Hi, it's this fifty plus. I'm James R. Junior. This is actually an audio and video episode. You do audio only an occasional video. I do audio only of this show. You look and you install those when you go to your other audio platforms. But I thought it was important just for me to put a face to this, literally a face to this, and that's why it's here on YouTube on JLJ Media, so you can look at both. But if you don't look at me, go over to go
to any audio stream service and listen to it now. June is Men's Mental Health Month. I see and I have a few words on that. There's nothing, nothing long, but I just want to I'm also older and I'm fifty plus that there is a lot of stigma for men sharing there to help. I'm online a lot because that's what I do. I'm online and stuff. And what's really interesting is seeing the divide online. There are folks who
say, walk it off. Let mean, give me ten thousand dollars, I'll screw at you for a weekend and you'll be a man again, whatever that means, right those folks. Then we have folks who really are trying to help and get into the deep feelings and give you a safe landing in a space to talk about the things that bother you. So I see this like two different worlds going on out there, competing for your attention. Meanwhile, I feel like if the average man's like I'm a man, I was
taught not to say anything. I was taught to you walk it off and suck it up and be a man. You're the man of the house in all the words I heard growing up, and I need to have to keep it together. Real men don't cry the whole thing I heard. I heard all that stuff growing up to keep it together, and also as man, many times that's our nature. We're fixers. And when we can't fix something, I think something innate in us completely falls apart because we can't fix this
certain thing. And and life isn't always about fixing. That's just kind of you know, sometimes it's ongoing stuff. It's tough myself. I've been in therapy off and on for years, but I'm also a certified life coach. I've gone to school for coaching. I was gone to school for nursing,
So you learned some psychological stuff while you're while you're training. That have been very valuable to me, but I'm a human and there are times that feel overwhelmed, and now that I'm older, says, this is the fifty plus part. For a lot of us who are older, there's a dude, there's a dual purpose thing going on for us. For all of us who are older and single, it's tough. We feel alone. Sometimes you feel like maybe we have the love of our lives and they're gone. So you
know, if you get think you can get that against you. This depression about growing old and by yourself for some not verybody for some, but like for a lot of men who want to have that relationship or they have the kids and they were youngers they are running around. But now even when kids now as a whole, there's a whole thing going on there. But also in the dating world, feeling invisible, there's a whole daddy stuff and dilfs and gilts and all this stuf. It's all cutesy, but for they always
person. A lot of times when you're over a certain age and we're all in a certain way, then they just you know, you feel overlooked and it's like it's not like you used to be. And going to the clubs, and this isn't a good look for a lot of us, for a lot of us who are a little older, and maybe us don't want to do that either, So there's been those issues with that. Also, we could be dealing with adult children, grandchildren. In my case, I'm part
of that sandwich generation. I have aging parents, you know, I'm dealing with the grown children, I have grandtched. I'm right in the middle. I'm handling everything there. Plus for some of us, we're still running our businesses and all that goes in there, or retiring and you're feeling like, what's my purpose? There's so when you get older, there's so much you
know, you don't call as much. You're certainly gets smaller. Body's dying off, which I just had a friend die recently, and it's like it's just like it's being smaller, certain getting smaller and smaller. There's a lot of melt issues with that too, And if you've never been taught to release them and to feel them, it's really tough. And making a suicide all the time. We women do two obviously too, but a lot of men just suffering silence, and you're like, but he seems so happy he seems
so nice and then all of a sudden the next day they're gone. Or lots of addiction issues, gambling, shopping, food, drugs, alcohol, all those addictions happening, and it's being out of control because of some maybe a couple of traumatizing things. I'm enjoying people saying, you know, check on your strong friends. That those of us who are handling everything, and the heads of families or just just in charge of businesses, people's hour.
People just think outwardly appearance, you know, you know they're fine. So I always try to check in with my friends. I always do my male friends, especially. I'm always like, how you doing, And it's it's it's an awkward conversation for us. You're like, well, I'm fine, You're like, really, how you doing? And I only ask the people that I'm close to. I mean, I won't just ask a random male friend of mine, you know, and tell me all your business. Because
trust is a big thing too. Trusting that you can be safe with your feelings is a big thing. But I do have a couple of friends that I know I can talk to you about my feelings, and I try to do the same for them. It's not all about me, and and it's it's not it's not easy, it takes practice, it's not it's not fun. It's just today. I don't want to tell all my feelings. I don't like it, but I do. I forced myself to. I have cried on camera many times over the years. I've laughed on camera. I've
gotten mad on camera. I show my emotions. I'm very passionate and i'm and I answered myself, it's okay, you know I want I just broken men don't help society at all. They don't help themselves or anybody that comes in contact with them. So I want less broken men. That's what I want. I want less. I don't want hurt boys become broken men and then the cyclers happens all over again. I just so I don't want that.
And whether it's it's uh, it's arn't therapy, or it's or it's gym therapy, or it's actual therapy, therapy and something, just I just urge everyone to least reach out reach out to me. I listen to you once. Sometimes it's you to talk to a person you don't know for personally. But I am I online now I've been actively trying to connect with other men who align with my values of no shaming, no bullying, no extreme drastic measures to help other men. It's like we just were here to be
a support system and it could be really nice. I mean the highs and lows. I mean both the good thing that the good times and the bad. So I'm gonna continue doing that much as I can. And it's not easy to get older. It really isn't. And I and there's times I
feel completely alone and by myself and upset and completely oppressed about it. And it's and just I can admit that I can't bealely admit that that just sometimes that happens, and it happened every day, but it does happen sometimes and I have to walk through it. So but I am doing better at reaching out. I'm trying my best. It's a fifty plus. My show comes out every Tuesday. It's about issues for over fifty and usually from my point of view, it's kind of what I do. What I do. It's
mostly audio, but occasionally have a few videos here. And it's like I said, it's Men's month, a mental month, and I just want to make sure that we look out for each other, there's something wrong with that. I'm James Jr. Taught to you next time.