Merry_Christmas_And_Happy_Holidays
00:00:00.000 | Hello, everybody. It's Sam from Financial Samurai. And in this episode, I just want
00:00:04.680 | to wish everyone happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and more. It's been obviously
00:00:11.660 | a really difficult year with the S&P 500 down about 20 plus percent. The real estate market
00:00:18.540 | is starting to fade. Cryptocurrency down 70 plus percent. Scandals and everything. So
00:00:26.060 | the bright side, hopefully, is that we've all been able to live life a little bit more.
00:00:31.100 | I know my wife and I, we've gone out on many more date nights in public. We went to see
00:00:34.900 | the Warriors. We went to holiday parties. My parents have flown in. My in-laws have
00:00:40.300 | flown in. It's been a better time for friendships and for family. So if we believe friendships
00:00:46.860 | and family are more important than money, then hey, maybe net-net 2022 was better than
00:00:54.260 | in 2020 and 2021, when we were making a lot of money from our investments, but we had
00:00:59.860 | to be separated from our friends and family more often. I'm talking about the subject
00:01:05.220 | of friends and family more because I just listened to my last episode with my wife on
00:01:10.740 | the loneliness epidemic. And I really thought deeply about how we can be more connected
00:01:17.660 | in 2023. And maybe you find a connection with me by listening to this podcast, because I
00:01:23.660 | always want to talk about interesting things that affect many of our lives. Every day,
00:01:29.860 | something fascinating is going on that'll affect me, you, our children, our friends,
00:01:35.340 | and our relatives. And I want to be on that. And so if I can provide you any type of solace
00:01:40.660 | during lonely times, or when your friends are busy, or your family is far, far away,
00:01:45.780 | I hope I can. And that's one of the reasons why in December, I've tried to record more
00:01:50.820 | episodes. Every other day, frankly.
00:01:53.900 | It's true that finding friends and companionship takes a lot of effort. You know, I'm in this
00:01:59.740 | WhatsApp group chat with fellow parents. And it's interesting every week, I say, Hey, I'm
00:02:05.820 | going to be at this playground, riding bikes, or, you know, playing on the structures, come
00:02:11.300 | on out. And sadly, for weekends in a row, nobody came out. But a couple parents finally
00:02:18.900 | did come out the other day. And it was my son's favorite classmates, two girls, interestingly
00:02:25.620 | enough. And I think they are in a love triangle where one girl really likes my son, and my
00:02:31.180 | son likes her back. But every time they spend a little bit more time together, the other
00:02:35.700 | girl gets very jealous. So during our playdate, one girl cried for about five minutes, because
00:02:41.700 | my son was playing with the other girl for a little too long. And then 20 minutes later,
00:02:46.700 | the other girl started crying because my son started playing with the other girl for a
00:02:49.820 | little bit too long. So it's just fascinating to me as a parent and as a middle aged person
00:02:55.540 | now, who has gone through all these emotions and loneliness and feelings of love and anxiety,
00:03:01.500 | how we have to experience this again, through our children and how we can help them harness
00:03:07.620 | their emotions and control their emotions, so they can feel more confident, happier,
00:03:12.580 | and more loved. So even though I have a terrible hit rate of only one set of parents showing
00:03:18.500 | up after five invites, I'm going to still send out those invites. I'm going to continue
00:03:23.300 | to show up. I'm going to continue to reach out to see if anybody wants to build a relationship.
00:03:28.340 | I'm going to be at the playground anyway. So if you want to come out, great. If not,
00:03:32.780 | it's okay. This is the type of attitude I hope every listener adopts. Keep showing up,
00:03:39.520 | no matter with your side hustle, your small business, your work, your children, building
00:03:45.640 | friendships and relationships. Keep showing up even when people are not showing up, even
00:03:50.900 | when people don't respond or give you the time of day. Because sooner or later, something
00:03:56.180 | good is going to happen. This has been my philosophy since 2009 with Financial Samurai.
00:04:00.740 | I promised I would publish three times a week for 10 years without fail. And what happened?
00:04:06.220 | Well, so much has happened. Namely, I haven't had to go back to work. I've been able to
00:04:11.100 | find something I love to do. I've been able to write a bestselling book that I never would
00:04:16.340 | have had this opportunity. So you just never know. But if you keep on showing up over and
00:04:21.940 | over again, something good is going to happen. Trust me on this one. So thanks so much, everyone
00:04:27.800 | for listening. And I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, fantastic holidays. I'm going to
00:04:33.020 | be doing my year in review post and also the top posts for Financial Samurai in 2022. And
00:04:38.700 | I'm going to be thinking deeply about what 2023 brings and how I can help you and my
00:04:45.660 | family live better and more meaningful lives for the next year. Thanks so much, everyone
00:04:51.500 | for listening. If you've enjoyed any or all of the 43 podcast episodes for 2022, I'd love
00:04:58.060 | a positive five star review. I read all of the nice commentary. It really warms my heart
00:05:03.780 | and gets me pumped up and motivated to record more. And if you enjoy any specific episode
00:05:09.580 | or this entire show, please share it with people you care about, because if you've enjoyed
00:05:14.420 | it, I'm sure they will enjoy it too. Thanks so much. Merry Christmas and happy holidays.