Episode 59 - Nothing but Taking Hits and Moving Forward

Mike runs his mouth about rejection in all its glorious forms–bad dates, job searches, and the universe handing out L's like free samples. From getting ghosted on job applications, he breaks down the art of rolling with the punches. Is it resilience or pure delusion? Tune in to decide.

If you would like to share your opinion, send an email to lnbemedia@gmail.com and don't forget to follow me on Instagram and TikTok @thelnbepodcast.

Chapters

• 0:10 Life's Ups and Downs
• 5:54 Navigating Rejection and Growth in Life
• 15:38 Engagement and Subscriptions

Transcript

Mike: 0:10

Alright. So how's everybody doing? How was your week last week? Oh, Mike, where was the episode last week?

Mike: 0:18

If you miss a day, you usually put it out the next day. You know you're a needy bunch of bastards, aren't you all right? Well, since I'm going back to one a week, I figured that I'm gonna start playing some podcast roulette with the release day one, just so. This way I can also do my own experiments and see which days work out for me. So this week I'm gonna start out with monday, and next week it might be wednesday or it just might be whatever day I'm feeling when I can come up with shit to talk about, because it's not like any of you guys write in to help me out. So what did I come up with to talk about, since I can't rely on you guys? So what's the deal with running and working out as I do a really bad Seinfeld impression, but honestly, it's supposed to be good for you, but when it's done incorrectly it just causes so much suffering. Like no joke.

Mike: 1:07

I'm going to be 29 come the end of this month, but my back, shoulders and knees feel like they're 69. And not even for the fun reason For me. Bending over sounds like I stepped on a bag of chips, so that just definitely can't be good. I definitely got to start incorporating some stretching into my workout routine. All I know is that everything seems to be aging except for my mentality. But even that seems one step closer to a nursing home. With every new bad thing that enters my life, the more shit that goes wrong. It's just like bruh can I just call it a quits? Right now I wake up and it's like fuck this, it's cold outside, we'll just try again tomorrow. But that's how bad it's gotten, where. Even the weather is just an excuse for me to be like. You know what? We're just going to try again tomorrow.

Mike: 1:57

Because, like what I've learned in my 29 years of life come the end of this month is that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Fucking newton and his stupid genius, because that's not just true in science, it's also just true in life, or at least when it comes to mine. Like every time that I try and do something good, the universe decides to fuck me and just says hold the loop, newton, out here dropping apples. Meanwhile I'm just dropping job applications into the freaking void. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction cool. So I apply to 50 jobs and the only thing that bounces back is we regret to inform you. Like, dude, I'm just out here just trying to be a productive member of society and the universe is just like nah, you know what? Hold my beer. Here's another existential crisis for you instead, and you know what I love about the job application process when they reject you is when they also hit you with the. We'll keep your information on file, so please feel free to apply to other job openings. Bruh, that's like breaking up with a girl just to ask out her sister a week later, like yeah, let me set myself up for more rejection. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Thank you so much. And you know what? Now I also have trust issues. You rejected me just to dangle this false hope.

Mike: 3:22

Like, what is this? A toxic ex who won't let go but keeps you on the back burner? Just in case you know, speaking of toxic exes, we talked about it last week, but Valentine's Day was last week, and my question is how many of you are still together and how many of you are suddenly focusing on yourselves? You ever notice how couples always flex so hard on Valentine's Day, but by March. Half of them are posting cryptic Instagram stories about choosing peace, and some people just never deserve you. Like girl. Two weeks ago you were posting about soulmates and your twin flame, and now you're just one more argument away from keying his car and filing a restraining order. Love is friggin wild man.

Mike: 4:11

Or? I also love the dude who goes out and gets a lone wolf tattoo to post on his insta, and they always hit you with the caption of like I don't need a pack, I walk alone. No, kyle, you just don't have any real friends because you make every group chat about your ex. Fun fact, wolves are a pack animal. My guy, you got a wolf tattoo not because you're a warrior, but because you got broken up with for being an asshole one too many times. And now you think being emotionally unavailable is a personality trait. Give me a fucking break. Real lone wolves are usually sick or lost, so congratulations.

Mike: 4:55

Your tattoo is basically a billboard-sized sign that says Help me, I'm struggling. Every dude with a lone wolf tattoo thinks that he's just the main character in some gritty action movie. Bro, you work at AutoZone and you cry when your DoorDash order is wrong, like how tough can you actually be? Honestly, though, at this point I might get a lone wolf tattoo just to match the energy of my job applications no back, no callbacks, just vibes. Or. I love it if it's not that it's always the girl who gets the breathe and cursive like yeah, no, shit, stacy, what's next? A tattoo that says blink, drink water. Or my personal favorite, the live, laugh, love. Tattoo, like all right, becky, as if you didn't steal that straight off of a home. Good signs Like give me a break.

Mike: 5:54

Honestly, I feel like half of these tattoos are just Instagram captions in permanent form, like if you're gonna commit, at least just go all in, Get it is what it is on your forehead and just embrace the chaos, because that's ultimately what life is right. It's just controlled chaos and you just gotta learn how to deal with it and roll with the punches. So I don't know, but as part of this year also, since it's just hard for me to come up with jokes, even though right now my life just totally feels like a giant one I also feel that it's time to start going on other avenues on this pod and also just being a bit more real, just so I also have more stuff to talk about, because I mean, for the most part I'm just sitting here making fun of generalities of life or what I see, and I'm just kind of being somewhat of an insensitive asshole as if I've never gone through my own pains. But since I mentioned breakups at the start, you want to hear some real shit Like this is wild the first chick that I ever said those three magic words of I love you. You know what she said. She just goes oh, I'm sorry, but this was actually just fun for me. Oh my God, I can't make this shit up. That actually happened. Like I didn't even know what to do in that situation, cause, like that stung harder than any wasp. Let me tell you, I mean, a peanut allergy couldn't even compare to how hard my throat closed up in the moment. Let me tell you, has that happened to anybody else, guy or girl?

Mike: 7:32

Whoever is listening to this, I gotta know what your reaction reaction was, because I know being on the end of that is just horrific and I just didn't even know how to respond in the moment. But what I would also love to know is if you were the one on the giving end of that. Honestly, like, let me know what made you say it and why you said it and how you felt in the moment, because I gotta say, being on the receiving end of that, it fucking sucks. But I was also young and dumb so I didn't really know how to handle it. And now I've been on this earth for about 29 years, as I've discussed, and in these 29 years, as we all know, I've also had to deal with rejection. I mean, hell, I've gotten rejected from every job application I've sent in so far and like why it's not, like I don't have the experience these companies are looking for. And I've gotten to the interview process, I've gotten to the third stage of every interview just to still get rejected.

Mike: 8:38

So I don't know why rejection happens, but for every rejection, whether it's someone that you're dating or a job, I feel like that's just a way of showing that that person or that job maybe wasn't what was best for you on the path that you're meant to take in this game that we all call life and I firmly believe that it's called a game, because no one plays any game, whether it be a video or board game, and just wins every time like your character's gonna die, you're gonna have some losses. You're not gonna win every freaking time, like nobody's freaking perfect and life is also full of wins and losses. So that's also why I consider it a game, or even if it's like in sports, like you could practice a sport until your knees are weak or you can run so hard that you collapse on the field from being out of breath, but it'll always find a way to knock you down because maybe you aren't tall enough to go pro which, as a guy, seems to be the nature of the dating game. If you aren't six foot, as seen on Tinder, or like maybe you suffer an injury that you just can't come back from. But even for the ones that it does work out for, and if you do make the pros Like not every player makes it into the hall of fame, or even people who get divorced Like I'm saying this never having been married, never having to go through a divorce, but I've gone through relationships that haven't worked out and it's just like, no matter how hard you work at it, if the other person isn't as invested as you, it's just never going to go anywhere.

Mike: 10:17

So I don't know, no matter what happens, there's always something. But as cliche and as dumb as this is going to sound, it really is a matter of how you take that pain from whatever life throws at you and how you deal with it. Like, do you want to harbor on it and say, well, it was me and be that person for the rest of your life and just compare yourself to others and never be satisfied with what life has given you? Like look at dave mustaine. That guy got kicked out of metallica and went on to form one of the biggest metal bands in the world with megadeth. But instead of just enjoying that and the success that he had, he spent decades, decades, obsessing over Metallica's success Like a dude still stalking his ex's Instagram stories. Like, don't be like Dave and spend the next 40 years comparing yourself to the one that got away. I really feel like you just gotta be happy for what you build instead of being mad at what you lost. Like you just learn from your mistakes, you learn from what you could have done better and you take into account for that in the next venture of your life or relationship and you just be happy for the success that you attain in it. Like I don't know again.

Mike: 11:34

As cliche and as dumb as this is going to sound too, pain is truly the worst feeling in regard to any bad outcome that happens in your life, whether you lose a loved one, a job, whatever it is that goes on in your life. But it's also, I think, truly necessary when it comes to building the character of yourself and what you want out of future situations that you find yourself in. And I don't think it's just because of that now you got to deal with something that you didn't expect. I also think it just comes from the sudden anxiety that's driven from like what's going to happen now that this part of my life is over? And I'm not talking physical pain like you break your leg doing something dumb like drunk parkour, because gravity is just a suggestion. That's just your own reward for doing something fucking stupid. What I'm specifically talking about here is just emotional pain Like I don't know.

Mike: 12:29

In a quick Google search, I did a little research and I found out that 30 to 40% of breakups end up with people going back to their ex. But I have a huge question of is that based on comfort or is that just based on circumstance, because there's always a reason as to why things end right. So, yeah, rejection sucks, whether it's from jobs, whether it's from relationships or whether it's not being able to order a fucking McFlurry because the ice cream machine is broken all of a sudden. But, like I said earlier, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So maybe the rejection isn't a no and this is going to be my Catholicism coming out, but I feel like it's maybe just God saying, nah, you know what, I got something better in mind for you, so you just got to chill. But that's the hard part, right, it's chilling, it's the waiting, it's the seeing what God has in store for you, and it's just a matter of trusting. I mean, it's kind of like placing an Amazon order without getting the tracking info, like you know it's coming, but when you have no clue. It'll get there w hen it fucking gets there.

Mike: 13:50

You just gotta wake up every day hoping today's the day that your blessings get delivered and not another. We regret to inform you, but you know what the great thing is. Pain is only temporary. But you know what the great thing is. Pain is only temporary. The growth is what's permanent. God's not out there just throwing L's at you for fun. If life's knocking you down, maybe it's just because He's setting you up for something bigger. You just gotta stop fighting the process, like you wouldn't yell at your grandma while she's cooking and being like, hey, hurry up with that bread, I'm hungry? Bro, you got to let the dough rise, my guy.

Mike: 14:21

But that's also not to say like, don't keep trying to find that path, because at a certain point you also need to put in your own work to a degree too. And I don't know if nothing else, if you keep getting rejected, just remember like Jesus got rejected too. Dude had 12 followers, one unfollowed, one straight up snitched. The rest all ghosted him when things got tough, yet He still completed his mission. So if you're getting rejected left and right, maybe you're just in good company. I don't know. Moral of the story rejection isn't the end, it's just a redirection. And if you're struggling, you just got to pray on it, you got to work on it and you got to be like Dory from Finding Nemo. You just got to keep swimming. Or at the worst case, you just go and get yourself a brief tattoo and cursive and call it a day, because that seems to be the move.

Mike: 15:17

But all right, guys, I think that's it for this week, or is it? I don't know who knows when the next episode is going to drop Could be Monday, could be Wednesday, could be in the middle of your grandma's bingo night, I don't fucking know. But that's the thrill of podcast roulette TM. Patent pending Keeps you on your toes and you know, it also keeps me from committing to a schedule, so I feel like everybody wins.

Mike: 15:38

But hey, if you liked the episode, tell a friend, share it, like it, subscribe, send it to your ex, with no context, whatever works, I don't fucking care. Actually, make sure that you do subscribe to it, because if you do like the episodes, I don't know when these episodes are going to drop. So you might want to do that. But you can find me on Instagram and TikTok, at the LNBE Podcast, and if you guys actually want to help me out and come up with some shit to talk about instead of making me do all the work, you could write in to lnbemedia at gmailcom. But we also both know that that's not happening. So anyways, thank you for listening, pray on it, work on it, keep moving forward. Oh, and if you're getting a tattoo this week, maybe think twice about going full lone wolf. All right, guys, I will catch you whenever the next one drops. Have a great week.