<![CDATA[Man Up!]]>One of my good friends told me the other day that we are both drowning in "it should be better." That hit me harder than I thought. I looked back at 2025 and thought, "good god, that was the shittiest year of my life." My dog died, I progressed nowhere in my life substantially, or at least that's what it felt like internally, and worst of all, I lost the one person in my life who it felt like loved me just for existing, my grandma. Like most good things, I didn't realize it until it was too late and by the time I did, she was gone.

It's not that I don't have a great family and great friends that love and care about me or that I had some awful childhood. This isn't some hard-knock story about how I overcame a million and one things to be great, but it is a reality-check. This life shit is hard and I don't think it gets talked about nearly enough, especially from a mental health perspective. Now personally, I am a man, so I am gonna choose to talk about it from a man's perspective. My life experiences, which I'll get into along the way, made me grow up a lot faster than most of my peers. They also put what felt like a million pounds of pressure on my shoulders for as long as I can remember. Whose fault is that? I don't know. If I hear from one more family member (yes, I am middle-eastern so it is cultural and I hope my listeners that share that background with me understand) that I need to be gainfully employed by someone who isn't my dad or I need to get a girlfriend or I need to leave the nest, I will likely jump into the tub with a brand new Breville toaster....hypothetically, of course.

The goal of this isn't to just be the stupid endeavor of a soon to be jobless man, or a rant on useless BS, but to talk about and share the mental health struggles of my generation, from the lens of someone who has dealt with a lot of internal turmoil for a very long time. My goal is to eventually have guests on the show and reach the next man who thinks the only way out is the final way out. I want to make a difference in people's lives the only way I know how and that is to talk and hopefully make you laugh along the way. My closest friends tell me I "crash-out" all the time when I start to get philosophical and talk about my latest internal crisis, so now world....you too will get to be a part of my latest "crash-outs." Good luck.

]]>https://riverside.comRiverside.fm (https://riverside.com)Wed, 27 May 2026 23:59:57 GMTSat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:50 GMT60Joseph Abihabib<p>One of my good friends told me the other day that we are both drowning in "it should be better." That hit me harder than I thought. I looked back at 2025 and thought, "good god, that was the shittiest year of my life." My dog died, I progressed nowhere in my life substantially, or at least that's what it felt like internally, and worst of all, I lost the one person in my life who it felt like loved me just for existing, my grandma. Like most good things, I didn't realize it until it was too late and by the time I did, she was gone.</p><p>It's not that I don't have a great family and great friends that love and care about me or that I had some awful childhood. This isn't some hard-knock story about how I overcame a million and one things to be great, but it is a reality-check. This life shit is hard and I don't think it gets talked about nearly enough, especially from a mental health perspective. Now personally, I am a man, so I am gonna choose to talk about it from a man's perspective. My life experiences, which I'll get into along the way, made me grow up a lot faster than most of my peers. They also put what felt like a million pounds of pressure on my shoulders for as long as I can remember. Whose fault is that? I don't know. If I hear from one more family member (yes, I am middle-eastern so it is cultural and I hope my listeners that share that background with me understand) that I need to be gainfully employed by someone who isn't my dad or I need to get a girlfriend or I need to leave the nest, I will likely jump into the tub with a brand new Breville toaster....hypothetically, of course.</p><p>The goal of this isn't to just be the stupid endeavor of a soon to be jobless man, or a rant on useless BS, but to talk about and share the mental health struggles of my generation, from the lens of someone who has dealt with a lot of internal turmoil for a very long time. My goal is to eventually have guests on the show and reach the next man who thinks the only way out is the final way out. I want to make a difference in people's lives the only way I know how and that is to talk and hopefully make you laugh along the way. My closest friends tell me I "crash-out" all the time when I start to get philosophical and talk about my latest internal crisis, so now world....you too will get to be a part of my latest "crash-outs." Good luck.</p>episodicJoseph Abihabibabihabibj@gmail.comyes<![CDATA[Episode 2: The Beginnings]]>We're back for episode 2 FINALLY after a tedious review process with all the streaming sites. I apologize for the delay, but I feel good about this process moving forward.

In today's episode, I talk about my background from my childhood to present day, highlighting what I consider to be the most impactful events that were unique to me and how they shaped this podcast, as well as who I am today.

]]>2e4abb9e-2b6f-4197-ab85-2f3e8e65e795Fri, 13 Mar 2026 18:29:13 GMT<p>We're back for episode 2 FINALLY after a tedious review process with all the streaming sites. I apologize for the delay, but I feel good about this process moving forward.</p><p></p><p>In today's episode, I talk about my background from my childhood to present day, highlighting what I consider to be the most impactful events that were unique to me and how they shaped this podcast, as well as who I am today.</p>yes00:36:0312Episode 2: The Beginningsfull<![CDATA[Episode 1: Intro]]>The podcast 'Man Up' is inspired by my personal experiences of loss, struggle, and the search for something more. It delves into coping with loss, finding purpose, and the impact of loss on identity. The decision to start this podcast is driven by my desire to make a difference and encourage vulnerability. It really revolves around what being a man is like in today's world and what that comes with, for better or for worse.

]]>cf653a8e-4519-41d0-9227-304f74fe0deeFri, 27 Feb 2026 00:40:05 GMT<p>The podcast 'Man Up' is inspired by my personal experiences of loss, struggle, and the search for something more. It delves into coping with loss, finding purpose, and the impact of loss on identity. The decision to start this podcast is driven by my desire to make a difference and encourage vulnerability. It really revolves around what being a man is like in today's world and what that comes with, for better or for worse.</p>yes00:09:0211Episode 1: Introfull