Roger Housden is an author, speaker, and writing guide. He writes for “living and writing wild.” He has authored 22 books and has been featured everywhere from the New York Times to the LA Times. His latest book is titled, “Dropping the Struggle.” Michael and Roger start the episode by breaking apart Roger’s book title, “Dropping the Struggle.” Roger looks at different areas of life where struggle doesn’t work such as the struggle for meaning or purpose of life, the struggle for love, and the struggle against change, just to name a few. Next, Roger expands on the idea of “the moment of now.” He says that the idea of “fate” does not mean that your life is predetermined. The love of ones fate, and embracing fate as your life is how you write your own story. Planning for the future has its place, but when it preoccupies current life completely, then it can be problematic. Next, Michael and Roger talk about the always occurring “end of the world” debate going on. They use the upcoming election as an example. Once the presidential election is over, the debate will move onto something else. Life is a constant river. There will always be ups and downs. It is just the way the world works. It is how people respond to the ups and downs that define how things work out. Love is the next topic of conversation. Roger says that there will always be imperfections with love but even those imperfections contribute to who we are as people. If you take those imperfections out, then we wouldn’t be the people that we are. It is part of the process of humility. Michael and Roger finish up discussing the differences between eastern and western cultures. In this episode of Trend Following Radio: Reflective contemplation The moment of now The fantasy of control Imperfections with love Buddhist culture Individuality in western culture