October 17, 2024 • 47 mins
He is a faithful husband, father of three, online middle school special education teacher, professional speaker, podcast host, co-author, runner, martial artist, and pop culture geek. He is also a survivor of a life-threatening disease who uses his story and message to inspire and motivate others to adopt The Attitude of Gratitude (TAG), overcome their challenges, and go for greatness! Join BCC Evolution’s weekly live YouTube show for Mental Health Mondays hosted by the Founder Kelli Melissa where we talk to special guests who are professional mental health experts or guests who experience a mental health challenge or mental health advocates. You can find more about Chris here: www.chrisdtgordon.com instagram.com/chrisdtgordon Want to be a guest? Reach out to show@makementalhealthmatter.org and tell us your story. Need more resources? Want to get educated more about mental health and suicide prevention? Check out our programs and website for more information: www.makementalhealthmatter.org Support our cause today to help us bridge the gap by educating people to support those who are faced with a mental health challenge. Become a “Warrior for Mental Health” today for only $19 or more per month!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Welcome to another episode of Mental Health Mondays, where we
talk to guests who are either mental health professionals, advocates
for mental health, or those that live with or experience
a mental health challenge. And just as a reminder, if
you're watching this on YouTube, make sure you mash down
that button that so that you can subscribe and you
(00:48):
don't miss another episode. Or if you're watching this on
Facebook or LinkedIn, make sure you're following us. Most likely
you're already following us, but if you're not, make sure
you follow us. And if you feel any of this
information as we talk today would be helpful for somebody else,
make sure you share it. That's what we're here all about,
is giving resources to those that need it the most. So,
(01:12):
without further ado, I am going to bring up my
guests for today. Chris, thank you so much for joining.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Me, cal Pleasure, thank you for inviting me. I'm really
excited to talk with you today.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yeah. Absolutely, Well, tell the audience a little bit about yourself, certainly.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Well. I live in New Olm, Minnesota, with my wife,
Becky and our three kids. We've been we've been a
family since two thousand and five when Becky Becky made
me the luckiest guy in the world. Our kids are thirteen.
I have a thirteen year old boy and ten year
old twins, boy and girl. We are Becky and I
(01:55):
are both teachers. She teaches in the public school here
in New All. I teach online. I've been teaching since
online since twenty twelve, so I even predate the pandemic.
So it is possible to teach online. I've been doing
it for eleven years and so it works pretty well.
(02:17):
But the reason why I'm here today is because I
may to survive a type of flesh eating bacteria called
neckritizing faciitis, and through that experience, I developed what I
call the attitude of gratitude, and I have become a
professional speaker and co author, and I talk with groups
(02:41):
about how they can increase their gratitude, positivity, and resilience
in three easy steps and make themselves superheroes in their
own communities. For lack of a better.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Term, Wow, that's awesome. Well, thank you for sharing and
all of that. And what do you what do you
teach like a specific grade or what do you teach online?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
I am a special education teacher with licenses in learning
disabilities and autism spectrum disorder. So I work with grades
six through eighth and I have a math class I
push into other teachers classes, but I also teach social skills,
(03:31):
executive functioning skills, just trying to help our future leaders
be the best leaders they can be.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Awesome. That's amazing. And yeah, I love that you said
pre pandemic you were, you were teaching before it was
like a thing to be able to teach online. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah, you know people think that, oh, it's just like
you just you know, you get online, you get on
zoom and you just do your lesson. It's a lot
more involved in that. There's a lot, a lot of
salesmanship that goes into teaching online. That actually has helped
me in my speaking adventures because a lot of my
(04:14):
adventures are virtual. So whereas some speakers will have started
out speaking and they maybe have spoken once online, I've
been doing since twenty twelve. So I'm a little ahead
of the curve there.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, definitely, I know that even when my son, I
have a seven year old and they ended up sending
them home in twenty twenty, and that was, I mean
a very unique experience as a parent to have him
here while I was trying to work and then trying
to help him. I know, the teachers tried as much
as they could, but it was new to them also,
(04:52):
So yeah, that's definitely an adventure. Yes, yes, indeed, so
you had this flush eat bacteria. You said, right, it
froze a midget when you were talking about that. But
what ended up happening as far as all of I mean,
obviously you're here with us today. So what happened specifically.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Well, it was the most remarkable thing, Kelly. I scratched
my hand in my garage wall. I know, shocking, what
was I thinking doing such a thing, but it happened.
I scratched my hand as I was helping Becky get
the kids into the van as she drove them to
(05:37):
preschool and school. And I looked at it and it
wasn't bleeding. I quoted My Fate, one of my favorite
movies of all time, and said, 'tis been a scratch?
And then finish my duty, put them in, you know,
put them into the car, sea kissed them, agabye, went
back into the house, washed off my hand, put a
(05:58):
bandage on it, and it started my day teaching. No
big deal. Three days later, though, I wake up and
I see a lacrosse ball sized bump on my right elbow.
I go to the urgent care clinic. The doctor says
it might have been bresidis. I might have been flamed
the burst of sac in the elbow which caused it
(06:19):
to develop that bump, and he just suggested I keep
an eye on it. So I did, and I kept
an eye on it. As the bump grew and grew
and grew, until my right arm was three times the
size of my left. I looked like the Incredible Hulk
(06:41):
a mid transformation. It was. It was comical, I thought,
but also very jarring and disturbing. So we of course
went to the emergency room. They admitted me, kept me overnight,
and then that doctor told me something I will never forget. Kelly.
(07:02):
She said, mister Gordon, this is beyond us. We can
do nothing more for you. Here. Where do you want
to go? Well? I live in Minnesota. Rochester is two
hours to the east. Rochester is the home of the
(07:24):
Mayo Clinic, So I say Mayo. And not only does
it is Rochester the home of Mayo, it's also the
home to Bill and Dee, my wife's parents. So I
knew that she, the kids, and Max the dog would
have a place to stay for the I was sure
a few days this would take to resolve itself. I mean,
(07:46):
you know, me, being a special education teacher with my
vast medical knowledge, knew exactly how long this would take.
So they load me onto the plane, fly me to
Rochester and it's there that they officially agnose me with
necrotizing fasciitis. As soon as they know what they're dealing with,
they get me into my first of fifteen surgeries, and
(08:12):
the next thing I know, it's five days later I
have I was told that skin off my right arm, shoulder, chest,
and back was removed. A piece of my thigh had
been taken from its piece of my left thigh had
been taken and placed on my right hand and arm.
(08:32):
Since this is my arm, my thigh on my hand,
I call this my fand copyright pending. Because the infection
had gotten so far into the arm that I almost
lost my arm, and in fact, at that point doctors
told me that I had a thirty percent chance of
(08:54):
survival let alone keeping the arm. But obviously spoiler they did.
They were able to save both my arm and me,
but there were changes I had. In fact, had to
have a muscle removed from my left thigh because the
(09:17):
wound that was left a hole that was left from
the fan, was so large they couldn't close my leg naturally.
So they installed knobs on either side of the wound,
and then a shoestrink con chaption called Jacob's ladder on
the inside of the wound, so they can tighten the
(09:38):
knobs and the wound over time. And then they also
had all these areas that were exposed because of the
debreavement of the infected skin and tissue, so they had
to take skin graft samplings from my my thighs, in
(10:01):
my back, and eventually, over the course of a few weeks,
they would put those skin graft harvested or you know,
those samplings on my exposed areas. And so I I,
like I said before, I had fifteen surgeries. Some of
those were during my five day coma, some of those
(10:23):
were after, like in the next couple of weeks. But
while my life was saved and my body was altered
and the and the bacteria, the flesh eating bacteria, was gone,
I started feeling what I call personal bacteria seep into
(10:48):
my mind, those were questions about what was my life
going to be like?
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Now?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
For example, what was I going to be able to
do physically if I, you know, when I healed fully,
if I feeled if I healed fully. What was my
mindset going to be like when dealing with struggles, when
talking with Becky, the kids, our family members and friends, colleagues, neighbors, strangers,
(11:22):
how was I going to handle everyday life? And then
how were we going to bounce back from this financially?
As it turned out, I missed an entire quarter of
the school year, the last quarter of the school year
because of my hospitalization. I had all these questions in
(11:47):
my head and I had no answers. This set me
down a spiral because, like I said, I had no answers,
and if I don't have any answers, I can't find
the solution and I can't fix it. And while the
(12:07):
doctors healed my body, my mind is a whole different playground.
But thankfully I didn't have a lot of time to
ruminate on those questions, and that bacteria did not have
a lot of time to fester in there, because during
one of her daily visits, Becky started telling me about
(12:29):
all the things that our families and friends and neighbors
were doing for us. For example, our neighbors were shoveling
our snow our walkways and snow blowing our driveways. You know,
this happened in late March early April of twenty fifteen,
so while it's technically spring on the calendar, it's basically
(12:53):
win a round two. In Minnesota, we had family, we
had friends, and the police department watching over the house
because when you live in a small town, the phrase
flesh eating bacteria spreads almost as quickly as the bacteria itself,
so everyone knew what was going on. In Rochester, people
(13:19):
were stopping by my in laws house to drop off
food and toys and even play with the kids. My brother,
who lives in Michigan, he flew out the second Becky
told him what I was dealing with, and spent the
next week and a half in Rochester, sometimes sleeping in
(13:40):
the hotel so he could get the latest updates on
my condition. A friend of Becky's from high school even
started a GoFundMe account that raised well over enough money
to offset my lost wages that were incurred for my hospitalization.
(14:01):
Becky told me all of these things that people are
doing for us, and I felt that personal bacteria wash away,
and what was left is what I now call the
attitude of gratitude or TAG for sure. And it started
(14:22):
with three questions. The first question was what good things
did I have in my life? Now, Kelly, I'm gonna
ask you when I ask you that question, what good
things do you have in your life? How do you respond?
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I mean, in my brain it goes right to my
family and the things that I'm blessed with.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
So yeah, yeah, exactly. You know, I call them the
big things our family, our friends, our jobs, our home,
you know, other big things that impact our lives in
a grand way. And I thought of that certainly. But
then I started thinking about what about those seemingly insignificant
(15:08):
parts of our lives that actually bring us those daily
jolts of joy? So I thought of the the show
Daredevil on Netflix that had just dropped when I was
in the hospital, and Jeff along, you know, besides flying
in from Michigan and staying with us, he also bought
(15:30):
me an iPad. So I quickly downloaded Netflix and I
started binge watching that show. And while it's a fantastic show.
I mean, I have the Vinta Turtles in Deadpool behind me,
so you know I'm a geek. But that show was
so much more to me because it offered me a
true escape for my own struggles. And then I thought
(15:53):
about how the nurses station was right outside my door
because if I needed any thing, they were literally two
steps away. And then I thought about the hospital pizza. Now, Kelly,
what is your experience with hospital food?
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Not the greatest?
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Yeah, yeah, and that's what people usually say. The pizza
at Saint Mary's was phenomenal. I just remember it being fantastic.
Maybe that was because I hadn't had pizza in the
month when I finally had some, But that's always a
(16:34):
positive memory for me, and it's something that people may
not think about, but it's something that helped carry me
through the day. And so I started doing that even
after my hospitalization. And I'm looking around, I'm saying, Okay,
what do I have in my life that I am
(16:56):
thankful for that either helps me brings me joy or
I'm just happy to have it. Like, for example, I
look up here and I have this question mark box.
You may recognize that if you ever played at Super
Mario Brothers. Yeah, yeah, I got it from the from
Minnesota's largest candy store, and I mean, I'm never gonna
(17:19):
open it. I don't really like this kind of candy,
but I just like it because it's so cool and geeky,
and you know, I love I've always loved Super Mario
Brothers games. You know. I think about door hinges. Door
hinges are a magnificent invention that we take for granted.
But they help us walk through walls. They help invite us,
(17:40):
invite others in, they help keep others out. They were
just a wonderful creation that helps us do our jobs
every day. And then I think about my right arm pit.
My right arm pit, Kelly is covered in skin grafts.
Skin grafts you may not know, a non porous, which
(18:03):
means they don't sweat. I have not had to use
Yodurant on my right armpit for almost eight years. Do
you know how much money you saved by only using
Yoda on one armpit? Not a lot, And that's okay,
(18:24):
But it's just the fact that I can say that,
I get I'd get a kick out of that. And
once in a while I'll catch myself doing this that's silly,
but it's something that I enjoy and it's something that
I appreciate. And so I ask people what is something
(18:44):
or what are a few things that you can pick
out right now? Don't even think about it that you
are thankful for, and just point at him and think
of a reason, like I am thankful for that stapler
because it helps keep papers together. I am thankful for
that speaker because I get to hear you on it.
And it's also shaped like the Millennium falcon, so that's
also really cool. I'm thankful for my duct tape covered mouse,
(19:11):
which I've had for a while. It's beaten up and
it's been held together by a foreign object. It's pretty
symbolic of me. Actually, it's beaten up but still does
the job. And so the more we can look at
things around us and find value in those objects, the
more we realize that we are already rich, no matter
(19:35):
what our bank accounts say. And so that was the
first step towards me developing a greater sense of gratitude
is understanding how much I already have to be grateful for.
And then second question I asked was, well, I know
now what I'm thankful for. But now who am I
(19:58):
thankful for? And again, when I asked that question, people
usually respond family and friends. Yeah, and that's how I did.
But then I thought about the people around me that
maybe I didn't interact with that much. For example, not
only did my brother fly in from Michigan to visit
(20:19):
me for visit us for a week and a half
and help out, but my best friend from college, Dave,
and his wife Beth flew in from Montana for a weekend.
My in laws, certainly Bill and de Bill actually was
a chaplain in the hospital, so not only did he
(20:40):
see me on a personal basis, but he visited me
on a professional level three days a week in the mornings,
and he also brought me lunch. He brought me subway,
which was really a blessing, you know, because I like subway.
And then my mom would visit me. We would play
scrabble on the iPad and that was fun for us
(21:03):
to connect that way. And then, of course the nurses.
Not only are these nurses, you know, top notch they
work at the mail clinic, but some of them actually
became good friends of mine for the time I was there.
I have a quick story to share about that when
(21:23):
you were in the hospital for a long time, and
you may have seen this, Kelly. They sometimes put a
poster on the wall called the getting to know You poster.
You know, you have questions, you know, based on the
patient's interests, and one question was favorite movie. Now, Kelly
already told you, I'm a huge geek. I have comic
(21:45):
book heroes on my wall. I quoted money Python, I
have a wedding ring that has I know, written in
arabsh the Star Wars language. Unless I could see it
real well, there there you go. All right, I am
a huge geek, so you could probably imagine what I
(22:09):
put as my favorite movie. That's right, Blazing Saddles. I
thought of what movie could I watch over and over
again and not get tired of it? Well, that's the one,
so that I had them right Blazing Saddles on the poster. Well,
one Monday morning, the head nurse, Chris, she practically runs
(22:33):
into my hospital room. She's all excited for some reason,
and she said, Chris, I was at a groage sale
this past weekend and I saw this and I thought
of you, and here it is. She bought me a
DVD copy of Blazing Saddles. I am just a part
(22:55):
of her job. I am an item on her to
do list. But the fact that she not only recognized
that movie as my favorite movie out of the hundreds
or thousands of things she has to read every day,
but she even went out and bought it for me
and then just makes that copy of Blazing Saddles one
(23:19):
of my prize possessions, not because of the market value,
but because of the love and friendship in which it
was given and so being able to see someone not
for you know, yes, I value Chris for how she
(23:42):
impacted my life with that simple gift, but the fact
that she was able to pick that detail of my
life in a place that had nothing to do with
her job is a skill that I greatly appreciate about her.
(24:03):
And I have a small skill to teach your teach
you and your listeners right now, Kelly, if you wouldn't mind,
I call it the triple A. And it actively augments
your appreciation of someone else. See triple A. And so first,
(24:23):
what you need to do is you need to think
of someone in your in a social circle that you
both share, and then take them out of that circle momentarily.
Then you look at that person and as many positive
ways as possible. How does this person affect the world
(24:44):
around them without any connection to you? And then finally
you put that person back into that social circle, and
then you just sit back and think about how lucky
you are that you share a connection with this fantastic person.
(25:04):
I like to use my wife, Becky as an example. Yes,
she's my wife, my partner, my best friend. Well, then
I take her out of that social circle that we share,
and I see that she is a wonderful mother, a
loving daughter and sister, a brilliant teacher, a great musician,
(25:27):
a talented athlete, a big as big of a geek
as I am, though she'll you know, she hides it
a lot better than I do. She is a benefit
to the community as a whole. I put her back
into that social circle and she is still all of
(25:48):
those things. But on top of those things, she's also
my wife, my partner, my best friend. To boot how
lucky am I? And we we don't have to do
this with only with our families and friends. We can
do this with people we know, we barely know, acquaintances, strangers,
(26:10):
maybe even people we may not get along with very well.
And it's I think it's especially important to do with
do this activity with people that we may not agree
with or we may not even get along with, because
if we can see them past our own view, in
our own history, and we see, wow, you know this
(26:34):
person and I may not see how to eye, but
they love their family, They're good at some parts of
their job. Maybe I don't agree with some parts of
their job, but other parts of their job, they're really good.
And you want they pay their taxes, they you know,
they're upstanding citizens in many ways, you know what. I
can respect this person more for how they make the
(26:55):
world around them a better place, and maybe it would
make a stronger connection between us two. Maybe not, but
at least I could find a way to be more
friendly with this person. We don't have to be friends
with everyone, but we can be friendly with everyone, and
(27:16):
I think that goes a long way towards developing a
stronger community if we just do that. Yeah, And then
I thought about that last question. What could I do
to give others a reason to be grateful? You know?
(27:37):
After I thought about what was I was thankful for
and who do I appreciate? I thought about that last question.
How could I give back. How can I give others
a reason to be grateful? In the hospital, I was
busy recovering. That was my job get better. But it
(27:58):
was when I was is discharged that I could really
take steps. I could literally in some cases. For example,
when I started running again, I started picking up trash
on the road or on the sidewalk or in other
people's yards as long as long as they get to trespassing.
(28:18):
People don't like that for some reason. I also started
mowing the lawns my neighbors or snowblowing their driveways or
walkways if there, if they were gone. And then there's
a classic opening doors for people. We often overlook how
powerful that is because when you think about it, you
(28:41):
become a human doorstop. You are stopping everything you are
doing to let someone else go in front of you.
And for some people that might be the first time
they felt seen all day. And if we as humans
want one thing, it's to be recognized, to be seen,
(29:07):
and holding a door for someone is a great way
to do that that costs zero moneies, just a couple
of seconds of your time. And one example I love
is I'm not sure if you could see the picture
back there. That picture is of me meeting weird Al Yankovic.
(29:30):
Now I don't know your experience with weird Al Yankovic, Kelly,
do you know any of the songs? Yes? Okay, Well,
I hold him in great esteem. He is one of
the greatest musicians of our time, and I am not
speaking hyperbolically about that. He is wonderful, better in better
live than you know in his albums. Well, I had
(29:54):
a chance to meet him in person. So we go
through these this big long line and I get up
to my turn to get a picture with him, and
he says, well, okay, what are we doing? And I said,
I want you to hug me like you're happy to
see me. So he does. He does a big old
bear hug, and I do my best to not freak
(30:16):
out with giddiness. I try to pull off a look
and you know, I have a hold up for you
here you can see I'm doing my best. Just enthralled,
and even writes down there to Chris, thanks so much
for meeting me. Were it out? You know, one of
(30:39):
my favorite pictures of all the time. So we get
the picture taken and then we get in another line
to go and get it signed and talk. And this
is where the magic really happens, because I am one
of hundreds of people waiting to talk to him. I
(31:00):
walk up to the table he's sitting down, and for
three minutes I have his undivided attention. He is listening
to me, he's asking me questions, and I'm talking with him.
It's as if I was the only person in the room.
(31:22):
And I know that sounds cliche, but that is how
I felt. He wasn't looking at his watch, he wasn't
checking the line, he wasn't getting you know, asking an
you know, assistant for something. It was just me and him.
And as much as I love this picture, that interaction
(31:43):
with him means so much more to me because of
the time and undivided attention he gave me. And if
we could give that to someone every day who knows
how it can impact them, and then cost any money
to do that, but it means the world to me.
(32:07):
And so, you know, if we can, you know, keep
our thoughts about what we already have and value what
we have in our possessions, if we can appreciate those
around us for how they impact the world, and if
we can and give others a reason to be grateful
(32:28):
and no matter how much it costs, we can make
the world a better place. And as I like to say,
we can become superheroes in our own communities.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
I love that, and I love thank you for sharing
your story and your experience. There's so much goodness in
there that like my head is like, oh my gosh.
But some of the things that really stood out to me,
and oftentimes what I talk about too, is the attitude.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Right.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
It can be something really super simple, even having a
toothbrush to brush your teeth, or having a roof over
your head, or maybe it's like having the faucet, having
water in your faucet, being able to get water out
of your fridge, or those little silly things that we
don't think. I liked your the knobs, right. It's not
(33:24):
something you think about, like going in and out of
a door. It's not something you think about, but it's
definitely something I'm grateful for to be able to go
in and out and be able to lock it or
open it or welcome people. And so I love that
you pointed on those small, small things that we can
be grateful for, other than the big things that often
(33:44):
come into our minds. And then also just shifting your
your mindset of taking that person and taking them out
of the circle, thinking about all the things that they
are good at or that you've noticed, or all of
the things that make them who they are, and then
putting them back into that circle. But then also reframing
(34:07):
or shifting this perspective of somebody that maybe you don't
get along with or you don't like. I think that
was really important too, because we don't have to always
like everybody. We also don't have to agree with everything
that people do, but we can, and I think that
would be huge to even change society as a whole.
(34:29):
Is how can we look at this person in a
different light verse maybe the hatred or the dislike that
we have towards them, How can we look at them
in a different light light and then also put them
back I guess where they were in our minds. They
want to live right, Yeah, But I love I Also,
(34:52):
I'm total dork too. I have like all my little
toys that sit on my Like baby Yoda is a
nice yeah yeah, the bop it version and it's pretty fun.
So I have like all my toys. I actually have
a whole shelf that's up above these shelfs that is
full of toys just because they make me happy. There
(35:14):
are things that I'm grateful for and things that I
can look at any moment in time, whether it's a
stressful day or I'm whatever is going on, right, I
can look at them and they make me really happy.
And I think that's really important to have those small things.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
So, yeah, it's funny you say that, because on my
left I have about a dozen transformers. I mean, again,
huge geek. I started collecting transformers again now that they're
like better made than they were previously. They're more posable
and stuff. And and then for some reason I started
(35:50):
collecting rubber ducks. Okay, I don't know why, but my
son and I were going through a couple of boxes.
I realized, wow, I have you dozen rubber ducks. I mean,
have Batman rubber ducks, the Flash rubber ducks. I think,
how the entire village people of rubber ducks, and I
(36:11):
live in you all, so of course we have rubber
ducks and later hosen, but it's just funny how how
many of them I have acquired. And so yeah, I
started collecting rubber ducks accidentally, But you're right, It's like,
how funny is that such an that's such a Bob
Ross moment, such a happy accident that that happened. And
I really appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Yeah, yeah, and it's so important. I mean, just to
have that, like you said, the attitude of gratitude and
you never know like how well you do not that
you never know, but it helps you shift from those
like negative things that are happening into the positive. And
I love that. I mean, although this was a huge
(36:54):
part of your life that happened, you really look at
it more in the lens of what am I grateful
for and what are the things that made me who
I am today? And you're able to share that with
everybody and anybody that listens.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
So yes, yes, And it's something I want to point
out really quick, Kelly, is that not only did it
increase my gratitude and my positivity, but it also increased
my resilience because once I realized how much positivity I
had in my life and so I had so much
to be thankful for that I started pushing the envelope.
(37:30):
In fact, I remember asking my doctor after my first discharge,
my post did so what are my limits with this
new body and he said, Chris, you're the first marathon
runner that's ever contracted next NF that we know, so
you tell us. So I took that as a green light.
(37:55):
And as of today, I've earned four life time personal
running records in the five k, the ten k, the
half marathon, and the ten mile. I've earned my first
three black belt in Taekwon do in factor is my
certificate right there. I earned that last year and I'm
currently training to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I'm running
(38:19):
a marathon actually in Rochester City, the city that basically
saved my life on May thirteenth. And I like to
tell that to people now as a and as a
bragging point, but to illustrate that your life is what
you make it. And yes, you can go and and
(38:43):
and play the you know the songs. Oh I will
had to go through all this tough stuff. Or you
can turn that on its head and say, you know what, Yeah,
and I've tried to take me out it lost, so
let's see what else I can do. And I think
by doing that, it's you're showing grateful and that you're
(39:06):
showing gratitude towards your survival and you're I hope I
am inspiring others to do great things because that's what
has inspired me was those people who helped me out.
I wanted to show them my gratitude by showing them
what I can do with this second chance. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Absolutely, And I think it's just really important to be
able to share your story as you are now speaking
and going on podcasts and telling everybody your story, because
your mind is very powerful, and it's very powerful for
the positive, it can also be very powerful for the negative.
So being aware of your thoughts and your thought process,
(39:50):
and like you were saying, is that you could have
very easily gone down the road of allowing your mind
to take over because you're in the hospital. It's not
going the way that you thought it was. You have
all these skin grafts and all these things happening to
your body that you don't know what's gonna happen. But
you chose to look at the positives and listen to
(40:14):
your wife and hear the stories and now even translate
it into positive positivity and bringing that to so many others.
So that is just really really incredible.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Thank you. I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
So, if anybody wants to follow your story, how can
they do that?
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Well, Kelly, I like to think of myself as a
simple guy, so I like to keep it simple. Chris
DT Gordon, that's all you have to do. Chrisdtgordon dot
com is my website at Chris dt Gordon is my
Instagram handle. You can find me on Facebook at Chris
dt Gordon and I'm also on LinkedIn on the same name,
(41:01):
and you can go to YouTube and find the Chris
dt Gordon channel where I post my Scarbearers podcast episodes.
They're also available on Apple Podcasts, where you you know,
cast your pods, and yeah, I have other videos on
(41:21):
there as well, but yes, Chris DT Gordon. And it's
really funny because when I started my speaking venture, I
was thinking, well, how are people going to find me?
There are lots of Chris Gordon's out there, but I
was I was listening to a podcast called The Speaker
Lab and there is a gentleman who used his middle
(41:43):
initial his middle name. Well, I have two of those,
why not use both of them? So that's why I
have the DT in there. I like to say, I
like to say a stance for darn terrific, but actually, actually,
Daniel Thomas.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
I was gonna ask because there's the way website, so
if you want to. And I was gonna ask because
I actually had have a friend named Chris Gordon, and
when you had originally signed up, I was like, no,
that's not the same not the same one. But yeah,
So Chris's website is right below here, so if you
(42:18):
want to find him, go yep, somewhere over here, go
to his website. And I love that you added in
your middle initials. To add those, and that's what I mean.
I go by my first and my middle name now
for my professional name because I just got married in July,
(42:40):
and it's confusing what you go by these days. So
thank you, thank you. Yeah, I'm like trying to figure
out what is my name? I don't know what my
name is anymore, but you know, figure that out. But
I really appreciate you coming on and sharing your story,
and I know you gave some really amazing tools and
tips and tricks of people to really be able to
(43:02):
hone in on that resiliency, the positivity and the gratitude.
Is there anything last that you want to share?
Speaker 2 (43:13):
Yes? I do real quick, Kelly, pass on perfection and
go for greatness. We are inundated with pictures and facets
of perfection on billboards, in ads, on YouTube, or on TV.
But if you think about it, those visages are snapshots
(43:37):
at best. They don't last long. Even the perfect game
that's pitched in baseball, no one goes and pitches another
perfect game three days later. All right, it is fleeting. However,
if you focus on pursuing your passions and your goals
(43:59):
with consistency, diligence, and perseverance, once in a while you
might reach perfection, but you will always be great.
Speaker 1 (44:13):
Love it awesome? Well, thank you so much. I appreciate
you being my guest today.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
Well, thank you Kelly again. I greatly appreciate the time
to talk with you and to share with your audience.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
Yeah, awesome, right, y'all. That was another amazing episode of
Mental Health Mondays where we talk to guests who are
either professionals in the mental health space, advocates of mental health,
or those that live with or experience a mental health challenge.
And like Chris just said, it's not about perfection. I know,
(44:46):
I say that all the time. Really just getting the
information out and we can have that attitude of gratitude
and really focus on those small things. It doesn't have
to be jy no ormous things, but you can focus
on those two. That's the best part of it. As
a reminder, match down that button. If you're watching this
(45:08):
on YouTube, make sure you follow us. And if you
feel like this information would be valuable for anybody else,
please make sure you share it. And lastly, as a reminder,
BCC Evolution is a five oh one C three nonprofit
and to bring all of our education and this programming
to you, we need your help and we've been talking
(45:29):
about it for a while now. But again, you can
text climb for Mind to four four three two one,
and that goes to support mental health and suicide prevention education.
But it also goes to help support me in doing
the twenty nine to twenty nine Ever Resting Challenge coming
(45:52):
up this August, doing thirty miles up a mountain over
thirty six hours, the biggest challenge I've ever done in
my lifetime. Along with my friend Philip, we will be
climbing the mountain thirteen times and it will be mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually,
(46:12):
all those things wrapped into one, but all of it
it goes to the name of mental health and suicide
prevention and prevention education. And as a reminder, if you
donate one hundred dollars or more, you get the chance
to put the name of a loved one or somebody
who might have died by suicide or somebody that has
(46:35):
struggled with a mental health challenge on the front of
our shirts with a donation of one thousand dollars or more,
And if you're a company, you get to put your
logo on the back of our shirts. So keep that
in mind. There's lots more perks that go into it too,
even with your donation, and we just recently added with
a five thousand dollars donation or more, you actually get
(46:55):
a trip to Mexico. We partnered with a really amazing
company that is giving us Mexico trips for any five
thousand dollars donation or more. So I mean, come on, win, win,
and it goes to support mental health and suicide prevention education.
So don't forget come back next week because we have
another amazing episode of mental health Mondays. Have a great night.
Welcome to another episode of Mental Health Mondays, where we
talk to guests who are either mental health professionals, advocates
for mental health, or those that live with or experience
a mental health challenge. And just as a reminder, if
you're watching this on YouTube, make sure you mash down
that button that so that you can subscribe and you
(00:48):
don't miss another episode. Or if you're watching this on
Facebook or LinkedIn, make sure you're following us. Most likely
you're already following us, but if you're not, make sure
you follow us. And if you feel any of this
information as we talk today would be helpful for somebody else,
make sure you share it. That's what we're here all about,
is giving resources to those that need it the most. So,
(01:12):
without further ado, I am going to bring up my
guests for today. Chris, thank you so much for joining.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Me, cal Pleasure, thank you for inviting me. I'm really
excited to talk with you today.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yeah. Absolutely, Well, tell the audience a little bit about yourself, certainly.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Well. I live in New Olm, Minnesota, with my wife,
Becky and our three kids. We've been we've been a
family since two thousand and five when Becky Becky made
me the luckiest guy in the world. Our kids are thirteen.
I have a thirteen year old boy and ten year
old twins, boy and girl. We are Becky and I
(01:55):
are both teachers. She teaches in the public school here
in New All. I teach online. I've been teaching since
online since twenty twelve, so I even predate the pandemic.
So it is possible to teach online. I've been doing
it for eleven years and so it works pretty well.
(02:17):
But the reason why I'm here today is because I
may to survive a type of flesh eating bacteria called
neckritizing faciitis, and through that experience, I developed what I
call the attitude of gratitude, and I have become a
professional speaker and co author, and I talk with groups
(02:41):
about how they can increase their gratitude, positivity, and resilience
in three easy steps and make themselves superheroes in their
own communities. For lack of a better.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Term, Wow, that's awesome. Well, thank you for sharing and
all of that. And what do you what do you
teach like a specific grade or what do you teach online?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
I am a special education teacher with licenses in learning
disabilities and autism spectrum disorder. So I work with grades
six through eighth and I have a math class I
push into other teachers classes, but I also teach social skills,
(03:31):
executive functioning skills, just trying to help our future leaders
be the best leaders they can be.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Awesome. That's amazing. And yeah, I love that you said
pre pandemic you were, you were teaching before it was
like a thing to be able to teach online. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah, you know people think that, oh, it's just like
you just you know, you get online, you get on
zoom and you just do your lesson. It's a lot
more involved in that. There's a lot, a lot of
salesmanship that goes into teaching online. That actually has helped
me in my speaking adventures because a lot of my
(04:14):
adventures are virtual. So whereas some speakers will have started
out speaking and they maybe have spoken once online, I've
been doing since twenty twelve. So I'm a little ahead
of the curve there.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, definitely, I know that even when my son, I
have a seven year old and they ended up sending
them home in twenty twenty, and that was, I mean
a very unique experience as a parent to have him
here while I was trying to work and then trying
to help him. I know, the teachers tried as much
as they could, but it was new to them also,
(04:52):
So yeah, that's definitely an adventure. Yes, yes, indeed, so
you had this flush eat bacteria. You said, right, it
froze a midget when you were talking about that. But
what ended up happening as far as all of I mean,
obviously you're here with us today. So what happened specifically.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Well, it was the most remarkable thing, Kelly. I scratched
my hand in my garage wall. I know, shocking, what
was I thinking doing such a thing, but it happened.
I scratched my hand as I was helping Becky get
the kids into the van as she drove them to
(05:37):
preschool and school. And I looked at it and it
wasn't bleeding. I quoted My Fate, one of my favorite
movies of all time, and said, 'tis been a scratch?
And then finish my duty, put them in, you know,
put them into the car, sea kissed them, agabye, went
back into the house, washed off my hand, put a
(05:58):
bandage on it, and it started my day teaching. No
big deal. Three days later, though, I wake up and
I see a lacrosse ball sized bump on my right elbow.
I go to the urgent care clinic. The doctor says
it might have been bresidis. I might have been flamed
the burst of sac in the elbow which caused it
(06:19):
to develop that bump, and he just suggested I keep
an eye on it. So I did, and I kept
an eye on it. As the bump grew and grew
and grew, until my right arm was three times the
size of my left. I looked like the Incredible Hulk
(06:41):
a mid transformation. It was. It was comical, I thought,
but also very jarring and disturbing. So we of course
went to the emergency room. They admitted me, kept me overnight,
and then that doctor told me something I will never forget. Kelly.
(07:02):
She said, mister Gordon, this is beyond us. We can
do nothing more for you. Here. Where do you want
to go? Well? I live in Minnesota. Rochester is two
hours to the east. Rochester is the home of the
(07:24):
Mayo Clinic, So I say Mayo. And not only does
it is Rochester the home of Mayo, it's also the
home to Bill and Dee, my wife's parents. So I
knew that she, the kids, and Max the dog would
have a place to stay for the I was sure
a few days this would take to resolve itself. I mean,
(07:46):
you know, me, being a special education teacher with my
vast medical knowledge, knew exactly how long this would take.
So they load me onto the plane, fly me to
Rochester and it's there that they officially agnose me with
necrotizing fasciitis. As soon as they know what they're dealing with,
they get me into my first of fifteen surgeries, and
(08:12):
the next thing I know, it's five days later I
have I was told that skin off my right arm, shoulder, chest,
and back was removed. A piece of my thigh had
been taken from its piece of my left thigh had
been taken and placed on my right hand and arm.
(08:32):
Since this is my arm, my thigh on my hand,
I call this my fand copyright pending. Because the infection
had gotten so far into the arm that I almost
lost my arm, and in fact, at that point doctors
told me that I had a thirty percent chance of
(08:54):
survival let alone keeping the arm. But obviously spoiler they did.
They were able to save both my arm and me,
but there were changes I had. In fact, had to
have a muscle removed from my left thigh because the
(09:17):
wound that was left a hole that was left from
the fan, was so large they couldn't close my leg naturally.
So they installed knobs on either side of the wound,
and then a shoestrink con chaption called Jacob's ladder on
the inside of the wound, so they can tighten the
(09:38):
knobs and the wound over time. And then they also
had all these areas that were exposed because of the
debreavement of the infected skin and tissue, so they had
to take skin graft samplings from my my thighs, in
(10:01):
my back, and eventually, over the course of a few weeks,
they would put those skin graft harvested or you know,
those samplings on my exposed areas. And so I I,
like I said before, I had fifteen surgeries. Some of
those were during my five day coma, some of those
(10:23):
were after, like in the next couple of weeks. But
while my life was saved and my body was altered
and the and the bacteria, the flesh eating bacteria, was gone,
I started feeling what I call personal bacteria seep into
(10:48):
my mind, those were questions about what was my life
going to be like?
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Now?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
For example, what was I going to be able to
do physically if I, you know, when I healed fully,
if I feeled if I healed fully. What was my
mindset going to be like when dealing with struggles, when
talking with Becky, the kids, our family members and friends, colleagues, neighbors, strangers,
(11:22):
how was I going to handle everyday life? And then
how were we going to bounce back from this financially?
As it turned out, I missed an entire quarter of
the school year, the last quarter of the school year
because of my hospitalization. I had all these questions in
(11:47):
my head and I had no answers. This set me
down a spiral because, like I said, I had no answers,
and if I don't have any answers, I can't find
the solution and I can't fix it. And while the
(12:07):
doctors healed my body, my mind is a whole different playground.
But thankfully I didn't have a lot of time to
ruminate on those questions, and that bacteria did not have
a lot of time to fester in there, because during
one of her daily visits, Becky started telling me about
(12:29):
all the things that our families and friends and neighbors
were doing for us. For example, our neighbors were shoveling
our snow our walkways and snow blowing our driveways. You know,
this happened in late March early April of twenty fifteen,
so while it's technically spring on the calendar, it's basically
(12:53):
win a round two. In Minnesota, we had family, we
had friends, and the police department watching over the house
because when you live in a small town, the phrase
flesh eating bacteria spreads almost as quickly as the bacteria itself,
so everyone knew what was going on. In Rochester, people
(13:19):
were stopping by my in laws house to drop off
food and toys and even play with the kids. My brother,
who lives in Michigan, he flew out the second Becky
told him what I was dealing with, and spent the
next week and a half in Rochester, sometimes sleeping in
(13:40):
the hotel so he could get the latest updates on
my condition. A friend of Becky's from high school even
started a GoFundMe account that raised well over enough money
to offset my lost wages that were incurred for my hospitalization.
(14:01):
Becky told me all of these things that people are
doing for us, and I felt that personal bacteria wash away,
and what was left is what I now call the
attitude of gratitude or TAG for sure. And it started
(14:22):
with three questions. The first question was what good things
did I have in my life? Now, Kelly, I'm gonna
ask you when I ask you that question, what good
things do you have in your life? How do you respond?
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I mean, in my brain it goes right to my
family and the things that I'm blessed with.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
So yeah, yeah, exactly. You know, I call them the
big things our family, our friends, our jobs, our home,
you know, other big things that impact our lives in
a grand way. And I thought of that certainly. But
then I started thinking about what about those seemingly insignificant
(15:08):
parts of our lives that actually bring us those daily
jolts of joy? So I thought of the the show
Daredevil on Netflix that had just dropped when I was
in the hospital, and Jeff along, you know, besides flying
in from Michigan and staying with us, he also bought
(15:30):
me an iPad. So I quickly downloaded Netflix and I
started binge watching that show. And while it's a fantastic show.
I mean, I have the Vinta Turtles in Deadpool behind me,
so you know I'm a geek. But that show was
so much more to me because it offered me a
true escape for my own struggles. And then I thought
(15:53):
about how the nurses station was right outside my door
because if I needed any thing, they were literally two
steps away. And then I thought about the hospital pizza. Now, Kelly,
what is your experience with hospital food?
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Not the greatest?
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Yeah, yeah, and that's what people usually say. The pizza
at Saint Mary's was phenomenal. I just remember it being fantastic.
Maybe that was because I hadn't had pizza in the
month when I finally had some, But that's always a
(16:34):
positive memory for me, and it's something that people may
not think about, but it's something that helped carry me
through the day. And so I started doing that even
after my hospitalization. And I'm looking around, I'm saying, Okay,
what do I have in my life that I am
(16:56):
thankful for that either helps me brings me joy or
I'm just happy to have it. Like, for example, I
look up here and I have this question mark box.
You may recognize that if you ever played at Super
Mario Brothers. Yeah, yeah, I got it from the from
Minnesota's largest candy store, and I mean, I'm never gonna
(17:19):
open it. I don't really like this kind of candy,
but I just like it because it's so cool and geeky,
and you know, I love I've always loved Super Mario
Brothers games. You know. I think about door hinges. Door
hinges are a magnificent invention that we take for granted.
But they help us walk through walls. They help invite us,
(17:40):
invite others in, they help keep others out. They were
just a wonderful creation that helps us do our jobs
every day. And then I think about my right arm pit.
My right arm pit, Kelly is covered in skin grafts.
Skin grafts you may not know, a non porous, which
(18:03):
means they don't sweat. I have not had to use
Yodurant on my right armpit for almost eight years. Do
you know how much money you saved by only using
Yoda on one armpit? Not a lot, And that's okay,
(18:24):
But it's just the fact that I can say that,
I get I'd get a kick out of that. And
once in a while I'll catch myself doing this that's silly,
but it's something that I enjoy and it's something that
I appreciate. And so I ask people what is something
(18:44):
or what are a few things that you can pick
out right now? Don't even think about it that you
are thankful for, and just point at him and think
of a reason, like I am thankful for that stapler
because it helps keep papers together. I am thankful for
that speaker because I get to hear you on it.
And it's also shaped like the Millennium falcon, so that's
also really cool. I'm thankful for my duct tape covered mouse,
(19:11):
which I've had for a while. It's beaten up and
it's been held together by a foreign object. It's pretty
symbolic of me. Actually, it's beaten up but still does
the job. And so the more we can look at
things around us and find value in those objects, the
more we realize that we are already rich, no matter
(19:35):
what our bank accounts say. And so that was the
first step towards me developing a greater sense of gratitude
is understanding how much I already have to be grateful for.
And then second question I asked was, well, I know
now what I'm thankful for. But now who am I
(19:58):
thankful for? And again, when I asked that question, people
usually respond family and friends. Yeah, and that's how I did.
But then I thought about the people around me that
maybe I didn't interact with that much. For example, not
only did my brother fly in from Michigan to visit
(20:19):
me for visit us for a week and a half
and help out, but my best friend from college, Dave,
and his wife Beth flew in from Montana for a weekend.
My in laws, certainly Bill and de Bill actually was
a chaplain in the hospital, so not only did he
(20:40):
see me on a personal basis, but he visited me
on a professional level three days a week in the mornings,
and he also brought me lunch. He brought me subway,
which was really a blessing, you know, because I like subway.
And then my mom would visit me. We would play
scrabble on the iPad and that was fun for us
(21:03):
to connect that way. And then, of course the nurses.
Not only are these nurses, you know, top notch they
work at the mail clinic, but some of them actually
became good friends of mine for the time I was there.
I have a quick story to share about that when
(21:23):
you were in the hospital for a long time, and
you may have seen this, Kelly. They sometimes put a
poster on the wall called the getting to know You poster.
You know, you have questions, you know, based on the
patient's interests, and one question was favorite movie. Now, Kelly
already told you, I'm a huge geek. I have comic
(21:45):
book heroes on my wall. I quoted money Python, I
have a wedding ring that has I know, written in
arabsh the Star Wars language. Unless I could see it
real well, there there you go. All right, I am
a huge geek, so you could probably imagine what I
(22:09):
put as my favorite movie. That's right, Blazing Saddles. I
thought of what movie could I watch over and over
again and not get tired of it? Well, that's the one,
so that I had them right Blazing Saddles on the poster. Well,
one Monday morning, the head nurse, Chris, she practically runs
(22:33):
into my hospital room. She's all excited for some reason,
and she said, Chris, I was at a groage sale
this past weekend and I saw this and I thought
of you, and here it is. She bought me a
DVD copy of Blazing Saddles. I am just a part
(22:55):
of her job. I am an item on her to
do list. But the fact that she not only recognized
that movie as my favorite movie out of the hundreds
or thousands of things she has to read every day,
but she even went out and bought it for me
and then just makes that copy of Blazing Saddles one
(23:19):
of my prize possessions, not because of the market value,
but because of the love and friendship in which it
was given and so being able to see someone not
for you know, yes, I value Chris for how she
(23:42):
impacted my life with that simple gift, but the fact
that she was able to pick that detail of my
life in a place that had nothing to do with
her job is a skill that I greatly appreciate about her.
(24:03):
And I have a small skill to teach your teach
you and your listeners right now, Kelly, if you wouldn't mind,
I call it the triple A. And it actively augments
your appreciation of someone else. See triple A. And so first,
(24:23):
what you need to do is you need to think
of someone in your in a social circle that you
both share, and then take them out of that circle momentarily.
Then you look at that person and as many positive
ways as possible. How does this person affect the world
(24:44):
around them without any connection to you? And then finally
you put that person back into that social circle, and
then you just sit back and think about how lucky
you are that you share a connection with this fantastic person.
(25:04):
I like to use my wife, Becky as an example. Yes,
she's my wife, my partner, my best friend. Well, then
I take her out of that social circle that we share,
and I see that she is a wonderful mother, a
loving daughter and sister, a brilliant teacher, a great musician,
(25:27):
a talented athlete, a big as big of a geek
as I am, though she'll you know, she hides it
a lot better than I do. She is a benefit
to the community as a whole. I put her back
into that social circle and she is still all of
(25:48):
those things. But on top of those things, she's also
my wife, my partner, my best friend. To boot how
lucky am I? And we we don't have to do
this with only with our families and friends. We can
do this with people we know, we barely know, acquaintances, strangers,
(26:10):
maybe even people we may not get along with very well.
And it's I think it's especially important to do with
do this activity with people that we may not agree
with or we may not even get along with, because
if we can see them past our own view, in
our own history, and we see, wow, you know this
(26:34):
person and I may not see how to eye, but
they love their family, They're good at some parts of
their job. Maybe I don't agree with some parts of
their job, but other parts of their job, they're really good.
And you want they pay their taxes, they you know,
they're upstanding citizens in many ways, you know what. I
can respect this person more for how they make the
(26:55):
world around them a better place, and maybe it would
make a stronger connection between us two. Maybe not, but
at least I could find a way to be more
friendly with this person. We don't have to be friends
with everyone, but we can be friendly with everyone, and
(27:16):
I think that goes a long way towards developing a
stronger community if we just do that. Yeah, And then
I thought about that last question. What could I do
to give others a reason to be grateful? You know?
(27:37):
After I thought about what was I was thankful for
and who do I appreciate? I thought about that last question.
How could I give back. How can I give others
a reason to be grateful? In the hospital, I was
busy recovering. That was my job get better. But it
(27:58):
was when I was is discharged that I could really
take steps. I could literally in some cases. For example,
when I started running again, I started picking up trash
on the road or on the sidewalk or in other
people's yards as long as long as they get to trespassing.
(28:18):
People don't like that for some reason. I also started
mowing the lawns my neighbors or snowblowing their driveways or
walkways if there, if they were gone. And then there's
a classic opening doors for people. We often overlook how
powerful that is because when you think about it, you
(28:41):
become a human doorstop. You are stopping everything you are
doing to let someone else go in front of you.
And for some people that might be the first time
they felt seen all day. And if we as humans
want one thing, it's to be recognized, to be seen,
(29:07):
and holding a door for someone is a great way
to do that that costs zero moneies, just a couple
of seconds of your time. And one example I love
is I'm not sure if you could see the picture
back there. That picture is of me meeting weird Al Yankovic.
(29:30):
Now I don't know your experience with weird Al Yankovic, Kelly,
do you know any of the songs? Yes? Okay, Well,
I hold him in great esteem. He is one of
the greatest musicians of our time, and I am not
speaking hyperbolically about that. He is wonderful, better in better
live than you know in his albums. Well, I had
(29:54):
a chance to meet him in person. So we go
through these this big long line and I get up
to my turn to get a picture with him, and
he says, well, okay, what are we doing? And I said,
I want you to hug me like you're happy to
see me. So he does. He does a big old
bear hug, and I do my best to not freak
(30:16):
out with giddiness. I try to pull off a look
and you know, I have a hold up for you
here you can see I'm doing my best. Just enthralled,
and even writes down there to Chris, thanks so much
for meeting me. Were it out? You know, one of
(30:39):
my favorite pictures of all the time. So we get
the picture taken and then we get in another line
to go and get it signed and talk. And this
is where the magic really happens, because I am one
of hundreds of people waiting to talk to him. I
(31:00):
walk up to the table he's sitting down, and for
three minutes I have his undivided attention. He is listening
to me, he's asking me questions, and I'm talking with him.
It's as if I was the only person in the room.
(31:22):
And I know that sounds cliche, but that is how
I felt. He wasn't looking at his watch, he wasn't
checking the line, he wasn't getting you know, asking an
you know, assistant for something. It was just me and him.
And as much as I love this picture, that interaction
(31:43):
with him means so much more to me because of
the time and undivided attention he gave me. And if
we could give that to someone every day who knows
how it can impact them, and then cost any money
to do that, but it means the world to me.
(32:07):
And so, you know, if we can, you know, keep
our thoughts about what we already have and value what
we have in our possessions, if we can appreciate those
around us for how they impact the world, and if
we can and give others a reason to be grateful
(32:28):
and no matter how much it costs, we can make
the world a better place. And as I like to say,
we can become superheroes in our own communities.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
I love that, and I love thank you for sharing
your story and your experience. There's so much goodness in
there that like my head is like, oh my gosh.
But some of the things that really stood out to me,
and oftentimes what I talk about too, is the attitude.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Right.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
It can be something really super simple, even having a
toothbrush to brush your teeth, or having a roof over
your head, or maybe it's like having the faucet, having
water in your faucet, being able to get water out
of your fridge, or those little silly things that we
don't think. I liked your the knobs, right. It's not
(33:24):
something you think about, like going in and out of
a door. It's not something you think about, but it's
definitely something I'm grateful for to be able to go
in and out and be able to lock it or
open it or welcome people. And so I love that
you pointed on those small, small things that we can
be grateful for, other than the big things that often
(33:44):
come into our minds. And then also just shifting your
your mindset of taking that person and taking them out
of the circle, thinking about all the things that they
are good at or that you've noticed, or all of
the things that make them who they are, and then
putting them back into that circle. But then also reframing
(34:07):
or shifting this perspective of somebody that maybe you don't
get along with or you don't like. I think that
was really important too, because we don't have to always
like everybody. We also don't have to agree with everything
that people do, but we can, and I think that
would be huge to even change society as a whole.
(34:29):
Is how can we look at this person in a
different light verse maybe the hatred or the dislike that
we have towards them, How can we look at them
in a different light light and then also put them
back I guess where they were in our minds. They
want to live right, Yeah, But I love I Also,
(34:52):
I'm total dork too. I have like all my little
toys that sit on my Like baby Yoda is a
nice yeah yeah, the bop it version and it's pretty fun.
So I have like all my toys. I actually have
a whole shelf that's up above these shelfs that is
full of toys just because they make me happy. There
(35:14):
are things that I'm grateful for and things that I
can look at any moment in time, whether it's a
stressful day or I'm whatever is going on, right, I
can look at them and they make me really happy.
And I think that's really important to have those small things.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
So, yeah, it's funny you say that, because on my
left I have about a dozen transformers. I mean, again,
huge geek. I started collecting transformers again now that they're
like better made than they were previously. They're more posable
and stuff. And and then for some reason I started
(35:50):
collecting rubber ducks. Okay, I don't know why, but my
son and I were going through a couple of boxes.
I realized, wow, I have you dozen rubber ducks. I mean,
have Batman rubber ducks, the Flash rubber ducks. I think,
how the entire village people of rubber ducks, and I
(36:11):
live in you all, so of course we have rubber
ducks and later hosen, but it's just funny how how
many of them I have acquired. And so yeah, I
started collecting rubber ducks accidentally, But you're right, It's like,
how funny is that such an that's such a Bob
Ross moment, such a happy accident that that happened. And
I really appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Yeah, yeah, and it's so important. I mean, just to
have that, like you said, the attitude of gratitude and
you never know like how well you do not that
you never know, but it helps you shift from those
like negative things that are happening into the positive. And
I love that. I mean, although this was a huge
(36:54):
part of your life that happened, you really look at
it more in the lens of what am I grateful
for and what are the things that made me who
I am today? And you're able to share that with
everybody and anybody that listens.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
So yes, yes, And it's something I want to point
out really quick, Kelly, is that not only did it
increase my gratitude and my positivity, but it also increased
my resilience because once I realized how much positivity I
had in my life and so I had so much
to be thankful for that I started pushing the envelope.
(37:30):
In fact, I remember asking my doctor after my first discharge,
my post did so what are my limits with this
new body and he said, Chris, you're the first marathon
runner that's ever contracted next NF that we know, so
you tell us. So I took that as a green light.
(37:55):
And as of today, I've earned four life time personal
running records in the five k, the ten k, the
half marathon, and the ten mile. I've earned my first
three black belt in Taekwon do in factor is my
certificate right there. I earned that last year and I'm
currently training to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I'm running
(38:19):
a marathon actually in Rochester City, the city that basically
saved my life on May thirteenth. And I like to
tell that to people now as a and as a
bragging point, but to illustrate that your life is what
you make it. And yes, you can go and and
(38:43):
and play the you know the songs. Oh I will
had to go through all this tough stuff. Or you
can turn that on its head and say, you know what, Yeah,
and I've tried to take me out it lost, so
let's see what else I can do. And I think
by doing that, it's you're showing grateful and that you're
(39:06):
showing gratitude towards your survival and you're I hope I
am inspiring others to do great things because that's what
has inspired me was those people who helped me out.
I wanted to show them my gratitude by showing them
what I can do with this second chance. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Absolutely, And I think it's just really important to be
able to share your story as you are now speaking
and going on podcasts and telling everybody your story, because
your mind is very powerful, and it's very powerful for
the positive, it can also be very powerful for the negative.
So being aware of your thoughts and your thought process,
(39:50):
and like you were saying, is that you could have
very easily gone down the road of allowing your mind
to take over because you're in the hospital. It's not
going the way that you thought it was. You have
all these skin grafts and all these things happening to
your body that you don't know what's gonna happen. But
you chose to look at the positives and listen to
(40:14):
your wife and hear the stories and now even translate
it into positive positivity and bringing that to so many others.
So that is just really really incredible.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Thank you. I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
So, if anybody wants to follow your story, how can
they do that?
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Well, Kelly, I like to think of myself as a
simple guy, so I like to keep it simple. Chris
DT Gordon, that's all you have to do. Chrisdtgordon dot
com is my website at Chris dt Gordon is my
Instagram handle. You can find me on Facebook at Chris
dt Gordon and I'm also on LinkedIn on the same name,
(41:01):
and you can go to YouTube and find the Chris
dt Gordon channel where I post my Scarbearers podcast episodes.
They're also available on Apple Podcasts, where you you know,
cast your pods, and yeah, I have other videos on
(41:21):
there as well, but yes, Chris DT Gordon. And it's
really funny because when I started my speaking venture, I
was thinking, well, how are people going to find me?
There are lots of Chris Gordon's out there, but I
was I was listening to a podcast called The Speaker
Lab and there is a gentleman who used his middle
(41:43):
initial his middle name. Well, I have two of those,
why not use both of them? So that's why I
have the DT in there. I like to say, I
like to say a stance for darn terrific, but actually, actually,
Daniel Thomas.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
I was gonna ask because there's the way website, so
if you want to. And I was gonna ask because
I actually had have a friend named Chris Gordon, and
when you had originally signed up, I was like, no,
that's not the same not the same one. But yeah,
So Chris's website is right below here, so if you
(42:18):
want to find him, go yep, somewhere over here, go
to his website. And I love that you added in
your middle initials. To add those, and that's what I mean.
I go by my first and my middle name now
for my professional name because I just got married in July,
(42:40):
and it's confusing what you go by these days. So
thank you, thank you. Yeah, I'm like trying to figure
out what is my name? I don't know what my
name is anymore, but you know, figure that out. But
I really appreciate you coming on and sharing your story,
and I know you gave some really amazing tools and
tips and tricks of people to really be able to
(43:02):
hone in on that resiliency, the positivity and the gratitude.
Is there anything last that you want to share?
Speaker 2 (43:13):
Yes? I do real quick, Kelly, pass on perfection and
go for greatness. We are inundated with pictures and facets
of perfection on billboards, in ads, on YouTube, or on TV.
But if you think about it, those visages are snapshots
(43:37):
at best. They don't last long. Even the perfect game
that's pitched in baseball, no one goes and pitches another
perfect game three days later. All right, it is fleeting. However,
if you focus on pursuing your passions and your goals
(43:59):
with consistency, diligence, and perseverance, once in a while you
might reach perfection, but you will always be great.
Speaker 1 (44:13):
Love it awesome? Well, thank you so much. I appreciate
you being my guest today.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
Well, thank you Kelly again. I greatly appreciate the time
to talk with you and to share with your audience.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
Yeah, awesome, right, y'all. That was another amazing episode of
Mental Health Mondays where we talk to guests who are
either professionals in the mental health space, advocates of mental health,
or those that live with or experience a mental health challenge.
And like Chris just said, it's not about perfection. I know,
(44:46):
I say that all the time. Really just getting the
information out and we can have that attitude of gratitude
and really focus on those small things. It doesn't have
to be jy no ormous things, but you can focus
on those two. That's the best part of it. As
a reminder, match down that button. If you're watching this
(45:08):
on YouTube, make sure you follow us. And if you
feel like this information would be valuable for anybody else,
please make sure you share it. And lastly, as a reminder,
BCC Evolution is a five oh one C three nonprofit
and to bring all of our education and this programming
to you, we need your help and we've been talking
(45:29):
about it for a while now. But again, you can
text climb for Mind to four four three two one,
and that goes to support mental health and suicide prevention education.
But it also goes to help support me in doing
the twenty nine to twenty nine Ever Resting Challenge coming
(45:52):
up this August, doing thirty miles up a mountain over
thirty six hours, the biggest challenge I've ever done in
my lifetime. Along with my friend Philip, we will be
climbing the mountain thirteen times and it will be mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually,
(46:12):
all those things wrapped into one, but all of it
it goes to the name of mental health and suicide
prevention and prevention education. And as a reminder, if you
donate one hundred dollars or more, you get the chance
to put the name of a loved one or somebody
who might have died by suicide or somebody that has
(46:35):
struggled with a mental health challenge on the front of
our shirts with a donation of one thousand dollars or more,
And if you're a company, you get to put your
logo on the back of our shirts. So keep that
in mind. There's lots more perks that go into it too,
even with your donation, and we just recently added with
a five thousand dollars donation or more, you actually get
(46:55):
a trip to Mexico. We partnered with a really amazing
company that is giving us Mexico trips for any five
thousand dollars donation or more. So I mean, come on, win, win,
and it goes to support mental health and suicide prevention education.
So don't forget come back next week because we have
another amazing episode of mental health Mondays. Have a great night.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.