Syrian Americans Shifting Your Perspective with Hazel Swaid

Episode 29 of the Fuel the Fire Podcast hosted by Shanon Safi, RD, LDN.

On today’s episode, Shanon is joined by Hazel Swaid, a life coach and author. Join them as they have a conversation about human connection, philosophy, family ties, and their personal keys to feeling fulfilled.

In This Episode:

Hazel talks about her identity within humanitarianism, religion, and exploring spirituality (01:45)

Taking stock of your masculine & feminine energy, especially as a child of Syrian immigrants (16:08)

Finding yourself as an individual outside of what you were raised as (29:37)

Honoring yourself while honoring your roots (38:36)

Mirroring: Does everything in life reflect what is already in you? What do you do if you’re seeing things you don’t like? (47:14)

You are in control of your response (59:19)

Episode Transcript:

 You can be the best life coach on the planet. You're still a human being and you're still gonna go through your seasons and you'll have your seasons of the L sure as the sun will rise that will happen. How do you deal with those things? That's the question. It's not how do we stop them from happening? It's how do we better manage them?

Hello, hello, welcome to the fuel fire soul podcast with your host, Shannon Saffy. If you haven't already, make sure to download my free healthy hypnosis meditation, so that you guys can start to connect to your body and bypass a lot of subconscious barriers that might be holding you back from being able to fully step into the version of yourself, that really embodies everything that it means to take care of your body, and to treat it the way that it deserves to be treated. Today, I have an amazing guest on Hazel, she really blew my mind with this conversation. We got in really deep on some amazing things. And I'm so excited to share this with you guys. We had discussed some questions about really we asked the first question, and we just completely went off a tangent and took this in a direction that I'm actually really happy about. So I hope this finds you well. And I'm excited to share this with you guys. Hello, hello. So I am here with hazel, who is an author and life coach. I'm really excited to have her on today's podcast, because she has a really beautiful perspective. And she is a fellow Syrian, which of course I love. So Hazel, tell the audience a little bit about yourself outside of your career first.

Awesome. So first of all, I do want to say really, thank you so much for having me on today. Super excited. So outside of me being a life coach and author, I am involved in a lot of humanitarian stuff I've actually been doing that my whole life. Really, throughout my childhood, it was more so through the church. So I would like to consider myself a pretty religious spiritual person. But I have dabbled in spirituality when it comes to Buddhism. Like I'm a part of a hiking club in the Lehigh Valley that is more so Buddhist based, although you don't have to be a Buddhist to be a part of the club, which is really cool. Because I get a lot of different perspectives from that. It's really nice to see people from different walks of life and being able to connect with individuals with such a deep understanding of life and nature and on all different levels. So I'm part of like hiking clubs, I love to do that in my free time. We do that once a month. And like I said, the humanitarian someone part of a nonprofit, and also another Syrian nonprofit. So I do like to involve myself in things that make me human things that remind me about what it's like to be a human being. I feel like we got so caught up in the technological age. And although these things are all blessings, and it's such an incredible like advancement that the human race has made, we tend to get disconnected from what really makes us like one another. So I try to be involved in these types of events, community events, and things like that as much as they possibly can. On an individual level, I'd like to think of myself as a little bit of an overachiever kind of a perfectionist in some ways, but I'm really working on breaking that like real bad. So but other than that, as an oldest daughter in an ethnic household, so I feel like that might tell you as much, probably more than anything else. And I am an Allentown alum, DRF alum, born and raised in Allentown. So I will rub success all day. And that's pretty much I like to stay active. I like to be involved. And this is me, basically.

Yeah, that's so cool. Thank you. Thank you what really got you involved in so many different humanitarian projects?

Alright, do you want the deep dive psychological reason why I got involved or like the basic reason. So I'll give you a little bit of an overview. So I got involved in humanitarian things because it was something that I could, I felt like I could fix, I wanted to do something I wanted to contribute. I wanted to be a part of something. I've always wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. And I found such a reward like it was a very selfish reason to get involved in like humanitarian things. So anytime something happens overseas, primarily overseas, because that's something that I felt like I was really super connected with on like an emotional level and on a personal level as well. But when it comes to like humanitarian events, like within the community, it was a church. It really was like, I grew up in the youth group and I was a church kid. My whole I've always be a church kid. So really getting involved in like homeless dinners going like being candy striper at the hospitals, things like that. Like, we did that all growing up again, it was something that I felt a part of it was bigger than just me. And I liked feeling like a small fish sometimes, like, even though it's just like small fish, big pond, you're making some moves, you're making some waves. So I felt really, like connected and pulled to do something like that.

Yeah, that's awesome. Thank you. So is there something deeper that you feel like kept you going through all of this?

I would say so. I mean, like, I've definitely like, I've heard your podcast before, I think you touched on it a lot. Like just just doing the work like that shadow work that self like I found a lot of myself and in the work that I was doing. So like, again, for selfish reasons is more like, you know, why do I get triggered by certain things and working in like, for instance, like the soup kitchen or, and stuff like that growing up, it was more of like, reminding myself that my problems were not as bad as I thought that they were in the grand scheme of life. So it was teaching me left lessons like life lessons, and I found myself continuously going back. So it's like, there's things that I need to learn. There's things that I need to learn about myself about the way you know, society works the way that community works family. And I was learning that along the way. And I think that's the reason why it kept me going back because I got that rush of dopamine every time I got that lesson or that I like something clicked in my brain. I was like, Yo, like, what else can I learn? This is cool, like so I think that's what kind of kept me going back. Again, I'll be the first one to admit they were four. It wasn't like for the glory. I wasn't doing it for like, you know, I will always say Glory to God always. But like, it wasn't for like some, like self actualization purposes. Although I think that was a great byproduct of it. It was more for like the soul. Really, I felt like,

it's interesting that you use the word like, selfish, like, Oh, I did this for selfish reasons. Because I mean, I think depending on really how you perceive it, like everything we do, in some sense, is selfish, even when it's not selfish. So it's like, oh, like I'm giving and why am I giving because it feels good to me. Right? And so it's kind of funny, no matter how you spin it, it's like everything you do is selfless and selfish at the same time. Yeah, which is just the duality of life, which makes it always interesting and fun. Yeah, and

the duality I think is a cool thing that you bring up because that was a lesson that I felt like I learned much later. Like I didn't learn that growing up I still I was still in a very egocentric like I got into esoteric knowledge. Later I would say within the last like two years or so I started like opening up the possibility of truth let me put it that way. So like the idea of like duality and like as above so below you know as within so without those types of things I learned much later in my spiritual progression so I consider myself religious and like orthodox by identity and then by like, on a more like Soul level, I'm a student of truth so do I believe that there is truth in like, I don't want to get too religious or spiritual here but like it's it's a moving factor for me so like it's the thing that keeps me moving forward is like understanding and staying grounded to what created me and what formed me what shaped me as an individual was that aspect of like religious, organized religion, and then spirituality as I continue to become a student of life I started realizing like no, there's some truth here to like the law of duality, like, you know, the esoteric laws or like the laws of nature for instance, those types of lessons I learned much later in my like, own journey and even outside of formal education so but that was like, top top five for me love dualities, top five because it gives you a really great understanding of balance.

Yeah, I totally relate to that, like a lot of what you said about okay, this is how I was raised. These are the beliefs I was brought up around. But there's a part of me that was curious that really grew into wanting to understand it on a deeper level for myself and how, like, there's more perspective out there that we're not necessarily shown or we don't have the ability to see until we start to get out there and explore the universe and like when you are in these right, like raised in these smaller circles, it's it's hard to break out of it or be the one that gets curious if it's okay with you being the one that's curious. And I Yeah, we'd love to hear your experience with that. And like if you felt any opposition to that curiosity?

Oh, yeah, I definitely did. Yeah, for sure. Like I totally felt like it like lots of resistance, lots of resistance to that curiosity. I felt really wrong morally like I felt like this was not something that I struggled with, like trying to find an establish my own moral code. based outside of the things that was instilled within me outside of the things that I knew to be right or wrong, right or wrong, right, so like, and then realizing, when I got older that my curiosity kind of led me into like, for instance, like, right now I read put on, I read the Torah, I study Eastern philosophy, I study, you know, Buddhist principles and stoic principles. And a lot of the things don't necessarily align with the way that I was brought up. And especially because of, you know, what's happening to our home country and things like that. So like, knowing some of like, the socio political aspects of it. When I started delving into more of like, understanding the religious side of things. I did feel like there was a lot of resistance there definitely, for sure. I felt like, you know, sometimes I was like, Whoa, Am I doing the right thing? Like, is this curiosity leading me to the right, like, am I opening the right doors here? Sometimes I would find myself going down rabbit holes, I'm just like, This doesn't feel authentic to me. So I would kind of like, back away. And that's when it's really important to like, really take stock of that curiosity. I think it's curiosity is beautiful to a point. And then sometimes you kind of get lost in it, and you get lost and like, okay, but if you're asking questions, there's infinite questions to ask. Like, we got to get real granular, like, so I do think that that's the part of like, that self development journey that I had to really get disciplined on and I really had to, like, be very clear with my vision, like why was I curious about certain things? And that's when I started asking myself like, why is this even interest me? Why do I even want to know about this? If there's some things you don't want to know about? I'd rather not know. So kind of like honing that back in and being like, Okay, well, what's the most authentic to me? I can tell you for myself, like I did, I got into like crystals. I did get into like, tarot readings I got into like, was like, really deep in like astrology and things like that. And I do I, I respect the history of it. And I respect it as something other than myself, right. So like, I respect that the history of astrology has been around long before mathematics. And it's been long before organized religion. And I understand that and I study it, and I study it as a scholar, I would like to consider myself like a study as a scholar, not somebody that internalizes it. And then when I got into like, the crystal, I was like, Oh, my God, these crystals aren't working for me. And then I realized, Okay, well, it might not be because they might have some blockage within me that something like this is an authentic to you, and maybe down the line and might get more like understanding of certain like frequencies and energies. And again, I understand it's all natural, and it's from the ground. And it's from, you know, it's from God, God created this, like, use it to your disposal. I just didn't have the knowledge nor the patience and the understanding to learn the things that in an honorable way to do justice for these teachings. Like, I just didn't believe myself that I was doing justice to them. So I just let them go. So there are things that I know that down the line and might learn them, but right now, I'm not in the place to like dedicate the necessary understanding for these things. So I think to kind of answer your question, yeah, it like, you do have to kind of hold yourself back from that curiosity. Sometimes, sometimes it depends on what it is, though.

I totally know what you mean, I think when you are someone that just naturally is curious, and you like learning about things. And I also agree with you like I think of myself as like a lifelong student, because I just love to like, learn about new things. And I think it does confuse a lot of people because it's, it's just a curiosity to me, like you really have to explore different perspectives to know that the one that you currently have is the one that's most in alignment for you. Right, yeah. And I think a lot of people tend to be very closed to even hearing the other side. And when you start to question them, and if there's like this frustration, it's like, okay, well, why do you believe what you believe? Like, have you ever played around with the possibility of this? And like, it's funny, this is like the 50th time crystals came up. Sorry for bringing it up. No, no, like, it's like showing me there's a synchronicity here. Like, there's a reason this keeps coming up. But I think I like wrote a post. And it was really weird, because I don't know what happened with Instagram, but like, no one saw it. Like, it was just so strange. But you know, that's the Instagram algorithm, right? That was why that happened to happen. But yeah, my thought is, is like, so many of these things, like so many different religions and cultures and backgrounds and how you were raised, they're gonna influence like, how you perceive these things. And so I think, like you said, like, God created all of this even technology in a way like He created us who created this thing, right? So nothing is really inherently good or bad. It's your decision to give meaning to the object and to use it in a way that's either going to get you closer to this path of spirituality and truth. Or it can also be a tool that you use that's used to derail you. And like that's, that's up to you to make that just decision which way you're gonna walk with with a thing and like, you might walk in the wrong direction for a while, because you're trying to learn you're trying to understand, and you're curious, but eventually you have that self trust to be like, like you said, like, I know when to stop, like, I know, when I'm walking down a path doesn't feel good. And you just have to trust your intuition in those moments, to just like, let you know, it's time to stop. Like, for me, my brain literally quite literally hurts. When I'm like, I'm getting really lost, I feel like, like, quite like I really would say, it feels like the sensation of like, I am losing my mind by going deep into this thing. And then I'm like, Okay, come back. Because it's easy. It sounds like maybe you can relate, it's like you, you get so deep into something to the point where we have to, like, pull ourselves back and be like, okay, like, also is not this complicated, right? It doesn't mean like, sometimes you just have to exist, and not think too hard about these things and just enjoy the human experience for what it is.

Yeah. And I think too, like, one thing that really has helped me is like this understanding a little bit more better of the masculine and feminine energy. And the reason why I want to bring that up is because that's what helped me understand of whether or not I was resisting too much. Like when I realized when you said sometimes you just have to be like, when I started learning that feminine energy is more about being than it is about doing and I found myself like, I'm just doing the most like I'm doing too much. Sometimes when I find myself like that, I'm like, maybe my energy is off like my actual like that duality that yin and yang energy that masculine feminine energy. When I found myself in the Yang too much. I knew I was out. Like, I knew I needed to put a break on whatever I was doing. Like it should not be this hard. And truly, life is that simple. Like sometimes life is assembled. Are there aspects of it, where it's like, like, and I don't want to discredit or dishonor all of the plight that women have gone through, both in our home country and in our country here that have paved the road like they what is it they walked so we could run that type of Yeah, so like, I don't want to discredit them from that. But sometimes I do find myself like, I find myself so far into this like doing energy that it really throws everything out of whack. Like my sleeps off my nutritions off, everything's off. Like it's when I start noticing like, Mind, Body Soul is all happening at the same time. My personal my opinion, right? So like, it's all happening at the same time. If I can't understand why one aspect isn't working, I check the other ones. Like if this is not working for me, and I can't figure out why it's not working then something else in the other levels or phases or sections or whatever of your life is off. And that's when I started getting more into like understanding like, okay, feminine energy started getting into booty yoga, right. So like, I saw you in a couple of classes, which is super cool. And I went to like, the the classes in Bethlehem as well, which is like, awesome. So shout out to Tina. She's the one who brought me on like, she's awesome. I love her. But like when I started getting into that type of like feminine flow and like feminine power, I was like, Yo, this is so cool. Like, I love this. I just didn't, I've never been a lifter. I've never I never like I don't I would love to one day, be a lifter, like, I think it's so cool. I admire it so much. But like, it's just not I'm more of a cardio girl. Like that's just what I do, right. So like, when I found that like booty yoga was more about like that, that like embodiment of feminine power, feminine energy. I was like, This is awesome. And so I was going to that for a while, right and it kind of like and it'll come in waves. It'll come in season sometimes, like, I'll find myself really in that doing energy. And sometimes I needed to be more in the flow. And I would get out of that doing energy and just like let things come to me and like being in that receptive mode and just like allow the universe to show up for me sometimes, and not me having to prove myself over and over and over again. Like I I've done that, like Been there done that were good, like, so I don't know, I just feel like it really does get to the point where when you take stock of your masculine and feminine energy, you could recognize it better. When these triggers are these things come up in your day to day because they will and they'll never stop like you could be. And this is me as a life coach. Right? So like, you can be the best life coach on the planet. You're still a human being and you're still gonna go through your seasons and you'll have your seasons of the l like that will always come like sure as the sun will rise that will happen. So like how do you deal with those things? That's the question. It's not how do we stop them from happening? It's how do we better manage them? So that's kind of where I've gotten into like more understanding stoic philosophies and reading the stoics. And like the Greek philosophers, they've done honestly, like, so much for my mental health, I can't even explain like, it's been able to kind of keep my masculine energy at that level, just by learning just by studying just by like being a nerd. And just like learning different philosophies and principles and stuff. So I think that's the aspect of learning how to stop that overwhelming feeling is getting better at handling them, honestly.

Yeah, you touched on a lot of really good points there, that I really agree with you like the principle of masculine and feminine energy, that's a really big one, that people, I think there's just a lot of confusion around that and what that actually means. But when you take the time to study it, and really understand from like, a spiritual perspective, or even, you know, if you want to throw in the western side of the theory, like, you can really find a lot of balance by thinking about your life in that way. Because it's just like that, where, you know, we're kind of in it's tough for me, I've tried to think about like, does it come more from Western culture? Or is it coming from like, the background as being like a first generation American? I think there's like, different parts that affect it. Like both sides, I think kind of influenced that. But yeah, there's a part of it, where we're kind of taught to, like keep pushing, keep moving forward, don't slow down, like that shows weakness, you got to keep going, like, you have to make it happen. It doesn't just happen for you. And I think, you know, I see it in, like people who are deeper in our culture or like more like a, you know, fresh off the boat. It's, it's that thought, where you have to, like, keep doing and serving in order to show like that you're worthy, or that you can, yeah, like, like either side of it, where it's like, oh, the woman like cooks and cleans and does all this stuff all day. And she's like, constantly running around. And now it's like the pharaoh in well, she actually also has a full time job, but she's still responsible for doing all these things. And so you see that and like, these women just don't slow down. And I feel like even in our culture and Western culture, like both cultures, I feel like we have that mindset where it's like, okay, the woman is expected to work full time yet, there is still a lot more with the responsibilities being on her side, in terms of like housework, taking care of the children, and all this stuff, because I do think there's certain things that we just will naturally gravitate towards. But we're still also trying to, like live the way we think we're supposed to, in this like fast paced lifestyle. Because we like, for example, like I love cooking, and I want to do that. And it's something we're like, yeah, like, regardless of how much I work, like, I'm always gonna choose to do that. But then you just keep piling things on. And you start to get away from the things that you actually really like, because you, you feel like suddenly I have all these obligations. And like you said, sometimes it's just a matter of like, okay, I need to pull back. Like, I'm way too far into my masculine. And I need to reboot, like bringing back some of those elements of the feminine to let myself just be and let some of this just flow and realize, all these things that I'm doing don't necessarily need to be done. Yep. And then being okay with yourself in the being state because that's really hard when you try to make that transition from going from overdoing all the time to letting things flow. It's like your nervous system is not calibrated to let yourself just be yet yeah, so it's a lot of conditioning that you have to work through and that to

know, I definitely see that for sure, I think to being I will speak on being Syrian American, but I do would like to make the very broad statement that a lot of people from collectivistic societies kind of feel the same things that we feel, especially if you are first generation I think specifically not for any other reason other than like, there's a lot of pressure on us to make it because our parents didn't make it in that way. So like obviously, coming from a society where you know, job resources are very limited from countries where you really only have two or three career options to make it and two or three career options to become successful. And then you come to America and they didn't make those sacrifices for nothing right so like they come here with the mindset like you need to go to college you need to go get this done. I need you to have a six figure job like you need to go do these things. And we're constantly in this state of needing and which is what like and I do get into like that that spiritual kind of talk of like, that shows the universe that you're in lack of right so like that constant like I'm in lack, I'm in lack I'm like, I have to do this. I have to go to college, I have to be successful. Put not only so much pressure on Just in general, masculine or feminine, like male or female, like not only that aspect of it, but on an individual level of constantly feeling like there's not enough this scarcity mentality this like, it's, it's, it's very overwhelming, honestly. And like being that person just like my parents didn't sacrifice their entire life for me not to make anything of myself. And so if you're not making something of yourself, you feel like you're not only feeling yourself, you're failing your whole family and you're in, you're kind of like, not honoring their plate, and you're not honoring the sacrifices that they made because you're not successful. So it's this constant like, hamster wheel of like, I have to do what I have to do, because I want my parents to be proud of me, I don't want their sacrifices to be for nothing. Like, again, we can speak on the Arab community because we know it, we live it, we've been through it and we're a lot of us are still living through it now. But like, I would go as far as to say that a lot of people from like, collectivistic societies feel the same people who like their parents are dependent on them. Their success is a reflection of their parenting, right, so like, we got it, we can look at it through parenting lenses. And like, just like keeping that in mind as well of like, your parents, their success as raising good children is whether or not you become successful. And that's how they measure their self worth, because they haven't had the opportunity to self actualize. Whereas we, in the West, in this abundant abundant nation have the opportunity and the blessing to come out here and be like, I'm going to self actualize and I'm going to try all the theories and I'm going to do it this and I'm going to explore everything, whereas like, then they're just like, you have one road to walk on. And if you go left or right a little bit your, your whole family is gonna crumble like, so they had, they were tasked with the task of survival, whereas we're tasked with like self actualization, and, and it's, it's stressful, it's overwhelming, it's scary. It's something that nobody can guide you on. Your parents can't guide you on like, my dad loves music, I'm sure in another lifetime, he was some like orchestra instructor or something. But like I and he'll sing and like all this stuff. And I'm not saying he's the best singer I love that, I think is the best singer but like, he loves music and like, that's his, you know, connection to the divine and like all of this stuff, but like, Was he ever able to actualize that was he ever able to like put that into practice and like go to the opera houses and do things which I know, this is something that he would love to do, I would hope one day that I can give him the opportunity to do that, I would hope and same thing, I'm sure everybody would feel the same. But like, this is where that pressure comes from. And I feel once we are the first ones to do it, it becomes overwhelming because we're battling between being American and being Syrian, or being you know, like American, Mexican, or American, you know, Puerto Rican, whatever it is. So like, you're battling to different identities, and it's that constant pressure. And especially because, like the cooking the you know, the home making the child rearing all of that is in our nature, like and I'm not going to sit here and like get into the biology of things. But of course, like you have a natural inclination, it's creative, it's a creative energy to cook, it's creativity, you're creating something that was nothing into something that is that is the most like connection that you could ever have. And everybody eats in this planet, right. So like feeding somebody, it's like reaching your heart through your stomach, and you can go on and on and on and on. Right. So so many analogies, but like, it's such a natural creative act to do is to cooked and for it to be just reduced down to like feminine energy. It's just such a dishonor to what it is what it is, in essence, but the fact that we're seeing as you should, like, it's the shoulds that kill us honestly, it's like you should cook or you should clean or you should have a child and you should get married. No, it's what I want to do. I would like to do these things like I have, I have a burning desire to do that. It's not from society. This is for me, this is from my God put this in my heart, it's not from society tells me you have to go cook, gender or whatever. Right? So it's not from you know what I mean? So these are the things that I feel get lost in translation, especially as someone navigating in a western world with Eastern or Middle Eastern values, right? So we're trying to find that balance and it's not just masculine and feminine. It's Western versus Eastern. It's you know, yen versus Yeah, it's like all of the things and just trying to find that homeostasis throughout every stage of your life is, I think, the biggest for myself, for my friends and for my clients. I see all the time and that's everyone's always the number one thing is like trying to find that balance.

Yeah, I mean, I feel like there's just a lot to say around kind of like what you said with

like, I was like on something sorry. Sometimes I go on a tangent and I'm like, you gotta stop me. You got to do a girl girl too much.

No, no, I'm, I'm like so into it as like you said something. I'm like, okay, bookmark that. And I'm like, what was it and I thought As I spoke, it would just come back to me and I'm like, No, I'm later it will come. But one thing I do remember is like, I really liked what you said, like, Okay, God, like put this in my heart. Because there really is even coming back to the word truth that we used earlier. To me, like I see, like, everyone's truth is like their own, like, I don't know if I necessarily believe in like, Okay, this is the universal truth. Like, I think there's like with natural law. And some of that I do kind of see where there's certain basic principles that I would hope most human falls, but at the same time, like, even when bad things happen, to me, it's like, how do I know that it wasn't planted in this person's destiny to follow this? Because like, while I do believe we have choice, I also believe that certain things like we're destined for no matter how we tried to run away from it, or navigate ourselves around it, I do believe that there's just certain things that are like, in our minds that we can't let go of. Right. Right. And like, I don't have a logical reason why other than just being like, God put it there. Certain things it's like, I don't know, like, Why do I like chocolate ice cream? I don't know, like, I didn't you just like certain things, or it's just like, I don't know why I feel really compelled to, like be a life coach, right? It just feels like this is what I'm supposed to do. Yeah. And so it's just like, being confident with like, walking in that alignment and that truth and being like, okay, regardless of where I came from, or where I'm at, I can give myself permission, or like, eventually, I like really want to give myself permission for some people that might not be fully there yet. To be like, Okay, I understand. Like, once I kind of heal the scarcity versus abundance mindset, and really allow myself to like, enter into that space where I can let myself navigate my mind and my spirituality. It's like, once you heal that, then it's like, okay, well, now I need to follow this path. That's like becoming more and more clear to me. But I do. Yeah, I do really like what you said with that, because it's so true. Like, our ancestors, they are conditioned, like, they had to focus on survival. So then you just took them from that mindset planted them in another country where they have all like, all sorts of barriers to try to navigate. And that mindset, you have to, like, alter that. So you don't keep passing on your your ancestry. And I feel like we're the generation that can really start to see that and start to actually heal that. So it doesn't continue to be passed down so that we can reach higher levels and accomplish things that maybe like our ancestors can't understand. Because they're operating from a different place than we are right. And so I think it's also just like remembering to give them grace, because I think it's easy to get.

That's the word. That's the word grace is the word for sure. Like, I see it day in and day out, again, with people who are my clients and people who are just my friends. And I try to remind everybody that like, they you don't know what you don't know, like our parents and there's a lot of deprogramming that needs to happen, right. So like in any self wellness, journey, health, self actualization journey, there's a lot of deprogramming when you grow up in an environment that is extremely sheltered and not sheltered in the way of you know, everything was handed to you. And they did the best with what they could for the most part. And that's the reality for a lot of people. But when when I say sheltered, I mean, like, it's definitely survival mode. So it's like, you can't trust this person, you can't trust this person's like, you can only trust your your immediate family, your cousins, your aunt's your uncle's and you kind of built that network of, to the point where like my grocers era, my doctor's era, my lawyers era, my teachers are era like, and you stick to the same area, you're not allowed to have sleepovers, you can't do like parties, you can't do things like that. So like getting to that spot at a later age. So like, let's say you're in your college years, like I know, so many girls, girls, specifically, guys, to a lot of Syrian girls, who weren't allowed to go away for college, right. And I believe that that is such a rite of passage to be an American, like, I just love the fact that like, I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to go to Penn State, like, shout out Pepsi. But I'm so thankful that I got a chance to go away to college and get that experience because I know that there's so many people that never got the opportunity to do that. And that comes from that mindset of survival, right? So like, you can't be away from me, I got to know who your friends are. I got to know where you're going, what you're doing. You know what you're eating, like, all of the aspects of that and kind of deprogramming ourselves later into adulthood or in our like, mid to late 20s. To be like, you know, it's safe to do these things. It's not a matter of life or death. Like it's safe to send my kids away to college and a lot of us when we start raising kids and when we start having families of our own, we have to remember that there are things obviously we want to keep in mind and like obviously, safety's number one, and I don't, I don't blame our families and our communities. Again, when I say, Arab, I use, I mean, anything that's not Western, because I feel like we have so much in common with all societies that are not born like anyone who is not from the US who has a different skin tone, different culture, different language, we all pretty much have the same like mindset for the most part collectivistic. So like, you don't belong to yourself, you belong to a unit, essentially. Whereas in the West, it's you belong to yourself, and only yourself, you serve one god you are, you're like, basically, you are your own god, essentially, in the West, whereas in societies where, you know, familial PDE is a huge thing. So like, in like Eastern countries, China, India, Middle East, obviously, Africa, and even in parts of like South America, it's familial pD over everything, like, you know, in Islam, they say, you know, Heaven lies at the feet of your mother. And I think that is so beautiful. I can't even like explain how beautiful I think that is. And and I think when we take that into consideration, and try to translate it into the West, it gets lost sometimes. So being able, again, to kind of bear these in mind where you come here, and a lot of things get lost in translation. And there's language barriers, there's cultural barriers, there's, like, obviously, like values, and some people value, you know, career and all of that some people don't value that some people value more, like, again, self actualization through art and music, which again, is beautiful in and of itself, and is definitely a career and I'm not looking at it in any other way. But like, some people felt value education more, right. So just being able to look through those two lenses at the same time is what's going to help you get through it, it's like looking through both of them. And having the ability like in Arabic, for instance, like we right, from right to left, and then in English, we right, left to right. And one thing that I've realized as I've gotten older, because I did learn how to read and write Arabic, in my freshman year of college, so it was really useful because I realized that like, your brain also works the same way you see it from you see something from left to right. And then you also also can see something from right to left. So you see it from different perspectives. And being able to see things from different perspectives at the same time gives you a clearer vision, my opinion, it's like you can see it from like, from the past to the future, you can honor the past and the ancestry and the lines and the sacrifices that have been made up until this point. And then you can also see it in terms of like these grandiose dreams and like these goals and things like that. Whereas a lot of our parents didn't have that it was just like, in Arabic like Gilliam Obioma, everyday in its own, everyday for its own. And a lot of them live like that. And that's that part of survival that like sometimes it's like, yes, it's beautiful to say like, each day in of itself, you know, like God gave us his daily bread, like just for today. Obviously, you pray for it, you thankful for it. But then the same time, it's like, it's important to think 2510 1520 years down the line you got to do that like to think about legacy, talking about generational wealth, talking about these types of things. That stuff that a lot of people didn't even have access to, like hearing conversation, like those aren't even conversations they would even have. So being able to kind of see both sides of it is just, it's part of that like self actualizing. Because you kind of get to a point like, I've learned these lessons, I've got them I've internalized them. I've got them down pat, like I get it. Now what now what like let's, let's keep it pushing. It's pushed the torch forward.

I Yeah. There's I was just kind of thinking how, like, as you were saying that my brain started to go back to kind of like how when we're younger, it's really, it's just so much harder to see that. And I think you mentioned that and you're like what you said a little bit earlier to where it's like, as a kid, you're like, frustrated, you're like, why can't I go do these things like I ate like you can't understand your parents perspective, because you're just trying to, you know, like you you're surrounded by your peers and your friends and they're like having a sleepover to start doing the things or like going away to college with no resistance. That and for someone that's coming from like an ethnic background or like someone that hasn't been like Anthon hasn't had ancestors for a few generations back in America. It's like, a lot of these different perspectives on how we should operate and raise a family. It's like, it's really, it's really tough because it gives you that challenge of like trying to figure out how you can like give yourself that permission to actually go that route and like be a part of it because like I remember with my parents when I went to college, like my mom was so mad that I chose to like go away for school. It was like, you know, something that I'm like everyone else's parents are happy for them because they got into school and it's like I get it opted into school. And the first thing I read about this, like, Why, yeah. And so it's like it creates this conflict. It's like, do you want me to be better? Like I, you know, and it's so it's just so interesting how finally, when you can like, pull yourself out of that just be like, okay, you know what now I really like everything you said, it's like, now I have this perspective, and I can make sense of a lot of these things. And even now, when you kind of meet that in your life, or you meet some kind of opposition, or like a frustration with someone where it's like, oh my gosh, like, they're like, how can they not see my perspective? You also have to pull back and be like, Okay, well, like, why are they having difficulty filtering what you said in the way that you want them to, like, what's really going on there. And so rather than just getting mad and blaming them, and, you know, having a certain perspective on them, it's like pulling back and being like, Okay, you have to honor their journey and their path and when they know in this very moment in time, and come back to yourself and be like, okay, like, I honor where you're at, and I have to also honor where I'm at. And that doesn't mean like breaking away, and like, leaving the family or, you know, pulling yourself out of it. I think even before we started recording, you have like a really good tangent to where you were going in, like, I'm trying to remember the one thing you said that I really liked. Yeah, it was kind of how like, different cultures where it's like, okay, like, we're not going to like excommunicate our family because we don't agree with their thoughts. Like, to us, it's like, also very ingrained in us that like, that's just not what we do, like family is in your life regardless. And I feel like when I talked to people who, like I said, are more like have deeper roots in America. It's like that family perspective isn't always held to the same degree of which like, we might hold it. But you know, again, that's case by case I'm not like making a blanket statement. But like certain scenarios where I'll you know, I'll tell a story, and people be like, oh, yeah, cut them off. You can't.

Like, I wish I could explain to you why I can't do that. There's a lot. There's a plethora of reasons why I wouldn't be able to do that. But, ya know,

it's definitely I feel like when it comes to the family unit, there's something inside of us because we are so deeply understanding who you can't run from who you are like, this is just my personal perspective. I know a lot of people don't. Some people say that you can reinvent yourself. And I do believe that I don't think that it's not possible for you to reinvent yourself. But your roots will fall you no matter where you are like you can't have leaves that touch the sky without roots that reached down to hell. Like I just do not believe that. The further that you dig, the more you'll learn, the more that you want to understand you will like like, asking, you shall find, Ask and you shall receive. Like, if you go out and seeking for it and you want to understand your roots, you realize why it's so important to stay connected to them. That's just that's something that either either some people see and some people don't You don't have to do it any which way there's no like moral like obligation to say, I mean, I mean, I guess that that's arguable because there are a lot of religions and even philosophies like in Confucianism, for instance, I know this that like in the Chinese government, you can't be in Chinese government until you you kind of like swearing under like Confucius philosophy. So it's not actually a religion there. It's more of a philosophy. And one of the integral like pillars of their philosophy is familial PD. And it's basically like honoring the person that raised you basically so like a lot of people and I mean, we can get into like an entire rabbit hole about that, but like, one of the reasons why a lot of their family units are so strong now is it is sometimes it toxic for sure. Like we can't sit here like again, I'm, I'm an advocate for human life, and all aspects of the word. So if there's somebody that is genuinely harming you mentally, physically, spiritually, like yeah, sometimes taking a break from somebody is necessary for healing like you can't something you know, there's this phrase, like, you can't heal in the place that broke you. So there's a lot of people that like, I just, I gotta get out of here and then get my soul right, get my spirit, right. And then I can come back with a clear head and clear conscience and come back and do the work. But for now, I can't do that. And I can't do that here. And I'm just too like, there's just too much stimulation here. So I can't do it. And that that's completely fair. But then when you look at in terms of like, the successful parts that make a human life, prosperous, I'll say and prosperous again, not just financially, but like spiritually emotionally, all those things. You need a strong family unit. It is what it is like, truly, like I just believe that like it's very difficult to find someone who is so happy and everything but doesn't have a strong Family or relationship with their family. Like, it's so hard to find someone who is just like, they'll tell you Yeah, I'm happy I have this new Ferrari and I have this and that whatever. It's like, okay, great. Like, I love that for you. But you haven't talked to your parents and 20 years, and you have an estranged relationship with your siblings, and you, you know, haven't been to a family reunion, and in a decade and a half. So it's like, sometimes it's like, I guess, to each his own like, but for a lot of the people that I surround myself with a lot, almost all of my clients family is very, very important. And that's something that you can't teach somebody, they have to feel it. That's something that has to be felt. So once those feelings do come, and they eat, you know, like, you just get to the point, it's like, I've reached the pinnacle of my success. I'm so proud of myself, I've actualized all of my, my dreams and my visions and awesome, and then you're alone on this mountain top and you have nobody to share it with and you can't look to yourself, look to your left and be like you remember when we were like counting pennies. So when we were younger, and like, look where we're at now, it's like you have nobody there because you haven't talked to anybody in 20 years. So it's like seeing just keeping in mind the things that are the most important. And then this need to prove yourself or this need to actualize things just because you can. I think it gets old real quick. I do. I think it gets old quick. And I feel like a lot of people haven't found that. They haven't felt that feeling yet. And it's okay. And government. I don't want anybody feel that way. Right? Well, I wish we could educate people more on like, the importance of building healthy networks and healthy relationships, genuine healthy networks and connections and relationships. But Reylo far from that, unfortunately, but I do have hope that we can get to a point where people can start seeing, like, your, your health in your family and your relationships is equally as important as your financial health and your you know, like, I think we'll get there eventually. But that's one thing that the West needs to catch up on the east with that they know because they've covered their roots. Like they studied their roots, they they honor their roots, and I think that's why it works for them. In some aspects. Obviously, I won't say any, all aspects when some aspects it does.

Yeah, I think we have a lot to learn from each other and like opening to that and saying like, okay, you know, neither way has it figured out 100%? Like, I don't think anyone knows any, like everything fully. It's just not possible. And yeah, I think with relationships, that's also a tough one for a lot of people to navigate because of the pain that you sometimes have to experience in order to really understand because I think what can sometimes happen is when things are difficult, like I do agree, sometimes it is really important to take space and remove yourself from the situation. And then there's the next element of like, okay, well, like, I perceive this person to be the one that hurt me. And so we block ourselves off from seeing like, well, what role did I play in allowing this to happen? And I think that kind of dips into boundaries a little bit where it's like, okay, well, I need to get more firm and like what I will and won't tolerate, and I have to see how certain things that I'm saying might be triggering them to react in a certain way that I'm not being conscious of. Because I think unconsciously, especially with families, like they're going to be one of your greatest mirrors and like they're going to unconsciously you're going to unconsciously trigger each other. And it's just because it's like what you're used to doing. And it's not usually with intention to inflict harm or to hurt someone. It's really just like this, this human nature to do this until you become a little bit more self actualized and self aware to see like, why you felt compelled to say something or do something the way that you did. So there is a lot there that you can learn. And I know there's a lot of different thoughts, or philosophies in psychology where, you know, like, I have a really deep belief and like your family has a lot to do with who you are as a person. And I think, again, I don't know a whole lot about this, but I know my sister has told me like there's many other trains of thoughts that shape your identity, which I do, like, I do agree there's definitely more than just one. But I predominantly think through the way of my family, like that's how I have thought about a lot of what I'm experiencing. And then of course, like relationships, because in general relationships, like how you interact with people are going to teach you so much about yourself. And it's really not always projecting and thinking like, oh, this person is this way this person is this way this person is this way, like anything you see in someone else, you are also yourself, right? So it's also having that moment to be like okay, like, I have to acknowledge that as much frustration as I'm having with this person like I'm somehow also embodied make some kind of his energy. So I have to really like somehow find that in myself, nourish it, love it accept it so that these things don't keep triggering me. Right, right. And so I think that's where you can kind of get past some of the difficulties you might be having with someone else and still be able to have them in your life is when you can really see that, like everything that they're doing all their actions are coming from a place of seeking love. And so when you start thinking that way, you can really start to detach from the pain you might have felt from things that they've said or done to you, or whatever that might be. Because you just yeah, you just have to remember, like, they're looking for love. And that's all this is, because that's why we interact with people.

Right? I love that. Yeah, I love that. That's like a really like that one that bookmarked in my head, like every bit every action is just an action to seek love. Yeah, in one way or another. I think it's beautiful. Also to like when you said about the mirror, like, truly, I couldn't agree more like your family is genuinely the best mirror for you in one way or another. And I feel like when we get to the point where we have outgrown certain aspects, it's it's more because we're ready to let that go within ourselves, and stop kind of like doing those projections. Right. So like, that's, I actually wanted to ask you what your opinion on because I've been kind of struggling with it myself, of like, everything is you pushed out. So I heard this quote before, and I've been kind of meditating on it and studying a little bit. And I really, I'm trying to, like merge the spiritual with the physical, right. So like, I do believe we're Mind Body Soul happening at the same time, like spirit and stuff. But like, this concept of everything is you pushed out. So like when the triggers something's triggering you or something happens or, you know, some stimuli on the external happens. It's always this is like, the theory is that it's always because it's something within you that's trying either to come out or manifest itself or trying to get your attention somehow. So I wanted to hear your perspective on that. Because, again, there's a lot of ideas and theories kind of going around. And I'm I, I would like to make my decision on kind of like, how to think about that. Yeah, I like

this thought, because I would say that's kind of in line with what I do believe because it's so much more of an empowering thought to think of it that way. Because it gives you control over the reality you're experiencing. Okay? So when you're saying that, like, Okay, if everything is me, if I'm operating from this place where no matter what I experience it, like I have the power to heal that or alter it or change it, then you're operating from this place of like, okay, like I can conduct myself and if you're like, the hard part is is like, it's not fun to do the work and to look in. Like I always tell people, This is my phrases like it's not a rainbows and butterflies process, but it will get you to rainbows and butterflies, for sure that as bad as it could be like it's it is showing you something within you that like you deeply value, or it's showing something in you that is not healed. It's showing that there's an emotion in there that needs to be processed. And so rather than like pressing it down, because I think that's also another big thing, but that'll send me on another tangent, but like, Yeah, I think so much of what we experience, and how we perceive these experiences is because of the lens that we're looking through, which is like our mind, our brain, our traumas, our paths, everything, all this. And now as you navigate this life, you're kind of like, yeah, you're like letting things out, you're letting things that need to be worked and moved through you like your you store so much of what you've experienced within you. And it's unconscious, right? Like, right, you don't realize that all of you, you don't even have, like, you know, I couldn't even sit here like, sure I sit and think about myself a lot like or like I work on myself a lot in that way where like really meditate on like a lot of my actions and like give my space myself the space to think about these things that I know not everyone has the luxury to do. But I spend a lot of that time and you like, even me, it's like, I'm not going to know everything in the moment that it happens and comes up. But that's why I think it's like so important to give yourself the space to do that. Because like if these things just keep happening, but you never take the time to create spaciousness in your day, at some point, or even in your week, somewhere. Like you're never going to really understand what's happening and like how you can use that principle to your advantage to actually help you construct a better reality and make yourself like a happier person. Truly.

Yeah, and I think it's really important that I think part of doing the work is allocating that time. Part of doing the work is allocating, even if it's not something like insane, like, you know, the training for a marathon or something Like Alex, I feel like when you're looking at the physical aspect of doing the work, it's so much easier to quantify. Whereas like doing the work on the internal level is not easily quantifiable. Like you can't see like, I can't tell you on like a scale that like, oh, last time, I didn't get as angry, it was only like this much or like, it's not as easily quantifiable. So allocating that time, at the very least, is something that we can kind of like, like in practical terms of like, how do you execute doing the work? What is what is doing the work look like? How do you kind of like rearrange your internal world to make the external world look good. And you have to do that by really taking stock of like, what these things are triggering what your actions are, why you reacted in certain ways. And I hear all the time, like, you know, circumstances never as important as your response to the stimuli. So being able to like, I mean, I'm huge, huge, huge, huge advocate for journaling, I think it honest to God, like saved my life at a point. And just being able to really, like in the midst of like, a mental breakdown, just like writing out and like watching my thoughts as they're coming out. It's like this, like free flow of energy. And like watching my thoughts and be like, Whoa, I don't think this like, it's so hard to like, disconnect yourself and not identify with the thoughts that are going through your head. And I feel like a lot of people don't realize that like, you are not your thoughts. You your thoughts come to you you are like this, like receptor of thoughts. And you're like this, like antenna, and ideas and thoughts and things flow to you. And you can choose if you want to accept them into your space, or you can choose to kind of kick those thoughts out. But the identifying with the thing, what with the thoughts, especially if they're like maladaptive thoughts, if their thoughts that like, don't serve, you don't serve your purpose, don't serve your dreams and goals and missions. Like, it's, it's so much easier to be able to, like, allocate that time, and be like, I'm just going to let the divine float through me for a second. I'm just like, I'll give myself 30 minutes, put some Lo Fi beats on and just like, you know, just like start with how my day was like, oh, yeah, wait, by the way, like, this is how I felt and like, this is what I was, you know, I don't remember why I got mad at her. But like, I got mad at her and like blah, blah, and just like allowed yourself and then you can sit back and see and just like, Okay, this is where I realized this is at the point where my maladaptive thoughts come through or something like that, and just being able to like, put that time aside. And that's what you quantify. That's how we can start like, building and I'm just like going on, because what you what you said really got me thinking like, I never looked at it the way that you're like, I've never articulated it the way that you're looking at it, but I've always saw it like that, right. So like now that you're articulating, and I'm hearing it outwards. I'm like, yeah, like that's absolutely right. That is that is what considers doing the work. That's when you sit there with yourself and you you just kind of like take stock of yourself and your actions and your behaviors. And that's how you, like straighten out and iron out the inner world to allow the outer world to reflect what your desires would be. Right? So I guess the inner world is you pushed out, I guess we can say that. It's just hard to consider considering like natural disasters and things that you can explain and like, we can kind of look through it and like this, like, again, from a place of privilege, right? And safety and security and you know, love and family, we can look at it from this place of privilege and be like, Yes, this is beautiful. But then we see kind of like what's happening right now and like around the world, and that just like, you know, wars and poverty and things like that. And just like is this meme pushed pushed out, though? Like, am I creating this? Like am I see like, well, I didn't you know what I mean? So it's like, it's kind of like, again, battling that, like old world versus new world kind of understanding of reality. Like there are like, obviously, we can never undo what you said earlier, we'll never understand. We can sit here and talk until kingdom comes you and I will throw around these amazing ideas and these amazing things. But like, truly, truly does anyone really know, you know what I mean? But like seeing that type of stuff, and I do I get really emotional, it's stuff like this, I really do. And I try my hardest to kind of like separate my emotions from my ego and like, try to like make those distinctions but so hard. Sometimes it's so hard, especially seeing stuff like you know, natural disasters and wars and stuff. So

yeah, I'm with you. Like, I think that's where sometimes my sister calls it like you're just deep in it too much where it's like, oh, like Yeah, it is a really beautiful principle and you can apply it to so many ways in your life in a positive way, but certain things where it's like okay, I'm not sure like I would have to really probably sit and think about that element of like natural disaster a little bit more. But yeah, certain things where it's like, what could I have done differently really to make this a different reality? Right, right. Right. And it's like there's certain things where That's where to me like the my destiny beliefs come in. It's like, like, I don't know why this happened. But for whatever reason, it had to happen this way and like, like there was nothing that I could have thought differently about or done differently or chosen differently, like this thing happened for that reason. And I think it's like, that goes to discernment where it's like, I have to decide, like, is this something that I should put my energy towards in an internal way? Or is this calling me to connect deeper to something else? Or to look at this in a different way? And so it's really just picking and choosing what you believe, like is under your control? And what is something that is out of your control?

Yeah, beautiful. I love that. No, I do I love that I like, do you want to keep it internal, and I love that, like, then you you're kind of like, pulled into more of like, kind of like on the frontier level, like, you're kind of like, Alright, I'm not going to internalize this. It is what it is. And I truly believe that's one of the most powerful phrases that you could ever say is like, it is what it is now what like, not even now, what just it is what it is, it could not be anything other than what it is. So it is what it is. And then it gives you again, back to like that empowered thing like, like now you're empowered to kind of push that energy. Like, again, energy is not created nor destroyed. It's just transmuted, it's just transformed in something different. So like, we have this negative energy, how do we alchemize this? How do we transform this into positive energy? We have to do something right so like one thing of like the the natural disaster that just happened in Syria, the earthquake, you can choose to look at it and just sit there and sulk and mourn and be absolutely like devastated. Which a lot of us were right for like a split second. And then something like I had to make the active decision of being like, I want to and will alchemize this energy, how do I do so and that was only through an I guess you can call it savior complex. You can say whatever I'm trying to, like, you know, work my way through it. Just like I can't do everything all at once. Like, you know, when everybody say like, my thing, atrocious, then you can't have the world. And just being mindful of that be okay, but what can I do? What do I have in my control? What can I What can I do in my power to do and kind of alkalizing that negative energy making it somewhat of a positive and then you start seeing like, wow, people are literally pouring out of the woodworks to come to help a country that like you couldn't otherwise point on a map. And people are literally coming from all over to aid people in need. And that, to me is alchemy like Alchemist energy, that is something of choosing to look on the better side of whatever natural disaster it is, instead of internalizing that and being like, Oh, this is my reality. It's like, why not choose to look at your route reality as like, wow, we are. So we are such a progressive, like empathetic people. And we wish to help and looking at it through that lens as opposed to looking at it through the other. And that's in our control, right. So like, that's what we can control. We can't control circumstances, but our perception and our response to them. So being able to keep that in mind, but I really do that one, I'm definitely should have finished it. I have my notebook out because I did totally wanted to write that one down. But I'll keep a mental note for that. And I'll listen to this podcast.

Conversation and only I will have to definitely, I do listen back to every episode. Like, sometimes it's just like, yes, we say really profound things. Going back to the journaling, like, yeah, I have moments all the time where I'm like, Yeah, journaling is so powerful. And like, I look back at things that I thought and said and express and I'm like, wow, like I've been having these thoughts. I've been expressing these emotions and feelings and like, now I'm going to take action on it like, oh, you know, I always am amazed when I look back at my own, like journaling prompts not in the way where I think I'm like, magical, but it's more of the synchronicities of like my own life and my own internal guidance that maybe I questioned at times, but I come back, and I'm like, No, this has always been true for me. And so it's just reminding yourself of that, too. And yeah, I mean, I feel like there's just so many things we could go on. And yeah, for sure.

For sure. It's like one thing leads to another like it's that's the beauty of dialogue, though. It's so cool. It's so cool. Love this.

Love it. Yeah, yeah, I know, we didn't even get to talk too much about your professional life. But at the same time, so much of like what we talked about, I feel like has so much of an influence on what your career is and what it means to you. Because like, to me, anyone that pursues life coach coaching, it's like usually because something within your personal life really compelled you to follow your soul and to be someone that like shares their story, and kind of like lets people feel the magic and you're taking the time to do the work and to so many people that's so inspiring. You can definitely tell that your heart and your energy is like in everything that you do. And yeah, like I've always admired, like how much of an activist you are truly like I'm always seeing like Oh my gosh, like she's really doing it like, this makes me feel like I need to step out and go do something. And so yeah, just like voicing that and letting people know what you're doing, whether it's like, you know, whatever, like, you could look at the situation through whatever lens like you so please when you hear it, but it's really like, we can do so much just as one person. And like, even though we are just one person, you know, it's like sometimes we kind of lose sight of what that actually means. But yeah, just keep doing what you're doing. And I think that this will create a really beautiful ripple effect when people listen to it. And hopefully, they're inspired and they inspire someone else. And then it just keeps going down the chain and you just keep lifting humanity. Yeah,

yeah. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So well said thank you so so much for having me honestly, I wish I really do. I would love to also plug one last plug for the evening. Oh, yeah. But the the basketball league is an incredible, incredible milestone that we are doing here in Lehigh Valley. And I'm honored, honored, honored to be the life coach of the professional basketball team. And honestly, it is something that is really, really changing the culture here. And doing things on an individual level is awesome, but you can't. No man is an island. And I think that the ripple effect that you're talking about, is really seeping through so many aspects in so many facets of society, I would like to think it's because of social media. And I think that's one of the good things about social media. Unfortunately, I know a lot of people like are huge fans of social media, but I do see some of the good benefits to it. But the Lehigh Valley Legends is honestly an incredible organization that I am so thankful to be working for. They are doing so many great things in their own foundation as well like with the youth in Allentown, as you know, like Allentown is an underserved community. So we're kind of like, you know, about 85% of the population is in under the poverty line. So like, there's a lot of things here that we can do on a grant, like grassroots effort to help with self actualization. I believe that these types of these types of organizations in these events and the things that you do to get involved in your own hometown, I think that's what helps you get there. So that's like something that I've found for myself, you know, actually, I'm not even taking credit for this is all God seriously, seriously, it was all God had nothing to do with me. But if if anybody is listening, when you listen to anyone on a podcast, the number one thing that I would recommend is like take action, like do something that makes the world around you just a one percentage better. Anything that we can do. That's my, that's my hope is to inspire somebody, if you're inspired to do anything is to take action, hopefully in a good action. But no, but it's it's like amazing, this conversation has honestly opened up so many, like lightbulbs, so many doors in my brain, I was just like, wow, I never saw it like that, or I've never heard it articulated like this. And like, this is so cool. It's like I'm so so thankful that you had me here. And this was an awesome conversation.

Yeah, thank you so much. And likewise, I feel the same way. It's so many things we said, and so many things that you said, it's planting, like a lot of seeds in my brain that I'm excited to see where they blossom and flourish once I am able to kind of sit down and think a little bit more. Because that's what I'd love to do. When you have such a good conversation. You know, probably tomorrow I'll go on a walk. And then like, yeah, that thing she said, or maybe like three weeks from now something will happen. I'll be like, Oh my gosh, this reminds him that things will said, so I think it's really Yeah, I just love that just being open and receptive. And yeah, these little things that you really let yourself be open to, like can really take you somewhere beautiful if you allow it to. So it's really just again, set permission. That's like you just surround yourself with the positive energy you listen to podcasts, social media, all of that, like curate it so that it's like nourishing you rather than hurting you really which we feel like Yeah, so I yeah, I think it's like you can make the tool going back to the point we had in the beginning. It's like use the tool as you please. It can be something that helps you. You can choose whether you want it to be that way or not. Sorry. For sure. Yeah. So if people want to follow along with your journey, and where can they find you?

The best place to find me I would say is on my website, www dot hazle, sweet.com, Swa id.com And I do have a blog. So you're more than welcome to check that blog out. I'm trying to stay a little bit more active on that. And then my instagram at Hazel sweet just those two, just my blog and my Instagram is pretty much the only place that you would be able to kind of like follow along but um, hopefully hopefully we'd love to get on Tik Tok soon, so that was an extra one.

Perfect. Yeah. And we'll link that in the show notes so people will be able to access that. And again, thanks so much for coming on the show. Joe, I can't wait for people to hear this. I think it's gonna do a lot of beautiful things in people's lives, whether it's the same day that they listened to it or whether it's weeks years from now, this will come to their mind, and I'm excited for that. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. If you're enjoying listening to this podcast, I have a special gift for you. If you leave a review, and send me a screenshot, I will send you something personally in the mail. Just to show you how much I appreciate your help in helping me spread the empowerment across the world and showing other women the magic that they have within themselves just the same way you do, babe. If you're enjoying this episode, then I would love it if you took a screenshot and posted it on your story on Instagram, and tag me at fuel the underscore fire. Let's have a conversation about it. Let's chat about it. I love to hear your thoughts and your feedback. I'm here to support you in any way that I can. I love you guys so much. And I'm excited to keep coming at you with some new guests new information and new techniques to keep blowing your mind and making you feel invincible. Thanks for listening. I love you. Bye!