November 26, 2019 • 24 mins
On today's episode of LOVE SOMEONE with Delilah, I'm celebrating this season of gratitude with you!
The most common question I'm asked, is how I've continued to do what I do for all the years I've been doing it? (Radio that is!) And the answer is this - because of the amazing stories my listeners share with me, and the thread of gratitude that seems to run through them all. Life is a stormy adventure to be sure, but those that not only survive, but thrive, have one thing in common - an attitude of gratitude. And these are the folks that inspire me day after day, to get up, to do my radio program, to care for my family, and to LIVE! Live to the fullest, grateful for all I've ever experienced, all the experiences yet to come, and holding nothing back...
Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving my friends, I am so very grateful for all of you. ~ Delilah
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to Love Someone with Delilah, my podcast series that
I am so proud of and I'm so glad that
you have found it. I hope you tell your friends,
your family, tell the people in your life that you
love to download the whole series, all of our podcasts
because they are all so good, so many great conversations
(00:29):
with really interesting, fascinating people. And the focus on this
podcast has been and will continue to be talking to
people who want to impact the world in a positive way,
and with all the negativity going on around us, we
can use that. We can use people reaching out in
(00:52):
love and making a difference. If we all did that,
if we all made a difference in our corner of
the world, if everybody focused on their immediate family first,
loving them, healing them, for giving them, helping them, encouraging them,
being kind, and then their inner circle, and then you know,
(01:16):
the next broader band of circle. If we all did
our part to make those relationships as beautiful as we can,
to empower other people to be the very best person
they can be. If we all volunteered at a local
public school or a local public library, if every person
(01:40):
did something in their corner of the world. Think how
we could transform the world around us. If we all
planted seeds flower seeds in the spring, think how beautiful
our communities would be in the summer. And if we
all plant seeds of kindness, think how beautiful our communities
(02:07):
will be. That's what this podcast is all about. And
right now this podcast, we're going to talk about the
power of gratitude, the power of a grateful heart. We're
going to take a moment here to thank our sponsor
who makes this podcast possible, the good folks at the
(02:30):
Home Depot. It's fall, my favorite season of the year.
If you're out raking leaves this time of year, good
for you. That means there's a yard to care for.
You want that yard looking beautiful next spring, and one
sure way to do that is to feed it this fall.
The Home Depot's got a garden department full of products
(02:54):
from Scots to make that happen. Once the yard is raked,
go to work with the right stuff from Scots, you'll
be that much closer to a beautiful green yard when
spring comes around the Home Depot, more saving, more doing.
When you start being grateful, miracles happen. It's amazing how
(03:20):
it works, but it works. It really does when you
can lay in bed at night. I lay in bed
at night and I go through a gratitude list. I
just start thanking God for so many things in my life,
my kids, my pets, my home, my health. There was
a time I could barely walk. I needed a new hip.
(03:41):
I had a hip replacement, And boy, every day I'm like,
thank you God that I'm no longer in pain, that
I no longer have hip pain.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yay.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
What are you grateful for? What are you thankful for?
Sometimes it helps to make a list where every day
of the week you make a list of things you're
going grateful for, eight or ten things you're grateful for.
Then the next day you make a list and you
can include the things that were on your first list.
By day three or four. It really makes you stop
(04:12):
and take notice of things in your life. To stop
and take notice of the little things, the little blessings,
the little miracles. Joy and happiness are similar, but they're different.
Happiness comes from having fun or being in a good situation.
Fun music, great concerts, delicious food. Those things make us happy.
(04:38):
But joy is a deep well of gratitude that bubbles
up even when times are not so good. Even when
you're hurting, even when you're grieving, you can still have joy,
and you can still have gratitude. Recently, I came across
(05:00):
product that can really truly change people's lives for the better.
It's called the OrCam My Eye too. The OrCam My
Eye two already helps tens of thousands of people around
the world who are blind or partially cited, or people
with reading difficulties to read any text, printed or digital,
(05:22):
to recognize the people around them and identify products. The
OrCam My Eye two has been referred to as the
world's most advanced wearable assistive vision device. That's a lot
of words. What it means is that it's a really,
really helpful device. The people with severe sight issues can
(05:44):
click onto the side of a pair of glasses and
then hear the words they're trying to read, or be
told who's in front of them, and so much more.
If you or someone you know is visually impaired, OrCam
is a name aim to remember and to research or
CAM for the next couple of weeks. You can go
(06:05):
online to OrCam dot com, o r CAM, or CAM.
When you make a purchase, use the word love to
get a four hundred dollars discount off your purchase. That's
OrCam dot Com and the promo code is love Back
with you talking about the power of gratitude, the power
(06:28):
of being grateful, the power of a thankful heart, and
how that can transform your life. I really do. I
think it will impact your health. I know it will
impact your relationships, but I also think it will impact
your health and your well being and it will lower
(06:49):
your stress level. We're going to take a moment here
to talk to some folks who have some wonderful stories
of gratitude to share with us. I'm going to talk
with the man right now who was in a terrible,
terrible truck accident, and we're going to hear him share
(07:09):
his words of gratitude for a second chance at life. Rick,
welcome aboard. Tell me in this season of gratitude, what
are you grateful for?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
I used to be a long haul track and trailer driver.
I got rearined it by another track and trailer and
took me five years to get back to being able
one to walk or just to function.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, it's I was pretty disheartening. Some I had some
of the rehab that I went through and saw how
close I could have been a vegetable because I had
brain injury. So it was it was a pretty tough time.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
How did you go from it sounds like total devastation
to where you are now?
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Well, it was a lot of therapy, a lot of
in and out of the hospital. I had a brain injury.
The therapists that work with me were very patient. I
mean a couple of times there I got pretty bleak.
You don't appreciate what the brain and the body can
do because we go through our lives just doing things
(08:19):
and we don't think about what the brain does to
make your body do to things that your body does
until you have a brain injury, and then all the
little small things stick out. You know, as far as
I had a problem literally walking through a doorway because
my body couldn't tell where it was in space. I
(08:40):
know that sounds funny, but your body actually knows where
it is in space. As far as in a room,
walking through a doorway, anything, I would be running in
the doorways, walls, everything. I mean, it's kind of funny
now when I look back on it, but it got
pretty serious.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
And today, what are you able to do that? During
that five year recovery, you thought you would never be
able to do again.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Ride a motorcycle.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
A lot of people are probably saying that's crazy, but
my balance was totally gone.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
No, I'm saying that's crazy because if you survived a
horrible traffic accident, I don't know that you want to
be out there on a motorcycle with crazy drivers.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
It's just a whole feeling you can't even describe unless
you've been riding a motorcycle for years. So that was
one of the things that I always said to myself,
is I could get back on a bike, I'd be
happy because I'm content when I'm on a motorcycle.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
That's how I am when I'm on the back of
my horse. And people are like, really, after you've had
back surgery and a hip replacement, you're going to keep riding. Heck, yes,
we love to do something.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Yes, yes, But I gotta tell you real quick. I
used to listen to you when I grew cross country.
So you've been with me through three divorces.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I am neck and neck with you, dude, right there
with you, and to finally.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Get through to talk to you is just a blessing.
I just want to tell you. You are such a
blessing on already, you really are, and you don't know
how how many lives you affect by the songs and
the things that you said.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Well, I'm happy to be here. I praise God that
life is good again. And then did you get to
walk through a door and have control of your feet
and your body? And then you get to sit on
your motorcycle and go for a ride, and that you
get to live fully however many more years God gives you.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Thank you. I appreciate that. Toho.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
All right, God, bless you.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
God, bless you, Bubba, great job.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Thank you. You know, we really don't think a great
deal about the way our brain, our body, our movements
are all connected until we lose that ability, until it's
not quite working right. Rick had a very difficult time
with his balance, with his equilibrium with the spatial relationships
(11:12):
after he sustained a traumatic brain injury. Now, if you've
ever put it on a pair of bifocals for the
first time, that's most of us who are over forty,
you know that it changes the way you see things
and you lose your depth perception for a second. It
took me several weeks to readjust and to be able
(11:35):
to accurately gauge how high a step was, to be
able to walk over uneven turf. I can't even begin
to imagine the challenges and frustration Rick experienced after his
brain injury and his brain wouldn't give him accurate information
on exactly where his body was when he was standing
(11:55):
in a room or trying to walk again. I am
so great that this injury is healing and that Rick
is able to share his miraculous story and his gratitude
with us today. Next we're going to hear from a
mother with a young child athlete named Miracle. Their story
(12:19):
is also one of gratefulness in the midst of turmoil.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
Hi, this is Teresa, and actually it's Miracle.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Miracles.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Say, Hi, your baby's name is Miracle.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Her name is Miracle.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Oh. I love that. How old is she?
Speaker 4 (12:38):
She will be four November twelve. She was grand baby
number eight, but at four days old I found out
that I needed to pick her up from the hospital.
And I've had her since she was four days old
and I adopted her. It was two years in February.
But I've had her, like I said, since she was
four days old. So she's now daughter number five.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
So Mom, can I ask, and you don't have to
answer this, but how old are you?
Speaker 4 (13:06):
I am sixty one. I will be sixty two in no,
I mean, shoot me in Mark.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Okay, So we are neck and neck because I'm just
a little bit behind you and I have a three
year old.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Oh goodness.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
So I know that neither one of us thought in
our twenties, or our thirties, or our forties, and certainly
not our fifties, that we would be changing diapers at
this stage of life.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
No, absolutely not. And my oldest daughter's forty two, so
and my youngest daughter will be thirty seven in November.
So I haven't done this for a little while now.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
See, I never took any time off. My oldest is
forty and my youngest besides the one, that the baby
that I have is ten. So it wasn't really that
big of a shock because I've been parenting all these years.
But still it's not what we think we're going to
be doing at the stage in life.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
No, and I know she was a gift for me.
I just truly believe she saved my life. I lost
my father and eleven months later, my second daughter was murdered.
So then I have a thirty seven year well she's
thirty excuse me, she's thirty eight right now, who gave
birth to Miracle. And she is an addict and has
(14:27):
been a long term addict. And we never know from
one day to the next with the phone it's gonna ring.
We just you know, we pray.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
That's what we do.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
That's all we can do for her. And then my
youngest one is here close to me. The miracle was
given to me to save me. Like I said, I
lost my father. Eleven months later, I lost my daughter.
About two years later, I lost my partner. Then about
three months after that, I lost my best friend. And
(14:56):
so it was like, okay, my plans are never what
I think it ought to be, which is good, which
is a good thing for me. She's amazing. This is
a challenge and it is something that a lot of
grandparents are having to do, is become the parents again.
You know, I never in a million years dreamed ever, ever.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Ever.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Miracle has a nineteen and a half year old half sister.
She doesn't have any joints and that was due to
the drugs, and she's in a power chair. She'll never walk.
She's brilliant, she's got an amazing voice. But she's also
the reason why Miracle is called miracle, because when I
brought her home, there's nothing physically, mentally, emotionally, any way,
(15:41):
shape or form. Miracle has been tested since she was
born and she's absolutely perfect. And so her sister says, Nana,
can we please name her Miracle? And I said absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
I love that. Yeah, you got a lot to be
grateful for in that little bundle of love in your arms.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Yes, she keeps me going.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
I believe you when you say that she was sent
to you to save you.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Absolutely absolutely. You know, we move on and we keep going,
and life goes on, and again I have Miracle, and
I know she was given to me to help, you know,
plug up some of the holes.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
God bless you. Teresa felt like she was a sinking
ship storm toss loss after devastating loss, but then a
miracle was sent into her life to plug the holes,
if you will, of that sinking ship. And now she
finds herself sailing through the storm with new purpose, meaning,
(16:43):
and so much love. She's overwhelmed by it. If your
life seems out of control and you're feeling down and dejected.
I hope that Rick and Teresa's miraculous stories have helped
you to see that things can always get get better.
I'm going to share one more conversation with you that
(17:04):
I found to be incredibly inspiring right after we break
for this message, David, welcome. What can I do for you?
Speaker 3 (17:14):
I was wondering if you could play a song for
my best friend of the last seven and a half years.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Who's your bestie? His name is Mackenzie And what do
you want to tell me about Mackenzie?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Well, Mackenzie has stood beside me through sick and sins
for the last seven and a half years. Even when
I was at my lowest point and didn't think I
could continue on, he refused to give up on me
and refused to let me give up on myself. And now,
thanks to him, I now see the beauty in the
world around me and the beauty in myself. And I've
(17:50):
been living a life free from drug addiction for the
last six months, all because of his support.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Oh, David, do you know how you just made my
heart sore?
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Friendship is a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Friendship is a beautiful thing, but so is living life
without the cloud in the fog in your brain from addiction.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
That is why I love this friend with all my heart.
He has helped me to turn my life around.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
It sounds to me like, now that you're clean and sober,
you can return to Mackenzie the love, the unconditional love,
the true love that he's been showing you. Because when
you're addicted, Absolutely, when you're addicted, you and I both
know this. Your addiction comes before.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Love, Yes it does.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Parents call me all the time and say, I love
my kids so much. How can they do this to me?
Don't they know I love them? I'm like, honey, Addictions
come before love. Addictions win every time over love. Addictions
cause you to do stupid, crazy things. And it sounds
like Mackenzie been by your side for a long time,
and now that you're a long time, you're clean and sober,
(19:07):
you're able to see the value of true friendship, of
true love.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Absolutely, it is a beautiful, wonderful thing to have someone
in this world that stands beside you and refuses to
give up and helps you see the best in yourself.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
How does it feel to be clean?
Speaker 3 (19:26):
It's amazing. The world feels brand new again.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
What was that? What was the tipping point. What made
you say I can't do this anymore.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
The tipping point really was when I got in such
a downward spiral that I couldn't see the spiral I
was in until I reached the point one night of
swallowing an entire bottle of pills because I didn't want
to live this life anymore. And Mackenzie just happened to
be at my house that night and found me with
(19:57):
the bottle of pills and made the calls that needed
to be made to save my life.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
I wish I could reach through this phone line, David
and ug you. I'm so proud of you, so stinking
proud of you.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Thank you, thank you. It feels great to be living
a life free from addiction.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
And are you going to meetings? Do you have a sponsor?
Are you working the steps? Have you done your fourth
step yet?
Speaker 3 (20:25):
I am attending meetings. I do have a sponsor. Mackenzie
has put a great support network around me. When I
can't get through to my sponsor, He's given me a
list of people that I can call, including himself, and
he is my Rocke at this point. He is just
the best thing going in my life.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Him and God, you are a blessed, blessed person. I
know you know that. Thank you so much, Thank you
so much, honey, God bless you. My heart was so
happy it thrilled when David said he had found freedom
from substance abuse. What a gift. I know that Teresa
praised that her daughter will find the same, and in
(21:04):
the meantime, focuses on all the many things she is
grateful for, including her miracle. Rick too, has been through
terrors and trials and tribulations most of us can even imagine,
and he's come out on the other side, full of
gratitude and healing, for life, for love, for things he
once thought were lost that have been returned to him.
(21:26):
It often works like that, doesn't it. We must lose
something precious to us, or almost lose it to be
so grateful for what we took for granted. I like
to use these stories to inspire you to reach for gratitude,
to search for gratitude in your daily life, to practice
(21:46):
gratitude daily. Don't wait for calamity to strike, don't wait
until you've lost everything to start experiencing the joy that
being grateful can bring. One of the beautiful things that
advanced medical imaging has proven to us that gratefulness triggers
the same pleasure centers of the brain that harmful, addictive
(22:10):
substances do. Gratitude rewires our brain, So being grateful, being
conscious thinking about the things you are grateful for will
bring you more joy than you ever thought possible. How
do you do it? By developing a habit of looking
for things to be happy about. Start your gratitude practice today.
(22:32):
Get a notebook, write it down, Start looking for things
to be grateful for. Take some part of each day
to jot down a short list of things you've noticed.
A short list of things that you've noticed that make
you smile. Blue skies, the smile of the baby in
the cart at the grocery store, the smell of a
(22:54):
fresh pot of coffee when you arrive at the office.
The trick is to only write something down once, though.
That way, you have to look harder and harder each day,
and when you do that, you train your brain to
be more in tune, more perceptive, more aligned with all
the good in your life. And when you start taking
(23:17):
notice of the positivity the goodness that is there. You
can share those lists with me if you want to,
and I'll share some of them on the air, because
November Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude. Let me know
how it's going for me. Call into my radio program,
visit me on Facebook or Instagram, write to me Datdelilah
(23:41):
dot com, and I want to tell you this. I
am grateful for you. I am so grateful that I
have a career that provides for my family, where I
get to meet you, talk to you, connect with you,
be a part of your life on the radio and
on this podcast. Thank you for spending time with me.
I love someone. With the lineup
Speaker 4 (24:14):
M
Welcome to Love Someone with Delilah, my podcast series that
I am so proud of and I'm so glad that
you have found it. I hope you tell your friends,
your family, tell the people in your life that you
love to download the whole series, all of our podcasts
because they are all so good, so many great conversations
(00:29):
with really interesting, fascinating people. And the focus on this
podcast has been and will continue to be talking to
people who want to impact the world in a positive way,
and with all the negativity going on around us, we
can use that. We can use people reaching out in
(00:52):
love and making a difference. If we all did that,
if we all made a difference in our corner of
the world, if everybody focused on their immediate family first,
loving them, healing them, for giving them, helping them, encouraging them,
being kind, and then their inner circle, and then you know,
(01:16):
the next broader band of circle. If we all did
our part to make those relationships as beautiful as we can,
to empower other people to be the very best person
they can be. If we all volunteered at a local
public school or a local public library, if every person
(01:40):
did something in their corner of the world. Think how
we could transform the world around us. If we all
planted seeds flower seeds in the spring, think how beautiful
our communities would be in the summer. And if we
all plant seeds of kindness, think how beautiful our communities
(02:07):
will be. That's what this podcast is all about. And
right now this podcast, we're going to talk about the
power of gratitude, the power of a grateful heart. We're
going to take a moment here to thank our sponsor
who makes this podcast possible, the good folks at the
(02:30):
Home Depot. It's fall, my favorite season of the year.
If you're out raking leaves this time of year, good
for you. That means there's a yard to care for.
You want that yard looking beautiful next spring, and one
sure way to do that is to feed it this fall.
The Home Depot's got a garden department full of products
(02:54):
from Scots to make that happen. Once the yard is raked,
go to work with the right stuff from Scots, you'll
be that much closer to a beautiful green yard when
spring comes around the Home Depot, more saving, more doing.
When you start being grateful, miracles happen. It's amazing how
(03:20):
it works, but it works. It really does when you
can lay in bed at night. I lay in bed
at night and I go through a gratitude list. I
just start thanking God for so many things in my life,
my kids, my pets, my home, my health. There was
a time I could barely walk. I needed a new hip.
(03:41):
I had a hip replacement, And boy, every day I'm like,
thank you God that I'm no longer in pain, that
I no longer have hip pain.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yay.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
What are you grateful for? What are you thankful for?
Sometimes it helps to make a list where every day
of the week you make a list of things you're
going grateful for, eight or ten things you're grateful for.
Then the next day you make a list and you
can include the things that were on your first list.
By day three or four. It really makes you stop
(04:12):
and take notice of things in your life. To stop
and take notice of the little things, the little blessings,
the little miracles. Joy and happiness are similar, but they're different.
Happiness comes from having fun or being in a good situation.
Fun music, great concerts, delicious food. Those things make us happy.
(04:38):
But joy is a deep well of gratitude that bubbles
up even when times are not so good. Even when
you're hurting, even when you're grieving, you can still have joy,
and you can still have gratitude. Recently, I came across
(05:00):
product that can really truly change people's lives for the better.
It's called the OrCam My Eye too. The OrCam My
Eye two already helps tens of thousands of people around
the world who are blind or partially cited, or people
with reading difficulties to read any text, printed or digital,
(05:22):
to recognize the people around them and identify products. The
OrCam My Eye two has been referred to as the
world's most advanced wearable assistive vision device. That's a lot
of words. What it means is that it's a really,
really helpful device. The people with severe sight issues can
(05:44):
click onto the side of a pair of glasses and
then hear the words they're trying to read, or be
told who's in front of them, and so much more.
If you or someone you know is visually impaired, OrCam
is a name aim to remember and to research or
CAM for the next couple of weeks. You can go
(06:05):
online to OrCam dot com, o r CAM, or CAM.
When you make a purchase, use the word love to
get a four hundred dollars discount off your purchase. That's
OrCam dot Com and the promo code is love Back
with you talking about the power of gratitude, the power
(06:28):
of being grateful, the power of a thankful heart, and
how that can transform your life. I really do. I
think it will impact your health. I know it will
impact your relationships, but I also think it will impact
your health and your well being and it will lower
(06:49):
your stress level. We're going to take a moment here
to talk to some folks who have some wonderful stories
of gratitude to share with us. I'm going to talk
with the man right now who was in a terrible,
terrible truck accident, and we're going to hear him share
(07:09):
his words of gratitude for a second chance at life. Rick,
welcome aboard. Tell me in this season of gratitude, what
are you grateful for?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
I used to be a long haul track and trailer driver.
I got rearined it by another track and trailer and
took me five years to get back to being able
one to walk or just to function.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, it's I was pretty disheartening. Some I had some
of the rehab that I went through and saw how
close I could have been a vegetable because I had
brain injury. So it was it was a pretty tough time.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
How did you go from it sounds like total devastation
to where you are now?
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Well, it was a lot of therapy, a lot of
in and out of the hospital. I had a brain injury.
The therapists that work with me were very patient. I
mean a couple of times there I got pretty bleak.
You don't appreciate what the brain and the body can
do because we go through our lives just doing things
(08:19):
and we don't think about what the brain does to
make your body do to things that your body does
until you have a brain injury, and then all the
little small things stick out. You know, as far as
I had a problem literally walking through a doorway because
my body couldn't tell where it was in space. I
(08:40):
know that sounds funny, but your body actually knows where
it is in space. As far as in a room,
walking through a doorway, anything, I would be running in
the doorways, walls, everything. I mean, it's kind of funny
now when I look back on it, but it got
pretty serious.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
And today, what are you able to do that? During
that five year recovery, you thought you would never be
able to do again.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Ride a motorcycle.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
A lot of people are probably saying that's crazy, but
my balance was totally gone.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
No, I'm saying that's crazy because if you survived a
horrible traffic accident, I don't know that you want to
be out there on a motorcycle with crazy drivers.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
It's just a whole feeling you can't even describe unless
you've been riding a motorcycle for years. So that was
one of the things that I always said to myself,
is I could get back on a bike, I'd be
happy because I'm content when I'm on a motorcycle.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
That's how I am when I'm on the back of
my horse. And people are like, really, after you've had
back surgery and a hip replacement, you're going to keep riding. Heck, yes,
we love to do something.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Yes, yes, But I gotta tell you real quick. I
used to listen to you when I grew cross country.
So you've been with me through three divorces.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I am neck and neck with you, dude, right there
with you, and to finally.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Get through to talk to you is just a blessing.
I just want to tell you. You are such a
blessing on already, you really are, and you don't know
how how many lives you affect by the songs and
the things that you said.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Well, I'm happy to be here. I praise God that
life is good again. And then did you get to
walk through a door and have control of your feet
and your body? And then you get to sit on
your motorcycle and go for a ride, and that you
get to live fully however many more years God gives you.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Thank you. I appreciate that. Toho.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
All right, God, bless you.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
God, bless you, Bubba, great job.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Thank you. You know, we really don't think a great
deal about the way our brain, our body, our movements
are all connected until we lose that ability, until it's
not quite working right. Rick had a very difficult time
with his balance, with his equilibrium with the spatial relationships
(11:12):
after he sustained a traumatic brain injury. Now, if you've
ever put it on a pair of bifocals for the
first time, that's most of us who are over forty,
you know that it changes the way you see things
and you lose your depth perception for a second. It
took me several weeks to readjust and to be able
(11:35):
to accurately gauge how high a step was, to be
able to walk over uneven turf. I can't even begin
to imagine the challenges and frustration Rick experienced after his
brain injury and his brain wouldn't give him accurate information
on exactly where his body was when he was standing
(11:55):
in a room or trying to walk again. I am
so great that this injury is healing and that Rick
is able to share his miraculous story and his gratitude
with us today. Next we're going to hear from a
mother with a young child athlete named Miracle. Their story
(12:19):
is also one of gratefulness in the midst of turmoil.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
Hi, this is Teresa, and actually it's Miracle.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Miracles.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Say, Hi, your baby's name is Miracle.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Her name is Miracle.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Oh. I love that. How old is she?
Speaker 4 (12:38):
She will be four November twelve. She was grand baby
number eight, but at four days old I found out
that I needed to pick her up from the hospital.
And I've had her since she was four days old
and I adopted her. It was two years in February.
But I've had her, like I said, since she was
four days old. So she's now daughter number five.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
So Mom, can I ask, and you don't have to
answer this, but how old are you?
Speaker 4 (13:06):
I am sixty one. I will be sixty two in no,
I mean, shoot me in Mark.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Okay, So we are neck and neck because I'm just
a little bit behind you and I have a three
year old.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Oh goodness.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
So I know that neither one of us thought in
our twenties, or our thirties, or our forties, and certainly
not our fifties, that we would be changing diapers at
this stage of life.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
No, absolutely not. And my oldest daughter's forty two, so
and my youngest daughter will be thirty seven in November.
So I haven't done this for a little while now.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
See, I never took any time off. My oldest is
forty and my youngest besides the one, that the baby
that I have is ten. So it wasn't really that
big of a shock because I've been parenting all these years.
But still it's not what we think we're going to
be doing at the stage in life.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
No, and I know she was a gift for me.
I just truly believe she saved my life. I lost
my father and eleven months later, my second daughter was murdered.
So then I have a thirty seven year well she's
thirty excuse me, she's thirty eight right now, who gave
birth to Miracle. And she is an addict and has
(14:27):
been a long term addict. And we never know from
one day to the next with the phone it's gonna ring.
We just you know, we pray.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
That's what we do.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
That's all we can do for her. And then my
youngest one is here close to me. The miracle was
given to me to save me. Like I said, I
lost my father. Eleven months later, I lost my daughter.
About two years later, I lost my partner. Then about
three months after that, I lost my best friend. And
(14:56):
so it was like, okay, my plans are never what
I think it ought to be, which is good, which
is a good thing for me. She's amazing. This is
a challenge and it is something that a lot of
grandparents are having to do, is become the parents again.
You know, I never in a million years dreamed ever, ever.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Ever.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Miracle has a nineteen and a half year old half sister.
She doesn't have any joints and that was due to
the drugs, and she's in a power chair. She'll never walk.
She's brilliant, she's got an amazing voice. But she's also
the reason why Miracle is called miracle, because when I
brought her home, there's nothing physically, mentally, emotionally, any way,
(15:41):
shape or form. Miracle has been tested since she was
born and she's absolutely perfect. And so her sister says, Nana,
can we please name her Miracle? And I said absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
I love that. Yeah, you got a lot to be
grateful for in that little bundle of love in your arms.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Yes, she keeps me going.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
I believe you when you say that she was sent
to you to save you.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Absolutely absolutely. You know, we move on and we keep going,
and life goes on, and again I have Miracle, and
I know she was given to me to help, you know,
plug up some of the holes.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
God bless you. Teresa felt like she was a sinking
ship storm toss loss after devastating loss, but then a
miracle was sent into her life to plug the holes,
if you will, of that sinking ship. And now she
finds herself sailing through the storm with new purpose, meaning,
(16:43):
and so much love. She's overwhelmed by it. If your
life seems out of control and you're feeling down and dejected.
I hope that Rick and Teresa's miraculous stories have helped
you to see that things can always get get better.
I'm going to share one more conversation with you that
(17:04):
I found to be incredibly inspiring right after we break
for this message, David, welcome. What can I do for you?
Speaker 3 (17:14):
I was wondering if you could play a song for
my best friend of the last seven and a half years.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Who's your bestie? His name is Mackenzie And what do
you want to tell me about Mackenzie?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Well, Mackenzie has stood beside me through sick and sins
for the last seven and a half years. Even when
I was at my lowest point and didn't think I
could continue on, he refused to give up on me
and refused to let me give up on myself. And now,
thanks to him, I now see the beauty in the
world around me and the beauty in myself. And I've
(17:50):
been living a life free from drug addiction for the
last six months, all because of his support.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Oh, David, do you know how you just made my
heart sore?
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Friendship is a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Friendship is a beautiful thing, but so is living life
without the cloud in the fog in your brain from addiction.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
That is why I love this friend with all my heart.
He has helped me to turn my life around.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
It sounds to me like, now that you're clean and sober,
you can return to Mackenzie the love, the unconditional love,
the true love that he's been showing you. Because when
you're addicted, Absolutely, when you're addicted, you and I both
know this. Your addiction comes before.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Love, Yes it does.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Parents call me all the time and say, I love
my kids so much. How can they do this to me?
Don't they know I love them? I'm like, honey, Addictions
come before love. Addictions win every time over love. Addictions
cause you to do stupid, crazy things. And it sounds
like Mackenzie been by your side for a long time,
and now that you're a long time, you're clean and sober,
(19:07):
you're able to see the value of true friendship, of
true love.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Absolutely, it is a beautiful, wonderful thing to have someone
in this world that stands beside you and refuses to
give up and helps you see the best in yourself.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
How does it feel to be clean?
Speaker 3 (19:26):
It's amazing. The world feels brand new again.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
What was that? What was the tipping point. What made
you say I can't do this anymore.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
The tipping point really was when I got in such
a downward spiral that I couldn't see the spiral I
was in until I reached the point one night of
swallowing an entire bottle of pills because I didn't want
to live this life anymore. And Mackenzie just happened to
be at my house that night and found me with
(19:57):
the bottle of pills and made the calls that needed
to be made to save my life.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
I wish I could reach through this phone line, David
and ug you. I'm so proud of you, so stinking
proud of you.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Thank you, thank you. It feels great to be living
a life free from addiction.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
And are you going to meetings? Do you have a sponsor?
Are you working the steps? Have you done your fourth
step yet?
Speaker 3 (20:25):
I am attending meetings. I do have a sponsor. Mackenzie
has put a great support network around me. When I
can't get through to my sponsor, He's given me a
list of people that I can call, including himself, and
he is my Rocke at this point. He is just
the best thing going in my life.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Him and God, you are a blessed, blessed person. I
know you know that. Thank you so much, Thank you
so much, honey, God bless you. My heart was so
happy it thrilled when David said he had found freedom
from substance abuse. What a gift. I know that Teresa
praised that her daughter will find the same, and in
(21:04):
the meantime, focuses on all the many things she is
grateful for, including her miracle. Rick too, has been through
terrors and trials and tribulations most of us can even imagine,
and he's come out on the other side, full of
gratitude and healing, for life, for love, for things he
once thought were lost that have been returned to him.
(21:26):
It often works like that, doesn't it. We must lose
something precious to us, or almost lose it to be
so grateful for what we took for granted. I like
to use these stories to inspire you to reach for gratitude,
to search for gratitude in your daily life, to practice
(21:46):
gratitude daily. Don't wait for calamity to strike, don't wait
until you've lost everything to start experiencing the joy that
being grateful can bring. One of the beautiful things that
advanced medical imaging has proven to us that gratefulness triggers
the same pleasure centers of the brain that harmful, addictive
(22:10):
substances do. Gratitude rewires our brain, So being grateful, being
conscious thinking about the things you are grateful for will
bring you more joy than you ever thought possible. How
do you do it? By developing a habit of looking
for things to be happy about. Start your gratitude practice today.
(22:32):
Get a notebook, write it down, Start looking for things
to be grateful for. Take some part of each day
to jot down a short list of things you've noticed.
A short list of things that you've noticed that make
you smile. Blue skies, the smile of the baby in
the cart at the grocery store, the smell of a
(22:54):
fresh pot of coffee when you arrive at the office.
The trick is to only write something down once, though.
That way, you have to look harder and harder each day,
and when you do that, you train your brain to
be more in tune, more perceptive, more aligned with all
the good in your life. And when you start taking
(23:17):
notice of the positivity the goodness that is there. You
can share those lists with me if you want to,
and I'll share some of them on the air, because
November Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude. Let me know
how it's going for me. Call into my radio program,
visit me on Facebook or Instagram, write to me Datdelilah
(23:41):
dot com, and I want to tell you this. I
am grateful for you. I am so grateful that I
have a career that provides for my family, where I
get to meet you, talk to you, connect with you,
be a part of your life on the radio and
on this podcast. Thank you for spending time with me.
I love someone. With the lineup
Speaker 4 (24:14):
M
Host
Delilah
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