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Kevin Lowe: Do you consider yourself to be courageous? Are you the kind who you feel like you are brave?

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Kevin Lowe: You're the one who would run into the burning building to save someone.

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Kevin Lowe: You are the person who is going to do the thing, like getting up on stage in front of a crowd.

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Kevin Lowe: Are you courageous? Or do you only look at other people as being courageous?

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Kevin Lowe: Well, today, my friend, if you don't feel like you are the most courageous person

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Kevin Lowe: in the crowd, Well, why don't we change that?

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Kevin Lowe: Because you may think that being courageous is just a part of somebody.

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Kevin Lowe: It's what somebody is born with. But in fact, today, I'm going to show you the opposite is true.

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Kevin Lowe: That I believe being courageous is something that we build, that we only become

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Kevin Lowe: courageous by the actions we take.

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Kevin Lowe: So my friend, if you feel like you could use a little bit more courage in your

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Kevin Lowe: life, well, hey, today is for you.

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Kevin Lowe: I'm your host, Kevin Lowe And this, my friend, is episode 392 Of Grit, Grace, & Inspiration

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Podcast Intro: Theme song for Grit, Grace, & Inspiration

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Kevin Lowe: Before we dive into exactly what we're talking about in terms of courage,

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Kevin Lowe: I just want to give you a quick programming announcement.

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Kevin Lowe: Starting next week, we are going to just one episode a week here on the podcast.

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Kevin Lowe: I figure it's the summer. You probably got big plans like summer vacations,

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Kevin Lowe: pool parties, all the things.

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Kevin Lowe: And well, it just kind of makes sense. So just remember that starting next week

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Kevin Lowe: will just be going to one episode a week.

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Kevin Lowe: It gives me the time to be sure that I'm producing the best content possible.

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Kevin Lowe: You're still going to get the amazing interviews.

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Kevin Lowe: You're still going to get the solo episodes, just like today's episode.

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Kevin Lowe: But instead of every Tuesday and Thursday, it will just be every Tuesday starting next week.

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Kevin Lowe: So when you check back on Thursday and you don't see an episode next week,

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Kevin Lowe: just remember, oh yeah, Kev said, we're only doing one episode a week through the summer months.

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Kevin Lowe: So my friend, I just wanted to be sure that I keep you on the down low and keep

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Kevin Lowe: you up to speed on what's happening behind the scenes here at Great Grace and Inspiration.

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Kevin Lowe: Now, back to today's topic of speaking about courage. When it came time to prepare

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Kevin Lowe: for today's topic, I, of course, did what any person would do in the year 2025.

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Kevin Lowe: No, I did not Google the question because that's like so last year.

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Kevin Lowe: Instead, I turned to ChatGPT.

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Kevin Lowe: Why, of course I did.

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Kevin Lowe: And this is the answer that ChatGPT gave me as far as what is courage.

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Kevin Lowe: It told me that courage is not

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Kevin Lowe: the absence of fear, but rather it's the decision to act in spite of it.

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Kevin Lowe: I was happy with that definition. I expected it to give me a much longer,

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Kevin Lowe: more detailed definition of courage, but that just summarized it all up.

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Kevin Lowe: Having courage, it's not about being fearless, having no fear in life,

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Kevin Lowe: but instead it's about taking action despite the fear.

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Kevin Lowe: That is courage. That is being courageous.

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Kevin Lowe: But so the question, though, that I'm sure that you are asking,

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Kevin Lowe: but what if I'm not courageous?

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Kevin Lowe: What if I don't have all of this courage inside of me? How can I become courageous?

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Kevin Lowe: Well, that was the next question I asked.

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Kevin Lowe: I typed into ChatGPT asking if there was an equation, a formula that I could

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Kevin Lowe: follow to become more courageous.

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Kevin Lowe: And this is what it told me.

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Kevin Lowe: Courage equals purpose times conviction plus action, all divided by fear.

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Kevin Lowe: Yeah, I guess I should have specified that I wasn't really great at math.

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Kevin Lowe: I wasn't thinking I had to go back to algebra class. to figure this equation out.

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Kevin Lowe: But apparently Chachapiti knows more than me because it just gave me an algebraic

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Kevin Lowe: equation like I was not expecting.

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Kevin Lowe: Again, the equation for you to be able to be courageous is courage equals purpose

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Kevin Lowe: times conviction plus action, all divided by fear.

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Kevin Lowe: If that makes zero sense to you, Well, we are in the same math class because

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Kevin Lowe: that makes no sense to me either.

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Kevin Lowe: And before I go and text my old algebra teacher for help, I thought,

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Kevin Lowe: OK, let's break this down into simple terms.

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Kevin Lowe: So I took it piece by piece. And this is what I have for you today.

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Kevin Lowe: The first thing in the equation it spoke about was purpose.

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Kevin Lowe: So in this context, your purpose, of course, it's your why. It's the reason

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Kevin Lowe: why you care, why you want to take action.

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Kevin Lowe: So in terms of your own life and the situations that you might be presented

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Kevin Lowe: with, why does this matter?

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Kevin Lowe: What is at stake if you don't act?

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Kevin Lowe: That is the purpose, the first piece to the courage equation.

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Kevin Lowe: Then we go to the word conviction. What do you know is right?

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Kevin Lowe: I'm talking about your core belief. The thing that you know is right,

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Kevin Lowe: even if it's uncomfortable, even if knowing what's right isn't the easy thing

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Kevin Lowe: to decide on. That's the conviction.

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Kevin Lowe: And then use the word action in that equation. It's where you take movement.

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Kevin Lowe: You start moving forward.

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Kevin Lowe: You take the step. You make the leap. You jump out of the plane. You take the action.

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Kevin Lowe: And then, of course, all of that, with all the addition and multiplication, was all divided by fear.

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Kevin Lowe: And what I'm looking at fear as in terms of this scenario is fear not necessarily

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Kevin Lowe: being the enemy, but rather just the pressure that's going to help us reveal what's on the inside.

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Kevin Lowe: It's the thing that's pushing us forward, the fear of it all.

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Kevin Lowe: So now if you're still confused, if you're still thinking this makes no sense

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Kevin Lowe: and Kev has totally lost me, well,

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Kevin Lowe: let me dummy this down into a way in which I can easier understand what I'm even trying to say.

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Kevin Lowe: Basically, we're not looking to eliminate fear.

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Kevin Lowe: We just need to figure out how

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Kevin Lowe: we can outweigh it, how we can better ourselves, how we can beat the fear.

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Kevin Lowe: So the way we're going to do that is by simply raising your level of purpose,

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Kevin Lowe: being sure that you are crystal clear on your why.

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Kevin Lowe: We then add in that conviction. We take bold action.

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Kevin Lowe: And then suddenly, when you combine all of that together, fear no longer has

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Kevin Lowe: the hold on you that it once did.

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Kevin Lowe: That, my friend, is courage.

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Kevin Lowe: Again, if you can get clear on your purpose, your reason why,

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Kevin Lowe: why this matters in the first place, multiply that times your conviction.

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Kevin Lowe: And taking bold action, my friend, fear no longer has the ability to hold you

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Kevin Lowe: back any longer because you have become courageous.

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Kevin Lowe: Now, in reality, all of that might sound kind of cool, or maybe you're still

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Kevin Lowe: just confused. Either way, we'll go with it.

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Kevin Lowe: But you might still be thinking, okay, that's all fine and dandy, but I'm not courageous.

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Kevin Lowe: And if that is you, then I want to challenge that.

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Kevin Lowe: Because I have a feeling you're probably way more courageous than you give yourself credit for being.

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Kevin Lowe: Because let me ask you this. Have you ever made it through something that you

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Kevin Lowe: thought you never could do?

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Kevin Lowe: Was it something that you knew would break you and yet you came out the other side?

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Kevin Lowe: What about when you chose to show up when never going in the first place would have been easier?

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Kevin Lowe: Did you show up? Did you go? Or what about when you said that I forgive you

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Kevin Lowe: to somebody, even though the pain was still fresh?

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Kevin Lowe: Even though the easy thing would have been to not say anything at all,

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Kevin Lowe: you stepped up. You said, I forgive you.

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Kevin Lowe: Or let's face it, in the middle of a tough season of life, I bet you got out of bed in the morning.

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Kevin Lowe: It didn't mean that it was easy, but you did it.

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Kevin Lowe: Why? How? Because you're courageous. You have more courage inside of you than

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Kevin Lowe: you ever thought you ever did.

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Kevin Lowe: I'm here to remind you of it. We've been led to believe that courage is some

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Kevin Lowe: big flashy thing, thing meant for the evening news about somebody making some courageous act.

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Kevin Lowe: And yeah, that is wonderful.

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Kevin Lowe: But it's also the things that you do when nobody's watching,

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Kevin Lowe: when there are no cameras around. There are no reporters to catch your story.

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Kevin Lowe: It's you literally being courageous enough to just keep going one more day.

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Kevin Lowe: And the most important thing I want you to remember when we're talking about

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Kevin Lowe: whether or not you're courageous and how to become more courageous is that you

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Kevin Lowe: don't wait until you feel courageous to take action.

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Kevin Lowe: That's not how it works. You take action and courage shows up in the process.

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Kevin Lowe: You have to be willing to take that leap. And then that courage factor is born. It is built. It is grown.

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Kevin Lowe: So to leave you with some actionable items, I encourage you,

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Kevin Lowe: if you're in pursuit of living a more courageous life, to be full of courage each and every day.

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Kevin Lowe: Then I want you to ask yourself some simple questions. Right when you wake up

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Kevin Lowe: in the morning, what matters the most to me today?

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Kevin Lowe: That's your purpose. What would I do today?

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Kevin Lowe: What action would I take if I viewed myself as being brave, as being courageous?

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Kevin Lowe: That's your move. And the third question, what fear might try to stand in my way today?

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Kevin Lowe: What is the thing that's going to stop me? Is it going to be me getting in my own way?

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Kevin Lowe: It's going to be something else. What is it? Name it.

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Kevin Lowe: Recognize it. Realize it. Let it know that you see it, you understand it, and you're ready for it.

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Kevin Lowe: Now, remember, when we're talking about this, we're talking about real life.

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Kevin Lowe: I'm not saying that you have to have the courage to go climb a mountain today.

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Kevin Lowe: What I'm saying is you have to have the courage to hit send on an email,

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Kevin Lowe: to ask the question, to walk through the front door.

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Kevin Lowe: My friend, I leave you with one final thought. You never know how strong you

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Kevin Lowe: are until being strong is the only choice you have.

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Kevin Lowe: You are stronger than you know. You're more amazing than you believe.

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Kevin Lowe: And you're more courageous than you ever thought.

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Kevin Lowe: My friend, just by the simple fact that you're here today, listening to today's

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Kevin Lowe: episode, it already tells me that you're ready for more.

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Kevin Lowe: That you want to be a bigger, better version of you. and it's all possible.

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Kevin Lowe: Each and every day when the sun rises and you wake up, you get the choice to

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Kevin Lowe: live this life how you want to live it.

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Kevin Lowe: So my friend, I encourage you to take action, to be bold, to live out the life

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Kevin Lowe: that you are meant to live.

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Kevin Lowe: Remember, starting next week, we're going to just one episode a week each and every Tuesday.

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Kevin Lowe: Again, same amazing interviews, more solo content just like this to help make

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Kevin Lowe: your life a little bit better.

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Kevin Lowe: So with that said, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe. And this, of course,

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Kevin Lowe: was another episode of Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

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