[Music] Everyone, six here. We're riding solo today. I'm going to be continuing on some article reads, first started by MVP in our last episode. If you haven't checked that one out, it is called the Decline of Humanization in the aerospace maintenance industry. The article I'm about to read to you today is called Green Your Pastures, The Pursuit of Happiness. We believe these articles will resonate with many of you out there, and we'd definitely like to hear your feedback on them. With that being said, I'm going to jump right into it, starting first with the abstract. The pursuit of happiness is a basic right in the United States of America and is widely considered a universal human right in the rest of the developed world. Happiness can be correlated to contentment. We are content when all of our needs are met. We are content with where we are in our life, and we are happy with who we see when we look in the mirror. We are comfortable. As such, we constantly seek the tangibles or intangibles that may bring us joy and work to abrute any aspects of our life that brings us out of our euphoric state of mind. My Angelo is quoted as saying, "If you do not like something, change it, and if you cannot change it, change your mind." In many cases, that is easier said than done. Being in a position where you cannot change your circumstances, only your viewpoint of them can lead one's self-discrimal and frustrated that they have little to no control over their own life. Unless this is the evin flow of life and the depiction of the inner turmoil so many people experience daily, greener pastures that pursuit of happiness provides an overview, perspective, into the conflicted conscience to understand why these disturbances exist and how we might overcome the unrest. For new contention, as humans, we possess elevated problem-solving capabilities. However, our perceived cognitive superiority is at times our own condemnation, often overthinking or analyzing our situation to the point of confusion. Is this because we have too many options when weighing the closing cons of a decision that needs to be made? Yes. But in the amalgamation of self-imposed theoretical outcomes, an abundance of alternatives may be a contributing cause to clouding our internal decision-making matrices. But it is compounded by adding contingencies to each proposed decision. It is comical how we try to predict the future by speculating the outcome of each decision we make. Even though some decisions have more positive attributes than negative, nary one decision will have 100% of everything with desire from its outcome. With that, we continuously plan ourselves into obscurity, attempting to have in place a backup to the backup and/or a fail-safe to the fail-safe. We do this because we fear the repercussions of our actions. To that, no matter what decision we make, we want the outcome to benefit us in its entirety and subsequently freeing ourselves from the burden of reciprocity. In the end, this overplanning has caused confusion and in many cases, be identified as the exact point where our failure to launch began. Ezra Taft Benson, the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture under President D. Eisenhower said, "You are free to choose, but you are not free to alter the consequences of your decisions." External factors. In some instances, our mind is thrown into disarray from our environment. People, places, titles, certifications, and so forth. I'll provide an example from my own experience to further explain. Several years ago, I moved into a management for the first time in my professional career. I was related to finally have achieved one of the larger professional goals I had set out for myself. I had no turnover with the outgoing manager, and my own direct managers claimed to be too busy to teach me even the most basic duties I needed to know. Much of my managerial training was on the job and trial by fire. Many decisions I made early in my leadership role had adverse fallout due to my lack of knowledge and fidelity with navigating corporate America and the intricacies that come from interacting with seasoned executives. Regardless of how my leadership path started, I made the best of what I had and built a strong team. My leadership mentioned on several occasions one of their objectives was to build the department's management footprint in my home base of operations, but were never afforded the budget to grow. My superiors goal made sense that as the program was growing and expanding globally, which meant we could have personnel assigned to us who lived outside of the United States, having a team spaced around the globe meant that we would be traveling regularly to visit them. Reporting leadership, the opportunity to directly support our displaced teams within your immediate area of operation. Site note, visiting your team members where they work fosters relationships, builds a foundation of trust, and reinforces the fact that, though they are globally and geographically distant from the bulk of their team, they are still part of the team. Nearly one year later, my superiors were randomly awarded a monetary increase to hire another manager. I say random because there had been no discussion prior to the dissemination of funds. As such, there had been zero planning and preparation. Once the news had been broadcasted, I began preparing a training plan for the new manager so they would have less difficulty grasping the details of the job than I did. During the first year with the newer second manager, I was a coach, guide, and mentor to my counterpart. Often, I made the executive decisions just so my colleague did not have to have the added pressure of being the deciding factor while simultaneously learning their responsibilities. All this was done to ensure that they had the resources and faculties available to accomplish their duties. Continuing with the story of my experience, this next part is where the external factors play into affecting our mind. As time went on, our senior manager was promoted within the same team and department, leaving their old position open and up for grabs to the most qualified candidate. In my mind, I was that front runner. I had been in the position the longest, fixed the problems of my predecessor, successfully implemented a solid training regime for new hires, and was nearing completion of my postgraduate degree, going on another side tangent from the main storyline regarding my postgraduate degree. I chose to pursue the diploma after a conversation about my career progression with my upper management group. In that conversation with my superiors, they made the following statement. Though you have been in the position longer, have many more years of industry experience and have led the team in a positive direction, for you to be competitive against your peers, it is highly recommended that you obtain a master's degree as that is the level of education they have obtained. Initially, I was taken aback by that statement. I thought it very strange to make that claim that I needed to achieve higher education to even be considered for a promotion, especially since my upper management did not have that level of education. I was hesitant to go back to school as I was concerned about having enough time and more importantly enough funds to afford the loan repayment I knew was coming upon completion of my studies. I was assured by many in the program management and director level positions the reward was worth the effort. Regardless of my concerns, I took the initiative and signed up for school. I chose to pledge myself and my family further into debt to attain a degree I was told is necessary to be competitive in a race to be win a promotion from the base level managed position within the company to the second lowest tier. A futile attempt on my part, executives and upper management do not want forward thinking actionable employees. They want yes men. For those readers or listeners out there who are unaware of what a yes man is, someone who says yes to every single idea initiative, personal preference and so forth that flows down from the executive offices. They agreed to a plan that has many pitfalls embedded in it. A plan that seems to have been expedited through the approval channels or skip the review board altogether. A plan that did not obtain buy-in from the personnel who would be executing that directive. Yet they pushed the initiative as if it were the greatest idea ever conceived and never stop to question if this is in fact the most agile method to execute. Back to the main storyline. I was a career professional leading a global team. I was accomplishing my duties as a committed father and husband. I was a full-time student. All these jobs. I did simultaneously. No, there were periods where I faltered. I reprioritized and reorganized my game plan as needed. Ultimately, I was successful in my quest. From my perspective, the promotion was mine. Others within the team parroted the same statements. All wrong we all were. Arrogans can distort your view of reality. In the end, our leadership chose to promote my colleague. The reason behind our decision was based off how we answered the following question. What is your management style? I answered that when the team becomes task saturated and I can see they need assistance. I roll up my sleeves. I tackle the work alongside them. I do this until the tasks are complete. Or we reach a more manageable workload. I put the needs of the team first. My counterpart answered with a plan for delegation of duties and a strategy to motivate people to do more while not being rewarded for their assimilation of additional duties. Let me read that part one more time for all of you. My counterpart answered a plan for delegation of duties and a strategy to motivate people to do more while not being rewarded for their assimilation of additional duties. From the mouth of my management, you are not selected as you do not delegate enough. A leader should know how to delegate roles and responsibilities even in times of increased workload while also not supporting at the individual task level. I agree to disagree with that notion. I have had fear or I had far greater successes in winning the hearts and minds of my team when they see that I recognize stressors and will reach out to extend the helping hand. Alas, as the added says, it is what it is. Now, mind you, the people conducting the interview are my direct managers, the same people who hired me for my current role. Over the coast of my tenure in this position, nothing had ever been said about my management style requiring modification. Had that external factor been imposed upon me, I could have made the decision to change my approach. Instead, I discovered my management's disapproval via the denial of a promotion. I repeat, it is what it is. Internal factors. Keeping pace with my personal experience outlight in the external factors section of this article, once I had been given notification and reasoning of promotion denial, a range of emotions flooded my limbic system. Anger, sadness, disbelief, disgust, even happiness was experienced. Left to tread water in a turbulent sea of emotional distress. Searching for any semblance of solid ground, I had a choice to make. Wallowing self-pity, or use the knowledge I gained from the experience to become a better version of myself. While there definitely was a short period of self-indulgence, I sought out something actionable to pull me up from the ashes of my defeat. A workshop where I can vent frustrations, be able to build upon my failures, to develop new skills, to ensure I am better than I was the day before. What I found was mentorship. I opted to seek guidance from a seasoned professional who has played the game far longer than I have. Once I found my mentor, a cease-wheat executive at that, I scheduled our first meeting. Prior to the meeting, my mentor posed a series of questions regarding personal branding. Those questions are function. What do I do? What services do I have to offer people? Strengths. What comes easy to me? What am I most acknowledged for? Personality. How do I make people feel? What words do others use to describe me? Customer. What field or industry am I in? Who is my target audience? And value. What need am I fulfilling? What is unique about what I provide? I answered the questions and submitted to my mentor. During our first interaction, I vented for a long while, and they were kind enough to let me do so. Once my tank of discontent and resentment had been emptied, we flowed straight into my answers. Over the course of the conversation, we dissected my thoughts and expanded upon those thought processes. The discussion, and it was a question. What could you have done better to change the outcome? The question resonated deep within me. I cannot consider what more I could have done, as I felt I was already going above and beyond my general duties. True self-reflection can be a tough pill to swallow, but there was more than I could have done to solidify my success. Chiefly, better tactful and tactical communication with my leadership. I tend to operate on the "no news is good news" way of thinking, but some people view that as poor communication. Another aspect of my need for better communication with my leadership is that I would often circumvent them to expedite process and procedures. What it appeared that I was doing from their vantage point was a blatant lack of respect for their hierarchy and the chain of command. Though the roundabout method was faster, they were still part of the process, and I was purposefully excluding them. To my difference, there was no doctrine that stated they were a requirement of the process, their inclusion of their themselves, and it was pure micromanagement. Nevertheless, the first law of the 48 Laws of Power states, don't outshine the master. And I had done just that. A good mentor will make you self-reflect whether you want to or not. A good mentee will listen and abide by the direction, asking questions and requesting feedback at various stages of the progress, providing a heading check that the actions taken are still the recommended current course. Or require adjustment to stay on track. A stoic mind. Maya Angelou's quote in the abstract section of this paper is a statement about action and perspective, embodying some core tenets of the philosophy of stoicism, courage, temperance, wisdom, and justice. A stoic believes that they cannot control the world around them, only how they respond. In the aftermath of rejection and continuing turmoil of poor leadership, I began a journey of self-improvement. I became a student of stoicism, immersing myself in the books of "Meditations" written by Marcus Aurelius, the last of the five great Roman emperors, and the lectures of Alan Watts, who interpreted and popularized Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu philosophy for a Western audience. Additionally, I read the Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, who was considered the most winning samurai in history. During his time, Musashi participated and won some 245 duels, meeting many of his opponents with a wooden sword while they carried steel weaponry. The Book of Five Rings offered tactics and strategies to defeating your opposition. Though the excerpts are written from the point of physical confrontation, the teachings within can be applied to many facets of life, which is why the Book has become mandatory reading for many postgraduate business courses in universities throughout the world. My studies provided insight and guidance on how to handle those things we cannot control and ultimately do not matter in the grander picture of life. While I exert energy to these things that will only give us stress in return, the practice of employing a stoic mind has been of great benefit, though it still takes constant effort to be able to ignore the noise and focus only on what matters - family and self. If I may be so bold as to provide my own definition of what stoicism is, it is a philosophical guide of how to best practices for a self-preservation. No matter the effort we put forth, some things are just not meant to be. Yes, we will improve, but if the universe or logos, as Marcus Aurelius calls it, does not deem that endeavor worthwhile, it will not come to fruition. By exhausting ourselves over and over to particular missions that's providing no tangible means of progression, we inextricably hurt ourselves. This suffering manifests through increased levels of stress, thus driving mental and physical ailments. Often a long and arduous road to recovery. Hitting the wall. Unfortunately, stress if left unfettered for extended periods of time and with no form of medical attention or self-care to mitigate, our health can decline to a level that may leave us with irreparable damage. Again, using myself as the example, I get pushing harder and harder to show that I was value-add to my team, my department, my program, and most of all, to myself. Every attempt was a new approach. A new angle from which to gain enlightenment by garnering a new perspective. Each attempt done in vain. Of course, it does not help when your biggest critic is your own direct manager. That alone adds another layer of stress. Despite our best efforts, the continuous compounding of stresses at work often spill over into our own personal lives. Try as you might. You cannot hide your discontent and frustration from your family. They know you better than anyone. As much as you feel your pain, so too can the ones you love. They see your struggles and feel just as helpless as you in trying to resolve it. They would do their best to console you and provide counsel, but after a prolonged period of no change, the empathy they once felt will morph into resentment. Slowly, their words will shift from "don't worry, we'll get through this together" to "get over yourself." Quite the burdensome position to be in. Ask me how I know. No reprieve at work, nor the foam front. In my opinion, trouble at home is far worse than being in the professional environment. When you finally realize there are no exits left on the highway to hell and you are at the end of your road, you have hit the wall, figuratively speaking. No way out. No escape. The mental and sometimes physical abuse we have subjected ourselves to manifest in the ailments of the body and mind. Within the span of three weeks, I developed vertigo, high blood pressure, and gout. The vertial came on first. I could not stand up or lie down without the entire world spinning. There lead to the point of regurgitation. One morning, while getting ready for work, I was having a particularly bad episode. The nauseous feeling would not subside. Rather, calling out of work and going to the doctor like a logical person, I chose to push through it and go to work. As I was driving, my vision became extremely blurry, and the movement of the vehicle over the road left me feeling seasick. I arrived at work and parked the vehicle. The moment I exited the vehicle, I vomited. Sanity finally taking hold of me. I thought I should probably go to the doctor. So I departed for the medical facility. After explaining my disposition followed by a bit of chastising from the nurse, from waiting so long to get checked, they began the analysis. My eyes were vibrating laterally, and my blood pressure was mere psi away from a stroke. The medication for a vertigo and blood pressure helped. A week later, I got afflicted by right big toe. Changes were needed to fast after incorporating exercise into my daily regimen and changing my diet. I have since been able to stop taking the medications. The cognitive degradation from interacting with a Jekyll and Hyde-like management has left the mental issues, aka depression, unresolved. Though I am getting better physically, I find little enjoyment in life. I still do the things I am supposed to do as a father, husband, and employee, but I do so void of emotion or energy. For example, all my children receive high honor awards at their schools for their academic discipline, prowess, and dedication. I am proud of my children. I attended each of their award ceremonies. I am happy for them and their hard-earned success. All I can muster was a fourth smile, no cheering, no applause. What kind of monster am I becoming? Suspected root cause. Many ideas I put forth to leadership at their request are met with dissent and a barrage of questions. Sell them all their responses. Thank you for your input. I like the direction of where your thoughts are taking you. To better achieve that goal, we should also consider these other items. You know, a response that contributes to and progresses the conversation. Often the reply received tends to trend like the following example. I am about to lose my insert colorful language on you. Why would we do this? This makes a little sense. I am struggling to see the value of what you are saying. Are you implying that these other contracts and programs are the only ones you have to take action? Or are these the only other contracts are the only ones who have action to take? We are supposed to develop a plan of action by which all contracts are here too. And so on and so forth. When you receive a retort with such disdain, it becomes increasingly difficult to want to contribute to anything. Your self-perceive purpose begins to wane and the pervasive questions. What is the purpose of any of this? What is my purpose in this? Begin to seep in into your thoughts multiple times a day. Many of us have heard the saying, "People don't quit the job. They quit their bosses." Other articles made the opposite claim. Personnel leave because the job is not challenging enough and they are bored. So they seek more challenging, rewarding opportunities. More specifically, I think both statements go hand in hand. I believe the lack of support and guidance from one leadership is the culprit of people looking for an outcome. What do you ask? In my experience, most people in leadership roles tend to look out only for themselves. They put time and effort into tasks that only benefit them. If someone else benefits from their actions, well, that is just happy accidents for that individual. I assure you that the individual success was nowhere in their leader's mind or their leader's grand schemes. Some will help those around them succeed. But that as big cut as this inevitably benefiting the leader. I will add the disclaimer here that not all those in leadership positions operate this way. I am merely implying that most do I have interacted with during my tenure in the aviation industry. Choose this as their modus operandi. Perhaps that was not their initial intention, but they become seduced by money and power, promised by them, by their rules, by their rulers, as were word for their compliance, like that of a career politician. Hopefully when workers view the figuratively corporate, hopefully when workers view the figurative corporate well as being run dry, their eyes begin to wander beyond their existing borders. Additional hurdles. Over time, these internalized reflections consume you. They are all you can think about. You build scenarios in your head of how you will respond to the next negative exchange. Or you develop a exit plan to get as far away from the negativity as possible. With that, you look for greener pastures. One that offers enough grass for growth. A pasture that will sustain your life, a view, and others. A field of luscious vegetation that promises to deliver the life you have dreamt for so long. You are now on the pursuit of happiness. You dust off and update your resume, revamp your cover letter, create a LinkedIn account to convey to the world a rebranded you. Perhaps you reach out to present, perhaps you reach out to present and former colleagues alike to see what options exist in the current job market. Utilizing pre-established contacts to help you to the next hopeful occupation. Would you agree this is the normal approach the populace takes to seeing the new implant? While this plan looks good on paper, it may be easier said than done. If you are like so many of us who are on the hunt for new employment. We are in what we perceive as a perpetual cycle of application, submission, and hiring company notice of decline. Rarely ever surpassing to the early stage of the interview process. When the talent acquisition representative probes you for additional information via a non-personal phone interview. When so many application submissions are responded or responded to by the cold robotic. Thanks but no thanks email. You start to doubt your own skills and wonder if these positions even exist. You can see all the open positions on the company websites. In some instances there are hundreds of open positions. You know you are no slouch and have many years of experience. Yet you cannot even outsmart the software program the Human Resources Department employees to discover keywords and application resume. I think many of us would agree that some positions we apply for may be a far cry. Reaching a little too far for the stars if you will. We only satisfy three of the five bullet points for required skills. However, there are some jobs we apply for that appear to be tailored to us specifically. Almost as if they were written with you in mind. So with a smile on your face and a glimmer of hope in your eye you apply. Confident in a quick response from the recruiter to establish a time and date for an interview. The job is in the bag. Only it is not. Just as it been with every other application the process dissolves almost immediately after the click of the submit button. If you are like me your first thought is this is impossible. I was the best fit for that position. Who else out there really qualifies? You meet all the required and preferred criteria with even some extracurriculars to add to the docket. The longer you consider the current job market the more unfathomable it becomes. After speaking with colleagues and many others within the industry you learn that you are not the only person afflicted with this bad luck and hunt for greener pastures. From my experience the difficulty seems to be seems to stem from trying to move into a position of growth from your current role or ladly moving into similar positions. I don't rank pay. You know the positions of growth are out there. You see a few within your organization obtain them. Unfortunately you are not counted among those considered for promotion. Whatever the reasoning may be if you are seeking touchy labor employment those positions seem to be an abundance. But if you are already the holder of a managerial role you are removed from consideration as you are quote over qualified and will expect compensation more than what the position warrants. You cannot move forward backward or lateral. Is this where the colloquialism stuck between a rock and a hard place comes into play? Pass forward. If you find yourself developed in a point of career stagnation and all prior efforts to surpass that have yielded no results what can you do to prevent mental degradation. You must find a creative outlet for which to focus your energy and endeavor that you believe in and is worthwhile of your time. Who's product will benefit you and others? A goal that you control via your direct contribution or this author that release was initiated in the form of quiet quitting and silent contemplation. Only discussing proposed theories of solutions with those whom I trusted for those readers or listeners who are unfamiliar with the term quiet quitting. In as commonly characterized as doing the minimum requirements of one's job or relationship and putting in no more time, effort or enthusiasm than necessary. In the way to disengage from one's work or partner without openly expressing this satisfaction or resignation. This is from Vaughtry 2024. Anthony C. Klotz and Mark C. Bellino claim driven by many of the same underlying factors as actual resignations. Quiet quitting refers to opting out of tasks beyond wants assigned to duties and/or becoming less psychologically invested in work. Quiet quitters continue to fulfill their primary responsibilities, but they're less willing to engage in activities known as citizenship behaviors, no more staying late, showing up early, or attending non-mandatory meetings. At this point, many readers and listeners are beginning to take a stance and choosing which side they're more encompassed is more aligned with. I agree with or disagree with quiet quitting. I bet if we broke down who is in each camp, we would find the younger half of the workforce is primarily in the quiet quitting camp. While corporate leadership and the older generations who are still found in the workplace would side with quiet quitting is for complainers and the lazy. The purpose of this paper is to not create a divide amongst anyone in the workforce, so let's leave the division for a different discussion. The only reason it was brought up to the table here is to prove that there is a divide and candidly speaking, there should not be. This author only seeks to provide or to prove once again that there is a breakdown of communication. No one seeks to understand the other points of view. They only want results. Do as I say, the sadly comical part of the situation in his companies and its employees would get better results if the left hand was working with the right. The workforce is playing a weird game of chess and both sides are locked in a stalemate. Back to the path forward. If we are emotionless in our career, we must incorporate some form of productivity in our lives to prevent the swelling, feeling of anger and the harboring of resentment. Again for this author, productivity came in the form of a podcast. The author and the co-host together came to discuss a multitude of topics, good and bad, that are inherent to their respective industry, referring to it as their weekly therapy sessions. But the goal was to learn and broadcast knowledge to all who are interested. Additionally, at the suggestion of the co-host, this author began writing articles such as this one regarding problems that plagued their field of work. From there, a friend and fellow co-worker has expressed their interest in creating their own leadership consultation business. Having daily discussions about how they can best pursue that goal and achieve the dream has been wondrous for explaining the mind and planting the seeds of self-employment to become their own bosses and masters of our own happiness, rather than relying on corporations that determine when we can be happy. Beyond that, it is recommended to obtain a hobby, such as woodworking, for example. Woodworking has been crucial to keep the creative juices circulating in the brain, start a fitness routine, and invest their self for the future. You can undertake a new sport, and this has been quite the learning curve for this author, but a fun expenditure of energy. Just when you think you are getting, dare I say good, your opponent makes an incredible shot that reminds you that there is still much more to discover and comprehend about the game. Now, all of these constructive uses of your time have been focused on your life outside of work. Why? Well, it is this author's opinion that those who have nothing else but their work to identify with live a rather sad existence. You are telling me that your personal life is so boring that you would rather be at work? That is utterly sad, and I hope those people find peace. I urge all of you to reflect on your own path to determine if you fall into the category of "Work is my only purpose." If you do, please consider making the necessary changes to improve your personal life, so work is only something that interrupts the fund. I am not naive, I understand that we must work to make money to support ourselves, our family, and our hobbies. What actions can be done to improve life at work? In short, help others. Learnable objectives, your peers or management you will hold in high regard are working on and offer up your skill sets to help them strike their target. Your efforts may go unnoticed by your own leadership, but I promise you that your peers, subordinates, and respectable leaders will not forget the courtesy you have extended to them. By assisting those within your organization, they in turn will be more inclined to help you attain success in your own interests. A cohesive unit where all parties are marching toward the same endgame. That is what high functioning businesses are supposed to consist of. You do not need to be theistic to know and understand that helping that neighbor is a fundamental good and moral practice. It is all our species and many others have survived for millennia by working as a team. Some of us seem to forgotten that tenant has the years passed. We have retrograced as a society from the golden rule that states, "Do unto others as I would have done unto me, have them do unto me, to do unto others before they do unto me." The current corporate culture of self-serving is appalling, exhausting, and just plain gross. Do not be a second-rate citizen at work. Elleviate unnecessary strain from your colleagues by providing whatever aid you can to their purpose. In doing so, you will find your own purpose. Though you may have a lack of fulfillment in your own position, you will feel very satisfied as a person. To that end, no day can be considered as wasted. Anyone who says otherwise is a fool and should be avoided at all costs. Do not give extra attention to them. For they are greed incarnate and prey upon kindness of others, merely viewing them as a resource to be exploited for their own self-absorbed plans. Disgraceful. Conclusion. No matter the person nor the industry, we have all felt the tins from a perceived lack of success. Though we know we are successful in our own right, it is not the success we crave. That is to be recognized and rewarded by our leadership for our job well done. Though it is frustrating when we are not given the credit we are owed, do not dwell too long on these feelings for you. It will only hurt yourself in the long run. Seek the guidance and tutelage from an established career professional, one who will help you learn from your mistakes and grow past them, building a better you in the process. When we become aware that our exertions do little to improve our current situation, it is time to move on to a position where your contributions are considered a value add to the organization. Be aware that these changes may not occur as quickly as we hope. So approach the application process slowly and with low expectations. Ultimately, your happiness in the workplace is dependent upon you. Do what you must, legally speaking of course, to ensure that happiness is attainable despite the circumstances. The pursuit of happiness is not so much the collecting of tangible and/or intangible items with the hope that you will find peace once you are in possession of them. It is finding tranquility in the space you currently occupy. That is not to say to give up on striving for a better, more so it is to signify removing undue stress from burdening your mind. As the Stoics teach, control what you can and discard what you cannot. In that mind frame, you will find peace and happiness. This has been a very in-depth read of an article that was authored and like I said in the beginning, I believe many of us can resonate with some of the words that were mentioned in this episode and in this article. Please let us know your feedback, let us know your thoughts, let us know if there's multiple parts in this article that you resonate with or there are some parts that you egregiously disagree with. If that was even the correct word. Let us know in the comments and our social medias, our email, our website. The absolute best way to get in touch with us and have conversations such as this is on the Discord channel VR Patreon. We have many conversations like this with the patrons in there already and we are very grateful for all those participating patrons who contribute to our success. I also like to welcome one of our newest patron and line chief to our group, Mr. Daniel L. Thank you so much Daniel for your support and patronage. And then for all of our listeners out there, we were not as far as we have without all of you listening to us, providing us feedback, giving us the reason to exist. And once again, as the article say, it's not about attaining the things that you feel will make you happy. It's being able to control what you can, discard what you cannot, and finding tranquility in the space you currently occupy. On that note, we appreciate you all for listening and we'll see you all on the next one. Everybody, we would like to take this time to thank our patrons for supporting our show and allowing us to make episodes, maintain our gear, and create merch for all of our listeners. With special thanks to Eric Kalaman, Chris Hawkins, Eric Shaw, Dan Schubert, Ryan Fruschauer, Kyle Keir, Mike Sherwood, Caleb Stockhill, and Jennifer Brofer. Thank you all so much for your support and patronage. So please support us on Patreon. You will receive awesome perks like access to our private discord, discounts, and early access to our merch, first glimpse of our comics and other projects, and so much more. You can further support us and show off your prowess as an aircraft specialist by visiting our shop at councilfermaintenance.com. If you like classy or rugged watches, visit our affiliate RockwellTime at RockwellTime.com, use the code CX, the number 4 MX to save 10% off your total order. If you have suggestions for the show or you'd like to be a guest on the show, send us a line on our contact us section at councilfermaintenance.com, and we'll do what we can to get both your ideas and yourself on the show. Please support us on social media like Facebook at Council for Maintenance, Instagram at C-A-N-X for maintenance podcasts, or Twitter at CX-M-X podcasts. Please check out our new comics series on the tapas app. Like, share, subscribe, and comment on our comics. Let us know what you think. Thank you all so much for your support and listenership, and we will catch you all next time. [BLANK_AUDIO]
