would say, and preparing for what's coming next. We can't control. Well, we can get out and vote, but we can control. If another government comes in and they just do things we don't like, well, then we take action on that. Be vocal, express yourself. But more importantly, take care of yourself and take care of the people in your world. Your next door neighbor, that little old lady or man that lived down the street. Bring society back together. Remember basic human decency. It's not all about me. All about me. People need to go live in the middle of the bush and quit demanding things. Because if you're not going to give, you don't get. With a gift comes responsibility. Canada is a gift. And yes, even as an indigenous woman, I can say that. But I fight long and hard and live up to the responsibility of leaving this a better place for my kids and grandkids. And I hope you're gonna join me. That is my insane day. Now I get to have the fun of trying to edit this and praying that it works without any more challenges. I have totally trashed my desk and I can honestly say don't care. Don't care. Not high on the priority. I will get to that when I have the capacity to do it. And that is not right now. Until tomorrow. Please take care of you. I love you. Bye bye.