Counted - In or Out? 110 Talk # X (transcript)

Counted - out or in?

This is 110 talk where nothing is off the table, and this is episode number 10.

I want to say this.

You are a 10 out of 10 if you're listening to this and your heart is pure.

If you're not pure in the heart, some of what I say might not quite apply.

I feel called to do this episode, even though it's been only a few days since the last one.

And this is in regards to being counted in or out.

And the way that I first thought about this, actually, was when I was embarking on my musical project, and I've been deep into that for about two years now.

And after the first project called 110 came out, I noticed that it got some initial numbers.

One of the songs on Spotify did really well.

But then after that, it was kind of crickets.

And I was like, okay, Paul, if you're serious about this, you need to make more of an effort.

You need to grow your craft.

You need to improve your skill set.

And so I started this project called Counted, which, if I remember correctly, it had about 31 songs.

And I did all of those songs in a period of about 30 days.

It was like a song a day, sometimes more, sometimes I would take a day off or two in the middle of all of that.

And what it really represents to me is getting back up and counting yourself in.

And there's are so many different ways in life that this can be applied if you get fired or laid off by a job, it could be as simple as continuing to apply for a new job, continuing to go to networking events and even looking at freelance or other types of opportunities that we hadn't considered before.

If it was the quote unquote failure of a certain project, whether it be a song or a screenplay, or a book, it's about not backing down and starting to plan for the next thing, whatever that thing is for you.

And so it in the spirit of this episode, I want to say, I count myself in.

I count you in.

I want you to count yourself in and to count others in.

Because when we support each other, it is something that is beneficial to the entire collective, and it allows more of us to rise.

And I stand with anyone who was counted out by others feel like they were counted out by others or maybe even led to believe that they were counted out or that they weren't good enough and it crept into to the self-doubt.

And I experienced this definitely in my past.

And I think that this applies to anyone, actually.

It could apply to somebody who has never broken through in their family before, for whatever craft or whatever influence.

It could also be somebody at the top of the game who is counted out because the critics and the haters say that they can't repeat or do better than they've done before.

One of my dreams is that everyone feels empowered to raise their voice in this world, actually does so, and raises their voice in this world if they want to.  And that voice is heard and respected.

It does not have to even be a podcast or a song or a video.

It could be as simple as writing something on a blog that is important.

I believe that those voices that want to rise should have the ability to be heard.

I have been saying this for a very long time, and I think that the more voices that we have and the more perspectives that we have in this world can help to clear the path for others and help to knock down barriers that have existed to hold us back for centuries.

I want to know what is, what was your dream either now or in the past, what was something that may have stalled it?

I do know that people do tend to focus on their own interests.

So it could have been that their interest was to suppress your dream.

And maybe in the process, somehow you felt like you were subtly counted out or that implanted something into your mind that closed that possibility for yourself.

And I think that society, society has a pretty systematic way of doing this as well.

And I'm going to give a few examples here.

So think about when you're sick.

Something is wrong with you, right?

Let me prescribe you a drug.

This is sick care.

This is not health care.

I'm not talking about all cases, but you know the type of cases on I'm talking about.

The profits, profits, profits of the ongoing drugs that tend to alleviate some symptoms, but not really solve any problems and sometimes have a laundry list of side effects longer than the benefits plus require more medication in the future.

That's the kind of thing I'm talking about as it relates to being sick.

How about materialism?

You are lesser because you don't have what they have, the aspirational lifestyle, the things that we're supposed to want, right?

So the problem in both of those examples being sick and materialism is that you're being sold something.

It's not a problem.

That's how we operate in a capitalist society, but we all need to be aware of the type of emotions that are played into in those sales pitches.

How about solitude?

You enjoy your own company, but no, there's something wrong with you because you don't have any friends.

What's really probably going on is that the people that are making you feel that way cannot stand to be alone with themselves.

One other example, because this is kind of a thing in the news right now where they're trying to get rid of gay marriage in the United States.

I think it's about homophobia.

So notice how they're scared of it, right?

It's a phobia, but yet they give so much attention to it.

So something is going on there behind the scenes, and I don't want to speculate about what that is, but what I will say is that people who are comfortable with their own sexuality are not scared of others' sexualities.

So those are a few of the ways that I think society can sometimes count us out using tactics such as, you're sick or you need this or something's wrong with you because you're alone or because of your sexual orientation or gender identity or whatever the new culture war is, right?

And then there's forces, there's friends, there's family that can sometimes come in with subtler tactics to count you out or to make you doubt yourself and count yourself out.

And I want to say that I am your advocate.

I am here to count you in.

I have overcome some masterfully orchestrated opposition designed to silence me, and guess what?

I'm not going away and I'm not shutting up.

Some of these lies were outrageous and didn't even dignify a response from me.

But I will say just one of the ones that was circulating.

I don't even know if this is one of the worst ones, but there was a rumor going around that I was sleeping with people prostituting myself to pay for my records that I was recording, that I believe, did not even dignify a response, because it was nowhere near being rooted in the truth.

I just kept my head down.

I kept working, and I kept going about my business with integrity and minding my own business.

But the chilling part of this and why I want to bring it up is that it took me a long time to realize the extent of the things that were being said.

And it can kind of creep up on you insidiously if you're not paying attention to the energy and if you're not paying attention to what is said.

So I always like to focus on the positive and raise the vibration and be about the light, but sometimes we have to be aware of the darkness.  We have to know what is going on behind the scenes so that we can really ascend to where we deserve to ascend to.

There is a thin distinction, I believe, between them counting you out and you counting yourself out.

This is similar to what I talked about in the last episode about the devil.

If he can get you to doubt yourself, he doesn't even have to sabotage you because you'll do it yourself.

Well, it's sort of a mixture of that where they plant the seeds, they tell the lies, and then what it ultimately does is turn people off of you to count you out, but also, more importantly, it turns you off of yourself.

It makes you believe that what you're fighting for, what you are creating, what you are doing is not valuable.

And suddenly you start to compromise with yourself and you think, oh, but, you know, this is a backup plan.

Or maybe if I just wait a little longer, that delay that tends to come in.

So that thin veil between them counting you out versus you counting you out can really creep up on you and sometimes be hard to distinguish between whether it's them or you or a combination.

But either way, if that combination happens, it is lethal to what you're doing.

And I think to heal, because look, we're not here spitting conspiracy theories or saying, oh, poor us.

So to heal, I think we always have to take responsibility for our part.

What are we tuning into?

Who are we talking to?

Are we being completely aware of what's going on or if we're not quite clear about what's going on, how do we gain more clarity as to what's going on?

Because people will feed on your energy if you give it to them.

And if you're putting it in the wrong places or if you're offering yourself in spaces that are not beneficial to your growth, then that's on you.

And I've made those mistakes.

I don't sit here as a preacher man telling people what to do .

I am speaking from experience.

I have learned over the years that putting my energy in the wrong places can lead to me being counted out by others or by myself.

And maybe you stumbled across this message and you're like, whoa, Paul this is intense.

Like, I'm good.

I don't know what you're talking about.

But I will say this.

Even if you're good and I want to know more about your story.

I'm sure you've overcome some of this.

But even if you're good, you probably have a friend or a family member that you've seen a spark in.

Maybe they were young.

Maybe it was recent.

Maybe it's right now.

You see a spark in them and it's something that needs to be developed.

It's something that needs to be reignited.

And sometimes I think it's as simple as encouraging that person to pursue something, even if it's not what they end up pursuing or it's not what they want to do, cause complimenting that person and just setting them aside because I think sometimes we forget to do that.

We get so busy in the cadence of life and routines as we know it that we feel forget to talk to people specifically about, wow, I saw what you did the other week and that was really, really inspiring to me.

Or I saw a talent there and I think that's something that you could really develop into something bigger.

And I try to do this when I see it in my friends and family.

I have a lot of talented aunts and cousins in my bloodline.

I also had this friend who was really good at organizing.

So the places that she would inhabit were always meticulously in order.

Everything had a place.

It looked aesthetically appealing.

And I encouraged that friend to start an organizing business, which she did pursue for a while.

And I think that sometimes people just are so good at doing the things that they're good at.

They don't always know that they're that good at them.

And sometimes just that little tiny bit of encouragement, that tiny bit of human kindness can inspire somebody to take the next step.

And then they might be inspired to pay that forward and notice that their client or their friend or their family member is good at doing this and encourage that person to start their own thing, take their next step.

Be aware on this journey of counting yourself in so that you don't get any counter outers in the mix that a lot of the times the tactics of suppression are not obvious or direct, but very subtle and manipulative playing on emotions, something being masked as concern or checking in or comments that maybe you should choose something a little more pr practical.

“Have you thought about this?”

“Do you remember when they did it like that?”

 Or caring for you, “I just care.”

And so these people might not even be trying to suppress you, but they're no longer the people in your life that you want to discuss this thing with.

Because it's time to mix up the circle a little bit.

It's time to bring in new people that are walking in the same direction as you.

This is what I'm doing right now as well, as I continue to focus on 110 Co and on the music and on this talk forum, is I'm constantly meeting new people, thinking of what kind of events can I go to.

Where can I speak to people, speak with people, listen, and talk back and forth and finding people that are in alignment with what I'm doing.

It doesn't mean that we always have to agree on everything.

Of course not.

We never will.

But it's about finding those that are in alignment of the direction that we're going is how I think about this.

The conclusion is, I want you to count yourself in.

I count you in if you're here and you got to pure heart, because those ideas that you have are not only important for you and your family, but the next generations that come after you and others in your communities, whether it be something that is geographic or interest related, whatever the case may be, you following your dream is not selfish in a bad way.

It is putting this counting in of yourself first so that others can in turn have permission and feel like they can count themselves in. Because we always need examples of people doing things in new and interesting ways, forging new paths and making those paths a little bit easier for the next people that walk them.

This is a safe place for dreaming big and putting those dreams into visions and then even more from vision into actionable steps.

And with that being said, I hope you have a wonderful weekend and love and light from me to you.

God bless.