Everybody struggles in recovery. Everybody. We know it's not linear. So the best thing we could do about that is to expect to struggle and plan accordingly. So it's Monday, which means recovery Monday. This is episode 30. Let's get started. For those of you who do not know, we've done this now 29 other weeks. And by the way, welcome back because we were not here this week. Every Monday we do a lesson out of this book, The Anxious Truth. This is my recovery guide, covers everything you need to know, or most of what you need to know at least, getting past things like panic disorder and agoraphobia. If you'd like to copy that book to follow along with these, check it out at TheAnxiousTruth.com. All of these recovery Monday episodes, by the way, because we only have a few left, are all saved on my YouTube channel in a playlist. So if you ever want to go back and watch them again, they're all right there. So avail yourself of the resource. They will stay there forever. All right, let's put the chat up. Let's see what everybody's doing. Just let me know that everything is working. I'm pretty sure that it is. What up B? Katia's here. Kat is here. We got two cats here at the same time. So last week we missed a week. Sorry about that. School stuff took precedence. I was just kind of buried last week. This week is a little bit lighter, assignment-wise. So that's good news. I am now, this is week seven of the first 10-week term, and my master's program is going really well. I'm excited about it. It's pretty cool. So yeah, so here we are. Let's wait for the rest of the crew to show up. Hey, Nikki, what up? Sorry, I have to look down here for the comments. I'm not being rude. I just want to read your comments. I will put the chat overlay up so you guys could see what each other is saying. Is that even grammatically correct? And then let's get into this. So expecting to struggle. We all hear this, the saying all the time that recovery is not linear. They're right. There are ups and downs. Generally speaking, recovery sort of looks like the stock market, if you will. If you look at the stock market over a long period of time, it looks like a straight line, right? It just keeps going up and up and up over time. Within each one of those kind of small periods, though, if you look within a year, you'll see ups and downs. If you look within a month, you'll see even more ups and downs. If you look within a day, even more, and from hour to hour, the stock market is up and down and up and down. It's very jagged. In fact, it almost would look like a straight line on any given day, or even a downward slant on any given day. But if you pull back and look at a longer term, you see that the curve is always up. So that's recovery. It's just not linear. And some days it looks bumpier than others. The curve is jagged. Some days you have a little bit of a downward slope. It happens. So we hear this all the time. But I hear people just sort of pay lip service to it, like, hey, recovery is not linear. But let me tell you why I'm back to square one anyway. Let me repeat the phrase that recovery is not linear. Then let me dump all over it by telling you why my recovery has been ruined by this experience that I had. So it's sort of not fair. You really have to take into account the idea that recovery is not linear. And if we want to be brutally honest about this and get down to brass tax, except my Twitter stock, sorry, Ilana's ruining it for you. But if you want to get down to brass tax, recovery is not linear is really just code for you're going to struggle. Like you're going to struggle in the recovery process. That happens. We have struggles. Some days are better than others. I had plenty of struggle days. So what does that struggle sort of look like? The struggle looks like days when maybe things don't go as well as you want them to. Maybe you had your experiencing more anxiety than you would hope to, which is kind of every day because none of us wants to experience that kind of anxiety, right? So maybe it's a little bit more severe than you thought. Maybe you set out to do an exposure challenge and it didn't go quite as well as you wanted to. Maybe you're having a rough week. Maybe things are just kind of going awry in your life. And that life stress is sort of triggering a little bit of an increased response anxiety response. There's a bunch of different ways that you can struggle. Sometimes we struggle emotionally because we think, well, I'm never going to get better. We get impatient. We get frustrated with ourselves. If you're struggling with self-esteem issues or you're the type of person who tends to judge yourself very harshly or negatively or you beat yourself up when things don't go the way they want. Or maybe you have some pressure from the outside. People who are maybe putting some pressure on yourself or on you to get better, faster or you're ruining things for them or whatever it is. There's so many reasons why we might struggle kind of practically with progress. And there are times that we will struggle emotionally in how we feel. We're disappointed. We're discouraged. We're angry. We're resentful. There's a bunch of different things that are going to happen. So we have to expect that this is going to be the case. So it's not enough just to sort of do the old cliche, recovery is not linear. We really have to get down to brass tacks and say, well, that means I'm going to struggle some days. Some days I'm not going to feel so great. Some days it's going to be harder than other days. What do I do? So I think the first thing that you have to recognize is, number one, this is going to happen. That's part of the process too. And there are lessons in the struggle. So the very first thing that I would tell you about struggling is you have to really be careful that you don't define everything based on how you feel. So if you are continually in that process where it's like, Oh, I had a good day. So I'm doing great. Oh, I had no anxiety. So I'm doing great. Oh, I had anxiety fail over square one. I'm a failure. This isn't working. I'm on the struggle bus. If you are in the habit of always judging your progress and assessing how you're doing based on how you feel, then you are much more likely to be susceptible to the Oh, I'm struggling thing. So we say all the time and I wrote it in this book and I talk about it all the time. It's in the podcast episodes. We only care what we do, not how we feel, which I know sounds ridiculous in like sort of self-help and spirituality and personal development circles. Like I'm telling you to not care how you feel, you will care how you feel, but you can't judge based on how you feel. If you think you're only doing okay, if you have no anxiety or you don't panic, then the minute you do experience that those things, you're going to declare struggle and you're going to declare that that struggle is a five alarm fire that's burning down your house. And that doesn't have to be that way. So we have to expect to struggle. We care about having those negative feelings because those negative feelings of anxiety and panic and all of those things, uncertainty and the things that come with it, that distress, the recovery lessons are in that we need that. Now, we're not talking about that today, but part of the idea of being prepared for the struggle is the acceptance that that is true. Like if you are unwilling to accept that there are lessons in that struggle, in that discomfort, then you're going to have a hard time maintaining forward progress. Like we need to move through anxiety. We need to move through fear. We need to move through panic. We need to do scary and difficult things. We have to do those things. We're doing them to get better. We're not doing them to not feel it. We're doing it to feel it so that we can get better at feeling it. That's the recovery process. So if you're going to glue yourself to how you feel all the time and decide that your entire progress and your assessment of how well you're doing and success or failure is based only on how you feel, then struggle is going to be almost continuous thing for you. And you will overemphasize that struggle when it happens. So we have to be mindful of that.  I would get impatient. I'm not the most patient person. I would get frustrated. I would get sometimes resentful of myself and the situation. I would get sometimes a little bit, I would feel a little bit of grief sometimes, or what's the word I'm looking for? Regret for the time that I had lost. Those are things that I would feel on a fairly regular basis because I'm a human being. So even the guy that wrote the book about how to do recovery would experience struggle, just that I understood that I was going to feel those things. And I wasn't in the trap of like, oh, well, now that I feel sad today about my anxiety, that I'm off the rail and it's all over. I never felt that. So you have to expect that you're going to have those days. And what can we do when that happens? Well, first of all, we never deny our feelings, right? So we never deny that. And anybody that talks about this stuff and tries to help in this area would tell you, you're doing a difficult thing. You're doing brave things. You're doing, you're trying to find courage. You're challenging yourself. This is not an easy task. So the one thing that kills me that people do say to me all the time is, well, easier said than done. Well, I never said it was easy. I never ever say it was easy. Like we're doing difficult things. And when we do difficult things and things that are new to us and challenge us, then we are going to stumble. We are going to struggle. We are going to have a hard time. We're going to have to work on it and practice it and repeat things. So accept that that is true and accept that when human beings do things like that, we also have emotional reactions. You're going to feel frustrated. You're going to feel angry. You're going to feel resentful. You're going to feel all of those things. So in the end, the first thing that you have to do in terms of struggle is to say, well, this is going to happen. And I have to acknowledge that I'm going to have these emotions. I can't decide not to have them. They're pretty normal. And I'm going to have to say, well, I'll take a little bit of time and say, okay, I'm going to have to feel these emotions right now.   So the first thing is when the struggle hits, we don't want to struggle against the struggle. Like, oh, I can't struggle. I can't. It's too much if I struggle. Like, okay, I'm going to have a little bit of a struggle for today. That's okay. So it's important to understand you're going to have to take time to acknowledge that like we never want to suppress that. Like, oh, I'm not allowed to feel sad. I'm not allowed to feel angry. I'm not allowed to feel. You're always allowed to feel. So part of what recovery teaches us is that all of our states are acceptable and okay, all of them, like calm, happy, anxious, uncertain, vulnerable, excited, angry, like all states are okay. We're learning that all of our normal human states are okay. They're not too much. We can handle them. So that's why I say there's lessons in the struggle, right? So okay, today I'm struggling. So what can I do about that? And in the book I did not do one of the more popular podcast episodes I ever did was expect to struggle and the bad day playbook. Now I did not write the bad day playbook in this book. That is something that I sort of came up with afterwards. So but I'll include it here because they kind of go hand in hand. So when you find yourself on the struggle bus, what can you do? You can acknowledge that. You can speak that out loud.  I've had a hard time the last week in my exposures. It's really getting me down. It's okay to say that. It's totally okay to say that. If you have a good support system, my Facebook group is awesome for that. You guys are in the group, you know this. People will show up and it's okay. We'll cheer for you. It's okay. Everybody feels this way. You're not alone. That's important. If you have close friends and family, whoever might be able to talk to and voice those feelings, too, that's okay to do that. Maybe you want to write them down or journal or video yourself or something. That's okay. All okay. Express what you have to express. Get it out. Understand that it's a normal part of it. But then we have to sort of draw the line.  I don't have to squash my feelings or my emotions or my reactions. But I don't have to turn them into a part-time job or a full-time job either. That's really important. So I think one of the most important parts of the struggle for me was I would almost sort of mentally put a time limit on it.  This is the way it's going to have to be.  But then at two o'clock this afternoon, I'm going to go out and drive again. I'm going to go out and do something harder. I'm going to go take a walk. I'm going to take the dog for a walk. I'm going to do something. So I think one of the important things about struggle is to expect that it's going to come, like I said, and then when it comes, validate that experience and those emotions. And I knew this was going to happen and here I am. But we cannot decide to set up camp in struggle and say, I'm struggling. It's all over. I can't do this. There's no way. I can't do this. There's no way I'm never going to get better. It's part of the struggle.  But then once you've expressed that, now you have to have sort of a plan in place. And that's the bad day playbook that I talk about and say, okay, well now what can I do next? I did a podcast episode. And by the way, they're all on my website. So if you go to TheAnxiousTruth.com and just search for bad day playbook, you will find that podcast episode. I believe that it's an excerpt from the book and then I expounded upon it. Also, there's a podcast episode that's really popular. That's called What Do We Do When We Fail? So if you have an exposure that you think you failed at, what do we do? Well, we do it again right away.  So the main thing that you have to do with struggle is to understand that when it comes, I have to let it come, I have to move through it, but then I have to move beyond it. I have to keep going. So yeah, you don't be, I'm glad that you like that. Yes, you don't have to set up camp in struggle and decide, well, since I'm struggling today, that means I am always going to struggle. This means I will always feel this way. One of the things that kind of traps us into these problems, into things like panic disorder, health anxiety, OCD, blah, blah, the things we talk about here are the idea that my state is permanent or might be permanent or it will last way longer than I wanted to.  So struggle will tell you, like that said, I'm stuck and I'm never getting out of this quick sand. But the reality is that every single thing in the universe is transient. Everything is transient. Like we change physically, we change mentally, we change emotionally, our moods go up and down. This is normal. So I'm struggling at 9am. It doesn't mean I'm going to be struggling at 9am three weeks from now. Unless I pitch a tent here in Struggleville and I stay here and I do nothing but repeat. I'm struggling. I feel, I feel, I feel. At some point, your plan has to be, okay, I'm going to have to get up and move forward, even though I am in Struggle mode right now. I'm going to have to do something small. So to me, and I'll take some comments in a second, I'll just wrap up really quickly with sort of the Bad Day Playbook and go listen to that podcast episode if you haven't. The Bad Day Playbook usually says, okay, now go back. Now go back and circle back and do something easy. Go back and do an exposure you've already mastered. Go back and start from the very beginning. It doesn't matter if you're six months into recovery. It doesn't matter. When you're having struggle days, it's perfectly okay to say, well, let me just circle back and repeat some of the things that I know I've sort of already mastered. They help you build confidence. They help you get back on your feet. They help you get back in touch with the competency that you have built over time. There's so many good ways to do that. Now ask your support system to cheer for you.  That is what you can do when Struggle hits. So when I say this title of this episode is Expect to Struggle and I don't know why I have my name up there instead of this. This is what should be up there, whatever. But in the end, the title of the episode is Expecting and Planning for Struggle. You have to remember that this is planning for Struggle is, yeah, it's going to come. And then what will I do when I struggle? Feel it, validate it, move through it, get the emotional support you need, bend people's ear, they'll listen to you. It's okay. Yes, I know you're feeling really shitty today. I give you a hug if I could.  This is the kind of support we all deserve. And then it's on you. Like, okay, guys, now help me get up and start moving forward again. And what can I do? I can circle back around and start from the beginning and do some stuff that I know I can do. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how small it is. That's not backwards. That's not failure. That's not anything. That's what we do. We get up, we brush ourselves off, and we just keep going the best we can. And starting with some things that we know we can do that we've already mastered is a good way to get back up on our feet. So that's what I would suggest as a general rule of thumb in terms of what is your plan for when you struggle, right? What is your plan? One more quick thing, and that would be struggle based on external circumstances. I'm sick. Someone in my family is sick. We're moving. My car is in the garage, so my car is in the shop, so I can't drive today. I'm between jobs. We're having financial problems. That happens. And sometimes we don't get to control that. So when we are struggling because of those external factors that are sort of imposing logistical or like just reality on us, logistical problems that are based on reality on us, the best we can do is to say, okay, well, what is the best I can do right now? What is the best I can do right now? I can't help it that I'm sick right now. I can't help it that I broke my leg. I can't help it that, you know, I'm two weeks between jobs. I can't help those things. So recovery is the process of learning that we are always capable. I said it before, all of our states are permissible. All of our states are handleable. And life is handleable too. So when you're struggling based on external circumstances, sometimes the best you could do is say, well, forget recovery for a second here. Let me see how I can handle and move through these circumstances as best I can, which is very different than just waving the wife leg and saying, oh, that's it, you know, I can't, my recovery is torched now because this happened, because I got sick, or because there was an injury, or because my boyfriend broke up with me, or whatever it happens to be. Okay, that's a terrible situation. We're going to have to work through it the best we can. That's part of recovery too, learning and exercising your competency and learning your strengths. That's all part of it. So I just want to throw that out there. So let me scroll into the chat a little bit here and look at some comments and scroll up a little bit. And I'm sorry that here, I can do this, I can put them over here. So it's not so bad. Let's see. I'm going to scroll through. I'm struggling so bad. I'm sorry, I can't see your name. If you're in the, if you're in the Facebook group, you guys know this by now from silly things, a haircut too short and pain in my shoulders. I am every one of those things. I would almost bet that I know who that is without knowing the name. Again, this comes back to I'll put it up on the screen. This comes back to I can't handle anything, the belief that I can't handle it. I can't handle if my shoulders are sore.  You have always, always, always handled it. If you're in this video watching and commenting right now, you have literally handled everything that life has ever thrown at you ever. So I just have to keep repeating that sometimes. But well, I feel, I feel bad because of this haircut. Okay. But you've also always handled that too. So at some point there's the realization that like I'm handling all of this. I don't like how I feel, but I can handle my feelings. If you, if you wave the white flag every time you have feelings, you get stuck in this loop that just continually runs again and again and again. Okay. Let's throw this up on the screen again. I'm sorry that I can't see your name, but I was doing good that I hit a curve in the anxiety road. I really am trying to see this opportunity. It is tough. Again, we always want to acknowledge that it's good that you're trying to see that opportunity to learn. It's not the default.  We hate failure. We hate discomfort. We hate fear.  That's okay. That's the way we're wired. Not a single, I don't think there's one of us walking the planet that's like, yeah, I can't wait to struggle. Nope, nobody. There are certain instances where I think there's a lot of, I don't want to use the word toxic because it's way overused. But in a lot of the self-development and personal development space, you'll see that like get comfortable being uncomfortable and, you know, build your character. Like, yeah, okay, whatever. But in the end, we don't like these things. So it's not the default to say like, yeah, I'm struggling. Man, now I'm going to learn. First, we hate it. And first, we want to stop it. And first, we want to be moan it. And that's okay. Then we move forward. And then we say, okay, where are my opportunities? So it's okay if it's hard to see that. It's totally hard. I get that. This is important. This will impact how you view the struggle. So when I say when you're in struggle day, go back and repeat some old things that you've sort of done already. This is a good reason why it reconnects you to the progress you've already made. And if you never give yourself credit for the moving forward, and you're moving forward all the time, if you never acknowledge that, and you never give yourself credit for that, and you're always returning to but I feel, but I feel, but I feel, again, struggle is more likely to pop up. I think I could make the argument that there's no such thing as struggle not popping up. We all experience varying states. But I will tell you that by the time I got halfway through and toward the advanced stages of my recovery, I would almost guarantee you that I had days that many of you would say were struggle, struggle, struggle. And to me, they stopped feeling like struggle. And part of it, it was staying in touch with like, wow, look what I've done now, look what I've done now, look what I've done now. So that can make a difference. If you refuse to give yourself credit for your progress, you're more likely to to find those chat to call challenges struggle. That helps. Just kind of scroll through here. Okay, well, I'll throw this up. I'm not learning lesson I have symptoms and freak out still. So after so long, I think because you're hoping that you won't freak out, like the freak out is the lesson, right? The freak out is the lesson. It's important to say that.  I'm not doing it right. No, no, no, the lesson is in the freak out. I freaked out 1000 times. Nothing bad has happened to me. Let me go freak out again. So sometimes that's just a shooting at the wrong target sometimes. But sometimes it is like, well, you are kind of shooting at the right target. But there is a refusal at an emotional level. Nope, I refuse to feel this way. I'm not going to allow it. And that's tough. So if you're in a situation where you are going to refuse on an emotional level to allow those feelings, they can never happen. Never, never, never. But yet I will go and do exposures to make them happen again and again, well, you're putting yourself in a bit of a torture chamber. That's not fair. So you almost have to decide, am I willing to feel these things or am I not this important? I think you don't talk about that enough. And I'm going to talk about it a lot more. If we are not willing to feel the things, then just doing the work is almost putting you in a continuous like torture chamber. Well, I'll do it, but I'm not really willing to do it, but I'll do it anyway, because Drew says to do it or the group says to do it or this book says to do it, you have to be willing. And look, that willingness will waver from time to time. That's not rock solid to get that. But if you're completely unwilling, like I should never feel this ever, ever, ever, then doing this work is going to wind up being very frustrating. So we do have to talk about that. This is, there are mechanics here, but the mechanics are predicated on, I'll go through it really quickly. You're new to this game. I don't mean to call it a game, I'm trivializing it, but you're new to this situation. I've tried everything. You come from the essential oils camp and all the things and gut health and nothing is working and you stumbled upon this crazy dude from New York talking about stuff, writing books and making videos. And so the first phase is I have to understand what this is. Oh, I'm not broken. Oh, I'm not sick. Oh, this is the actual nature of this problem. And then from there you have to understand, well, okay, well, then what's the nature of the solution? Oh, this is the nature of the solution. Oh, oh, I have to do this. That is super critical. That part, oh, I have to do this. If your answer is, uh-uh, then it's really, really hard to say, well, I'm going to keep moving forward and just do the mechanics of exposure and exposure and exposure if you are really unwilling to feel those things. You have to really get to that. So, well, again, we will talk about that more, uh, for sure. Uh, so let me scroll up here. Did I get that again? What did I get? Um, okay, those mom will pop it up here. This is the same with physical stuff, right? Yes. I'm a broken record, but the dizziness throws my off kilter and I have days in a row when I can't just seem to work through it. So yeah, it's the same. And again, at some point that's that refusal. Well, okay, I'm dizzy. So all bets are off. I'm dizzy again. I can't, I can't do it. I'm dizzy. Okay. Well, I'm dizzy, but I can still walk even while I feel dizzy. I can still work even while my brain is telling me that, nope, there's, there's, nope, this can't do it, but I'm going to do it even though I think I can't do it. So there's subtlety in there, for sure. Uh, there's, there's subtle subtlety. Okay, let's throw this up here. I beat myself up over still not coping correctly with the physical symptoms. This, and I made a post on this, I think on Instagram last week, none of this information should ever be used. Oh, and I didn't actually say it. That was Kimberly Quinlan. Uh, Kim said it in her last podcast episode, but she said none of this information is meant to be a weapon to be used against yourself. Like, okay, now these people are pointing out what I'm supposed to do.  No, you're learning something new. This is completely counterintuitive, completely counterintuitive. None of this makes any sort of common sense sense to anybody. And that's why about a zillion people, you know, will look at me and say, you're crazy. You obviously never experience the anxiety or panic. Oh, what do you mean? I'm supposed to intentionally be afraid. No way. Like none of this makes sense. So beating yourself for not doing it correctly is really common, but certainly not needed. What, what did you do incorrectly? Like you didn't do anything incorrectly. Running is maybe we might say counterproductive. I ran out of my exposure. I ran from the anxiety, but the lesson you can even take at the end is, okay, well, I ran, but again, nothing bad happened to me. So you can even learn something in the running instead of deciding, well, I blew it again. I can't do it. Right. Right. That's not required. Try to, to, to realize that, that it's not required. That's not a helpful thing. Sometimes, and I'm a little bit of rantier now, but sometimes we use that self-deprecation as a way to sue their, sue their discomfort a little bit. Consider that. Like I wrote about that in the morning newsletter. If you're not subscribed to the anxious morning, go to the anxious morning.com and subscribe to that. It's free. But I wrote about that. Sometimes when we fail, or we think that we're struggling, for some people, a little bit of a insidious little habit is to use self-deprecating responses to soothe that discomfort. I don't like that feeling. That hurts. So I will just say, yeah, I suck. I can't get it. And in a way that soothes things a little bit. You get a little bit of temporary relief when you like, I'm the worst. I can't do it. I don't get it because you also, then, if you're talking, speaking that out loud, you'll also get a little bit of counter back, right, from people. No, you're really, you're okay.  So in a way, we should be aware of that.  But it's self-defeating, even though it might be self-soothing for a few minutes. Okay. Let's scroll. Nat is here. Nath. Natalie. I don't know if you say that. Did I say that? I don't know. I know you're French, so I don't want to blow it. I'm sorry, late. First of all, let me point something out. You don't have to apologize for being late to a live stream, right? You never, nobody has to ever apologize to me. Like, Nat, you don't have to apologize for being late to a video. The video will be here forever. You can go back and watch any time you want. I pushed myself for going for a walk, even though I fell kind of weak, but I went. That's great. It's really good, but I wanted to throw that up there because of the apology. What's that all about? And I'm going to also, while I have your attention for a second, that thing we're like, well, here I am at the dentist and I'm really afraid to go to the dentist, but here I am for the third time, actually getting my procedures done, but I'm going to say that I'm not brave. Like, boom, my head almost exploded. If you're doing it, then you are literally displaying bravery. And that's a lesson for everybody watching. I'm not brave. I literally have people say that in the middle of exposures, I'm not brave, but you're doing the exposure. By definition, you are exhibiting courage right then and there. Like, that's a thing. Okay, let's scroll down. How am I doing? Oh, man, I'm not even halfway through. I've been missing my old non-anxious self lately. Okay, that's fair. This is a really common thing. You know, I talked about all those emotions that sometimes come up when we hit the struggle path, right? Or when the struggle bus missing my old non-anxious self. I used to get that one a lot. A lot. I used to spend a lot of time pining away to get the old me back. When will the old me come back? When is he going to come back? When is that guy going to come back? That was pretty common. I spent a lot of time doing that. One of the things that I did learn to do is I know I got to stop doing that. Like just wishing for him to come back isn't going to bring him back. I got to do something. And as it turns out, like he did come back, but he came back in a better version, which happens to all of you guys. You'll see. I always put it. I'm going to always put this up. Always. So my Twitch audience. I think I have three followers on Twitch now, by the way. Three. I want you guys celebration. You're going to be caking and refreshments afterwards for my third Twitch follower. Let's see here. Okay. This is interesting. I look at all pictures of me and miss that person so bad. And I wish I could warn her. So I think this is a double-edged sword. Like we, that might be a good way to work through some of those emotions, right? So when you're having the emotion of, boy, I really miss old me. I'm sad over who I am now. I'm sad over this situation. I have regret. I have grief over the situation. That might be a really good way to express it. Right? We're not, you know, I think most people would say, Oh no, he's going to tell her not to do that. But that's okay. Maybe you take some time to do that. But then how can we make sure that we don't turn that into a weapon? So maybe, maybe we can do like, I wish I could warn her. Maybe an interesting exercise to do would be like, write a letter to old you. Hey, this is what's coming. And guess what? These are some of the things that, that you might be tempted to do that you maybe shouldn't do because when you write a letter to your old self, sometimes you're writing to yourself also. So that can also be a useful thing. You get to express your emotions, and it might actually help you find a new perspective and like, Oh yeah, I see what I did. I did this. I did this. I could change this. I could do that. I could change that. So I like that you're doing that, Jen. It's good. Let your emotions out. They have to be out there. Okay, let's keep going here. On the tough struggle there is let's see. In my book said something like we need bad days more. I'm putting it up on the screen. So Katya brings up, I guess I did write that. I don't have the time to remember what I wrote. It says something like we need bad days more than we need good days. That is 100% true. The bad days is actually when we do the learning. So Katya, thank you so much for putting that out there. Thank you so much. That is so important. It's the reason why I tell people to not wait till you feel good. I got to wait till I feel good to do my exposures. I got to wait till I feel good to do the hard things. No, the most important days to act are the days when you feel the worst. Those are the days when we learn. Because if you feel good, what did you learn? I felt good today. Excellent. But if I feel bad, well, I can't do anything.  It wasn't debilitating, even though I've been saying for years that it is. That's really important, really important. I see that people like the letter writing thing. That could be a thing. Again, but you have to be careful that you don't turn it into like an exercise in beating yourself up. You did this wrong. You did this wrong. You can maybe take an objective look at what has happened. What did I do? Oh, I see what I did. I started to become afraid of driving. Oh, I started to learn that if I stay home by myself, I might panic and that's not safe. Like write a letter to your past self to warn them of the pitfalls that are coming. But be objective.  That's not okay. Don't do that. But sometimes the letter writing really maybe frames things in a different situation. The more we can eject, here's the deal with that. Where are we? 33 minutes. So irrational fear, which drives all of this stuff, right? Real fear. I'm not saying it's fake. It's real fear, but it's irrational. There's no basis underneath it, right? It's false fear. Real but false. That is always, it's irrational in nature, right? It's a disorder. It's a magnifier. It's a catastrophizer. It's all of those things. So we, oh, and it will subjectify everything.  So anytime we can inject objectivity into that, that irrational fear process, we do ourselves a favor. So if you guys are going to do the letter writing thing, try to write a very objective letter like you're writing a report for school. Here's, here's my report on my panic disorder. That's a very objective way to go.  I'm the worst and I made every mistake into the book. You would just describe what happened. It's almost, you know what? Write this book back to me. Like write this book back to old, to old you. So you're actually handing them the manual before it happens. That's a great way to learn. Okay. Let's keep going here. Have an accidental angry emoji from Sarah. That's okay. I'm gonna throw this up real quick. Do I believe childhood trauma and anxiety is a myth or having bad childhood does not matter. No, trauma is certainly not a myth. Trauma is not a myth. Like bad childhoods are definitely not a myth. Like I would never, ever in a million years say that, oh no, no, no, none of that stuff is real. It's 100% real. It's a tough, touchy subject. Now, I would, I would take a listen to, if you guys listen to the panic pod, which is Joshua Fletcher's podcast, he did a great episode on this with Sheru Traula. She is also a therapist in the UK. And I love her too. It a very candid discussion about trauma and how it fits into the anxiety recovery process. I never would say that it is a myth or that your bad childhood doesn't matter. It does matter. Those things 100% matter. What we care about is if you are reacting to things because of what has happened to you in the past, well, that's one thing. But if you are reacting in a new way to life because you are just afraid of how you feel now, then we went from having one problem to two problems, but both problems matter. So the thing that we always talk about is I use the fire analogy.  And we have to put out the fire and blow out the match so we don't light it again. So it does matter. It does matter. We just have a little bit of a problem in the community where we're a little bit over generalizing the trauma thing. Anyway, if you want to listen to Josh's podcast, it's called The Panic Pod. It's the last episode he did with Sarut. And it was really, really good. Thank you. Very good. But no, it's not a myth. I would never say that. So we're almost done here, I think. Here we go. Jessica learns this is a big one. Learning that everything is temporary has been a game changer for me. This is one of the basic tenets of you know, Buddhism, everything is temporary. Everything is temporary. One of my favorite movies in the whole world is a movie called Moonstruck. I shouldn't, I'm not supposed to love that movie because it's not really like a guy movie. But I do love that movie because growing up in an Italian American family, it's incredibly authentic. So it makes me smile every time I watch it. And one of the chairs father, Cosmo Castorini, at one point, he's exasperated. He says, everything is temporary. And that is the best line in probably the whole movie. I didn't know it then, but I know it now because Cosmo was right. Everything is temporary. And when we, when we learn to live in that, I don't want to get too far into it, but that state of, that state of temporariness, groundlessness, when we embrace that and we like, okay, we're okay, we can surf, we can surf through this groundlessness, which is the thing I talked about with Lauren Rosen, if you've watched some of those videos, Lauren and I recording a podcast episode today, maybe we'll talk about that. It's a, it's a big deal. It's a big deal. It is a game changer when you can embrace that. So good job. I can't answer all of them because I'm running out of time here. This is good. Carol's working hard, by the way, the weather can't control the weather, right? Sometimes can't get out because it's raining or snowing or it's icy, whatever. Exercise at home. Sometimes that's what we have to do, right? We sometimes external circumstances press upon us. We do the best we can to adapt, adapt, improvise, overcome. That's what the Marines say, I believe. Oh, this is good. GBG went to a Counting Crows concert on a struggle day and went up having a blast anyway. I'm always amazed. I would go see the Counting Crows, by the way. It's a good show. I'm always amazed at the number of times that you hear people in the community relay their stories.  This wasn't easy. I struggled from the beginning to the end, but I did it. Yes, I did it. Many times the story is, well, it started really bad, but oh my God, I had such a good time at the end. Now, we never go into this challenges like demanding that we have this amazing, joyful time, but we have to consider the possibility that we may. We may have a joyful time when we do those things. We may get out of our own heads, engage with the world, and have a great time. It's possible. If we're unwilling to accept the possibility that that might happen, then it's a little bit defeatist. Or we might struggle the whole time and feel crappy the whole time, but nonetheless, the lesson is there and you still accomplish the thing. So good job, GBG. I think we're at the end here. Everything is temporary. It always comes to an end. This is true. We're having concert talk. Love it. Sarah Drew from Wales. Let's see here. I can't put that on the screen. It's too huge. Why can I feel so good doing something hard and then struggle? Okay. So the question that Sarah asked is why can I have a good time doing something hard and then struggle when something is easy? The answer is don't know. Like if we knew the answer to that, that's like the million dollar question, you know, I would probably be able to just like, okay, everybody, here's the secret, and then you would never need to watch me again. We don't know. The bottom line is like it doesn't matter, you know, okay, well, I'm struggling today. I didn't expect to, but I'm finding this to be more challenging than I thought. Okay, it is what it is. Move forward. So we don't, sometimes we don't know. Sometimes we don't know. I'm going to take a couple more because I'm just at a time here at 39 minutes. I try and do about 40 minutes tops. Oh, this is good. For the first time forever, I switched the feeling to the doing. The doing is where the recovery happens, not in the feeling. The feeling follows the doing. So this is really good. Show my brain that the danger was not real. The part of our brain that is governing this fear, that irrational field, does not know. It does not know words. It does not know memes. It does not know inspiring lyrics. It doesn't know soothing mantras. It doesn't know any of those things. It only knows experiences. So the doing is the important thing. A podcast episode coming out soon, I think, about CBT called is this CBT. I think it's a podcast episode or it's a morning newsletter. I can't remember. We're talking about that, like old school CBT was about trying to change your thoughts. Like, oh, let me challenge my thoughts and replace them. But really, in the way we're in right now, we know better than that. And it's like, no, no, no, the thoughts and the feelings really follow the behavior. So if you want to feel different, act different. Really important. Really important. I've got to scroll to the bottom, guys. I'm sorry. Let's see here. I think that's it. This is a great comment. We won't tell. Your secret is safe. Your secret is safe with me, at least. I can't vouch for everybody else. I might throw you into the bus, but I'll keep it cool, man. I got your back, brother. Beaches. It's good. I've never seen beaches. Maybe I'll have to watch beaches. We'll watch beaches together. We'll just like cry and no one will know. We'll just hide. So there you go. Anyway, guys, that is it. I'm out of time. I can't go much longer than this. We only have, I think, three of these left. I will be back next Monday. We'll do it again. Same time, same place. YouTube, Facebook, the Facebook group. And then at the end, I post them on Instagram and they will just stay here on my YouTube channel, on Facebook and the Facebook group and my Instagram, even though nobody watches them on Instagram. Anytime you want, come back and get them. Again, if you need to copy this book, you can find it at theanxiestruth.com. Find it at theanxiestruth.com. All of my books are there. And the Anxious Morning, which is the morning newsletter, which is free. You can subscribe to that if you didn't do it already. And all the things. So I'll see you again next week. Oh, Movie Club says Kat Katya. Yes, I would love to do Movie Club. I will let you guys in on a little secret. This is a super long shot, but I'm trying to reach out to the people that own the rights to What About Bob? We all love What About Bob. If I can get them to okay it for me to stream it once, because they won't let me do any more than that, for educational purposes, we're going to do a live stream of What About Bob, but I have to get permission first and that ain't easy. So I'm working on it. All right, guys, I will see you next week. Thanks for coming by. Thanks for all the questions in the comments and we're out of here.


Season two of the One Piece live action is coming, and executives are saying it could even be ready as early as in 12 months time. Whatever your personal thoughts on the One Piece adaptation, it's hard to deny that the live action has been a massive success.  This massive success has no doubt been recognized by Netflix where co-CEO Greg Peters has said that despite the high bar in taking a manga and delivering it in English in live action form, this has been massively popular and a success around the world. And the live action executive producers have expressed very high optimism about future seasons. Marty Alderstein claiming that the series has exceeded expectations and that they expect to be hearing from Netflix either next week or in the next two weeks to come up with a long term strategy, which in reality means that season two hasn't actually been confirmed, but it's seeming very likely and the live action producers are simply waiting for Netflix to give the go ahead, which they are expecting given the show's huge success. Another executive producer, Becky Clement, shared that they even have the scripts for season two already ready. A realistic forecast is that a season two could be ready as early as 12 to 18 months, which theoretically could mean that we could get season two as early as 2024. But the caveat is that this forecast is 12 to 18 months following the conclusion of the writers and actors' strike which admittedly doesn't look like it would be ending very soon, but even still, to have this expectation of only 12 to 18 months to complete season two is insane. To put it into context, Jewishia announced the plans to produce a live-action adaptation of One Piece all the way back in 2017. In 2020, Oda revealed that Netflix ordered a first season of 10 episodes and in May of that same year, the producers shared that the script's already and that they would commence casting shortly. Production started up again in March 2021 following delays due to COVID and according to showrunner Steve Mayoda, filming began in January 31st of 2022 and finished August 22nd of 2022. And it was over a year later that we finally saw the release of the live-action on Netflix on August 31 of 2023. So even without factoring the coronavirus, it took over 18 months for season one to be completed. And that's from when it first started filming. Never mind when it was actually written or announced, but it is understandable that given that it was the first season, I'm sure a lot of more things had to be worked out, things like set building, casting, costuming, so on and so forth. Whereas for season two, they do now have the experience and the know-how to pull it off perhaps much, much faster. Although in saying that, it's crazy when you consider the level of set design and the further casting and costuming and all that's required to pull off season two because I would imagine that season two would start with Logetown and end with the other Buster arc. That seems to be the logical sequence, especially because season one ended with the tease of Smokeo. And they were very clearly hinting at Baroque works throughout season one. I mean, hell, Crocodile even has an immediate reason to go after the Straw Hats, given that Zoro straight up killed Mr. Seven and declined his invitation to join Baroque works. And so when you consider it that way, that's a massive season two. Logetown, Reverse Mountain, Whiskey Peak, Little Garden, Drum Island, and Atta Buster. And Atta Buster alone is the first mega arc that we witnessed in the series. So either season two will have to be a lot longer than eight episodes, or they won't finish the season at Atta Buster, both of which I find to be highly unlikely, or that they're going to have to majorly condense each of the arcs, potentially even cut out some of the arcs altogether. And if season one is anything to go by, then it's most likely the latter that they're going to condense or even cut out some of the arcs. But we're gonna get into all of that shortly because first of all, what I really want to say is that I am really hoping that this does in fact get confirmed. And we do get a season two because it's in this next saga that we really see such huge expansion of one piece as we enter the grand line. The lore, the mysteries, the world building, they all just get further developed at such a huge scale. It's in Drum Island that we're introduced to the mystery of the Wheel of D with Goldie Rogers' real name being revealed. We see sea stones with smoke up, further expanding the lore behind the devil fruits. And this idea of different islands having different climates, sometimes being stuck in different historical time periods. They're all such fascinating elements that massively expands the world of one piece, which is a huge part of what makes one piece such a great story. It's also the arc where we have a number of pivotal characters, characters who will continue to be important for the rest of the story being introduced. So firstly, the mid-credits scene already showed that Smokeo will be coming in season two and he is quite fixated on Luffy. And according to an interview with Steve Mayardot, the initial plan was to actually include the low-town arc in the first season. But due to the budget and time restraints, this just wasn't possible. This has set us up nicely for season two in that after being thwarted at low-town in the first episode, Smokeo will likely be hell-bent on capturing Luffy throughout the rest of the season, showing up again in later episodes and almost definitely in Arta Basta. So I imagine that Smokeo will play a pretty similar role to what Garp did throughout season one and that Smokeo will be that plotline B or that parallel journey to Luffy's. And this would actually make much more sense and be closer to the original story than what we had with Garp's involvement throughout season one. While we did see Smokeo's back being teased at the end of season one, as well as his younger version during Rodgers' execution, it hasn't been revealed as to who has been casted to play this role or if they have even casted someone as of yet. On the other hand, we do know that the role of Dragon has already been casted. Dean DeMonts, whom I understand is South African, but correct me if I'm wrong, and Dean has been announced to be playing Dragon. Although this announcement was made prior to the release of season one, so I'm not sure if he was just the stand-in for the cloaked figure that we saw at Rodgers' execution or whether he'll continue to play the role of Luffy's father for season two. And the crazy theorist in me can't help but consider the implications about the fact that in the live action, Garp is Irish, Dragon is South African, and Luffy is Mexican. For the longest time, fans have been speculating that Dragon isn't Garp's biological son, which now seems to be more or less put to rest, but that's another story. Do the showrunners know something that fans don't yet? Taz Oda has filled some juicy secrets about Luffy's heritage. I am just joking, although it is entirely possible. But it's much more likely that they have just casted actors. They believe to be fitting for the role, although I will personally say that Dean seems to be quite young compared to Dragon, who in present time is 53 years old. Hence why I suggested that he may have only been cast to play the younger version at the execution. But they may also just rely on makeup and effects to age him in the live action, because in season one, mehawk also looked younger than his age in the series, so it may just not be a big problem for them. Something that I am very interested about Dragon is how they're going to demonstrate his powers. In the original series, Dragon's powers are still yet to be confirmed, but it's been heavily hinted that he may control the wind or have some sort of abilities to that effect, possibly a devil fruit. And after discussing the live action with my Blue Banana colleagues, apparently some newcomers who only experienced the live action thought that Shang's was actually a devil fruit user after that scene with the Lord of the Coast, which is perfectly understandable because Haki wouldn't even exist to new fans at this stage. But I do wonder how obvious or how strongly will they hint at Dragon's potential powers in the live action? For example, will they strongly suggest that Dragon 2 is a devil fruit user? In general, I'm very excited about the number of devil fruit users that they will have to cover in season two, starting with Smokeo, which I think might be the easiest to achieve with special effects, but Crocodile's sand ability, Mr. 3's candle body, and even Alvida's new devil fruit. So from what I know, they won't be forcing Ilya Izraelis, who played Alvida in season one, to lose weight for season two, and thank God for that. But I also highly doubt that they would be recasting her, especially because we saw her team up with Buggy at the end of season one, and if we go by the original series, by that point, Alvida already had her devil fruit. So potentially, they could cut out her devil fruit entirely for the live action because it doesn't continue to be as a massive part of the story going forward, or maybe they just use other special effects to achieve that smooth, smooth body. I do wonder how they'll handle other characters, particularly characters like Chopper, for example. Will they go the Marvel route and use CGI to create a rocket-like Chopper, similar to how it's been handled for the Guardians of the Galaxy Raccoon? Will it be like Pikachu from the live-action movie Detective Pikachu? Or will they just cast a human and give him reindeer ears? And maybe some other prosthetics, similar to how they dealt with the fishmen? I have a similar question about Karu, because something I noticed about season one was that they basically cut out Hachan, or significantly changed his character, which had to be done because Hachan was just too hard to achieve. And fair enough. Now, in season one, we did get news crew, but given that was only for a very short scene, whereas Karu becomes essentially almost an honorary straw hat alongside Vivi, will they really commit to his character all throughout season two? And personally, I hope they do, because he is an important character for the Arabastha saga. But I also think it might be unlikely when we consider how they had to cut out Hachan because of its difficulty. In terms of other characters, this gets very exciting because there is a whole new pool of characters to cast for this season. Starting with honorary straw hat Vivi, which out of all the other characters might be easier to cast, Miss All Sunday might be a bit more challenging because they'd have to find someone able to play the duality of the Baroque Works vice president as well as the straw hat for the future. And along with Chopper, that's three new straw hats that we're seeing for the upcoming season. And I can't wait to see who they cast because I have to say that for the East Blue Five, I've definitely hit the nail on their head in terms of casting. Crocodile, I'm really excited. And apprehensive, because one of my critiques for season one was the lack of charm and charisma from Shanks. And crocodile as a character is as equally captivating, albeit in a diabolical way. And so I hope this is a case where they really do get casting of crocodile right. I mean, there's a reason why 20 years later and many antagonists later, crocodile still remains our favorite or at least one of our favorite villains for many One Piece fans. Someone I'd love to see join the One Piece cast would be Jamie Lee Curtis for Dr. Kureha because this Hollywood actor is a well-known One Piece fan who has verbally expressed that she would like to play the 141-year-old witch doctor. And I genuinely can see Jamie Lee Curtis in that role. She definitely has that perfect eccentric energy. And oh my God, who are they gonna cast for Bonchan? Provided that they don't cut him out. Ace should also be a part of this next season, which should be very exciting. And even more so if we consider that even Blackbeard might be cast. Because Drum Island is a part of the Arabasthasaga in the original series, we're introduced to the idea of Blackbeard, but don't actually see him. But there's no reason why they can't introduce us to him in season two for the live action, especially if they want to continue teasing us for upcoming seasons. And if the comments made by the executive producer is anything to go by, I not only think that season two is all but practically confirmed, but also season three and maybe even beyond. Because according to his words, Netflix is looking at the long-term strategy, which in my brain automatically means, Six seasons and a movie! But in all seriousness, season two is guaranteed to do well. Just because of the sheer hype that's been generated from season one, which should almost definitely mean that people are invested to see how season two will play out. And so season two should bring in the big bucks. And if they get season two right, then season three is almost also guaranteed. Meaning that Blackbeard will have to be cast sometime or another. But I may be being too optimistic because season two, like I said, already has so much to cover even without Blackbeard. And this is genuinely a concern and a source of intrigue for me. Like I said, the Arrabastha saga is huge. If we consider that they ended up canning Locetown because they couldn't fit it within the East Blue saga in the first season, what does this mean for including Locetown and the Arrabastha saga for season two? And so if we go by each arc, Locetown itself has pretty much been confirmed. And Steve did comment that this is regrettable, that they couldn't fit it in season one because the set building itself took a long time and was a very costly endeavor. But we have to get the parallels between Luffy's execution to Goldie Roger, especially after this idea of Luffy resembling the late Pirate King was already heavily mentioned throughout season one by Zeph and Mihawk. Dragon's introduction has to be there. And seeing as they've already showed us Buggy and Alveda teaming up, that's likely to remain in season two as well. And the Zoro plot is also likely to occur as well because he did lose two of his swords during his duel with Mihawk.  Reverse Mountain is also practically confirmed because at the end of season one, we saw Nami wondering about how the entrance to the Grand Line involves a mountain. And if they do plan on continuing the series for future seasons, then Lagbun is a must. But I do think that Reverse Mountain could be just one episode, maybe even only half an episode and they could just deal with Whiskey Peak in that same episode. Actually, if they must cut out an arc from this saga, then it's probably Whiskey Peak. I'm sure that they could manage to have the rest of the Baroque Works agent becoming involved either from Locetown or from other locations instead of having to dedicate an entire episode to Whiskey Peak, especially since Baroque Works has already been seated. Although I will miss some of the fun moments from Whiskey Peak, like that ridiculous tease of a fight between Luffy and Zoro or Nami holding her own while they were all drinking because it's all about the hustles. But so long as Vivi and Karu make their way to join the crew, it's fine. I definitely hope that Little Garden won't be cut out or that it won't be too condensed. Little Garden has so many really, really important moments that sets us up for the conflict with Crocodile and it's a really important arc for character development, especially for Usopp's sake. I hope this arc remains pretty faithful to the original. A major critique about season one was the overall lack of Usopp and Little Garden is a huge part of Usopp's character and the idea of him becoming a brave warrior of the sea. So please, if you're watching Netflix, do not cut that out. Little Garden also had some other really great moments like Sanji's suave, Mr. Prince. The rivalry between Zoro and Sanji came out on full display. And speaking of Zoro, it featured personally one of my favorite Zoro moments which was when he decided to go out looking cool when under threat of becoming a wax mod. And then the duality when he also showed his resolve to cut his own feet. But based on season one, they do seem to have cut out this goofier or dorkier side of Zoro. So we may not actually get to see that scene in season two. In fact, Little Garden in general might be a pretty hard arc for them. Given all that's involved with the prehistoric jungle, the animals and the giants, it's definitely going to be an expensive episode for sure. Drum Island is an arc that I do expect to be heavily condensed and again, might be harder for them to film because they'll have to incorporate all of these weather elements like the blizzard. But seeing as this is going to be the introduction to our next straw hat member in Chopper, again, I do hope that they stay pretty true to the manga because I noted in my review of season one that I wasn't a fan of how they cut out a lot of the scenes from the Boratie arc, especially those scenes of Sanji witnessing Zoro's duel with Mihawk or even his conversation and later his argument with Luffy and so on and so forth because it made Sanji's decision to join the straw hats a little more superficial, not as nuanced or just not quite as well-developed. So in the Drum Island arc, Chopper feeling like he can trust humans is such an important thing and we need the accompanying scenes and backstory to make his relationship with Luffy land. In general, Chopper has one of the best backstories out there and Hero Look has one of the best lines in the entire series. So I hope all of that is done justice because I can't necessarily say the same for all of the backstories in season one, like Usabs, maybe even Zoro, maybe even Luffy. I'm also looking forward to the gag with Luffy and Sanji chasing Chopper as a source of meat upon their first introduction because that was freaking hilarious. And once again, these cast Jamie Lee Curtis for Dr. Kuroha. Now, Ata Basta itself is a mammoth arc. So I really do wonder what they're going to cut out to make this achievable. I know I mentioned him earlier, but I actually do suspect that the entire ace subplot might be cut out and Luffy's time with Toto maybe condensed. The entire civil revolutionary angle might be simplified. I really hope that we do still get to see all the one-on-one fights for all the straw hats because those were just such iconic moments that really further develop the characters. Again, Usabs' bluff being a source of comedy, but also bravery, Sanji hilarious against Mr. Two, Nami holding her own, although the live-action Nami is already much more badass. And as for Zoro, his fight with Mr. One actually might've been the first time that we saw Zoro use Arman Haki long before we knew what that actually was and all in all, that was just a magnificent battle and they have to show all three fights between Luffy and Crocodile because this was the first time we truly saw Luffy well and truly struggle and the first time we were made to worry about Luffy's fate. Although this has already been changed in the live-action because Luffy has in general been struggling a lot more against his opponents, but still. And most of all, that farewell scene between Vivi and the straw hats is such an iconic moment and I'm sure that they will include it, but it really is a matter of making sure that it's delivered right and captured to serve us the emotions that it did in the original series. So all in all, I do definitely think the showrunners, the producers, they have their work cut out for them and the more I think about it, 12 to 18 months is actually an incredibly ambitious timeline. But hey, if they can do it, then by all means, go for it. As long as they don't change the ingredients that really worked well in season one, the first of which being the spectacular set building. They've mentioned that rather than relying on visual effects and CGI too much, they took the effort to physically build out the sets and I have to say that really paid off for season one. It was personally one of my favorite parts of the adaptation, particularly the level of detail in all of the ships. And so there's plenty of more extravagant sets that I'm looking forward to for season two, including seeing more of L'Octahal as well as all the different environments between the different islands. But most of all, the Alubana Palace and the exotic landscape of Atta Basta in general. And on that note, can you just imagine the costumes for the Atta Basta art and another really important ingredient being music and sound design. Sonia Belovosa and Giorna Ostinelli, who composed the soundtrack for season one, did a phenomenal job and I seriously can't praise it enough. So I hope that they've been retained for season two because the underscores played such a big role in what made the live action so immersing. And now I'm sure that there is plenty more to say, but if you haven't been able to tell already, I am rapidly losing my voice. So let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Please do like and subscribe. I mean, come on, you have to recognize my efforts and my commitment here. But in all seriousness, thank you for listening to another one of my rambling. This is Joygirl and I'll see you again soon.


U.S. called on China to help stop Houthi attacks on ships in Red Sea. The United States has called on China to persuade Iran to influence the Houthi rebels who periodically attack commercial ships in the Red Sea, according to Reuters. According to sources, the White House has not seen any signs of assistance from Beijing. It is noted that over the past three months, the United States has repeatedly raised this issue with senior Chinese officials. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his deputy John Feiner discussed this matter in meetings in Washington with Yang Jai Qi. The head of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also raised this issue with his Chinese counterpart. U.S. officials believe that there is little evidence that China has exerted any pressure on Iran to restrain the Houthi rebels apart from a mild statement made by Beijing last week. Two months of missile, drone and hijacking attacks against civilian ships in the Red Sea have caused the biggest diversion of international trade in decades, pushing up costs for shippers as far away as Asia and North America. The disruption is spreading, fuelling fears of broader economic fallout. Repeated rounds of retaliatory strikes by the U.S. and its allies, as well as a multinational naval operation to patrol the waters, haven't stopped the assaults by the Houthi militants that followed the start of the Israel-Hamas War.


The police command in Adamawa State has arrested 44 suspected criminals and recovered arms and ammunition from them. The commissioner of police in the state, Sikiru Akande, who made this known in Yola while briefing newsmen said that the suspects were arrested for various offenses ranging from kidnapping, culpable homicide, rape, theft and other violent crimes. She said that the command had recovered five AK-47 rifles, pistols, a locally made single barrel gun, two rounds of live ammunition, a laptop, computer accessories, two vehicles and jerry cans of engine oil. Over the week, we work tirelessly to go after those boys who have been disturbing us. And, luckily, with the combined effort of the Niger Police Force but Adamawa State Command, crack squad and the support of the local hunters that we've been using, we've been able to arrest a group of kidnappers who have been disturbing the peace of this state. Five AK-47 rifles were recovered from them and we are still pursuing to recover more arms. Find out about fresh news updates.


Imagine a reality where wishing wasn't your only option. What if, instead of desperately longing for what you lack, you could effortlessly attract it by simply aligning with who you already are? Most people chase their dreams fueled by a nagging sense of not having. They constantly fight against what they perceive as missing, pushing and pulling in a struggle that feels more like climbing a greased pole than actual progress. Yet, there's another way, a fifth-dimensional approach where you magnetize your desires by radiating abundance, not lack. Think of yourself as a powerful cosmic radio receiver. When tuned to the frequency of scarcity, you attract limitations and delays, but by shifting the dial to abundance, you tap into a universe overflowing with possibilities. It's not about magically conjuring stuff out of thin air, it's about aligning your inner vibration with your outer desires.


What's still in my mind?  Yes, I got grapes. Let's go. Oh, you ready? Aideness of shield Yeah, two episodes in this new season. I'm excited. I'm excited. I'm excited. I I thoroughly enjoy them I mean, that's that that's no secret But I mean, I'll I'll talk about what I liked about later on But what I want to know is what did you think because I am sure you have got questions You've got concerns. You've got comments talk to me goose. What's going on? Well? My major concern was like how are they gonna do a whole season in the 1930s now after watching this second episode I realized they're not gonna stay the whole time in the 1930s So problem is all done. Yeah, I'm fine with but It's a huge but you know the way they are describing time travel is just killing me Especially being tied in with the MCU You know lightly loosely and the way that there was time travel was described in-game is That you can't change the past. You can only change the future, you know, you know, yeah In in a just a shield. They want to say that. Oh my god We can get rid of you know, the cornucons are saying that if this highly evolved species of cornucons are saying that we get rid of hydro And she'll never exist that I mean fundamentally those two things do not add up You know I'm saying mm-hmm. I do so to me that that just bugging the crap out of me and I think that a Some of the characters did mention that like we can't change the past you can only affect your future, right? Or I think some of them believe that and I was sitting here watching the second episode then I'm just like personally, I'm like What are they doing?  Okay, you know the movie studios right here the television studios right here Fucking talk to each other figure it out So I just want to make sure that the timelines or the time The way they describe time travel is same throughout all of the Marvel properties because I think to pick and choose What they do here what they do there is just disingenuous to the fans. That is that is a very good point and I Didn't really think about it that way, right? And I think I mentioned to you earlier today was that I want to go by the theory that was Uh described and lost and that is whatever happened happened Yeah, so changing so right so Back in the origin of the first 1930s those people always came back in time and did that no matter what You know, and I think you can kind of see that's what they're going with What's his name's character the speakeasy guy, I can't think was named Yeah, yeah, because now he wants to know about shield and all the things are going on So they planted that seed in his mind and that's why he's part of shield later on in life. Yes, correct You know, so I think all these things happened You know to cause the future that their reality was, you know, they're present that they experienced That's these things always happened And that's what they were trying to describe and lost You know, yeah, whatever happened happened and you can't change the past and that's what's going on here So that's what I that's why and that and that would tie in with the in-game theory of you know You can't change the past, you know, you can only affect your the future. Well, maybe maybe you just Revealed the twist without thinking about it. Maybe, you know Maybe that maybe that's where they're going.  I Mean, I know they're ABC properties and all and I mean, it's way to I mean, I want to see lost rebooted as much as the next person probably but I mean I rebooted just you know continuation. Yeah, you can't reboot something like that. I got you Well, let me anyways Besides it. I'm digging.  Let me explain what I thought about the whole time travel thing. So from What I can gather their time travel technology is loosely based on the I know I'm the the teleportation The jump the jump drive. It's there. It's their jump drive mixed with chronocom Technology, you know, some makeshift thing. So They don't really know What they are doing they don't Tony Stark to be able to guide them as to what they are doing So but they also don't have a person like the Hulk to explain That it doesn't matter what you do Like you can't you all you can do is affect your future. You can't change the past. You know what I mean? So maybe The reason why they're doing it this way is because They're just doing it a different way than the Avengers did because they don't have the knowledge or the tools to be able to Build a huge quantum tunnel No, and that's totally fair I mean my only biggest my biggest bitch is that I just want them to be the same theory of time travel from property to property Does that make sense? Is that fair to us? It's very fair. That's a simple guy. I want simple things So, you know before last week aired I had I posted on Twitter at miscellaneous debris this like whole back story for grandpa canig In shield and I don't know. I don't know if you if you saw it you may have or not But so here was what I wanted to happen So he's a shine a scientist working with a young scientist named Jamie Madrax Okay, and go on there. They're they're working on cloning Technology really really earn a early cloning technology and they develop a serum Multipe the super soldier serum that when injected The after an after injection you can extract blood from the body in that blood once, you know Done through the hole. What's that? What's that called? I don't know. I don't talking about so anyway So they can take the blood and they can create clones out of that blood Okay, so They can't find any volunteers for this because no one wants to volunteer for human trials So they're back up against the wall and they're like, you know what? We're gonna use the serum on ourselves both of them eject it and They both seem fine, but all of a sudden Jamie The young scientist Jamie Madrax has a seizure kind of like Garrett did but for grandpa canik. He's a scientist He's a man of action as well. He goes in he goes into the lab. He finds a vial And what does that vial say? gh325 And he injects Jamie Madrax in it. He has another convulsion Ends up going into an inhuman husk comes out of it And not only can he be himself, but he can create Exact copies of himself He's there dubbed multiple man from the comics an x-factor And the only thing that it did to agent caning Is the fact that it made him very susceptible to having lots and lots of twins All right, so But what I got I love very happy with I love the explanation very detailed.  You look right in the camera.  It's not a butt. It's just a now now Oh, oh, it's a now Or an and Did you find this on like some kind of cue and on reddit chat page or What the hell? Just came out of your mouth.  I did if you did. I mean Bravo, bravo, man Because I'd like to thank you.  You know like, oh It's percolated time to rock. Let's do it. Let's drink it out. But there was a fish in that percolator So it came out. It was a fish in the percolator Free weekly bro's t-shirt to anyone that can tell me what tv show it's from Uh, all right, so that's weekly bro's t-shirts. But if we did Yeah, I was gonna say I would send you one. Well, don't you work for a t-shirt company? I don't know. I don't know Matt. It doesn't matter what I do Personal stuff here Doesn't matter. You are so guarded about what you do I I can't I can't tell you one thing from another. I can't tell them I do tomorrow I don't even know what I did this morning. Okay, so they go back in time She gives the explanation as to why they went back in time. They're just following the chronicles So the chronicles they want to establish Chronic a three on earth which by the way, would it just make more sense to just go find an uninhabited planet? and just started new I mean, does it really have to be earth or are they just vindictive at this point? anyway, I There has to yeah, they're just pissed off, you know I don't know I can go on and on about the chronicles. So all right. Well Uh So we finally get to see what a chronic on looked like.   Yeah, they don't get drunk. Do they? They can't experience that They're pretty cold and hard That's a good point. I don't know. Do you remember the first time you saw a chronic on? uh, the first time I saw a chronic on was uh Episode one season five You sure it wasn't the season finale of season four Yeah Yeah You know who they remind me of java watch java watch. Oh, that's right Well, that's what I mean The new season starts off at the same spot what season four ended right in there in the diner or over it was No Yes Season four entered in the diner Yes and then Season seven starts in the 1930s season five season five. Oh, oh, yes. Yes. Oh, I'm sorry. No, I thought you were talking about this season I was like, that doesn't make sense. Yes Yeah, okay You got me you win Sorry agent phil colson. Did you ever watch the tv show fringe? I think I saw the first few episodes and it really never really dug it There's characters in that show that are bald Advanced beings when they're planted I think and they're constantly watching over the earth Looking at certain events to make sure things happen in a certain certain way because it's how it's supposed to happen Really? Yeah, and I can't remember about the name of the character. I mean, I can't remember the characters obviously, but I can't remember the name of the Race of beings they were but they were they remind me Of the same type of thing interesting yes I wonder if that was the inspiration for them Maybe what do you what did you I mean? So obviously they're gone out of the the 1930s, you know the things that they The the easter eggs that they laid were just, you know, amazing. So, you know Their names are the they're observers Observers kind of like the watchers in uh, Marvel comics Yeah, wow that does that looks that looks like a crown icon Yeah, interesting interesting So you were saying Oh, yeah, so, you know the the the easter eggs of, you know, freddy malik being the Uh, the father of of giddy and malik um And you know his his place in hydra how he got into hydra. So like, you know, you you see all of these Layers that they keep adding to the story is that they are already presented And it it goes to show you that the the the tapestry that they have or that they weave with all of these characters and all these story lines Is absolutely amazing. It's well absolutely amazing They managed to I don't tell me say I don't I don't think it's this amazing. I think it's cool They can bring in characters and kind of, you know relate And you know point to certain things that happen, but well, I I think the whole season is going to be, you know, just one big nostalgia bomb So I I think I think that as well because especially with the preview for the next one Where they're going to see like someone that worked at aging carter, you're like, yeah You know, yeah, it's it's going to go through the whole encyclopedia Exactly and I think that that's what this whole entire season is So, I mean, like, you know, you we're going to continue to get these little Easter eggs We're going to continue to get these little nods and then, you know, either stories, you know Being explained as to how people became the way that they are or maybe we'll have some, you know bookends or like, you know those little Item 47s, you know, uh, or like the Strange thing on the happen or a strange thing happened on the way to Uh, New Mexico like those little marvel one shots that they did Explaining what people were doing in between the scenes of of things. Yeah, so I think uh, It's going to be it's going to be one big nostalgia bomb and I'm going to be loving every single second of it What do you think about colson being colson again? Like straight out of like season one quippy awkward colson No, that's how you know I didn't like the last season was sergeant I just felt like colson didn't want to play colson anymore And he just wanted to stop and that's why they kind of ruined him out of the series That's what that's the way it started to me The way it looked like to me I got you I can tell you could see that I I did not like the last season at all like it wasn't bad don't get me wrong But it wasn't like I wasn't like oh my god. This is amazing So I I agree with you like I didn't like season Six as much either like I mean I shadow over it after after it came out and I rewatched it Oh, and it and it's better than what I thought it was But it's still just kind of like So it's like throw the dark world Yeah Or like attack of the clones No, no, it's better than attack of the clones Revenge of the Sith No, no Revenge of the Sith is better Yeah, I agree. Yeah, um, what's right?  Um What movie there's what movies that from that's better, man. I'm coming Just making sure Yeah, come on. Hey, I gotta keep you honest. I don't know what the hell you do over there Look who you're talking to look who you're talking to We're only two episodes in so it's hard to really think about anything else, but Well, we're going into the uh Into the post captain america the first avenger Time so it's going to be in the 19 No, they're in the 60s now, right for the 50s.       You may want to die. I don't know no Nice talk. Good talk. They're gonna come back a year later If you're kind of cool, tie it. No, okay. Thanks.   That's Man, I've heard of a lot of this dude. Oh, it just bums me out Ah, you just get worked up You know y'all in screaming go batshit crazy. I'm not gonna do what you all think I'm gonna do which is


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Hello and welcome to the Grand Line Review, your source for everything One Piece. And today we have a review of chapter 973, The Kozuki Clan. And this week we have two accountant, two pieces of theoretically big reveals that have long since been speculated on and called by the fan base at large. One of which happens to contradict every fiber of my being and has made me question my entire approach to One Piece in regards to Komarasaki.   But no, we have more business here and it actually looks like Oda will be trying to wrap up the majority of the one of context here, which is interesting and we can talk about how effective that is as well. But as for the actual content, I really loved the opening two pages where we had a montage of Odin's journey, although more directly linked to Momonosuke and Hyori. Momonosuke in particular was just adorable when Odin was holding him up or Lion King style in what would seem to be the Roger Pirate's exit of Skype here because they're using the same octopus balloon species of creature that the Straw Hearts did. And there's also another panel with that teeny tiny Hyori where you can see her latching onto Odin and it's just one of the cutest things that the series has ever given us. And then we get a lot of fun mundane stuff for a few panels before launching back into the tragedy that occurred on Wano, which I think was delivered masterfully by Oda. It's easy to look over, but these two seemingly kind of uneventful pages make the entire chapter. Firstly, by providing a nice break in action where we get a sliver of an opportunity to be happy for a change because it makes that tragedy hit us all over again when we do cut to Kinamon and the others fighting for their lives. And that gives us this sinking feeling of reality. One that I think would have been difficult to portray if we'd just continued from where we left off in the last chapter because totally it just would have felt very monotonous. So especially after an unintended break, it was a solid way to put us in the right emotional headspace after two weeks. But the other purpose it obviously serves is removing Odin as a central focus of the flashback and shifting that onto Momonosuke and Hiyori. So we're invested in their story rather than Odin's. And once again, masterfully done, but it does give me some pause for thought because it would seem like Oda is attempting to wrap up the entire contextual history of Wano in this one massive hunk of a flashback, which does worry me slightly. And that's because I'm getting the sinking feeling that an awful lot is going to be left unsaid and undone, particularly in regards to Toki, who does get some focus in this chapter as she should because it presents what would appear to be her final moments in this world. But up until now she's been extremely underutilized to say the least, despite the fact that she is quite possibly one of the most important characters that Oda has ever created with a wealth of insight into a past that we are very unlikely to ever receive from another source that is not to Poneglyph. And that might be kind of annoying because this chapter heavily hints that Toki had a greater purpose traveling forward in time, with Odin even having a unique insight into her desires. And I've been harping on about this for ages and ages, so apologies for repeating myself. Toki just needs more time because she's been given absolutely nothing, which initially I thought might be strategic in order to give her her own flashback later on, but as things stand now, I'm not so sure about that anymore. It's beginning to feel more like Oda is cramming all of this information in right here so that we can move through Wano at a much more swift pace. And maybe I'm overthinking things as per usual, but in my mind, Toki's death should be every bit as profound as Odin's. She is an equally tragic figure in this entire event, but gazing upon what would appear to be her final moments, I just don't feel that. I don't feel much of anything actually because we've not been given the opportunity to get to know Toki like we got to know Odin. So naturally, her climax is much more emotionally subdued, if indeed it's present at all. So I'm still hoping against hope that there is more to Toki than this, but this week has me feeling a bit down about writing and stories and stuff. And you know what? Let's just get it out of the way. Komarasaki and Hiyori are an existence that have annoyed me greatly in the modern day Wano events. I don't really want to go into it all again because I have an entire video that outlines it. Link in the description below if you're interested in old theories, but basically the character is very, very inconsistently written. And from the last moment of Komarasaki to the first moment of Hiyori, she becomes a completely different person. Intelligent, wise, badass, to naive, useless doofus. And for a long time I've been searching for, I guess I'll call it an excuse now as to why that is.  But I'm done with all of that for now. This chapter makes it very clear that Hiyori is indeed Komarasaki and the Occam's razor explanation once again proves to be correct as it often does. And I guess I'm just disappointed that this is yet another princess character that has been poorly implemented by Oda. The way he made the transition from Komarasaki to Hiyori in Act 2 was just plain bad. To the point where many casual fans to this day still don't even realize that the Hiyori who appeared was Komarasaki. So yeah, there is still room to salvage the Hiyori character because one of us far from over but given Oda's track record with various New World princesses, I no longer hold any hope in that regard. Moving on to something more positive though, chapter 973 also came with the very much anticipated reveal of Dendro who as many have suspected was Kyoshiro all along. And I find this pretty funny because it means that somehow in a really bizarre twist of fate, the one piece anime actually ended up spoiling the manga. And if you don't know what I'm referring to go back and watch over the top because there's a section where all of the vassals are cut together in a montage. And for some reason Kyoshiro was chosen to be put in this montage. Heavily implying that he was a vassal and most likely Dendro because he would have been the only one missing. And I made a video on that particular topic as well because it's just such a crazy situation. But in the context of this chapter, the reveal was done very well. I really felt for Dendro and when he emerged as his new alias, Rota provided this fantastic panel where the new Dendro is directly contrasted with the old Dendro. And even without the physical difference, you can tell just by the way he carries himself that Dendro has transformed. And with that, I'm quite keen to go back on one of thus far and look at it with the confirmed context of who Kyoshiro is. With all of that said, I am kind of sad that he didn't turn out to be an antagonist because the non-beast pirate forces of Wano were really lacking a powerful villain to deal with. You know, Orochi is funky and kind of a joke. And I guess that you do have the only Wabanchu for those guys are very background figures. However, Kyoshiro was this solid force of a potentially sinister nature. So it's kind of a shame to lose that, but at the same time, I am completely on board with how things are played out here. And I'm intrigued by why Kyoshiro is so bent on making sure that the allied forces do not find out who he is before the day of the battle. So I do wonder if Dendro is going to attempt to take it upon himself to assassinate Orochi perhaps. But even if it's not that extreme, he is very clearly going to be the key to turning the tides in the Wano-centric events. Not so much the beast pirate stuff, but Dendro will almost certainly be a critical factor. And given that the flashback isn't even over yet, it's entirely possible that in 974, we're going to see the Komarasaki interaction where he fakes Yuri's death in front of Orochi and we'll finally discover how and why that was done, which would neatly wrap up that little thread. And speaking of threads that have been solved as of this chapter, there was also a very quick sub-reveal that not only is Dendro Kyoshiro, but he was also acting as the witching owl boy, which to be perfectly honest with you as a presence that I had completely forgotten about because it's a story that never went anywhere, really. But it does go towards serving Dendro's character, which makes a lot of sense. Over the last however many years, lots, he's probably had to do some pretty sickening stuff for Orochi. So you know, he's trying to balance that out by doing some good in the nation. So good on you, Dendro. Heading back a bit, there's an important interaction that I skipped over, which was the invasion of Odin Castle by Kaido. And there's a really powerful panel of Kaido holding Momonosuke by the neck, effectively threatening to drop him to his death, which immediately gives me flashbacks of Alabasta. My crocodile was doing the exact same thing to Vivi on the Palace of Alabana. But Kaido then goes on to perform a very classic villain maneuver, and you know, not actually kill Momonosuke himself, but instead leaving him to a vaguely defined fate, burning.  Not only that, you also should have killed Toki and Hiyori because why wouldn't you? Silly Yonko. Well, so this panel is fantastic because it gives us another shot of Kaido's lanky as legs 20 years ago, which when I pointed out in a previous review, there were people who were adamant that it was just, you know, a weird panel. And those chopstick legs were not part of Kaido, but behold, here they are in all of their glory. So it is now 100% confirmed that Kaido was not a fan of leg day. But there were also a couple of fascinating small moments during this chapter that I really appreciated, one of which was near the beginning when we actually see the inception of the rift between Nekomomushi and Inorashi, which is something I've been periodically curious about because it's easy to forget, but when we were exploring the island of Zo, Inorashi and Nekomomushi did not like each other to say the least. And it took the arrival of Kinamon and company to kind of heal that rift. And here is exactly where that would appear to have begun with all the continued talk about a traitor, which continues to confound me actually, because at this point, it's so hard to believe that any of the vassals are the traitor or even Shinobu and also Hiyori is very much out because she and Dendro have been quietly plotting this entire time. So we are running out of candidates here, which you know does as it should bring into question the validity of this traitor business because perhaps the traitor in the modern day is simply Dendro who is feeding Orochi information in order to place him in a compromised position, which does look incredibly bad from the perspective of the allied forces, but in the end would ultimately work to their benefit. So yeah, perhaps there is a traitor, but it's not a traitor of the allied forces, it's a traitor of Orochi. A double agent, if you will, or perhaps even a triple agent, I guess, if it was Dendro, because he's initially a good guy working for Orochi, then betraying Orochi, but then like betraying the allied forces to further betray Orochi, that's convoluted. Finally though, I also just want to bring up that we have a special guest appearance in this chapter by one of Kaido's numbers, the weird gigantic silhouetted figures that we saw arriving in late act two. There's nothing more to it than that really. It was just a nice connection to the modern day that creates a lot more intrigue because it would seem that these numbers have been a core element of the Beast Pirates for at least 20 years, and it makes me all the more keen to delve into these weird and terrifying beings. But that pretty much shows up for chapter 973. If you enjoyed this video and the content this channel produced in general, then please do consider donating to the Ground Line Review Patreon because the support of all of your amazing people is what continues to make this channel possible. And if you'd like to see more videos like this but applied to other anime and manga series, then please do check out my second channel, New World Review, for all of your wider needs. And if you'd like to join the fun at any time, then please do head over to my Discord server where a wide array of shenanigans takes place on a daily basis. And finally, please do comment with your thoughts on the chapter. This has been the Ground Line Review and I'll see you next time.