 You know, May 40 here, it's a tea break for the cricket, South Africa versus Australia. And I'm so grateful for an insight I got from Mark Shapiro, one of his talks a few weeks ago. I was talking about a rabbi who never had children and how this rabbi was always, you know, craving excitement and new vistas. And Mark Shapiro made the point, those of us who have children, we're not usually looking for excitement, but people who don't have children, they are frequently looking for excitement. And I thought that, yeah, that nails it. That's the nub of it. I remember a bloke that used to do a podcast with James DeGiorgio. He says, this is more than two decades ago. And he would make the point, you know, 40, you're always looking to create drama and excitement. And I just want to pay the bills. So James DeGiorgio had two kids, so he just wanted to pay the bills, take care of his responsibilities as a man. And I don't have kids. I'm not married. And so just paying the bills doesn't have the same importance to me. I'm not trying to look after a bunch of other people and build something for the family. I was doing those things that I find interesting and exciting. So I notice that, like, the seeking excitement, that is really common among people who don't have kids, whether it's seeking a PhD or seeking to produce, you know, top quality live streams like this one or producing a book or pursuing, you know, mountain climbing or windsurfing. Those of us who don't have kids, you know, we've got to get out there and look for some excitement in life. While for people who do have kids, right, they're just looking to pay the bills, save up some money, help the kids, maybe help the kids buy a home, help the kids look after their kids, so become grandparents, plan vacations, holidays, get-togethers, religious celebrations, social occasions, you know, around getting together with family, with extended family. And I'm just always looking for adventures. And I noticed that, like, many other single people like me were out there looking for adventures, we're out there looking for sensations, we're out there looking for personal growth, we're looking to take up new hobbies, develop new skills. Just before I did this live stream, I was listening and practicing, you know, Roger loves voice exercises. Mum, mum, mum, mum, mum, mum, mum. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Gug, gug, gug, gug, gug, gug. I was learning to move from chest voice into middle voice and even up into head voice and so doing the old voice exercises and then prior to that, I was just writing in my journal, I was writing about what I was grateful for, what had surprised me on this trip, what I still want to accomplish. I'm just past the halfway point in my trip to Australia. Then I'm thinking about the books that I want to read, the videos I want to make, the topics I want to discuss on this live stream, what are my goals in the next few weeks. And I just noticed with people who have kids, like their lives are more stable and set, that they pretty much have a path ahead of them. You do good in your job, you take care of your family. Look forward and Aaron, Larry are the most inspirational bachelors on the tube. Thanks, mate. I appreciate that. But it just really answers things for me. Yeah, family is the answer. Like when you have family, you don't have to get out there seeking excitement. Good on you, Jim Bowden. And those of us, I noticed who are bachelors. We're thinking about going to Oxford University to get a PhD or thinking about going back to uni to get a masters or taking up a cooking class. Or we're always looking to work on some new hobbies, some new interests, but something that gives you a bit of a thrill. Now, with my married friends, with kids, they get a thrill out of planning a garden, planning tomatoes, harvesting cucumbers, harvesting corn from their garden, just doing solid work at school. Yep. After New Year, I'll be back in Sydney by January 9th. We'll catch up. So if you're able to get all the excitement you need from your kids and then from your job and growing corn, growing tomatoes, that seems like a really healthy thing in life. I get excitement from making a good video or from having a discussion with you blogs here on YouTube or learning some new insight from the chat or getting a referral to a new book that I haven't read or going on some new hike. So when I was in Sydney taking the Manly to Spitbridge walk, I wasn't content just taking that regular walk. I had to go down to the beach and like clamor over rocks and dudge the ocean waves and go up this level of the rocks and then they turn steep and I'm clamoring up and my shoes are falling off and I feel like the tide's coming in and I know people get stuck out there so they're seeking a bit of excitement. I couldn't just stick to the trail. And the other thing I noticed with people with families is they tend to be much less selfish. They tend to be naturally much more oriented towards taking other people into consideration. So I have not spent a great deal of my life taking other people's needs and concerns and priorities into tremendous consideration. So people I know who are married, they will work one day and then when they get home, they'll go mow the bloody lawn, right? They will start doing things for their wife. They will call their kids. They will, they're volunteering in the community. They have a commitment to help out a family down the street. They tend to be much less selfish than people like me and I kind of sit back and go, wow, and I will make remarks like, oh, you know, how did you beat me to the dishes? Right? I was just planning to get stuck into washing the dishes for everyone. But married people with kids, they're making the food, they're setting the table, they're serving the dinner, they're cleaning up afterwards, they're washing the dishes. And I'll 40 sitting back, you know, making wisecracks about, oh, how did you beat me to do the dishes? Is this a Justin Murphy response video? I'm not sure who Justin Murphy is, but I'm really impressed by people who take other people into consideration. Like, I'm really impressed by people who live their lives just taking other people's needs and wants and feelings into much greater consideration than I do. Now, I don't feel bad, you know, being who I am. I try to channel my selfishness in a socially productive manner. So people with families, all right, they're going to be much more restrictive in what they say on YouTube. Everything they say and do is going to affect a whole bunch of other people. So their overton window is considerably diminished, generally speaking, compared to what, you know, a bachelor bloke can say. So, yeah, I have no doubt that God can use someone who has the selfish tendencies of a 40, right? There's plenty of space for bachelors and other people who don't have families to contribute. Yeah, they're mowing lawns, they're taking care of others, and some, I assume, bad people. But yeah, when I get around families, I just, I'm just often impressed by how much care and concern and consideration they show for others. Like, is it okay if I do this? I was thinking of going here. Like my days stretch in front of me, like pretty much wide open. I can just pretty much, you know, go do what I want. I don't really have any obligations to anyone. I'll send a text message, right? I'm going to be here. Or I know you need help with this. So, you know, can I pop in at such and such a time? But overwhelmingly, my days are free for me to make of them what I want. And I didn't have to compromise. I didn't have to pull my punches. You know, I love having all that time to, to devote to the ideas that are important to me, to things that I want to explore, to videos I want to make. Oh my God, a league shame. They had to cancel the Melbourne Derby between two of the top soccer clubs in Melbourne, because fans flooded the field and they assaulted the goalie from the other team and they assaulted the referee. And so the goalie had to leave the field with like blood streaming down his face. So not a particularly good look for, for Australia's a league of soccer, which is probably about the 40th most competitive soccer league in the world. But I severely doubt those fans who ran onto the pitch and injured the opposing goalie, I doubt that they were married with kids. I'd like to think that someone who's like married with kids would have more care and concern about how they operated. And, you know, they'd be more reluctant to do things that would, you know, bring shame to their family, embarrass them in front of their kids or even, you know, have them end up in prison so they couldn't be around their kids. So, yeah, those of us without families, I just noticed we're much more dramatic, we're much more frequently self-centered. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, right? Being self-centered can free up lots of time and emotional energy and space and create a commitment to doing something important, which will be a blessing to other people. So certainly being a bachelor and not having a family doesn't mean your life is doomed or your life is any less worthy or there aren't, you know, a million things that you can't contribute. Like, I don't walk around with a feeling of, oh, I didn't have a family. I just think about the things that I do have. And I welcome the opportunities that I have or the spare time that I have to make these first class videos like this. Bye bye.