Navigating Life with Strength and Grace w/ Andrew Anderson EP 48

 [00:00:57] Shanenn Bryant: I have international number one best-selling author of Strength of the Oak, Strength of the Willow, Andrew Anderson. Welcome.

[00:01:08] Andrew Anderson: Thank you. 

[00:01:09] Shanenn Bryant: I'm so happy that you are here with us today because I know you have a lot to share. But I wanted to start with, the title of your book. I love symbolism and it seems as though there's something to the name of your book. So, can you describe like why those two trees? What does that mean?

[00:01:28] Andrew Anderson: Absolutely. Well, I had a wonderful coach who told me, Andrew, sometimes your oak like strength is maybe too strong and you need some willow strength. And I'm like, what are you talking about? And he introduced to me the differing and complementary strengths of an oak, which could be summed up in the one word I use, which is courage.

[00:01:50] Andrew Anderson: And the strength of the willow, which is compassion. And so, we need to be strong enough that we can withstand the storms of life and willing to bend without breaking and have that grace, compassion for ourselves and others. 

[00:02:04] Shanenn Bryant: Sometimes that's a difficult balance to play. How do we know when we need to do that for ourselves? And then, how do we do that? Because it is very difficult. Life can seem, at times, really hard. And so, of course, we're hard on ourselves. We're hard on sort of our idea sometimes of how the day is going, how our life's going.

[00:02:29] Shanenn Bryant: And it seems more on the difficult side. So how do we balance that and how do we get back over with the compassion when we're too far the other way?

[00:02:38] Andrew Anderson: Well, like a pendulum or a teeter totter or anything else that goes back and forth. Uh, it's not about balance. In fact, balance is one of those words that we get caught up in when it comes to personal growth and development. Maybe like a Christian might get caught up with perfection. It's not achievable.

[00:02:56] Andrew Anderson: Nothing is truly in balance. Everything is always in movement. And what we actually need is counterbalance. The grace, right? And the permission to say, I am over here today, all in on my work. And the permission to say, I am over here today. I am all in with my family and having that ability to counterbalance and that willow like strength allows us to show up when it is time to be firm with our non-negotiables, our life mission, our values, our principles.

[00:03:34] Andrew Anderson: Those are the things that we should never bend on. And yet application of those life mission values, principles, and how is where we do it. More of that Willa like strength.

[00:03:48] Shanenn Bryant: I like that you said the counterbalance because it is something that we really struggle with even though we hear all the time, life's not fair. You know, there's going to be hard times and good times when we're in those hard times. We, we question that, like, why is this happening? Why shouldn't life be fair?

[00:04:09] Shanenn Bryant: And not understanding that that's sort of part of the good, right? Like, there's bad that comes with good. And so, we get really stuck in, why is this happening? And everything should be good. And when it's not good, that means there's a problem.

[00:04:24] Andrew Anderson: Exactly. Well, it's almost like we think that life is happening to us. And if that's true, then everything that is unfair, everything that hurts, everything that is bad, is somehow, you know, hurting us. And if we can simply shift one word in that question from why is this happening to me to why is this happening for me, then there is a seed of potential greatness in every good or bad thing that is happening for us.

[00:05:01] Andrew Anderson: We just have to find out what that is.

[00:05:04] Shanenn Bryant: Can you give an example of something that maybe even you went through where because sometimes that can be really hard like I don't see this being good for me at all, or, you know, anything to it.

[00:05:17] Andrew Anderson: I'll give you a funny one and then I'll give you a serious one. Is that fair?

[00:05:22] Shanenn Bryant: Yeah.

[00:05:23] Andrew Anderson: As we're talking about fairness. Um, I have a beautiful office space that I lease because I have seven children and I choose not to work from home because I am sane.

[00:05:34] Andrew Anderson: and I have loved this space and they let me know that the lease isn't up for renewal. And I was just like, oh my gosh, like this, this space is beautiful. It's the exact size. It's within six minutes of a drive time from my house. And I was immediately checked like, okay, Andrew, this is a small thing.

[00:05:55] Andrew Anderson: And can you live what you preach now? And so, I just quickly said, okay, why is this happening for me? There is a better opportunity. There's something that's waiting that the universe and God are saying, just forget what you think is awesome right now and just let it go. That very day, a gentleman messaged me on Facebook that I haven't talked to in years, and I just decided to pick up the phone and call him.

[00:06:22] Andrew Anderson: I found out that he has extra space in his office. That is three minutes from my house as opposed to six minutes. And...

[00:06:32] Andrew Anderson: The space is better. he has recording equipment for when I'm doing my own videos. He, he has, he's got it all. It's like it's, and it's $500 less per month than what I'm currently paying.

[00:06:43] Shanenn Bryant: hmm. 

[00:06:44] Andrew Anderson: A Fun, silly example of, you know, why is this happening for me rather than, why is this happening?

[00:06:50] Shanenn Bryant: Yeah. Okay, so two things before we go on to the serious one. 

[00:06:55] Shanenn Bryant: Congratulations on seven children. That's amazing. So, then the second part, though, is what if then, like, we don't, it doesn't happen in a positive way right away. Like, you didn't have that thing come up or we didn't have the office space that is actually better. How are we able to still keep that same thought process or same mentality to really get us through that tough time?

[00:07:25] Andrew Anderson: Um, those moments can be very, very frustrating and let's go right into my, my more serious story.

[00:07:35] Andrew Anderson: and then I'll teach you how I learned to do it and how I coach others to do so as well. When expectations aren't met, there's an extreme letdown and you can call it frustration, you call it disappointment, you can call it, it's depressing, right?

[00:07:51] Andrew Anderson: Whatever it is, it causes anxiety, all of the things. And I went through a separation for six months and I believed that we were working on what needed to happen for us to get back together. We had three beautiful little girls, and it was Easter morning that she handed me divorce papers.

[00:08:14] Shanenn Bryant: Hmm.

[00:08:16] Andrew Anderson: That is a heavy gift to receive on Easter.

[00:08:20] Andrew Anderson: I thought I was applying all the correct principles of mindset, and I was being humble and we were doing everything that it took. And it didn't work out. And within a matter of about two months, we were divorced, and I was living full time in my parents basement at 29, 30 years old.

[00:08:42] Andrew Anderson: It would have been very easy for me.

[00:08:44] Andrew Anderson: And I did at times play the victim card. And I often did question like, why are you doing this to me? As if. You know, it was like my punishment. So, what I learned was to turn that frustration into fascination. And when you're fascinated by something, you're able to ask a lot of questions cause you're curious.

[00:09:14] Andrew Anderson: And so instead of playing that victim card, I started to say, okay, what do I need to learn that will help me be a better father? What do I need to learn that will help me be a better husband the next time? Cause I am getting remarried. That was my goal. And what am I able to take from the career that shattered with the marriage that will empower me to bless even more people in a more significant way in this next opportunity?

And I just became a detective and I just started looking for and finding everything that this could possibly do for me from a place of fascination and curiosity rather than frustration You know that self-awareness piece that we can really dig into out of curiosity and we both know we're both coaches. Curiosity is such a game changer when you get curious, ask questions. Look at things differently, or even being open to the possibility of looking at something in a different way than you first perceived it.

[00:10:17] Andrew Anderson: Right. And if you can do that, Shanenn, then what happens is... Your time of learning and growing and building muscles and all of the things that you need mentally and emotionally is, is increased when you're not getting the results that you want immediately. And to recognize that it's not failure, right? It doesn't mean that you're not good enough or you're not doing the right thing.

[00:10:40] Andrew Anderson: It's that you're getting feedback. There is no failure, only feedback. You're just getting feedback on how to do it different and better. And its a, it's a masterclass that may last six months or six years or. Whatever it is, but we can't curse those heavenly timetables, just like we can't pull up the sapling to see how it's doing in its growth process.

[00:11:02] Andrew Anderson: We just trust the timetable and recognize that the fruit will bear when it's ready. And maybe it's not this season. Maybe it's next.

[00:11:10] Shanenn Bryant: Us being patient or trying to be patient, especially when we're in turmoil is really difficult sometimes. And I think that's probably where this courage piece comes in. Right?

[00:11:22] Andrew Anderson: That's right. And I love the word courage. I chose the word courage for the strength of the oak because it comes from the French word coeur, which means heart. And so, when we have courage, we are leading with our heart. And we can truly do things from a place of our heart that we can't do when we're in our head.

[00:11:47] Andrew Anderson: Because our head will always talk us out of something that our heart needs to be true. And so, when we can have the courage to be unyielding in our commitment to what our heart is calling us to do, then it allows us to have that patience because we're all in. We're committed. There's no backing down.

[00:12:03] Andrew Anderson: Burn the freaking boats.

[00:12:06] Shanenn Bryant: Yeah. I always say it's harder to do something that you decided to do, then it is to do something you're called to do. 

[00:12:12] Shanenn Bryant: So, I want to talk about forgiveness. Cause you talk about forgiveness. I think you have seven steps to forgiveness. Tell me a little bit about the forgiveness piece, why this is important, and then we can talk through the seven steps to that.

[00:12:26] Andrew Anderson: Most people that are struggling or in pain, or they're feeling like maybe they are a victim or, you know, they, they just, they don't see a way out. What they need, and they don't know they need this, but what I have found in working, you know, with over 700 individuals and coaching, right, for the last eight years is what they really need is they need to feel free.

[00:12:53] Andrew Anderson: And when we feel free, we have choices. And if we don't feel free, then we don't feel like we have any choice. And we really do feel like a victim. And forgiveness is a secret key that unlocks that freedom. But I can't go to someone and say, you know what you need? You need to forgive yourself and everyone else.

[00:13:16] Andrew Anderson: Because that doesn't validate where they're at and yet it's always the answer when I'm doing deep, deep release work with someone that's struggling with emotional pain or limiting beliefs and they just can't get past it. There is always that key of forgiveness that unlocks that freedom. So that's where we start.

[00:13:36] Andrew Anderson: 

[00:13:36] Shanenn Bryant: Forgiveness is important, I had a very rough relationship with my dad people were encouraging me my entire life to have a relationship, like do the forgiveness, you know, forgive him, do that and have a relationship with him. I had to get there on my own and I had to be ready to let me forgive for myself. Certainly. I think there are, you know, maybe there are times where people, I think, feel like they're not deserving of forgiveness. they don't feel like they're able to forgive.

 not able or that person or themselves is not worthy of it. Or that somehow, this is one of the other great myths, if I forgive, it somehow justifies the wrong. And I don't want to give that person or myself any leeway to ever do something like that again, to me or anyone else. So, I will keep them in this place of perceived pain so that they won't ever do it. It's just a big, big lie. It's not true.

[00:14:51] Shanenn Bryant: Yeah, place of perceived pain. That's good. Yeah. I think because we feel as if, okay, if I'm not forgiving and I don't let that guard down, then that is my way of protecting, protecting myself, protecting, you know, against them. And so as long as I'm doing that, then there's this false sense of.

[00:15:15] Shanenn Bryant: Nothing, you know, they can't hurt me, but we know there's so much hurt going on because of what they're holding, right?

[00:15:24] Andrew Anderson: And they, they don't know that. And so again, I can't just say, you just need to forgive yourself and forgive everyone. Can you do that? Great. Here's how you do it. What, what we do, in fact, uh, we'll just go right into it. Um, I call it the seven proven steps to forgiveness of others and yourself. But the very first thing we do is we got to stop resisting and I'm sure you've heard it said that what we resist persists. I add on another little qualifier at the end there. If what we resist persists, then what we lean into, we can actually learn from. So, the first step of the seven proven steps of forgiveness of others and yourself is to acknowledge and assess the pain and the damage and call it out and be real and just validate and recognize what those emotions are.

[00:16:16] Andrew Anderson: And what you have believed to be true about yourself because of what you felt,

[00:16:22] Shanenn Bryant: Leaning into it. Taking a look at it instead of like, I'm just going to keep ignoring this. Like eventually I'm going to have to look at it. Right. 

[00:16:32] Andrew Anderson: That's ignoring it or suppressing it or just pretending but just acknowledging it, assessing it, and then really recognizing what have I believed to be true because of what I felt.

[00:16:45] Andrew Anderson: And that could be, I'm not lovable, I'm not forgivable. That person has taken something from me that I can never have back.

[00:16:54] Andrew Anderson: And therefore, like getting very real is gets to the point of your value, which is again, I'm not worthy. I'm not enough. I'm not lovable. I'm, I can never be whole again, 

[00:17:08] Shanenn Bryant: This is what we talk about on this podcast is self-worth and knowing that, you know, that's, you have that, like you are worthy, but we definitely get to places. In our belief system based on our past based on things that may have happened where then we start telling ourselves that we're not and we drive from that place. 

[00:17:35] Andrew Anderson: It's an unconscious. Action that is taking place in your brain, in your thought process. And if you already knew that this was happening, you would have done something about it because you're smart.

[00:17:47] Andrew Anderson: as, as you're listening to this, I want you to recognize that you have everything in you.

[00:17:53] Andrew Anderson: You were wired to show up in a place of compassion and take care of this. You just need to have someone help you see it for what it is.

[00:18:05] Shanenn Bryant: Okay. So, what's the next

[00:18:08] Andrew Anderson: What's the next step? Okay. Well, this one gets tricky. And if you're in a session with me, I'll ask, what do you gain from holding on to that? And guess what most people say? They almost always say I don't gain anything. Like I know that Andrew. And I say, good job. That's the right answer. But there actually is in some sick way.

[00:18:27] Andrew Anderson: You are gaining something that your unconscious mind believes is helping and serving and protecting you that actually isn't. So, what is that? And that's the next step. Like, like, let's shine light on this and recognize what are you gaining? Is it a sense? Is it a sense of justification? Is it a, is it pride?

[00:18:50] Andrew Anderson: Are you gaining the ability to just identify like, this is me, this is who I am. It's my identity. And if I'm not this, I don't know who I'm going to be. So, I'm just going to be this, right? So really seeing what is happening and what you are holding onto. By not letting go of it.

[00:19:08] Shanenn Bryant: I mean, and sometimes it could be more than one thing, right? Like I, I might be holding onto it because of more than just, you know, I feel like this is my identity or, you know, several things that could be going on. Yeah. So sometimes, yeah, there's usually more than one thing, huh? 

[00:19:27] Andrew Anderson: Yeah. And then, then the very, like, there's two parts of this second step. The thought is, okay, well, could you get this in some other way or something even better? Cause like, if, if you can recognize that, yeah, this is serving me to some extent, but I could get this or something better in some other way, then wouldn't you rather just do it in some other way?

[00:19:48] Andrew Anderson: And that's a no brainer. People always like, Oh my gosh. Yes, of course. Like. This, this is harmful. I don't like this.

[00:19:57] Shanenn Bryant: Um, I love taking it to that next level of, okay, now I've identified what my payoff is what I get from this, what benefit I think there is for me. So, is there a different way to get that benefit?

[00:20:13] Andrew Anderson: And then once you identify that there is, there's a possibility. And so, the third step is to just get permission and ask yourself literally for permission to be free and allow yourself to say yes. Right. To the possibility of that, you know, there is an actual better way. So that's the third step is just give yourself permission like to be free.

[00:20:34] Shanenn Bryant: So, what do you think it takes to, like, get that permission or how do you know, like, okay, I've said it because I feel like this has happened to me before where I'm saying, I'm going to forgive myself that I did that or forgive myself that that happened, but then I really don't.

[00:20:50] Shanenn Bryant: Right.

[00:20:50] Andrew Anderson: It's probably because you, uh, I mean, no one coached or guide you through those, those first two steps. You didn't actually truly assess and acknowledge what this was doing to you and what you were experiencing by holding onto it. And then you did not recognize that you can get this or something much better in another way.

[00:21:09] Andrew Anderson: Cause if you know, there's a better way. You're going to seek that instead. We just do. We always want the better, easier, faster, you know, sexier, cheaper way. And if we don't believe that that's possible, then we'll keep doing what we're

[00:21:25] Shanenn Bryant: hmm. Yeah. Good point.

[00:21:27] Andrew Anderson: doing. Alright, So next step, there's a learning. And I call this step preserving the learning. It's like, what is it? That you need to learn from this experience, the learning of which will allow you to let go of the emotions. Now that 

[00:21:46] Andrew Anderson: That's where things come that I would have never thought of, but your unconscious mind is holding onto it. And once it learns what it needs to learn, then it can let go. And that learning is the letting go. Because once you know that you're safe. That you're whole, that you're lovable, that you're worthy.

[00:22:07] Andrew Anderson: Once you have that knowledge, there's no reason to keep what it was that was, you're clinging on to 

[00:22:16] Shanenn Bryant: So, do you feel like that's something that is almost one of those, like, I love a click moment, like, where it's like, oh, my life was just different 30 seconds ago. And now it can never be the same. Like, I love that. I learned this now and it's that sort of immediate.

[00:22:35] Andrew Anderson: Once you know something, you can't unknow it. Like you can't do both. It's impossible. So, you're either going to hold on to that old false belief or you're going to completely embrace and fall in love with this truth.

[00:22:48] Shanenn Bryant: that's an exciting step. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:22:50] Andrew Anderson: We have those learnings, then the next step is to then step into that better way. And I call it stepping into the light. What's possible now? What do you see that you couldn't see before? In your future that you can begin to dream about and scheme about and put all of your, you know, like, wow, I had no idea.

[00:23:17] Andrew Anderson: I had no idea because the load was so heavy. I didn't know I could run so fast. That's the next step is stepping into that lightened space with this new lightened load.

[00:23:29] Shanenn Bryant: What do you think the number one thing is that keeps people stuck? Like if you had to say, you know Maybe it's not a specific situation but what's the number one thing that keeps people from achieving those things that they want to

[00:23:44] Andrew Anderson: Yeah. I think the number one thing that keeps people stuck is deceit. You want to know what I 

[00:23:51] Shanenn Bryant: about? I do want to know what you mean by deceit.

[00:23:54] Andrew Anderson: Deceit: believing something to be true about yourself, or the world, or the universe, or God, whatever that belief is, like believing something that just wasn't true.

[00:24:06] Andrew Anderson: And then building all of your frameworks, and all of your principles and life values and models and relationships off that one piece of deceit. And when we can get to that root in this forest of aspens. Then we can, instead of trying to go and take down every single tree, we can get to that tap root. We can put TNT there and we can blow the hell out of the whole forest.

[00:24:33] Shanenn Bryant: Mm hmm you know; we talk a lot about deceit on this podcast and it's one of the things people are extremely afraid of. And it's that, like, I don't want somebody to get over on me again. I don't want this to surprise me again. And so, we spend, our whole lives preparing to not be deceived, to not be tricked. We lose the journey, right? We lose the, the interesting parts of life, 

[00:25:05] Andrew Anderson: Well, cause you're playing not to lose, and no team ever wins a game by playing defense the whole time because you're missing out on opportunities to score. You're missing out on opportunities to love, to laugh, to, to just live your, your fullest and best. So, if you recognize that, Hey, this is a long game, I'm going to score as often and as joyfully as I can, and I'm going to get beat up along the way and we're going to get scored against, but.

[00:25:31] Andrew Anderson: In the end, if my life is full of more love and joy and meaning than all the other things, then I will have won. So, we play to win rather than not to lose.

[00:25:43] Shanenn Bryant: Yeah. Cause that feeling of deceit is so strong. Like when that happens and you feel totally tricked, it's almost like loving the click, but in reverse click of like, oh gosh, you know, I thought everything was this way and in an instant. I have realized it's not. And that, that feeling is just so deep and emotional that of course it's creating all of those tags in your brain of like, this, I never want to do this again.

[00:26:12] Shanenn Bryant: I never want to experience this again. Because it's so strong.

[00:26:16] Andrew Anderson: Yeah. And yet you're free from it because if you truly are able to see that light, you know, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel and you recognize that, wow, like there is something that I didn't even know was possible inside of me, outside of me in this world, right? Like once you're awakened to that, then there's no turning back.

[00:26:39] Andrew Anderson: It's just not even an option. Like, why would I, why would I ever go back to it?

[00:26:44] Shanenn Bryant: Sometimes it's so hard to see the difference, you know, what, what it would look like because we get so stuck in, this is how I operate, and this is what I experience and this is what I do. It's hard to see that there's any other way.

[00:26:58] Andrew Anderson: We identify with it instead of it just being this thing. It's like, it becomes a part of us. We take it personally and, and once something is taken personally and it becomes our identity, now we're talking ego. And that ego is just one of the most challenging things to drop. you know, identity that is sabotaging you.

[00:27:18] Andrew Anderson: That's not you.

[00:27:19] Shanenn Bryant: Yeah,

[00:27:21] Andrew Anderson: It's tricky.

[00:27:22] Shanenn Bryant: Yeah, good one. Okay, do we have one? 

[00:27:24] Andrew Anderson: Yeah, we got, yeah, we got two more. The next, uh,

[00:27:28] Andrew Anderson: number six is seal the deal. What actions now do you need to take to really seal the deal and be 100 percent free to move forward? Do you need to approach the person or yourself, or maybe you write a letter? Or you write a burn letter, what is it that will truly anchor this for you so that you can have, if you want to call it closure, but I really say like, what's the door that we need now open.

[00:27:54] Andrew Anderson: And then when it swings shut, as we walk through it, we're safe.

[00:27:57] Andrew Anderson: And then once you take that action, creates new neural pathways in your brain that are now creating this new reality for you. The last step, I actually discovered while I was writing this book, which was really cool. I recognized that if we want to continue to move forward, we can't ever go back.

[00:28:20] Andrew Anderson: So, the last step is ensure protection. Like, if you truly do need to protect yourself from potential heartache in the future, then you've got to set up safeguards by either asking others for help or creating your own boundaries. You've got to have a plan for protection, though.

[00:28:36] Shanenn Bryant: I like the boundaries piece. We hear boundaries all the time, but one of the things that I find interesting about boundaries is like we almost inevitably set them up too late. 

[00:28:47] Shanenn Bryant: so, I love being prepared, especially even going into relationships of setting those things out front, having those conversations, like before people decide to move in together, before people decide to, have children together, like.

[00:29:00] Shanenn Bryant: Make sure that you're all on the same page and not wait until, because what I think might be a boundary that's just, you know, common knowledge to everyone. Or I think like, well, everybody knows you're not supposed to do that. 

[00:29:13] Shanenn Bryant: Not always true.

[00:29:15] Andrew Anderson: No. We usually get into relationships, whether it's a relationship with a car that we buy or a person that we love. We get into relationships because chemistry is high, and it's an emotional decision. And when chemistry is high, clarity is low. And what happens over time is when the chemistry drops, you're like, oh my gosh.

[00:29:33] Andrew Anderson: Did you see that this car doesn't have blank or that this person doesn't have eyebrows? What the? I swear you had eyebrows when we met, right? And you begin to see things that you didn't see before because clarity was low because chemistry was high. So, when we can agree upon and set expectations, Right?

[00:29:57] Andrew Anderson: Whether it's with this car that we're going to have warrantied or this relationship, then we can prepare ourselves because we set those expectations. And we checked in, inspecting what we were expecting on a consistent basis rather than just hoping and praying that everything worked out.

[00:30:18] Shanenn Bryant: Yeah. Well, I know what you mean, Andrew, about clarity being low and chemistry being high in terms of purchasing cars. My 73-year-old mother drives a lime green Jeep named Miss Behaven. 

[00:30:33] Andrew Anderson: I 

[00:30:33] Shanenn Bryant: Ha ha ha! Total chemistry high, clarity low. So, yeah, it works across the board, right?

[00:30:41] Andrew Anderson: That's right. Yeah.

[00:30:43] Shanenn Bryant: Well, those are fantastic steps.

[00:30:46] Shanenn Bryant: the book sounds amazing. I, like I said, I'm in love with the title. Do you mind running through that just really quickly? Because I think it's important to understand the book title and that symbolism, with those trees, because then people can have that visual to think through, like, okay, this is the counterbalance to this.

[00:31:08] Andrew Anderson: Sure. They have differing strengths. And what makes an oak so strong is that before it ever sends out any horizontal roots, before it ever shoots out a, a sprout that, you know, breaks ground and heads towards the light, before it does anything, it first sends a vertical tap root down to a source of water.

[00:31:33] Andrew Anderson: And once connected to that source, it always has something to pull and draw nutrients from. Most people are trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up without first identifying, what is my purpose? And in my book, I call it your life mission. And when you are rooted. And grounded to that source, and you know why you're here on this planet, and what you want to be said about you when you leave, then, you truly have that life giving, um, Nutrition to withstand any of the storms that an oak tree can withstand. So, that's where the oak gets its strength, from that taproot, that source of water.

[00:32:27] Andrew Anderson: Now, I'll tell you about what makes the willow unique,

[00:32:29] Shanenn Bryant: So, the willow, uh, the willow often grows on, uh, banks of rivers and ponds and lakes. And a willow tree does not have that same root system because its goal is not longevity. Its goal is to continue to produce over and over and over again. So, when you see willow branches strewed across the ground, you're like, oh my gosh, this is so annoying.

[00:32:54] Andrew Anderson: What's happening is when one of those willow branches is put into the ground. Like, you can literally just pick it up and stick it into the ground. It will grow another tree. And so, the oak has this I'm never gonna die. I'm never gonna break. I'm gonna be the strongest tree. And the willow says I'm going to get back up and I'm going to try again.

[00:33:19] Andrew Anderson: And I'm gonna produce new life. And I'm gonna share this storm and create all the goodness that I possibly can. And so, if it does go down and the root system fails It continues to live on in another tree.

[00:33:34] Shanenn Bryant: Oh, love it. Love it. Thank you so much for sharing that. I appreciate it. And I appreciate all of the great information that you shared with us today. 

[00:33:44] Shanenn Bryant: If someone wanted to find you... Where can they find you? 

[00:33:49] Andrew Anderson: Yeah. They can come knock on my door. I live in Boise, Idaho, or there's this thing called Amazon and you can find my book, Strength of the Oak, Strength of the Willow, how to find courage and compassion in a turbulent world on Amazon. They can also follow me. I'm sure you'll put the tag at Andrew L.

[00:34:06] Andrew Anderson: Anderson 85. I'm on social media every day and uh, my website. And I'd also love to give your listeners a gift with your permission. Would that be ok?

[00:34:17] Shanenn Bryant: Oh, they love that.

[00:34:19] Andrew Anderson: Okay. Uh, if they send an email to Andrew at www.andrelanderson.com and in the subject line, they just put Shanenn gift, then we're going to send them two choices, not one, but two.

[00:34:32] Andrew Anderson: Because I like choice. We'll send them two choices. To, uh, let them dive into my book immediately without having to wait for Amazon to deliver it.

[00:34:41] Shanenn Bryant: That's awesome. Well, thank you so much. We appreciate you being here and wonderful information. Go out, get Andrew's book, Strength of the Oak, Strength of the Willow. Nice to have you here.

[00:34:54] Andrew Anderson: Thank you, Shanenn. Thank you to your listeners. What an incredible tribe you have. I honor them and I honor you.

[00:35:00] Shanenn Bryant: Thank you.