Latest / All About The Joy / Rediscovering the Joys of Childhood and Adulthood: From Ice Cream Trucks to Forgiveness
Transcript
- 0:00Carmen Lezeth: Hey everybody, welcome to All About the Joy.
- 0:03Carmen Lezeth: Hey Cynthia, how you doing?
- 0:04Carmen Lezeth: Hey, Rick, can you hear us?
- 0:07Rick Costa: Yes, you hear me.
- 0:08Carmen Lezeth: Oh yes, we can hear you now how you doing Okay, good, good.
- 0:12Cynthia Ruiz: The other day I was looking at my old planner and it was a year ago, on the 20th, when we had that mega podcast with all the guys oh yeah, with what's the name of his show collaboration late night parents late night parents.
- 0:29Carmen Lezeth: It was a year ago, so I I was watching eddie murphy's.
- 0:34Carmen Lezeth: There was just a clip, but do you remember the whole ice cream man is coming like when he talks about you could be playing with marble.
- 0:42Carmen Lezeth: I don't know who was playing with marbles, clearly he's a little bit older than all of us, but you'd be playing marbles and you would hear the ice cream, the ice cream truck, and he does the song, whatever.
- 0:52Carmen Lezeth: It was that whole thing and it started making me remember, like my favorite, like things, like moments in time when I was a kid, you know, and that was one of them I remember.
- 1:06Carmen Lezeth: But then I would get so sad because you couldn't always I don't know about you guys, I couldn't always buy something because we didn't always have money or mother said no, period, yeah I beg, sometimes I say yes, sometimes I said no yeah, it's funny at my cousin's house.
- 1:22Rick Costa: Though if we were at my cousin's because we'd go visit a lot of times, I guess, so that they didn't look bad or cheap they would always say yes, if it was at my cousin's house, oh I like when my cousin's at my cousin's, oh really, yeah, that's weird.
- 1:34Carmen Lezeth: Okay, so parents be like that.
- 1:37Rick Costa: And then I got her to say and you can't have none.
- 1:41Carmen Lezeth: And then it falls.
- 1:42Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, well, wait.
- 1:44Carmen Lezeth: The kids all sing and they say because your mother is a welfare and your father is an alcoholic.
- 1:53Carmen Lezeth: Want to lick Psych.
- 1:56Cynthia Ruiz: And then it falls.
- 1:58Carmen Lezeth: And then the little kid on welfare with the alcohol picks it up and he's like mwah, it's really great.
- 2:05Carmen Lezeth: You should just Google Eddie Murphy and ice cream truck.
- 2:09Carmen Lezeth: It doesn't matter, it'll come up.
- 2:11Carmen Lezeth: I was just thinking about that.
- 2:13Carmen Lezeth: I was just thinking about growing up and favorite moments in time.
- 2:16Carmen Lezeth: If you guys had moments like that that you remember, that were crystallized like that Ice cream.
- 2:22Rick Costa: man is definitely one for me, yeah.
- 2:24Carmen Lezeth: You grew up in Connecticut Is Ice cream man is definitely one for me, and you grew up in Connecticut Is ice cream man just an East Coast thing.
- 2:30Rick Costa: What don't I have it in California?
- 2:31Carmen Lezeth: No, I don't know.
- 2:31Carmen Lezeth: I didn't grow up here.
- 2:33Rick Costa: But you don't see them around now.
- 2:35Carmen Lezeth: I don't live with kids.
- 2:36Carmen Lezeth: It's apartments where I live.
- 2:39Carmen Lezeth: I don't know if there's a lot of kids here, but I'm sure there are.
- 2:43Carmen Lezeth: Is there still ice cream truck things where you guys grew up, where you guys live?
- 2:50Rick Costa: Yeah, I don't honestly pay attention anymore.
- 2:54Carmen Lezeth: I mean, you still hear the music.
- 2:55Carmen Lezeth: I got my motherfucking ice cream.
- 2:58Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean.
- 2:58Carmen Lezeth: Well, what are some?
- 3:01Carmen Lezeth: I mean, do you guys have any moments that you remember that were cool?
- 3:04Carmen Lezeth: I used to like playing I think I mentioned this because we had train tracks in the back.
- 3:09Carmen Lezeth: We used to all go back there in the winter and we would go sledding down those hills.
- 3:15Carmen Lezeth: I don't know if you remember that, cynthia, but in the back, where we used to, where I grew up on Rosemary Street, there were those hills because there were all the trains the Amtrak trains that would go by there.
- 3:25Carmen Lezeth: So we'd go tobogganing or sledding down there whenever there was snow.
- 3:29Carmen Lezeth: It was kind of cool.
- 3:31Cynthia Ruiz: We used to do that over down in Jamaica Pond in that big hill.
- 3:36Carmen Lezeth: I don't remember going to Jamaica Pond and I mean, I know what you're talking about the sugar, what is?
- 3:40Cynthia Ruiz: it the sugar bowl or something?
- 3:42Cynthia Ruiz: Oh yeah, the what is it?
- 3:43Carmen Lezeth: a sugar bowl or something.
- 3:44Carmen Lezeth: Oh yeah, or the sugar, I think.
- 3:45Carmen Lezeth: So something like that, like a bowl or something, but yeah, but I don't remember sledding down there.
- 3:49Rick Costa: I remember rolling in the summertime like rolling down and getting super dizzy yeah, behind my house we have a I don't know what you call it embankment.
- 3:59Rick Costa: It's like a wall, but then behind it it's really steep and my parents are don't go down there, you're going to get hurt.
- 4:04Rick Costa: Blah, blah, blah.
- 4:05Rick Costa: Okay, okay, yeah.
- 4:07Rick Costa: So yeah, we were like climbing and trying not to fall and having fun, but, speaking of snow, like building a snowman, that was always fun.
- 4:15Rick Costa: Never did an igloo, though, I don't know why I never tried to do an igloo.
- 4:22Carmen Lezeth: Oh, I never built a snowman Because we lived in the hood.
- 4:26Carmen Lezeth: We lived in the hood and I don't remember the snow ever being that.
- 4:30Carmen Lezeth: I mean, I remember the snow being that thick and deep or whatever, but I don't ever remember being like a little Norman Rockwell family, Like oh, let's all get together and do this.
- 4:39Rick Costa: Oh no, our parents didn't do it, it was just me and my brother.
- 4:42Carmen Lezeth: No, I remember being pushed into snow banks Like I remember that?
- 4:46Rick Costa: Or snow angels.
- 4:47Rick Costa: Did you guys do that?
- 4:47Rick Costa: Snow angels yeah, we did those.
- 4:49Carmen Lezeth: Of course Snow angels were a thing.
- 4:51Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, I remember when the big the bulldozers would come in.
- 4:55Carmen Lezeth: I don't know if they're bulldozers, but they would take the plows the right, and then they would.
- 5:06Carmen Lezeth: It would just make this way.
- 5:06Carmen Lezeth: But then you would play on the embankments and I remember we would get scared because there would be all these stupid stories and I'm sure they knew and I don't want to offend anybody, but you know, like a kid died because he was, you know, in the snow bank or something or whatever, I'd be like we were just playing the other day.
- 5:19Carmen Lezeth: How could you get it stuck?
- 5:22Carmen Lezeth: But yeah, I remember that.
- 5:23Carmen Lezeth: But I hate snow.
- 5:25Carmen Lezeth: I've always hated snows, but I've had good times in snow I have a love hate.
- 5:30Rick Costa: If I'm playing in it, then I'm loving it, but yeah, but you still have snow in your life, right?
- 5:35Rick Costa: Yeah, yeah, although the last few years it hasn't been as much, shockingly, but shoveling it, that's the bane of my existence.
- 5:41Rick Costa: I hated shoveling it.
- 5:43Rick Costa: Driving in it is what I hate that's not fun either, especially when a 15 minute drive turns into two hours yeah, yeah, oh.
- 5:51Carmen Lezeth: But see, that was the great thing is when it would snow.
- 5:54Carmen Lezeth: You would just be like, please call my school, please call me like you would hope that on the radio.
- 5:59Carmen Lezeth: They would call your school as being one of them.
- 6:01Carmen Lezeth: Remember you?
- 6:03Carmen Lezeth: Please don't let us go to school.
- 6:05Carmen Lezeth: Awesome, I used to love that.
- 6:08Carmen Lezeth: I mean, look at, I went to school in Vermont, as you guys know.
- 6:11Carmen Lezeth: I never need to see snow again and I just never need to be near the cold ever again.
- 6:17Carmen Lezeth: I just I am not into the cold and everyone, oh, but the snow looks so pretty.
- 6:22Carmen Lezeth: No, it's beautiful, but I can look at it from, I can see a postcard or you can tell me about it or I can watch it on TV.
- 6:30Carmen Lezeth: I don't ever need to be in it again.
- 6:31Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's 63 degrees here or something and I'm like, ooh, and you're freezing.
- 6:40Cynthia Ruiz: Yeah, no.
- 6:40Rick Costa: Check my temperature now 57 for me outside.
- 6:44Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, no, Check my temperature now 57 for me outside.
- 6:47Carmen Lezeth: Anthony just said I remember making snow cream when it snowed We'd mark a certain area of the snow where we didn't walk in it or played in it.
- 6:54Carmen Lezeth: It was just for snow cream.
- 6:55Carmen Lezeth: That was the best stuff ever.
- 6:57Carmen Lezeth: I don't know what snow cream is.
- 7:00Rick Costa: You just eat, it Is that what it is?
- 7:02Carmen Lezeth: Oh, so like you make like a snow cone, so you put the snow in it and then you put some cream over it, or maybe it's.
- 7:08Carmen Lezeth: That sounds cool.
- 7:11Rick Costa: I never heard of that Snow cream.
- 7:13Rick Costa: That's new for me.
- 7:15Carmen Lezeth: But maybe it's like a snow cone, maybe that's just like different parts of where you live.
- 7:19Rick Costa: That's usually what I got when the ice cream man would come Snow cone.
- 7:25Carmen Lezeth: I love that.
- 7:25Carmen Lezeth: I don't even remember what I would get, I just remember it being a thing.
- 7:28Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean.
- 7:30Cynthia Ruiz: Like any character that was like in style at the moment.
- 7:33Cynthia Ruiz: You would get what?
- 7:36Cynthia Ruiz: Like a character, like they have a Spider-Man or a SpongeBob character.
- 7:42Rick Costa: Oh yeah, no.
- 7:44Carmen Lezeth: And the snow and the I am older than you In the ice cream truck.
- 7:48Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, I don't remember that.
- 7:51Carmen Lezeth: I don't think we got a lot of ice cream.
- 7:53Carmen Lezeth: I think in my head I want to believe we used to get a lot of ice cream.
- 7:56Carmen Lezeth: I don't really remember.
- 7:58Cynthia Ruiz: Or those rocket ones, the red, white and blue ones.
- 8:00Rick Costa: Oh yeah, I remember those yeah.
- 8:05Carmen Lezeth: I like white and blue.
- 8:07Carmen Lezeth: Oh yeah, I remember those.
- 8:08Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, I like those okay, snow cream was like ice cream, but it was made with snow.
- 8:11Carmen Lezeth: Okay, got it, got it.
- 8:12Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, oh, that's so cool, yeah, no, no, okay, so I I want to talk about something else.
- 8:15Carmen Lezeth: Wait, do you guys have anything else to add about your experiences that you want to share?
- 8:20Cynthia Ruiz: I used to love playing hide and seek because we used to remember how we, we used to love playing hide and seek because we used to live in this little alleyway that was like a cul-de-sac, and so there was a whole bunch of people.
- 8:30Carmen Lezeth: You did.
- 8:30Cynthia Ruiz: No, I did when.
- 8:31Cynthia Ruiz: On Forbes, no after Forbes, oh see, okay, over by Meatland.
- 8:38Carmen Lezeth: I don't remember.
- 8:38Carmen Lezeth: Okay, got you After Forbes.
- 8:41Cynthia Ruiz: So there were a whole bunch of kids my age and my brother's age.
- 8:44Cynthia Ruiz: All of us would get together and just play hide and seek all back there.
- 8:47Cynthia Ruiz: That was really fun.
- 8:49Carmen Lezeth: Awesome, we used to play flashlight tag.
- 8:51Carmen Lezeth: Did you ever play that?
- 8:53Cynthia Ruiz: Oh no.
- 8:54Carmen Lezeth: Flashlight.
- 8:54Carmen Lezeth: So it would be at night Cause back then we would stay out at night, you would be it, but you would have it's hide and seek.
- 9:02Carmen Lezeth: But you would have to find people with the flashlight and if you tag them so like we would be like in the trees, on rooftops, under cars we'd be like because you'd have to be really hidden, because if not then you'd be it.
- 9:14Carmen Lezeth: It's kind of cool flashlight tag.
- 9:17Carmen Lezeth: I'm sure there are other people who experience it.
- 9:18Carmen Lezeth: Okay, rick, I feel like my parents.
- 9:21Rick Costa: My parents didn't really let us go out at night.
- 9:23Rick Costa: Once it started getting dark, get back inside.
- 9:25Rick Costa: They were super protective.
- 9:26Rick Costa: Super protective and stay on our property, don't you go a centimeter off the imaginary line there.
- 9:33Rick Costa: You in trouble.
- 9:34Rick Costa: You got a whooping.
- 9:34Rick Costa: Yeah, they were super strict A whooping.
- 9:38Rick Costa: That's why I like going to my cousin's house, because then they were more loose.
- 9:44Carmen Lezeth: Again.
- 9:44Carmen Lezeth: So I just want to be clear.
- 9:45Carmen Lezeth: It wasn't that my mother wasn't strict, my mother wasn't around.
- 9:48Carmen Lezeth: I just want to be clear, like when we're talking, we're talking about you know, like I was 12, 13, whatever, but I just remember hanging out.
- 9:54Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, I want to go back, like I would never go back in time, but it was nice to just think about some of the joys of being younger and you didn't have to pay bills.
- 10:21Carmen Lezeth: Remember you didn't know that you had and we call it responsibility, but you thought your life was so hard.
- 10:27Carmen Lezeth: remember people like nobody understands, nobody gets me and you thought like it was the end of the world.
- 10:35Carmen Lezeth: But my god, you had no.
- 10:37Carmen Lezeth: You have to worry about paying bills.
- 10:39Carmen Lezeth: You'd have to worry about so many things.
- 10:41Rick Costa: Yeah, exactly so true you didn't have to worry about so many things.
- 10:43Rick Costa: Yeah, exactly so true.
- 10:44Rick Costa: You didn't have a job.
- 10:44Rick Costa: You can't get fired from school.
- 10:53Carmen Lezeth: I worked at Little Peach when I was 12.
- 10:56Rick Costa: Okay.
- 10:56Carmen Lezeth: Cynthia, did you work?
- 10:58Cynthia Ruiz: when you were little.
- 10:59Cynthia Ruiz: I didn't start work until I was 15.
- 11:00Cynthia Ruiz: Yeah, yeah.
- 11:04Carmen Lezeth: I worked at Little Peach, near where I lived Remember when I I forget what the name of that, oh my God On Center Street, but near St Thomas Aquinas or whatever, near the church.
- 11:14Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, so Little Peach, because Alice used to work there.
- 11:16Carmen Lezeth: So I used to get paid to the shelves and Alice was my seventh grade teacher and I used to stock the shelves and she would give me money.
- 11:24Carmen Lezeth: But that's how I would start getting money, that's how I started working.
- 11:27Carmen Lezeth: Oh, that is so funny.
- 11:28Rick Costa: Is it a grocery store?
- 11:29Rick Costa: Oh, I'm sorry.
- 11:30Carmen Lezeth: Little Peach is like a 7-Eleven it used to be, Is it still around, Cynthia?
- 11:35Cynthia Ruiz: No, now it's.
- 11:36Cynthia Ruiz: Let's see, it went from Little Peach to Deskies.
- 11:40Cynthia Ruiz: Now it's 7-Eleven.
- 11:43Carmen Lezeth: That's a shame, that's a shame because Little Pete's first of all has a nice little tone to it, but it was also like it felt like a local family little store.
- 11:54Alma Dawson: I don't think it was.
- 11:55Carmen Lezeth: I think it was kind of like a chain thing or something.
- 11:57Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, I started working when I was 12.
- 12:01Carmen Lezeth: What's so weird is when I see my social security, when they send you the social security thing and it sees how much you maxed out or whatever, they actually list it because I had an actual paycheck, like when I was 13 starting, because then I worked as a camp counselor, I worked at a nursing home, like I worked since I was little.
- 12:19Carmen Lezeth: I should be able to retire now and still I cannot.
- 12:21Rick Costa: I should be able to retire now and still I cannot I didn't get my first job until 17, but mostly because I was still recovering from my back surgery.
- 12:34Carmen Lezeth: Oh, I'm not an advocate for people to be working as soon as possible, kids, but I know.
- 12:40Rick Costa: We don't condone child labor here, I know, but Nathan and Juliana.
- 12:44Carmen Lezeth: They're 16.
- 12:45Carmen Lezeth: Nathan just got a job, I think, at McDonald's, and Juliana just applied for Starbucks.
- 12:51Carmen Lezeth: She's like I'm so excited to get free coffee.
- 12:54Carmen Lezeth: I'm like, okay, I don't think that's how it's going to work out, but you don't want to say anything.
- 13:00Carmen Lezeth: I'm like I don't think they're going to be giving you free coffee all the time.
- 13:03Carmen Lezeth: Say anything like I don't think they're gonna be like giving you free coffee all the time, it might give you an employee discount.
- 13:07Rick Costa: Things have changed.
- 13:07Rick Costa: When I first worked in vietnam, it was my first job every you can get whatever you want and I was like this is awesome.
- 13:13Rick Costa: And I did, I trust the idea.
- 13:15Rick Costa: But then, little by little, they started to restrict it and then until it finally came to one sandwich, one fry, one small soda, small fry.
- 13:23Rick Costa: Small soda, small fry small soda Right.
- 13:24Rick Costa: Right.
- 13:26Carmen Lezeth: Well, because I think it takes up from your bottom line.
- 13:28Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean.
- 13:29Carmen Lezeth: It takes away from your.
- 13:30Carmen Lezeth: I'm not trying to be all business or whatever, but it's just.
- 13:32Carmen Lezeth: I'm sure that she was just excited about the free coffee and I'm like, if you mean by free, that you'll pay for it out of your new paycheck, your first paycheck you're getting.
- 13:47Carmen Lezeth: That's going to work, okay.
- 13:47Carmen Lezeth: So a few things have happened that I'm excited about.
- 13:50Carmen Lezeth: It's 80 days before my birthday and, rick, I don't want to talk about your birthday.
- 13:55Carmen Lezeth: We're going to talk about my birthday on the 12th.
- 13:57Carmen Lezeth: Okay, I don't care when your birthday is, because only mine matters.
- 14:00Carmen Lezeth: Okay, it's 80 days.
- 14:02Carmen Lezeth: Rick's birthday is what?
- 14:04Carmen Lezeth: The fifth, the third, the second?
- 14:08Rick Costa: I knew it was so close I thought we were on prices right for a second higher, higher, lower wait.
- 14:13Carmen Lezeth: You know what's even better is.
- 14:15Carmen Lezeth: I don't even know what cynthia's is like.
- 14:17Carmen Lezeth: I don't care about anyone else's birthday wow, I know, I know.
- 14:23Cynthia Ruiz: Do you even know what month?
- 14:24Carmen Lezeth: You don't know when my birthday is, oh my God, january 12th.
- 14:29Carmen Lezeth: I just said that, though that doesn't count.
- 14:31Cynthia Ruiz: I always send you a card.
- 14:32Cynthia Ruiz: I'm still waiting for my card.
- 14:41Carmen Lezeth: Okay, look it.
- 14:42Carmen Lezeth: There are a lot of things that are great about me, but the things that suck about me I am honest about.
- 14:49Carmen Lezeth: I don't care about anyone else's birthday but my own.
- 14:52Carmen Lezeth: I don't care, I don't care, I don't care.
- 14:56Cynthia Ruiz: I have my daughter.
- 14:57Cynthia Ruiz: She's really not a bitch.
- 15:00Carmen Lezeth: I'm really not a bitch, but I don't know.
- 15:00Carmen Lezeth: I really love my birthday, my birthday.
- 15:01Carmen Lezeth: I'm really not a bitch, but I don't know.
- 15:02Carmen Lezeth: I really love my birthday, my birthday.
- 15:04Carmen Lezeth: It's not about me, it's my holiday and you know what?
- 15:07Carmen Lezeth: It didn't get celebrated when I was a kid.
- 15:09Carmen Lezeth: So I have taken ownership of that personal holiday and I wish everyone would do that.
- 15:14Carmen Lezeth: I wish everybody would be excited about their birthdays and do something amazing and great and fabulous.
- 15:19Carmen Lezeth: But yeah, and I also have just never had the best memory.
- 15:25Rick Costa: So I do know my goddaughter's birthday, but other than that you never had any kind of birthday party when you were little.
- 15:34Carmen Lezeth: You don't remember.
- 15:36Carmen Lezeth: I do not remember celebrating my birthday like a party, like they do now.
- 15:41Carmen Lezeth: Hail to them.
- 15:42Rick Costa: No, not like now, not even now.
- 15:44Carmen Lezeth: I don't remember my mother celebrating my birthday, but I don't remember a lot about my mother, so that's not cool.
- 15:49Carmen Lezeth: But I don't even remember later on celebrating my birthday, because who was going to celebrate it with me?
- 15:56Carmen Lezeth: Cynthia, do you remember the big party you came to for my birthday?
- 15:59Carmen Lezeth: I know I know there was one, right, anthony just said my first job was at Wendy's Hamburgers when I was 17.
- 16:08Carmen Lezeth: I couldn't eat there for about three years.
- 16:10Carmen Lezeth: That's a good point.
- 16:13Carmen Lezeth: That's a great point.
- 16:14Carmen Lezeth: Here's the thing too, Rick.
- 16:16Carmen Lezeth: I'll just say this not to get sad or anything, but the reason why I love my birthday is I remember begging God to just let me live through whatever drama I thought I was going through and be like, please, god, if you let me make it to my next birthday, I promise I'll do A, b, c and D, like I would do these betting things with God.
- 16:35Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean.
- 16:36Carmen Lezeth: And I just remember getting to the following year and being like, oh my God, I made it another year.
- 16:42Carmen Lezeth: So for me and in a way it was a cool thing, because I love getting to my birthday, because it means I made it another year, not in a tragic way now, but oh my God, yes, and I think when I outlived my mom, that's when I realized okay, now I'm on my own.
- 17:00Carmen Lezeth: That's all I wanted was to live longer than my mom did.
- 17:03Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean?
- 17:04Carmen Lezeth: Her age, which was 49, everyone.
- 17:08Carmen Lezeth: So clearly I'm over 49.
- 17:09Carmen Lezeth: Barely yeah, well, no, no, no.
- 17:14Carmen Lezeth: But I mean she was 49.
- 17:15Carmen Lezeth: She was so young when she died, really, and then I remember being like I know I might die when I'm 49.
- 17:21Carmen Lezeth: I remember having these conversations with God as a kid.
- 17:25Carmen Lezeth: So I think that's why I'm so obsessed with my birthday.
- 17:28Carmen Lezeth: Go ahead, cynthia.
- 17:30Cynthia Ruiz: I was just going to say it's amazing because I think the exact same way, because my mom died at 45, two months before she turned 46.
- 17:42Cynthia Ruiz: And I'll be 46 in March.
- 17:44Cynthia Ruiz: So I just keep thinking about that, like even when my siblings were passing 46, I was like, okay, they all made it, now it's my turn.
- 17:53Carmen Lezeth: It's weird that we put that arbitrary, weird thing.
- 17:55Carmen Lezeth: But God, I didn't realize your mom was so young, hi.
- 18:00Alma Dawson: Alma.
- 18:02Carmen Lezeth: Wow.
- 18:02Carmen Lezeth: So my feelings won't be hurt when I don't hear from you.
- 18:05Carmen Lezeth: Look, if I have it on my calendar and I'm not sure if I have yours in my calendar, but if I have it on my calendar, I do my best.
- 18:14Carmen Lezeth: I get little pop-ups.
- 18:15Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, I'm, I don't know.
- 18:18Carmen Lezeth: Here's the other thing too.
- 18:19Carmen Lezeth: I remember like I would say happy birthday to people and they'd be like oh yeah, thank you.
- 18:24Carmen Lezeth: I would say happy birthday to people and they'd be like, oh yeah, thank you, don't ask me.
- 18:26Carmen Lezeth: It'd be like what the fuck?
- 18:28Carmen Lezeth: That's depressing, you know what I mean.
- 18:30Carmen Lezeth: People get so weird about it.
- 18:32Carmen Lezeth: Okay, but let me tell you why it's so important.
- 18:34Carmen Lezeth: November 1st is 80 days to my birthday, january 12th.
- 18:38Carmen Lezeth: I need to ask you guys to help me with my fitness challenge.
- 18:46Carmen Lezeth: I'm going to meet with you guys every week.
- 18:48Carmen Lezeth: As I do it, I want to give you my update on my fitness challenge because I am tired of not being fit again.
- 18:59Carmen Lezeth: Is that okay?
- 19:01Carmen Lezeth: If I do that with you guys?
- 19:02Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, okay, I would encourage anybody who's listening who may want to participate in this.
- 19:09Carmen Lezeth: There's not going to be any rules.
- 19:10Carmen Lezeth: You don't have to check in or whatever, but just do something more than what you're doing now every day.
- 19:17Carmen Lezeth: So here's one thing I implemented this past week no, on last Friday is every day at five o'clock, I have to already be ready to eat dinner and then, after dinner, walk around the block, which is about 15 minutes here it's not, it's a 15 minute walk after dinner, and I was like, oh my God, like that's that has changed so much for me just by doing that.
- 19:42Carmen Lezeth: Alma just said I celebrate the whole month of February.
- 19:45Carmen Lezeth: I love celebrating, so you know what I used to do.
- 19:48Carmen Lezeth: That too, when my friends actually lived near me but they conveniently all moved.
- 19:52Carmen Lezeth: I used to go out every single day with one of my friends, whether it be lunch or dinner or whatever.
- 19:57Carmen Lezeth: And now none of them live near me, which says something oh did I not see you, mario?
- 20:04Carmen Lezeth: Wait a minute, I can't get you here.
- 20:07Carmen Lezeth: Mario's here.
- 20:08Carmen Lezeth: Have you been waiting this whole time?
- 20:13Rick Costa: No.
- 20:14Carmen Lezeth: Oh, you just came on, Okay cool.
- 20:15Carmen Lezeth: How are you doing?
- 20:17Maurio Dawson: Good, how are you?
- 20:19Carmen Lezeth: Good, you look great.
- 20:21Maurio Dawson: Thank you, I miss you.
- 20:23Maurio Dawson: I miss you, we miss you.
- 20:25Maurio Dawson: I miss y'all.
- 20:25Maurio Dawson: Too Good to see everyone.
- 20:28Maurio Dawson: Finally, you as well, okay.
- 20:31Alma Dawson: I'm here too, I'm just not camera ready.
- 20:34Rick Costa: Oh, my mama.
- 20:35Alma Dawson: My mama.
- 20:38Carmen Lezeth: Hey, so tell us about your favorite childhood memory.
- 20:40Carmen Lezeth: Do you got one?
- 20:41Carmen Lezeth: Do you got one?
- 20:43Maurio Dawson: Who me or Alma?
- 20:44Carmen Lezeth: Both of you.
- 20:46Maurio Dawson: Oh, good or bad, my favorite one was beating up a bully.
- 20:51Carmen Lezeth: Oh, I like that Really.
- 20:54Maurio Dawson: Were they bullying?
- 20:54Carmen Lezeth: you or somebody else?
- 20:56Maurio Dawson: They were trying to bully me and he was.
- 20:59Maurio Dawson: I won't say his name, but he used to try to beat me up and down the street.
- 21:03Maurio Dawson: And so finally he wanted to fight me in front of my house and my mom told me.
- 21:09Maurio Dawson: She said, if you let that boy beat you up in front of your house, she said I'm a whoop yo.
- 21:15Maurio Dawson: And so then I got the strength of Superman, I got a wood plank off the fence, I swung it and knocked him out, and then I chased him down the fence.
- 21:25Maurio Dawson: I swung it and knocked him out, and then I chased him down the street, and then I continued to whoop him in front of his house.
- 21:31Maurio Dawson: I remember his mama coming out, Leave my baby alone.
- 21:36Maurio Dawson: I said he was messing with me first.
- 21:38Maurio Dawson: So yeah, that was the first thing that came to my mind.
- 21:43Cynthia Ruiz: Oh that's a good one.
- 21:45Maurio Dawson: I believe it.
- 21:47Carmen Lezeth: So, it's wrong, but it's good.
- 21:51Maurio Dawson: It was, as the kids say, I was standing on business.
- 21:56Rick Costa: Who did Alma beat up?
- 21:59Maurio Dawson: She used to beat up her brother all the time.
- 22:01Alma Dawson: Actually, my brother used to get bullied a lot.
- 22:05Alma Dawson: I was like the enforcer.
- 22:07Alma Dawson: He would wait for me, I would go to recess before him.
- 22:11Alma Dawson: Then I would leave and say I need to go to the restroom.
- 22:14Alma Dawson: Then I would go find him and he'd tell me who was bothering him.
- 22:18Alma Dawson: Then I would go beat those kids up and then go back to class.
- 22:21Maurio Dawson: Yeah, I beat up many a kid back to class.
- 22:24Maurio Dawson: Yeah, you know what's funny.
- 22:25Alma Dawson: I beat up many a kid after school in the backyard.
- 22:29Alma Dawson: You have a back area always at the school.
- 22:32Alma Dawson: Yeah, I beat plenty of kids up.
- 22:38Carmen Lezeth: Alma was the bully.
- 22:39Carmen Lezeth: Is that what I'm?
- 22:40Maurio Dawson: hearing she was the enforcer.
- 22:42Alma Dawson: I wouldn't seek it out.
- 22:43Alma Dawson: But if they were bothering my brother, I was like, well you know, my job was to take care of him because I was older.
- 22:49Alma Dawson: No, no, no, you bullied your brother, stop telling stories.
- 22:51Alma Dawson: Oh, I'm not mad at him for bullying him.
- 22:53Maurio Dawson: You put him inside the giant football.
- 22:55Maurio Dawson: It was back in the day that the football the little tykes.
- 22:59Alma Dawson: Remember those little tykes footballs that used to be a little, it was a toy chest.
- 23:03Maurio Dawson: And so you'd have to top off the football and you could put all your toys inside, because I had one.
- 23:07Maurio Dawson: She used to put her brother inside the.
- 23:09Alma Dawson: Take the toys out, put him in, sit on top of it and then roll it.
- 23:14Maurio Dawson: She was awful.
- 23:15Carmen Lezeth: Mom, mom, I remember your birthday, I promise when.
- 23:22Carmen Lezeth: Is it February 1?
- 23:23Carmen Lezeth: I remember her birthday, I promise when is it February 1?
- 23:27Carmen Lezeth: .
- 23:30Maurio Dawson: And then I just found out a story she told her mom when we were there.
- 23:32Maurio Dawson: Every time he was scared of earthquakes, so she would wake up in the middle of the night and shake his bed and he would jump up and run out the house.
- 23:40Cynthia Ruiz: Wow, damn.
- 23:47Alma Dawson: Well, that's just that would be my way of getting him back because you know he got bigger than me.
- 23:53Alma Dawson: So then he would hit me and it would hurt.
- 23:55Alma Dawson: So I had to get creative.
- 23:56Alma Dawson: So now are you guys close.
- 24:00Maurio Dawson: No, nope.
- 24:02Alma Dawson: Oh no, it's okay, I'm okay, I've made.
- 24:05Alma Dawson: It's okay, I'm okay, I've made my peace with it.
- 24:08Maurio Dawson: Yeah.
- 24:09Alma Dawson: I have, I believe in as I've gotten older.
- 24:13Alma Dawson: It's one of those things where you're Just because they're family doesn't mean that you have to keep accepting their toxic behavior.
- 24:22Alma Dawson: So I pray for them, I love them, but I can't keep subjecting myself to that behavior because I have to take care of my own health.
- 24:33Alma Dawson: So, you know, I just make sure that I have my parents are taken care of, that my family is taken care of, and I have a lot of chosen family who also chooses me, and that's the best thing.
- 24:46Maurio Dawson: That's the best thing so chosen family is actually the best family, yeah chosen family is yeah, because you choose each other facade of what family is anyways, and I look at I'm the wrong person to talk to because I have never believed.
- 24:59Carmen Lezeth: I know cynthia's like please let's not talk about this but I have never believed in DNA.
- 25:04Alma Dawson: I don't care if we grew up together and you know what you know what the Hispanic or Latin culture is very toxic in that way where it's like, oh, but that's your, that's your mom, or that's your dad, or that's your tia, that's your cousin, that's your mom, or that's your dad, or that's your tia, that's your cousin, that's your family.
- 25:22Alma Dawson: You have to forgive them and it's yes, I do, I do, and you know what the Bible says yes, I do have to forgive them, but I don't have to keep being in their presence.
- 25:34Alma Dawson: Yeah, true.
- 25:39Maurio Dawson: So she's talking right Right.
- 25:42Alma Dawson: So the forgiveness is there, because the forgiveness is for me, nothing.
- 25:46Alma Dawson: It's like me continuing to drink poison and expecting something to happen to them that's not going to happen.
- 25:52Alma Dawson: Okay.
- 25:53Carmen Lezeth: So here's my thing, just because, for people who are not biblical or religious or whatever, like myself, I went to 12 years of Catholic school, so I get it my thing about.
- 26:03Carmen Lezeth: Some of these things about forgiveness are things that we keep hearing over and over again, and it really is hard sometimes to just let it go and forgive.
- 26:12Carmen Lezeth: And it's for me, I'm fine, I'm happy for them.
- 26:15Carmen Lezeth: But forgiveness to me is I'm going to forgive you, I'm going to let you say sorry to me and I'm going to let you back into my life.
- 26:23Carmen Lezeth: To me, that's what real forgiveness is, and I will not do that.
- 26:27Carmen Lezeth: Those people are toxic.
- 26:28Carmen Lezeth: Do I wish them well?
- 26:30Carmen Lezeth: Do I think the best of them?
- 26:32Carmen Lezeth: Do I want them to have a wonderful, beautiful life?
- 26:34Carmen Lezeth: Of course, but I told them I am a better person without any of you in my life than when I'm by myself.
- 26:42Carmen Lezeth: So I need to walk away from this.
- 26:44Carmen Lezeth: We have tried this.
- 26:45Carmen Lezeth: It is not working.
- 26:46Carmen Lezeth: I don't care if my mother in her grave is upset about it.
- 26:49Carmen Lezeth: I have to move on and it's the best thing I've ever done for myself and for them, but I have not forgiven them for what happened to me.
- 26:56Carmen Lezeth: I know in my heart.
- 26:58Carmen Lezeth: I'm not angry with them about it, but forgiveness to me, for me not biblical or whatever for me the true definition of forgiveness is allowing, like actually accepting a sorry, and allowing people forgive them and let them go right.
- 27:15Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean?
- 27:15Carmen Lezeth: It isn't this weird thing where it's like, oh no, but they're great and what?
- 27:19Carmen Lezeth: No, I just have nothing to do with them, I just have nothing to do with them.
- 27:24Maurio Dawson: I just have nothing.
- 27:24Maurio Dawson: You know I disagree.
- 27:25Maurio Dawson: I hear what you're saying, but I think my definition is a little bit different than yours, only because it's not even religious or a religious feeling.
- 27:36Maurio Dawson: What it is for me is boundaries, and the thing is you can love someone from afar.
- 27:42Maurio Dawson: That does not mean they have to be directly in your life, because for me, I came up with a lot of abuse and trauma within my family from a person.
- 27:53Maurio Dawson: Now I've come to the point to realize that the damage they were putting on me was not because of me.
- 28:00Maurio Dawson: It was because of their own damage.
- 28:06Carmen Lezeth: But it took me a while to understand that.
- 28:07Carmen Lezeth: So now I'm how can you love people who hurt you?
- 28:10Maurio Dawson: I love them in a sense of I want no harm for them.
- 28:14Maurio Dawson: I want them to find their own joy and their own peace and their own happiness, but you don't have to do it around me.
- 28:21Carmen Lezeth: But don't you want that for most people?
- 28:24Maurio Dawson: I want that for every person, but that doesn't mean I have to have them in my life.
- 28:28Carmen Lezeth: So for me, I do not love people who put me in harm's way and made my life more difficult.
- 28:34Cynthia Ruiz: I don't hate them.
- 28:35Carmen Lezeth: I don't wish them ill will, but for me this thing about so this is the problem with the whole definition of family.
- 28:44Carmen Lezeth: Family means you must love people.
- 28:48Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean?
- 28:49Carmen Lezeth: No, it doesn't.
- 28:49Maurio Dawson: That's not true.
- 28:50Maurio Dawson: I don't have to love you, I don't have to love you.
- 28:52Maurio Dawson: I disagree with that.
- 28:53Maurio Dawson: I mean family has-.
- 28:55Carmen Lezeth: You can disagree with it, but that's what we do when we say family.
- 28:59Maurio Dawson: No, no.
- 28:59Maurio Dawson: Family has many definitions, because that's what we say.
- 29:01Maurio Dawson: We have our chosen family and we have our DNA family, because chosen family can be anyone.
- 29:05Maurio Dawson: Chosen family could be you, it could be Cynthia, it could be Rick.
- 29:12Maurio Dawson: Chosen family are people we choose to have close to us in our lives and be friends, and that's a form of family.
- 29:15Maurio Dawson: That's just like when Marissa sees some of my best friends and she says Auntie Sonzo, orso, it's because they've had more of an active relationship in their life, in her life, than actual blood family.
- 29:27Carmen Lezeth: And you're preaching to the choir.
- 29:28Carmen Lezeth: I got you Right.
- 29:31Maurio Dawson: But what I'm just saying is for me, forgiveness is forgiveness.
- 29:34Maurio Dawson: You can be over there and I wish you well and I don't have any hate for you.
- 29:38Maurio Dawson: So hate for me because I can hold on to stuff like that.
- 29:41Maurio Dawson: So for me, because I can hold on to stuff like that, so for me to release it and let you go, that means I've actually forgiven you in some on some shape or form.
- 29:47Carmen Lezeth: I think we just have a different definition of forgiveness and love, yeah, completely Melanie said you can forgive someone and still not have anything to do with them.
- 29:55Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, and I think the qualifier and Cynthia and Rick, I'm going to let you guys talk I think the qualifier here for me is what I get upset about is all of these life coaches and gurus.
- 30:06Carmen Lezeth: We have so many sayings that we just accept but we do not understand them for ourselves and it just creates more pain for people.
- 30:14Carmen Lezeth: For example, what does it actually mean to just let it go?
- 30:18Carmen Lezeth: What does it actually mean, like letting it go is not an easy thing to do.
- 30:24Carmen Lezeth: No, Let what go, let what go.
- 30:28Maurio Dawson: Let your pain go, let your pain in that situation go.
- 30:33Carmen Lezeth: But is that, but is it?
- 30:34Carmen Lezeth: There is no pain for me in that situation.
- 30:38Maurio Dawson: Then you let it go.
- 30:40Carmen Lezeth: But this is what I'm trying to say, Mariel when we tell sayings to each other, when we just use these verbiages that people throw out there all the time, we don't have any action plans to what that actually means, and so it makes people think that they're doing something when they're not, and they're still holding pain.
- 30:58Maurio Dawson: No, I get that.
- 30:59Carmen Lezeth: My mother's other children, who are not in my book, are not in my life.
- 31:03Carmen Lezeth: I don't talk to their children whatever.
- 31:05Carmen Lezeth: I don't have any ill will to them, but I knew that what we were trying to do was not working.
- 31:12Carmen Lezeth: And I'm in the same boat with you After everything had happened and I finally found my way to college and moved to California.
- 31:20Carmen Lezeth: There was trying to be this reconciliation and we tried it and I was like you know what, Can't do it.
- 31:27Maurio Dawson: Hello, you and I are the same.
- 31:29Maurio Dawson: Pick me.
- 31:31Maurio Dawson: Pick me Because I have two siblings that I did not grow up with, I did not talk to.
- 31:35Maurio Dawson: They tried to have a relationship with me.
- 31:37Maurio Dawson: It did not work and I'm fine with you being over there because we never.
- 31:43Maurio Dawson: We didn't grow up together.
- 31:44Maurio Dawson: We did live completely different lifestyles and, without saying too much, it just didn't work.
- 31:51Maurio Dawson: So therefore, I leave you over there.
- 31:54Maurio Dawson: I wish you well.
- 31:55Maurio Dawson: I have a sibling who was telling a friend that they were upset that they never met their niece that's on purpose, because you're not serving a purpose in her life.
- 32:05Maurio Dawson: So so no, sorry there you go.
- 32:08Carmen Lezeth: Melanie just said forgiveness is more for your peace.
- 32:10Carmen Lezeth: Again, melanie, I don't disagree, but I think it's also one of those things we keep telling ourselves but we don't actually.
- 32:17Carmen Lezeth: I have a lot of people say they have forgiven people and they have so much resentment in their heart.
- 32:22Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, that's, true you have to really understand what forgiveness means for you.
- 32:28Carmen Lezeth: What is the action plan in your system, in your body, in your being that actually means you've actually forgiven someone?
- 32:37Carmen Lezeth: I think for me.
- 32:39Carmen Lezeth: I'm sorry Cynthia and Rick speak because we're Go ahead.
- 32:45Alma Dawson: Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.
- 32:51Alma Dawson: I think, for I don't.
- 32:51Alma Dawson: I think one of the things also that is a misconception is that forgiven forgiveness is just like instantaneous, and it is definitely a process and like when I say I've forgiven someone, I literally forgive some of the same people every single day, because sometimes something will come up that will trigger a memory or a feeling and I actively have to say, lord, help me to forgive them.
- 33:11Alma Dawson: So it's a it's, it's really is an action word forgiveness, and it's something that you do have to work on.
- 33:17Alma Dawson: So I totally understand what you're saying, carmen.
- 33:20Alma Dawson: Like we say we have these things and we have these things, that we say these one-liners for forgiveness.
- 33:25Alma Dawson: But it truly is a process and it is them.
- 33:28Alma Dawson: Or you see a picture, or you hear something that happened to them, or that someone saw them, and then immediately some of those things will crop up again and so you have to start the process of forgiveness all over again.
- 33:54Carmen Lezeth: And you'll know it's done when it doesn't affect you at all.
- 33:59Carmen Lezeth: Exactly, exactly.
- 34:01Alma Dawson: That's when you truly know it's okay, I'm done.
- 34:03Alma Dawson: If I see them tomorrow, I can be cordial and be like hey, but I'm not loving them back in my life.
- 34:12Rick Costa: Last time we talked about this, last time we talked about this, I think I said the same thing.
- 34:15Rick Costa: Are you forgiving them when you could be in the same room with them and not get anxious and freak out?
- 34:20Carmen Lezeth: Yep, and I probably will never be in the same room with them, but I had a funeral.
- 34:25Carmen Lezeth: I was and cynthia remembers that we talked about that I had.
- 34:29Carmen Lezeth: I went to a funeral and they all showed up and cynthia noticed my whole walk change.
- 34:34Cynthia Ruiz: I was walking down the aisle all like badass and he was strutting down the aisle.
- 34:38Cynthia Ruiz: The minute they walked in it was like she was stopped right there and it was like she just stopped right there.
- 34:44Carmen Lezeth: It was like the whole group at one time and I was just in my feels because of that.
- 34:49Carmen Lezeth: It was my soma, I remember.
- 34:50Carmen Lezeth: Go ahead, cynthia.
- 34:51Carmen Lezeth: What's?
- 34:52Cynthia Ruiz: your take on it.
- 34:53Cynthia Ruiz: I think it is different for everyone.
- 34:54Cynthia Ruiz: Everyone does translate forgiveness differently.
- 34:58Cynthia Ruiz: Carmen, you definitely have your own way of dealing with things, but for the most part I think everybody kind of sees forgiveness as what Melanie said and what Alma said.
- 35:09Cynthia Ruiz: You know, it's kind of it's for you, it's your healing.
- 35:13Cynthia Ruiz: It's not necessarily like for the other person.
- 35:17Cynthia Ruiz: You wish them well, you can love them from afar, they don't have to be in your life but it's more of your healing, rick yeah, and what I'm saying too.
- 35:30Rick Costa: You know that it's a process.
- 35:31Rick Costa: It's not a light switch like it's a process.
- 35:34Rick Costa: It takes a while, like when I was trying to forgive my dad.
- 35:37Rick Costa: It wasn't days, weeks, months, it was years, um, before I could feel okay with him around me because he just did horrible things to me.
- 35:46Rick Costa: So I was like, wow, and you can't, you know, and we've talked about this too before there's no forgetting that stupid thing.
- 35:52Rick Costa: Forgive and forget.
- 35:52Rick Costa: You can't forget, you can't scrub your brain from a memory.
- 35:55Rick Costa: It's there.
- 35:55Rick Costa: You know what happened to you.
- 36:10Carmen Lezeth: If you can just I don't know just be.
- 36:11Carmen Lezeth: I feel like if you keep holding that on, you're just it's being toxic to your soul, kind of it could be.
- 36:13Carmen Lezeth: But this is again, I'm just going to.
- 36:14Carmen Lezeth: I'm not trying to be devil's advocate, I just it is the things that bother me so much that I know right me so much that I know right.
- 36:26Carmen Lezeth: It's mostly these life coaches, people who are making thousands and thousands of dollars doing these speeches and they're all saying the same crap over and over again and it doesn't help anyone, of course.
- 36:31Carmen Lezeth: They're selling millions of books and doing all these things and it's so.
- 36:34Carmen Lezeth: I like this whole thing about forgiveness is for you, it's not for them.
- 36:38Carmen Lezeth: Okay, to me that's two different kinds of forgiveness.
- 36:40Carmen Lezeth: You always have to be able to say to yourself okay, these people did this to me or I reacted this way to these people.
- 36:48Carmen Lezeth: I did the best I could with what I had in front of me.
- 36:51Carmen Lezeth: I forgive myself for whatever mistake I made.
- 36:54Carmen Lezeth: That still has nothing to do with the relationship you had with those other people, and all I'm asking.
- 36:59Carmen Lezeth: All I'm asking is to think about that, because I think that's a lot of the trauma.
- 37:04Carmen Lezeth: It makes it hard for people to walk away from people.
- 37:06Carmen Lezeth: People always ask me why is it so easy easy, I'm doing quotes for me to walk away from people, to tell people you're a fucking asshole, I'm out of your life, I'm done.
- 37:15Carmen Lezeth: And the reason why is because, in my experience, it does nothing for me to see what I see in front of me, not make an evaluation and not protect myself immediately.
- 37:26Carmen Lezeth: I've been doing this for too long.
- 37:28Maurio Dawson: Go ahead, mario you don't have to raise your motherfucking hand, bitch.
- 37:31Maurio Dawson: No, I was saying that was me, because I do the same thing.
- 37:35Maurio Dawson: I have a limit and then once I hit that limit or hit that wall, you're done.
- 37:40Maurio Dawson: It's no more conversations, it's no, we can't come back from this.
- 37:44Maurio Dawson: No, I'm done.
- 37:46Maurio Dawson: I'm radio silent.
- 37:47Maurio Dawson: Miss me, block me.
- 37:48Maurio Dawson: You're blocked, you're blessed, move on.
- 37:51Maurio Dawson: Oh, blessed.
- 37:52Alma Dawson: I love that and I'm the opposite oh.
- 37:57Maurio Dawson: And I'm the opposite.
- 37:58Carmen Lezeth: What does that mean I?
- 37:59Alma Dawson: try to believe that people are inherently good and that they don't mean to harm me, and so I continue to lead with love.
- 38:11Alma Dawson: But then, like I said, as I've gotten older, maybe I don't go back 10 times, maybe I just go back two times and then I'm done.
- 38:25Carmen Lezeth: But I think everybody has a different style.
- 38:26Carmen Lezeth: And look at, I told Rick before and I think I've talked to Cynthia about it.
- 38:29Carmen Lezeth: I think, rick, you and I had this conversation recently.
- 38:31Carmen Lezeth: I'm not saying my way is the right way and I think one of the bad parts about me is I cut off people real quick.
- 38:39Carmen Lezeth: You don't really get second and third chances.
- 38:41Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean.
- 38:42Carmen Lezeth: Like after you're third out with me, I'm done.
- 38:44Carmen Lezeth: And it's a really quick shut off switch.
- 38:48Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean.
- 38:48Carmen Lezeth: It's like a light switch it just turns off and I'm cold and mean and I have had people Alden.
- 38:57Alma Dawson: I live with someone like you.
- 39:00Carmen Lezeth: So people will.
- 39:01Carmen Lezeth: I've had people who've been like Carmen, we have to have a conversation.
- 39:06Carmen Lezeth: I just said Alden's name because he did this recently.
- 39:09Carmen Lezeth: We're going to talk, I'm like, we're going to talk, I don't care, but I'm mad at you.
- 39:13Carmen Lezeth: But he went that extra mile to make sure we had this conversation so we could try to keep our relationship, because he knew I was pissed and I was done, still mad at him, but I love him, so he gonna be back in.
- 39:24Carmen Lezeth: But I think it also depends on who we're talking about.
- 39:26Carmen Lezeth: So when I love like if Cynthia fucked me over and got me pissed off, she gets a lot more leeway than, let's say, rick no, I'm just kidding.
- 39:34Carmen Lezeth: I'm just kidding, but I think that's also part of it too.
- 39:39Carmen Lezeth: Like but I think that's also part of it too.
- 39:40Carmen Lezeth: Like, every relationship is very different and intricate and there are nuances to everything.
- 39:44Carmen Lezeth: So you have to take it.
- 39:45Carmen Lezeth: But I'm just tired of people saying verbiage, all these lines we've grown up with let go and let God.
- 39:53Carmen Lezeth: That's a very AA thing.
- 39:54Carmen Lezeth: I grew up in AA and as much as I, that was my mantra.
- 39:59Carmen Lezeth: Girl, I'm just going to let it go and let God.
- 40:01Carmen Lezeth: And I'd be like God, where are'm just gonna let it go?
- 40:04Carmen Lezeth: And let god, and I'd be like god, where are you?
- 40:06Carmen Lezeth: I let this go.
- 40:07Carmen Lezeth: You didn't fix it.
- 40:07Carmen Lezeth: It's so annoying and all of these things would get me mad because at some point they just become verbiage as opposed to what do they really mean to me?
- 40:17Cynthia Ruiz: what does it?
- 40:18Carmen Lezeth: mean to let something go or to for.
- 40:21Rick Costa: I think a distinction too with you specifically, Carmen, is when you cut people off, the purpose is because I want to punish you.
- 40:30Rick Costa: No, the purpose is I'm protecting me.
- 40:33Carmen Lezeth: Oh, thank you, yes.
- 40:36Maurio Dawson: That's true.
- 40:36Carmen Lezeth: Say that again for the people in the back.
- 40:38Carmen Lezeth: Go ahead, Rick.
- 40:39Rick Costa: For the people on the short bus.
- 40:40Rick Costa: Yes, I'm not trying to punish you.
- 40:42Rick Costa: I'm protecting me, and that's how I am it's truly true.
- 40:48Carmen Lezeth: I've never even thought about that, but that is.
- 40:50Carmen Lezeth: I am never.
- 40:51Carmen Lezeth: If anything, I just think we're not a mix.
- 40:54Carmen Lezeth: I'm letting you go because I know this is not working, and the other thing I do that a lot of people don't do and I'm not telling anyone to do this is I let you know exactly why I'm letting you go.
- 41:04Carmen Lezeth: You're not going to be confused.
- 41:05Carmen Lezeth: I don't just stop talking to you.
- 41:07Carmen Lezeth: You will know why it is over.
- 41:10Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean.
- 41:11Cynthia Ruiz: You will never have to wonder.
- 41:13Carmen Lezeth: You'll never have to wonder.
- 41:14Carmen Lezeth: You may not like it, you may not agree, it doesn't matter, but it really is about protecting my space.
- 41:18Carmen Lezeth: Thank you, for sharing.
- 41:20Maurio Dawson: Yeah for sure.
- 41:22Maurio Dawson: Yeah, I had someone who was on our lives for a long time and they decided they wanted to lie and manipulate a situation.
- 41:30Maurio Dawson: So finally I had enough and I just said, okay, I'm done.
- 41:33Maurio Dawson: And I told them in those words I said I'm done.
- 41:36Maurio Dawson: And then they wanted to come back and expound and give me this long soliloquy about how they're feeling.
- 41:41Maurio Dawson: I said you know what?
- 41:42Maurio Dawson: I'm glad you do, you feel better, I'm glad you were able to express and get everything you need out.
- 41:50Maurio Dawson: You take care, and that's all I said.
- 41:52Maurio Dawson: And I said you take care.
- 41:53Maurio Dawson: And then after that, I blocked them.
- 41:55Maurio Dawson: And then, so you know, their friends, you know, still associate with my mom.
- 41:59Maurio Dawson: And so my mom said, well, you know so-and-so, said you know they cut people off, but the one person they've always regretted, you know, having a relationship with is you.
- 42:09Maurio Dawson: I said yeah, that's their loss, not mine.
- 42:12Maurio Dawson: I said I'm okay.
- 42:13Maurio Dawson: And she was like you really are okay.
- 42:17Maurio Dawson: I said I'm okay, I'm like I really am.
- 42:19Maurio Dawson: Boundaries are important to me.
- 42:21Maurio Dawson: Hey, I'm like.
- 42:22Carmen Lezeth: I really am.
- 42:23Carmen Lezeth: Boundaries are important to me.
- 42:24Carmen Lezeth: It's also because you have a lot of self-esteem and you know that you are okay because you have other friends or you have other people to go to, or you have Alma or you have.
- 42:31Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean.
- 42:32Carmen Lezeth: Like you know.
- 42:32Cynthia Ruiz: I'm good.
- 42:33Carmen Lezeth: That takes a big part of it too, because not everyone is like you and me where we are.
- 42:38Carmen Lezeth: I'd rather be by myself on my couch watching a rerun of Stargate SG-1 than hanging out with other people.
- 42:47Maurio Dawson: I can't stand.
- 42:47Maurio Dawson: You know what I mean?
- 42:48Alma Dawson: or watch 9-1-1 so the one thing with Mario that I have to say that I really admire about him is that he's very I think the word I want to use is like very honorable.
- 43:05Alma Dawson: Even I'm looking weird.
- 43:07Maurio Dawson: No, I appreciate that no, and he really leads with that, with his friendships.
- 43:16Alma Dawson: So when he feels wronged or he feels like something wasn't done correctly, he will try to address it in a way that is respectful and in a way where everyone can be heard.
- 43:29Alma Dawson: But then, when the other party doesn't take, I'll say, responsibility for their part in whatever the situation was, that's when he gets his backup and that's when everything starts going downhill.
- 43:46Maurio Dawson: Yeah, Cause I'm like let's take accountability.
- 43:49Alma Dawson: That's the word I wanted to to use.
- 43:51Alma Dawson: Take accountability, I'll take accountability for my part for whatever I did that maybe led you to believe that you could do this to me or say this about me or whatever.
- 44:03Alma Dawson: Now that I'm bringing it to your attention, take accountability for it and then we can salvage what we need to salvage and move on.
- 44:10Alma Dawson: But when that doesn't happen, then he's okay.
- 44:12Alma Dawson: I heard what you had to say, I said what I needed to say, we're done and I'm all for this is why I'm saying this again.
- 44:20Carmen Lezeth: This is my thing If I forgive someone.
- 44:22Carmen Lezeth: So let's say, we have that same person in front of me and I'm hearing them out and I'm going to, I am going to forgive them.
- 44:30Carmen Lezeth: For me, forgiveness means I can allow that person back in, even if it's not the same level, but I'm not going to be like banishing them forever.
- 44:39Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean.
- 44:40Carmen Lezeth: So that's what I mean Like.
- 44:41Carmen Lezeth: Forgiveness to me is an ability to hear someone say they're sorry or hear someone take accountability I love that word for whatever they did, people who hurt whoever me or a child or whatever the trauma is to me.
- 44:56Carmen Lezeth: This again is my perspective.
- 44:58Carmen Lezeth: I don't have to forgive them.
- 45:00Carmen Lezeth: That's between them and their God and whatever they believe in God don't have to forgive them.
- 45:04Carmen Lezeth: I just need toxicity to be at bay to the best of my ability all the time.
- 45:12Carmen Lezeth: So, forgiveness is not my thing to give them.
- 45:15Carmen Lezeth: I didn't do nothing.
- 45:17Carmen Lezeth: I was a child.
- 45:18Carmen Lezeth: I don't need to forgive myself.
- 45:21Carmen Lezeth: I'm not mocking anybody else.
- 45:22Carmen Lezeth: I'm just saying I've really thought about this so much in my just living because you know you want to always be doing self-analysis and I think what I'm just want to stress to everyone, the reason why we're talking about this, is I want people to really start thinking about some of the kind of quotes we say to ourselves, the isms we repeat to ourselves, and really think them through, because I think it really helps if you know what it means to you to let it go or to forgive or whatever the verbiage words are that we use on a deal.
- 45:56Carmen Lezeth: What?
- 45:59Maurio Dawson: she said choose joy.
- 46:00Carmen Lezeth: Choose joy.
- 46:01Carmen Lezeth: Oh, go ahead.
- 46:02Carmen Lezeth: All right, I do want to wait.
- 46:06Carmen Lezeth: Does anybody else want to say anything on this?
- 46:09Rick Costa: Yeah, real quick.
- 46:09Rick Costa: One thing that's baffled me is, let's say, you had a huge blowout with somebody and both of you are like you know what?
- 46:15Rick Costa: I ain't talking to you again, that's it, just you know.
- 46:19Rick Costa: God bless you, bye-bye, see you.
- 46:20Rick Costa: That's it, just you know.
- 46:21Rick Costa: God bless you, bye-bye, see ya.
- 46:21Rick Costa: And then, a couple months later, they hit you up like nothing happened.
- 46:24Rick Costa: I'm like oh, no, no, no did we forget what we said before?
- 46:29Rick Costa: What do you mean?
- 46:30Rick Costa: Come up to me like nothing happened I.
- 46:33Carmen Lezeth: I think something that's interesting and also it's happened with you not me and you, but I know some of the things you and I have struggled with, especially from haps days or whatever is this idea that people have all this revenge stuff so you cut people out of your life and then they're like revengeful about it and it's like baby, I thought you didn't like me.
- 46:51Carmen Lezeth: I thought you said you hated me.
- 46:53Carmen Lezeth: I thought you.
- 46:53Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean.
- 46:54Carmen Lezeth: Like I thought you agreed, I thought we agreed.
- 46:57Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean.
- 46:58Carmen Lezeth: Like why are you stalker qualities there?
- 47:06Carmen Lezeth: You go stalker qualities for sure, random, right, but it's because you know why they're doing it right, because they do care about you, they do miss you, they are very jealous of you, they want what they.
- 47:15Rick Costa: They didn't respect what they had before and now they know it's gone yeah, yep, exactly Miss the good times which now they're not going to get back.
- 47:25Maurio Dawson: That's exactly where I was talking about that one friend.
- 47:27Maurio Dawson: I was telling you about that I cut off.
- 47:29Maurio Dawson: They still talk to my mom.
- 47:30Maurio Dawson: That's the exact same thing.
- 47:33Maurio Dawson: He realizes now the quality of friend that I've always been.
- 47:37Maurio Dawson: Because one thing I am true to my friends and I stand ten toes for all of my friends.
- 47:43Maurio Dawson: If you need me, if I can do it, I'm gonna show up.
- 47:45Maurio Dawson: If you need a shoulder to cry on, I'm there.
- 47:49Maurio Dawson: If you want to call me and vent about something, I'm gonna pick up the phone.
- 47:54Maurio Dawson: If I, if it's within my means, I'm that friend, I'm going to show up for you.
- 47:59Maurio Dawson: If your kids are doing something and you need some support, call me, I'm there.
- 48:01Maurio Dawson: I'm going to show up for you.
- 48:01Maurio Dawson: If your kids are doing something and you need some support, call me, I'm there, I'm that friend.
- 48:05Maurio Dawson: So when you shit on me then I'm just like okay, thank you, I'm good.
- 48:12Maurio Dawson: God bless you.
- 48:14Carmen Lezeth: But that's the quality person that you are and that's what I meant by self-esteem before.
- 48:19Carmen Lezeth: It might not be the best word, but you don't need people who are crappy in your life, like none of us do.
- 48:26Carmen Lezeth: But so many people keep toxic people in their lives because they're afraid of not having people in their life.
- 48:32Carmen Lezeth: Right, afraid of not having people in their life.
- 48:33Carmen Lezeth: Right, you're a quality person, so you turn around and you're like I know my value yes, yes and then people call you every name in the book.
- 48:43Carmen Lezeth: That's how you know you're doing good, because they start calling you names and whatever.
- 48:47Carmen Lezeth: You know what I mean.
- 48:47Carmen Lezeth: It's okay, I don't know what wrote.
- 48:52Carmen Lezeth: I don't have the other chat up, so I'm just seeing.
- 48:55Carmen Lezeth: Can you guys see what he wrote on Facebook?
- 48:57Rick Costa: It takes a while.
- 48:57Rick Costa: I discovered this.
- 48:58Rick Costa: It takes a while.
- 48:59Rick Costa: The only way you can see it quicker is if you actually put it on the screen and for some reason, it shows up there.
- 49:03Rick Costa: It's the weirdest thing.
- 49:04Rick Costa: It'll eventually pop up.
- 49:05Carmen Lezeth: I have to put the other right there.
- 49:10Rick Costa: See, there it is.
- 49:12Carmen Lezeth: Okay, cool, okay, we see it now.
- 49:15Rick Costa: Cool, I got you Do you think this statement is true.
- 49:17Rick Costa: I love and respect myself too much to allow you to treat me like crap, mm-hmm.
- 49:23Carmen Lezeth: Sure Sure.
- 49:27Maurio Dawson: She's like sure, she's like sure.
- 49:29Carmen Lezeth: Well, because it's not the most eloquently written thing.
- 49:32Carmen Lezeth: It's not, it's fine.
- 49:34Carmen Lezeth: What do you want me to say?
- 49:37Maurio Dawson: You're supposed to say that's wonderful, that's deep, that's smooth.
- 49:40Carmen Lezeth: Where are you reading this from?
- 49:41Carmen Lezeth: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude.
- 49:44Rick Costa: No, I didn't read it, I just said it.
- 49:46Carmen Lezeth: Oh man, I'm sorry.
- 49:49Maurio Dawson: He tried to spit knowledge and you just meh.
- 49:51Carmen Lezeth: It's over.
- 49:52Carmen Lezeth: I put a boundary up, you're done.
- 49:59Maurio Dawson: It's a wrap.
- 50:00Carmen Lezeth: I thought he was reading something.
- 50:02Carmen Lezeth: Charlie, never take any shit from anyone, see, he just translated it Pretty much I still feel like I was a guy in a living color.
- 50:11Rick Costa: We need to philosophize.
- 50:16Carmen Lezeth: Circumstantial evidence Is that King and Ivory Wayans, or it's one of the wayans?
- 50:21Rick Costa: Yes, one of the wayans, yeah.
- 50:24Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, look, I just think.
- 50:25Carmen Lezeth: I think, especially now there's been this statistics Andrea and I were talking about it the other day where as we get older, we have less friends in our lives.
- 50:34Carmen Lezeth: We have less people.
- 50:35Carmen Lezeth: So when you're younger, you have all these friends.
- 50:37Carmen Lezeth: I guess, hi, but I think I forgot what I was saying because I was into seeing Charlie's face.
- 50:44Carmen Lezeth: I forgot what I was saying.
- 50:49Carmen Lezeth: I'm going to have to rewind.
- 50:52Rick Costa: Philosophize in the circumstance.
- 50:55Maurio Dawson: And the testify of the justify of the principalities of the situation.
- 51:02Carmen Lezeth: Okay, okay, I'll just start over.
- 51:04Carmen Lezeth: Here's what I think.
- 51:05Carmen Lezeth: I think you have to feel comfortable that when you let people go because this is why people keep toxic people in their lives because they're afraid of losing friends or not having enough people around but if you trust that, if you leave people alone, you're opening up an avenue for other people to come in.
- 51:22Carmen Lezeth: If you're spending all your time screaming and yelling or being upset or obsessing about someone, that's toxicity.
- 51:29Carmen Lezeth: That's toxicity and you're spending all this energy.
- 51:33Carmen Lezeth: But once but once, and that's how I knew it was a cool trick, not trick.
- 51:36Carmen Lezeth: But I realized when I started letting go of people, especially when I was dancing, people who were just cruel and mean to me because I was the only black latina, I was only.
- 51:45Carmen Lezeth: You know, whatever it is, I was poor, did whatever it is right, whatever names I was called, whatever.
- 51:49Carmen Lezeth: When I started realizing fuck them, they're just jealous because I'm like the best one here, whatever I was, like, I'm alone, I'm gonna be by myself, whatever.
- 51:57Carmen Lezeth: I just started doing all this ego, self-esteem stuff for myself as a kid.
- 52:01Carmen Lezeth: All of a sudden, other people walked in you know what I mean from other places and walked in and I was like, ah, that's the trick let bad stuff out so that there's an avenue for other stuff to come in.
- 52:16Maurio Dawson: Yeah, for sure.
- 52:18Carmen Lezeth: So can I get back to my fitness thing before we were interrupted by my friend Mario and Alma visiting.
- 52:23Carmen Lezeth: I appreciate you being here.
- 52:28Carmen Lezeth: I really do.
- 52:28Carmen Lezeth: I'm so glad that you're here.
- 52:29Carmen Lezeth: You look good.
- 52:32Maurio Dawson: I look good, I really do.
- 52:33Maurio Dawson: I'm so glad that you're here.
- 52:35Maurio Dawson: You look good, I look good, I look fly, catch my swag.
- 52:38Carmen Lezeth: Okay, November 1st, 80 days till January 12th I'm doing a fitness challenge and all I'm challenging people to do is to do something different or more than what you're doing now to get back on track.
- 52:51Carmen Lezeth: So, for example, I only like just normal walking.
- 52:57Carmen Lezeth: I do 5,000 steps, that's it Just normal going to work, coming back, whatever, but I'm up that to 10,000 steps.
- 53:03Carmen Lezeth: That's a big jump what?
- 53:06Maurio Dawson: That's a big jump.
- 53:07Maurio Dawson: It's really not, you want to ease it to eight and then get to 10?
- 53:12Maurio Dawson: .
- 53:12Carmen Lezeth: Would you Just support me?
- 53:14Carmen Lezeth: That's the goal.
- 53:15Carmen Lezeth: Why are you lowering the standard?
- 53:18Carmen Lezeth: No, I used to walk.
- 53:20Carmen Lezeth: I never even cared about my steps because I was walking and running and whatever.
- 53:24Carmen Lezeth: Now I'm all struggling to be on the bike.
- 53:27Carmen Lezeth: Oh, I do two weights and I'm dying.
- 53:30Alma Dawson: No, uh-uh.
- 53:31Carmen Lezeth: I need to be cute on my birthday.
- 53:33Carmen Lezeth: That's what I'm saying.
- 53:36Maurio Dawson: I need to be snatched.
- 53:38Carmen Lezeth: I need to be snatched, snatched.
- 53:46Cynthia Ruiz: I don't think that got going anywhere what we have to bling out your little wristband there.
- 53:53Carmen Lezeth: You know what so sad though.
- 53:54Carmen Lezeth: So the good news is.
- 53:58Alma Dawson: What?
- 53:58Alma Dawson: What happened?
- 54:00Alma Dawson: I missed that.
- 54:02Rick Costa: Oh, she don't know what happened.
- 54:05Carmen Lezeth: So like a year ago so for the audio we're talking about my wrist again.
- 54:10Carmen Lezeth: So a year ago I hit the back of my hand on the corner of a desk at Thanksgiving, anything about it I didn't think it reminded me of like stubbing your toe, you know.
- 54:20Carmen Lezeth: I mean, it was just so painful.
- 54:22Carmen Lezeth: I was walking by and it just happened to grab and it was painful as all hail.
- 54:26Carmen Lezeth: But I didn't think of it by January.
- 54:28Carmen Lezeth: I was like do I have carpal tunnel?
- 54:30Carmen Lezeth: Did I break the bones?
- 54:31Carmen Lezeth: What I just didn't, because I didn't really remember what had happened.
- 54:35Carmen Lezeth: It was just so painful.
- 54:36Carmen Lezeth: So a couple months later I finally went and saw a surgeon and I did not break the bones, but there is a tear in the muscle.
- 54:44Carmen Lezeth: I have a cyst on the top of it.
- 54:46Carmen Lezeth: There's a big bump over here, so I don't need surgery.
- 54:50Carmen Lezeth: Knock on wood but we're being very aggressive about everything and this is just more of an athletic thing to move around.
- 54:59Carmen Lezeth: But I have a really hard one and I wear it at night and stuff to stop bending it because we use our hands all the time.
- 55:07Maurio Dawson: It's giving Apollonia 6 pepper ring.
- 55:10Carmen Lezeth: That's what's happening, yeah, but you need to change the story though Apollonia 6.
- 55:12Carmen Lezeth: That's what's happening yeah.
- 55:16Alma Dawson: But you need to change the story though.
- 55:17Alma Dawson: What you need to change the story?
- 55:20Alma Dawson: Oh, you want me to change the story.
- 55:22Alma Dawson: I needed to say you socked somebody.
- 55:25Cynthia Ruiz: Right.
- 55:27Alma Dawson: You should have done something a little more.
- 55:29Alma Dawson: You know you socked them and then that's why you're hurt, hurt.
- 55:32Alma Dawson: So now you're recovering.
- 55:34Carmen Lezeth: I beat the fuck out of them in front of somebody else, exactly.
- 55:38Alma Dawson: Yeah, not just because you're getting old and you didn't heal right.
- 55:44Carmen Lezeth: I'm sorry.
- 55:45Carmen Lezeth: It is that I think it's just getting old.
- 55:46Carmen Lezeth: No, I did whack it.
- 55:48Carmen Lezeth: I did think it was arthritis, though that was like I didn't know what I had done.
- 55:52Carmen Lezeth: But here's the thing.
- 55:54Carmen Lezeth: Moral of the story If you ever hurt any part of your body and you think it's okay, you should still ice it immediately.
- 56:01Carmen Lezeth: You should do things to keep the swelling down or whatever, because that's what happened with your hand.
- 56:07Carmen Lezeth: You use your hands all the time.
- 56:10Carmen Lezeth: I clearly speak all the time, but I also drive with my left hand.
- 56:14Carmen Lezeth: I never knew that.
- 56:15Carmen Lezeth: If you had asked me, Carmen, for a million dollars, do you drive with your left hand or your right hand?
- 56:19Carmen Lezeth: I would be like my right hand, of course, you know what I mean, but it's my left hand that I drive with.
- 56:24Carmen Lezeth: So that's been really difficult to kind of change.
- 56:27Maurio Dawson: And yeah, so your fitness goals?
- 56:30Carmen Lezeth: Fitness goals.
- 56:31Carmen Lezeth: Okay, so I want to.
- 56:34Carmen Lezeth: I'm not going to.
- 56:40Cynthia Ruiz: I don't want to put.
- 56:40Carmen Lezeth: I want to be able to run three miles by my birthday.
- 56:43Carmen Lezeth: Okay, I mean jog, Cause I don't think I can run ever again.
- 56:48Carmen Lezeth: That's what I want.
- 56:48Carmen Lezeth: I want to be able to do 10 pushups.
- 56:49Carmen Lezeth: I'm not sure I'll be, cause I used to be able to do 20, but not great.
- 56:53Carmen Lezeth: But if I could do 10, that'd be great.
- 56:55Carmen Lezeth: But with my wrist I'm not sure that's even going to be a possibility because I can't.
- 56:58Carmen Lezeth: I can't even.
- 56:59Carmen Lezeth: I just want to get back to that place where I feel really good about myself, and so working out every day for me is a must.
- 57:07Carmen Lezeth: But I got up the walking and I'm going to do better about jogging.
- 57:12Carmen Lezeth: And, of course, if my surgeon is listening, I don't mean running, I mean because he said no running, running.
- 57:19Carmen Lezeth: So spin bike, spin bike.
- 57:21Carmen Lezeth: That's what I mean.
- 57:22Carmen Lezeth: Spin bike, Right.
- 57:22Cynthia Ruiz: There, you go.
- 57:24Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, I'm going to give you guys an update every week, cause I want this to be, and you guys have to ask me, just to be like why did you do it, didn't you do?
- 57:33Maurio Dawson: if you don't mind, do you guys mind that.
- 57:35Carmen Lezeth: Sure, okay, cynthia, you've been on a fitness kick lately, but you're not telling nobody.
- 57:38Carmen Lezeth: Okay, I didn't mean to out you.
- 57:39Carmen Lezeth: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stop me now I'm sorry, are you mad?
- 57:43Carmen Lezeth: You inspired me.
- 57:47Carmen Lezeth: Okay, I'm okay.
- 57:50Carmen Lezeth: I'm sorry, cynthia, a little bit of a fitness thing?
- 57:52Cynthia Ruiz: yes, right now.
- 57:54Carmen Lezeth: Will you forgive me, or is it over between us?
- 57:56Carmen Lezeth: Now You're cut off, rick.
- 58:02Carmen Lezeth: What about you?
- 58:03Carmen Lezeth: You were in a fitness kick for a while there.
- 58:05Rick Costa: Lost 40 pounds in three months, yeah, and all I did was walk 10,000 steps a day and just cut out all the junk.
- 58:17Carmen Lezeth: I have a message in me.
- 58:18Carmen Lezeth: This has been a year.
- 58:21Maurio Dawson: Shady boots, just shady Shady.
- 58:28Alma Dawson: Rick, I'm very proud of you.
- 58:29Alma Dawson: I'm very proud of you.
- 58:31Cynthia Ruiz: I'm very proud of people that you are not a bitch Carmen.
- 58:33Cynthia Ruiz: I am not a bitch, rick.
- 58:35Alma Dawson: I'm very proud of you for walking your 10,000 steps and I hope that she uses you as an example to be able to reach her goal of 10,000 steps a day.
- 58:44Alma Dawson: Maybe she can lose those 40 pounds so she can be snatched by January, the 12th 40 might be a little much.
- 58:57Carmen Lezeth: I'm turning off, mario Damn.
- 58:59Carmen Lezeth: Look at her being all bold, almost over between you and me.
- 59:06Maurio Dawson: Rick, she said, you have officially been gathered.
- 59:12Carmen Lezeth: She fucked me up.
- 59:13Carmen Lezeth: Damn, that was fucked up, Rick.
- 59:19Carmen Lezeth: When did you do this?
- 59:20Carmen Lezeth: Tell the people so I don't look like a fool.
- 59:22Rick Costa: Well, it was several years ago, several years ago.
- 59:25Rick Costa: Well, because when I moved in with Mom, I had no freedom.
- 59:30Alma Dawson: Have you been?
- 59:30Rick Costa: able to maintain.
- 59:31Rick Costa: When I decided to do it, I was 212 or something like that.
- 59:37Rick Costa: I was like yo.
- 59:39Rick Costa: What the heck?
- 59:39Rick Costa: Never in my life have I been that heavy.
- 59:41Rick Costa: Now I'm about 180-ish, something like that, boohoo, boohoo.
- 59:47Maurio Dawson: I feel so sorry for you, coming from somebody who was 328, okay, what do you mean?
- 59:52Maurio Dawson: 328, somebody who was 328.
- 59:54Maurio Dawson: Okay, I was 328.
- 59:56Maurio Dawson: I got up to 328 and I'm now down to.
- 1:00:01Maurio Dawson: I was at 221.
- 1:00:04Carmen Lezeth: I don't remember you being big as a.
- 1:00:06Maurio Dawson: Yeah, I've lost 107 pounds.
- 1:00:08Maurio Dawson: Damn, wow, yes, and I'm still going.
- 1:00:13Carmen Lezeth: I got somewhere to go All right, well, I'm just saying Rick making me look like a fool, but now they all laughed because they see me, how did I make you look like a fool?
- 1:00:22Carmen Lezeth: Because you were making it sound like you did this past year.
- 1:00:25Carmen Lezeth: It's been several years because when I first met you, I didn't think I did.
- 1:00:29Cynthia Ruiz: We are not shaming anybody who lost weight, we are not shaming anybody who lost weight, no matter how long.
- 1:00:34Cynthia Ruiz: We all do things.
- 1:00:35Carmen Lezeth: I'm a horrible person.
- 1:00:38Rick Costa: I am a bitch okay, no matter what you wear, you is beautiful, you is important.
- 1:00:43Maurio Dawson: You is smart.
- 1:00:44Maurio Dawson: You is smart, you is kind, you is important.
- 1:00:47Carmen Lezeth: I'm not worried about my weight.
- 1:00:48Carmen Lezeth: What I'm worried about is I am not muscular and toned anymore.
- 1:00:52Carmen Lezeth: I'm all flabby now.
- 1:00:58Carmen Lezeth: That is just not working for me.
- 1:00:59Carmen Lezeth: I know synth is two seconds because I told you I showed you my arms last week I was so mad because I used to have arms like michelle obama okay, not like michelle obama, but, like you know, like nice did you wish you could reach through the screen and just smack her when she showed you her arms?
- 1:01:12Alma Dawson: Yes, because I feel I'm feeling that way too right now.
- 1:01:16Alma Dawson: Okay, wait.
- 1:01:17Carmen Lezeth: Here's my thing.
- 1:01:18Carmen Lezeth: Why is it my struggle?
- 1:01:19Carmen Lezeth: It's my struggle.
- 1:01:21Carmen Lezeth: Can we all have our own struggle?
- 1:01:24Maurio Dawson: You can, we all can, because you know what we all feel like.
- 1:01:28Maurio Dawson: We have something we want to be better about, something to improve about, and you know, improve upon.
- 1:01:34Alma Dawson: We support you.
- 1:01:35Maurio Dawson: And we definitely support you.
- 1:01:37Carmen Lezeth: I can really tell you support me, we support you.
- 1:01:42Alma Dawson: I'll be the first one to ask you every week How's it going, okay?
- 1:01:47Carmen Lezeth: Oh no, I didn't know Alma was going to be involved.
- 1:01:52Maurio Dawson: She is misaccountability.
- 1:01:53Maurio Dawson: I'm going to be fast.
- 1:01:54Carmen Lezeth: I'm going to be ready for a show now.
- 1:01:56Carmen Lezeth: Okay, cool.
- 1:01:58Maurio Dawson: She is misaccountability.
- 1:01:59Maurio Dawson: For me, it's just about more weightlifting.
- 1:02:02Maurio Dawson: I've definitely got the weight down, it's just.
- 1:02:06Maurio Dawson: I have a lot of loose skin and I need to start doing more weight training.
- 1:02:10Maurio Dawson: Start doing more weight training, and it's just.
- 1:02:16Maurio Dawson: I don't have any.
- 1:02:16Maurio Dawson: If there are any personal trainers out there who are willing to, who are still trying to get their certification and need a student for free to work with, call me, because I need something for free.
- 1:02:24Maurio Dawson: Santa Monica, where are you?
- 1:02:27Maurio Dawson: Santa Monica?
- 1:02:28Maurio Dawson: Venice, I'm in Venice.
- 1:02:30Maurio Dawson: Margarita, yeah, pro bono pro bono?
- 1:02:35Carmen Lezeth: yeah, I just.
- 1:02:36Carmen Lezeth: As you get older, they say that you should do more weight lifting yeah strength training and yeah, like I, I used to be able to do a split.
- 1:02:45Carmen Lezeth: I used to be able to, like, I used to be very, very flexible and I've lost some of that.
- 1:02:49Carmen Lezeth: So I got to get back on that, you know mean Like I just want to get back to a fitness Because enough with the injuries and all the drama.
- 1:02:56Carmen Lezeth: Like after my hip surgery, my hip is great now.
- 1:02:58Carmen Lezeth: There's no excuse.
- 1:02:59Maurio Dawson: There's no excuse, I'm good.
- 1:03:00Maurio Dawson: You don't want to be popping no hips out trying to do splits, so leave the splits alone.
- 1:03:10Cynthia Ruiz: Don't worry about the split.
- 1:03:11Cynthia Ruiz: She's talking about flexibility.
- 1:03:13Maurio Dawson: Okay, she wants to be flexible just worry about the other leg, just work on that one, work on your leg yeah, just do that one that's so funny you guys are cracking up.
- 1:03:28Alma Dawson: You need to go to Spankos Hipsism part time.
- 1:03:32Carmen Lezeth: I'm saying oh no, okay, it's gonna get extra no, it's not stop it right there.
- 1:03:41Rick Costa: We went to the line sadly, it is more difficult the older you get.
- 1:03:45Rick Costa: Unfortunately, that's just a fact of life, what?
- 1:03:47Rick Costa: To spread your legs to spread to get fit, be fit and maintain fitness.
- 1:03:51Rick Costa: Oh yeah, to be fit for sure.
- 1:03:52Rick Costa: Fit and maintain fitness.
- 1:03:53Rick Costa: Oh yeah, to be fit for sure, Because it's easy when you're 21.
- 1:03:55Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, I'm going to agree, because what I read was that's also one of the things that we've been told to believe it is harder to lose weight when you're older.
- 1:04:05Carmen Lezeth: It is harder to lose weight when you're older.
- 1:04:07Carmen Lezeth: But, getting fit is not the same thing.
- 1:04:10Carmen Lezeth: You can get fit even when you're older and it's not any harder or whatever.
- 1:04:14Carmen Lezeth: It might be harder because you've gotten set in your ways, you know.
- 1:04:21Maurio Dawson: No, but our metabolisms absolutely slow down.
- 1:04:26Maurio Dawson: They're not as fast as a 22 or a 30-year-old person.
- 1:04:30Maurio Dawson: They can snap back way faster than we can.
- 1:04:36Carmen Lezeth: You can get fit, you can start doing weights and stuff like that and try to get back on track.
- 1:04:41Carmen Lezeth: I'm going to do it.
- 1:04:42Carmen Lezeth: I'm going to do it.
- 1:04:42Carmen Lezeth: I'm going to do it.
- 1:04:45Rick Costa: I see these 70-year-old men looking like bodybuilders.
- 1:04:48Rick Costa: I'm like what that's crazy.
- 1:04:51Maurio Dawson: I've actually started going to the gym more.
- 1:04:53Maurio Dawson: I used to just go once or twice a week, Now up to three or four times a week.
- 1:04:58Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, I don't go to the gym, I hate it.
- 1:05:02Maurio Dawson: I do hate it.
- 1:05:03Maurio Dawson: I don't like talking to people.
- 1:05:04Maurio Dawson: I'm antisocial.
- 1:05:06Carmen Lezeth: I have Peloton I have the Peloton app.
- 1:05:09Maurio Dawson: That must be nice, because I don't have that.
- 1:05:11Maurio Dawson: I have to go around people and so like, but what I do, I have to go in with my headphones on and sit on a bike and look at the TV and not look left or right, and I hate it when people come right next to me, do people?
- 1:05:24Rick Costa: talk to you a lot.
- 1:05:25Rick Costa: Do people talk to you a lot?
- 1:05:27Rick Costa: They try to.
- 1:05:28Maurio Dawson: I'm in.
- 1:05:30Rick Costa: Connecticut.
- 1:05:30Rick Costa: Maybe it's different up here.
- 1:05:33Maurio Dawson: That's why I put my headphones on so therefore I won't talk.
- 1:05:35Maurio Dawson: So people out here they say when you don't go to the gym with any music or anything, they say you're going raw dog in it, because that means you're absolutely opening yourself to everything around you, whereas if you put your headphones on, you can lock into your own music, your podcast, your whatever, stay in your own world and get your stuff done, and that's really what I like to do.
- 1:05:56Rick Costa: It's the universal signal of don't bother me.
- 1:05:58Maurio Dawson: Yes.
- 1:05:59Carmen Lezeth: Don't talk to me I live right here near the beach.
- 1:06:04Carmen Lezeth: You guys live by the beach.
- 1:06:05Carmen Lezeth: I feel like it's such a waste for me not to go take a walk there at least three times a week.
- 1:06:11Carmen Lezeth: It angers me.
- 1:06:12Carmen Lezeth: Members take a walk there at least three times a week, like it angers me Like membership is in my rent is what I'm trying to say.
- 1:06:18Carmen Lezeth: So I'm trying to be better about that and but yeah, I just rejoined the Peloton.
- 1:06:23Carmen Lezeth: Even though they're always trying to push their bikes and their treadmills and stuff, you don't have to have them.
- 1:06:28Carmen Lezeth: I don't have their equipment.
- 1:06:30Carmen Lezeth: But they also have like yoga, they have pilates, they have strength training, they have all this stuff and so we'll see how it goes.
- 1:06:38Cynthia Ruiz: I just bought the monthly one right now because you know I know it's gonna happen stuff too on netflix, like little 10 minute workouts on netflix and stuff.
- 1:06:47Carmen Lezeth: Yeah really you know where else there are some good workouts for free AARP, I'm not lying.
- 1:06:57Carmen Lezeth: There are some good workouts on there.
- 1:06:59Carmen Lezeth: Look it.
- 1:06:59Carmen Lezeth: I'm telling you, go check it out.
- 1:07:03Rick Costa: Probably find a bunch on YouTube too.
- 1:07:05Alma Dawson: Especially since you signed me up against my will.
- 1:07:08Carmen Lezeth: What.
- 1:07:09Maurio Dawson: She said yeah, she looked at me.
- 1:07:10Maurio Dawson: She said, especially since you signed me up.
- 1:07:12Maurio Dawson: She said yeah, she looked at me.
- 1:07:13Maurio Dawson: She said, especially since you signed me up.
- 1:07:15Maurio Dawson: She said against my will, they sent it to me.
- 1:07:18Alma Dawson: I started getting emails from AARP and I'm like what the hell?
- 1:07:21Alma Dawson: I'm not even close to it.
- 1:07:23Carmen Lezeth: I'm like why are they sending me emails Because AARP isn't really about age.
- 1:07:28Carmen Lezeth: We all think it is Ma'am, ma'am.
- 1:07:31Alma Dawson: I was offended, okay.
- 1:07:34Cynthia Ruiz: I was offended.
- 1:07:35Alma Dawson: And then I'm like he's hearing me talk about this.
- 1:07:38Alma Dawson: I'm like why are they even reaching out to me?
- 1:07:40Alma Dawson: I'm not ready Mentally, I am not there.
- 1:07:43Alma Dawson: And he seems like just snickering and laughing.
- 1:07:45Alma Dawson: And finally I'm like you did this, you did it.
- 1:07:49Rick Costa: Alma, just let go and let God.
- 1:07:53Alma Dawson: I slapped him and then I let it go.
- 1:07:55Alma Dawson: You gotta forgive.
- 1:07:58Alma Dawson: After she smacked him, after I smacked him, then I let it go.
- 1:08:06Carmen Lezeth: I love AARP.
- 1:08:06Carmen Lezeth: I told you I joined because of the guy on TikTok who's 24 and he's's been a member for so long and he uses all the benefits.
- 1:08:15Maurio Dawson: So I was like wait a minute, what?
- 1:08:17Carmen Lezeth: So I'm now a fan of ARP, yeah.
- 1:08:21Maurio Dawson: I am too.
- 1:08:21Maurio Dawson: Look, I use it I definitely use it.
- 1:08:26Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, we're now both card-carrying members.
- 1:08:29Carmen Lezeth: Unitedhealthcare gives all of their patrons a free fitbit every two.
- 1:08:33Maurio Dawson: Oh, look at that okay, I don't have united health care I don't either, but that's a good thing.
- 1:08:40Carmen Lezeth: So maybe check your own health care, whatever you have.
- 1:08:42Cynthia Ruiz: Maybe they do have some free things as well there's a lot of insurances, too, that pay for gym membership.
- 1:08:49Maurio Dawson: Yes, I was just was just going to say that, yeah, mine gives me a discount, but they don't want to pay for it.
- 1:08:52Maurio Dawson: I want free 99.
- 1:08:54Maurio Dawson: That's what I want, yes.
- 1:08:57Rick Costa: If it's free, it's for me.
- 1:08:58Rick Costa: I'm just saying.
- 1:09:02Carmen Lezeth: See, I love those sayings, those are good.
- 1:09:05Rick Costa: I was watching an Instagram video of a woman and all of a sudden she said, and I screamed she goes because, honey, if it's free, it's for me.
- 1:09:24Carmen Lezeth: I was like hey, that's mine, that's my trademark.
- 1:09:25Carmen Lezeth: He stole it from you.
- 1:09:26Carmen Lezeth: Oh no, you're saying he should say that to her.
- 1:09:27Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, oh, my god, I'm so glad you came on.
- 1:09:28Maurio Dawson: Yeah, thank you for having us.
- 1:09:29Maurio Dawson: I I was supposed to come on earlier, but you know I've had some issues going on, but I'm better now.
- 1:09:35Maurio Dawson: I didn't share nothing with nobody no, I know I've had some health issues and I had to have some minor surgery, but it's all good now you can talk about it if you want to, but if you don't want to, you don't have to not for public consumption.
- 1:09:49Carmen Lezeth: I'll tell you that offline I already know, you already know, I already know your wife, you already know and I think I told Rick but I haven't told Cynthia.
- 1:09:55Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
- 1:09:57Carmen Lezeth: Whoa, whoa, are you friends with Rick without me knowing?
- 1:10:00Carmen Lezeth: Uh-oh.
- 1:10:01Carmen Lezeth: Wait what Did you guys know without me knowing what?
- 1:10:08Rick Costa: Rick doesn't mind getting funny things on Instagram every so often, right, rick doesn't mind getting funny things on Instagram.
- 1:10:13Carmen Lezeth: every so often I had to tell him to stop sending me shit on Instagram.
- 1:10:18Maurio Dawson: So, rick and I, we trade.
- 1:10:20Carmen Lezeth: That's fair.
- 1:10:21Carmen Lezeth: That's great.
- 1:10:21Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, it's only me.
- 1:10:22Carmen Lezeth: Again.
- 1:10:23Carmen Lezeth: I am coming across as a bitch, ain't I today?
- 1:10:26Carmen Lezeth: I can't help it A little bit, a little bit, I know.
- 1:10:32Carmen Lezeth: Here's the thing.
- 1:10:33Carmen Lezeth: Okay, Cynthia, because I'm just going to say Rick and Mario both send a lot of Instagram posts to me that are funny.
- 1:10:43Carmen Lezeth: Past tense when I get it, because that's the universe, Past tense.
- 1:10:46Carmen Lezeth: Past tense because I used to Used to no longer.
- 1:10:50Carmen Lezeth: I know, but Long ago.
- 1:10:52Maurio Dawson: We don't do that shit, no more so don't be.
- 1:10:55Cynthia Ruiz: Send them to me.
- 1:10:56Cynthia Ruiz: Send them to me.
- 1:10:57Cynthia Ruiz: I love you.
- 1:10:58Carmen Lezeth: Here's the reason.
- 1:10:59Carmen Lezeth: Wait, if I'm going to be labeled a bitch, y'all are going to know why.
- 1:11:02Carmen Lezeth: Okay, exactly Same thing.
- 1:11:04Maurio Dawson: And she said I'm going to wear my crown.
- 1:11:13Carmen Lezeth: How about that?
- 1:11:13Carmen Lezeth: Because I communicate with you guys on Instagram.
- 1:11:14Carmen Lezeth: I always think it's something important, and then it's just and I'm at work, right, it's always something that I'm at work and I'm like oh my God, Rick, something happened or he needs something or whatever, and it's so.
- 1:11:24Carmen Lezeth: That's what it is.
- 1:11:25Carmen Lezeth: Now, if you want to do that stuff on TikTok or anywhere else, I'm good, but not in the way I communicate with you.
- 1:11:31Carmen Lezeth: That's all I was saying.
- 1:11:32Rick Costa: Sure, you want to say that.
- 1:11:32Rick Costa: Just kidding, I don't look at Tinder things on TikTok.
- 1:11:37Carmen Lezeth: It's up on my phone, facebook, tiktok.
- 1:11:39Carmen Lezeth: These things do not come up on my phone, instagram, because you and I communicate that way.
- 1:11:42Carmen Lezeth: I have it on my phone, but I'm really good about putting up boundaries with people and with social media.
- 1:11:49Carmen Lezeth: My segue Look at Mario's.
- 1:11:52Carmen Lezeth: I'm over this bitch.
- 1:11:52Carmen Lezeth: Let's go All right.
- 1:11:53Carmen Lezeth: It's so great to have everyone on the show.
- 1:11:59Carmen Lezeth: Oh my God, alma, thank you for coming on with your beautiful voice and everything.
- 1:12:03Carmen Lezeth: We appreciate it.
- 1:12:04Carmen Lezeth: Mario, love you always.
- 1:12:06Maurio Dawson: Love you too.
- 1:12:08Carmen Lezeth: Cynthia Rick always adore you.
- 1:12:11Carmen Lezeth: Hey everyone, thank you for stopping by and hanging out with us.
- 1:12:14Carmen Lezeth: I appreciate it.
- 1:12:15Carmen Lezeth: Please check out All About the Joy.
- 1:12:18Carmen Lezeth: The store Could be a nice Christmas gift.
- 1:12:21Carmen Lezeth: Some All About the Joy Swag, yep, some swag.
- 1:12:25Carmen Lezeth: We got hats, we got cups, we got stickers, we got stuffage.
- 1:12:30Carmen Lezeth: We got what Stickers and totes, I gotta get the tote bag.
- 1:12:35Carmen Lezeth: I keep forgetting to do that pillow look at the pillow.
- 1:12:39Carmen Lezeth: I gotta get one of those too you fancy huh?
- 1:12:43Carmen Lezeth: check out the podcast please, it'd be great if you guys could also add us on your podcast list.
- 1:12:51Carmen Lezeth: It just helps us with what we're trying to do here.
- 1:12:53Carmen Lezeth: So hopefully we'll see you again next week and remember, it really is all about the joy.
- 1:12:58Carmen Lezeth: Goodbye everybody, bye.
- 1:13:01Maurio Dawson: Goodbye Peace.
- 1:13:04Carmen Lezeth: Thanks for stopping by.
- 1:13:05Carmen Lezeth: All About the Joy Be better and stay beautiful.
- 1:13:08Carmen Lezeth: Folks have a sweet day.