Christmas as an Everyday State of Mind, Even in COVID

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What's working on purpose anyway? Each
week we ponder the answer to this question.

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People ache for meaning and purpose at
work, to contribute their talents passionately

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and know their lives really matter.
They crave being part of an organization that

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inspires them and helps them grow into
realizing their highest potential business can be such

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a force for good in the world, elevating humanity. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration to help
usher in this world we all want working

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on purpose. Now Here is your
host, doctor Elise Cortez. Hi there,

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welcome back to the Working and Purpose
Program. Thanks tuning in again this

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week on your host, doctor Elise
Cortez d When you lie from Dallas,

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Texas, which is home base for
me. If you don't know me yet,

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I'm a management consultant specializing in meaning
and purpose, organization, logotherapist,

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inspirational speaker, social scientist and author
by team, and I help companies discover

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and articulate their thread through their culture
and operations who work with forward thinking or

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forward reaching organizations to develop inspirational leaders, who create cultures where people actually want

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to come to work and do their
best. And we provide programs like the

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grab your guster that enable individual team
members to discover and unleash their passion and

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purpose of work to catalyze fulfillment,
engagement, and productivity. You learn more

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about us and how we can work
together at a last Cortez dot com or

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Gusto Dashnau dot com. A surprise
for you today with us as a very

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special guest, we have none other
than Santa Ronnie Watson, also known as

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the Praying Santa, who says he's
found it one of his hardest yet most

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rewarding things that he has ever had
the pleasure of doing. His wife,

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Missus Claus, joined the fun a
few years ago, which has made it

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even more rewarding. They've been everywhere
from country club's, private homes, schools,

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and even cross country for the right
events. Being Santa Claus's great Heart

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Medicine, We'll be talking today about
why the spirit of Christmas Cannon should be

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lived all through all year long,
and how he and Missus Claus help keep

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that spirit alive year round through their
ministry. He's joined today from the Dallas

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Fort Worth area. Santa Roni,
welcome back to the Working Purpose Show for

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the fourth time. Oh oh,
it's so good. To see you again,

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Elise, it sure is, Santa
Ronni. Well, first, let

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me say thank you for filling in. Melanie Pump was our scheduled guest today,

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and Melanie reached out to me earlier
this morning she said a last I'm

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so sorry. I've got my booster
s shot scheduled. The only time that

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I can come is exactly when your
show was scheduled. No worries, will

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reschedule from March. And I'm going
to call Santa Roni. So thank you

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Santa for saying yes. And I
got the text that, oh it was

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early this morning, Yes, yeah
it was. You know, God always

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makes a way for me to step
out there and talk about his precepts.

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This is going to be fine.
I do too. And let's first and

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let's remind our listeners and viewers who
haven't heard the story yet of how you

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and I met, How I like
to say I picked you up. So

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it would have been early December twenty
sixteen, when you were minding your own

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business doing Santa work at a movie
theater in Richardson, Texas, outside of

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Dallas. And that was for the
Dallas Opera, which was featuring eight children's

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opera. So of course they had
Santa Claus there, and seeing you sitting

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there on your perch all dressed as
you are right now today, I made

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a bee line for you and I
plot myself right down on your lap,

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and I put my arm around your
neck like so, and I said,

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Santa, I have a couple of
things for you, and you're like,

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shoot, And I said, first, I said, you know, Santa,

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I have been a very good girl
this year, and I would like

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a man. Yes, And you
said, well, let's talk about that.

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Are you sure you're ready? So
you and I the show was I'll

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get to it, probably looking up
becoming Santa Claus and becoming Santa Claus.

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Thank you, yes, yes,
and oh and it was great because I

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had been I had been sitting there
talking to your daughter and some of her

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friends, and they were just gathered
around and they were, you know,

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they were asking all kinds of questions. Where's the sly, where's the reindeer?

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You know? How about missus?
Pause? Did she come? And

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here came? At least she's just
she's just right, she said. I

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just ploped myself down and she said, actually start this way. It's mat

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turn now. Son. You remember
that? And I just looked at you

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know when you said you were interested
in finding the man in your life,

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and I just said, well,
you've already had one, right, And

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I said, how about we pray
for the right man this time? And

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actually you were just I think you
were taking a back and You're like,

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how did you know? And I
said, well, I've been talking to

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your daughter for the last fifteen I
think I can put the thoughts together.

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Yeah. So anyway, uh,
I was looking for mister Rat and he

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wasn't around, so and I agreed, And that's how that's how we've met

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right there, and you asked me
to come on your radio show. And

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so that's been what four years ago? Is that? No, it's five

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years ago, my dear back on
the patient's front right. Well. The

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other thing that I remember handily about
that is I got so comfortable approached there

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on my seat, you know,
and we were having a philosophical, philosophical

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conversation about life and romance and love
and everything else, and all of a

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sudden I felt this jab on my
shoulder or somebody pointing on my shoulder,

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and I looked up and it was
the woman from the Dallas Officers. She

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had her hands on her hips and
she said, ah, Lise, could

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you get up. There are children
waiting to see Santa Claus. I'm out

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of your see Santa. I think
I was a prop you know, for

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becoming Santa Claus. And it was
an opera and I was and I felt

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like I felt kind of like a
props six. But you know, I

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don't believe in accidents. I believe
that we have a purpose and when we

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step out in the right spirit,
then that purpose just starts revealing itself as

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we walk it out, you know. And that's what keeps life amazing.

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Every day it's something new, it's
something Oh my goodness, really I get

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to do this. So that keeps
me young at heart. Because Santa's getting

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a little bit down the road.
Well, let's call that experience showing.

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Yeah, I didn't have any wisdom, and that's why I said, I

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read proverb for fifteen years, so
just kept trying to find the meaning.

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Well, so let's talk about this. I want a couple of things I

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want to do on the show.
I want to I want to celebrate the

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spirit of Christmas and listeners and viewers. That's for whatever your faith is,

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whatever you observe. It's the spirit
of Christmas that we're really talking about here,

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And absolutely I love what you said, Santa Claus. Under that,

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of course is the purpose piece,
and so what Christmas mean to you.

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I believe, actually this is past
and I both we believe that every day's

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Christmas. Every day's a gift and
it is to be celebrated. And why

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would I get high on any other
day when I need to be, you

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know, experiencing that high every day. And I like sometimes I like to

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just get in front of the mirror
and tell myself who I am and get

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my face. You know, countenance
counts. Right now, you come in

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with a grumpy attitude and you know
you're going to read what you say,

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and so if you go in with
a great attitude, And sometimes I had

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to work that in the morning.
Now. Used to tell kids that joys

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like a T shirt and you had
to put it on every day, and

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it's perishable, it only last one
day. That's the way God made it.

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So we've had to get up and
make that choice to put on that

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joy T shirt. And then I
can approach people that are some may consider

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unapproachable, and I like to seek
those kind of people out myself. You've

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you've told us that before in this
show. You said you'd like to go

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out for the people that you don't
think maybe are reachable. Well, I

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just think that they need it,
you know, because hurt people, hurt

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people, sure do. Sometimes they're
the ones that need that encouragement just to

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look right in the eyes and just
you know and just say, hey,

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you know what this means, means
I love you and just kind of spread

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that around. But I believe in
those cases all the time that the spirit

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gives me the right thing to say
at the right time, and I just

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need to get myself out of the
way I can participate in what's really going

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on here. That's are it of
Christmas, and it can it can be

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all year long, but some days
we just have to work it out.

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We had to work it up and
say and make that choice not to go

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out, you know, with a
burden, because the you know, the

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opposite of what I do. They
say, it's just lies. It's it's

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the things that want to bring us
down, and it's things that we can't

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control. It's things that we had
to cast our care onto God so that

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he can take care of it.
Because we can't take care of it,

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but we carry the burdens like backpacks. I used to sit in boardrooms and

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you know what amazed me was I
don't know if it's a gift or what,

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but I could see a person's agent
and it's like a backpack that they

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were wearing and when they walked in
the room and I'm like, oh my

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goodness, this guy's going to really
bring it today, you know. But

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he had he had an agenda,
not for and you know, if you

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build in a company, you would
obviously want all for one, one for

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all, you know, with the
same goals and objectors. But a lot

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of times people don't operate that way. And so so I would guess that

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that's so beautiful that sensitivity intelligence.
I gotta believe said that you bring that

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with every time you interact with a
kid. So I'd love to hear you

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share a couple of stories of like
if you've gone to schools this year,

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or where you've gone where you've gotten
to be with maybe a couple of kids

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that you just something's going on and
you got to be there with them.

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Yeah, and what's really been tough
the last you know, year is with

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the COVID outbreak. We haven't been
able to go into the schools that we've

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normally been into, but my photographers
they have you know, they have the

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green screen, and so I can
be there in spirit and I can stay

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pray for those kids because they become
family to me. It's a couple of

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schools, and actually that's how I
got started. A lady in church asked

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me, you know, once you
do something with this beard, you know,

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it comes. And we've adopted the
school in the north side of Fort

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Worth and went over by six Flags
and there was about sixteen hundred Hispanic children

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under privilege, in need. And
so the first time I went there,

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it was like, oh my goodness, I needed to pray for these kids

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because some of the things that they
were asking me for were just it's just

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breaking my heart. I ready to
break down, you know, because some

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things we don't build in the workshop. How am I going to address these

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needs that one person can't meet all
these needs? There were some that were

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immediate needs, like one boy ask
for a heater and that was all the

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place, and missus Claus, She's
like, stop everything, get somebody go

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get this boy a heater, right, And so things like that. If

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we could do it, we can
do it. But if I have a

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child, ask me for one of
their parents to get out of prison,

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you know, their mother or father
or both, and just because they want

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spend Christmas with them, that's all
they want for Christmas and them that will

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Santah gets on his knees every morning
every evening. Do you want to join

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me? And will just be an
agreement and we'll see. I can't think

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anything more powerful. The Bible says
that we had the power to demolish strongholds,

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so and we should pray for the
people that are in prison. You

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know, it's easy to love the
lovable, isn't it, And we're called

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to love the unlovable and reach out
to everybody. So I think that deepens

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our care and empathy for others,
and it makes us look at them different.

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You know, I would agree with
that, Santa Ronni. And I've

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had doctor Arthur Sarah mccolly on the
show also four times because he keeps writting

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interesting books and he really does talk
about the importance of everyone developing empathy and

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the world would be such a better
place, more peaceful if we would all

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just do that. So I love
that you're spreading that throughout the year.

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Santa, Well, it's you know, it used to be about what's in

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it for me before I put on
this suit, but now it's it's what's

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in it for everybody. When I
take care of Santa, everybody gets the

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fringe benefits, and so it's not
self, it's it's a paradox, it's

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it's kind of upside down. But
when we do that, then it's true.

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Everybody does get the fringe benefits and
we don't go through the world like

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a wrecking ball, but maybe like
somebody that's trying to help build something for

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the future and something that will last
through the future too. So yeah,

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easy, peasy, lemon, squeezy. It's just one day at a ten,

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right, And to that end,
Ronnie at Santa Ronni, let's go

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to our first break because to what
you just said, there is going to

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cue up what we talked about right
after the break, so I'm your host.

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We went on in the air with
Santa Ronnie Watson, also known as

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the Praying Santa. You just talked
about the notion of when he puts on

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a suit, what that actually does
for the world. It's not for him

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after the break, I want to
share a story about a new tradition that

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my daughter, who's eighteen, and
I have found for Christmas Eve. We'll

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start with that after the break.
See then we'll be right back. Doctor

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Release Cortez is a management consultant specializing
in meaning and purpose and inspirational speaker and

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author. She helps companies visioneer for
greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose inspired

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leadership and meaning infused cultures that elevate
fulfillment, performance, and commitment within the

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workforce. To learn more or to
invite a Lease to speak to your organization,

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please visit her at a lease Cortez
dot com. Let's talk about how

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to get your employees working on purpose. This is Working on Purpose with doctor

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Elise Cortez. To reach our program
today or open a conversation with Elise,

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send an email to Elise ali Se
at Elise Cortez dot com. Now back

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to working on Purpose. Thanks for
staying with us, and welcome back to

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working on Purpose. I'd like to
have it before we get back to the

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program to check out my first book
that came out in November of twenty twenty.

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It's called Purpose Ignited, How Inspiring
Leaders Ignite, Passionate, elevate cause

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I brought it out actually, and
I brought it into the world to awaken

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people to their passion and purpose and
develop inspirational leaders who actually bring people to

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their greatness. I love it.
It's part of what I do in my

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programs. So I hope you'll check
it out with me if you just join

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the program today. My guest is
Santa Ronnie Watson, also known as the

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Praying Santa. I'm your host,
doctor Elise Quartets. So, as I

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alluded to before we went on the
break there, Santa, I wanted to

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share with our listeners what you and
I had an exchange about on Facebook book,

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and that was that my sweet daughter
who's eighteen, she's a freshman at

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Baylor. She came home for the
holidays and she said, Mamma, I

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want to make Christmas cookies on Christmas
Eve. I'm like, great, fantastic.

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She goes and I want to go
bring them to people who might be

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homeless or in need of some cheer
or some help. And I said that's

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amazing. So we iterated that a
little bit and we ended up making fresh

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turkey cookies or excuse me, turkey
sandwiches, the fresh decorated cookies, and

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then we had a water bottle,
a sanitizer, a truffle, and a

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five dollar bill. Made just ten
of those, and we set out on

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Christmas Eve here in Dallas to deliver
them. At first, I was worried,

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we're not going to find anybody.
Nobody's going to be out. It's

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so nice and hot here in Dubts. Nobody needs us. So we set

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out with that whole idea of hoping
that we were going to help other people.

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Santa and I know you know where
I'm going with this. And sure

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enough, we make our first round
past Walnut here and Hill and seventy five,

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nobody's there. Go South Park Lane
and seventy five, and sure enough

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the first we first person found as
a divorced woman who's on her she's trying

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to find her way back on her
feet to make it on her own again.

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A vett who's trying to save some
money for his next surgery. So

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those were the first two people.
We had this amazing conversation with them,

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but later we ended up getting rid
of all of the packs. But the

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number third person that we delivered to
Santa really just stole my heart. And

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so when we came up to him, we'd seen him, and we pulled

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the car around to make sure we
could actually get to him. We stopped

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the car at the light, rolled
the window down and said, hey,

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we made the sandwich in these cookies
for you, and his face just filled

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with emotion and he just started sobbing. His shoulders were just rocking as he

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sobbed, and as he smiled,
I could see that he had hardly any

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teeth left. And he gave us
this so such a beautiful thank you that

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it was just it was beyond profound, and so of course I was in

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a pile of tears by that just
in a moment, right, So it

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was my daughter and it was the
most beautiful things. So to your point,

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you know, we set out thinking
we were going to help these other

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people. That's not what happened.
They helped us. They lifted us in

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their graciousness, their gratitude, their
friendliness. There the connectivity that we had

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in just those moments. So I
can't imagine what it must be like to

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be Santa Claus. Oh yeah,
it's just like that twenty four seven,

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And I'm just reminded of the you
know, axiom that those one landers always

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say they stand the test of time
because they're loaded with truth, right.

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And when you're telling me that,
I was just thinking, you know,

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it's better to give than receive.
It's amazing, isn't it. It's true.

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And that encounter you had with that
third person, it's that's a god's

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economy, you know, because I
tell people, you know what I love

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about hugs. Whenever you give one, you get one. That's economy,

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you know, and people need hugs
like that. You know. Some people

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go through their lives they might not
ever have been heard some of the schools

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I go into, you know,
the abused children that are in these special

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classes that are darkened because they you
know, noises and things like that can

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send them over the edge and you
can't even come close to them, you

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know, much less give them a
hug, and they might not ever have

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had that or experience have. So
it is better to give than received.

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And that's what keeps me going,
is to be able to give and not

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just give the presence, you know, because presents. I can't remember what

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I had when I was five or
six, but I can remember the people

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in the times, in the atmosphere
I can remember those things, and so

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if I can plant, you know, putting on the suit carries a lot

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of responsibility. I always tell you
that words have power, and that we

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can use words to encourage and build
others in the right way, and we

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can maybe take the pressure off.
You know. I told people I've been

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away with the naughty list. Oh
good, you know, hey, he's

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already paid for it, and so
if we wait for it, then,

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you know, thank good. And
it's otherwise we'd all be on the naughty

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list forever, right, and then
that would be bad. And I tell

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people that, and it's like lifting
a burden, and not just the kids,

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but the parents that are standing in
the background, they get it too,

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and I want and sometimes I wonder
about the discussions on the way home.

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You know, Santa said, there's
not a naughty list anymore by the

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dads, you know, that elf
on the shelf, you know, I

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don't you know, I'm kind of
like just make your yes, he yes,

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and you're knowing no. And that
way, it's like you set the

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boundaries, don't move them. I
believe that. I believe that it's in

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humane to have boundaries that move and
change all the time. And I think

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that's what confuses children sometimes, is
they don't know when the hammer is going

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to come down, or you know
when the nastat's going to be home with

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the nast mom or the one that's
not burdened with too many things. You

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know, there's a vaxiom for you
less it's more, and it is.

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I really believe that the less we
have, the more we have, you

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know, the more we can take
care of. We're not made to be

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multitaskers, were made to really focus
on one thing at a time, and

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children asked me, you know,
hey, what's ELF's name? And I'm

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like, I don't name them.
You know, at the dorp Poe when

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I talk to them see these rights, I look them right in the eyes

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and I say, hey, elf, because they all want to be called

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elf up there. And then with
you you give them a name, so

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I don't know what name it is. And they're like, oh, okay,

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you got to have an answer for
every one of them. They're always

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trying to trick you. Santa.
That's a school the other day asked me

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what's my name? What's my name? I'm like, have you written a

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letter to me yet? And they're
like no, And I'm like, I'm

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I supposed to know what your name
is. If you haven't written me a

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letter, i'll know your name.
Okay, it's called fast Dancing, fast

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foot. Oh. It's just you
just had to be ready, because you

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know there it takes all kinds try
in a cross section of society. It's

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you have the wallflowers, you have
the extroverse introverts, you have all those

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and you just had to be ready. And that's why I say, you

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have to have the right spirit,
the right countenance, so that you know,

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you don't act like what is what
was that show with the Red Rider

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bb gun? You know, ho
ho ho coil at not the a miracle

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on thirty fourth Street. That's not
that one, right, what is it?

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Christmas story? The Christmas story with
that Okay yeah, yeah, yeah,

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yeah, okay yeah. Oh you'll
shoot your eye out, kid.

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But anyway, and here's the mall
Santa. He's a little grumpy sometimes.

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Yeah, that's why we try to
keep that countenance and my spirit. But

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the other thing is, you know, laughter. Heels like a Madison And

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that's why I love to laugh.
And I've worked on my countenance for years.

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It learned how to unload things that
burden used to burden me and now

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they don't. And I think in
even in business they call it value added

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versus non value added. I learnt
how to identify things that really add value

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and to laugh. And I always
said I didn't have a had a living

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problem. I think when I was
younger and not so wise now that I've

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gotten older by times that's twenty twenty
correct, So we can look back and

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see that some of the things that
we used to do or not who we

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are anymore, and we see things
that are more valuable now with different as.

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So I love given to the children
and watching your little as. When

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I plant those seeds go doe and
I can see hope come back in the

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future when I saw none, when
I saw nothing in those hays, and

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I saw a child with her head
down and like they were just beaten down

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verbally, you know. So I
just try to lift people up. And

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you know grown nups needed too.
Yeah, I know that, because you're

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reminding me as we're talking. I
just have to share it because she said

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grown ups needed too. Years ago, when I was very involved in the

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in the Lakewood Service League here in
Dallas, we went to go gather the

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Christmas wishes of this retirement community at
Juliet Fowler Holmes. And when we walked

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in, Cindy, who I knew, the manager said, Elise, if

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you're going to get a list,
go and talk with I remember the woman's

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name, but let's call her Missus
Jones. So I wouldn't set with Missus

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Jones. And I said him,
I'm Elise. I'm here with Lawood Service

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League. I'm here to learn what
you'd like for Christmas, and we'd like

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to see if we can go fulfill
your wish and talk with Santa et cetera.

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And she said, oh no,
I don't need anything, but ask

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Charlotte next door. I know she
needs a sweater. So I sat down

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with her and I spent a little
time with her, and in that time

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Santa I learned. She told me
the whole story. She said, you

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see that that picture over there,
that's me. I'm actually holding my four

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children. I'm holding the fourth one
up because he has polio and he can't

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sit by himself. And then she
goes back. She sells this whole story

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of how she had polio when she
was a child, and she said,

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my father worked three jobs to put
me through school. Do you think you'll

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ever ever know how much I appreciated
him? And she went and told this

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whole story. And guess what's happening
is she's telling the story. I'm over

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here in the big pile of sobbing
taking this whole thing in right. And

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she looked at me at one point, and she looks at me kind of

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curiously, and she said, oh. And then she wheels over, she's

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in a wheelchair, wheels over and
gets a clean xbox for me and puts

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it on my lap. And she
said, yeah, we don't cry when

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we get to my age. We
don't need to anymore. We've already done

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all that. She's kind of wipe
it up my tears. But I was

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so moved by her story. And
to your point, you know what she

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got out of that is she got
to listen to somebody to listen to her.

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And you know, she told her
story and I was hanging on every

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single word. And so, yes, to your point, adults need it

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to. Adults need to be ministered
to. They need to be listened to.

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Me to be loved, understood,
sought after, given hope, to

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yell, completely agree with you sent
it, which is probably a big reason

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why I made it be alying for
you well, you know, even more

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so, I think sometimes the grown
ups that you know, the thing that

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I noticed that at the older we
get sometimes the harder we get. Even

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the Bible talks about, you know, don't let your heart get hard.

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And I see those people that are
not that they're mean, but that they

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they're protecting, that they just shut
everybody out, you know, because the

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world is just beating them down so
much, whether it's finances or relationships or

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whatever. And that when I'm also
reminded, this is above all else,

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so that must be an warton statement. Above all else, guard your heart,

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because everything that you do floats from
there, and that is the truth.

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You know. If we're are heart
hearted, then we can beat mean

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and snip in. But if we
soften our heart and have that empathy for

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others and looks outside of ourselves,
then it becomes more real. The things

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around us a spiritual battle going on
out there. We can either get into

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it and we can sit on the
sipelines and cheer for the ones that are,

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you know, or just sit on
the sipelines and become hard. So

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it's a daily. It's just a
daily choice for me, and I know

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that I can't be Santa Claus kids
without doing it the right way, because

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that's, you know, the reason
for the season. This is what Christmas

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is all about, is the giving, the gifts and what He gave for

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us, the ultimate gift, so
that we could just live free, live

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a real life, the life of
Zoe that satisfies, not things things don't

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satisfy. I told a guy one
time, I'm like, see this,

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this all this right here, it's
part of the dirt pile, and it's

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going back in the ground one day, maybe not while we're here, but

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interlack. And that was in a
boardroom too that they're like, oh,

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you can't, I said, don't
the pyramids mean anything to you. We

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can mitigate, but we can't eliminate
because we're not the chosen. We can't

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make things perfect even don't matter how
hard we try, we'll never make perfect.

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But advancing, that's that's the key. It's just continue knowing that you

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can't make things perfect, but you
can make things bad. That you can

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medicate some thought, then courage other
Yes, and to your point, Santa,

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in the work that I do with
that organizations. You said something about,

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you know, is softened the people
softening or whatever. I know when

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I meet somebody who, uh still
needs softening, somebody that still needs to

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heal right, because as you said, hurt people hurt people. So it

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shows up written large when someone really
needs to be helped and healed, and

407
00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:29.839
how they lead, how they treat
people, how they develop people, how

408
00:30:29.880 --> 00:30:33.079
they instruct people, et cetera.
So I think maybe in some ways I've

409
00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:38.359
developed some Santa since as I've worked
with organizations and and maybe you know,

410
00:30:38.440 --> 00:30:42.680
our friendship has has rupped off.
But so I'll thank you for that now

411
00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:47.039
and maybe my clients will thank you
too. I'll give you a little bit

412
00:30:47.559 --> 00:30:52.079
advice if you want to do that, carage some peppermints with you. I

413
00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:56.960
ain't that softened it. And here
like here, I got a peppermint for

414
00:30:56.039 --> 00:31:00.519
you, everybody you know, and
it just kind of opens the door.

415
00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:07.079
It takes you know, maybe this
is a safe place that you got just

416
00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:11.079
going to give me a pepper pint. Okay, Then you look them in

417
00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:15.440
the eyes and you give them a
big smile, and sometimes that that e

418
00:31:15.640 --> 00:31:21.079
connection and that you'll know when the
door's open and you'll know when to like

419
00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:23.039
me. You know, missus Klaus, she has permission to kick me in

420
00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:30.319
the sands because I talk too much. I can't read you. So so

421
00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:34.519
anyway, that spirit God gave us
two ears and one mouth. And so

422
00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:41.200
listening is part of adding value in
people's lives. And it's like you listen

423
00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:45.319
to that person's story and just oh, it made you. It puts you

424
00:31:45.400 --> 00:31:49.839
right in the middle of it.
I think about how I'd love to read

425
00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:56.359
books, you know, and the
pictures that our mind can paint in reading

426
00:31:56.359 --> 00:31:59.160
these books, and then a movie
comes out about it. I'm like,

427
00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:04.720
that wasn't not nearly as good as
what I conjured in my mind. And

428
00:32:04.839 --> 00:32:08.160
do you know what somebody's telling us
their story and we're really listening to it

429
00:32:08.599 --> 00:32:14.720
and we don't have an agenda to
interject or you know what the man thing

430
00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:16.880
is like, let me get my
toolbox out and I'll help you fix that.

431
00:32:17.400 --> 00:32:22.000
No, they just want you to
listen sometimes and just be there because

432
00:32:22.039 --> 00:32:29.880
nobody's never listened to. I have
learned that. That's awesome. I've learned

433
00:32:29.880 --> 00:32:32.160
that after almost seven years on this
show. So let's speaking of that.

434
00:32:32.279 --> 00:32:35.839
Let's grab our last break here.
If we can. I'm your host,

435
00:32:35.880 --> 00:32:37.960
Doctor Release Cortez. We're on near
with Santa Ronni Watson, who is known

436
00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:42.960
as the Praying Santa. We've been
talking a bit about connections and memories related

437
00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:45.319
to Christmas. After the break,
I'm going to see if you'll tell us

438
00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:47.599
one more time just how he became
Santa Claus. Stay with us, We'll

439
00:32:47.640 --> 00:32:53.039
be right back. Doctor Release Cortez
is a management consultant specializing in meaning and

440
00:32:53.079 --> 00:32:59.680
purpose and inspirational speaker and author.
She helps companies vision eer for greater purpose

441
00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:06.759
among stakeholders and develop purpose inspired leadership
and meaning infused cultures that elevate fulfillment,

442
00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:12.119
performance, and commitment within the workforce. To learn more or to invite a

443
00:33:12.200 --> 00:33:15.960
lease to speak to your organization,
please visit her at Elise Cortez dot com.

444
00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:27.119
Let's talk about how to get your
employees working on purpose. This is

445
00:33:27.160 --> 00:33:30.880
working on Purpose with Doctor Relise Cortez. To reach our program today or open

446
00:33:30.920 --> 00:33:37.359
a conversation with Elise, send an
email to Elise ali Se at Elise Cortez

447
00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:45.359
dot com. Now back to working
on Purpose. Thanksteresting with us, and

448
00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:47.799
welcome back to working on purpose.
Before we go back to Santa Claus.

449
00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:50.440
Here, I want to share one
of a bit of news with you.

450
00:33:50.839 --> 00:33:53.119
I have been curating over the last
couple of years in anthology. It's a

451
00:33:53.160 --> 00:33:58.440
collection of twenty five stories or women
across the world who share their intimate stories

452
00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:01.160
of how they discover their perposon are
now serving from it. Here it is.

453
00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:05.319
It's so beautiful. I'm so proud
of it. I could just bust.

454
00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:08.679
It's called Passionately Striving and Why,
an anthology women who persever mightily to

455
00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:12.679
live their purpose. It's on Amazon, and I hope you take a look

456
00:34:12.719 --> 00:34:15.119
at it. I'm just so proud
of it. If here's disjointing, I

457
00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:19.199
guess my guest today is Santa Ronni
Watson. He's known as the Pring Santa.

458
00:34:19.280 --> 00:34:22.480
I'm your host, doctor Elise Cortez, So I purposely dangled that in

459
00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:27.320
front of you before the bricks.
You could think about that. I happen

460
00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:29.599
to know the story of how you
became a Santa Claus, but those who

461
00:34:29.639 --> 00:34:31.840
were listening may not have heard it. So will you tell us, Santa

462
00:34:31.920 --> 00:34:36.400
Ronni. I know there's a beautiful
story. Give us the real mean of

463
00:34:36.440 --> 00:34:40.360
it. How it is that you
decided and were invited to become Santa Claus.

464
00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:50.199
Well, it's really started with the
beard, and the beard came about

465
00:34:50.280 --> 00:34:58.840
from my first grandchild. Was she
was a doctor by my oldest son,

466
00:34:59.239 --> 00:35:02.760
and she called me big G and
she had my heart, you know,

467
00:35:02.920 --> 00:35:07.719
right from the very first, right
from the get go. And I remember,

468
00:35:07.880 --> 00:35:09.400
I'll never forget. She looked at
me and she's like, big G,

469
00:35:10.159 --> 00:35:15.280
you can never shave your beer.
And I'm like, hey, whatever,

470
00:35:15.400 --> 00:35:20.960
you say, what you got it? So and it wasn't long after

471
00:35:21.000 --> 00:35:22.719
that that, you know, I
think I told you that the lady in

472
00:35:22.760 --> 00:35:28.679
the church asked me to they she
worked for a credit union. They adopt

473
00:35:28.719 --> 00:35:34.199
those schools and they take presents,
I mean a gym full of presents,

474
00:35:34.239 --> 00:35:37.719
and they have games set up in
there for the kids and it's just an

475
00:35:37.719 --> 00:35:43.960
all day game and Santa Claus.
And then they have to get pictures with

476
00:35:44.320 --> 00:35:47.159
me sitting on you know, them
sitting on my lap. And in a

477
00:35:47.199 --> 00:35:52.360
photographer. His name is Billy Buttons
and he's a great guy and he makes

478
00:35:52.920 --> 00:35:57.119
button and they can wear that picture
of them in Santa Claus. You know,

479
00:35:57.280 --> 00:36:00.760
it might be the only picture that
they geet, you know, because

480
00:36:00.079 --> 00:36:06.159
they just don't have a lot of
money there, so and that kind of

481
00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:09.719
one thing led to another. But
you know, my granddaughter, she was

482
00:36:09.920 --> 00:36:16.400
She's the one that started with the
beard and everything, and so it's it

483
00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:22.280
was just a matter of you know, I've always been had a servant's heart

484
00:36:22.199 --> 00:36:29.039
and always been a leader, whether
in business or whatever. And I always

485
00:36:29.320 --> 00:36:34.480
told I have two children, and
I said, you know, every day,

486
00:36:35.119 --> 00:36:37.639
life's going to throw a bunch of
things at you. Every day.

487
00:36:38.559 --> 00:36:44.440
You know, sometimes you may have
fifty decisions to make, sometimes one hundred

488
00:36:44.480 --> 00:36:46.679
and fifty, sometimes a thousand,
and you know you're going to have with

489
00:36:46.760 --> 00:36:52.519
these disciplates. If you just take
the high road at every decision, then

490
00:36:52.559 --> 00:36:57.000
you don't have to look back,
and you don't have to carry baggage with

491
00:36:57.119 --> 00:37:01.039
you. And I think Judge Judy
says, you know, if you just

492
00:37:01.079 --> 00:37:07.599
tell the truth, you don't have
to have a good memory. That's that

493
00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:12.000
carrying that extra baggage with you.
You know, if we start taking the

494
00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:15.039
wrong turn, or if we start
looking for what's in it for me and

495
00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:22.199
put we're put here to serve one
another, you know, and I really

496
00:37:22.239 --> 00:37:30.039
believe that's why we're here too.
I believe that in that that's where life

497
00:37:30.599 --> 00:37:37.800
lives. That's where the peace and
the joy and it all lives right there.

498
00:37:37.440 --> 00:37:42.440
You know. I talked to a
mission missionary guy at one time,

499
00:37:43.239 --> 00:37:47.800
and he was a lone ranger mission
guy with a family in the middle of

500
00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:52.119
Africa. And I asked me when
I said, how do you do that?

501
00:37:52.840 --> 00:37:59.519
You know, you could be like
kidnapped and murder. He goes wherever

502
00:37:59.599 --> 00:38:02.079
peace is, that's where God is, That's where I stay. He goes.

503
00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:05.679
If I walk into place and the
hair stands up on my ALLAR might

504
00:38:05.719 --> 00:38:08.920
just back out and go to the
last place I had peace. So,

505
00:38:10.679 --> 00:38:16.039
I mean, he had some amazing
stories about what he was doing over there,

506
00:38:16.079 --> 00:38:22.119
but it's the same thing over there
that it is here. And we're

507
00:38:22.159 --> 00:38:29.400
so blessed in this country that you
know. That's why I say less is

508
00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:35.079
more. And I always say these
the telephones, and they're great, and

509
00:38:35.119 --> 00:38:39.199
they're great for work and think,
but for personal relationships, I want to

510
00:38:39.239 --> 00:38:45.239
sit down face to face like this. I love seeing you here, but

511
00:38:45.320 --> 00:38:50.039
I'd not rather see you face to
face, yeah, or in my studio

512
00:38:50.119 --> 00:38:53.079
or in my doing. Really've been
shows at all? Well, so our

513
00:38:53.199 --> 00:38:58.079
body, you know, what is
that nanny? For some percent of communications,

514
00:38:58.159 --> 00:39:02.840
body language, the rest of it's
just our words. So I think

515
00:39:02.880 --> 00:39:07.000
it's like I studied the boardrooms.
That's why I could tell, you know,

516
00:39:07.079 --> 00:39:10.800
look at this guy, he's bringing
something I don't know. And I

517
00:39:10.880 --> 00:39:15.639
also learned that, you know,
the smartest one in the boardroom is the

518
00:39:15.760 --> 00:39:21.800
last one to speak. So you
know, there's a lot of people that

519
00:39:21.880 --> 00:39:24.519
have those agendas. They just come
around and just start throwing darts and see

520
00:39:24.559 --> 00:39:31.159
what sticks. But when we worked
for one another, and I even played

521
00:39:31.199 --> 00:39:35.599
on some sports teams whenever I was
younger, we weren't, you know,

522
00:39:35.760 --> 00:39:39.719
super talented, but we played as
a team and we pulled for one another.

523
00:39:39.960 --> 00:39:44.800
We encouraged one another. Guy having
a bad day, then we're like,

524
00:39:44.880 --> 00:39:47.320
hey, it's okay, just keep
going, to keep going. And

525
00:39:49.199 --> 00:39:52.920
I think you talked to a lot
of sports guys and they're like, if

526
00:39:52.960 --> 00:39:55.280
they have a workout partner, somebode
there, that's to encourage and you know,

527
00:39:55.400 --> 00:39:58.519
oh yeah, come on, we
can do one more. Let's just

528
00:39:58.599 --> 00:40:01.559
do one more set, you know, and it helps you, It just

529
00:40:01.719 --> 00:40:05.920
and it helps both of you to
keep going. It motifacts you. So

530
00:40:06.840 --> 00:40:12.159
we don't do good alone. We
don't do we're social animals, And that

531
00:40:12.239 --> 00:40:14.800
reminds me of another story that I
need you to tell. I just was

532
00:40:14.840 --> 00:40:19.559
thinking about this. Yeah, I
remember distinctly. It probably was the second

533
00:40:19.559 --> 00:40:23.039
time you were on and missus Claws
came and I asked her during the break,

534
00:40:23.079 --> 00:40:25.239
what else should we talk about?
And she said, oh, get

535
00:40:25.320 --> 00:40:30.360
him to talk about what happens during
the off season when he's walking through parking

536
00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:34.719
lots and children see you. Tell
us what happens when those those children,

537
00:40:34.880 --> 00:40:37.920
what happens in the encounters and what
did they say? And what do you

538
00:40:37.960 --> 00:40:40.760
say back? Well, you know, and I remember we had that lady

539
00:40:40.800 --> 00:40:45.159
from California, she called them one
time. I didn't know Santa had a

540
00:40:45.199 --> 00:40:50.840
Texas accent. Darlin, We're in
the middle of Texas, Okay, darlint

541
00:40:50.840 --> 00:40:55.239
I know, I see Darland too. Why it was but during the off

542
00:40:55.280 --> 00:40:58.960
season. Matter of fact, I
got dressed up for the show today,

543
00:40:59.159 --> 00:41:06.880
so I hung everything, but I
put my car hearts on and and I

544
00:41:06.960 --> 00:41:12.599
put on my sunglasses, and that's
my disguise. And so my wife loves

545
00:41:12.639 --> 00:41:15.960
for me to go shopping with her. And whether we go to the grocery

546
00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:22.960
store or wherever, kids they just
start they see that big beard, and

547
00:41:22.039 --> 00:41:27.880
they'll start dragging their mother across the
parking lot to Santa Claus. It's Santa

548
00:41:27.880 --> 00:41:32.400
Claus. And so you know,
I'm about six foot three, and I

549
00:41:32.519 --> 00:41:37.559
know it's very important not to time
we're over a child. So I always

550
00:41:37.840 --> 00:41:42.280
it's getting harder, but I always
get down on my knee and look it

551
00:41:42.280 --> 00:41:44.880
out, you know, out in
the middle of a parking lot, and

552
00:41:45.960 --> 00:41:49.320
I carry pepper pints, and so
I asked some mothers, it's okay if

553
00:41:49.320 --> 00:41:52.519
I give them pepper pint. They're
like, yeah, so, but when

554
00:41:52.559 --> 00:41:57.000
I finished talking to the child,
I usually get up and give the parent

555
00:41:57.199 --> 00:42:00.280
peppermint too. So you know,
it's like I said, it's not just

556
00:42:00.360 --> 00:42:06.079
for the kids, but the kids
dragged their parents into it. You know.

557
00:42:06.280 --> 00:42:10.639
I just love to see their smiles
when it changes their whole countenance.

558
00:42:12.320 --> 00:42:15.920
Whenever you just plant they see something
like that, their kids excited and then

559
00:42:15.960 --> 00:42:22.360
they get excited, and I love
to see that. I love to you

560
00:42:22.400 --> 00:42:25.880
know, a grumpy checkout lady that's
having a very bad day, just look

561
00:42:25.920 --> 00:42:30.280
her in the eyes and you know, tell her, Hey, I'm the

562
00:42:30.360 --> 00:42:34.760
praying Santa. You know, you
need me to pray for anything. I

563
00:42:34.880 --> 00:42:39.000
pray for you. And you know, I just want to tell you I

564
00:42:39.360 --> 00:42:46.239
did that one time in Walpart this
is the neighborhood Walmart, and this lady

565
00:42:47.119 --> 00:42:53.119
I prayed. There was this black
woman and her daughter standing right there to

566
00:42:53.199 --> 00:42:58.199
check out, and and it was
just like in my heart, I was

567
00:42:58.280 --> 00:43:01.760
like, I need to pray for
this girl. And the mother was talking

568
00:43:01.800 --> 00:43:05.000
to me. You're saying, a
closets that are done. I said,

569
00:43:05.079 --> 00:43:08.360
yeah, I'll pray for your daughter
right here, and he's here with us.

570
00:43:08.400 --> 00:43:12.920
I'll just put eight men on the
end of that. The next year.

571
00:43:13.880 --> 00:43:19.079
The next year, I was on
a Mister Clause put me on a

572
00:43:19.119 --> 00:43:25.239
Keto diet. So she said,
I run down to the store and grabbed

573
00:43:25.239 --> 00:43:30.039
some milk and eggs. And I
was like, okay, so I go

574
00:43:30.119 --> 00:43:34.360
down there and not thinking, I
grab a basket and I'm walk back and

575
00:43:34.400 --> 00:43:36.719
I grabbed the milk and eggs.
I'm like, what do I have a

576
00:43:36.719 --> 00:43:40.199
basket for it? It was like
I couldn't leave. It was like something

577
00:43:40.199 --> 00:43:45.280
else was there. And I kept
walking up and down the back houle and

578
00:43:45.320 --> 00:43:47.320
every time I want, you know
the science that say what's on this house?

579
00:43:47.920 --> 00:43:52.400
Every time I walked by the cracker, it was like it was like

580
00:43:52.480 --> 00:43:55.800
a neon sign, like just blinking, and I'm like, crackers. I'm

581
00:43:55.800 --> 00:44:01.039
on Keto diet. I can't have
crackers. I would have a year and

582
00:44:01.159 --> 00:44:05.960
so finally I give. I walked
down that aisle. I'm just standing here

583
00:44:06.800 --> 00:44:13.599
looking at the premium saltiness, okay, And all of a sudden, this

584
00:44:13.840 --> 00:44:17.440
lady taps me on the shoulder and
I turned around. I mean, the

585
00:44:17.519 --> 00:44:22.119
hair just stood up on my arm. She goes, you don't remember being

586
00:44:22.280 --> 00:44:27.199
I said, yes, I do. And she goes, do you believe

587
00:44:27.239 --> 00:44:32.320
in divine intervention? I said yes, absolutely, said you pray for my

588
00:44:32.440 --> 00:44:36.400
daughter last year, and she got
worse. And I'm like, oh,

589
00:44:38.960 --> 00:44:45.320
but she hit her bottom and oh
my goodness, she has done a hundred

590
00:44:45.360 --> 00:44:50.480
and eighty degree turn. And I'm
telling me and this lady, we're standing

591
00:44:50.519 --> 00:44:54.199
in the middle of that cracker aisle, just just hugging. And I didn't

592
00:44:54.320 --> 00:45:00.920
know her for it, met her
one time a year ago and at the

593
00:45:00.159 --> 00:45:05.599
end said, you know, I
just don't always I never missed the irony

594
00:45:05.639 --> 00:45:08.519
of God, right, And at
the end of it, I'm like,

595
00:45:08.800 --> 00:45:13.440
man, I hope you don't mind
me asking this, but what do black

596
00:45:13.480 --> 00:45:16.719
people call white people, and she
looks, she goes crackers. I'm like,

597
00:45:17.079 --> 00:45:28.639
I'm expanded by these crackers. For
flack minute, we're not me.

598
00:45:30.599 --> 00:45:37.559
Oh my goodness, it's so we
never know, we'd never know. The

599
00:45:37.280 --> 00:45:46.960
messages just goes what's gonna happen just
that one encounter, and uh, you

600
00:45:47.000 --> 00:45:50.760
know, I don't know if I'll
ever see her again. But man,

601
00:45:50.840 --> 00:45:54.760
there was so much joy in that
how that guy and people were probably looking

602
00:45:54.760 --> 00:46:00.239
at us like, what them crazy
people do? What a great way didn't

603
00:46:00.280 --> 00:46:02.159
finish the show, Santaani, we
alread went through the whole time if you

604
00:46:02.199 --> 00:46:05.800
can possibly leave it, but I
can't think of a better way to finishing

605
00:46:05.880 --> 00:46:07.639
was worth. The whole price of
admission is to hear that last story.

606
00:46:08.760 --> 00:46:15.000
Thank you said it means I love
you. I love you the lease and

607
00:46:15.960 --> 00:46:20.480
you know, God says, you
know, love the Lord God with all

608
00:46:20.519 --> 00:46:23.039
your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and then

609
00:46:23.199 --> 00:46:30.320
love your neighbor as yourself. And
I think sometimes we don't love ourselves enough

610
00:46:30.440 --> 00:46:32.719
to get out there and think we
don't have anything to share. But I'm

611
00:46:32.760 --> 00:46:39.039
telling you right now, you have
plenty to offer to another human, and

612
00:46:39.320 --> 00:46:45.239
not in things, but in attitude
and it starts with that gratitude, just

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00:46:45.320 --> 00:46:51.920
being grateful for you have. Nobody
can take that from you. They'll try,

614
00:46:52.760 --> 00:46:54.559
they will try, and that's a
non stop. But we have the

615
00:46:54.639 --> 00:46:59.679
strength and power work because we know
what it feels like to be on that

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00:46:59.719 --> 00:47:05.639
side a giving instead of taking.
Hey, I'll love you, love you

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00:47:05.719 --> 00:47:08.639
too. Santa, thank you for
coming back and who knows what where where

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00:47:08.639 --> 00:47:12.760
the road takes us from here,
So thank you Santa Roni for joining us

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00:47:12.840 --> 00:47:15.679
yet again a fourth time. Let's
see what happens for a fifth round.

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00:47:15.360 --> 00:47:19.679
If you want to learn more about
Santa Ronnie and Missus Claus. While the

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00:47:19.719 --> 00:47:21.920
best place to find them, of
course, is at the North Pole.

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00:47:22.360 --> 00:47:25.159
If you can't catch them there,
however, then check out Facebook at Ronnie

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00:47:25.199 --> 00:47:30.639
Watson or Annette Kuban Watson. Keep
It's key you beat a in Annette Kuban

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00:47:30.760 --> 00:47:34.480
Watson. Last week, give you
missed the live show, you know catch

625
00:47:34.519 --> 00:47:37.400
if we recorded podcast? We run
there with Greg Milano, author of Curing

626
00:47:37.440 --> 00:47:42.599
corporate short term termism, and we
talked about how to create cultures of ownership

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00:47:42.599 --> 00:47:45.360
that drive long term intivation and financial
performance. Next week we'll be on the

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00:47:45.360 --> 00:47:51.440
air with Marshall Mosher, the CEO
of Vestigo, talking about how virtual reality

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00:47:51.480 --> 00:47:54.519
connects remote teams to learning what comes
from diving off with wild abandon that can

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00:47:54.599 --> 00:47:59.039
only come safely with virtual reality.
So you there, remember that work is

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00:47:59.079 --> 00:48:02.280
at least a third of real life. So let's work on purpose. We

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00:48:02.360 --> 00:48:07.639
hope you've enjoyed this week's program.
Be sure to tune into Working on Purpose

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00:48:07.960 --> 00:48:12.840
featuring your host, doctor Elise Cortez, each week on the Voice America Empowerment

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00:48:12.920 --> 00:48:19.800
Channel. Together, we'll create a
world where business operates conscientiously, leadership inspires

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00:48:19.800 --> 00:48:24.119
impassioned performance, and employees are fulfilled
in work that provides the meaning and purpose

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00:48:24.239 --> 00:48:29.199
they crave. See you there,
Let's work on Purpose.