WEBVTT 00:02.162 --> 00:04.745 (gentle music) 00:11.747 --> 00:14.580 (inspiring music) 00:18.545 --> 00:21.128 (techno music) 00:25.908 --> 00:28.500 (upbeat music) 00:28.500 --> 00:29.940 Well, welcome everybody, 00:29.940 --> 00:31.890 back to another Saturday edition of 00:31.890 --> 00:34.173 InVisible InCourage Live. 00:35.220 --> 00:37.680 We're so thrilled that you are here today, 00:37.680 --> 00:41.160 and real excited about an amazing time today. 00:41.160 --> 00:43.530 And I wanna talk about our guest a little bit. 00:43.530 --> 00:46.020 So have you ever had a misstep in your life 00:46.020 --> 00:49.260 which made you want to call for a do-over? 00:49.260 --> 00:50.730 Do you wish you could be more resilient 00:50.730 --> 00:51.960 with the tough challenges of life? 00:51.960 --> 00:55.500 And I know so many of you, tough challenges are every day. 00:55.500 --> 00:57.780 Do you desire to make a greater impact on the world? 00:57.780 --> 00:58.737 Who doesn't, man? 00:58.737 --> 01:00.360 We wanna make a difference. 01:00.360 --> 01:02.580 Our guest is Gulf War Army veteran, 01:02.580 --> 01:04.950 a four-time track and field to All American, 01:04.950 --> 01:07.710 and a two-time Olympic trials qualifier. 01:07.710 --> 01:09.900 However, one misstep in life ended 01:09.900 --> 01:11.850 both his sports and military career. 01:11.850 --> 01:13.320 Since his injury, he has advised 01:13.320 --> 01:15.300 three US Secretaries of State, 01:15.300 --> 01:17.520 won the long jump Silver medal in Sydney, 01:17.520 --> 01:19.590 founded the United States Olympic Committee's 01:19.590 --> 01:21.720 Paralympic Military Sports program, 01:21.720 --> 01:23.880 which helps wounded ill and injured service members 01:23.880 --> 01:26.520 use sports as a tool for rehabilitation. 01:26.520 --> 01:29.340 Please welcome our long jump silver medalist, 01:29.340 --> 01:33.150 two times TEDX speaker, and homemade waffle lover, 01:33.150 --> 01:35.640 Mr. John Register. 01:35.640 --> 01:38.190 Wayne, do not forget the waffles. 01:38.190 --> 01:40.380 Never forget the waffles, Wayne. 01:40.380 --> 01:41.213 Oh, man. 01:41.213 --> 01:42.420 Breakfast of champions. 01:42.420 --> 01:45.343 I don't think I'm allowed to even have those much anymore. 01:45.343 --> 01:47.730 (laughs) I am a connoisseur. 01:47.730 --> 01:49.477 Oh, I'm gonna have to come down. 01:49.477 --> 01:51.780 Syrup and waffles, butter pats, 01:51.780 --> 01:52.613 all that stuff. 01:52.613 --> 01:53.487 Yeah, gotta have 'em. 01:53.487 --> 01:54.840 Oh, that's awesome. 01:54.840 --> 01:56.063 So I'll tell you what, you know, 01:56.063 --> 01:58.080 really tell us about your journey. 01:58.080 --> 01:59.010 I'd love to, 01:59.010 --> 02:00.690 first let's start kind of back 02:00.690 --> 02:01.523 a little bit in the beginning. 02:01.523 --> 02:03.300 Let's talk about your military experience, 02:03.300 --> 02:06.060 and maybe even what led you to wanna go into the military, 02:06.060 --> 02:08.250 and kind of talk a little bit about that. 02:08.250 --> 02:09.510 Well, with the military, 02:09.510 --> 02:11.910 you know, everybody says thanks for your service, 02:11.910 --> 02:12.743 You say, yes, 02:12.743 --> 02:14.340 you know, that's great. 02:14.340 --> 02:16.290 But usually most of us are running from something, 02:16.290 --> 02:18.780 or running to something when we get in. 02:18.780 --> 02:20.880 And for me, I had just graduated 02:20.880 --> 02:22.680 the University of Arkansas, 02:22.680 --> 02:24.769 and had been a four-time All-American there 02:24.769 --> 02:27.060 and went to one Olympic trials. 02:27.060 --> 02:28.107 And I wanted to continue, 02:28.107 --> 02:30.630 and the Army had, and still has, 02:30.630 --> 02:32.640 a world class athlete program, 02:32.640 --> 02:35.640 which allows a soldier to train for about 02:35.640 --> 02:38.850 three to four years prior to the next Olympic games. 02:38.850 --> 02:41.610 And so I really went in to try to make that program. 02:41.610 --> 02:42.600 There were no guarantees. 02:42.600 --> 02:45.480 I had to make my own route for it, but I did make it. 02:45.480 --> 02:48.180 And on the way to my training destination, 02:48.180 --> 02:50.730 to Presidio of San Francisco, 02:50.730 --> 02:53.010 operation Desert Shield Desert Storm came up 02:53.010 --> 02:56.070 and I was diverted to the Gulf War. 02:56.070 --> 02:57.930 So that's how I got in the military. 02:57.930 --> 02:59.490 And I tell you what, Wayne, 02:59.490 --> 03:02.220 I absolutely loved it. 03:02.220 --> 03:03.577 I didn't know anything about the military, 03:03.577 --> 03:05.790 about the service branches, 03:05.790 --> 03:08.460 and in the Army I found out that I could, 03:08.460 --> 03:10.200 you know, make rank, 03:10.200 --> 03:13.890 when I qualified for another level of opportunity that, 03:13.890 --> 03:15.450 you know, I was celebrated to do that. 03:15.450 --> 03:16.440 And I just loved it. 03:16.440 --> 03:17.490 Wanted to be, you know, 03:17.490 --> 03:19.920 we call it a lifer in the military. 03:19.920 --> 03:22.560 So that's how I got into that. 03:22.560 --> 03:24.120 And then we of course, 03:24.120 --> 03:27.360 had an accident which changed the entire world around. 03:27.360 --> 03:28.200 So tell me about, 03:28.200 --> 03:30.840 you talked about that you went into athletics. 03:30.840 --> 03:31.710 What did you do? 03:31.710 --> 03:33.720 I mean, what were you good at? 03:33.720 --> 03:37.980 Yeah, so I graduated with a degree in communications, 03:37.980 --> 03:40.230 and I picked a career field where 03:40.230 --> 03:42.300 I could actually use that degree, 03:42.300 --> 03:46.896 at least to somewhat of semblance that I had. 03:46.896 --> 03:48.563 So I enlisted and, you know, 03:48.563 --> 03:50.700 because I could maneuver around better, 03:50.700 --> 03:52.320 and then I took the officer selection battery, 03:52.320 --> 03:55.143 qualified for officer candidate school. 03:56.820 --> 03:58.920 But my job was really in communications. 03:58.920 --> 04:01.770 It was the hardwired things of a rad rig, 04:01.770 --> 04:04.380 we call it, radio and teletype rig. 04:04.380 --> 04:09.380 This is a vehicle that has a big case on the back of it, 04:11.490 --> 04:13.410 with this huge antenna that comes up 04:13.410 --> 04:15.900 which shoots out 50,000 watts of power 04:15.900 --> 04:17.370 every time you key the microphone. 04:17.370 --> 04:19.440 So don't touch the antenna when you key the mic, 04:19.440 --> 04:21.481 right, because it will fry you. 04:21.481 --> 04:25.290 And I began to understand how communication works 04:25.290 --> 04:28.560 from the practical side of making sure 04:28.560 --> 04:31.920 that messages are heard both ways, right? 04:31.920 --> 04:35.940 From the sender to the receiver, and back again, 04:35.940 --> 04:39.090 and everything that can interfere with that in between. 04:39.090 --> 04:41.160 Yeah, that wouldn't be good in 04:41.160 --> 04:43.470 the military to send mixed signals. 04:43.470 --> 04:44.303 Right? 04:44.303 --> 04:45.630 Absolutely! 04:45.630 --> 04:47.730 But we see how that works in life right now, right? 04:47.730 --> 04:50.250 We see how mixed signals come all the time, 04:50.250 --> 04:51.750 especially when we're talking about 04:51.750 --> 04:53.895 people with invisible disabilities. 04:53.895 --> 04:57.060 Because in that same framework, 04:57.060 --> 04:58.680 there's these mixed signals that go out 04:58.680 --> 05:01.320 because a person communicates in one way, 05:01.320 --> 05:03.180 and it's not received on the other end 05:03.180 --> 05:04.680 as the same way that it goes out. 05:04.680 --> 05:07.470 So there's something that's happening with that signal. 05:07.470 --> 05:09.180 So that's a great, great point. 05:09.180 --> 05:13.080 And the expertise then became really tactical satellites. 05:13.080 --> 05:16.465 So it was a skill identifier, Victor nine, 05:16.465 --> 05:19.500 which was tactical satellite training. 05:19.500 --> 05:21.630 And I was on kind of on the cusp of what we have 05:21.630 --> 05:23.460 with our cell phone technology right now, 05:23.460 --> 05:25.219 and mapping that we have, 05:25.219 --> 05:27.240 like when you have your MapQuest out, 05:27.240 --> 05:30.480 and your cell phone GPS's you to different locations. 05:30.480 --> 05:33.210 Well, I was on the cusp of that in the military, 05:33.210 --> 05:35.790 putting those things together as we maneuvered 05:35.790 --> 05:38.160 in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. 05:38.160 --> 05:40.823 So it was amazing that I was in part 05:40.823 --> 05:44.280 in line with all that new technology. 05:44.280 --> 05:46.410 And then when I came back from the war, 05:46.410 --> 05:50.640 I went to Presidio, was dismal in the high hurdles, 05:50.640 --> 05:53.646 was my specialty, and I cried for a moment. 05:53.646 --> 05:56.430 Just like I'd lost everything. 05:56.430 --> 05:59.220 Couldn't run in under 14 seconds anymore. 05:59.220 --> 06:01.830 And I ran a quarter mile, 06:01.830 --> 06:04.442 which is really one time around the track, 06:04.442 --> 06:06.930 two and a half in Reno, Nevada, 06:06.930 --> 06:07.930 at the indoor track. 06:08.910 --> 06:11.830 And I ran under 47 seconds in that 06:11.830 --> 06:13.740 two and a half lap quarter mile. 06:13.740 --> 06:15.870 My coach said, we're dumping the high hurdles, 06:15.870 --> 06:17.400 we're going to the four meter hurdles, 06:17.400 --> 06:18.840 you don't have any say about it. 06:18.840 --> 06:20.880 And after that, I went, 06:20.880 --> 06:23.542 I qualified for the Olympic trials, 06:23.542 --> 06:24.860 qualified for the Olympic games. 06:24.860 --> 06:29.160 You have to be top three for the Americans to make the team. 06:29.160 --> 06:31.560 And then I finished up 17th in those 06:31.560 --> 06:34.380 Olympic trials in New Orleans, Louisiana. 06:34.380 --> 06:35.213 So that was great. 06:35.213 --> 06:37.140 And then I was on my way to try to make it. 06:37.140 --> 06:38.610 USA track and field news had picked me 06:38.610 --> 06:43.140 to be in the top three at the 1996 Olympic trials. 06:43.140 --> 06:44.970 But on May 17th, 1994, 06:44.970 --> 06:48.270 my entire life would change with one wrong step. 06:48.270 --> 06:49.103 Wow. 06:49.103 --> 06:50.009 Well, I'll tell you, 06:50.009 --> 06:51.210 you know, you talked about all that technology. 06:51.210 --> 06:52.500 I don't know if you know my background too. 06:52.500 --> 06:54.480 You know, I used to manage radio shacks. 06:54.480 --> 06:55.900 I understand the technology. 06:55.900 --> 06:57.480 You know, my current job, 06:57.480 --> 07:00.360 I volunteer with running Invisible Disabilities. 07:00.360 --> 07:01.890 I actually work for Dish right now, right, 07:01.890 --> 07:03.510 which is a satellite company and stuff. 07:03.510 --> 07:05.520 So there's a lot in common, I would understand that. 07:05.520 --> 07:09.030 But communication is absolutely that critical thing. 07:09.030 --> 07:10.050 And a big part of it is, 07:10.050 --> 07:11.820 you think about people with invisible disabilities, 07:11.820 --> 07:13.980 is they try to share what they're 07:13.980 --> 07:15.090 going through with somebody, 07:15.090 --> 07:16.350 and they're communicating, 07:16.350 --> 07:19.170 hey, this is what the difficulty I'm going through in life. 07:19.170 --> 07:20.970 And then people disregard it by saying, 07:20.970 --> 07:22.560 oh yeah, I'm just tired too, 07:22.560 --> 07:23.393 or it's not a big deal, or whatever. 07:23.393 --> 07:24.750 And you're like, 07:24.750 --> 07:25.920 well, wait a second! 07:25.920 --> 07:27.930 Validate what somebody's really going through, 07:27.930 --> 07:28.920 And then they're like, 07:28.920 --> 07:30.870 they don't wanna necessarily talk about it. 07:30.870 --> 07:33.330 They wanna feel like they're part of the human race, right? 07:33.330 --> 07:35.760 They're part of this whole thing that we got going on. 07:35.760 --> 07:36.630 Yeah. 07:36.630 --> 07:37.830 I think, you know, 07:37.830 --> 07:40.260 you make a great point with that. 07:40.260 --> 07:41.700 And people don't want to be seen, 07:41.700 --> 07:43.756 and we've seen it going on right now, you know, 07:43.756 --> 07:44.940 in some of the protests and things 07:44.940 --> 07:46.950 that are going around the country, 07:46.950 --> 07:49.290 that people haven't been heard. 07:49.290 --> 07:52.394 And this is nothing that's new in that communication phase. 07:52.394 --> 07:55.125 We can take this all the way back to even before, 07:55.125 --> 07:58.080 I'll mention one, is the Boston Tea Party. 07:58.080 --> 08:00.630 So there were people that were disgruntled 08:00.630 --> 08:03.510 with how they were being treated by Great Britain, 08:03.510 --> 08:05.130 and they decided to uprise, riot, 08:05.130 --> 08:06.780 and have those things going on back then. 08:06.780 --> 08:09.120 So this is nothing new on the play card. 08:09.120 --> 08:12.240 But we have to make sure that when we're communicating, 08:12.240 --> 08:16.217 we know the different players in the game, right? 08:16.217 --> 08:17.534 'Cause when you know, 08:17.534 --> 08:20.910 and keep the focal point on what is the focal point. 08:20.910 --> 08:22.650 So with people with disabilities, 08:22.650 --> 08:24.180 we wanna make sure that people understand 08:24.180 --> 08:27.210 and know that I'm coming at you and sharing 08:27.210 --> 08:29.520 these things with you because I have a need 08:29.520 --> 08:32.730 for you to understand how we can work better together. 08:32.730 --> 08:33.660 Yeah, exactly right. 08:33.660 --> 08:35.340 Because I always say people will, 08:35.340 --> 08:37.440 I hear this phrase a lot. 08:37.440 --> 08:38.273 Well, you know, 08:38.273 --> 08:40.410 my friend, all they ever wanna do is talk about 08:40.410 --> 08:42.150 all the difficult things they're going through. 08:42.150 --> 08:43.860 And here's my response. 08:43.860 --> 08:45.390 You're not listening. 08:45.390 --> 08:46.440 If you would listen, 08:46.440 --> 08:48.060 and say, you know what, 08:48.060 --> 08:49.290 you don't have to understand, 08:49.290 --> 08:51.060 because unless you've gone through it, I mean, 08:51.060 --> 08:52.500 I don't understand what you've gone through, 08:52.500 --> 08:53.400 'cause you'll share a little bit more 08:53.400 --> 08:56.082 about your accident and how that impacted your life. 08:56.082 --> 08:58.860 We'll talk a little bit about the whole aspect 08:58.860 --> 09:01.770 of being in war and how that impacts you as well. 09:01.770 --> 09:04.800 But we just need to start listening to people, 09:04.800 --> 09:06.510 and sit down and say, you know what? 09:06.510 --> 09:07.500 What you're going through is real. 09:07.500 --> 09:10.920 Just because I can't see it doesn't mean it isn't, right? 09:10.920 --> 09:12.570 Or have experienced it, right? 09:12.570 --> 09:15.150 So just because I haven't experienced 09:15.150 --> 09:18.300 what you've experienced doesn't negate my experience, 09:18.300 --> 09:19.523 because you haven't lived through that, 09:19.523 --> 09:21.840 or that was not your experience. 09:21.840 --> 09:24.720 So I can come with my thing, we can listen to each other, 09:24.720 --> 09:25.553 and, you know, 09:25.553 --> 09:27.810 like my daughter was saying earlier on our little show, 09:27.810 --> 09:28.740 she said, you know, 09:28.740 --> 09:30.150 my mom always tells me, 09:30.150 --> 09:32.057 I know you're listening, but are you hearing me? 09:32.057 --> 09:33.093 That's my mom. 09:33.990 --> 09:36.930 And we don't really hear and and go to that other level 09:36.930 --> 09:41.160 of embracing somebody's truth of what they've experienced. 09:41.160 --> 09:43.860 And we can do that, it's not hard to do, 09:43.860 --> 09:45.573 but it comes again, 09:45.573 --> 09:48.210 with the noise that we have in our life, 09:48.210 --> 09:49.893 that causes the interference. 09:51.060 --> 09:52.860 If there's that interference, 09:52.860 --> 09:55.170 it's harder for that signal to get through. 09:55.170 --> 09:57.450 And it's harder for people with invisible disabilities 09:57.450 --> 09:59.640 to actually cut through that chatter, 09:59.640 --> 10:02.340 because people either don't believe it, they don't see it, 10:02.340 --> 10:03.780 there's nothing that looks wrong with you, 10:03.780 --> 10:06.750 so therefore everything must be fine with you. 10:06.750 --> 10:08.430 And that's just not the case, 10:08.430 --> 10:12.540 and we have to continue to cut down that lane of chatter, 10:12.540 --> 10:15.836 so that that communication and that can get cut through 10:15.836 --> 10:18.150 to who we're sending a message to, 10:18.150 --> 10:21.000 and we can get the feedback to come to us 10:21.000 --> 10:23.340 to make sure we're course correcting, 10:23.340 --> 10:26.040 and know that we have been listened to and heard. 10:26.040 --> 10:26.873 Well, I mean, 10:26.873 --> 10:27.706 think about it. 10:27.706 --> 10:29.490 I mean, you're a silver medalist. 10:29.490 --> 10:30.876 I'm not a silver medalist. 10:30.876 --> 10:34.290 I mean, I ran quarter mile track in high school, 10:34.290 --> 10:35.250 but I'll tell you what. 10:35.250 --> 10:36.390 You know, hurdles? 10:36.390 --> 10:37.830 No way, not touching it, 10:37.830 --> 10:38.970 ain't gonna go there. 10:38.970 --> 10:40.740 I watch the guys who run hurdles, 10:40.740 --> 10:42.990 unbelievable stuff, right? 10:42.990 --> 10:44.700 But some people in life, 10:44.700 --> 10:46.260 their hurdles are other things, right? 10:46.260 --> 10:49.020 And some people in life, that's their gold medal. 10:49.020 --> 10:51.030 The fact that 30 years later they're still here 10:51.030 --> 10:52.980 fighting whatever they're going through. 10:52.980 --> 10:54.450 I mean, I think about that with my wife, 10:54.450 --> 10:55.350 you know, with her MS, 10:55.350 --> 10:57.660 and Lyme Disease, and PTSD and all these things. 10:57.660 --> 11:00.300 And I'll tell you, it's not about, 11:00.300 --> 11:02.850 you know, always overcoming the odds. 11:02.850 --> 11:04.770 It's continuing on, right? 11:04.770 --> 11:06.420 And I think you really talk a lot about that. 11:06.420 --> 11:08.220 So tell us a little bit more about your injury, 11:08.220 --> 11:10.710 because I would think your injury, right, 11:10.710 --> 11:11.790 is you're like, oh, 11:11.790 --> 11:13.110 the guy's in the military, you know, 11:13.110 --> 11:15.270 he was driving a Humvee and something happened. 11:15.270 --> 11:16.905 That's not what happened. 11:16.905 --> 11:17.970 It is not what happened. 11:17.970 --> 11:19.770 And you brought out so many things 11:19.770 --> 11:21.450 I'm kind of unpacking in my mind, 11:21.450 --> 11:24.210 you know, with overcoming the adversity. 11:24.210 --> 11:26.460 And I really, because I'm a professional speaker now, 11:26.460 --> 11:28.260 and I almost got out of the game because I didn't 11:28.260 --> 11:29.520 have something I thought I was saying, 11:29.520 --> 11:31.410 and I'll come back to that in a moment, 11:31.410 --> 11:33.060 on what we really overcome. 11:33.060 --> 11:35.070 What's the true thing that we overcome, right? 11:35.070 --> 11:36.720 So on May 17th, 1994, 11:36.720 --> 11:38.820 I'm on the Army's World Class Athlete program team. 11:38.820 --> 11:40.140 My life is set before me. 11:40.140 --> 11:42.540 USA track and field news has just picked me 11:42.540 --> 11:45.210 to be one of the top three hurdlists 11:45.210 --> 11:48.870 to make the United States Olympic team in 1996. 11:48.870 --> 11:51.060 The date's May 17th, 1994. 11:51.060 --> 11:53.010 I'm also on my way to Officer candidate school, 11:53.010 --> 11:54.945 because I was boarded in Germany, 11:54.945 --> 11:56.700 I was living there at the time. 11:56.700 --> 11:58.830 And the selection board recommended me 11:58.830 --> 11:59.880 for officer candidate school, 11:59.880 --> 12:01.350 so I had all these things going. 12:01.350 --> 12:03.090 I'm gonna do 20 years in the military, 12:03.090 --> 12:03.923 I'm gonna get out, 12:03.923 --> 12:04.920 become a civilian to another 20 12:04.920 --> 12:06.600 years in the same job I was in. 12:06.600 --> 12:08.490 And boom, I'm gonna travel the world 12:08.490 --> 12:09.510 for the rest of my life. 12:09.510 --> 12:10.929 Alright, got it all figured out. 12:10.929 --> 12:13.023 All figured out, go. 12:14.610 --> 12:17.700 And I went across a hurdle during a training session, 12:17.700 --> 12:19.740 landed awkwardly, 12:19.740 --> 12:22.320 severed my knee, or hyper extended the knee, 12:22.320 --> 12:25.410 severed the artery behind the kneecap, the popliteal artery. 12:25.410 --> 12:29.073 And then about seven days later, 12:30.000 --> 12:31.620 I was left with a choice. 12:31.620 --> 12:33.030 My doctor, Dr. Randy Mullins, 12:33.030 --> 12:33.870 came in and said, 12:33.870 --> 12:35.160 you know, John, 12:35.160 --> 12:36.480 you can either keep your limb and use 12:36.480 --> 12:38.430 a walker or a wheelchair for the rest of your life, 12:38.430 --> 12:40.320 or I can amputate your leg 12:40.320 --> 12:44.130 and you can use a prosthesis for the rest of your life. 12:44.130 --> 12:46.203 And really, what kind of choice is that? 12:46.203 --> 12:47.036 You know, here I am-- 12:47.036 --> 12:48.210 It's a tough choice, yeah. 12:48.210 --> 12:49.713 All American. 12:49.713 --> 12:53.313 So I started going into this negative mindset, 12:54.720 --> 12:56.310 not immediately, because I said, 12:56.310 --> 12:57.143 you know what? 12:57.143 --> 12:58.830 I know it has to be amputated, 12:58.830 --> 13:02.460 because the leg is pretty much useless by this time. 13:02.460 --> 13:03.990 It's gonna be either do it, straight out, 13:03.990 --> 13:08.100 and I understand, I was lucid enough to understand that. 13:08.100 --> 13:09.240 And I wanted to know kind of what was 13:09.240 --> 13:10.740 gonna be my quality of life afterward, 13:10.740 --> 13:12.000 not really knowing what the quality 13:12.000 --> 13:14.700 of life would be after an amputation. 13:14.700 --> 13:17.580 So the amputation was done, 13:17.580 --> 13:19.890 and then I start going down the downward spiral. 13:19.890 --> 13:22.230 I started thinking, like many of us, 13:22.230 --> 13:23.940 who am I now? 13:23.940 --> 13:24.933 What's my identity? 13:25.980 --> 13:27.500 Is my wife gonna stick around? 13:27.500 --> 13:29.430 Is my son still gonna see me as his father? 13:29.430 --> 13:30.990 Do I still have a job in the Army? 13:30.990 --> 13:31.950 Can I support my family? 13:31.950 --> 13:34.650 I mean, my Olympic dreams are over. 13:34.650 --> 13:35.483 So that was one, 13:35.483 --> 13:36.316 that was my fear, right? 13:36.316 --> 13:38.040 And then, so secondarily, 13:38.040 --> 13:41.610 I had friends who were trying to put me back into their box, 13:41.610 --> 13:42.900 because they didn't know what to say. 13:42.900 --> 13:45.552 They wanted just to be everything to be fine. 13:45.552 --> 13:47.940 And the friends, I frame it as, 13:47.940 --> 13:51.240 when I frame it as other people who 13:51.240 --> 13:53.220 believe for us what we can or cannot do, 13:53.220 --> 13:56.550 which is really based upon what they believe 13:56.550 --> 13:58.890 they could or could not do if they were in our situation. 13:58.890 --> 14:00.145 Right, it's up to us-- 14:00.145 --> 14:02.423 So they try to pull us back into their world. 14:03.450 --> 14:05.160 And so the third one is, 14:05.160 --> 14:08.223 what I was trying to overcome, is societal stigma. 14:09.210 --> 14:12.960 Who told me that just because I'm an amputee now, 14:12.960 --> 14:14.370 that my wife is gonna leave me, 14:14.370 --> 14:16.260 my son's not gonna see me as his dad and value me, 14:16.260 --> 14:17.790 I'm gonna lose my job in the Army, 14:17.790 --> 14:21.180 and all these negative thoughts that were hitting my head. 14:21.180 --> 14:24.300 And I began to think, who am I allowing into this space? 14:24.300 --> 14:27.513 Because I realized that had I, 14:30.000 --> 14:33.723 I was thinking that the limb loss, 14:35.074 --> 14:37.650 if I didn't lose the leg, 14:37.650 --> 14:41.010 I wouldn't have all these issues that were going on. 14:41.010 --> 14:45.030 And I was thinking in some capacity I was gonna get it back. 14:45.030 --> 14:47.100 If I didn't overcome the amputation of my left leg, 14:47.100 --> 14:47.933 I would have my leg back. 14:47.933 --> 14:49.320 You know, that that was kind of 14:49.320 --> 14:51.990 the thought process that was in my head. 14:51.990 --> 14:53.400 But we don't get that back, 14:53.400 --> 14:55.950 and oftentimes we think we do. 14:55.950 --> 14:56.783 Yeah. 14:56.783 --> 15:00.920 And it might be a far reaching notion of, 15:00.920 --> 15:02.910 in our head, like military service members, 15:02.910 --> 15:04.440 when I was building a military sport program, 15:04.440 --> 15:06.150 all those guys and gals, 15:06.150 --> 15:08.190 anytime I went up there, the awards, 15:08.190 --> 15:09.360 the first thing they wanted to do 15:09.360 --> 15:11.040 with the triple amputee is, 15:11.040 --> 15:11.893 I wanna get back in the fight. 15:11.893 --> 15:13.200 I just miss my unit, I gotta get back, 15:13.200 --> 15:14.820 I'm feeling like I need to help them. 15:14.820 --> 15:15.653 Right. 15:15.653 --> 15:16.770 So I let them sit with that. 15:16.770 --> 15:18.210 I don't say, yes you can, 15:18.210 --> 15:19.260 no you can't. 15:19.260 --> 15:20.093 Right. 15:20.093 --> 15:20.926 I just say, you know, 15:20.926 --> 15:22.500 you can show up as however you wanna show up. 15:22.500 --> 15:24.330 You gotta figure that thing out for yourself. 15:24.330 --> 15:29.330 But in this process of rebuilding our lives, 15:29.700 --> 15:31.950 we're redefining who we are. 15:31.950 --> 15:35.670 Are we gonna go back to the fears of ourselves, 15:35.670 --> 15:39.240 the fears of others, or the societal fears, 15:39.240 --> 15:41.310 or is there something greater on the other side? 15:41.310 --> 15:42.150 Right. 15:42.150 --> 15:45.420 And that something greater is only discovered. 15:45.420 --> 15:47.100 It's personal. 15:47.100 --> 15:49.200 You cannot get this in a book. 15:49.200 --> 15:50.310 I don't care how many books you read, 15:50.310 --> 15:51.910 you will not get this in a book. 15:52.860 --> 15:55.080 You have to choose for yourself, 15:55.080 --> 15:57.240 once you've identified what those fears are for you, 15:57.240 --> 15:59.820 you have to choose for yourself what it is in your life 15:59.820 --> 16:02.400 that you are willing to amputate 16:02.400 --> 16:04.808 to embrace that new normal mindset. 16:04.808 --> 16:08.430 They gave me choices about the amputation, 16:08.430 --> 16:09.630 but it was my decision. 16:09.630 --> 16:10.980 I had to make that choice. 16:10.980 --> 16:13.500 Because if I tell somebody else you need to amputate, 16:13.500 --> 16:14.430 and they do it and they say, well, 16:14.430 --> 16:17.640 that was the wrong decision, I'm blaming you for that. 16:17.640 --> 16:18.600 Well, you know, 16:18.600 --> 16:20.430 our vision of our organization is that 16:20.430 --> 16:22.140 people will be invisible no more. 16:22.140 --> 16:24.060 And what that really means is that 16:24.060 --> 16:25.770 we would treat people the same, 16:25.770 --> 16:28.620 and stop treating people like that person's lesser, 16:28.620 --> 16:29.910 right, because that's what we do. 16:29.910 --> 16:31.320 We have this tendency in our mindset. 16:31.320 --> 16:33.390 Well, they can't do something, 16:33.390 --> 16:34.830 and they're choosing not to do it, 16:34.830 --> 16:35.663 and so they're this. 16:35.663 --> 16:37.260 But in a lot of cases, they're unable 16:37.260 --> 16:39.060 to do it for some reason or another, 16:39.060 --> 16:41.100 and we gotta stop saying that they 16:41.100 --> 16:42.780 don't have value anymore, right? 16:42.780 --> 16:43.613 Yeah. 16:43.613 --> 16:44.880 And I think that's, for me, 16:44.880 --> 16:45.713 I think that's too, 16:45.713 --> 16:48.382 it's for the person that's going through it. 16:48.382 --> 16:51.480 That's giving up too much power. 16:51.480 --> 16:52.313 Yeah. 16:52.313 --> 16:54.750 Because I'm on the other side now, right? 16:54.750 --> 16:57.603 So when I chose to amputate, 16:58.470 --> 17:03.470 I am now understanding it wasn't a rebuild at all. 17:03.660 --> 17:05.400 It's actually a rebirth. 17:05.400 --> 17:06.311 Change. 17:06.311 --> 17:07.144 I had to learn how to walk again, 17:07.144 --> 17:07.977 I had to learn how to run again, 17:07.977 --> 17:09.960 I had to learn how to exist in society again. 17:09.960 --> 17:12.150 But that produces a resolve in me. 17:12.150 --> 17:14.190 I'm so resolute in who I am. 17:14.190 --> 17:15.840 It's no longer for me to go back to what 17:15.840 --> 17:18.093 my friends were saying or what society says. 17:18.093 --> 17:21.900 It's now time for them to catch up where I am. 17:21.900 --> 17:23.820 Yeah, I think that's fantastic, 17:23.820 --> 17:26.520 'cause I think about how strong people are 17:26.520 --> 17:28.530 that have lived with disability, 17:28.530 --> 17:31.860 or lived with pain, or those things for years after years. 17:31.860 --> 17:34.020 My goodness, spend 30 minutes with 'em, 17:34.020 --> 17:35.730 and you're going, oh, 17:35.730 --> 17:38.070 you know, they've been through the battles you talk about. 17:38.070 --> 17:39.270 I mean, they have literally, 17:39.270 --> 17:41.250 they've been through the battles of the friends that said, 17:41.250 --> 17:42.570 you know, you're faking it, 17:42.570 --> 17:45.000 or the friends that said, you know what your problem is, 17:45.000 --> 17:46.920 you should get out and just run all, 17:46.920 --> 17:48.000 you know, that's your problem! 17:48.000 --> 17:48.833 Well, wait a second. 17:48.833 --> 17:50.100 It's really, like you said, 17:50.100 --> 17:51.180 it's up to the person. 17:51.180 --> 17:54.390 They need to know what they can do and can't do, right? 17:54.390 --> 17:55.260 We don't have the choice. 17:55.260 --> 17:57.540 We can't be the, I call it the armchair doctor, 17:57.540 --> 17:58.710 and come along and say, well, 17:58.710 --> 18:00.090 you're not doing such and such, 18:00.090 --> 18:02.160 or you should be drinking this thing 18:02.160 --> 18:03.900 and it will solve all your problems. 18:03.900 --> 18:06.660 I can't imagine making a decision like you did, 18:06.660 --> 18:08.430 but you're like, you know, 18:08.430 --> 18:09.450 I mean, that's a rough, 18:09.450 --> 18:11.100 that's hard in your mind to go, 18:11.100 --> 18:11.933 okay, here's the decision. 18:11.933 --> 18:13.560 Then you think, okay, 18:13.560 --> 18:15.840 well, I've seen people that come back and they run Ironmans, 18:15.840 --> 18:17.430 they have prosthetics and they're 18:17.430 --> 18:18.570 doing all this crazy stuff. 18:18.570 --> 18:19.440 Well, but you know what, 18:19.440 --> 18:22.478 some people don't run Ironmans that have prosthetics, right? 18:22.478 --> 18:24.528 Like me, I don't run Ironmans! 18:24.528 --> 18:25.523 I know, but you know what I'm saying? 18:25.523 --> 18:27.300 I mean, we always think of, 18:27.300 --> 18:29.070 we think that that's the normal, 18:29.070 --> 18:30.482 and I have to say, 18:30.482 --> 18:32.490 the guy who climbs Mount Everest, 18:32.490 --> 18:33.960 or the person who runs the Ironman, 18:33.960 --> 18:36.330 I'm sorry to say it, they're the abnormal. 18:36.330 --> 18:38.940 The rest of us are normal in a sense, right? 18:38.940 --> 18:42.360 Because the rest of us, each day life is throwing stuff. 18:42.360 --> 18:43.560 We're having to deal with this stuff. 18:43.560 --> 18:46.020 And sometimes it's illness, sometimes it's disability, 18:46.020 --> 18:48.570 sometimes it's trauma, right? 18:48.570 --> 18:49.590 I mean, you know, 18:49.590 --> 18:51.870 talk to me a little bit about being in the military, 18:51.870 --> 18:53.100 and the whole aspect of PTSD, 18:53.100 --> 18:55.170 because I know you're a real passionate 18:55.170 --> 18:57.480 for the people in the military as well. 18:57.480 --> 18:58.860 Talk a little bit about that. 18:58.860 --> 19:02.220 So I think one thing I want to kind of drift off of 19:02.220 --> 19:05.970 is what you said around how people show up. 19:05.970 --> 19:10.383 And there's a difference between empathy and sympathy. 19:11.220 --> 19:12.570 And what you were describing, Wayne, 19:12.570 --> 19:15.210 was the sympathetic response, you know. 19:15.210 --> 19:16.560 I think you should be doing this. 19:16.560 --> 19:18.960 It's the same when I was going to the hospitals. 19:18.960 --> 19:20.370 If I were to come in there and say, 19:20.370 --> 19:22.350 you could be a paralympic medalist 19:22.350 --> 19:24.900 because you have these disabilities now! 19:24.900 --> 19:26.730 The leap is too way too great. 19:26.730 --> 19:27.563 Right? 19:27.563 --> 19:30.270 So the passion I have for these service members is, 19:30.270 --> 19:32.535 yes, they've served our country, 19:32.535 --> 19:34.650 and yes, I'm passionate about that. 19:34.650 --> 19:37.470 But more than that, what I'm really looking 19:37.470 --> 19:40.350 for them to do is be that beacon that 19:40.350 --> 19:43.590 helps them see that life is not over, 19:43.590 --> 19:46.680 to make sure that they know that they still have worth, 19:46.680 --> 19:48.420 they still have value. 19:48.420 --> 19:49.740 When the world, you know, 19:49.740 --> 19:51.690 we called it Walter, not we, 19:51.690 --> 19:53.190 I'd say we, I was part of the group, 19:53.190 --> 19:57.300 but it was the group that was up on the wards, 19:57.300 --> 19:59.610 they would say when the new person came in 19:59.610 --> 20:00.780 from the battlefield and the fight, 20:00.780 --> 20:02.970 and they're all banged up and everything. 20:02.970 --> 20:05.133 Hey man, you're a rockstar for a year, 20:06.150 --> 20:07.827 because everything what happened was 20:07.827 --> 20:10.200 you had the congressional leadership, 20:10.200 --> 20:12.930 you had the Washington cheerleaders, 20:12.930 --> 20:15.030 you got an Xbox, you got all these things. 20:15.030 --> 20:17.250 Everybody started giving all this 20:17.250 --> 20:19.800 stuff to the service members. 20:19.800 --> 20:22.200 But the real deal is what happens 20:22.200 --> 20:23.400 when they leave that hospital-- 20:23.400 --> 20:24.233 Right, when they go home! 20:24.233 --> 20:26.430 And they're sitting across from their wife, 20:26.430 --> 20:30.180 or their husband, and their spouse for the first time, 20:30.180 --> 20:31.500 and their children, 20:31.500 --> 20:33.150 and they don't have all those bells and whistles, 20:33.150 --> 20:35.400 because the Washington Redskin 20:35.400 --> 20:36.570 cheerleaders are not coming in there, 20:36.570 --> 20:38.640 and Congress is not coming into their house. 20:38.640 --> 20:39.810 What do they do at that point? 20:39.810 --> 20:41.760 That's when the rubber really meets the road 20:41.760 --> 20:44.280 of what this life is going to be like 20:44.280 --> 20:45.810 when that support system that they've 20:45.810 --> 20:47.910 been used to in the military is gone. 20:47.910 --> 20:50.370 And that's where I wanted our programs to really 20:50.370 --> 20:53.490 help in that space to make them more resilient. 20:53.490 --> 20:54.420 Because in resilience, 20:54.420 --> 20:56.550 we think that resilience is kind of like the rubber band. 20:56.550 --> 20:58.410 It snaps back to its original shape. 20:58.410 --> 20:59.670 But as you know, it doesn't. 20:59.670 --> 21:01.740 What if my rubber band broke, like in my case, 21:01.740 --> 21:03.450 with my artificial leg, right? 21:03.450 --> 21:05.250 I got tremendous pain and my rubber band is broke. 21:05.250 --> 21:08.370 How do I show resilience in that area? 21:08.370 --> 21:09.446 And that's, again, 21:09.446 --> 21:12.840 it's a very personal level. 21:12.840 --> 21:16.140 Whereas I can say that in the word resilience, 21:16.140 --> 21:19.170 how I break it down, is there are 10 letters, 21:19.170 --> 21:21.180 and those 10 letters represent maybe 21:21.180 --> 21:23.370 10 hurdles in a hurdle race that I run. 21:23.370 --> 21:25.740 Every hurdle race has 10 hurdles. 21:25.740 --> 21:28.080 And before the race has even begun, 21:28.080 --> 21:30.960 before the race starts, 21:30.960 --> 21:34.680 there is an announcer, or the starter, 21:34.680 --> 21:36.783 who will say quiet for the start. 21:37.770 --> 21:39.750 And embedded in the word resilience, 21:39.750 --> 21:43.050 if you look there, is the word silence. 21:43.050 --> 21:44.070 Oh wow. 21:44.070 --> 21:47.130 We have to begin to hear our own voices first. 21:47.130 --> 21:49.230 That's when we can choose to amputate 21:49.230 --> 21:51.090 that fear that's holding us back. 21:51.090 --> 21:54.120 Maybe it's 86ing some of our friends, 21:54.120 --> 21:54.953 maybe it's, you know, 21:54.953 --> 21:56.790 turning off the televisions to stop 21:56.790 --> 21:58.380 feeding our mind negativity, 21:58.380 --> 22:00.597 maybe it's some type of meditation that we need to do, 22:00.597 --> 22:03.600 but we gotta center ourselves for that journey 22:03.600 --> 22:08.490 on the side of where we're going up to that resolute state. 22:08.490 --> 22:12.330 So for me, you can hear the words and the difference 22:12.330 --> 22:14.883 between people who are not there and those who are. 22:16.740 --> 22:20.700 If you're in a state of rebuilding, 22:20.700 --> 22:22.770 you'll find people saying words like, 22:22.770 --> 22:24.150 can't wait till we get back to normal. 22:24.150 --> 22:26.040 I can't wait to, you know, 22:26.040 --> 22:27.930 I can't wait till normal happens again. 22:27.930 --> 22:30.540 I just want things to be the way they were, right? 22:30.540 --> 22:33.090 That's a person who is trying to redefine their moment. 22:33.090 --> 22:34.050 They're stuck in that moment. 22:34.050 --> 22:37.170 They're wrestling with how this new process is. 22:37.170 --> 22:39.330 The words you hear on the other side 22:39.330 --> 22:42.120 are words of empowerment for that persons self, 22:42.120 --> 22:43.890 and trying to bring others along. 22:43.890 --> 22:45.060 So case in point, 22:45.060 --> 22:47.040 when I won the silver medal in Sydney, Australia, 22:47.040 --> 22:49.500 in the long jump after 20 years of work, 22:49.500 --> 22:51.483 of training and doing all these things, 22:52.470 --> 22:54.480 I come down the elevator and I have my medal, 22:54.480 --> 22:56.370 I got it right beside me here. 22:56.370 --> 22:57.810 I had my silver medal, right? 22:57.810 --> 22:59.190 It's hung around my neck. 22:59.190 --> 23:01.440 And at that time, you know, 23:01.440 --> 23:03.529 Lucas Christian, I'm kind of holding it like this. 23:03.529 --> 23:07.260 And Lucas Christian, who beats me by about seven, 23:07.260 --> 23:09.270 eight centimeters, he says, 23:09.270 --> 23:10.647 it feels good, doesn't it? 23:10.647 --> 23:11.790 And I said, yeah, 23:11.790 --> 23:12.780 it feels really, it's heavy. 23:12.780 --> 23:13.680 It's good. 23:13.680 --> 23:16.560 And it represented 20 years of work. 23:16.560 --> 23:18.020 And this is earned hardware, right? 23:18.020 --> 23:20.550 So it's not like I lost the gold. 23:20.550 --> 23:22.620 It's not like I was going for the silver medal, 23:22.620 --> 23:25.830 but at the same time, I can honor first place, 23:25.830 --> 23:27.210 second place, third place. 23:27.210 --> 23:28.590 But the point I wanna make with that 23:28.590 --> 23:30.510 is when I get off the elevator, 23:30.510 --> 23:34.260 a reporter who recognizes me from my days at Arkansas, 23:34.260 --> 23:35.280 she says, hey John, 23:35.280 --> 23:36.900 you know, congratulations. 23:36.900 --> 23:38.520 With artificial limb technology, 23:38.520 --> 23:40.980 do you think you'd go back to Arkansas 23:40.980 --> 23:43.500 and run against the Michael Johnsons, 23:43.500 --> 23:45.270 and jump against the Carl Lewis's? 23:45.270 --> 23:47.910 And I thought about her question for a moment, 23:47.910 --> 23:49.857 and this is where the resolve comes in, right? 23:49.857 --> 23:51.706 And I said, no, 23:51.706 --> 23:52.980 I don't think I could. 23:52.980 --> 23:54.210 I don't think with artificial limb 23:54.210 --> 23:55.650 technology, I could do that. 23:55.650 --> 23:57.270 However maybe the question should 23:57.270 --> 24:00.150 be reframed or rephrased as if, 24:00.150 --> 24:03.420 God forbid, Carl Lewis or Michael Johnson lost a limb, 24:03.420 --> 24:05.973 could they run as fast or jump as far as I do? 24:06.840 --> 24:07.800 Right. 24:07.800 --> 24:09.060 And that's the catch up. 24:09.060 --> 24:11.760 That's where we, when we have those moments, 24:11.760 --> 24:14.340 it's no, I don't need to be validated by anybody else. 24:14.340 --> 24:16.290 You need to come to where I am so that we can 24:16.290 --> 24:18.990 actually move on together and get on this side. 24:18.990 --> 24:21.780 If you can't handle it, that's okay, 24:21.780 --> 24:23.493 but I'm still going to move on, 24:24.330 --> 24:26.476 whether or not you're with me or not. 24:26.476 --> 24:27.420 Well, I think it's, 24:27.420 --> 24:28.953 yeah, I think it's great. 24:30.870 --> 24:32.400 That resiliency, I mean, 24:32.400 --> 24:33.233 exactly right. 24:33.233 --> 24:34.590 These people are very resilient, 24:34.590 --> 24:36.720 I mean, a lot of people with invisible disabilities, 24:36.720 --> 24:38.010 and you talk about, I mean, 24:38.010 --> 24:39.780 there is a new normal in a sense, right? 24:39.780 --> 24:42.570 And what I think that we need to learn in society, 24:42.570 --> 24:45.963 that new normal is not that the person's gonna be the CEO. 24:47.280 --> 24:49.367 I mean, you look at a lot of organizations, 24:49.367 --> 24:50.200 and it's like, 24:50.200 --> 24:51.630 you know, the five people, 24:51.630 --> 24:53.310 these are all the people that 24:53.310 --> 24:54.720 live with such and such illness. 24:54.720 --> 24:55.553 And look at 'em, you know, 24:55.553 --> 24:57.357 CEO of this and Mountain Climber this! 24:57.357 --> 24:58.590 And it's like, yeah, 24:58.590 --> 24:59.880 but that's not the majority of people. 24:59.880 --> 25:01.320 The majority of people are like, hey, 25:01.320 --> 25:02.670 we're getting through each day, 25:02.670 --> 25:03.930 we're trying to figure out things. 25:03.930 --> 25:05.790 You know, some people are able to figure out 25:05.790 --> 25:06.930 the ability to go back to work. 25:06.930 --> 25:08.460 Some people are not, right? 25:08.460 --> 25:09.600 But for them, 25:09.600 --> 25:11.910 the working is each day, right? 25:11.910 --> 25:12.933 And so I think that, 25:14.083 --> 25:15.330 I love what you're saying though. 25:15.330 --> 25:16.620 It is a new normal, right? 25:16.620 --> 25:17.453 And we gotta forget that. 25:17.453 --> 25:21.300 That new normal is their new normal, not our new normal. 25:21.300 --> 25:23.111 But there's a new normal for everybody. 25:23.111 --> 25:25.530 But here's how I define the new normal. 25:25.530 --> 25:27.030 So new, to me, 25:27.030 --> 25:29.550 when my wife told me, so we were on the playground, 25:29.550 --> 25:32.220 I'm bawling my eyes out when I first lost my leg, 25:32.220 --> 25:34.835 and I'm crying, and snots coming out my nose, 25:34.835 --> 25:35.668 and all this stuff is happening 25:35.668 --> 25:38.010 because I'm thinking about my fears, 25:38.010 --> 25:40.920 and of her possibly leaving me 25:40.920 --> 25:43.653 or my son not seeing me as his dad. 25:44.490 --> 25:46.860 And then she comes running over and says, what is going on? 25:46.860 --> 25:49.500 I began to articulate to her all my fears I had in my head. 25:49.500 --> 25:51.030 And she said, you know what, 25:51.030 --> 25:52.740 we're gonna get through this together, John. 25:52.740 --> 25:55.080 It's just our new normal. 25:55.080 --> 25:56.130 That's awesome, John-- 25:56.130 --> 25:57.330 1994, she says that to me, 25:57.330 --> 25:59.760 and that baselined my entire existence. 25:59.760 --> 26:01.860 John Jr. kind of sometime later, 26:01.860 --> 26:03.450 he jumps off the swing, hits the ground, 26:03.450 --> 26:04.283 he's five years old, 26:04.283 --> 26:06.120 comes running over those little 5-year-old legs, 26:06.120 --> 26:06.953 says, hey dad, 26:06.953 --> 26:07.786 you see my big jump? 26:07.786 --> 26:08.660 You see my big jump, dad? 26:09.510 --> 26:12.270 And he splits between myself and my wife, Alice, 26:12.270 --> 26:14.730 and I recognized in those 15 yards he had 26:14.730 --> 26:17.610 just run from the swing set to me and Alice 26:17.610 --> 26:18.840 that he had just validated me as 26:18.840 --> 26:21.660 his father and created his new normal. 26:21.660 --> 26:24.540 And the new normal therefore is not a destination. 26:24.540 --> 26:25.770 It's not a place that we get, 26:25.770 --> 26:26.812 and we land, and we stop. 26:26.812 --> 26:27.770 Right, right! 26:27.770 --> 26:29.580 It's a plateau. 26:29.580 --> 26:32.010 So we get to the new normal, it is a plateau to grow. 26:32.010 --> 26:34.020 So we've learned some experiences, 26:34.020 --> 26:36.780 and we keep on elevating from that the platform. 26:36.780 --> 26:38.460 So the ceiling becomes the floor, 26:38.460 --> 26:39.990 and we can elevate from there. 26:39.990 --> 26:41.210 Wow, fantastic. 26:41.210 --> 26:44.730 So this is a question we love to ask here. 26:44.730 --> 26:46.680 The show's called InVisible InCourage for a reason, 26:46.680 --> 26:48.930 and that courage is you only need courage 26:48.930 --> 26:50.430 when you're going through something difficult. 26:50.430 --> 26:51.960 When everything's great, you don't need courage. 26:51.960 --> 26:53.610 I mean, that's just like sailing or whatever, 26:53.610 --> 26:54.443 right? 26:54.443 --> 26:56.940 So on your darkest days, 26:56.940 --> 26:58.620 and I know you have those darkest days, 26:58.620 --> 27:00.900 and there's some times where there's a lot of, 27:00.900 --> 27:02.550 you know, what is that one thing 27:02.550 --> 27:03.660 that helps you get through today? 27:03.660 --> 27:05.520 Because yeah, COVID, 27:05.520 --> 27:06.900 COVID's flattened everybody. 27:06.900 --> 27:08.670 We're all isolated, we're all alone, 27:08.670 --> 27:10.370 and we like to say in invisible disabilities, 27:10.370 --> 27:12.090 is we don't wanna forget those people 27:12.090 --> 27:14.760 that have been isolating for 20 years before COVID, 27:14.760 --> 27:16.020 and they're gonna be doing it afterwards. 27:16.020 --> 27:17.160 We don't wanna forget them. 27:17.160 --> 27:18.750 We've all felt it now! 27:18.750 --> 27:20.520 We need to remember that, right? 27:20.520 --> 27:22.560 But what is the one thing that gets you through, 27:22.560 --> 27:24.300 that gets you through one day. 27:24.300 --> 27:25.830 Not this will pass, or any of those things, 27:25.830 --> 27:27.090 but gets you through one day? 27:27.090 --> 27:27.923 What is that? 27:27.923 --> 27:30.330 Yeah, so that's a great question. 27:30.330 --> 27:32.640 And it used to be kind of a lot of different answers. 27:32.640 --> 27:35.940 As I began to unpack my entire life of what's been 27:35.940 --> 27:39.480 the single thread that's been through it, is faith. 27:39.480 --> 27:41.550 And I'll be very specific with that. 27:41.550 --> 27:43.800 You know, a person asked me, 27:43.800 --> 27:45.660 what's the most important thing about your business, 27:45.660 --> 27:48.150 when I was doing the veteran entrepreneurship class? 27:48.150 --> 27:49.800 And we gave her all these different answers. 27:49.800 --> 27:50.633 And she said, no, 27:50.633 --> 27:51.466 no, no. 27:51.466 --> 27:52.299 She said, the most important thing to do 27:52.299 --> 27:53.880 is to ask yourself the question, 27:53.880 --> 27:55.170 how are you gonna depose of your business? 27:55.170 --> 27:56.148 How are you gonna dispose of it? 27:56.148 --> 27:57.540 How are you gonna wrap it up? 27:57.540 --> 27:58.530 And I said, oh wow, 27:58.530 --> 28:01.200 because that means that things have been successful. 28:01.200 --> 28:03.060 So for my life, after six months, 28:03.060 --> 28:04.230 I thought about her statement. 28:04.230 --> 28:06.090 I said, what do I want at the end of my life? 28:06.090 --> 28:08.100 And I wanted my God to say to me, 28:08.100 --> 28:09.900 well done, my good and faithful servant. 28:09.900 --> 28:11.700 Enter into the joy of my rest. 28:11.700 --> 28:13.800 And so because of that, 28:13.800 --> 28:18.800 I began to maneuver all of my life to align to that purpose. 28:20.250 --> 28:21.450 So every single day, 28:21.450 --> 28:24.090 that new normal for me is making sure 28:24.090 --> 28:25.890 that I'm showing up in people's lives 28:25.890 --> 28:29.070 as the most positive force that I can be, 28:29.070 --> 28:32.220 and not holding grudges, not trying to hold anything else. 28:32.220 --> 28:33.990 I'm not saying I get it right every time. 28:33.990 --> 28:35.100 What I'm saying is that is a very 28:35.100 --> 28:36.900 intentional thing that I'm doing, 28:36.900 --> 28:40.800 because the inspirational value that I used to reject 28:40.800 --> 28:42.540 is the thing that is really creating 28:42.540 --> 28:43.860 the change in other individuals, 28:43.860 --> 28:48.860 because I show up so powerfully on the resolve side, 28:49.140 --> 28:50.460 because I know exactly where my 28:50.460 --> 28:52.320 destination's going to right now. 28:52.320 --> 28:53.153 Yeah, you care-- 28:53.153 --> 28:54.300 And so inspiration, I believe, 28:54.300 --> 28:56.220 is really the catalyst to motivation. 28:56.220 --> 28:58.230 Motivation causes actions, 28:58.230 --> 29:00.360 actions lead to transformational results, 29:00.360 --> 29:02.610 and those results, they re-inspire us, 29:02.610 --> 29:03.840 or allow other people who are watching 29:03.840 --> 29:06.240 the process to catch the vision. 29:06.240 --> 29:08.940 So that's that's my answer for that question. 29:08.940 --> 29:10.620 Well, you know what I love about that? 29:10.620 --> 29:12.570 The reality is that you care, right? 29:12.570 --> 29:13.560 And that's, you know, 29:13.560 --> 29:15.000 we have lost caring, 29:15.000 --> 29:16.980 but what's interesting about COVID is it has 29:16.980 --> 29:19.710 brought us back to this point to think about what is real, 29:19.710 --> 29:20.850 what really matters, right? 29:20.850 --> 29:21.683 Absolutely. 29:21.683 --> 29:22.590 The whole world's going through 29:22.590 --> 29:24.600 it at the same time, you know? 29:24.600 --> 29:26.940 So I'll tell you, that's fantastic, 29:26.940 --> 29:30.150 and I really so appreciate you being part of this show. 29:30.150 --> 29:33.000 Tell us where we can learn more about John Register. 29:33.000 --> 29:33.900 Wow. 29:33.900 --> 29:35.430 I'm all over social media, 29:35.430 --> 29:37.260 so if you go, I mean, 29:37.260 --> 29:41.520 the best place to probably find me is just on my website, 29:41.520 --> 29:44.190 which is johnregister.com. 29:44.190 --> 29:46.950 But I'm on LinkedIn, so reach out to me there. 29:46.950 --> 29:51.390 I'm on Instagram and on YouTube, so, 29:51.390 --> 29:52.890 you know, I'm all over the place. 29:52.890 --> 29:56.520 I think those are the most, the best places to find me. 29:56.520 --> 30:00.240 And we always are talking about how we help others, 30:00.240 --> 30:01.770 like you were saying, Wayne, 30:01.770 --> 30:03.570 to push through those challenges 30:03.570 --> 30:05.310 and those fears that they have, 30:05.310 --> 30:08.400 because that story that you come out with on the other side 30:08.400 --> 30:11.040 is going to release somebody else. 30:11.040 --> 30:13.200 Right, that's what I call hope. 30:13.200 --> 30:14.880 Hope is not hope that there's a cure. 30:14.880 --> 30:16.449 Hope is that humanity, 30:16.449 --> 30:18.090 we're able to help each other in 30:18.090 --> 30:19.200 the middle of what we're going through. 30:19.200 --> 30:21.480 That's real true hope, so. 30:21.480 --> 30:23.160 Well, thank you so much for being here today. 30:23.160 --> 30:25.590 We're thrilled to have you on InVisible InCourage Live, 30:25.590 --> 30:27.840 and we'll hopefully, 30:27.840 --> 30:29.220 we'd love to see you more involved 30:29.220 --> 30:30.150 with Invisible Disabilities. 30:30.150 --> 30:32.160 We're hoping we can get you involved in that as well. 30:32.160 --> 30:34.290 So thank you so much today. 30:34.290 --> 30:35.640 Absolutely, thanks Wayne. 30:36.751 --> 30:39.334 (upbeat music) 30:58.513 --> 31:01.346 (inspiring music)