Your Spiritual Life with Branch Isole

Well, this is George G. And the time is right. Welcome. Today’s guest strung up off a branch, he sold a branch. Are you ready to do this?

Unknown Speaker 0:24
I’m ready, George, let’s go. All right, let’s go. Indeed, branch is a spiritual Christianity, thought leader, author and speaker. He’s the author of 22 books. He writes and speaks about the power of choice to change consequences. Branch excited to have you on tell us a little about your personal life’s more about your work and why you do what you do.

Unknown Speaker 0:48
Thank you, George, it’s really an honor to be here, I listened to some of your episodes, and your podcast offers so many different topics and great guests, and I’m proud to be one of them. Thank you, my personal life, my wife and I, my wife and I live in a middle of a forest in South Central Arkansas, with a variety of domestic and I’m domesticated animals. My work, I’m a writer, I’m an author, as you said, I write short stories, series, poetry and articles.

Unknown Speaker 1:21
And I do what I do to help my readers and listeners better understand the balance between growth for better relationship improvement and for better mental health and well being.

Unknown Speaker 1:38
Well, those are certainly admirable aims, right? Their growth and mental health and well being.

Unknown Speaker 1:47
Have you always been a writer?

Unknown Speaker 1:50
I have not. I’ve been writing for about 25 years now. But I didn’t start until very late in life.

Unknown Speaker 1:57
What were you doing before?

Unknown Speaker 2:01
Well, after college, I was in corporate America for about 15 years, and sales and marketing. And after that, I was an entrepreneur, founder and partner and five different small businesses. And then I got, I went back to school for a second degree, very late in life. And out of that experience, came the opportunity to write my first book. And after that, it just kept going. So

Unknown Speaker 2:29
that’s what I’ve been doing the last 25 years is writing and publishing. Nice.

Unknown Speaker 2:35
And how about how long have you been in South Central Arkansas, we’ve always been somebody who’s who’s likes being in nature.

Unknown Speaker 2:46
Yeah, it’s, I actually grew up in California, my dad was in the military. So we traveled quite a bit growing up, I ended up in California in the Los Angeles area,

Unknown Speaker 2:58
left there and went to college in Texas, again, in high density area, and sort of made my way back down into the rural lifestyle, I found out I lived in on Maui for a number of years, in a town of 900 people, and really grew to love that kind of environment. So ever since we left Hawaii, you know, we’ve been looking for someplace small and unencumbered with, with people.

Unknown Speaker 3:30
And you found your spot,

Unknown Speaker 3:33
we found our spot, very blessed. We live right in the middle of a forest and have lots of animals around.

Unknown Speaker 3:42
I love it. So you could have written about anything, why? Why did you settle on the power of choice, change in our consequences?

Unknown Speaker 3:54
Well, life is about relationships, and healthy relationships are about growth and balance. And

Unknown Speaker 4:03
as as my life experiences sort of unfolded, and I was walking the world’s path, and in that kind of rat race, and, and struggle for success, you know, like so many people. And just the focus was not where it needed to be. And so I discovered that the more balance I could find in my life, and then the more growth that could experience out of that balance. My life just took on a whole different dynamic. And so that’s what I decided to write about was how balance and growth and that relationship can sort of take us, you know, to a different place in our life. So that we can have

Unknown Speaker 4:53
more continuity between who I am, who I want to be, what it is I do and then what are the

Unknown Speaker 5:00
consequences of those choices to make me a better person. And this is why I found, you know, is at the core of good mental health,

Unknown Speaker 5:10
improving relationships, and knowing more about ourselves as part of a family, part of the community, part of part of a nation. And so that that’s been the focus and, and the growth pattern for me.

Unknown Speaker 5:27
And those are all things that

Unknown Speaker 5:30
have, we always struggled with those things.

Unknown Speaker 5:34
I think so far, from the very beginning, we’ve, you know, we’ve been struggling to survive, and to, you know, get ahead in life, whatever that looks like. And then there’s always those things that hold us back, both in ourselves, and in our world and in our life. And so

Unknown Speaker 5:57
it’s easy to, you know, be focused on something so intently to have that goal and that ambition, that we sort of miss the things that are passing by us with without, you know, getting part of that to be part of us, I think it’s just part of our human nature, is to be in that struggle for survival for existence for improvement. And there’s only so many hours in the day. So you know, if you’re going to focus on your job for 1618 hours a day, it doesn’t leave a lot of time, for your self reflection, your self growth, or being part of a family or a group.

Unknown Speaker 6:42
And it’s a balancing act, and all of those choices have have have consequences.

Unknown Speaker 6:50
Well, that said, every every choice that we make, every decision that we act upon, has got a consequence. And, you know, how do we make better choices so that the consequences are better for us overall, and especially today, you know, we live in a world in a society that’s so fast paced, and our goals and ambitions have been sort of taught and honed in on us to be a lot of the world kinds of things. And I find that, that people who are missing that spiritual component, you know, it’s tough to find that balance, because we’re both human animals, but we’re also spiritual beings, we have a spirit within us, we come from a spiritual place, I believe, and trying to get that balance between me as the individual and me as a spiritual individual, can be can be a tough road,

Unknown Speaker 7:52
if we don’t have that spirit active within us, that it’s easy to just focus on the things and the ways of the world. And in that path, you know, there’s a lot of stress and struggle and pressure.

Unknown Speaker 8:11
As Western culture, is it, is it valued to I don’t want to use the wrong term, but is it is it valued to eradicate the spirituality, it’s me as an individual triumphing over spiritualism or whatever else in the name of progress and growth and profit and all that.

Unknown Speaker 8:39
For many people, it is, you know, we live like say, particularly in Western society, our focuses on success, whatever that might look like. But in our day and age, most of that is surrounded by this pursuit of power and money. And when that’s our only focus,

Unknown Speaker 9:04
sometimes that doesn’t fulfill that inner need. We have I mean, if you want to get a new house, or a new car, or some possession that you’ve been craving for, or hoping for and working for, and then you finally get it. Then why, you know, in whatever period of time Do you want another house, a bigger house, a newer car, if those things satisfied that inner need, then that continual striving, and the struggle that goes along with that would be lessened. It’s just, you know, it’s who we are. You can’t have advancements in industry and technology without having you know, those scientific applications that make our life better, in most cases, for some that make our leisure time, more effective and more

Unknown Speaker 10:00
abundant, but at what cost? You know, we, we struggle in our personal relationships, because we don’t give the same kind of time and energy to our families and our relationships. And lo and behold, it’s that relationship struggle that not only sort of gnaws at us inside, but can eventually destroy us all the money, and all the things, you know, can’t bring that same fulfillment that an intimate relationship does.

Unknown Speaker 10:37
But it seems like we all need to figure that out for ourselves, instead of taking somebody else’s word for it.

Unknown Speaker 10:43
Exactly, that that’s, that’s the life issue, you know, how do I, how do I get what I want, and still be the best person I can be. And that’s where the dichotomy is. And that’s why it’s, it’s so difficult to get that balanced, you know, balances, everything is imbalanced, the universe is imbalanced. So everything in the universe is in balance. And ideally, we want that 5050 balance, but it never is, that way, it can’t be that way, for very long. So ideally, you know, what we try and strive for is 4951. Like in a relationship, if your relationship is strong, and you’ve got that close to balance, then when a decision is to be made between a couple more partners, or going to work partners, whatever it may be, when that decision has to be made.

Unknown Speaker 11:40
The adult thing to do the balance thing to do is if you’re stronger in the relationship for that task, or that skill, that I let you lead as we go through the process, if I have the better skills, the better strength better understanding in another situation, that I take on that lead role. And the other person becomes the cheerleader and the supporter. And that way we keep moving forward, you know, if I believe that, I’m the person in the relationship, who is the only one who can make the right or correct decision, no matter what is happening, and

Unknown Speaker 12:23
it fails that I then turn around and blame you, you know, hey, we’re not moving forward, and be I’m undermining and sabotaging the relationship and the things that I claimed to want to be growing. So, you know, that’s where the struggle comes. And

Unknown Speaker 12:43
we all carry a lot of baggage and the growth part is dropping that baggage that doesn’t help us and being willing to move forward, be vulnerable, be able to learn and grow and change, and have new responses, instead of going to old pattern behaviors that kind of try to keep us hold us back. So that’s what the struggle ends up being. And out of that struggle comes the conflict. And out of the conflict, then comes a decision, you know, how do we correct it? Or do we have to terminate it?

Unknown Speaker 13:24
That makes a lot of sense. For people that don’t have or didn’t have as a spiritual tradition growing up, and it just they didn’t necessarily explored or tried to access it. How do you counsel those people to begin that that process journey?

Unknown Speaker 13:45
What a great question. You know, religion, all religions have failed the people basically because once the master, it doesn’t matter whether it’s Jesus, Muhammad, Krishna, Buddha, you know, the original thought master of every spiritual belief system, or religion

Unknown Speaker 14:09
was instructed in aided by God, to have an understanding of what God’s purpose was for man. And all of the foundations of all religions are fundamentally the same. Love God first and most and then treat your neighbor as yourself, you know, and when the original master

Unknown Speaker 14:33
shared that information, that knowledge with followers, everything was, you know, sort of moving along as designed and purpose. Once the master dies, that vacuum has to be filled, that’s normally filled with the closest people to the master, but since they are not the master, their conception and their understanding is not as pure

Unknown Speaker 15:00
And once that purity is gone, that vacuum that’s filled with primarily men, as the outgrowth of religions origins, that vacuum is filled with men who have other things in mind, like power and control, and wealth. And the longer the religion goes on, the more of that influence you have, that moves from the pure to the impure. And of course, once the control and the wealth and the power part gets its roots planted, then it’s service and obligation to the people to the followers, has completely changed. And that’s why so many people have fallen away from religion, particularly in the Western world. Because, you know, it’s difficult, difficult to have leaders, men of God, so to speak, who are telling you one thing from the pulpit, and then behind closed doors doing the exact opposite thing. And that’s what’s happened. That’s how religion has devolved, you know, through over the hundreds and 1000s of years that it’s been active. And people lose interest, and they lose respect. And once they’ve lost respect, you know, then the church or the mosque or the temple no longer holds that reverence for them. But if they haven’t got a personal spiritual connection with God, Allah Brahma, whoever their god is, if they don’t have that connection, except through the church or the temple, then when that’s gone, they’re sort of lost sheep, right? They don’t believe they can have a personal relationship with God without the organization. And so our natural instinct, as humans is to turn to what we know, and to turn to the place where most comfortable, even if we’re uncomfortable in that place, and that’s to embrace the ways of the world, wealth, power, possessions control. And when we get caught in that cycle, then the further down that path we go, not only do we be not only are we successful often, but we also are unsuccessful, very often. And if we’re not part of the power elite, or the money elite, that our struggle becomes greater. So where do I turn? You know, how do I turn back to something that fulfills my heart? Since the things of the world are not fulfilling, you know, that heartfelt need, and that’s where people, you know, the falling away, come back and try and reestablish that spiritual connection with God. The problem is how, you know, how do I do it? If I can’t get it from the church or the temple or the mosque, then how do I get it, and that’s our misconception of spirituality. It’s not a one way path. It’s a two way path. And for the Christian,

Unknown Speaker 18:06
the Lord gives us five simple steps. And the person who understands those five steps and takes those five steps, is able to reestablish that connection and sort of begin a new, or be born a new and start to face the rest of their life with a new understanding of truth. And coming from my highest loving self.

Unknown Speaker 18:32
Well, we gotta go through the five steps branch.

Unknown Speaker 18:36
Oh,

Unknown Speaker 18:38
okay, number one, for this is for the Christian, you know, I’m only speaking I am a Christian. And that’s what I teach and share. For the Christian. The first step is, we have to invite God into our lives. And we do that by inviting Christ to be part of our lives. And we have a scripture for that. It’s Matthew seven. Christ says, Ask, seek and knock, the answer will come, the door will be open. So that’s how you establish that relationship. Because Christ has the same Holy Spirit as God the Creator, then that is his spirit. And that’s the spirit he sends to us. So when we invite him, he responds by sending us His Spirit, to live and be with our spirit that’s in our soul from birth. That’s in John 1613. Once we accept His Spirit within us, then we have the right and the privilege and the power to engage his career whenever we need. So if I’m in a situation where I have to make a choice in my life, am I going to I’m going home from a party, am I going to drive even though I’m inebriated, or am I not going to drive? Well, there’s three things that can help

Unknown Speaker 20:00
happen, I can get behind the wheel and safely get home, I can get behind the wheel and be stopped and arrested. Or I can get behind the wheel and cause an accident. Well, if I have that choice, and I say, you know, this is what I want to do I want to get home. But in this situation, what would Jesus do? What would my spirit show me to do? His spirit will advise me by showing me those three options, and I can still make the choice. That’s what freewill is about. But if I choose to drive, then I risk one of those two negative things happening. If I catch a ride home, get a ride home, take a taxi home, then I eliminate the negative. So that’s how his spirit guides us, directs us instructs us, the big choice comes am I going to listen or not? The fourth step is to emulate the thoughts and words and deeds of Christ. And this is focused on scripture, John 1416, where Jesus says, I am the Way the Truth and the light. And most people think, Well, I am the way that means the path. It means that but it also means I am the way to emulate. So we emulate or copy or imitate Jesus’s thoughts, words and deeds. So that brings us closer to him. And the fifth step is found in Romans 10. And that explains to us as believers, how we can be guaranteed life everlasting and Ever After through him with God. And that’s the five steps it’s to invite, embrace, engage and emulate the Spirit of Christ, which is also the Spirit of God, the Creator and God his Father. And then by believing in those four steps, it allows us to move forward with him,

Unknown Speaker 22:00
here and Hereafter.

Unknown Speaker 22:04
Powerful. Thank you for sharing those.

Unknown Speaker 22:07
We’ve covered a lot of ground ranch. Thank you so much for coming on. Where? Where can people learn more about you and how can they engage with you?

Unknown Speaker 22:18
Thanks, just been a real honor and pleasure to be here with you. Easy My name is branch like a tree. He so Leigh i s like Sam Oh le just Google my name. I’ve got a website. I’ve got a YouTube channel. Everything I’ve written everything that’s available. My books and ebooks, and all of my podcasts are all listed. So it’s very easy to find me. I invite anybody to check out my work. Excellent. Well, if you enjoyed as much as I did, show, branch your appreciation and share today’s show with a friend who also appreciates good ideas Google branch, e Solei. It’s pra n c h i s o l e and check out everything that he is working on. Thanksgiving brunch.

Unknown Speaker 23:04
My pleasure, George, thank you. Have a great day. And until next time, remember, do your part by doing your best

Transcribed by https://otter.ai