all right is my chair adjusted yes it's right where i want it it's in this happy place uh hi everybody uh we're gonna start podcast in just a moment but i just kind of had this revelation a few moments ago that there are three types of people those are the people who go make things happen you know they're like traveling all over the world they're doing stuff they just constantly go go go and gosh they're so cool and then there's like in the middle somewhere kind of where you know i've lived most of my life well yeah i make things happen you know we just kind of go a lot not a whole lot but we go you know i did a lot of really cool things with my family as they as i raised all my little kids and you know there was that in nationally syndicated radio all that stuff then there's the kind of people who live dull and unexcited lives and i used to say god i never want to be one of those people i just realized i'm kind of relishing and being a dull and unexciting person let's start the podcast well how you doing this well you know what this is this is the daily grateful and my name is michael gross and i am here to what am i here to do i'm here to edumacate you i'm no i'm not i'm just here to tell stories i'm here to talk about gratitude i did something really cool yesterday it's all not as exciting as it was but no it really wasn't all right i live in a small town i live in a small town in the west central part of florida went to a high school went to junior high here moved here when i was in eighth grade from up north but i went to junior high school here i went to high school here and you know from there a lot of people left a lot of people just up and left right after high school they went to college and they moved away they're like gone that happens all over the country by the way people go to high school they go to college if they're going to college sometimes they don't go to college they just leave they're just out of here and that's what a lot of people do you know some people just do that and some people stay some people stay for a lot of reasons i'm one of those people who stayed i'm one of those people who enjoys you know there's just a certain part of me that enjoys being settled that enjoys stability, that enjoys family a lot. You know, that was me. It still is me. You know, although if I won the lottery tomorrow, I would go buy a new car that, you know, you can put a lot of mileage on, and I would hop in that car and I'd just start driving.
I really would. I would just go, go, go, go, go. And I'd come back, but I'd go. I'd go a long way.
I mean, I wouldn't come back right away, but I would go. But basically, I've been the guy that just hang out. Well, one of the things I noticed about a lot of people who left is a lot of them came back. I mean, a bunch of them left and then magically came back.
And there's something that, you know, we started doing here several years ago, and that was a bunch of us we'd start meeting for lunch. Now, we had our 40-year high school reunion, ran into a bunch of people, and then Facebook was very helpful with all of that. But then after that, that was in 2010, by the way. And then after that, I don't know, we just started meeting for lunch.
Now, a lot of us went to the junior high school here, and right down the street from the junior high school is a bowling alley. And the bowling alley has a restaurant, and we always used to go there to the restaurant when we were kids. Well, we decided, let's go again as adults. And we started meeting for breakfast ever so once in a while.
And, you know, to start off with, maybe five or six people would come, and then it would be eight or ten people. You know, and it just kind of varied. Sometimes people would come, and they couldn't come the next time. But there was all these people.
And it is always so joyful. And it is so settling. And I am so grateful. And, you know, I was talking with somebody about this today.
And they said, what is so important to you about, you know, maintaining these old connections? And I had to sit there and I had to think about it. And you know what? I'll tell you what.
Talking to them and hanging out with them it just offers a really unique perspective on my own life. It really does. You know, the old friends, they've seen me grow. They've seen me, you know, work through some stuff.
And that's a lot of fun. And they're a very, you know, they're a big reminder of how things used to be. Although I'm not a big one who should dwell on that. Although we do talk about it when we get together.
Have you heard from this person? Have you heard? You know, that always comes up. But hanging out with old friends is cool.
You know, and maintaining these long-term relationships is settling and it's cool and it makes me grateful. And, you know, the fact that I can do that tells me that I can do that. Which is good. There's also a support system.
And, you know, we had one of our friends pass away recently. And he was rough on us. Because she always came to these breakfasts. And, you know, I was talking with another guy that goes to, and he used to pick her up and bring her.
And I would go to her house and help her out with stuff. So did he. As a matter of fact, a bunch of people did. Because she had health problems.
She used to live right behind me. In our little town. As a matter of fact, she used to come over every morning to make sure I was out of bed to go to high school. That's how, you know.
And my family just loved her. Then she moved away. They moved to another neighborhood. They stayed down, but they moved to another neighborhood.
They were only there for about two and a half years. But she just passed away. Now there was a guy that we all knew. And he used to come and he would bring his wife.
We didn't go to our school. And he mysteriously died, I don't know, almost a year ago. And my gosh, did we miss him. But surprisingly, his wife, who went to a school two towns away, keeps coming to our breakfast.
He keeps showing up. And it is so good to see her. And it is so good to keep that relationship moving up. So I'm very grateful for that.
It is, you know what this is? It's personal development. When you can maintain old friends and relationships, you are actually working on your own personal development. And it can be very eye-opening for you.
I always leave there with a big smile on my face. And it's just really good. And then, of course, there's the pictures on Facebook of everybody at the breakfast hanging out. And we've seen people come.
We've seen people go. We have seen people that we hadn't seen since high school show up at these things. And it is just really encouraging. So I would encourage you to try and keep the past open.
Try and reach back to where you used to be and reconnect with some of those people. Maybe you have to do it online. Maybe you have to do it on a Zoom call. If you live in your hometown, show up.
My son lives in Millville, New Jersey right now. And his wife's parents, wonderful people, grew up in Millville. And they still, to this day, hang out with all their old friends. As a matter of fact, they're living in his parents' house that they inherited.
Fabulous. Just absolutely fabulous. Stay in contact with people. Develop relationships with people that have been gone for a while, that are back into your life.
We'll see you tomorrow. We'll see you tomorrow.