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Welcome to he cast the official 
podcast of he changed him. 

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As always, I am Mike Chisholm as
always. 

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I'm so excited to have 
conversations around the world 

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of men's mental Wellness. 
I constantly I'm a broken 

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writer. 
I shouldn't do the same intro 

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over again. 
Can we just OK, for if you're a 

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viewer and listen to the show, 
can you just assume and know 

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that I'm going to be 
enthusiastic about the guests 

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that we have here and not hold 
it against because I am I'm so 

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enthusiastic about these 
conversations and these people. 

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Today is no exception. 
This guy and I, man, we're 

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brothers from another mother, 
Chris DT Gordon is his name and 

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Chris. 
So Chris Gordon, the DT is a 

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beautiful distinction. 
If you want to go find his book 

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or look for him as a speaker, 
Chris, DT Gordon, he, Chris is 

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an awesome guy. 
Boy, did he go through an 

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ordeal, a medical ordeal a few 
years ago. 

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And what that did was he's fine 
now and he's and he survived it.

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But he has, you know, we talked 
about how success leaves clues. 

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Sometimes going through really 
hard things leaves clues. 

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Sometimes the success is 
surviving something. 

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And boy did he and he has shared
it. 

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He's got a book from Survivor to
Striver how how gratitude can 

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turn you into a superhero. 
Clearly he talks about 

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gratitude, but it's so much 
more. 

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He gives 3 questions during this
conversation that I think 

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everybody should write down and 
ponder. 

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A really great guy who has, you 
know, gone to the depths almost 

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of death and back and has done 
a, a phenomenal job of, of, of 

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framing that in a way that has 
helped himself, his family and 

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others as well. 
He's a big comic nerd the way 

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that I am. 
And so we have a lot of fun 

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talking today. 
I'm really grateful for the 

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conversation that we just had 
here. 

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And, and, and I would have said 
that whether it was about 

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gratefulness or not, I'm super 
grateful. 

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I hope you will be too. 
Please enjoy my conversation 

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with Chris DT Gordon. 
I get a little Flack, not Flack,

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but people talk about how 
enthusiastic I always am in my 

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intro and and I always say, oh, 
I'm really excited to talk about

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this person And I am I'm always 
excited to talk to people around

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have conversations around the 
space of Bens mental Wellness, 

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to hear their story and and and 
and to to share perspective so 

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we can help people. 
But today, I mean, I'm always 

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excited, but today when I get a 
fellow comic book enthusiast, 

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when I get somebody who has 
wrapped in the lore of, of, of, 

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of the mythology of my youth and
is excited about that as well. 

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Chris honestly if you were to 
turn the camera around to the 

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other side of the podcast 
studio, you would see 3 display 

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cases set up and most of the the
statues or the Hot Toys or the 

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things that are in there are 
comic book, their comic book 

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referenced. 
And so having you on today 

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brings a special kind of joy. 
Chris, welcome to he cast. 

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Oh, thank you Mike. 
I greatly appreciate the intro 

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and the and the energy you're 
bringing and really quick before

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I forget, I must do the same to 
you. 

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I, I will bring my computer to 
show you that I am legit. 

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You can see some Hello Kitty 
inspired cardboard paintings and

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then I'm working on it. 
There it is, I got. 

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Some Transformers. 
Yeah, yeah, I was a big. 

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In the corner, in the corner 
there's Fortress Maximus holding

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blaster. 
Yep, like an like an 80s break 

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dancer. 
And behind me I got the Ninja 

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Turtles. 
And of course you know I am also

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Star Wars, so I have 6 right 
here. 

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I'm a big Star Wars guy. 6 Yep, 
Yep, that's fantastic. 

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And it's funny because, you 
know, you're going through what 

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you've gone through and we'll 
get into all that, But, but, but

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the idea that that that you went
through, you know, something 

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that many people would call 
horrific and, and, and, and 

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perhaps you yourself at times 
called it that. 

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But then now the way that you 
refer to it as your origin 

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story. 
I, I love that because, you 

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know, you talk about the 
Transformers that are back 

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there. 
I was more AGI joke guy, but I 

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love Transformers too. 
I, you know, the idea of, of 

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transforming from one thing into
another as a result of an epic 

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event that happens in our life. 
You are the poster child for 

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that. 
I want to talk about, you know, 

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your biography a little bit, 
special edge, special Ed 

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educator, correct? 
Yes, yes, I am a special 

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educator, licensed and learning 
disabilities and autism spectrum

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disorder and I've been. 
Teaching a growth industry safe 

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to say a growth industry since 
you started this. 

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Yes, yes, I I will never run out
of students. 

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I, I, the numbers when it comes 
to, you know, spectrum or, or, 

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or autism, you know, the things 
that I don't even want to call 

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it an affliction anymore. 
It just seems to be that brains 

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are so complex and the way that 
that has in our lifetimes, the 

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level of knowledge that we have 
had has grown in that area so 

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much. 
I can only understand. 

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And I jokingly called it a 
growth industry. 

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Boy oh boy, the changes that you
have seen and my good the 

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support that you must have seen 
in your career must just be 

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astounding. 
Yes, it is white the eye 

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catcher. 
It does get attention. 

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You're right, Mike, especially 
within the last 20 years since 

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brain research has just 
illuminated what are, you know, 

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what we can do mentally, but 
also what struggles we have. 

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And I think that people who 
aren't as well versed in, you 

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know, in psychology or in, you 
know, and just in how the brain 

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functions thinks that oh, well, 
this is something made-up. 

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Or they might even think that 
it's, you know, some kind of 

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scam. 
And I know I'm maybe speculating

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a little too much, but I think 
it just goes to the show how 

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advanced we are as a society 
that we can find these new 

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idiosyncrasies within the brain 
and things that we would have 

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institutionalized people for a 
number of years ago. 

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Or just oh, well, you know, it's
just because of this, you know, 

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someone who just popped in my 
head, Forrest Gump, you know, 

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that movie character who people 
thought he was stupid and slow. 

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And we, you know, yes, he 
sometimes could not function as 

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well as others in one way, but 
he had other talents. 

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And we need to realize we're all
Forrest Gump in some way, shape 

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and form that yes, there are 
some ways that we struggle, but 

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there are other ways that we are
geniuses or that just click for 

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us. 
And I think that, you know, as 

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you said, it's a growth 
industry. 

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I'm not going to argue that. 
I mean, there seems to be more 

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and more, you know, people 
diagnosed on some level of 

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autism, but that just comes with
the understanding what we are as

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people. 
And I think the more we realize,

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well, we all have some semblance
of abnormality, you, whether 

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it's, you know, like a lower, 
you know, like a lower level or 

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maybe it affects us at a greater
degree, it's OK. 

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That's what makes us us. 
Yeah, I think that's very well 

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put. 
You use the word as you were 

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talking about this 
idiosyncrasies within the brain.

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I love that the reframe of what 
we might think that is you talk 

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about Forrest Gump. 
I, I, I've got a, a family 

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that's very close to me in my, 
in my financial career. 

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And, and, and they've got a 
couple of autistic boys and they

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work very, very closely with all
of the different activist groups

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and, and support groups that 
are, that are up here in, in, in

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my area of Western Canada. 
And, you know, I was talking to,

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to the, the, the gal's husband 
and we were going through and he

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was talking about The Big Bang 
Theory. 

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And he said, boy, I just wish 
that, you know, Sheldon is 

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Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory, 
but I just wish that they would 

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actually take the leap and, and,
and, and put the label. 

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And now that labels are a good 
thing, But but at least, you 

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know, create the awareness there
that that that's, that's the 

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character that they have. 
And because it's quite a it's, 

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it's, it's, it's in many ways a 
remarkable, you know, the 

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idiosyncries that we're talking 
about many times are remarkable.

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And, and we've come a long way, 
you know, since Rain Man and, 

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and to where we are now. 
And it's, it's very cool to see 

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that and, and you doing that as 
a vocation, you being involved 

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in that. 
First off, I'm grateful. 

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I'm very, very grateful that 
you're able to help members of 

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our society that have these 
things that are perhaps outside 

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of the box of convention and, 
and, and doing that. 

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So, so that, that says a lot to 
your heart right there, never 

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mind the story and, and, and all
the other stuff. 

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So, so I just wanted to say 
thank you for doing what you do.

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You're making the world a 
brighter place and I'm glad that

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there is more awareness that's 
out there. 

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I'm curious, from your 
perspective, the awareness 

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that's out there sometimes jumps
on a freight train and it goes 

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whether it leaves a station and 
it gets going fast, whether or 

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not the information is correct 
or not. 

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As you've seen this happen in 
your in this 20 years that 

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you're talking about here, are 
there some misconceptions that 

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are out there that you still 
wish would be cleared up? 

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Yes. 
I think that something that 

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really gets people's attention 
is, like you mentioned, Rain 

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Man. 
And you know, when you think 

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about the character of Raymond, 
he was extraordinarily talented 

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at numbers. 
Yep. 

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And that's just the way his 
brain was wired. 

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And I think that a lot of people
really think, well, all you 

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know, all people who are 
artistic, are autistic, have, 

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are just incredibly powerful 
math skills. 

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Yep. 
And it's no, yeah, no, you know,

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it's not that at all. 
It, you know, it just happens 

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that some, some people who are 
autistic actually are artistic. 

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You know, that's the way their 
brain is wired, you know, And I 

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think if we think of the brain 
as a computer, which it is, I 

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mean, it is powered by 
electricity, when you think 

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about it. 
Absolutely. 

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Many computers are geared 
towards some capacity, some 

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applications more readily than 
others. 

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And our brains are like that. 
And every computer, every 

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computer powers on the same way.
But after that, the functions 

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that it completes can be varied,
and so can our brains. 

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And so I think, you know, 
thinking less of people as being

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just good at things or bad at 
things, it's just like, well, 

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that might be the case, but I 
think that's a broad stroke. 

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I just think we need to, you 
know, look at the person and 

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say, OK, you know, yes, you are 
good at this and maybe you're 

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not good at this, but let's not 
just put that as your identity. 

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Exactly. 
And, and, and that's, that's 

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exactly what I was referring to,
like saying, you know, we've 

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come a long way since, since 
Rayman, because I think that, 

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you know, awareness is good, but
at the same time, when it's 

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incorrect awareness or, or there
are assumptions that get made, 

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that's where we get into trouble
when it comes to things. 

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I want to get into. 
By the way, congratulations on 

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writing a book many times. 
My wife and I are both, you 

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know, we went, we went through 
something, you know, with our, 

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with our granddaughter a few 
years ago, a health crisis. 

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And thank goodness, she's all 
good. 

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She's everything's, everything's
fine with her. 

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But through that process, we 
learned a lot about ourselves 

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and we wrote a book about it. 
And, and, and it's such AI 

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always loved talking to authors 
who, you know, my, when we wrote

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our book, My, my, my, my 12th 
grade English teacher, you know,

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he wrote back to me and he said,
Hey, congratulations, you 

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finally had something to say. 
And, and, and I think when we 

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write and we put things out 
there, you know, the whole idea 

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of we want to have something to 
say is a huge part of it. 

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Your book certainly has done 
that. 

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It has certainly done exactly 
what your motto is, you know, 

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being the attitude of gratitude,
always being grateful, taking a 

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hard situation and trying to 
make some good out of it. 

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And clearly that's what your 
book has done. 

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Can we please talk about that 
for a little bit and talk about 

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what you went through and the 
genesis of the book and, and, 

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and, and take it from there? 
Yeah, certainly. 

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If you give me a second, Mike, I
have the real life here. 

221
00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:56,680
No, no, no. 
Here's Sammy. 

222
00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:01,040
He's a 7th poodle. 
We love him. 

223
00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:04,040
He's also getting into something
real quick I have to clear out. 

224
00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:07,280
No, Do what you gotta do, man. 
Get here. 

225
00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,880
Dogs track well on the show. 
People like people like the 

226
00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:12,280
puppies. 
We're fine with that. 

227
00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:14,680
Yeah. 
And while you're doing that, you

228
00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:18,480
know the title of the book from 
Survivor to striver, how 

229
00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:20,680
gratitude can turn you into a 
superhero. 

230
00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,920
And and right there, you know, 
ours is a long title too. 

231
00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:27,480
It had it had a it had a semi 
colon in it with a with a a 

232
00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:29,800
brief kind of description in the
title as well. 

233
00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:33,640
And and I think a lot of these 
books that, you know, seek to 

234
00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:36,720
help people try and share a 
little bit more in the title 

235
00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,000
than have that that, you know, 
that punchy whatever you know 

236
00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:42,120
from survivor to strive or how 
gratitude can turn you into a 

237
00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:46,400
superhero. 
You know, the survivor part, 

238
00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:49,080
reading your story, knowing what
you've gone through. 

239
00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:51,440
Holy smokes, you're lucky to be 
here today. 

240
00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:54,040
And I mean, you know, sometimes 
it takes a moment like that 

241
00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:57,320
where that's where gratitude can
come from. 

242
00:14:57,320 --> 00:14:59,560
It's like a wake up call. 
It's like a cold shower where 

243
00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:02,440
you suddenly, you know, are 
thrust into the present moment 

244
00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,880
and there's a realization there 
what that the present moment 

245
00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,840
might be very different or might
not even be happening. 

246
00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,080
And, and, and, and so sometimes 
that could be a, a, a charge to 

247
00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:16,080
gratitude. 
Was gratitude something that you

248
00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:19,240
had already gone down the path 
of before you went through what 

249
00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:24,160
you went through? 
No, I was an incredible jerk all

250
00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:25,960
through my life. 
It was unbelievable. 

251
00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:29,760
I'm surprised I survived getting
to 40 in the 1st place. 

252
00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:31,160
Really. 
No, I'm just kidding. 

253
00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:32,400
I was. 
I was a nice guy. 

254
00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:33,520
Oh. 
My God, I had me. 

255
00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:39,600
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I was raised
by two. 

256
00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:42,680
Yeah. 
I was raised by, you know, 2 

257
00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:47,520
middle class people, you know, 
from both from Pennsylvania and,

258
00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:52,040
you know, they, they had strong 
upbringings of, you know, how 

259
00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:55,720
you should treat people. 
So yeah, I, I mind my PS and QS 

260
00:15:55,720 --> 00:16:00,840
and I was always trying to show 
kindness, kindness to people. 

261
00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:04,520
I would always use someone's 
name when we're in a restaurant 

262
00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,200
if I see their name tag or at 
the store. 

263
00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:14,160
And obviously I still do that, 
but it wasn't intentional. 

264
00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:18,920
It wasn't a, a, a solid 
practice. 

265
00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:24,960
It's just something I did. 
So, you know, after my ordeal is

266
00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:29,480
when I really started putting it
into intentional practice, you 

267
00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:34,560
know, developing strategies so 
it can just have that much more 

268
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,320
effect. 
I'm glad that you said that 

269
00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:41,800
because at the end of the day, I
think gratitude is one of those 

270
00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:46,760
things where I don't know that a
lot of people have necessarily 

271
00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:50,640
turned it into an intention. 
You know, we throw out the 

272
00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:52,480
ideas, OK, I'm going to have a 
good day today. 

273
00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:54,040
I'm going to try and have a good
attitude today. 

274
00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:56,240
I'm going to be happy today. 
But the idea of I'm going to be 

275
00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:00,520
grateful today or, or, or 
intentionalness and saying, OK, 

276
00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:01,840
hold on, let's take a moment 
here. 

277
00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:04,000
What are three things that I'm 
grateful for right now? 

278
00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,599
And I mean, as you know, and 
you're going to talk about here,

279
00:17:07,599 --> 00:17:12,040
because it changed your life in 
many respects, that right there 

280
00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:16,079
is something that can really be 
an extra gear as we're going 

281
00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:18,480
down the highway of life. 
Like like, like, like actually 

282
00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:21,480
just sitting there for a second.
And whether we write it down or 

283
00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,839
we, we really just kind of focus
on two or three things that 

284
00:17:23,839 --> 00:17:25,640
we're grateful for right there 
in that moment. 

285
00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:29,440
That is an exercise that again, 
you talk about how it can turn 

286
00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:32,240
you into a superhero. 
I literally say I call it a 

287
00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:35,800
superpower and, and, and so I'm 
glad you talked about that 

288
00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:38,360
before you even talked about 
what led you to this place 

289
00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:41,840
because we can all do that. 
And that is a it keeps a bunch 

290
00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:44,720
of things away. 
It's very difficult to have 

291
00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:48,360
crippling anxiety and be 
grateful at the same time. 

292
00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,680
And while, OK, you can also make
a decision to be grateful and to

293
00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,080
focus on gratefulness for 5 or 
10 minutes. 

294
00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:57,720
And if that's the case and 
you're feeling anxious, Oh my 

295
00:17:57,720 --> 00:17:59,240
gosh. 
And that's so that's what I 

296
00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:01,480
found anyway. 
And I, I can't wait for you to 

297
00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:02,720
talk about this a little bit 
more. 

298
00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:04,560
I mean, I'm certain that you 
agree with everything that I 

299
00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:05,640
said. 
If you want to add to that, 

300
00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:08,080
let's do it. 
And then let's get into what it 

301
00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:09,920
was that gave you this wake up 
call. 

302
00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:13,040
Yeah. 
So to your point about 

303
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:18,320
gratitude, you know not having 
not sharing the same space as 

304
00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:22,480
anxiety. 
So something that I had said 

305
00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:29,320
before, but I had not verbalized
it as eloquently is that until 

306
00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:30,880
now. 
And so I just thought of it. 

307
00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:40,280
You can't be both glad and mad 
because when you are angry about

308
00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:42,520
something, you're not thinking 
about. 

309
00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,800
Wow, I, I appreciate this so 
much. 

310
00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:51,880
You are focused on the anger 
that amygdala is firing and you 

311
00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:57,880
are thinking about how can I 
feel better by making someone, 

312
00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,960
something or someone else worse.
Yep. 

313
00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:07,440
But when you are glad or 
grateful for something, you're 

314
00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:12,040
seeing the value in it. 
And I'm not saying you should 

315
00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,840
never be angry. 
I'm not saying that you 

316
00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:24,120
shouldn't feel the spectrum of 
human emotion, but at the same 

317
00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:28,600
time you got to think about what
emotions are affecting you with 

318
00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:30,480
the greatest benefit at that 
time. 

319
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:40,000
And so being able to experience 
the emotion, experience the 

320
00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,720
anger, experience the 
frustration, but then quickly 

321
00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:48,640
key, key into your gratitude, 
say, OK, yeah, this sucks. 

322
00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:52,240
I and I got to deal with this. 
But let's see what, what do I 

323
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:56,440
have that I might add to my 
disposal that I can use right 

324
00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:57,560
now? 
Yes. 

325
00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:00,800
And sometimes we get tongue tied
and we get tripped up in our 

326
00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,800
words. 
But the effort of working 

327
00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:13,880
through that, either verbally or
mentally, is in itself something

328
00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:17,160
for which we should be grateful 
because. 

329
00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:25,440
Pressure and struggle is a 
privilege and so. 

330
00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:27,720
Struggle is a privilege. 
Let's let's go down that path a 

331
00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:29,240
little bit. 
Let's reframe because there's a 

332
00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,280
lot of guys who are listening to
this or watching this that are, 

333
00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:35,240
that have been in struggle for a
long time and have been feeling 

334
00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:38,160
pressure for a long time. 
Like perhaps it's silent as 

335
00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:39,280
well. 
Perhaps it's something that 

336
00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:43,280
they're feeling, you know, it's,
it's, it's, it's something that 

337
00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:45,440
they're holding onto themselves.
They haven't really opened up to

338
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:48,280
people about it. 
So the idea of being able to 

339
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:52,560
maybe find a way out of there by
reframing it, the idea of 

340
00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:55,640
reframing it, how is, you know, 
pressure a privilege? 

341
00:20:57,480 --> 00:20:59,560
Well, you've probably heard this
before. 

342
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:05,480
If you don't change, you die. 
You know, every living thing 

343
00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:11,040
goes through change and some 
changes are more painful than 

344
00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:13,480
others. 
Now I'm not going to say that 

345
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:18,600
every single struggle you face 
is great. 

346
00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:22,800
I mean there are some that just 
suck. 

347
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:29,040
I mean getting skinned alive and
almost losing your arm is not 

348
00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:35,440
fun. 
But being able to recognize that

349
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:40,480
you are more powerful than the 
struggle that you know we 

350
00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,160
because you have scars, because 
you survived. 

351
00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:47,840
Yes. 
And being able to say, OK, I'm 

352
00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:52,880
in this hole, how can I dig 
myself out? 

353
00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:58,400
How can I climb out? 
What can I do to, you know, 

354
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,120
remove myself from the 
situation? 

355
00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:06,960
Do I have to call for help? 
Do I have to, you know, use the 

356
00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:11,840
strength within me from, you 
know, you know, key into skills 

357
00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:14,640
that I already have and use them
in a different way? 

358
00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:20,000
Yep, I think that is very well 
put. 

359
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,640
You know, my wife and her part 
of the book, we both wrote the 

360
00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:25,440
book together. 
And her part of the book, you 

361
00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:29,280
know, she, she, she rallied 
around the, the colloquialism or

362
00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:30,560
the phrase or whatever you want 
to call it. 

363
00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:34,560
Sometimes a blessing comes like 
a kick in the teeth and, and at 

364
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:38,120
the end of the day, you know, to
get us, you know, to wake us up 

365
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:42,800
and, and, and, and the idea of, 
hey, if I've survived that scar 

366
00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:47,400
is a remnant of my survival. 
And so many people love to to 

367
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,520
focus on the scar and make the 
scar the identity. 

368
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:54,800
You certainly are in a place 
where you could have gone down 

369
00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:57,240
that path. 
I'm curious if you did. 

370
00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,200
That's a question that I have. 
So as you tell your story, and 

371
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,320
again, we don't want to make 
your story the entire story of 

372
00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:05,200
this podcast, I'm certain that 
that that a lot of people can do

373
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,280
that when they go through 
something the way that you did. 

374
00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:11,960
But at the end of the day, like,
like, like the question that I 

375
00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:17,600
have for you is at what point 
did you realize that you didn't 

376
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:21,760
have to be a victim or a martyr 
or to someone who focused on the

377
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:24,000
scar, maybe even as it was 
forming? 

378
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:30,000
I'm super curious how far into 
the journey it was before you 

379
00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:34,280
had this kind of insight of of 
of your attitude is a little bit

380
00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:38,760
more in your control than what 
the circumstances might dictate.

381
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:48,160
I could say that this 
illumination happened far into 

382
00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:52,600
the future, you know, many, many
years or so after my 

383
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,200
hospitalization. 
But actually it was when the 

384
00:23:55,360 --> 00:24:00,000
within a few days of waking up 
for my coma to OK go. 

385
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,840
Back briefly, you've set the 
hook right there to waking up 

386
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:05,040
after the coma a few days out 
the hot what the hell? 

387
00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:08,440
OK, so to let's let's go through
the story here and and let's get

388
00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:12,200
to this point because that is a 
that's a great hook right there.

389
00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:14,360
Oh my gosh, this guy's been 
through some stuff, folks. 

390
00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:20,560
He really has. 
Yeah, so March 18th, 2015, I am 

391
00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:24,240
helping my wife Becky get our 
three little kids. 

392
00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,800
They're not so little now, but 
at the time they were little 

393
00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:33,040
into the van so she could take 
them to daycare and school and 

394
00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:38,400
then I can go to her job as a 
school teacher here in New Ulm. 

395
00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:43,920
I was flying one of the twins. 
We had a six year old and two 

396
00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:47,800
year old twins at the time. 
I picked up one of the twins and

397
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:50,520
was flying them back and forth 
to our detached garage. 

398
00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:54,000
I went too far to the right 
though and scratched my right 

399
00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,000
hand on a garage on our garage 
wall. 

400
00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:59,640
And to quote one of my favorite 
movies of all time, tis but a 

401
00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:02,400
scratch. 
It wasn't bleeding. 

402
00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:07,640
No harm no foul. 
And you know, being from Canada,

403
00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:10,000
you know if you're not bleeding,
you're fine. 

404
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:14,880
So I put the kid into the car 
seat, kissed them all goodbye. 

405
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:19,720
Becky drove them on their way. 
I went back to the house to wash

406
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:23,040
off my non bleeding wound and 
start my day of online teaching.

407
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:25,200
Yep. 
Three days later, it's a 

408
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:27,760
Saturday. 
I wake up and I finally look a 

409
00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:31,120
lacrosse ball size bump on my 
right elbow. 

410
00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:36,120
Go to the urgent care clinic. 
They're thinking it's Bursitis, 

411
00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:40,120
which is an inflammation of the 
Bursa SAC in your joints. 

412
00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:44,520
They say keep an eye on it. 
I say, OK, doc. 

413
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:49,240
So I go home and I keep an eye 
on that ball, that little 

414
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:56,000
lacrosse ball on my elbow as it 
grows and grows and grows until 

415
00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:00,520
my right arm is 3 triple the 
size of my left. 

416
00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:03,680
How many days? 
I like to say that I'm the. 

417
00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:09,400
What's that? 
How many days between as as keep

418
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:11,480
an eye on it to what you just 
described? 

419
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,760
What 3 days did I scratch my 
hand to the lacrosse ball? 

420
00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:25,360
So from the time I noticed the 
the lacrosse ball to three times

421
00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:28,280
the size 10 hours. 
Oh my God. 

422
00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:33,640
OK, so keep an eye on it. 
At the end of the day, it's 

423
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,360
worse than just keep an eye on 
it. 

424
00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:37,280
Like, Oh my God. 
And I and I was thinking 

425
00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:38,840
throughout the day, I was 
thinking, OK, it's got to go 

426
00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:42,000
down sometime, right? 
I mean, eventually it's I'm 

427
00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,600
going to stop hulking out. 
I did look like the Incredible 

428
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:49,000
Hulk and mid transformation, 
which I do benching in the book.

429
00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:51,000
I have a fun picture of that on 
the book. 

430
00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:56,080
So Becky takes me to the to the 
emergency room. 

431
00:26:56,080 --> 00:27:02,680
Now they keep me overnight for 
observation, at which during 

432
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:07,360
which time they noticed that I 
had also gotten septic. 

433
00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:10,200
My blood pressure is all over 
the place. 

434
00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:11,840
My body was starting to go into 
shock. 

435
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:19,400
So that next morning that 
attending doctor says something 

436
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:21,800
to me like I will never forget, 
she said. 

437
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:26,080
Mr. Gordon, this is beyond us. 
We can do nothing more for you 

438
00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:29,040
here. 
Where do you want to go? 

439
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:36,640
And quickly I say Mayo as in the
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN 

440
00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:42,120
because not only is it the Mayo 
Clinic, it's world renowned, but

441
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:44,600
Becky's parents live in 
Rochester. 

442
00:27:45,360 --> 00:27:46,760
OK. 
So I knew that we would have a 

443
00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:51,680
home base if we needed for 
whatever would entail, you know,

444
00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:53,040
whatever it shows. 
That you're still thinking 

445
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,360
logically, You're still able to 
think logically in that place. 

446
00:27:56,360 --> 00:27:58,560
Like that's a very measured 
response. 

447
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:03,920
Yeah, OK. 
So I and thank you by the way, 

448
00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:08,360
so they fly me to Mayo, fly to 
fly me to Rochester. 

449
00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:13,760
It's about a 20 minute flight 
from where I live here and they 

450
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,200
get me to the hospital, to Saint
Mary's in Rochester and it's 

451
00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,720
there where they diagnose me 
with flesh eating bacteria or 

452
00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:23,640
necrotizing fasciitis. 
Yep. 

453
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:28,960
And so from there, and they've 
seen it before, they're not a 

454
00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:32,320
small town hospital. 
They've been around, they 

455
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:37,000
quickly get me into surgery. 
And from that first surgery, I 

456
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:41,760
was out for five days. 
In that five day span, they 

457
00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:45,280
removed all the infected skin 
and tissue from my arm, 

458
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:50,440
shoulder, chest and back. 
In fact, the infection got so 

459
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:52,080
far went up to the base of my 
neck. 

460
00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:56,200
Wow. 
They cleaned it all out and 

461
00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:59,280
while when they did that they 
noticed the infection had gone 

462
00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:03,520
so far into my right arm, they 
told Becky they would have to 

463
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:07,000
amputate. 
They were preparing to amputate.

464
00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:10,160
That was on their schedule to 
amputate. 

465
00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,480
Mike, what am I holding up? 
Your right arm. 

466
00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:20,160
My right arm right arm because 
they took a flap of skin from my

467
00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:24,960
left thigh and placed it on my 
right hand and forearm. 

468
00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:29,480
Since this is my thigh and my 
hand, I lovely call this my 

469
00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:36,960
thand. 
So I I, I probably am the only 

470
00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:40,320
person in but one of the very, 
very few people in Minnesota who

471
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:45,880
have a fan So but now. 
I have is the thing that saved 

472
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,320
you. 
This is This is what saved my 

473
00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:51,080
arm. 
This flap is what saved my arm. 

474
00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:57,280
Scanning graphs cover my 
totality of my right side. 

475
00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:02,920
I look like a discount Deadpool.
I mean, we're going to take this

476
00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:09,520
show to almost PG13 here. 
But you notice, I mean, I don't 

477
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:14,160
have a nipple, Mike. 
If I ever get cited for, you 

478
00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:17,640
know, indecent exposure, they 
can only charge me 50%. 

479
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:23,000
All right, so I'm saving money 
here. 

480
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:25,640
How did you notice all around 
here? 

481
00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:27,760
Thigh how did that save your 
arm? 

482
00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:28,920
How did that happen? 
What was? 

483
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:30,280
What was the process there? 
Because that caused? 

484
00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:34,120
That there's a part of it, 
there's an artery that goes that

485
00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:39,160
in the part of my leg that they 
had to attach to keep the blood 

486
00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:41,960
flow going to my hand. 
OK. 

487
00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:44,920
So it's all about blood flow. 
They they. 

488
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,000
Use it was ultrasound. 
Machine. 

489
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:49,520
Yeah. 
Yeah, they they actually use an 

490
00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:55,120
ultrasound machine to check the 
the fan to make sure that it was

491
00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:59,920
getting blood flow. 
So they put the ultrasound goo 

492
00:30:59,920 --> 00:31:03,840
on there and then they massage 
it and get the reading and make 

493
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:05,880
sure that was it was able, it 
was holding. 

494
00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:11,400
But after they attached it, they
realize, they now realize, well,

495
00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:13,920
we have this giant hole in this 
guy's leg. 

496
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:18,280
Yeah. 
So they actually had to take out

497
00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:23,600
one of my quadricep muscles and 
and then install what's called a

498
00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:27,680
Jacob's Ladder. 
And it's a, it's like a 

499
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:32,880
shoestring type contraption that
is anchored by two knobs that 

500
00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:39,160
were installed in my leg. 
And then they had these guys, 

501
00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:44,400
they had a righty, tighty, lefty
loosey, those knobs to close my 

502
00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:48,800
wound And then. 
We can do. 

503
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,120
After that, things we can do. 
Yep, Yep. 

504
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:57,760
After that, they still had to 
cover up all this infected skin 

505
00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:00,680
and tissue, this exposed skin 
and tissue. 

506
00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:04,840
So that's when they took the 
skin graft harvester, which I 

507
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:09,720
call a cheese grater on steroids
and ran it down my up and down 

508
00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,160
my legs and my back. 
And let me show you, Mike. 

509
00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:14,520
Now I'm a ginger. 
I'm not sure you can tell I am a

510
00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:17,920
ginger. 
So canning is already hard for 

511
00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:19,120
me. 
Uh huh. 

512
00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:22,320
You can just do the the change 
in skin color. 

513
00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:25,080
Yep. 
From here to here. 

514
00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:29,320
Yep. 
This is no skin graft 

515
00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:31,800
harvesting, skin graft 
harvesting. 

516
00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:35,960
So he's got. 
A perma farmer's tan, Yes. 

517
00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:46,280
I I I I now swim in sunscreen 
every time I go outside in the 

518
00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:50,800
spring and summer. 
There's a lot to unpack here. 

519
00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:58,000
OK, OK, so how long from you get
to the Mayo Clinic and you're 

520
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:04,760
out for five days until the last
skin graft, until the last 

521
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:05,840
healing is done? 
What? 

522
00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:07,480
What time frame are we talking 
here? 

523
00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:13,960
All right, so out for five days.
I was still getting skin graft 

524
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:19,800
surgeries, like they were still 
taking skin graft samples from 

525
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:26,720
my legs four weeks after I had 
woken up. 

526
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:31,400
I remember one time good. 
I was just, I was going to say, 

527
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:36,280
I remember one time after coming
back from a session of 

528
00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:40,360
hyperbaric oxygen treatment, 
which was in another hospital 

529
00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:45,720
that's part of the Mayo, Mayo 
Clinic system, that I was 

530
00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:50,640
getting out, I was getting off 
the Gurney and I was getting 

531
00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:55,520
into my hospital bed. 
I had lost my balance and I just

532
00:33:56,440 --> 00:34:00,960
touched, just grazed my hospital
bed. 

533
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:04,480
I screamed so loud. 2 nurses ran
in. 

534
00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:11,760
But then they saw that I was OK.
But gosh, Chris Cos went serious

535
00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:15,080
and they went back out. 
But the nerves, it just shows 

536
00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:17,120
what the nerves as you're, as 
you're, as you're creating. 

537
00:34:17,199 --> 00:34:19,679
Do you Speaking of nerves like 
OK, so now all these years 

538
00:34:19,679 --> 00:34:22,800
later, do you have feeling like 
do you have the same kind of 

539
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:25,880
feeling that you had before or 
are there is it, is it patchy? 

540
00:34:27,199 --> 00:34:36,600
Oh, it's, it's all, it's 
simultaneously numb and burning.

541
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:44,000
And what I mean burning is skin 
grafts don't have sweat glands. 

542
00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:47,239
OK, first pores, so they're not 
poor. 

543
00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:53,600
So I don't sweat in this area, 
which means, first of all, I 

544
00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:57,240
haven't had to use deodorant in 
my right armpit for 11 years. 

545
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:02,640
Talk about looking at the bright
side of things. 

546
00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:07,560
Oh my gosh. 
Wait, I I can make a stick of 

547
00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:10,360
urine last for six months? 
I just told my wife today, hey, 

548
00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:14,080
I need to pick up my my semi 
annual stick of deodorant. 

549
00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:21,640
But on the flip side, yeah, 
there's no homeostasis. 

550
00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:26,600
There's no heat exchange. 
So this is cooking right now and

551
00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:28,840
it's not, I mean, it's bad. 
I'm just sitting here. 

552
00:35:30,240 --> 00:35:35,120
It, it feels radiant when I'm 
running long distances like like

553
00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:39,960
when I did, I ran a couple 
marathons last year and I would 

554
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:43,760
take a sip of water from the 
water stand and I would pour 

555
00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:47,840
most of the water on my arm to 
cool it down. 

556
00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:56,400
So and I do have a little loss 
of grip strength or grip 

557
00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:58,800
dexterity in my right hand. 
Yeah. 

558
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:07,480
But it is and minimal compared 
to not having a hand. 

559
00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:09,800
Absolutely. 
I'll I'll take it. 

560
00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:12,520
But that perspective is it 
doctors? 

561
00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:17,160
Yeah, doctors initially said 
your goal should be to feed 

562
00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:22,680
yourself with your right arm 
and. 

563
00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:26,280
Crazy how people people will say
something like that and it 

564
00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:29,040
limits us, you know, because 
they give us a perspective. 

565
00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:33,320
The goal should be to feed 
yourself at a certain point or 

566
00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:36,200
when you heard it even were you 
like, screw that, I'm going to 

567
00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:38,640
do more than that, or was it 
something that just developed? 

568
00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:43,960
I was, I, I was, I was fuming 
internally. 

569
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:46,480
I mean, I, I said OK, that 
sounds good. 

570
00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:51,200
I was livid when he said that 
because the week before I had 

571
00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:56,440
gone in the hospital, I had run 
a 5K, technically a Pi day race 

572
00:36:56,440 --> 00:37:04,440
to a three-point 14K in 1929, 
which is a low 6 minute mile 

573
00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:07,080
average. 
I'm a decent athlete. 

574
00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:11,880
Them telling me I can I should 
work towards feeding my right 

575
00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:17,720
arm was like it lit a fire. 
And so that's, that's one of the

576
00:37:17,720 --> 00:37:23,040
main reasons why I am now 
straight, you know, striving 

577
00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:27,600
towards qualifying for Boston. 
And that's why I earned a first 

578
00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:33,400
3 black belt in Taekwondo. 
That's why I do as much as I 

579
00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:39,920
can, because I want to not only 
show myself that I can do, but I

580
00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:45,360
want to show others. 
Your limitations are only as 

581
00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:50,280
powerful as you make them. 
Thank you for saying that. 

582
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:53,560
There are guys listening to this
right now who their ears have 

583
00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:56,040
perked up and, and, and whatever
it is that they're going 

584
00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:57,720
through, whatever it is that 
they're going through. 

585
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:04,320
A great question is, am I 
limiting myself based on the 

586
00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:07,720
scar, based on the thing that's 
happening, the circumstance? 

587
00:38:07,720 --> 00:38:10,800
Am I limiting myself as to what 
the outcome could be? 

588
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:13,600
You're certainly, certainly 
shining. 

589
00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:15,720
And I want to go back to that 
original question. 

590
00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:18,560
At what point did you know? 
And you said it was when you 

591
00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:22,040
woke up, you're, you're talking 
the beginning of the journey is 

592
00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:25,760
when you knew and, and clearly a
bunch of that athletic attitude,

593
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:27,800
that champion mindset that, 
that, that, that you were 

594
00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:33,480
building at the time. 
Now it sounds great as to when 

595
00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:37,280
you talk about where you are 
now, the journey getting there. 

596
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:41,200
I mean, you know, I, I imagine 
that brushing the side of the 

597
00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:45,000
Gurney and having your nerves 
explode on you, screaming out. 

598
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:48,480
I imagine that that's the tip of
the iceberg of the journey of 

599
00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:50,240
what has brought you to this 
place. 

600
00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:57,960
Yes, yes, it is, Mike. 
So when I woke from my coma, I 

601
00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:03,120
had a giant cast covering the 
upper right side of my body. 

602
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:11,400
I my I had my leg incapacitated 
because of that wound. 

603
00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:13,760
Yep. 
I had one of those. 

604
00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:17,200
I had a pic line in my left arm.
Yeah. 

605
00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:21,680
I, I look like a cow. 
I look like it was so many, so 

606
00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:28,000
many medical utters, you know, 
and then I had a, one of those 

607
00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:32,440
leg pumpers on my right leg so 
my, I wouldn't get a blood clot.

608
00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:40,760
And I had all of this going on, 
you know, for the first couple 

609
00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:45,840
days. 
I'm trying to make sense of my 

610
00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:49,280
new reality. 
Yes, I was thankful to be alive,

611
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:51,560
but I had so many other 
questions. 

612
00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:55,200
What was my life going to be 
like when I fully recovered? 

613
00:39:55,240 --> 00:39:59,520
If I fully recovered? 
That was a huge, that was a huge

614
00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:01,320
uncertainty. 
There you go. 

615
00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:03,400
What was I going to? 
You know, how was I going to 

616
00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:06,720
relate to Becky, the kids, our 
other family members and 

617
00:40:06,720 --> 00:40:09,920
friends, my colleagues, even 
strangers? 

618
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:13,520
What would I do if I got got 
another scratch? 

619
00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:15,760
Yep. 
I mean, you think about how 

620
00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:20,520
many, how many times a day or a 
week you scratch your hand? 

621
00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:25,920
Yep. 
It's amazing that one little 

622
00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:30,200
scratch caused all this. 
How we're going to, how were we 

623
00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:32,040
going to deal with this 
financially? 

624
00:40:32,240 --> 00:40:37,400
You know, all these other 
questions were causing what what

625
00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:43,280
I call personal bacteria. 
Yes, I had flesh eating 

626
00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:45,200
bacteria, but this is personal 
bacteria. 

627
00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:48,600
In my head. 
I had all these questions, no 

628
00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:51,840
answers. 
I started feeling like I was 

629
00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:58,640
going down this Whirlpool of 
negativity, yeah, that I could 

630
00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:04,360
not find a a handhold to which I
could pull myself out. 

631
00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:07,640
And so. 
That's thankfully though. 

632
00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:09,520
Let's stop there. 
Let's stop there for a second 

633
00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:12,160
because again, the guys who are 
listening to this right now that

634
00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:16,240
are that are that are hit with a
torrent of overwhelm and 

635
00:41:16,240 --> 00:41:18,760
overwhelm is just encapsulating 
them. 

636
00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:22,120
So like, and that's clearly 
where you were at that point. 

637
00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:25,280
All these what if questions that
could never be answered that are

638
00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:29,320
further down the line, some of 
those questions may or may not 

639
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:32,200
even come into existence. 
It might not even be a scenario 

640
00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:35,520
that you have to deal with, but 
yet your mind goes and it starts

641
00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:38,520
filling in all these blanks and 
creating all this this 

642
00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:41,040
overwhelm. 
If you can go back and talk to 

643
00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:46,320
that version of you at that 
moment, do you know what you 

644
00:41:46,320 --> 00:42:02,200
would say to that person? 
I would tell him that he has a 

645
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:07,120
lot more strength than he 
realizes, even though he was 

646
00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:16,240
strong enough to survive this, 
that what is what is going to be

647
00:42:16,240 --> 00:42:20,600
asked of him is not so 
surmountable that he can't 

648
00:42:20,600 --> 00:42:25,240
handle it. 
How many of us need to hear that

649
00:42:25,240 --> 00:42:27,840
right now? 
You know, because it's in all of

650
00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:29,320
us. 
All of us have a lot more 

651
00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:31,560
strength than we realize. 
But if you don't focus on it, 

652
00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:34,400
you can't focus on it. 
It's hard to utilize it. 

653
00:42:35,880 --> 00:42:38,680
Success leaves clues and and 
that's a that's a really good 

654
00:42:38,680 --> 00:42:39,680
one. 
I appreciate you. 

655
00:42:39,720 --> 00:42:41,520
I appreciate your reflection on 
that, Chris. 

656
00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:46,400
I really, really do. 
So as this is happening, as 

657
00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:50,360
you're in this place of 
uncertainty, where was the 

658
00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:54,160
gratitude at that point? 
Was it there? 

659
00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:57,720
Could you find it? 
It was, it was there. 

660
00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:00,640
I just wasn't seeing it. 
OK. 

661
00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:06,680
I was thank, you know, I was 
thankful that my wife and my dad

662
00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:09,280
and my brother who flew in from 
Michigan. 

663
00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:16,040
Now really quick point of order.
I grew up in Michigan, so I am 

664
00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:22,800
required to show you where. 
So I grew up just north of. 

665
00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:26,160
I was born in Flint, grew up 
just north of Flint in a little 

666
00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:30,840
town called Clio, named after a 
railroad line about 90 miles 

667
00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:34,520
north of Detroit. 
Well, my brother now lives in 

668
00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:36,720
Muskegon, which is on the other 
side of the Minton. 

669
00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:42,880
He flew from Muskegon to the 
Twin Cities and then took a 

670
00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:50,360
shuttle down and spent a week 
and 1/2 in the Rochester area, 

671
00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:53,040
either sleeping at Bill and 
Dee's house or sometimes he 

672
00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:58,280
slept in the hospital overnight 
so he can get the latest word on

673
00:43:58,280 --> 00:43:59,920
my condition. 
Wow. 

674
00:44:01,560 --> 00:44:06,400
And he also also bought me an 
iPad, which is instrumental in 

675
00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:10,800
my my mental recovery. 
And I'll talk about that in a 

676
00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:14,480
little bit. 
But yes, I was thankful that 

677
00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:21,440
they were there, but it wasn't 
quite clicking for me as 

678
00:44:21,440 --> 00:44:25,320
strongly as in hindsight it 
should have. 

679
00:44:26,040 --> 00:44:29,600
Yeah, but, well, you had it. 
You had it when you woke up, 

680
00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:33,880
which is great, but I mean, it's
easy for the clouds to come in 

681
00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:40,120
and block the sun sometimes. 
So with that being said, so that

682
00:44:40,120 --> 00:44:41,840
was a dark, that was a dark 
time. 

683
00:44:41,920 --> 00:44:44,040
Do you know what snapped you out
of it and snapped you back into 

684
00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:46,440
the is it just, oh, I forgot 
about gratefulness. 

685
00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:47,640
I know how to start practicing 
that again. 

686
00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:50,720
Was it a was it what was the 
thing that that brightened up 

687
00:44:50,720 --> 00:44:54,320
the sky at that point? 
It was a conversation. 

688
00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:59,440
Becky came into my hospital bed 
one day, Hospital room. 

689
00:44:59,880 --> 00:45:01,480
They wouldn't allow that in the 
hospital. 

690
00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:06,040
She came into my bed in the 
hospital room, sat next to my 

691
00:45:06,040 --> 00:45:11,080
bed, and she started telling me 
about all these great things 

692
00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:14,040
people are doing for us. 
How our neighbors were snow 

693
00:45:14,040 --> 00:45:17,080
blowing our walkway and 
shoveling our driveway. 

694
00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:21,480
How the local law enforcement 
was keeping an eye on an eye on 

695
00:45:21,480 --> 00:45:24,760
the House. 
How people in the Rochester 

696
00:45:24,760 --> 00:45:29,240
area, my some of my online 
teaching colleagues, some 

697
00:45:29,240 --> 00:45:34,280
friends we've made through my, 
my inlaws church, because my dad

698
00:45:34,280 --> 00:45:39,960
at the time was a retired pastor
and mom was a Christian School 

699
00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:43,000
teacher. 
And actually dad was, he was a 

700
00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:48,720
chaplain in the hospital. 
So, so you know, I got to see 

701
00:45:48,720 --> 00:45:51,480
him a lot during this time. 
But anyway, people will stop by 

702
00:45:51,480 --> 00:45:56,600
the house to drop off toys and 
food for the family and play 

703
00:45:56,600 --> 00:45:59,640
with the kids. 
Something I was able to do like 

704
00:45:59,640 --> 00:46:05,240
I mentioned, my brother came to 
see see us for a week and 1/2 a 

705
00:46:05,240 --> 00:46:07,600
friend of Becky's from high 
school started a GoFundMe 

706
00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:11,320
account that actually raised 
enough money to offset the lost 

707
00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:16,040
wages I had incurred from 
missing school for so long 

708
00:46:16,240 --> 00:46:18,760
because I missed the entire 
fourth quarter of school. 

709
00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:21,960
Wow. 
It was, it was weird. 

710
00:46:21,960 --> 00:46:25,800
It's like at the end of the 
third quarter I got sick and the

711
00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:27,720
last fourth of the year I was 
gone. 

712
00:46:28,720 --> 00:46:33,840
She, she told me about all these
different ways people were 

713
00:46:35,160 --> 00:46:37,240
stepping up for us. 
They're helping us out. 

714
00:46:37,240 --> 00:46:40,920
They're showing us that we were 
loved and that and how much we 

715
00:46:40,920 --> 00:46:45,080
had. 
It was at that moment, Mike, 

716
00:46:46,040 --> 00:46:50,640
that I felt that personal 
bacteria wash away. 

717
00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:56,840
And I was left with what I now 
call essentially the attitude of

718
00:46:56,840 --> 00:47:01,240
gratitude. 
But I didn't really have a name 

719
00:47:01,240 --> 00:47:05,360
for it that I started. 
But what happened was I thought 

720
00:47:05,360 --> 00:47:10,720
of three questions, and those 
questions are what form the add 

721
00:47:10,720 --> 00:47:14,080
to the gratitude. 
And the first question was what 

722
00:47:14,080 --> 00:47:19,600
good things I have in my life. 
And while we can always say, and

723
00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:22,520
I get this all the time, people 
will say family, friends, your 

724
00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:25,680
house, your car, you know, your 
home. 

725
00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:29,560
That's great. 
Those are all, yes, worthy of 

726
00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:31,880
gratitude. 
But I started thinking about 

727
00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:35,240
what about those small, 
seemingly insignificant parts of

728
00:47:35,240 --> 00:47:38,200
our lives that bring us that 
daily dose of joy? 

729
00:47:38,880 --> 00:47:44,960
So I mentioned earlier that iPad
that my brother bought me. 

730
00:47:46,160 --> 00:47:53,720
Mike, it's April, late March, 
early April 2015. 

731
00:47:55,360 --> 00:47:58,120
What show on Netflix just 
dropped? 

732
00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:05,440
It wasn't Daredevil, was it? 
No. 

733
00:48:06,160 --> 00:48:08,240
Yes, it was Daredevil. 
OK, Yeah. 

734
00:48:08,280 --> 00:48:08,840
Yeah. 
There you go. 

735
00:48:08,840 --> 00:48:10,680
Yes. 
My man. 

736
00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:13,960
I was not rehearsed. 
Everybody. 

737
00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:17,840
I've been watched that over and 
over again, especially that that

738
00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:21,320
hallway scene from episode 2. 
Crazy. 

739
00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:23,080
Crazy man. 
Best, yeah. 

740
00:48:23,280 --> 00:48:28,360
Yeah, I mean, I'm not a I'm not 
a a sadist, but see, seeing some

741
00:48:28,360 --> 00:48:31,720
of us get pelted with ATV made 
me feel a little better. 

742
00:48:34,280 --> 00:48:37,840
So I got the Netflix. 
Run, let's just let's just nerd 

743
00:48:37,840 --> 00:48:40,560
out for a second hold on the 
Netflix run of Daredevil. 

744
00:48:40,560 --> 00:48:44,400
Now the current season, they're 
trying to get back to that to 

745
00:48:44,400 --> 00:48:47,560
that level. 
But like like season 1 and 

746
00:48:47,560 --> 00:48:49,600
season 2 was good, but it was a 
lot of exposition, right? 

747
00:48:49,600 --> 00:48:51,720
Right. 
But season 3 one and three of 

748
00:48:51,720 --> 00:48:57,000
Daredevil, the Netflix version 
of it is some of the best, you 

749
00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:00,240
know, the, the, the, the best 
interpretation of a comic book 

750
00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:03,440
and putting it on screen that 
I've ever, ever, ever seen. 

751
00:49:03,440 --> 00:49:06,840
My favorite run of any Marvel is
the Bendis run of, of, of 

752
00:49:06,840 --> 00:49:09,520
Daredevil actually. 
And, and I mean, and don't get 

753
00:49:09,520 --> 00:49:11,240
me wrong, I love a lot of the 
other stuff that's out there 

754
00:49:11,240 --> 00:49:14,800
too, almost as much, but that 
one run was just incredible. 

755
00:49:15,400 --> 00:49:19,480
So, so you were able to and, and
so you were able to take that 

756
00:49:19,480 --> 00:49:21,960
while you were there, the iPad, 
you were able to kind of immerse

757
00:49:21,960 --> 00:49:26,600
yourself in something that you 
loved with in full present 

758
00:49:26,600 --> 00:49:28,560
moment going, Oh, I just love 
this. 

759
00:49:28,560 --> 00:49:31,760
While at the same time you're 
rehabbing or going, maybe not 

760
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:34,560
rehabbing, but going through 
you're, you're, you're, you're 

761
00:49:34,560 --> 00:49:37,560
healing yourself and, and, and, 
and getting yourself back up 

762
00:49:37,840 --> 00:49:39,720
with a lot of uncertainty that 
was there. 

763
00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:42,400
So that's, that's, that's 
remarkable. 

764
00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:44,240
A. 
Television jump in for you. 

765
00:49:45,880 --> 00:49:48,520
What's that? 
Being grateful for a television 

766
00:49:48,520 --> 00:49:49,800
show could do it for you. 
It could. 

767
00:49:49,840 --> 00:49:51,120
Yeah, it could give you that 
exactly. 

768
00:49:51,240 --> 00:49:52,960
And need it, You know, little 
things. 

769
00:49:52,960 --> 00:49:58,680
Yeah, and, and, you know, being 
able to binge that show while, 

770
00:49:58,720 --> 00:50:02,160
you know, in between surgeries 
because there were some days I 

771
00:50:02,160 --> 00:50:06,720
would have back-to-back 
surgeries and I wouldn't be able

772
00:50:06,720 --> 00:50:10,520
to eat anything. 
I they, they, they let me cheat 

773
00:50:10,520 --> 00:50:13,640
and chew on ice chips, but that 
was about it. 

774
00:50:14,480 --> 00:50:17,720
So I would chew on those ice 
chips while binging Daredevil. 

775
00:50:18,720 --> 00:50:23,120
And, you know, but I sort of 
looked for other small things 

776
00:50:23,440 --> 00:50:26,800
that I could be grateful for. 
And so there is Daredevil. 

777
00:50:26,920 --> 00:50:30,840
There is the fact that the 
window of my hospital room was 

778
00:50:30,840 --> 00:50:37,800
so set so far away from me that 
even when the sun was right 

779
00:50:37,800 --> 00:50:40,880
above, you know, right, like 12 
O clock was just shining 

780
00:50:40,880 --> 00:50:43,080
brightly. 
It wouldn't shine into my eyes. 

781
00:50:43,880 --> 00:50:48,080
And I know that sounds really 
weird and and random, but when 

782
00:50:48,080 --> 00:50:53,520
you are sequestered to one spot,
when you're confined to one, one

783
00:50:53,520 --> 00:50:58,160
piece of one location, like a 
hospital bed, not having to ask 

784
00:50:58,160 --> 00:51:01,000
someone to do one more thing for
you is actually a blessing 

785
00:51:01,120 --> 00:51:03,280
because everyone else is doing 
so much for you. 

786
00:51:04,720 --> 00:51:07,440
And then there's the hospital 
pizza. 

787
00:51:09,800 --> 00:51:14,440
Now, Mike, I don't know your 
level appreciation for hospital 

788
00:51:14,440 --> 00:51:16,440
food I. 
Thought the. 

789
00:51:16,600 --> 00:51:21,680
Hospital pizza. 
The hospital food at, or at 

790
00:51:21,680 --> 00:51:25,400
least the pizza at Saint Mary's 
was phenomenal. 

791
00:51:25,840 --> 00:51:28,400
Chef's kiss. 
There we go. 

792
00:51:28,480 --> 00:51:33,440
It could have been that I hadn't
had pizza for a while when I 

793
00:51:33,680 --> 00:51:36,920
finally had a slice. 
I mean, they could have put, 

794
00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:41,880
they could put ketchup on a 
circular piece of cardboard and 

795
00:51:41,880 --> 00:51:46,200
I would have eaten it. 
But it was great. 

796
00:51:46,200 --> 00:51:48,440
I still have fond memories of 
it, obviously. 

797
00:51:50,200 --> 00:51:51,840
Oh, I love hearing. 
So that was the end. 

798
00:51:52,040 --> 00:51:57,120
And So what that did was that 
helped me create what I call 

799
00:51:57,120 --> 00:52:02,800
gratitude goggles and. 
What good things goggles are in 

800
00:52:02,800 --> 00:52:04,320
my life? 
Put the gratitude goggles on. 

801
00:52:04,320 --> 00:52:06,600
What good things do I have going
on in my life? 

802
00:52:06,600 --> 00:52:08,040
Yep, Yep. 
Yeah. 

803
00:52:08,080 --> 00:52:10,880
And it's not just, hey, what do 
I have good in my life? 

804
00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:15,040
It's what do I have around me 
that I appreciate. 

805
00:52:15,400 --> 00:52:19,160
And it, it doesn't have to be 
something you use every day like

806
00:52:19,440 --> 00:52:22,960
I have. 
I have two computers I use 

807
00:52:23,000 --> 00:52:25,480
interchangeably. 
I have my work computer, my my, 

808
00:52:25,480 --> 00:52:27,360
my personal computer, my work 
computer. 

809
00:52:27,600 --> 00:52:30,400
And I have these mouses that I 
use all the time. 

810
00:52:30,960 --> 00:52:32,920
Yes, I'm thankful for those 
because I use them all the time.

811
00:52:33,200 --> 00:52:36,760
I also have I'm looking at my 
All Star Superman volumes one 

812
00:52:36,760 --> 00:52:41,840
and two that I sometimes I 
reference in my speaking 

813
00:52:41,840 --> 00:52:43,560
presentations. 
Yep. 

814
00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:48,440
I have that. 
I have my beat up volumes 1-2 

815
00:52:48,440 --> 00:52:53,560
and three of the original Ninja 
Turtles comics, the Eastman and 

816
00:52:53,560 --> 00:52:55,680
Lairds the Color. 
Ones the big, the oversized. 

817
00:52:55,720 --> 00:52:57,920
I got those in high school. 
The ever. 

818
00:52:57,920 --> 00:52:59,880
Color. 
Yeah, the color ones are color. 

819
00:52:59,920 --> 00:53:01,320
I got them, but yeah, I got 
them. 

820
00:53:01,600 --> 00:53:02,800
Here, in fact, I love this you 
got. 

821
00:53:05,640 --> 00:53:08,960
This. 
Guy right here. 

822
00:53:09,240 --> 00:53:11,000
That's the ones. 
That's the ones. 

823
00:53:11,240 --> 00:53:14,800
You can tell the age of it, but 
I absolutely love this. 

824
00:53:15,040 --> 00:53:16,720
Yep. 
You know, I'm thankful for that.

825
00:53:17,400 --> 00:53:21,840
I'm thankful for the, the 
lights, they're helping you see 

826
00:53:21,840 --> 00:53:25,360
me. 
I'm thankful for the, the wall, 

827
00:53:25,480 --> 00:53:28,960
you know, the, the, the look of 
this wall because it creates 

828
00:53:29,080 --> 00:53:31,400
some kind of, you know, cabin 
feel. 

829
00:53:31,400 --> 00:53:39,160
And I love being in a cabin. 
The more you see what values you

830
00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:45,040
or what, what you place value in
because it helps you do your 

831
00:53:45,040 --> 00:53:47,320
work. 
It helps you smile. 

832
00:53:48,080 --> 00:53:50,800
I mean, if you look at a 
keyboard, look at each 

833
00:53:50,800 --> 00:53:55,480
individual key, there are 60 
reasons to be grateful right 

834
00:53:55,480 --> 00:54:01,600
there. 
And so by looking at all the 

835
00:54:01,600 --> 00:54:05,880
little tiny things and not so 
tiny things in our lives that 

836
00:54:05,880 --> 00:54:09,840
bring us that daily dose of joy,
we realize how rich we are, no 

837
00:54:09,840 --> 00:54:12,320
matter what it says on our bank 
statement. 

838
00:54:12,960 --> 00:54:19,640
Yep, Yep, I, I, I hope that 
there are guys who are out there

839
00:54:19,640 --> 00:54:23,200
listening to this right now that
are looking around at that, that

840
00:54:23,200 --> 00:54:26,280
and being that hyper present 
about, about the things that 

841
00:54:27,400 --> 00:54:29,560
because at the end of the day, 
it's not all bad. 

842
00:54:29,680 --> 00:54:33,120
It's not all great, sure, OK, 
but there's a lot of stuff out 

843
00:54:33,120 --> 00:54:36,320
there that we go through life on
autopilot. 

844
00:54:37,760 --> 00:54:40,480
You know, we're we're we're 
we're 52 minutes in. 

845
00:54:40,520 --> 00:54:43,600
There's two other questions and 
I want to talk about so many of 

846
00:54:43,600 --> 00:54:48,240
the other things that you are 
doing since this, you've painted

847
00:54:48,240 --> 00:54:50,560
a beautiful picture. 
I want to know the other two 

848
00:54:50,560 --> 00:54:51,920
questions. 
So the three questions, you 

849
00:54:51,920 --> 00:54:54,600
know, what good things do I have
in my life? 

850
00:54:54,640 --> 00:54:57,680
And we're talking the big 
things, but also let's look for 

851
00:54:57,680 --> 00:54:59,400
the little things. 
Let's look for the things that 

852
00:54:59,400 --> 00:55:02,520
we just take for granted or 
don't even think about 

853
00:55:02,520 --> 00:55:03,200
sometimes. 
Never. 

854
00:55:03,200 --> 00:55:04,720
It's not even a matter of taking
them for granted. 

855
00:55:04,720 --> 00:55:07,360
We just don't even, you know, 
you know, we're not present 

856
00:55:07,360 --> 00:55:09,280
enough to see that. 
That's a great first question. 

857
00:55:09,280 --> 00:55:15,120
What's the second one? 
Second question is whom in my 

858
00:55:15,120 --> 00:55:17,840
life should I acknowledge in 
appreciation? 

859
00:55:20,960 --> 00:55:25,280
And when we ask ourselves that 
question again, the big names 

860
00:55:25,280 --> 00:55:30,240
come to mind, our family, our 
friends, our Co workers, our 

861
00:55:30,240 --> 00:55:36,520
neighbors. 
But in the hospital one 

862
00:55:36,520 --> 00:55:41,400
particular person came to mind 
and that was the head nurse 

863
00:55:41,400 --> 00:55:45,120
Chris. 
And that's because, and I have 

864
00:55:45,120 --> 00:55:47,960
to step back a little bit. 
When you are in the hospital, 

865
00:55:48,720 --> 00:55:53,600
they for a long time, they often
put a poster in your room called

866
00:55:53,600 --> 00:55:57,640
the getting to know you poster, 
and they asked you some 

867
00:55:57,640 --> 00:56:00,080
questions. 
So it's just so people have 

868
00:56:00,080 --> 00:56:02,040
something to converse with you 
about. 

869
00:56:02,480 --> 00:56:06,840
One of the questions they asked 
on this poster was favorite 

870
00:56:06,840 --> 00:56:13,120
movie Mike. 
I have a stormtrooper behind me,

871
00:56:13,720 --> 00:56:19,920
I'm haloed by Ninja Turtles, I 
showed you my Transformers, and 

872
00:56:19,920 --> 00:56:23,840
I have Ninja Turtle graphic 
novels. 

873
00:56:24,600 --> 00:56:25,880
Can you? 
Probably. 

874
00:56:26,120 --> 00:56:31,200
Guess what movie I chose? 
Well, I mean, my default would 

875
00:56:31,200 --> 00:56:35,720
go to Empire Strikes Back, but 
because that's one that was mine

876
00:56:35,880 --> 00:56:39,120
up until Rogue One eclipsed it 
and, you know, breaking the 

877
00:56:39,120 --> 00:56:41,640
heart of many of my Star Wars 
friends fans. 

878
00:56:43,000 --> 00:56:45,200
Was it the original Ninja Turtle
movie? 

879
00:56:46,720 --> 00:56:49,760
Close Blazing Saddles. 
Oh God. 

880
00:56:55,000 --> 00:56:58,840
So I say Blazing Saddles. 
Oh, Mel Brooks. 

881
00:56:58,840 --> 00:57:00,920
Well, oh, Mel Brooks, we 
appreciate you right now. 

882
00:57:01,080 --> 00:57:03,240
He and I, He and I are birthday 
twins. 

883
00:57:03,640 --> 00:57:05,600
No, you're both born on June 
28th. 

884
00:57:06,280 --> 00:57:08,880
No kidding. 
Oh, Mel Brooks is amazing. 

885
00:57:09,920 --> 00:57:11,240
Yeah, absolutely amazing. 
So. 

886
00:57:12,160 --> 00:57:18,360
One day, it's a Monday, I'm 
lying in my hospital bed because

887
00:57:18,360 --> 00:57:19,680
what else do you do in hospital 
beds? 

888
00:57:20,440 --> 00:57:23,280
Sure. 
Chris runs to my room almost at 

889
00:57:23,280 --> 00:57:25,440
a Sprint. 
She's so excited for some 

890
00:57:25,440 --> 00:57:28,960
reason, and she's almost and 
she's virtually out of breath. 

891
00:57:29,200 --> 00:57:32,760
She says, Chris, I was at the 
garage sale as a garage sale 

892
00:57:32,760 --> 00:57:36,600
this weekend and I saw this and 
I thought of you and here it is.

893
00:57:37,600 --> 00:57:40,960
She bought me a DVD copy of 
Blazing Saddles. 

894
00:57:41,240 --> 00:57:48,200
There you go. 
I am an item on her To Do List. 

895
00:57:49,320 --> 00:57:51,880
I'm a part of her job. 
Yeah. 

896
00:57:52,320 --> 00:57:58,360
But she not only recognized my 
favorite movie on a poster in my

897
00:57:58,360 --> 00:58:02,040
hospital room, but she went and 
bought it for me. 

898
00:58:04,760 --> 00:58:10,560
And that DVD copy, I have never 
even opened it because I have my

899
00:58:10,560 --> 00:58:16,080
own copy that is one of my 
prized possessions, not because 

900
00:58:16,080 --> 00:58:19,280
of its monetary value, but 
because of the love and 

901
00:58:19,280 --> 00:58:20,880
friendship in which it was 
given. 

902
00:58:21,360 --> 00:58:24,440
Yeah. 
I, you know, I don't know how 

903
00:58:24,440 --> 00:58:28,280
many other people she has bought
DVD, how many patients she's 

904
00:58:28,280 --> 00:58:31,280
bought DVDs for. 
I'm going to venture and say 

905
00:58:32,280 --> 00:58:38,360
maybe less than 5, I don't know.
But the fact that she recognized

906
00:58:38,360 --> 00:58:43,360
it and bought it without any 
inclination of me saying, hey, 

907
00:58:43,520 --> 00:58:46,600
when you're at a garage sale 
this weekend, buy me a DVD and 

908
00:58:46,600 --> 00:58:48,560
Blazing Saddles, would you? 
Yep. 

909
00:58:49,520 --> 00:58:53,400
No, and that's why I love it and
I love her for that. 

910
00:58:54,680 --> 00:58:56,320
Yep. 
And I know you said we were a 

911
00:58:56,320 --> 00:58:59,440
little low on time, but I do 
have a tool to share for for 

912
00:58:59,440 --> 00:59:00,120
this. 
Please share. 

913
00:59:00,120 --> 00:59:01,960
The tool and Oh my God. 
Yes. 

914
00:59:01,960 --> 00:59:07,000
So it's called the AAA and it's 
the AAA because it actively 

915
00:59:07,000 --> 00:59:10,520
augments your appreciation of 
someone. 

916
00:59:12,000 --> 00:59:15,440
And So what you first do, it's a
three-step process. 

917
00:59:15,800 --> 00:59:18,600
You first take someone that you 
know. 

918
00:59:19,240 --> 00:59:21,080
Yeah, I call them social 
circles. 

919
00:59:21,400 --> 00:59:25,080
Think of someone that in which 
you and this person share a 

920
00:59:25,080 --> 00:59:30,800
social circle. 
Then you remove them out of it. 

921
00:59:31,080 --> 00:59:32,720
Or you can remove yourself out 
of it. 

922
00:59:33,240 --> 00:59:36,400
Just take them out of the 
circle. 

923
00:59:36,920 --> 00:59:41,680
And then you look at the second 
step is you look at all this 

924
00:59:41,680 --> 00:59:46,080
way, all the way is this person 
positively benefits the world 

925
00:59:46,720 --> 00:59:51,320
with no connection to you. 
And that part's important 

926
00:59:51,720 --> 00:59:55,480
because when we look at how 
people affect us in a positive 

927
00:59:55,480 --> 00:59:59,960
way, it's actually a selfish 
endeavor. 

928
00:59:59,960 --> 01:00:03,800
And not a bad selfish, but we're
thinking about how this person 

929
01:00:03,800 --> 01:00:05,760
makes us feel. 
Yep. 

930
01:00:06,760 --> 01:00:09,040
Because when someone does 
something, when someone does 

931
01:00:09,040 --> 01:00:11,120
something nice for us, oh, that 
makes me feel good. 

932
01:00:11,440 --> 01:00:16,920
Oh, that makes me feel loved. 
But when you look at someone and

933
01:00:16,920 --> 01:00:21,600
how they affect the world around
them without any connection to 

934
01:00:21,600 --> 01:00:29,880
you, that's when you can really 
see with an objective lens how 

935
01:00:30,200 --> 01:00:34,080
they affect the world. 
So I take my wife for example. 

936
01:00:34,920 --> 01:00:36,960
Yes, she's my wife, my partner, 
my best friend. 

937
01:00:37,320 --> 01:00:43,200
But she's also a loving mother, 
a doting daughter and sister, a 

938
01:00:43,280 --> 01:00:47,000
brilliant teacher, a well read 
historian. 

939
01:00:47,400 --> 01:00:52,640
She's a social studies teacher, 
a great athlete, a well trained 

940
01:00:52,640 --> 01:00:56,200
musician. 
Yeah, she is as geeky as I am. 

941
01:00:56,200 --> 01:01:00,320
She doesn't play, but she keeps 
it, you know, down on the down 

942
01:01:00,320 --> 01:01:04,720
low. 
She is all of those things. 

943
01:01:06,320 --> 01:01:08,240
Now. 
I put her back into our social 

944
01:01:08,240 --> 01:01:11,760
circle and she's still all of 
those things. 

945
01:01:11,920 --> 01:01:14,840
But she's my wife, my partner, 
my best friend to boot. 

946
01:01:15,560 --> 01:01:21,000
Yeah. 
I can't tell you how lucky I am 

947
01:01:21,960 --> 01:01:27,920
because even if I did, it still 
wouldn't be enough. 

948
01:01:29,720 --> 01:01:36,400
And so I think if we were to do 
this, not just with our with our

949
01:01:36,480 --> 01:01:40,800
partners or with our best 
friends or with our mom or dad, 

950
01:01:41,040 --> 01:01:45,320
but if we looked at someone who 
we don't know very well or maybe

951
01:01:45,320 --> 01:01:48,480
we don't really get along with. 
Yep. 

952
01:01:49,080 --> 01:01:53,600
And we see how they benefit the 
world apart from us taking our 

953
01:01:53,600 --> 01:01:57,080
feelings out of it. 
I'm not saying we're going to 

954
01:01:57,080 --> 01:01:59,400
become best friends with them, 
no. 

955
01:01:59,400 --> 01:02:04,520
But maybe we can develop a 
higher level of respect and we 

956
01:02:04,520 --> 01:02:11,880
might see something that could 
be used in some kind of 

957
01:02:11,880 --> 01:02:15,960
collaboration and not in a 
selfish way, you know, I may be 

958
01:02:15,960 --> 01:02:18,280
in a selfish way, depends on, 
you know. 

959
01:02:19,640 --> 01:02:21,320
I don't think it's selfish. 
I think it's out of the 

960
01:02:21,320 --> 01:02:23,840
situation, but. 
Yeah, I don't think it's 

961
01:02:23,840 --> 01:02:24,800
selfish. 
I think it broadens the 

962
01:02:24,800 --> 01:02:27,880
perspective of, of, of, of 
things and it and it creates 

963
01:02:27,880 --> 01:02:30,080
other dimensions. 
It takes somebody from 2:00 to 

964
01:02:30,160 --> 01:02:33,280
3D, you know. 
Yeah, yeah. 

965
01:02:33,280 --> 01:02:36,360
So, yeah. 
So I think, you know, the AAA 

966
01:02:36,360 --> 01:02:40,480
can be something that can really
strengthen relationships because

967
01:02:40,600 --> 01:02:43,480
it's again, if you're looking at
the value of the, you're looking

968
01:02:43,480 --> 01:02:48,400
at the value of the, of the 
person in, in terms of how they 

969
01:02:48,400 --> 01:02:50,760
benefit the world, not how they 
benefit you. 

970
01:02:51,360 --> 01:02:56,080
Yes, you know active 
augmentation of appreciation. 

971
01:02:56,080 --> 01:02:57,600
It's a life hack. 
It really is. 

972
01:02:57,600 --> 01:02:59,480
It's something that you can do. 
It creates a pause. 

973
01:02:59,960 --> 01:03:03,280
It gets the critical thinking 
going and it gets again the 

974
01:03:03,280 --> 01:03:07,320
thinking outside of yourself, 
but about others and how they 

975
01:03:07,640 --> 01:03:09,320
affect the world. 
What a what a beautiful, 

976
01:03:09,320 --> 01:03:11,120
beautiful thing. 
You know, the 1st 2 questions 

977
01:03:11,120 --> 01:03:14,280
that I, that I, that, that I'm, 
I'm hearing you talk about here.

978
01:03:14,640 --> 01:03:17,120
I think about the, and I think 
you would have seen this. 

979
01:03:17,640 --> 01:03:20,640
I'm going to put it out there, 
but if you haven't, it certainly

980
01:03:20,640 --> 01:03:24,720
is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Fred Rogers, Mr. Rogers was, 

981
01:03:24,720 --> 01:03:29,000
was, he was addressing somebody 
and it was either commencement 

982
01:03:29,000 --> 01:03:31,920
speech or a graduation, I forget
what speech it was. 

983
01:03:32,440 --> 01:03:35,800
And, and, and he was addressing 
all of these university students

984
01:03:35,800 --> 01:03:38,200
and he got everybody to close 
their eyes for a second and 

985
01:03:38,200 --> 01:03:41,320
think of some, think of the 
people who helped them along the

986
01:03:41,320 --> 01:03:44,080
way. 
And, and, and I mean, anybody 

987
01:03:44,080 --> 01:03:47,640
who's done that exercise, I 
mean, my gosh, the well of 

988
01:03:47,640 --> 01:03:50,960
emotions that come up, you know,
with that. 

989
01:03:50,960 --> 01:03:53,440
And, and, and I think that this 
is something that is very, very 

990
01:03:53,440 --> 01:03:56,360
similar. 
It's a way to take your brain 

991
01:03:56,360 --> 01:03:58,960
and hijack it, but not in a 
negative way, in a good way. 

992
01:03:58,960 --> 01:04:02,360
When your brain has been 
hijacked, you can hijack the 

993
01:04:02,360 --> 01:04:06,120
hijack and you can bring it back
by doing things like this and 

994
01:04:06,120 --> 01:04:08,160
put yourself back into a, a 
better spot. 

995
01:04:08,160 --> 01:04:10,320
What a beautiful, beautiful 
exercise. 

996
01:04:10,600 --> 01:04:16,120
And the AAA is an amazing, you 
know, aside, I appreciate it 

997
01:04:16,120 --> 01:04:18,880
very, very much. 
What's the third question, 

998
01:04:18,880 --> 01:04:23,560
Chris? 
Question is, how can I give 

999
01:04:23,560 --> 01:04:26,160
someone else a reason to be 
grateful? 

1000
01:04:29,440 --> 01:04:32,760
And, you know, in the hospital, 
I really couldn't do a lot 

1001
01:04:32,760 --> 01:04:35,200
there. 
I my job was to recover. 

1002
01:04:35,560 --> 01:04:40,320
But when I started and when I 
was discharged, that's when I 

1003
01:04:40,320 --> 01:04:45,160
started doing, you know, try to 
try to do as much good as I 

1004
01:04:45,160 --> 01:04:49,040
could in the world like I would 
when I started running again. 

1005
01:04:49,040 --> 01:04:53,800
I would pick up trash on the 
side of the road or in someone's

1006
01:04:53,800 --> 01:04:56,280
yard without, you know, I didn't
want to be too trespassy when 

1007
01:04:56,280 --> 01:04:58,920
I'm running up to their house 
and say you got a piece of paper

1008
01:04:58,920 --> 01:05:02,240
right by your door there. 
You know, some people get weird 

1009
01:05:02,240 --> 01:05:05,480
about that. 
But I want to beautify my 

1010
01:05:05,480 --> 01:05:07,680
neighborhood. 
You know, there is also, 

1011
01:05:08,480 --> 01:05:12,120
sometimes I would notice my 
neighbor's yard would get a 

1012
01:05:12,120 --> 01:05:15,520
little long. 
And if I have my mower out, I 

1013
01:05:15,520 --> 01:05:17,400
just go ahead and mow their 
lawn. 

1014
01:05:18,000 --> 01:05:20,720
And I didn't. 
And I didn't tell them I did it.

1015
01:05:21,280 --> 01:05:23,160
I just saw how they mowed their 
lawn. 

1016
01:05:23,160 --> 01:05:25,760
I did that. 
And actually the neighbor came 

1017
01:05:25,760 --> 01:05:30,080
over at one point and wrote a 
thank you note and yeah, 

1018
01:05:30,080 --> 01:05:32,720
actually put some money in it. 
And I wasn't looking for that. 

1019
01:05:32,720 --> 01:05:35,400
I wasn't trying to get a part 
time job as a lawnmower. 

1020
01:05:35,800 --> 01:05:37,840
I was just trying to help help 
my friend out. 

1021
01:05:38,160 --> 01:05:40,760
But he was obviously very 
appreciative of it. 

1022
01:05:41,160 --> 01:05:43,640
And then there's a classic 
holding a door for someone. 

1023
01:05:45,160 --> 01:05:51,840
And I think we undervalued this 
one because, you know, sometimes

1024
01:05:51,840 --> 01:05:58,000
you put some kind of gender 
based value on it. 

1025
01:05:58,000 --> 01:06:01,640
Oh, you guys should never hold 
the door for other guys. 

1026
01:06:02,200 --> 01:06:04,640
Yeah, yeah. 
Only hold the door for your, for

1027
01:06:04,640 --> 01:06:06,920
your, for your woman, that kind 
of thing. 

1028
01:06:07,640 --> 01:06:11,400
When you think about it, when 
you are holding a door for 

1029
01:06:11,400 --> 01:06:15,800
someone, when you are physically
standing there holding this 

1030
01:06:15,800 --> 01:06:20,320
barrier open so someone else can
walk in, you are stopping your 

1031
01:06:20,600 --> 01:06:23,520
momentum. 
You're stopping your day to help

1032
01:06:23,520 --> 01:06:25,080
someone else out. 
Yep. 

1033
01:06:26,080 --> 01:06:32,760
And while the physical action of
doing that is based on the the 

1034
01:06:32,760 --> 01:06:36,800
weight of the door, you know, 
usually not that bad, the 

1035
01:06:36,800 --> 01:06:41,480
symbolism of it should not be 
overlooked because you're 

1036
01:06:41,480 --> 01:06:44,240
putting yourself behind 
literally someone else. 

1037
01:06:45,160 --> 01:06:49,080
And I think we just got to 
recognize that is powerful. 

1038
01:06:49,080 --> 01:06:53,640
I mean, someone, someone could 
be having the worst day ever and

1039
01:06:53,640 --> 01:06:58,120
maybe they won't notice that you
held a door for them, but it can

1040
01:06:58,120 --> 01:07:03,280
be just a way that they will 
reflect down saying, you know 

1041
01:07:03,280 --> 01:07:04,720
what, Hey, that person helped me
out. 

1042
01:07:04,760 --> 01:07:06,760
You know, is a small thing, but 
it matters. 

1043
01:07:07,360 --> 01:07:11,440
Or it subconsciously takes the 
edge off a little bit and they 

1044
01:07:11,440 --> 01:07:13,400
don't even know it. 
But it's one of those things 

1045
01:07:13,400 --> 01:07:16,960
that it just, you know, maybe 
opening the that door was the 

1046
01:07:16,960 --> 01:07:20,360
final straw that leads leads to 
the blow up or something like 

1047
01:07:20,360 --> 01:07:22,760
that, like you don't know. 
But again, that goes back to 

1048
01:07:22,760 --> 01:07:24,920
your point of don't worry about 
the outcome. 

1049
01:07:25,880 --> 01:07:29,320
The the, the, the, the act in 
itself without the outcome 

1050
01:07:29,320 --> 01:07:33,720
necessary is the is the gold. 
It's the it's the thing because 

1051
01:07:33,720 --> 01:07:36,320
you are intentionally doing 
something. 

1052
01:07:36,320 --> 01:07:40,080
You're present again. 
I mean, I'm my goodness, being 

1053
01:07:40,080 --> 01:07:43,760
present certainly, certainly has
been a theme, a reoccurring 

1054
01:07:43,760 --> 01:07:45,600
theme in this conversation 
today. 

1055
01:07:46,280 --> 01:07:48,840
The idea though, that, that, 
that you're, you're present at 

1056
01:07:48,840 --> 01:07:50,440
that moment. 
Go, no, I'm going to wait that 

1057
01:07:50,440 --> 01:07:53,360
extra beat because he's 5 or 6 
steps behind. 

1058
01:07:53,360 --> 01:07:55,600
I'm going to wait that extra 
beat to, to hold the door for 

1059
01:07:55,600 --> 01:07:58,600
that person. 
That's, it's a gift for you. 

1060
01:07:58,840 --> 01:08:00,800
I know, I know what you're 
saying where it's not 

1061
01:08:00,800 --> 01:08:02,680
self-serving, but it is 
self-serving because it gets you

1062
01:08:02,680 --> 01:08:04,480
a little bit of momentum. 
It gives you a little bit of, 

1063
01:08:04,720 --> 01:08:06,320
you know, there's probably a 
dopamine hit in there. 

1064
01:08:06,680 --> 01:08:09,240
People smarter than me would be 
able to understand that, be able

1065
01:08:09,240 --> 01:08:10,240
to explain that. 
Yeah. 

1066
01:08:10,240 --> 01:08:13,000
No, you're right. 
Yeah, exactly. 

1067
01:08:13,880 --> 01:08:15,680
You know, gratitude does 
increase. 

1068
01:08:15,720 --> 01:08:19,520
You know those, you know good, 
those feel good chemicals. 

1069
01:08:20,000 --> 01:08:21,600
Yeah. 
And so you're absolutely right 

1070
01:08:21,600 --> 01:08:23,120
on that. 
Absolutely. 

1071
01:08:23,120 --> 01:08:25,640
Now. 
Now, I hate to say that we got 

1072
01:08:25,640 --> 01:08:27,680
to roll, you know, we got to 
roll towards the end. 

1073
01:08:27,680 --> 01:08:29,080
We got to roll towards the end 
here. 

1074
01:08:29,399 --> 01:08:30,960
I, I, I want to have you back 
on. 

1075
01:08:30,960 --> 01:08:32,720
I want to, I, I certainly thank 
you. 

1076
01:08:33,200 --> 01:08:38,479
You are, you are a surge of, of 
positivity and, and, and, you 

1077
01:08:38,479 --> 01:08:41,080
know, exploring where it came 
from and how, how that happened.

1078
01:08:41,439 --> 01:08:45,080
I mean, my goodness, your 
inspirational story and the way 

1079
01:08:45,080 --> 01:08:47,479
that you're able to articulate 
it is phenomenal. 

1080
01:08:47,640 --> 01:08:52,000
Of course, the book is out there
from Survivor to Striver, but at

1081
01:08:52,000 --> 01:08:54,040
the end of the day, you're also 
doing some speaking engagements 

1082
01:08:54,040 --> 01:08:59,640
and stuff. 
I've got a chrisdtgordon.com is 

1083
01:08:59,640 --> 01:09:01,560
the site. 
Yes. 

1084
01:09:01,560 --> 01:09:07,319
OK, tell me about some of the 
people who have, I'm certain, 

1085
01:09:07,760 --> 01:09:11,560
opened up to you and, and, and, 
and, and some of the stories 

1086
01:09:11,560 --> 01:09:14,800
that you've heard, like while 
you have gone on and told your 

1087
01:09:14,800 --> 01:09:18,600
story and become a speaker to 
talk and inspire people to get 

1088
01:09:18,600 --> 01:09:20,319
that people kind of maybe out of
their rut. 

1089
01:09:20,760 --> 01:09:24,359
I would love to hear what the 
reaction to that has been. 

1090
01:09:24,600 --> 01:09:28,160
And I'm certain that that too, 
like we were just talking about,

1091
01:09:28,359 --> 01:09:33,279
gives you that same beautiful, 
beautiful feeling of giving back

1092
01:09:34,720 --> 01:09:36,680
to others as well. 
Let's talk a little bit about 

1093
01:09:36,680 --> 01:09:39,760
that. 
Well, thank you, first of all, 

1094
01:09:40,520 --> 01:09:44,200
yeah, it's been a blessing to be
able to serve people in this 

1095
01:09:44,200 --> 01:09:46,560
way. 
And I've heard I've had people 

1096
01:09:46,560 --> 01:09:51,680
come up and tell me how they 
themselves or they knew someone 

1097
01:09:51,960 --> 01:09:58,080
who had contracted NF 
necrotizing fasciitis and how 

1098
01:09:58,320 --> 01:10:03,160
they just appreciate it so much 
that I was able to reframe it 

1099
01:10:04,160 --> 01:10:06,480
from just being, oh, I'm just a 
number. 

1100
01:10:06,480 --> 01:10:11,200
I'm just, you know, someone else
who got sick to being someone 

1101
01:10:11,200 --> 01:10:16,520
who is using this as a platform 
to make their make their lives 

1102
01:10:16,520 --> 01:10:18,280
better for themselves and 
others. 

1103
01:10:18,960 --> 01:10:25,000
I've had people share stories of
and I don't want to dramatize 

1104
01:10:25,000 --> 01:10:30,000
this and make it, you know, and 
make a grandiose, but you know, 

1105
01:10:30,000 --> 01:10:32,000
they were feeling, feeling 
hopeless. 

1106
01:10:32,800 --> 01:10:37,360
And at that time and you know, 
from my story, they were able 

1107
01:10:37,360 --> 01:10:41,840
to, to put on those gratitude 
goggles and see, yes, there are 

1108
01:10:42,480 --> 01:10:46,000
crappy things happening, but 
that doesn't take away the value

1109
01:10:46,000 --> 01:10:49,000
of this thing and that, that 
thing and that person and this 

1110
01:10:49,000 --> 01:10:56,200
person and being able to see the
light in the darkness. 

1111
01:10:57,000 --> 01:10:59,960
If there, if gradual goggles do 
nothing else, they help you see 

1112
01:10:59,960 --> 01:11:03,920
the light in the darkness. 
And it was interesting. 

1113
01:11:03,920 --> 01:11:09,040
I actually know I while I use 
superheroes by and large for a 

1114
01:11:09,040 --> 01:11:14,480
backdrop of my presentations, I 
also tried to challenge myself 

1115
01:11:15,000 --> 01:11:19,880
in another way and to use other 
other themes. 

1116
01:11:20,080 --> 01:11:23,840
So in November I was at the Twin
Cities County in Minnesota and 

1117
01:11:23,840 --> 01:11:25,720
Minneapolis, MN. 
It's easy to do. 

1118
01:11:25,720 --> 01:11:32,600
You're right in Minneapolis, MN 
where I created AK Pop Demon 

1119
01:11:32,600 --> 01:11:38,960
hunters themed gratitude 
workshop and I even dressed up 

1120
01:11:38,960 --> 01:11:44,280
as a male version of Rumi. 
I got the purple wig, I got the 

1121
01:11:44,480 --> 01:11:50,840
the white outfit, I got a sword 
and I cosplayed and I even took 

1122
01:11:50,840 --> 01:11:52,880
some yellow. 
I took some purple markers and I

1123
01:11:52,880 --> 01:11:56,520
drew purple, you know, patterns 
on myself. 

1124
01:11:57,080 --> 01:12:02,520
Yep. 
And the little kids who came to 

1125
01:12:02,520 --> 01:12:05,840
that, and I also made it a sing 
along because how can you not 

1126
01:12:05,840 --> 01:12:09,960
with that, with that movie? 
So the little kids that were, 

1127
01:12:10,240 --> 01:12:16,560
you know, sharing about how they
also have scars, but the scars 

1128
01:12:16,560 --> 01:12:19,320
don't define them. 
They're, they are a part of 

1129
01:12:19,320 --> 01:12:22,200
them. 
They they make up part of who 

1130
01:12:22,200 --> 01:12:24,640
they are, but they're not their 
identity. 

1131
01:12:25,120 --> 01:12:28,160
Yeah. 
And, you know, they're thinking 

1132
01:12:28,160 --> 01:12:31,800
of ways they can, you know, who 
they can recognize and who, 

1133
01:12:31,800 --> 01:12:35,840
who's, you know, who they can 
make smile by doing this kind 

1134
01:12:35,840 --> 01:12:39,640
thing. 
And so it's just, it's great 

1135
01:12:39,640 --> 01:12:42,720
hearing all the different ways 
that people can use gratitude to

1136
01:12:42,720 --> 01:12:46,120
make not only their own lives 
better, but the lives of people 

1137
01:12:46,120 --> 01:12:50,720
around them. 
Yeah, I, I couldn't have said it

1138
01:12:50,720 --> 01:12:53,520
better than that. 
You're, you're literally a 

1139
01:12:53,520 --> 01:12:56,000
sunbeam come to life. 
Chris, I appreciate you. 

1140
01:12:56,160 --> 01:12:58,240
Very, very, very. 
Much it's the bald head. 

1141
01:12:58,880 --> 01:13:00,000
Yeah, sure. 
That's what it is. 

1142
01:13:00,000 --> 01:13:01,320
That's what it is. 
Yeah. 

1143
01:13:01,800 --> 01:13:03,280
And your humor is well, I. 
Appreciate it. 

1144
01:13:03,840 --> 01:13:06,560
If people want to reach out to 
you, are you on the social media

1145
01:13:06,560 --> 01:13:07,600
as well? 
I mean, obviously you got the 

1146
01:13:07,600 --> 01:13:09,600
website then. 
Oh, the DT. 

1147
01:13:09,600 --> 01:13:11,960
Let's talk about the DT. 
You know, Chris Gordon, 

1148
01:13:11,960 --> 01:13:14,720
obviously you want to, you want 
to, you want to, you know, 

1149
01:13:14,960 --> 01:13:16,360
there's a lot of Chris Gordon's 
out there. 

1150
01:13:16,360 --> 01:13:19,440
So the DT is something that 
gives the individuality. 

1151
01:13:19,600 --> 01:13:23,960
Where's that come from? 
We'd like to say it means darn 

1152
01:13:23,960 --> 01:13:29,080
terrific, but actually they're 
my 2 middle initials. 

1153
01:13:29,880 --> 01:13:36,880
My brother and I were both given
2 middle names and so my my boys

1154
01:13:36,880 --> 01:13:40,640
have two middle names as well. 
My nephew does. 

1155
01:13:40,880 --> 01:13:45,880
And so I just figured like you 
said, there are more than one 

1156
01:13:46,000 --> 01:13:47,840
Chris Gordon in the world out 
there. 

1157
01:13:48,040 --> 01:13:51,960
So I figured, you know, I need 
to separate myself from the 

1158
01:13:51,960 --> 01:13:54,720
rest. 
So I put that DT you Google 

1159
01:13:55,000 --> 01:13:57,840
Chris DT Gordon, I'm the first 
page. 

1160
01:13:58,360 --> 01:14:02,280
There it is. 
In my in my website, my 

1161
01:14:02,400 --> 01:14:06,440
Instagram, my LinkedIn, 
Facebook, TikTok. 

1162
01:14:06,920 --> 01:14:11,920
Chris, It's Chris Gordon, DT 
Chris DT Gordon, author for 

1163
01:14:11,920 --> 01:14:13,360
TikTok. 
OK. 

1164
01:14:13,400 --> 01:14:15,120
And anything else is just Chris 
on there. 

1165
01:14:16,360 --> 01:14:20,000
Yeah, and yeah. 
And but on TikTok and other 

1166
01:14:20,080 --> 01:14:22,360
other places, I do what's called
a gratogram. 

1167
01:14:23,360 --> 01:14:27,760
Every day I do a gratogram and a
graded gram is basically I 

1168
01:14:27,760 --> 01:14:31,600
talked about it's a short one or
two-minute video where I talk 

1169
01:14:31,600 --> 01:14:34,480
about something I'm grateful 
for, why I'm grateful for it. 

1170
01:14:34,720 --> 01:14:39,040
And I asked, I asked the viewer,
OK, how can you be grateful for 

1171
01:14:39,040 --> 01:14:43,160
something like this? 
But it's Chris DT Gordon almost 

1172
01:14:43,440 --> 01:14:48,240
more than on more than a few. 
Like let's see Facebook, 

1173
01:14:48,240 --> 01:14:55,360
LinkedIn, Instagram threads. 
Chris DT Gordon author on 

1174
01:14:55,360 --> 01:14:59,400
TikTok. 
I'm not on Twitter or X, even 

1175
01:14:59,400 --> 01:15:03,640
though it has a really cool 
letter for a name. 

1176
01:15:04,720 --> 01:15:06,720
None of that. 
All the other ones. 

1177
01:15:07,360 --> 01:15:10,640
Yeah, you're the websites Chris 
GT gordon.com. 

1178
01:15:10,840 --> 01:15:14,440
Like I said, you Google Chris DT
Gordon, you'll find me there. 

1179
01:15:15,160 --> 01:15:16,720
Well, I appreciate it. 
I'm going to do that because you

1180
01:15:16,720 --> 01:15:19,520
and I are going to be buds 
outside of this moving forward. 

1181
01:15:19,560 --> 01:15:22,000
I just appreciate you so, so, so
much. 

1182
01:15:23,440 --> 01:15:25,720
You know what, stay on the line 
here, stay here and we'll say 

1183
01:15:25,720 --> 01:15:28,840
our goodbye privately. 
This I say it every time, 

1184
01:15:28,840 --> 01:15:30,240
everybody. 
This is why we do the show. 

1185
01:15:30,560 --> 01:15:33,480
We do the show to have these 
conversations and to have these 

1186
01:15:33,480 --> 01:15:37,720
amazing insights, perspectives 
that could perhaps we could then

1187
01:15:37,840 --> 01:15:40,000
maybe have some good food for 
good thought for what we're 

1188
01:15:40,000 --> 01:15:42,320
going through in our lives. 
If you haven't downloaded the He

1189
01:15:42,320 --> 01:15:44,080
Changed It app yet, what the 
heck are you waiting for? 

1190
01:15:44,080 --> 01:15:47,320
Go to hechangedit.com. 
Check out what's going on. 

1191
01:15:47,360 --> 01:15:50,640
The goal is to change the world,
to make ourselves better as men,

1192
01:15:50,640 --> 01:15:53,760
to have better men mean better 
sons, better husbands, better 

1193
01:15:53,760 --> 01:15:55,960
fathers, better brothers, better
citizens. 

1194
01:15:55,960 --> 01:15:57,680
And that's what it is that we're
trying to do. 

1195
01:15:58,360 --> 01:16:00,200
We can link up together and do 
that. 

1196
01:16:00,440 --> 01:16:04,880
Chris has certainly certainly 
given us a whole bunch of very 

1197
01:16:04,880 --> 01:16:08,120
cool insights today. 
I hope that you have been even 

1198
01:16:08,360 --> 01:16:12,160
1/4 inspired as how I've been 
inspired today by this 

1199
01:16:12,160 --> 01:16:14,920
conversation. 
This has been another episode of

1200
01:16:14,920 --> 01:16:17,600
he cast the official podcast of 
He changed it. 

1201
01:16:17,880 --> 01:16:20,320
My name is Mike Chisholm. 
Go change something.