Speaker 1:
you. Greetings, hi and hello everyone. My name is jason pizzi flair, I'm a speaker, I'm a podcaster and my life's work is centered around allowing the world to meet the true you by helping you think, speak and eventually live better than yesterday. We do this, first, by establishing a good reason why, a strong and powerful motivation to keep going when the going gets rough. Second, we need awareness and acknowledgement of what's holding us back. And third, we need scalable steps forward as a reliable bridge between who we are right now and who we need to be tomorrow and the day after that, and the day after that and the day after that. This, my friends, is how you go from stuck to thinking as, speaking as and living as the true you. The True you miniseries Now the home lesson miniseries is just a collection of different life lessons, or cool little nuggets of wisdom that I've gleaned from the, at this point, numerous skills I've acquired from having to learn how to rebuild and build a lot of my house back, build and build a lot of oh, it's broken.
Speaker 1:
Get Charles to fix it, Something like that. Judge me, if you want. I like to be comfortable. Now hear me. I apparently picked the wrong world to live in as somebody who likes to be comfortable. But, in my defense, I didn't choose to be born. I I was just. I just found myself here one day and apparently it's a fallen world, you know, filled with sin and iniquity and all that kind of stuff, and I'm a broken vessel and therefore we as humans have to endure a lot of suffering in our lives to include, but not limited to, a moldy house that was never supposed to be sold to us in the first place in its condition.
Speaker 1:
So anyway, today I'm talking to you about toilets. There was one time. There was one time a couple weeks ago when I found myself late into the evening toiling away and chipping away at a bathroom floor, trying to get a circular hole, essentially or, yeah, a circular hole more square, all right, because I had to fit the toilet flange into the hole right on top of the tile that was in our floor. So if you don't know what a flange is, it's essentially the attachment that a toilet, a porcelain toilet, sits on, that connects the very bottom of it to the let's just call them exhaust plumbing or exhaust tubes or whatever. I'm probably using the wrong terms. I apologize to any professional plumbers that may or may not have, you know, connected with this community and listen to this episode, but either way, you get the visuals hopefully.
Speaker 1:
So I'm trying to cut this into the floor and it's getting super late. I want to go. You know I want to leave, I want to go to sleep. I'm getting. You know I want to leave, I want to go to sleep. I'm super tired, but I am laser focused on the fact that I'm this close to finally getting us a functional toilet in our home. So I tell myself and my wife hey, I'm not, I'm not coming back anytime soon because at this point in time we're staying with a friend, and so I told her I'm, I'm coming back late because I am getting this toilet in. So about an hour later I managed to get the flange properly installed and screwed into the floor and properly secured.
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Now it's the big units time to move. I'm talking the actual full toilet. So it was not only the bottom portion, as in the seat, but also the water reservoir. I can't remember what it's called the tank. I guess it was all one unit. Some toilets come in two pieces in which you have to screw the tank onto the seat after you have the seat installed, which would have been very convenient for me in this case. But that's not how it came. It was just all one piece. So, with my knee pads on, just because I knew at some point I would have to kneel with a heavy weight, and I want to protect my knees because my knees already kind of hurt, know thank you, navy, for that but with my knees protected by any pads and my hands, you know, with some nice grippy gloves on and the straps tightened to all heck, to the point of cutting off circulation a little bit, because I wanted zero slippage people, none.
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If, if I pick up this toilet and I drop this toilet and I by you know, you know, evidence of consequences break this toilet, I'm in big trouble. I'm in very, very big trouble. Okay, so I pick it up and it's in our let's just call it a living room, and I have to walk across the foyer, essentially the area right inside of our front door, to the right side of our front door, which is the half bath. That's where it was going. It wasn't a very long distance, but how many of you can relate to the fact that when you are under heavy stress and a lot of weight, no distance is short enough so that one's free for y'all.
Speaker 1:
Anyway, I pick up the toilet and I just imagine this you know very slim, slender, black dude just taking a sumo wrestler's deep squatted battle stance, like I. At no point in time have I ever hit up planet fitness and pulled off a stance or position like this. I am bear hugging this toilet. My knees are at a essentially a 90 degree angle, I guess no more like less than less than 90. So, yeah, because it'd have to be a deep squat. So imagine just my thighs touching my calves let's just put it that way with my calves just on fire from having to maintain a certain amount of balance, as I am holding this toilet out in front of me, braced up with my knees and wrapped around with my arms, and I am just just imagine a backtrack of boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Like, imagine that amount of weight, just that's just me stomping very painstakingly, slowly across our foyer.
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I finally make it to the bathroom and it's this slim opening the slim door. So I have to very, extremely like I have to. The amount of stress I was under. Guys, I should have called for help. That's another thing I should have just asked. I should have called for help. That that's another thing I should have just asked. I should have just waited for help, but it was late at night and I just wanted to get it done. So, yeah, bite me.
Speaker 1:
I put it down and then I have to somehow angle my body inwardly and then reach over the toilet, because right now the toilet is facing outside of the bathroom. So imagine I have to reach down over the back of the toilet, the water reservoir, grab the front lip of the toilet and then, kind of, you know, sacrifice my lower back to the greater good that is having a functional toilet. And I have to lift it and inch it in just a little bit, being careful not to scratch it on the tile or scratch the tile with it. Finally, I get it inside of the bathroom. The bathroom is a very small bathroom. I cannot, for example, sit on that toilet and stretch both arms out to either side of me. It is slim, and so I have to now, without many different angles of attack.
Speaker 1:
Man, now I'm thinking about even all the other stuff that made this even more difficult, because system that allows you to essentially put the toilet on the flange with the wax ring in between, and that prevents any water or waste from just leaking out a little little by little as you use the toilet. Right, try not to visualize too much here. Anyway, on this, on either side of the wax rings there are these two, um, uh, fastening bolts. I guess that there are two holes on on the underside of the toilet for them to go into. And then it's, once the toilet sits on those two fastening screws or fastening poles, whatever, that's, when you are able to tighten them down, and then that holds the toilet in place onto the flange that is already screwed into the floor. Hopefully I haven't lost you guys, but if I have, don't worry about it. I'll summarize everything at the end in just a minute or two. So imagine I don't have anybody else there.
Speaker 1:
I did my best to pre-stage all of this by making sure that those fastening bolts were vertical, as vertical as I could get them. But now imagine this toilet that I had to deep squat, sumo stance to lift and carry. I have to now accurately hover it over those screws that I cannot see, by the way, and just hope and intercede for my own safety and pray to god on high that that I am hitting this angle right, my forearms and my triceps and my lower back and my quads and my glutes and my what are these dang muscles called? They're not shins, it's on the other side of shins. I'm brain farting right now. Calves, calves, there we go, my cat. They're screaming bloody murder at me. They are just yelling Jason, what are you doing? Get help, stop this Enough. But I haven't had enough. This toilet, this toilet, is getting installed Tonight.
Speaker 1:
So whatever you guys gotta do, talk amongst yourselves, figure it out, but I'm gonna need some more juice, cause I brought it down and I heard a clink. I'm not supposed to hear a clink. I'm supposed to hear a slink as the toilet glides down those fastening poles so that I can fasten it down afterwards. But I heard a clink, not a slink. I need a clink. No, no, I heard a clink, not a schlink. I need a clink. No, no, I heard a clink, not a schlink, I need a schlink. And therefore I'm having too much fun with this, and therefore I had to lift it back up, being careful not to rest the weight of the toilet onto those poles.
Speaker 1:
Guys, I'm sweating bullets over here, I am in pain, my body is starting to vibrate and we all know anybody who's ever physically exerted themselves doing the god forsaken exercise called planks when you start vibrating, that's your body telling you yep, I'm about to check out. When you start having tremors like the aftershocks of an earthquake, that's when your body is telling you. It just, you know, shimmy back a little bit, put it on the ground and take a breather. But I knew that I was exerting the last bit of strength I had left. I had to get this done. I had to finish the job, job. I had to see it through, because if I put it down, I was not about to pick it back up and mama ain't raised no quitta, uh, most times anyway.
Speaker 1:
So I bring it back down the second time and, guys, I cannot express the sheer amount of emotional, just gut-wrenching trauma and pain that shot through my chest as I heard another clink. It hit the bolt again. I missed, and so, just as I'm about to just like, okay, maybe, maybe mom did raise a quitter, there's just this one side of me that is like no, I bro, you came this far and you're not going to get to. You're not going to get to do the first flush. Really, really, you're going to let this thing beat you. I could hear the maniacal, deep, guttural, like, like laughter of this porcelain devil just mocking me.
Speaker 1:
And so, with everything in me and now with my gloves starting to get moist from my sweat so I was very, very short time I tried one last time Using the toilet. This was a feat. This was, quite frankly, pretty impressive. I used the toilet to move the bolt that was slightly off kilter I think it was the left one. It was slightly tilting and so I just wedged the toilet just a little bit against it to get it back straight again.
Speaker 1:
And thankfully, guys, ladies, gentlemen, my friends, dearest listeners, we got a schlink. We got a schlink. Yes, it came down so smooth. It sat on the wax ring, the seal was tight and, of course. Of course, as soon as I got the toilet all hooked into the water supply, the water came flowing into the tank. There was nothing leaking from the pipe or from around the actual toilet flange. I checked the floor. My finger came back dry. It wasn't drippy, none of that crap.
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Finally, finally, after we got our slink, I pressed the flush button down. It's not like an electronic toilet or anything, it's just one of those push to flush, as opposed to. You know, press down the lever, it's from the top. Anyway, I press it down and it was just the most glorious moment, slurping sound ever. It's, it's the sound of, of, of a happy plumber. It's the sound of a happy plumber. Ladies and gentlemen, I got my flush that night. In fact, I was so stoked, stoked, it was so nice. I had to do it twice, guys. We got two flushes that night, and I am here to tell you what that toilet has taught me. There's three things that I want to share with you. Numero uno, numero uno Gear up. Anytime you are about, you know that you're about to face off with something heavy and difficult. Gear up.
Speaker 1:
If I didn't have my knee pads, I would not and I tell you to, to, to wedge that um, um, one of those securing bolts on the floor. Using the toilet, I had to get on my knee. Imagine wielding the weight of that toilet. That took both my legs and both my arms and my chest to hold it up. Imagine holding up all of that weight on one knee. I would have blown that thing out if it were not for the knee pads that I prepared and put on beforehand. I mean, never mind the knee pads. I wouldn't have even gotten to the bathroom with the toilet if I had just used my hands. It would have slipped out of my hands, it would have probably broke. All sorts of things could have happened I would not have had, I would not have been able to maintain the amount of grip that I did without the gloves that I had put on.
Speaker 1:
So thanks to my gear, the, let's call it, the armor that I put on to face this situation, I was adequately prepared for victory, and it doesn't always guarantee victory. But all I'm saying with point number one, which is gear up, is give yourself the best chance you can possibly give yourself. If you can set yourself up for better, a little bit better, for success, why wouldn't you? So gear up? Number two don't rush when life gets heavy.
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When things get heavy, when things get dark, when you know the stressors get overwhelming, stressors get overwhelming. Believe you me, it is our instinct to just get away, run away and rush around or rush through the thing just to get out of it. And to a certain degree, I believe it is important to have a sense of urgency, absolutely. But having a sense of urgency is different from rushing the latter, my friends. Rushing gives off the impression of recklessness, it gives off the impression of speed with no preparation. It gives off the impression of desperate escape as opposed to targeted pursuit. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1:
So when things get heavy, when the thoughts get dark, when the support gets pulled away, that's not the time to just run around with your head cut off like like a chicken. With your head cut off like a chicken, with your head cut off, as in running around crazy. That is the time likely, at least at first, to maybe take slow, deliberate, thoughtful, heavy steps. Make sure the ground that you are stepping on is sure before you put your weight on it. So oftentimes, when things get that heavy, it's time to just take it slow, because with all that weight on you, guess what happens when you fall? The consequences are much greater. It's not just you falling, it's not just you skidding your knee, it's you and whatever you were carrying.
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So let's just say, in a certain season of your life, your family is heavy on you. Let's just say, in a certain season of your life, your career is heavy on you or your calling is heavy on you. Are you okay with falling while you're carrying your family? Are you okay with falling while you're carrying your family? Are you okay with falling while you're carrying your career or your calling? Are you okay with dropping all of that because you were rushing? I'm not. Can that still happen? Can you still fall, even if you're taking things slow? Yes, but just like point number one, if you could give yourself the best chance at at success possible, why wouldn't you? So again, number two don't rush when life gets heavy. Don't be reckless. It doesn't mean don't go fast if you have the capability and the confidence to go fast and have a sense of urgency in whatever you're pursuing, just because there are weights on you. Not what I'm saying. I'm saying don't be reckless and rushing, okay.
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Lastly, number three and this isn't particularly a lesson that I had learned or that I applied that night, but it is one that I learned in hindsight two heads are better than one. That's number three, my friends, two heads are better than one and a lot of times, with all those heavy things around you, some of just one of the best ways you can, one of the best gifts you can give yourself, is the gift of a friend, is the gift of family members or friends or you know, just other people, other minds, to give you a fresh perspective on whatever you're going through, or to give you a helping hand or words of encouragement or just the gift of their presence. Whoever it is that you care about and that they care about you, those sorts of people are golden in such times, even if they are unable to completely take that weight away from you. Sometimes, just that extra arm holding pushing up from under the the weight of whatever is on you, it can offer such deep relief and for at least moments you can actually take a couple deep, filling breaths, and that can be just what you need to finish the journey ahead. So I hope that makes sense.
Speaker 1:
I hope you've taken my advice on the lessons that I've learned personally in my my luchador battle with with a porcelain opponent, a tile based environment, a dusty water closet I don't know I ran out of what. Is it similes? I don't know I ran out of what is it similes? I don't know. Anyway, I hope my Toll. That Story was entertaining and educational for you is what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 1:
So to recap gear up, Don't go into battle without your armor. Number two, don't rush when life gets heavy. And number three, two heads are better than one. Don't go into battle without your armor. Number two don't rush when life gets heavy. And number three two heads are better than one. Whatever you're facing this week, whatever you have faced this week, or whatever you're facing next month or next year, whatever it is, sometimes it will get heavy, but just know that you can make it and you have the opportunity to give yourself the best chance for success that you can possibly give yourself, so that if and when you make a mistake, if and when you fail, you will know that you have done so without regret, without holding back, without remorse. Anyway, hope this helps.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for spending the time with me today. I know this was a bit of a longer one, but yeah, I had fun with it. I had fun retelling my toilet story and I hope you had fun listening to it. Have a great day, have a great rest of your weekend, have a great rest of your week or your month or your year. And, you know, maybe find somebody who you, who you can see very clearly that they are under something heavy and maybe, maybe give them a helping hand. You know, hold up the weight for just a little bit, keep them company. Whatever, it is something that you wouldn't want. Anyway, all right, I love you guys. Get out of here. Goodbye, before I make this any longer. Thanks for listening.
