Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - Why You’re Drowning in Stress - and How to Let Go

Episode Date: June 4, 2025

In today’s episode, we explore the dance between surrender and action, how to let go of what we can’t control and fiercely protect what lights us up. We journey to the Salt River at sunrise, drawing on the wisdom of the wild horses and the Stoic philosophy to remind us that peace doesn’t come from fighting the current, but from flowing with it. We reflect on the importance of protecting our energy, of pouring ourselves into what inspires us, and of finding the courage to be different. We talk about the power of holding on when the world would let go, and how, like the river and the rising sun, we’re always invited to begin again. Let this episode be your call to trust your path, to move with the current where you must, and to shape your life with unwavering purpose;this is your moment to rise.More from Eddie Pinero:Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletterYour World Within Podcast: https://yourworldwithin.libsyn.com/Stream these tracks on Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2BLf6pBInstagram - @your_world_within and @IamEddiePineroTikTok - your_world_withinFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/YourworldwithinTwitter - https://www.twitter.com/IamEddiePineroBusiness Inquiries - http://www.yourworldwithin.com/contact

We don't always have the power to change what's around us, but we do have the power to change what's within us. We can't always stop the storm, but we can always find the calm in how we navigate it. Let's dive into that dance, the push and pull between acceptance and agency, between the things we surrender to and the things we shape. Because I want to show you how it all comes together,

here in this place where earth meets water where life whispers through the wild horses and where the sun rises each morning to begin again so close your eyes and visualize with me as I paint a picture of letting go moving forward and beginning let me take you to a river a river that cuts through the desert like a ribbon of life the salt river as it's called where water meets earth and time slows to a gentle hush this river it's more than just water at least to me it's a metaphor for the current of life itself ever moving ever flowing and it speaks to us that is of course so long as we pause long enough to listen. There's an ancient prayer that echoes here. A prayer born from the wisdom of generations

past, it's referred to as the serenity prayer. It essentially states, God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. But these words, they aren't just for quiet moments of prayer and solitude, they're a map for navigating the world, a blueprint for living life on your terms. They are a reminder that life is a river, where parts of it are calm, parts of it are wild, but all of it is always. And amongst many others, the Stoics understood this. They believed it to be a fool's errand to run up against the things we cannot change.

Like trying to swim upstream in the raging current, we only exhaust ourselves fighting what was never meant to be fought. So we learn to let go, to surrender. Not in weakness, but in wisdom. Because there's power in knowing where to yield and where to push forward. And as you venture down the river's banks, you just might be lucky enough to see wild horses. They don't fight the current. They move with it. Sometimes crossing it, sometimes pausing to drink from it,

that they are a symbol of freedom. Of the power that comes from understanding how to move with life, not against it. How to let the environment work for you. These horses embody the fact that there are always parts of life we can control. Our actions, our choices, our direction. We can decide when to charge ahead and when to stand still. When to let the river carry us and when to forge our own path. And the bow on all of this, the third leg of the stool,

is that there is no better time to remember any of this than at sunrise. In the quiet light at dawn when the world is reborn. The first rays of the sun are like hope itself, gentle, unwavering, full of promise. A reminder that no matter how dark the night, that sun will rise, it always rises. So let this be more than a narrative. My hope is that you find it as a call to action, where you look in the mirror and ask yourself, where am I fighting the current in my life? Where am I swimming upstream?

What burdens am I carrying that I can set down if I simply accepted the things that cannot be changed or altered? And conversely, where can I find the courage to shape my own path? Like the wild horses weaving through the river's edge. That river, in totality, shows us that life is both constant and unpredictable. Those wild horses reveal to us our power to choose our course within that flow. And the sunrise, well that sunrise is your invitation to begin again. Because every day you have a choice to surrender when needed, to fight where it matters, and to trust that like the river you will find your way.

So let the things you cannot control wash over you like water off a stone. Focus on what you can control. Your mindset, your actions, your vision for the life you want to create. This is the dance between acceptance and agency. The art of living in harmony with what is and still simultaneously carving out life's possibility. As you stand on the riverbank, whether real or imagined, remember this. The river doesn't ask permission to flow.

The horses don't ask permission to roam, and the sun doesn't ask for permission to rise. And neither should you. Step into the current of your life. Release what shouldn't be there. Shape what you can, and greet each new sunrise as an opportunity. to begin again. This is your moment. This is your river. This is your life. I was hiking. That's

where I was with someone today and they mentioned the value of protecting your energy. And I thought that was such a cool way to put it, you know, when you are around people that tend to be negative and draining. You know, it's very true that you become the people that you hang around. And, you know, seeing the beauty and the opportunity and upside in life is not a given. It's not guaranteed.

It's very much a choice. It's a decision. You know, one of my favorite stories by Jim Rohn, this sort of echoes this point. He's talking about two brothers. and these brothers both have an abusive alcoholic father. And, you know, he beats them just terrible childhoods, all the things, right? And they grow up, live totally separate lives.

One of them beats his kids. The other is one of the most loving fathers on planet Earth. And when being interviewed, you know, they ask the abusive father. They're like, why are you like this? And he's like, do you know my childhood? Do you know where I came from? Like, of course I'm going to be like this. That's all I know.

And then they asked the, you know, the loving one. Hey, you know, you're one of the kindest, gentlest fathers ever. One of the best role models we know. How are you like this? And he said, hey, are you kidding me? Did you see my childhood? You think I'm going to inflict that pain on my kids? Right.

And it's the decision to take the same stimuli and make something totally different out of them. And it is so precious, but I think it's, it's so delicate. Like it has to be guarded. And protecting your energy is guarding it from that. Trevor Mawad, I think it's in this book, It Takes What It Takes, was talking about how, when he removed negativity from his life,

it was like, he said he was a person transformed, And what was crazy to me was the extent to which he removed negativity and what he considered negative, right? He's like, country music, out. Can't do it. Nothing negative. I'm like, that's all I consume, right? I love country, but it is innately negative and sad in a lot of different ways. Cable news, nope, right?

Sad movies. No negative people. Cut off. And he said it's just transformative. And it's a form of protecting and insulating yourself from the things that will warp your worldview. And all of it, again, falls under the giant umbrella of the message that how you look at life is a decision. Your perspective is not something that's given to you. It starts internally and is projected out.

So cherish that because it's arguably the most valuable thing you have. There's a saying that will always be true. It will be true on your best days and your worst. It will be true after victory and it will be true after defeat. It will be true when you have momentum and it'll be true when you're down on your luck doing everything in your power to create momentum. That saying is your future begins now. Hey, on the surface might not seem like much. Sure, my future starts now. I know that. Everyone knows that.

Well, if that's true, if everyone does in fact know that, why do we spend so much time stuck, reliving our past, unable to break free? Why do we remain terrified to change? Why do we feel such a connection to who we were, how others saw us? Why must we remain loyal to the character we've been playing in our mental autobiographies? See, here's the thing about the past and the future. One is fixed, can't be changed, and the other, well, it's waiting for you to tell it what it is. One is expired time.

One is plans to be determined. And it's interesting how we continue to conflate the two. Epicetus has said that the more things we value outside of our control, the less control we have. Well, I'm going to be the messenger here relaying the precious truth. that yesterday is in fact out of our control. What can be controlled is where we go from here, the next step. Meaning today is not your failures. It's where you take those lessons.

It's not your mistakes, but it's what the stronger you can now endure because of them. It's not the dreams you let slip away, but where your pursuit might take you now. Now, and yeah, yesterday certainly contributes to your outlook, as all information does. Its value considered, its impact assessed. It guides you, but it's not you. And that difference is astronomical.

There's a question about the role the past plays in our lives. That has to mean something, right? Your past is in many ways your story. It's why you think the way you do. It's contributed to your understanding of the world. it will always be a part of you, and I believe that. But I also believe the past is a story. And just like reading one chapter in a book

simply sets the stage for the next one without controlling its direction, so does every day that has led you up to now. Life gives us the tools to experience, to grow, learn, and then shed that which does not coincide with what's important. Your failures are not you. But they are precious in that they push you towards what you'd like to be.

See, you can experience something and not be that thing. As Kirkagard says, if you label me, you negate me. If you proclaim me to be X, you're essentially stealing from me the infinite possibility that is the future. Yesterday has nothing to do with what I can become. And so taking it a step further, never mind being labeled by someone else. How could you label yourself and see it as anything but self-sabotage? See, you're never defined by your past, but always learning from it. It's not who you are.

It's the cheat codes for what you can be. Without that winding road of misfortune and mistakes, the incredible expansion we long for doesn't materialize. Imagine if everyone who ever felt down in life felt like a loser who temporarily lost hope. Imagine if they looked in the mirror and said, okay, this is who I am now. There would be no triumph in the world because anything meaningful requires the resiliency to map our way from the hell that was our darkest moments to what will become our proudest moments. Destiny, destiny, destiny means that you separate the things. finite from the infinite. What you used to call yourself has prepared you to move towards the horizon. But what you used to call yourself is also as irrelevant now as those seconds

that you watch tick away. Seconds that maybe you're not proud of. Seconds that perhaps taught you about the world. Seconds that gave you a glimpse of what's possible unveiled the happiest of times, all of it. In its own unique way, it brought value, but none of it is your future. Why? Because back to that beautiful, all-powerful sentence, your future begins now. Your destiny is awaiting its marching orders, and all you have to decide as you stand today is where you're that ship will sail. Sometimes what you don't do is more powerful than what you do. Sometimes the answer is not the home run or some lifetime achievement award. No, sometimes the answer is simply hanging, realizing that the yes is they're important. But they're nothing compared to the no's. No,

No to the faint whispering that you came. No to the feelings of inadequacy and no to the reflection staring back at you that just feels ordinary. Is that feeling it's wrong. And what this means, as I was once told, is that success is not always the spectacular. Sometimes it is simply hanging on when others... But let go. When the world would hear that same faint whisper and bow down, because, oh, we all hear it. Life is not a movie.

There is no fixed ending. And where there are unknowns, there is fear. That's not rocket science. Unknown's equal fear. But if I may, let me explain something. Because where there is fear, there is also something else. And that something is opportunity. Like a curtain that must be pulled back, an ocean that must be crossed or a toll that must be paid.

While you dance to melodies of songs unwritten and are led by the characters in stories untold, this is not a game of the miraculous. This is a game of self-belief. A game of not personalize. the people that are going to let you down, the days that will bring you to your knees, it's not feeling inadequate when you swing and miss because you will.

And I hope you do. I hope you do because each swing makes you stronger and each loss makes it easier. Easier to say no to that ship that wants to bring you right back to the port you left from, how comfortable, how safe, how secure it would be. But just like fear and opportunity are one in the same, so are safety and regret.

A concession, a wolf and sheep's clothing, and they are a lot of things, but they are not you. So forget about the grandiose. The magic is not in the moon. It's in the staircase that takes you there. Each step, each battle, each time you fall, smile to yourself and carry on. Because the difference between average and exceptional is the ability to make a single decision, the decision to hold on. To stand firm when the people around you turn back, to believe in your foundation when the wall,

close in. It's running a race with eyes fixated on each step. Not on the finish line. No, the finish line doesn't do anything but distract. It reminds you of the road to be traveled. Your job is not to make a finish line appear. It is to say yes to the step in front of you and know to everything else. See anyone can take one step anyone can progress one foot races journeys life is simply a culmination of those steps a culmination of little decisions to not let go so when your arms shake in the voice in your head screams when your thoughts beg you to stop and your mind starts to rationalize the possibility of surrender. Remember that big things are broken into little things. Minutes are merely seconds. Mountains are merely rocks. And success is simply hanging on

when others would be letting go. If you're lucky enough to be different, don't let go. I spend a lot of my time and energy exploring the power of perspective, how our reality is determined by how we interpret what's in front of us. How one person can look at one thing and see pain or a problem or a barrier and another person can look at that exact same thing and see opportunity or a future win or a bridge to something better. And I think one of the best examples of this is how we perceive those qualities that make us unique, those things that put us in a different category. Maybe we're a little hesitant to fully embrace

because they're not common. And when it comes to that which separates us from everyone else, well, I believe we have a decision to make. I'm going to go back to Robert Frost's fork in the road, right? He says two paths diverged in a wood. I took the one lease traveled by and that made all the difference. On the surface, you could easily brush this off as trivial. It's like, oh, nice, that's cute.

He took the path less traveled by. But what does that mean? As it turns out, it means a lot. It means instead of burying what makes him different, he made it his battle cry. Instead of slipping under the radar, and sneaking through life like so many of us do, he signed the dotted line for the pain of being a beginner,

the struggle of being uncertain, the discipline and sometimes torturous road, that is, turning a passion into excellent, trading peace of mind for the pursuit of meaning in life. Exploring what makes you unique, it takes courage. And in that message, he chooses courage. Because it's not just that you're alone. Taking that path means every step of the way,

your mind screams at you reminders that you're alone. It's not just fighting traffic patterns, it's fighting your DNA. It's resisting that impulse to please sit down, shut up, and blend in. So is it a trivial decision? I'd say not really. Maybe even the most important decision you can make.

because I promise you it's not your commonality with those around you that will bring fulfillment that will leave a mark on your life and the world that surrounds you no it's that thing that's unequivocally you that's a little out there that's somewhat strange that you don't know why but it's gravitational force pulls and pulls and pulls a tug of war where one side begs you to just relax, conform, do less, begs you to never be laughed at or criticized, to take the easy road. Then you have the other side, poking, prodding, asking you, hey, yeah, but what if? What if you sacrifice the comfort of right now?

What if you explored? What if you took that which you love and you ran with it? What if you worked for a delayed payday? What if for a moment in time? When people ask you what the plan is, you have to look back and say, you know what, I'm not quite sure what I'm building. But I'll keep pivoting until it's so clear you can see it from the moon. Those are the paths that pull us apart.

And every time I've lost my way, it's because I've doubted my unique path. And I mean that every time. It's when I become impatient with the journey or look around and see some. someone else winning in a different arena using different methods, different strategy, see the latest trends and success formulas. Hey man, I want part of that, right? I'm human. I want to win.

I want to succeed. But just like a little opening is enough to let in the outside water that sinks the boat. Well, a little bit of doubt is enough to derail your process. A process that you have to believe in, protect, nurture. A process that I've come to separate into two pieces. Number one, believing that the exploration of that thing that makes you unique, it's valuable. That your abilities mean something. They're not inconsequential.

They're not stupid or trivial or unnecessary. If it means something to you, it will most certainly mean something. to others. And you bringing it to life not only helps yourself, evolve, grow, flourish, it helps the world. You just have to believe that enough to bring it to life. That's number one. Number two, trusting that as long as you don't stop in pursuit of your unique self, you can't lose. You can't lose. And I don't mean continuing to ram a square peg into a round whole. I mean growing, learning, experimenting, seeing what works. There's a saying that when you hit a dead end,

it's not that the goal or the dream should be abandoned. It means the plan needs to be changed or adjusted. And as you get better and more experience and continually work to adjust your strategy and your plans, learn from your mistakes, it becomes a matter of time. You increase the odds with every step forward. Being different is the most precious thing afforded to. But to realize that miracle requires a combination of both the mythical and the practical, the imaginary and the real.

Dream that dream, visualize that growth, create a world out of those ideas that don't exist yet. but also understand that the conversion process from dream to reality is a practical one. It requires repetition. Learning, losing, adjusting, and people don't like that. It's much easier to blend in than spend years pushing through the agony of setting yourself apart. But it's worth it. And the evidence is so obvious, so plainly pointing to the fact that we only celebrate the outcasts, the crazy ones.

We sit around campfires, listen to lectures, watch movies and documentaries about the people that had every reason to doubt themselves but kept moving forward. About the people who could have swept their unique abilities under the rug, but instead used them as their foundation for every. not being distracted by what's popular or how anyone else lives or operates not seeking to be anyone but themselves knowing that that is enough knowing it's the seed to something precious the only question is will you provide the right conditions and nourishment for that little seed to grow will you do what so few people have the courage to do let their authentic selves shine through. Let who they are emerge. Emerson has a quote. He says to be yourself in a world that's constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. He goes on to say my life

should be unique. It should be an alms, a battle, a conquest, a medicine. And see, perpetual happiness is a fool's Now, life is full of trials and tribulations and ups and downs. But fulfillment comes from that quest for meaning, for more, for building something, for creating your unique self, a process, a pursuit that must be chiseled from stone. It's never given or provided. It has to be found. Take it. And as Emerson beautifully implies, now is the time. The question is, what are you going to make with this once and a lifetime opportunity?

What will you make of the possibilities that only you know, only you understand, that only you can bring to life? Never doubt yourself or your gifts or the things that set you apart. You don't need everyone else to believe in them. You just need to convince yourself. Everything else, it falls right into place. What if I told you that you already know what must be done? You just need to put yourself in position to do it. You need to unlearn the rules that crippled you, the ideas that convinced you.

the ideas that can find you. We are in constant pursuit of the thing that will magically write all our wrongs, the answer that will give us something we've never had. No, everything you need you have now. You just need to allow it to flourish. declutter simplify remove all that unnecessary

stuff and walk your path Einstein once said everyone is a genius but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid and what's great about this

is the idea that who we are is not found. It's acknowledged. It's accepted. And I think in our world, there are so many fish, as Einstein says, trying to climb trees that it creates a sense of learned helplessness.

We are judging ourselves using the wrong metrics, equipped with the skills, the characteristics, and the abilities to win in our lives. our own arenas, but playing in someone else's. How loyal are you to your own instincts? Do you do what you know is right? Or what you feel obligated to pursue?

When was the last time you listened to you? In Tim Grover's Relentless, he introduces a brilliant metaphor. He says, a lion doesn't have to be taught to be a It just is. It hunts, runs, roams, explores, lives life the only way it knows how. Now if you capture a lion, bring it to the zoo or put it in a cage

who will carry itself differently. We'll lie down, move around lazily, sluggishly navigate its little space, To passers by, they'd never know what that lion really is. They'd never know what it looks like in its element. But despite all this, it is still in fact a lion. It maintains that killer instinct. These characteristics haven't disappeared,

and if it were released from the cage, it would go right back to doing what lies doing what lions do, being what lions are meant to be. It just has to ditch the cage. And the point is perhaps so do you. There's a little light in your soul that waits day and night to explode into something meaningful, where your nature meets your environment, where the ice ice-you-where the I shouldn't do this.

The odds are impossible. The I'm not good enough. I can't lose what I have now. Where all that fades away. Where it's left behind you. And you're finally free to reign over your own territory, your own life, your own empire. See, we constantly feel like our glasses are empty. Like we're missing pieces in need of something.

Just one more thing. That will be our answer. That's all we need. And I can say with confidence, it's not about what you need. It's about what you no longer need. It's about mitigating the noise so what matters can shine through. Removing those people in your life that drag you down or add no value. It's about getting rid of the things that make your world unnecessarily complex. removing the need for immediate validation, success, and accolades,

and instead embracing the little hinges in your life that, as W. Clement Stone said, will ultimately swing the biggest doors. We all have the lock, the key, and the map right there, amidst the trivialities of our day to day. And we walk right by them, look right at them, we pick them up and put them down, But have we learned to truly see them? Everything starts with that awareness.

My life did not change until I recognized that. Until I began asking myself questions I'd never asked before. Big picture questions. Obvious questions. But just because it's obvious doesn't mean it's always intuitive. What do I want out of life? What is important to me? What's something I love doing that I can dedicate myself?

to that I can commit to being great at long term that I'm so immersed in that when the inevitable downtimes arrive, the losses, when the doubt and insecurity creeps in, I can keep moving forward because I'm so in love with the process that I don't let the little things like that define me. As Jordan Peterson famously puts it, choose your sacrifice. The life of meaning is in. easy, but there's nothing more fulfilling. Because when you embark upon that journey, it allows for the evolution of the self. We can become something more. As Nietzsche says, those who have a why to live can bear almost any how.

We equip ourselves for anything the universe can throw at us. We position ourselves to evolve. Victor Frankel says man's main concern is not to gain pleasure or to avoid pain, but rather to see meaning in his life. To align yourself with and pursue that which is your reason for living, that's how we transcend the day-to-day life we've come to know. When we breathe in possibility, dance with the infinite, and of course something of this magnitude, it consists of ups and downs. It's not the easy road, but it's the one worth taking. Our metaphorical lion doesn't succeed every time he's prowling for food, but he doesn't roll over and die.

He doesn't recede or quit being a lion. He gets up tomorrow and does it again, because it's who the lion is. And while life doesn't unfold until you find that same thing for yourself. And people say, well, I don't know. That's the problem. I have no idea.

That's not the problem. That's the essence of life. That's the beauty. You're here to explore and find that for yourself. But the power is knowing you're not looking for something or someone to save you. You're looking for an environment in which you can best be you. You're looking for the right terrain to share your gift with the world. If you have what you need, then you're not looking for the product.

You're looking for the delivery mechanism. The vehicle to nurture and transport your value to a world that desperately needs it. You're looking to build yourself up and in the process amaze yourself. Look, what you're capable of is beyond comprehension. It's limitless, almost unfathomable. But it is, as Ryan Holiday says, a confidence that must be earned. So start now. Earn it.

Let yourself succeed. Your intuition knows what feels right and what doesn't. But the seed must first be planted. So make today about setting yourself up for success. Turning off the idea that you're one piece away from completion, one minute away from starting, that you're almost ready. No, you are ready now. You have what you need now.

You know what's necessary now. You just have to be your own ally. Put yourself in position to be yourself. Let your values shine, double down on what matters to you. Look, it's not a game of acquisition. It's a game of courage. Do you have the courage to be who you are? To follow that potential, that possibility into the,

great unknown.