Episode #126 - Where (You) Can Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before

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Welcome to the podcast where relationships, confidence, and

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determination all converge into

an amazing, heartfelt experience.

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This is Speaking From The Heart.

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Joshua: Welcome back to episode

number 126 of Speaking From The Heart.

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I really have been looking forward to

this episode, because it reminds me

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of something that I once talked about

in episode 15 about conquering fear

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in the realm of an unknown frontier,

and you might remember the fact that

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I talked about Star Trek, one of

the most famous, iconic TV series

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that ran for only three seasons.

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Three seasons!

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On the 1960s version

of the original series.

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I love that show, and it was only because

of my mom introducing me to it that

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allowed me to become a Trekkie for the

rest of my life, but there was something

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that I uncovered within the last several

months about James Doohan, one of the

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characters of the original series that

played Engineer Scotty that had not only

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an iconic nature and an iconic flair

to what Star Trek is all about, but it

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also provided some context to something

that I never even realized about him

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that I want to share with you today that

maybe you didn't even realize when he

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was still alive on this very earth, so

today, we're going to talk about Scotty,

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and be able to have a little bit of gin

and whiskey to go alongside of it, along

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with a little bit of Irish jig dancing.

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No, that's not exactly why I want to

talk about James Doohan; engineer Scotty.

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I actually want to talk about the example

that he set from the situation that I

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viewed, and why it's so important to

look back at our roots to conquer the

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fear that we talked about in episode 15.

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I think that we often don't realize

that people of significant value that

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have graced this earth, whether it's

somebody that is well known like Mr.

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James Doohan, or maybe not so well

known according to some people, but

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even the people that we interact with

on a daily basis, have some incredible

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things that they do that help others

to achieve greatness in their lives,

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and this example that I'm about ready

to talk to you about is something of

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a characteristic of what we should be

aiming towards, but also what we should

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be creating on our day to day lives.

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It was a while ago when I watched this,

but it was on Facebook that I caught this

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clip of James Doohan talking about some

of the opportunities that he had with

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interacting with some of his fans, and one

of them was about a young woman that he

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was able to save her life through a series

of chain letters that went back and forth

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between the young lady and James Doohan.

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It was really about what

the woman was going through,

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which was thoughts of suicide.

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Now, when we talk about the concept

of suicide, we know that on this show,

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we've talked about not only my personal

experience, but also the different people

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that have engaged with the thoughts and

feelings that are associated with it.

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Having that sort of dialogue; having

that ability to overcome the differences

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and the challenges that we have when

it comes to suicide is very challenging

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in itself, but this penpal that James

Doohan picked up while interacting not

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only on the show, but even afterwards

with all the conventions that he traveled

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around to, really had an impact on this

young lady to the point that when they

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continued to work on the progress that

she was making, he realized that he

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was the only source of hope for this

young lady to be able to overcome the

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differences that she had faced throughout

her life, so during this small snippet

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of the interview, James talks about the

importance of having that communication

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back and forth with this young lady and

how it continued to be better and better

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and better, but the one thing that he even

mentioned was that there was a period of

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time that he was super worried about her.

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She didn't write back.

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He didn't know what was exactly happening,

but at the same token, he had faith that

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maybe something will happen down the

road, and then the one day, it did happen.

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He was at a convention, and one of the

places that where all these conventions

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are held, which I can't remember exactly

where it was located at, but a young lady

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approached him and said, "I'm the lady

that you've been pen palling with for

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all those years, and I want you to know

that if it wasn't for you, I would have

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never been able to turn my life around,

let alone be able to be as successful

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as I am now, having the most rewarding

career that I ever thought imaginable."

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That interaction proved that James'

letters were being received and

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were being heard from this lady.

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This lady was able to detail the

fact that because of James Doohan,

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she was able to not end her life.

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Out of the countless celebrities that

I'm sure are outside of Star Trek that

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have received these sort of letters and

probably have had these interactions

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without us even knowing, it's strange

that the power of just written

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communication was able to transform

this young lady's life from a place

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of despair into the most wonderful of

circumstances in which she was able to

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celebrate, which made me start to think.

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Maybe the places that we could boldly

go where we've never gone before

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might be just in their backyard.

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It might be with just the interactions

that we're able to have with someone

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that is struggling, so I really think

it's important to take the example

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of what I just shared about Mr.

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Doohan and talk about what you're

able to do in your own life, to go

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boldly where you've never gone before.

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Now, in episode 15, we talked about

that unknown frontier, and what it means

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to conquer the fear that's associated

with it, but I want to take it one step

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further today, after listening to this

awesome interview that James did, talking

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about this young lady, and it's about

the power of words and what we don't

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realize might be making an impact on

somebody else, because I've seen time

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and time again about people posting

about the importance of being able to

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say what you want to say before it's too

late, and it's usually happening when

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someone is gone from someone else's life.

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Being able to share and express

what we might feel about someone,

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or even something, might be

very dangerous to some, while

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for others, it's second nature.

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Being able to communicate effectively,

which is something that I always work

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on with my clients is truly important

to be able to not only get your point

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across, but it allows you to understand

and create that awesome value that

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you need to have, and knowing that

Josh Smith, your podcast host, always

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looks at things black and white, this

is a very hard concept to swallow.

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It means taking in the granular aspects

of this conversation and trying to

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understand how it applies to all

variety of different circumstances.

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That means my analytical brain is going

a million miles a minute, just trying to

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catch up with all the data that I have

to process, and I imagine for some of

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you, especially with the way that you

process things, you need to be able to

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slow down, take what's happening, and

absorb it for the betterment of not just

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what your relationships are, but being

able to press forward, but I digress.

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Really, it's about overcoming the fear

just by simply opening up can make

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all the difference in someone's life.

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That one small impact that

can make all the difference.

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I know for a fact that if it wasn't for

some people that were able to reach out to

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me to make sure that I was okay four years

ago, I probably would have never been able

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to make it to where I'm at now, being able

to continue to talk to you about important

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personal, professional, and business

related subjects on my podcast, let alone

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help the variety of different people

that I've been able to touch thus far,

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but when we think about where we boldly

have never gone before, we're thinking

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about things that are really challenging.

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We're talking about things that

are absolutely terrifying to do.

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We're talking about the things in which

we should be working on to have that

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unique proposition that we give to

somebody else; to be able to have that

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conversation, when that conversation,

really matters to be able to hold with

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someone else, which we were literally

just talking about in episode 121,

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when we should not be messing around.

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Even with all that said, the captivating

moment of James' interview about this

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young lady and what this interaction

meant to him, really shows that the human

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condition can be alive if we're willing to

work on not just the relationships that we

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foster, but just know that even the words

that we say today can have a meaningful

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impact on someone 15 to 20 years later.

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Now, for those that don't know, I've

also been bullied throughout most of my

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life, up until about my 20s, in which I

finally realized that enough was enough,

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and I stood up for myself, but before

that, I've seen many countless people,

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even throughout my elementary, middle

school, and high school years, put me

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down, push me into lockers, really hurt

me verbally and physically, and yet, many

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of them have either ended up in jail,

have been not doing so well in life, have

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been through tumultuous situations which

I won't even get into, but yet, some of

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them that have gone on to be successful,

realized the error of their ways, and

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have reached out to me to apologize.

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Now, it's funny because I've had at least

three people do this since: 2005

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graduated from high school, and I had

learned that even throughout that time

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period, almost 20 years later, that many

of them have realized the error of their

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ways and what it means because maybe

their kids have gone through something

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or maybe they have been personally

subjected through some ridicule or some

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verbal harassment that has occurred in

their life, but the most interesting

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thing about those three people is that

they continue to work on themselves,

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and I commend them, and if they're even

listening to this podcast at some point,

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I want them to know how proud I am for

them actually reaching out to have the

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courage to apologize, because that is

usually a territory on which nobody

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ever wants to go: tucking their tail

in between their legs and willing to

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apologize, but why are we so afraid of

the things that we've done in the past,

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and yet even worry about what we've

done in the past, to apologize for it?

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Well, I have a theory about that.

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I think that some people hold on to those

feelings because they realize that after

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a long time of having to sit with it,

they have to take some action about it.

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I think about the interview with James

Doohan, talking about this lady and what

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she had gone through, even the suicidal

thoughts of wanting to end her life.

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Imagine having so much pressure in

your life, having so much depression

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occurring that you decided that you

have to take matters into your own

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hands, do the things that even Mr.

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Doohan referenced to her, but

yet at the same time, meet them

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in person and say thank you for

all that you were able to do.

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I think that this pivotal moment, this

emotional exercise, helps us recount the

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importance of not just forgetting where

we've come from, but also remembering

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what we have yet to do on this earth.

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We've talked about on some episodes

the importance of looking back at our

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childhood, the most innocent time of

our lives, and thinking about the ways

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in which we can create value, which,

we even discussed this in the Neverland

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episode with Peter Pan, and all his

magical friends, Tinkerbell for that

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matter, but even with all the fictionality

that's involved with it, the reality

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is that those people, the things that

we become the best versions of, means

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that sometimes we have to look back

at what we've done wrong, be able to

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forgive ourselves, and be able to keep

moving forward, even if we acknowledge

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that for a brief, instantaneous second.

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I don't know what you might be holding

on to today, whether it's of somebody

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that has passed away in your life, maybe

has gone through a lot of problems,

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maybe a lot of circumstances, maybe

a lot of situations for that matter

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that maybe need to be forgiven, but

regardless of what they've done to you

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or what they have done to others, think

about the example that you can set for

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someone else and what they might see

in you as a result of you doing that.

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If you're able to do some

of the things that even Mr.

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Doohan did, even if it was through a

text message today, or even writing a

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traditional letter, which many people

have forgotten how to write a letter,

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it can make such a meaningful impact,

not just on the example that we can set,

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but also the character of our ability

to not only grow and evolve into more

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meaningful individuals, but also serve

a purpose where sometimes when nobody

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is looking, they are looking at you.

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You don't have to be famous.

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You don't have to be well known, or

you don't have to be the all powerful

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authority when it comes to a subject

matter to be able to make a difference.

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Even the smallest thing that hasn't been

looked at for the longest time; maybe

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cleaning the back of the refrigerator,

maybe tidying up the garage when you

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haven't even been asked; heck, even

changing the toilet roll paper in

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the bathroom, can make such a big

difference in somebody's life, but in

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all seriousness, even the small things,

like taking time to talk to someone

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that maybe you wouldn't normally talk

to, can lighten that person's life up.

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I've had plenty of guests,

even on this podcast, that even

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afterwards, I've continued to have

a meaningful relationship with them.

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Some of them have even become my clients

and I've become clients of them, but

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the most important thing to think about

with all the different things that have

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happened in our lives is that we all have

a chance to be forgiven and we have a

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chance to go boldly where we have never

gone before, so while I've talked about

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in episode 15 the importance of addressing

the fear, what I'm really challenging

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you to do today is to address what is

really the underlying surface of why

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you do these things in the first place.

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Are you really living a life of

intentionality, full of value and

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purpose, when you're really working on

not just yourself, but everyone else

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that might matter or might not matter?

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Are you doing things that even when

people aren't not looking at you, you're

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making the difference no matter what?

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We live in a very distracted

society, way beyond what even Mr.

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Doohan had to deal with when he played

the engineer Scotty role on Star

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Trek: The Original Series, but even

if you want to consider that to be

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simpler times, consider the fact that

this could be simpler times for you.

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If you start to break down some of

the simple things that can change

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not just your mindset, not just

your career, not just your business.

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but just make you a well

rounded person overall.

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It doesn't necessarily take money.

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It just takes a small act of kindness;

maybe a 50 to 60 cent postage stamp,

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depending on when you're listening to

this, and even a handwritten note with

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an address stamped envelope to be able

to say thank you for all that you do,

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and hey, if you throw in a $25 Amazon

gift card with it, that's okay too.

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What matters is that it's the thought

that counts, because that one small

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thought can have ramifications of

not only changing someone's life, but

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also saving someone's life as well.

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You never know what your words or your

actions can do, until you actually try,

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and when you mess up, it's okay to try

again, and apologize for messing up.

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We're all human after all.

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Well, at least I haven't pretended to be

a Vulcan yet; full of logic, and making

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sure that humans are not interfering

with my plans, but the truth of the

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matter is, if I could save someone's

life, regardless of whether I'm Vulcan,

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Klingon, or even just a regular human

being, I know that I'm doing my purpose.

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I'm living my value, and that's

the biggest belief that I want

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anybody to know, and that might

be one of my biggest fears yet to

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conquer, along with yours as well.

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Thanks for listening to episode

number 126 of Speaking From The

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Heart, and I look forward to

hearing from your heart, very soon.

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Outro: Thanks for listening.

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For more information about our podcast

and future shows, search for Speaking From

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The Heart to subscribe and be notified

wherever you listen to your podcasts.

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Visit us at www.yourspeakingvoice.biz

for more information about potential

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services that can help you create

the best version of yourself.

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See you next time.