Why Do Men Love Porn, Video Games, and Mountain Dew So Much?

2026 is going to be an awesome year. We got some pretty cool stuff coming up. First off, we got Foundations ofRecovery. This is our flagship program. We’re starting it in January. This is for anyone, man, woman, or couple whowants to come and reclaim their heart from shame, trauma, and betrayal. We start off with an education on all sortsof principles. Give you the common language. We feed you from a fire hose in terms of all things recovery. It issuch a great start to recovery. And we get to the roots of things, Tyler. This isn’t like any other program. Like, thisis our healing journey in process. And Foundations is where we begin. If youlook at the value that you’re getting there to kick off a good recovery with all of the right education, all of theright language, and a team to get you started while also being directed by Brandon and myself through the wholeprocess. What a deal. So, we if you’re interested, if you’re struggling, if you’ve been wanting to do something fora long time, jump into this. This only comes around every so often and we would love to have you there. Click the linkin the description to sign up for it. And to make it even sweeter, we’re also including a raffle for a free pass tothe Radiant Dawn retreat. Anyone who signs up for foundations will be added to the raffle for that free radiant dawnpass. If you’re a man and you sign up for foundations, your name still gets entered and you can give that pass awayif you win it to any woman that you want to. So, what you’re saying, Tyler, is if you sign up and participate infoundations, you could possibly go to Radiant Dawn for free. That’s exactly what I’m saying, which iscrazy because Foundations by itself is already an insane value. Man, I sound so salesy,but it actually is awesome. So, come like come to Foundations. And even if you don’t come to Foundations, sign upfor Radiant Dawn. I It’s beyond therapy, the best healing experiences that you can have. Click the link below and comejoin us. Why do men love porn, video games, andMountain Dew so much?What’s up you guys? Welcome to the Therapy Brothers podcast. I’m Brandon. I’m Tyler. We’re brothers.We’re therapists. We’re not afraid of your questions. So, bring it.[Music]Have you wanted to overcome your sex addiction? Have you wanted to feel more powerful and empowered as a man andunderstand your masculinity and have more healthy relationships with your spouse? feel more purpose in your lifeand more connection to God, but you’ve tried a bunch of things and it just doesn’t feel like things are gettingbetter. Maybe you’ve gone to a lot of therapy. You’ve talked through your problems, but you’re still stuck. Youwant more. You want to feel more at peace and more empowered. That’s why Tyler and I have developed aprocess and a program for men to come experience something different, to shiftout of the shame, shift out of the depression and the addiction and to actually experience feeling alive,stepping into your masculinity, feeling empowered. If you want information about thisexperience, go to risingssonconference.com. Now, that’s rising sun as insconference.com. Space is limited. The experience isgoing to change your life. It’s going to shift you into the man that you really are, the man that God made. So, go checkit out and we’ll love to see you guys there. Boy, Brandon, this is going to be a fun one today. Um,yeah, this is going to be a good topic. It’s it’s something I joke around with all the time um at with some of mybuddies and things about how those things seem so intricately connected for so many people that we know and we workwith. And uh we’re going to dive into this a little bit today, but before we do that, we’re going to share our uh review forthe day. This comes from VB Hammacker and it says, “Subscribe. These guys areexcellent podcasters. Concise, bold, articulate. They speak what we need tohear. Share this with all of your people. That’s awesome. Thank you so much.Yeah, made my day. Really appreciate that. So, yeah, Brandon, we’re sitting on AppleiTunes right now at 64 ratings. Awesome. We’ve been doing this for about 64weeks. Yeah. So, we’re we’re climbing and we’ve got people coming and sharing. So, thank youguys. Uh please share your ratings, your reviews, your feedback. You can reach usat all of the outlets that do podcasting. You can also reach us at both of our websites. You’re at brandonpatrick.comand we’re at lovstrong.com and you can reach us any way you want, whether you’ve got questions or you’re willingto leave us some feedback. Yep. Awesome. Well, Tyler, I want to start with a childhood memory.All right, let’s do it. Which actually will relate to to what we’re talking about today. So, um, onething Tyler and I loved to do when we were young kids is in our front room, wedidn’t have a very big house, um, that we grew up in, 2617 Fillmore Street.Yeah. Yeah. The Sugar House. Um, we love to wrestle and so we wouldwe would I was kind of uh, more bulky and big and Tyler was just overall moreathletic, but I was skinny. Yeah. Yeah. So, I knew if I could gethim in a headlock, like get get in on the inside, then then I could I could actually stand a chance.And so, I was going for the headlock and Tyler with his long arms just kind of took my head and threw me across theroom into a wood box. Oh, Brandon, why are you telling this story?And I remember in shock um knowing something had happened because there’sblood all over the place. And I looked down and I saw these two little white things on the floor. And uh that’s how Ilost my my two front teeth. Oh man. Oh. And I lost my two front teeth about three years before I was supposed to.And so for three years I had people coming up to me, what do you want for Christmas? Your two front teeth.Oh man, I’m sorry I put you through that hell. Your wounds. Yeah. But but I you know why I tell thisstory is um it just illustrates you know my my nephew and my son last week were um theycame over my nephew came over to my house and I looked out in the backyard and before I knew it they both hadthey’re both six years old so they’re tiny. Yeah. They both have fullsize shovels so they’re like twice as big as them.They’re in the sandbox and they’re digging massive trenches and filling it full of water and they’re in their likeSunday clothes and uh in the sand just and they’re loving they’re like creatingthis reservoir in the sandbox and with these big shovels and I looked out there and I was like, man, those boys likethat that’s that’s freedom. Like that’s beautiful. They’re living in their like true selfin that moment. Oh my gosh. I just it just made my soul happy. It’s like even though you’regoing to be mad about the clothes that are probably destroyed, it does it just makes gives just does your heart good to see a those little boys being exactlywhat God designed them to be. Being free. Free. Yeah. Yeah. And now contrast that with um the whatwhat we work with every day, Tyler. Yeah. Um we work with men who are escaping life.Uh men who feel like they live in a cage. Mhm. Um men who feel like there’s a giantvoid in their life that they’re trying to fill. Um men who are just trying to survive and and uh get get by. And wesee the outcomes of that when somebody comes in with addictions and things like that and their their career and marriageand things are starting to fall apart. Um uh you know, Tyler, we we joke aboutuh video games, porn, and Mountain Dew, right? But but it’s it’s really fascinating ifwe if we were to delve in and and really analyze what do those things provide in a fakeway for a man. Yeah. How how how are video games, porn, and Mountain Dew actually tied to themasculine heart? Because we do joke about it. I mean, I make fun of it all the time. You made fun of me a lot on that video game podcast, you know,but but but those three things are highly addictive, right? Yeah. All three of those things arehighly addictive. All three of those things are highly addictive. And and so why are they highly addictive es especially to men inso many ways. Uh why are they highly addictive? They’re highly addictive because they hit on something that’sinnate within us, inside of us. inside of us. They have different key elements of things that are going on inside of usas men that sometimes we’re so out of touch with by the time we get to be middle-aged men who are starting to loseour hair and you know that that we’re we’re almost pursuing something subconsciously that we don’t evenrealize is built into us and the way that we pursue it ends up leading tooften a wake of destruction behind us in the form of our jobs and our marriages and our lives and really our own hearts.Yeah, I think in a lot of ways and and and you guys I I do want to say this caveat. Um I I I drink Mountain Dew.Mountain Dew is not bad, right? Video games are okay. U porn’s another discussion. But but the point being iswe’re not ripping on those things. Um that’s not what what we’re trying to say. What we’re trying to say is it isan interesting phenomena that um that so many guys are are getting trapped inaddiction in those and those kinds of things and those specific types of addictions. And so you look at my nephew and my sonor me and Tyler wrestling and kind of throwing each other around. What does that have to do with porn, videogames, and Mountain Dew? Can you tie those together? Masculinity. Masculinity. Yeah. So let’s let’s break down each one of these if that’s allright with you one at a time. we’ll talk about the maybe some principles behind it. So, let’s uh let’s start with uhvideo games. All right. Okay. This is this is something if anybody’s listening and you’ve got little boys,there’s a pretty good chance that you’re constantly trying to figure out how to minimize their time on the screenbecause they’re so drawn to it. It’s like a fly to the the bug zapper when we were kids.Oh my god. You know, you can’t keep your kids away from them. And um and it’s by design.video games are designed to be addictive and that’s one reason why it’s by design. But it’s also tied to aprinciple here that many of those video games they produce and I would say mostoften it’s it’s kind of like the counterfeit version of what we’re really looking for but they produce a sense ofyou know adventure um and battle. Yeah. War and adventure.War battle purpose you know. Yeah. War adventure and purpose. So it’sit’s diluted down into the into this, you know, form where I get the feelingof that um without the actual um struggle, you know.The true struggle is my thumbs get cramped after the third hour. Yes. Yes. Exactly. And my eyes get tired and it’s notloading fast enough, so I got to go to porn. But we’ll get there in a second. Right. But before we move on, Tyler, what you’re saying and and I’m I justwant to say this kind of definitively is every and and Eldridge, we get this from John Eldridge. Um, every manh is it’s built within a man to be a warrior and to to seek adventure. Um,and so you create a video game where you’re battling and it’s exciting forfor a man. Um, you know, one of my son’s favorite games is Zelda, and I I I triedto play it with him once, and I’m like, I don’t quite get it. But but as I’m watching it, it’s it’s interesting. It’sIt’s just adventure. He’s on this quest. He’s Yeah. You’re wandering. You’re searching. You’re finding things.You’re conquering things. you’re, you know, and I I think most of us as men by the time we are middle-aged, we’ve beenkicked around a bit and we’re a little bit wounded and we we can kind of disappear into that place in in the formof video games where we can actually go and feel like wealmost like a second life, a second chance where we can go win at something, where we can be good at something, wherewe can, you know, conquer something. And and the drive inside of us is good. It’sjust that it’s being used in a way that doesn’t really produce a lot of results other than maybe a self-centered sort ofrelief or numbness or or a void that we’re trying to fill inside of our own hearts.Yes. Yes. We we are built for um it’s this life is a quest. And um youknow, if if you know anything about the hero’s journey, he really breaks this down. And so it’s like it’s why we likewatching movies that are about somebody conquering something, going through an adventure and conquering something. Um,we relate to that on on a soul level on our deepest levels as a man. We relateto that. And so you package that up really nicely. Um, create products thatmake a man feel that and it becomes super addictive. Um, it’s not I don’tthink it’s I don’t think it’s coincidence and I also believe it’s by design that the average age of the thethe computer console, whether that’s an Xbox or a PlayStation or whatever, isn’twhat most people think it is. People think it’s the teenage kid that’s playing those games, which it is, butthe average owner is actually 34 years old. Yeah. Interesting. Really fascinating.Um, and I think it speaks to something, Tyler, in in some ways for men, one of one of our biggest problems is life hasbecome too easy. Um, you know, we make enough money, we have enough food, wehave enough shelter. Um, there’s not much we need to conquer. Um, and sowe’re just kind and so we’re sitting back on our devices eating our cheeseburgers and thinking, well, what’sthe point of life? So, I need to find a point. So, okay, video games that makesme feel like there’s a point to this because I can conquer something. Um, so that leads toreally taking a look at your masculinity and taking a look at yourself in your life and saying, “Okay, if I’m addictedto those things or I I keep searching for that, how can I actually truly findthat? Not in a fabricated way, right? but in a real way, right? Without feeling shame. But butit’s maybe more of a signal to say, man, where do I need to go find some meaningful purpose in battle? Like, Igot to go find a place to go pick a fight in my life that’s meaningful. Yeah. And uhand there’s plenty of places to to find that. Yeah. And they and they can be good things that can still help us to bealive. I think both you and I are living in a world where we feel like we’re in that fight every day. And it feels feels really good to be there. And um and notthat everyone has to come do what we do, but everyone can find meaning and purpose without having to check into adifferent reality. Yeah. So, so that’s maybe that that need for battle, that need to test ourselves isis the thing that I think video games really gets to among other things. Let’s move on to the next one, Brandon, ifthat’s all right. Let’s talk a little bit about Mountain Dew. Now, Dr. Pepper is my drink of choice.Oh, me too. I I was a big time there was a time in my life talk about trying to numb myself out when I was drinking 120ounces a day of Dr. Pepper and then to mix it up once in a while it was Mountain Dew. Yeah. Well, Mountain Dew’s better in thecan. Doctor’s better in the fountain. See, and it’s sad that we both know that.Yeah. So, here’s the thing with Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew’s done an amazing job of um marketing and you know the wholeMonster Revolution and Rock Star like these energy drink things that thateveryone’s getting addicted to and um but Mountain Dew has has just kind ofrode right right along with that and um and they have so many flavors and blah blah blah. But we’re not talkingspecifically about Mountain Dew here, you guys. Um the here’s the point isuh the caffeine does something. The caffeine provides aa sense of arousal. Makes you feel alive. Makes you feel alive. And so you knowit’s the thing that you need at 1:00 in the afternoon to get yourself through the day so that you feel alive. And ththrow sugar in the mix. So now you got sugar and caffeine. You get somewhat of a rush where h I feel I feel good for amoment. little pickme up. Yeah. In in our lives as as men, we lackhealthy arousal. Um and so because we lack healthyarousal, we we we go grab unhealthy arousal. Um, so what I mean by that isif I’m going to my mundane job day in and day out and I’m going home and Idon’t have much to do other than watch TV and I go to bed and I wake up and I do that again and again and again. Um,eventually life gets pretty bland. Yeah. And if I can get a pickme up once in awhile from a little bit of caffeine, well, at least I get that, right? You know, it’s like I remember working at the drug courts. Um, this isgoing to sound this is going to basically I’m I’m like indicting myself of all of these things at the same timeright now, Brandon, but I when I work at the drug courts, there was a period of time when the highlight of my day washaving a cancellation so I could walk across the street and get a fountain drink,you know? Like, think about think about what I’m saying there, though. Is it that that was the highlight of my day?like I’m going to go get a little Hey, you’re you’re talking to a lot of people and they’re thinking, “Dang it,that’s totally my life. That’s what’s going on with me.” I’m saying I’m I’m saying this from a knowing place that like I know that I’mnot alone. Like those of you who are listening to this right now and going like, “Gosh, should I turn it off?” Like, “Dang, I just need that. I don’t want somebody else to hear thisbecause I feel like it’s like exposing me. It’s like no, this is the life we find ourselves in and this this is not what we were designed for, right? ThatI’m going to be in the I’m in the mundane.” So here’s what it was is that I was I was stuck in this place ofliving a life that I don’t think was from a bad place from duty. You know, I got to be a good man and agood man goes to work and he provides for his family and then he goes and does everything he has to do to keep his family in order. Then he falls in lineand then he does it over the next day and the next day and the next day and all those things are good. You know, weshould be that’s part of who we are as men. We want to provide for our families that way. But but when when that becamethe routine and there wasn’t something else, the highlight of the day is to go get a little pickme up from somecaffeine and to realize that I didn’t have to do a single session like Well, Tyler, here’s like, have you everhad a Red Bull? Yeah. What’ you think? Um, it actually made me sick to mystomach. I’ll tell you a story about this. It wasn’t a Red Bull, but it was a monster. And we were driving, talk aboutan adventure, where I was driving with a couple of my buddies late at night. We used to go to this place in Idaho whereI used to live late at night. There’s a place in the river where you can catch really big fish. And we were driving up there one night and we were it’s about10 at night. We hadn’t even gotten there yet. We fished till 1 or two in the morning. On the way there, one of the one of the guys I was with had a doublesized monster and just joking around. He’s like, “Hey, Tyler, why don’t you try this thing?” I had never really had many energy drinks before. I was like,”Okay.” Okay. And I just pound the whole thing in one sitting on the drive up, you know, because I’m trying to fit in with my macho friends or whatever. Anduh I’ll tell you what, man, it made me it made me sick to my stomach. Yeah. Because I wasn’t ready for it. Butyeah, but then it also just kind of put me in all in a weird way, it put me in like almost a different dimension. Like I wasthere, but Right. I wasn’t really like present because everything was kind of likeRight. You know, they call it the fuzz. There was like a fuzz. Yeah. There’s a f there’s a fuzz and a buzz, right? Yeah,but um Red Bull, the reason I bring that them up is they’re they’re brilliant in a way. When when you think of Red Bull,um Red Bull gives you wings, but what their marketing is like if you watch the X Games, Red Bull’s everywhere.It’s Red Bull. Yeah. And I’m thinking, do the do these snowboarders Red Bull’s got the record for the guyjumping them the highest out of an aircraft, right? Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So this So So youlook at what they’re what they’re pairing themselves with. Yes, they’re pairing themselves with actualarousal um with you know I was just in your office and saw this picture of of Tylerjumped out of an airplane went skydiving um and you know you think of of RedBull. So I we’re not saying that you know you should replace your MountainDew drinking with with skydiving. That’s not what we’re saying. Not necessarily. Well, but what we are saying is if youfind yourself compulsively um trying to find a way whether it’s itcould be it could be aderall, it could be alcohol, it could be porn, it couldbe all kinds of things, but if you’re trying to find a way to get a pickme up to feel alive, then go find a way tofeel alive. um whe whether it’s skydiving or playinggolf or um you know it could be physical, it could be somethingcareer-wise that stimulates you that makes you feel good. But if you don’t have that, you’re going to be prone tochugging the Mountain Dew. It’s going to be the counterfeit. You’re going to you’re going to settle in essence, you’ll be settling for thebiblical mess of pottage instead of the royal birthright that you were intended for, which is to be someone who lives alife that’s rich and full and vi vibrant and and that allows for healthy adrenaline and allows for that healthyadventure and and too many of us, I think, are just we’ve almost like slowlycooked ourselves into not realizing that that’s what we really need. Like we’re we’re better we’re better overallhusbands and fathers and employees when we’re alive. Yeah. Ti T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T TT T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T Tyler is a great example of this. I mean, he takes horses up to the Wind Rivers and goes fishing and um he hikesmountains with his dog every day and I mean, he found a dead body oncehiking a mountain. Um, but but he’s out, he’s moving, he’s adventurous, he’sgoing. And and and Tyler, I would guess that that helps you drink less caffeine.I The only time I now drink caffeine is usually on the 4th of July when you tell me to.Yeah. Don’t Don’t help me too much. No, but you’re right. So what you’re saying was it’s true is that this issomething that I’ve started to learn in my own life is that I in the morning like this is going to sound crazy to youbut I’ve started to become alive even more so. I get up at 5:30 in the morning. I I hike a mile over to a anicy creek at 5:30 in the morning and I sit down in it and I do the whim methodand then I hike back and and if I have time then I go run my dog or I’ll climb a mountain for a minute longer. And you’re right,like, and I’m not saying this to like brag. I’m saying this to say if I don’t do that, I’m not a good therapist,right? I’m not a good father. And you don’t have to Wimhof, but if you don’t do something where you feeladventure and arousal, then your work suffers, your parenting suffers, yourmasculinity suffers. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think I think when we get into this place and we start going, “Okay, I got to step into that.” It’sit’s challenging. I had this experience. It’s easier to drink a Mountain Dew. Oh, easier. Way easier. I had I wasvisiting a friend. You’ll know who you are if you’re listening um this weekend and I was telling him about my routineand he said, “You really do that?” I said, “Yeah, I do it, but I won’t do it now because I’m staying with you for the weekend.” And he woke up early in themorning and he came and woke me up. He’s like, he lives right next to a river. Like he lives right next to the TetonRiver. And so he said, “Hey Tyler, wake up.” I’m like, “What are you doing?” He’s like, “We’re going hopping.” like,”You really want to do this, man?” He’s like, “Yep, we’re doing it.” So, we go we go get in there and we like hike outto the river and nothing but our shorts on. And if you guys don’t know what Wimhof is, then Google it. Yeah. It’s basically where you subjectyourself to extreme temperatures of cold because it’s supposed to teach you, you know, certain things and help your bodyand your immune system and things. But we walk out to the river, there’s literally still like caked snow on theground. And uh and he’s like, “Okay, let’s do it.” And I’m like, “I’m fine. I’ve been doing this for like the last severalweeks.” like, “It’s no problem.” He’s like, “Okay.” So, he strips down. He steps in. He gets into his ankle. He gets into his ankle. He’s like, “Uh, I Idon’t think we want to do this.” I’m like, “Well, we’re here now. We better do it.” So, I wait out there and we both go, “One, two, three, and we sit down.”And um and for me, after we do that for a while, it’s like I come alive.Oh, that that first minute is panic. The first minute you can’t breathe and you’re like, you what am I doing? Thisis terrible. But then after a while, your body kicks in and it acclimates and you get those like endorphins flowingthrough your body and you go, “Whoa, I feel alive.” Like, “This is a better rush than my Mountain Dew.”Yeah. And uh then we got done with it and we walked into the house and about two hours later he was still saying,”I can’t believe you do that every day.” He’s like, “I’m still cold. Like that’s not fun.” Like I was lightheaded. Andand and the reason I’m pointing that out is because if you start to step into places that are uncomfortable that you haven’t lived in in a while, even thoughthat’s what the six-year-old in you wants to do, it’s going to feel uncomfortable for a minute. But that’swhat has to happen to start unlocking the changes that are going on around. But we but we’ve been domesticated tonot do that. Like what you’re talking about, Tyler, sounds a little crazy. It is. That’s that’s probably excessive.But but what I’m saying is like who goes out to a river and jumps in it as a man? And because we’re supposed to to justkind of, you know, just chill, right? Just wake up, hit the snooze button a few times, take a hot shower, go towork. So So why would you do something crazy like that or or or something else crazy,you know? And and the the fact of the matter is is um you know, my son out there with a giant shovel trying to diga reservoir in my sandbox is crazy. Um but but it awakens his his heart and umand so it’s important to do that. So um okay, the last one, Tyler,last one we got porn. Yeah. So porn. So how does porn fit into the mix here? Yeah. So let’s think about it. We’vegot, you know, we’ve got adventure and purpose and adrenaline,feeling alive, battle. The last part is is that we in our hearts as men, we werebuilt. We were built to cherish and revere and love beauty and and the womenin our lives. And we were built to actually provide our strength to them ina complimentary sort of a way, right? But we we visually love beauty.We love beauty, right? And so so we’re we’re drawn to it. And where it becomes a counterfeitis when we sexualize it and then we disappear into a place of call itnon-reality where we can feel like we’re enough in the pursuit of that beauty andeven in sexual ways it elicit all of the chemicals that go with that that does it all for us. It helps us feel alive. Ithelps us feel like we’re not enough. I mean like we are enough for a minute or it fills that void. And it’s also partof that drive that’s saying you know what I I am drawn to beauty. The problem is is that we haven’t been taught how torevere the beauty. So we end up in a place of consuming it rather thanprotecting it. So this uh I got a question for you. So when I firststarted treating porn addiction years ago u this couple came in and um she wasstrikingly beautiful. I mean, she was just a beautiful woman, right? And andI’m doing the intake, talking to him, and she says, “One of our biggestproblems is he never wants to have sex with me. Um, he never comes on to me. HeSo, um, like what the heck is going on, Tyler? Right? How does that how doesthat happen?” So, anybody who doesn’t understand that will go like, “Yeah, that doesn’t make sense.” Because he haspretty much what everybody’s going to be pursuing in pornography right in front of him. Yeah. Right. But what what the difference isis that he hasn’t learned how to interact with the beauty in his life in a way that’s respectful andrevering and and connecting and vulnerable. Yeah. So, he would rather settle for thecounterfeit where he doesn’t have to be vulnerable because he’s afraid. Yes. He’s afraid of rejection. He’s afraid ofnot being enough. He’s afraid that he’s never going to measure up. And he can go and he can pursue it in a nonvulnerableway. Yeah. And get a little bit of a hit like medicine while while he’s got a wifesitting at home that he could be stepping into a full relationship with. Yeah. So that’s exactly what I wastrying to tee up for, Tyler. is just that is um the it’s it’s easier to notgo through the work of actually connecting to the beauty. And and the fact of the matter is is you you do geta a false sense of of connection and a rush from from acting out with porn andthose type of things. But you miss out on something that’s so much deeper andso much better in terms of connecting to a woman’s heart and a woman’s soul. umintimacy and and true love and but but butso many men from a young young age from you know the intakes that I do 8 n yearsold they’re starting to look at porn they’re conditioned to feel that senseof masculinity um and connection to the feminine through taking the easy routethe counterfeit the counterfeit so and that and that counterfeit actually ends up ultimately just not really allof those things. They they produce something in the moment, but they don’t produce what what it was intended to be,which is this lasting sense of understanding really truly who what our identity is. Yeah.Right. So, so, so people listening to this right now, you’re probably thinking to yourself right now, either you’re a man listening to this and going like,”Dang, like I totally relate to what those guys just said.” Or you’re a wife that’s listening to this right now andgoing like, “Oh, wow. I can see that my husband doesn’t have the right kind of adventure or he’s not pursuing beauty inthe in the proper way. It doesn’t make us bad because those things arehappening in our lives. This is this is a call to action. This is this is a call to action to say, “Wow, if I find myselfin these spaces and utilizing these kinds of things in my life, it’s it’s itshould be a glaring flag to you right now to say, I got to do something. I got to make some changes in my life to startunlocking the true heart of who I’m supposed to be as a man. So, you’re saying, Tyler, um, if I’m ifI’m a a boy who’s who’s experienced trauma, found porn at a young age, gotmyself addicted to Mountain Dew and video games, um, and and as as we’vebeen talking, if if if I’m feeling like, man, innately, deep down, I know thatthat’s inside of me. Um, what you’re saying, Tyler, is if I’m a 35 year oldman, 40-y old man, um, and I’m so entrenched in thoseaddictions and those type of things, you’re saying that I don’t have to continue to live that way.No, I’m saying you owe it to yourself. You owe it to the people around you that that you loveto step more fully into who you were actually designed to be. I know you’ve been wounded. We’ve all been wounded.Brandon and I are talking about this because we’ve both been there before. But the truth is is that we’re we’replaying small in our lives. But but Tyler, is is it even possible? Like at that point when I’ve beendomesticated for so long, I’ve been trapped in my addictions. I I have noidea what my masculinity is. Is it even possible for me to find my heart again?For me to set myself free to to unleash who I actually am?Yeah. Well, Brandon, I I think there’s probably some guys listening to this right now that probably feel that way. And I would say there’s that anabsolutely resounding yes, it has to be possible. You know, we we we’ve slowly allowed ourselves to maybe lose ourhearts, but when once we start to learn these things, we can do better. And maybe the quest begins by allowing ourselves to step into that and say, youknow what, I’m gonna have to go figure this out knowing that it’s going to be hard. Is it possible? Yes. Is it goingto be difficult? Yes. But we were designed for to for difficult things.Yeah. And so it is it is definitely possible. I was running a group yesterday with uhthere’s like 15 guys in that group and they’re all at different places but many of them would say um they would reallyrelate to the things that we talked about and they would say that their life is absolutely drastically different andthat they’re they have they have uh healthy trust and safety in their intheir marriages. um they’re not acting out and addicted all the time andthey’re finding peace within themselves. So healing is possible. Uh reclaimingyour masculinity is absolutely possible and finding purpose in your life is isthere for the taking. It’s there for the taking. It’s it’s just us being able to step through thosewounds and step through that pain and to go after it. And uh you know, Brandon and I, you we’re both pretty much thisis one of our wheelhouse things that we constantly come back to because we feel we feel like it’s part of our calling asa result of the hell we’ve been through ourselves to to try to help men becomefull wholehearted better men. And um and as part of that passion, it’s kind ofcool to to think about what the opportunities are that we’re able to have in being in that calling.Yeah. And uh and one of those things is actually something that we’re putting together right now. Yeah. So we’ve done um we’ve done men’sretreats in the past. Yeah. Um which have been amazing and awesome experiences. Um, we’ve gone up to Alaskaand things like that, but uh, Tyler and I are are amping up our game and withwith with some of our our brothers that we work with and we’re we’re putting ona men’s experience and it’s called the Rising Sun Experienceand you can find information about it at rising sunconference.com. So check it out. It will be worth yourtime. Um, you can come meet me and Tyler in person and get to know us and go downa journey that might really awaken your soul. It’s designed what we’ve Brandon and I have been doing this for a long time andit’s it’s it’s designed really to help with that to be kind of a catalyst intothat space. So, if you find yourself in that spot that Brandon and I have both been to and that we’ve talked abouttoday, if Mountain Dew and porn and uh video games, video games are your go-to right now totry to cope with life, the this this experience that we’re designed that we’re designing is designed for you toget you into that kickstart. It won’t be comfortable. It’s but it’ll be awesome. It’s going to be awesome. It’s it’sgoing to be difficult and it’s going to touch places of you that you probably haven’t had touched in a long time, butit’s going to bring you back to life. It’s gonna it’s going to set you back into that path of realizing that life can be so much more. And if you’re awoman that’s listening to this and you have a man in your life that you know is in that space,it’s designed for him. So check it out, rising sununconference.com,and uh we’d love to see see you guys sign up. So, all right you guys, if thiswas helpful, please uh please rate and review, and we’ll see you next week.[Applause][Applause] [Music]