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Speaker 1: Hey everyone, and I'm so excited because we're going to

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Speaker 1: be adding a really special offering onto the back of

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Speaker 1: my solo episodes on Fridays. It's my short daily series

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Speaker 1: on Calm, The Daily Jay. And let me tell you,

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Speaker 1: it's unlike anything else I'm doing. It's part storytelling, part mindfulness,

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Speaker 1: with a wide range of unique, actionable insights, and it's

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Speaker 1: also the only place you can meditate with me each

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Speaker 1: and every day. I absolutely love all the wisdom was sharing,

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Speaker 1: all the lives were changing, and whether you want to

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Speaker 1: improve your mindset, your habits, or your relationships, whether you

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Speaker 1: want to work on developing more focus, presence, or equanimity,

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Speaker 1: building a Daily Jay routine just seven minutes every day

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Speaker 1: can make a huge impact. So make sure to check

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Speaker 1: out the session at the end of the podcast, and

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Speaker 1: then subscribe to Calm for your daily dose of The

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Speaker 1: Daily Jay. Go to Calm dot com forward slash ja

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Speaker 1: for forty percent off your membership. Today from The New.

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Speaker 2: York Times, this is modern love. I'm Anna Martin, love now.

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Speaker 1: And stronger than anything, and I love you more than anything.

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Speaker 2: I still love today. We have an essay about being

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Speaker 2: yourself when you're dating, which is so hard to not

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Speaker 2: show off, just to show up as you. The essay

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Speaker 2: is written by relationship expert Jay Shetty, and this guy

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Speaker 2: is kind of having a moment. Please welcome to the

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Speaker 2: Lays Show, Jay Shetty.

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Speaker 1: Will Smith is a big fan. I know Oprah is

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Speaker 1: a big, big, big fan. Jay.

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Speaker 2: You're amazing, Ja Shetty, Jay Shetty j He's the go

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Speaker 2: to life coach for over fifty million followers. He's written books,

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Speaker 2: He's on a world tour and this is huge for me.

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Speaker 2: He officiated the wedding of j Lo and Ben Affleck

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Speaker 2: on his podcast.

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Speaker 1: Question is from Alanat Thank you for your question.

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Speaker 2: He answers burning love questions.

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Speaker 1: I've been ghosted recently for the first time. I feel

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Speaker 1: like I did something wrong. Whoa right? This is such

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Speaker 1: a common one for so many people. Now, why do

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Speaker 1: we need closure?

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Speaker 2: Jay's advice is tailored for the Internet, but it's rooted

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Speaker 2: in Hindu philosophy. Jay was a monk in India for

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Speaker 2: three years in his twenties, and that time gave him

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Speaker 2: insights into the way that anyone can be more loving

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Speaker 2: and more compassionate and more monk like, even if you've

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Speaker 2: never been to an Ashram. Today we have Jay's Modern

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Speaker 2: Love essay about dating like a monk and how that

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Speaker 2: led him to the love of his life. Jay Sheddy,

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Speaker 2: so excited to have you on the show. Welcome to

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Speaker 2: Modern Love.

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Speaker 1: Ah, thank you so much for having me. I'm so

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Speaker 1: grateful to be here.

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Speaker 2: So, Jay, you became a monk right after you graduated university,

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Speaker 2: which is not the traditional postgrad plan. How did you

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Speaker 2: make the choice to tokeate yourself to this way of life?

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Speaker 1: So the first monk I ever met was at a

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Speaker 1: college event. I used to go and hear speakers and

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Speaker 1: athletes and musicians and thought leaders speak all the time.

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Speaker 1: I went there expecting very little and thinking I didn't

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Speaker 1: need anything that he was going to share. But I

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Speaker 1: walked out of there with the newfound direction. He was

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Speaker 1: talking about how the greatest gift in life, for the

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Speaker 1: greatest purpose is to use our skills in the service

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Speaker 1: of others. Now, when I look back, I realized that

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Speaker 1: when I was eighteen, I'd met people who were beautiful,

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Speaker 1: I'd met people who were rich, but I don't think

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Speaker 1: i'd met anyone who is truly content and truly self aware.

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Speaker 1: And he was all of those things. And so I thought, well,

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Speaker 1: I want those things. Those things seemed to be worthy

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Speaker 1: of pursuit. So, you know, for the next three to

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Speaker 1: four years, I still had relationships, I was still going out,

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Speaker 1: I was still doing anything that any person does at college.

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Speaker 1: But I would spend my Some and Christmas vacations often

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Speaker 1: visiting his monastery in India. Oh wow, Okay, And I'd

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Speaker 1: spend the other half interning at financial companies and corporations

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Speaker 1: in London, thinking that that's what I was going to

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Speaker 1: do for work. And every time i'd come back from

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Speaker 1: the monastery, I'd be full of joy and enthusiasm and energy.

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Speaker 1: And every time i'd finish my internship, I'd think, I

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Speaker 1: don't think that that's what I'm meant to be doing.

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Speaker 1: So I allowed myself to live two separate lives because

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Speaker 1: I was just trying to learn and understand. I was

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Speaker 1: very young. I even skipped my graduation ceremonies because I

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Speaker 1: was already in the monastery.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and the other was everyone in your life? How

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Speaker 2: did they react to that choice?

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Speaker 1: So a lot of my friends were really confused. They

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Speaker 1: were just like, what are you doing? Like, you know,

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Speaker 1: everyone was getting fancy jobs and my extended family and

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Speaker 1: community was actually quite negative. They were saying things like,

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Speaker 1: you're wasting your life, You're never going to get a

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Speaker 1: job again, you're joining a car.

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Speaker 2: Wow. What would you tell them was so important about

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Speaker 2: this way of life that you needed to go dedicate

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Speaker 2: your existence to it?

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Speaker 1: Well, the two things that I saw the monks in

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Speaker 1: those summer and Christmas vacations, what they dedicated their life

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Speaker 1: to was self mastery and service. And when I talk

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Speaker 1: about self mastery, I mean understanding ego, understanding envy, understanding

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Speaker 1: what our emotions are trying to tell us and how

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Speaker 1: to respond to them. And the other half of service

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Speaker 1: that they were living their life trying to build sustainable

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Speaker 1: villages or food distribution programs to help the poor or

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Speaker 1: disadvantaged children. And I saw them living their life in

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Speaker 1: a way trying to positively impact others, and I thought,

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Speaker 1: that's what I want to dedicate my life to, is

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Speaker 1: figuring out what's going on inside of me and then

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Speaker 1: help people figuring out what's going on outside.

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Speaker 2: You became a monk in your twenties when most people

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Speaker 2: are going out and flirting and going on dat and

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Speaker 2: your modern love essay kind of begins with you listing

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Speaker 2: out what your priorities were when you were a monk.

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Speaker 2: Can you read that part of your essay for me?

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Speaker 1: Yes? Absolutely, So. Monks are famously celibate, but celibacy doesn't

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Speaker 1: just mean you're not having sex. It means you're not

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Speaker 1: interacting with other people in a way that could be

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Speaker 1: considered romantic. The Sanskrit word for monk, brahmacharia, means the

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Speaker 1: right use of energy. It's not that romance and sexual

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Speaker 1: energy are wrong, but my practice teaches that we all

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Speaker 1: have a limited amount of energy, which can be directed

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Speaker 1: in multiple directions or one, and when energy is scattered,

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Speaker 1: it's difficult to create momentum or impact.

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Speaker 2: You mentioned that these monks that you saw, who you

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Speaker 2: so admired and were learning from, have this method of

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Speaker 2: self mastery. Can you tell me what you learned about

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Speaker 2: that method of subduing the ego over those three years.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. So, from a more general standpoint, I'd say that

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Speaker 1: when you're living with a group of men in an ushroom,

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Speaker 1: every single person is a mirror for your ego because

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Speaker 1: you're having so many interactions daily that trigger you.

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Speaker 2: Huh, what do you mean triggered? Like you know you

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Speaker 2: have a difficult conversation or something.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it could It could be a difficult conversation. It

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Speaker 1: could be that someone didn't save food for you when

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Speaker 1: you relate to lunch or breakfast, right. It could be

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Speaker 1: that you weren't selected to give a class this morning

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Speaker 1: and someone else was, and you start noticing very worldly

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Speaker 1: responses to spiritual tasks, and you realize that just being

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Speaker 1: in an ushroom doesn't remove your ear. So I'd say

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Speaker 1: that some of the practices that really helped were the

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Speaker 1: practices of recognizing that everyone was a teacher and a

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Speaker 1: student at the same time. This is something that was

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Speaker 1: one of my favorite moments. Actually. I was with my

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Speaker 1: monk teacher and he's in his sixties or seventies at

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Speaker 1: the time, and I'm a young new monk, and every

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Speaker 1: morning I would bow down to him, which was our custom,

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Speaker 1: and he would bow down again back to me. And

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Speaker 1: I would always think how special that was because there

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Speaker 1: was this mutual respect. And I think that practice was

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Speaker 1: really beautiful because you realized that you were never at

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Speaker 1: the top and you were never at the bottom.

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Speaker 2: Well, I want to talk about your decision to leave

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Speaker 2: the ashram after three years. How did you make that call.

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Speaker 1: So it was the most difficult decision I'd made at

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Speaker 1: the time. Communal living was really tough on my body

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Speaker 1: in terms of my health. I would get sick more

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Speaker 1: often in the USHERM. You know, you're living in rooms

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Speaker 1: from sometimes thirty to one hundred people, and so there

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Speaker 1: was a physical health component. And then there was this

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Speaker 1: deeper realization that I loved what I was learning. But

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Speaker 1: all I dreamt about and thought about was how could

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Speaker 1: I share this with other people? Because I know so

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Speaker 1: many of my friends are dealing with this, but they're

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Speaker 1: not going to come here, but I really feel the

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Speaker 1: desire to share it with them, and I want to

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Speaker 1: do that. And so there were these two self awareness

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Speaker 1: pieces which led me to realize I wasn't a monk.

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Speaker 1: And I think that's almost like realizing that you told

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Speaker 1: someone you love them, but now you're falling out of

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Speaker 1: love with them, or you realize you're not in love

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Speaker 1: them anymore. Like that's how it felt.

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Speaker 2: Did you talk to your teachers at all when you

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Speaker 2: were thinking about making this hard decision to leave the Ashram?

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Speaker 1: I did. I did, And I was even scared to

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Speaker 1: talk to them about it because I didn't want to

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Speaker 1: feel judged, or you know, you're almost dropping out and

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Speaker 1: think what are your teachers going to say? Right? And

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Speaker 1: my teacher said to me when I told him that

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Speaker 1: I think I should leave, he said to me that

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Speaker 1: some people go to college and some of them become professors.

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Speaker 1: And he said some of them leave after their degree

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Speaker 1: and they become entrepreneurs or they work at a company.

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Speaker 1: And he said, which one's better, the people who become

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Speaker 1: professors or the people who leave. And I said neither.

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Speaker 1: I mean whatever's right for the person. And he said, well,

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Speaker 1: that's the same here. He said, some people come and

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Speaker 1: they graduate to become monks, and they stay here for

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Speaker 1: many years, and some take their training like you did,

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Speaker 1: and leave and go on to do wonderful things. And

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Speaker 1: he said, I think you'll be very happy if you're

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Speaker 1: sharing what you've learned, and so you should do that.

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Speaker 1: And so there was this really like understanding open view

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Speaker 1: of no, maybe it's not right for you anymore. It

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Speaker 1: was right for you then and not anymore, and there's

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Speaker 1: nothing wrong with that.

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Speaker 2: Even in your decision to leave them. They had compassion

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Speaker 2: for you, which is really beautiful.

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Speaker 1: Exactly that time was extremely tough for me, and it

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Speaker 1: wasn't even a happy decision. And it was even more

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Speaker 1: depressing because when I came back, everyone was like, oh

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Speaker 1: we told you so, oh you came back. Oh you

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Speaker 1: failed being a monk. And then you know, I was

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Speaker 1: applying for jobs and forty companies rejected me without an interview,

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Speaker 1: and I was thinking, oh god, because.

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Speaker 2: Your resume had Ashram for three years on it and

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Speaker 2: nothing else.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, exactly. Yeah, it's like, what are your transferable skills?

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Speaker 1: Sitting star silent and being still like, no one wants

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Speaker 1: that in their company, and so it was it was

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Speaker 1: just almost like maybe everyone was right and maybe I

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Speaker 1: did just waste three years. Yeah, really really difficult time.

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Speaker 2: When you came back to London. You know, like in

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Speaker 2: a science fiction movie or something, when people are frozen

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Speaker 2: in those little pods and then they get released after

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Speaker 2: thousands of years and they're like, what is a cell phone?

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Speaker 2: Was it like that for you when you came back

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Speaker 2: to London? Did you not recognize anything around you?

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Speaker 1: The hardest part is having to do small when you've

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Speaker 1: done no small talk for three years, right, You've not

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Speaker 1: had a conversation about the latest TV show or the

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Speaker 1: latest movie.

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Speaker 2: Have you heard about self mastery and they'd be like, what,

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Speaker 2: that's exactly it. That must have been really awkward as

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Speaker 2: you started to get back into dating two. What was

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Speaker 2: that part of it, like, like building a social life

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Speaker 2: dating again.

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Speaker 1: I didn't really think about dating overall, as I kind

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Speaker 1: of I guess I was a bit scared, but I

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Speaker 1: didn't even think about it that way. But I had

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Speaker 1: definitely like forgotten how to flirt. But when I started

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Speaker 1: talking to my now wife, because she was really good

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Speaker 1: friends with my sister and she'd be over at our

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Speaker 1: place and I'd be talking to her right, I only

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Speaker 1: really knew how to have really thoughtful, vulnerable, deep conversations.

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Speaker 1: I do remember that she was always very inquisitive, and

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Speaker 1: so that was kind of helpful for me to just

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Speaker 1: totally be myself. That kind of made it easy for

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Speaker 1: me to be around her, I guess, because it wasn't

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Speaker 1: someone that I had to be someone I wasn't around.

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Speaker 2: After the break, Jay Shetty goes on a date after

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Speaker 2: leaving the Ashram and it does not go well. That's next.

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Speaker 2: So Jay, you've left the Ashram, you're back living in London,

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Speaker 2: trying to return to a normal life. You're working you're

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Speaker 2: starting to date, and eventually you go on a date

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Speaker 2: with Roddy, who is now your wife. Can you read

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Speaker 2: the part of your essay where you talk about your

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Speaker 2: first date with her?

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Speaker 1: Absolutely? The night was going to cost me nearly a

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Speaker 1: week's income, and I wanted it to be perfect. We

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Speaker 1: were at Locanda Locatelli, one of the best restaurants in London,

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Speaker 1: when we slid into a buttery leather booth. I winced.

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Speaker 1: She was vegan, and vegans aren't known to appreciate leather boots.

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Speaker 1: But the lights were low, the ambiance beautiful, and I

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Speaker 1: was still hoping to hear how impressed she was. Do

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Speaker 1: you think they have anything vegan on the menu, she said,

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Speaker 1: sounding more worried than excited. They're famous for their fresh pasta,

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Speaker 1: I said, trying to sound optimistic, but I had signed

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Speaker 1: us up for a special tasting menu and I didn't

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Speaker 1: know how much choice she would have. Fresh pasta usually

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Speaker 1: has eggs, she said, But we'll see. The service is amazing, right,

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Speaker 1: I said. She smiled politely, but she wasn't eating much.

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Speaker 1: After dinner. I drove her home and dropped her off

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Speaker 1: outside her apartment. She thanked me and waived a friendly

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Speaker 1: goodbye that the evening had fallen flat. Clearly, I had

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Speaker 1: no idea what I was doing.

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Speaker 2: Oh I'm feeling for you Jay in this moment. Oh

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Speaker 2: my gosh, Why do you think it was so easy

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Speaker 2: for you to slip back into this sort of unmonklike

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Speaker 2: mode of trying to impress Rody? Like? What is it

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Speaker 2: about dating someone that made you slip back to the

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Speaker 2: old way of life?

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Speaker 1: I think we're so unaware, and we underestimate how strongly

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Speaker 1: our conditioning and wiring leads our life. Since I was young,

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Speaker 1: I saw the dates that movies had in rom coms.

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Speaker 1: I had done those dates with partners in my teens

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Speaker 1: and college life, and so you assume that I just

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Speaker 1: have to keep repeating this cycle until it goes wrong.

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Speaker 1: And I think we don't realize how many cycles and

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Speaker 1: how many patterns we live in until we start to

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Speaker 1: break them. And it was only later that I figured

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Speaker 1: out that my wife's favorite thing to do. She said

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Speaker 1: to me, my ideal date would be going to Tesco's

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Speaker 1: and walking down the bread aisle. Tesco's is England's Whole Foods.

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Speaker 1: And I think that she was speaking more from a

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Speaker 1: kind of funny tongue in cheek in terms of, hey,

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Speaker 1: I'm simple. I just want to walk down an isle

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Speaker 1: at a grocery store and pick something up to eat.

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Speaker 1: We don't need to go to a fancy restaurant. And

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Speaker 1: I thought that that was refreshing and beautiful because it

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Speaker 1: showed me that she didn't value those things.

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Speaker 2: How long did it take you to sort of relax

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Speaker 2: into yourself with Roddy and what did it take to

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Speaker 2: do that?

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Speaker 1: Well, I think it was. I give the credit to

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Speaker 1: her because she was so good at not trying to

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Speaker 1: impress someone back. And I don't know, Radi's just a

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Speaker 1: special human being. It's just like she's so different and

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Speaker 1: weird in a good way. I dedicated my first book

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Speaker 1: to her, and I wrote the dedication to be to

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Speaker 1: my wife, who's more monk than I'll ever be. I

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Speaker 1: just think that a lot of the qualities I learned

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Speaker 1: during my time as a monk, Radi had them quite naturally.

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Speaker 1: I look for monk qualities in everyone I meet, and

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Speaker 1: I believe everyone, whether they've been a monk or not,

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Speaker 1: have them. But the monk life really helps us consciously

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Speaker 1: train them and build them and develop them as well.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm struck by when you said that she was,

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Speaker 2: even though it was a bit of a joke, like

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Speaker 2: I just want to walk down the bred aisle, that

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Speaker 2: sort of simple, pure way of connecting does feel very

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Speaker 2: monk like of her. I mean it sounds like you

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Speaker 2: were picking up on these sort of monk like qualities

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Speaker 2: in her even early on.

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Speaker 1: I think that as well. But I think another thing

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Speaker 1: that just came to mind is RADI would always say, Oh,

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Speaker 1: I want you to come and spend time with my family.

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Speaker 1: My family's really important to me. Remember when I first

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Speaker 1: started hanging out at her house, her family would all

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Speaker 1: often look at it and be like, are you really

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Speaker 1: gonna wear that when he comes over, because she'd just

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Speaker 1: be in sweats or whatever, and she'd be like, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that is what I'm gonna wear because that's what I

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Speaker 1: would wear if I was at the house totally. And

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Speaker 1: so she had this really like honest, vulnerable, open way

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Speaker 1: of being from the beginning, and I think that was

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Speaker 1: definitely monk like as well, to just say, yeah, this

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Speaker 1: is who I am and this is how we'll be.

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Speaker 2: And it's part of your practice now to try to

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Speaker 2: develop or even hone those monk qualities in other people. Correct,

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Speaker 2: that's your books and your podcast. That's sort of about

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Speaker 2: sort of training folks who haven't spent years in Ashram

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Speaker 2: to exhibit these qualities in their own life.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. The literatures that I studied during my

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Speaker 1: time as a monk really laid out the four stages

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Speaker 1: of life almost as four classrooms of love. So the

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Speaker 1: four stages of life are considered you know, life in

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Speaker 1: solitude or monk life or single life. The second stage

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Speaker 1: is relationship life or married life. The third stage of

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Speaker 1: life is almost reflecting and thinking about what you want

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Speaker 1: to do next. And then the fourth stage of life

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Speaker 1: is loving the world. And the monks believe that the

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Speaker 1: most important love story is the love story you have

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Speaker 1: with anyone and everyone and with the world. I think

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Speaker 1: so often we've built up this idea in society that

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Speaker 1: the most important love story is your romantic love story.

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Speaker 1: So many people either go through life single and think

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Speaker 1: that they're unworthy of love because they don't have a

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Speaker 1: romantic partner, or someone loses their romantic partner and then

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Speaker 1: they feel like they don't have any love in their life,

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Speaker 1: but the love of a brother, a sister, or a

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Speaker 1: mother or a father, like all of these loves count like.

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Speaker 1: We can't say that romantic love is above or below

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Speaker 1: any of these.

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Speaker 2: Jay of those four steps, what stage do you think

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Speaker 2: you're in?

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Speaker 1: I would say that I probably have a bit of

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Speaker 1: a glimpse into all of them.

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Speaker 2: Wow, okay, uh huh.

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Speaker 1: Probably at step two practicing to love my wife and

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Speaker 1: the people around me. But I have a glimpse into

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Speaker 1: step three and four because Step three requires a lot

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Speaker 1: of healing tact love within yourself. And then stage four

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Speaker 1: is where I want to live every day, which is

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Speaker 1: I want to love everyone, and I want to share

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Speaker 1: love with everyone on the planet, and I want to

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Speaker 1: be able to spread love across the world.

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Speaker 2: Well, you are on a world tour, so i'd say

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Speaker 2: you're pretty You're pretty far in your way to step four.

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Speaker 1: I guess I think I'm definitely. That's why I meant

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Speaker 1: That's why I said glimpses, because when I'm with my teachers,

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Speaker 1: I see how they live in that space, and I

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Speaker 1: see how I just have a little peak, and that's

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Speaker 1: good enough to prove to me it's real. And so

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Speaker 1: I feel grateful that there's more to learn, though I'm

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Speaker 1: not upset I'm not there. I'm happy that I know

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Speaker 1: where I have to go. All I'm trying to give

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Speaker 1: people is I don't want anyone to feel shame or

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Speaker 1: guilt for how they currently live. I want you to

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Speaker 1: feel clarity and curiosity about where you still have to go.

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Speaker 2: M Jay Sheddy, thank you so much for coming on

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Speaker 2: the show.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for having me. So grateful and appreciate your

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Speaker 1: time and energy.

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Speaker 2: Modern Love is produced by Julia Botero, Christina Josa, and

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Speaker 2: Hans Buto. It's edited by Sarah Sarason. Our executive producer

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Speaker 2: is Jen Poyant. This episode was mixed by Mary and Lozano.

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Speaker 2: Our show was recorded by Mattie Macielo. The Modern Love

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Speaker 2: theme music is by Dan Powell. Original music in this

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Speaker 2: episode by Marion Lozano, Pat McCusker, and Rowan Nina Stow.

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Speaker 2: Digital production by Mihima Chablani and Nelgael Oakley. Special thanks

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Speaker 2: to Jay Shetty's team, Nicole Berg and ENnie Ginghold. The

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Speaker 2: Modern Love column is edited by Daniel Jones. Me A

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Speaker 2: Lee is the editor of Modern Love Projects. I'm Anna Martin,

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Speaker 2: thanks for listening.

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Speaker 1: I'm not in this world to live up to your

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Speaker 1: expectations and you're not in this world to live up

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Speaker 1: to mine. I just love that quote from Bruce Lee.

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Speaker 1: And while it can feel really hard to overcome the

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Speaker 1: limits placed on you by others, I'm here to remind

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Speaker 1: you their limits don't have to be yours. The next

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Speaker 1: seven minutes are about your potential and defying expectations. I'm

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Speaker 1: Jay Sheddy. Welcome to the Daily Jay. Before we go

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Speaker 1: any further, let's get centered with three deliberate breaths inhaling

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Speaker 1: and exhaling, filling your lungs with ease, emptying them with focus,

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Speaker 1: embracing this moment, and tuning in. Today, I'd like to

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Speaker 1: introduce you to one of the most exciting runners of

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Speaker 1: the past twenty years. No, I'm not talking about Usain

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Speaker 1: Bolt or Alison Felix. I'm talking about Fouger's Singh, the

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Speaker 1: world's oldest marathoner now. Fougia was not born with the

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Speaker 1: traditional athletic build In fact, his legs were so skinny

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Speaker 1: and weak that he couldn't walk at all until age five.

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Speaker 1: Growing up in a farming village in India, other kids

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Speaker 1: would tease him. They called him Dunder, which is Njabi

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Speaker 1: for stick. Eventually, Fouga grew fit and healthy. He got married,

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Speaker 1: had six children and a farm of his own. It

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Speaker 1: was a good life, not without its challenges, but one

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Speaker 1: that was full and fulfilling. Then, in his mid eighties,

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Speaker 1: Fauja suffered the loss of his middle son, called Deep.

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Speaker 1: His wife had passed away a few years earlier, and

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Speaker 1: the rest of his children had long ago left India.

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Speaker 1: Fauja felt lonely and lost, so he moved to England

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Speaker 1: to live with some of his remaining family. He started

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Speaker 1: running with fellow Punjabi expats, and he found that it

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Speaker 1: helped him cope with his grief. It gave him purpose,

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Speaker 1: and in fact, he was good at it, really good

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Speaker 1: for his age. He had stayed in shape with his

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Speaker 1: lifelong farm work, and when he challenged other seniors would win.

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Speaker 1: Then one day he saw a marathon on TV. He

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Speaker 1: didn't know exactly what the race was, but he wanted

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Speaker 1: to compete. Even though Fouger enjoyed running, it seemed like

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Speaker 1: a stretch to prepare for a twenty six mile trek,

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Speaker 1: but Fouger was determined. He found a coach to train him,

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Speaker 1: and several months later he finished the London Marathon. In

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Speaker 1: just under seven hours. Since then, he has made global headlines,

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Speaker 1: running and astonishing eight more marathons. He's also broken several

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Speaker 1: world records, including being the first one hundred year old

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Speaker 1: to finish a marathon. Fouga's last competitive race was a

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Speaker 1: ten k in twenty thirteen, just before he turned one

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Speaker 1: hundred and two. He's now retired, but he still runs

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Speaker 1: for fun at the age of one huge hundred and eleven.

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Speaker 1: All my life, Faugia once said, people set limitations on me.

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Speaker 1: They said I would never walk, They said I would

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Speaker 1: never farm. They certainly never thought I would set records

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Speaker 1: with my running. No matter what people said, I always

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Speaker 1: believed in myself. I never gave up. Fauga's story is

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Speaker 1: remarkable because he didn't let the expectations of others determine

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Speaker 1: his path or slow him down, despite the supposed barriers

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Speaker 1: in his way. Maybe you can relate to that. Maybe

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Speaker 1: there's something you want to do but people keep saying

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Speaker 1: you can't, or you've been teased for something that's supposed

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00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:54,880
Speaker 1: to hold you back, whatever it may be. Don't let

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Speaker 1: outside opinions prevent you from pursuing your passions or chasing

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Speaker 1: your dreams. Don't let others define what your life looks like.

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Speaker 1: Remember those are their limits, not yours. And as our

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Speaker 1: time today winds down, let's meditate on that. So get

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Speaker 1: comfortable wherever you are, allowing your body and mind to

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Speaker 1: relax into the present. See if you can adopt a

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Speaker 1: compassionate attitude here, embracing yourself and your experience whatever this

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Speaker 1: practice brings. This is a moment of rest. You don't

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Speaker 1: have to do anything or be anywhere. And if you

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Speaker 1: find your mind busy or your body restless, that's okay.

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Speaker 1: There's nothing you need to do with your thoughts or emotions.

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Speaker 1: Just observe that they exist and see if you can

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Speaker 1: gently let them be. Allow yourself to feel whatever you're

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Speaker 1: feeling right now. Meditation is a beautiful opportunity to just

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Speaker 1: be aware of your present experience. And now let's open

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Speaker 1: this up. Bring to mind an interest that you might

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Speaker 1: like to pursue, but you're hesitant, wondering if time has

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Speaker 1: passed you by. Can you open yourself up to the

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Speaker 1: possibility that it's not actually too late. What's one step

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Speaker 1: you could take toward that interest. I'm looking forward to

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Speaker 1: seeing what you're going to do next. Thanks for being here. Today,

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Speaker 1: I'd love you to share this message with someone who

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Speaker 1: could use it, and I'll see you tomorrow