It is time to get solar powered. This is the solar powered podcast. My name is Ryan Hall from loyal hearts coaching, loyal hearts coaching dot com, life and relationship coaching for kings. And over the past few weeks, few episodes, we've been featuring my fellow authors as part of the great pause, blessings and wisdoms from COVID 19.
It's, just really an incredible book project that I'm blessed to be a part of. 25 I'm one of 25 authors who have shared their stories, shared their wisdom, and shared their blessings, as part of this book, and it's coming out in the middle of August. We've got just a few weeks from when we're recording this. We I will definitely be sharing more about how you can get involved with this in due time.
But, of course, we do have another one of my fellow authors here, and boy does he have a story to tell you. His name is Michael Eck. He's a father, grandfather, superhero, coach, and without a doubt, a survivor. And it is my privilege to welcome Michael Eck to the solar powered podcast. Welcome to the program, brother. Hey. Thank you very much for having me, Ryan. I'm happy to be here. No. Pleasure's all mine. Pleasure's all mine.
Well, first question I always ask the first time guess is, who is Michael Eck? Who is Michael Eck? Well, my life purpose is love, but I am, as you mentioned, a a dad of 3 granddaughters and a grandfather of, the common papa of 2 little girls, Lily and Josie, one of my granddaughters. But, I would say that as a superhero coach, it's I find it, like, my purpose to help people accept and acknowledge and activate the power that they have within them to lead heroic lives.
And that could be from, you know, just coaching a softball team, in the in your little town, or it could be, you know, bringing water to a 3rd world country. It could be anything. Basically, just helping people live their best life by tapping into their power and, like I said, living that heroic life. But I'm definitely passionate and, powerful, and, you know, I just I just have a zest for life, I guess. I would've never I would've never tell yes.
Just in the, you know, the 20 minutes that we've been talking here before we roll the door. Yeah. No. And, and just as part of the, as part of the, I guess, the extended accomplishment coaching family that we both belong to, it's really a, you know, it's really a just a brilliant community that so many of us actually so many of us who were involved in this book, are involved with. Yeah. For sure. And, you know, shout out to Elizabeth for bringing everyone together.
Elizabeth and I have known each other, for quite a while now, and I actually, brought her to accomplishment coach into one of the sessions, you know, the Saturday morning sessions. And, you know, she signed it up on the spot, and she has just done amazing and brilliant things since she graduated in 2017. She's really stepped into her own power, and now she's the author of this will be her 3rd book. And, she's a full time powerful coach and doing great things out in the world.
Nope. And and, obviously, all of the so many people from the accomplishment coaching, but just kind of in that space, people that want as, you know, calling heroes, people that wanna make an impact in the in the world in some capacity. And, you know, how do we change our world? We change certainly the way we look at it, but change it in our immediate vicinity by helping people, you know, in in our in our vicinity, and then hopefully that becomes a snowball effect, throughout the world. Exactly.
Exactly. And that's one of the things that I specialize in as a coach is I specialize in supporting I I work with primarily men, as my audience knows, but helping them get out of their heads and into their bodies and trusting their hearts and trusting their intuition, which so many people lack nowadays.
It's just that in almost that that I don't wanna call it emotional intelligence because I'm not really qualified to talk about that, but it's almost, you know, it's almost just, you know, just, like, a way of being that so many people lack nowadays. I agree. And I I I do believe that we're all born with that incredible being that, you know, our true essence, and it's it's through time and that programs us in a sometimes in an opposite way.
And it's it it not everybody has that, opportunity or not everybody, is able to find their way back to their true essence. And I feel a lot of that has to do with a combination of things, whether it's, you know, parents or, teachers or clergy or colleagues or, you know, all of the things, all the associations, the things we're watching, the things we're listening to, because those things help us become who we are if we're if if we're not careful.
I always like to think that, you know, sometimes we have to build a wall around ourselves to protect. We wanna be open and free, but, also, you know, our true essence with is within us, So we have to protect that. You know?
But through a lot of this work, the transformational work that we're doing that we've all that you you and I certainly have been through with accomplishment coaching, but now that we're taking that, some of that knowledge and that skill set out into the world, we're able to help, like, people do the same. Exactly. Exactly. And I can't speak for you, obviously, but that's one of the biggest joys and one of the biggest enjoyments that I get out of the work that I do as a coach.
I say nothing of sharing my story as an author and the podcast and just being able to being able to share myself with the world. And I'm you know, I I have it that you feel similarly. Yeah. For sure. Absolutely. And it's, it gives you purpose, and it helps you wake up in the morning and, you know, going through some of the things I've gone through, which I'm sure we'll talk about.
You know, that's what helped me get through a lot of a lot of it by having some sort of a purpose and waking up every day. And because there were a lot of days I felt like crawling up on the couch and watching Netflix all day. And, you know, instead, I engaged in in life and tried to, be a positive force out in the world. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, what's your story, man? I mean, what's your background? What kinda led you to get into the kind of work that you're that you've gotten into?
Well, I guess, in some ways, I've always been a searcher. When I was 18 and all my friends were in college, and I was certainly on that trajectory as well. Supposed to go to school, you know, get the job, do all the, you know, do all the right things, but I didn't go to school. I decided to hitchhike to California when I was 18. And and I only bring that up because it's a little bit of, I guess, that searching attitude that I had at a young age.
From there, I I did come back from California to Connecticut. It was where I grew up, and I came back and started businesses when I was, at the age of 19. I started a commercial printing company. I had a mailing company. I had a drive through video store back in 1992, a baseball card, comic book store, a greeting card company. And so I had all of these, like, these some little small companies and some other companies that started to grow. When I say grow, it's still small companies.
But, you know, when I was in my late twenties, I had, you know, a 120 to a 150 people working for me, and, you know, it seems like I couldn't do anything wrong. Everything seems to work out for me. But that doesn't always last. And, we've learned from our experiences that I certainly have had, you know, some nice success in life, but I've had epic failures. And, so just my journey.
So in the 90 19 nineties, I was writing some articles for some business magazines and some local organizations started to ask me if I would speak on those, topics that I was writing about. So I became, pretty much a speaker on my own and in a way a coach even though it wasn't coaching wasn't really a big thing back then. But I created my own audio program back in, I think, 1994, maybe 1995.
It was a 1 hour, audio cassette called ABCs of Success, and I went through a to z, and a was for, accountability and action and association and attitude. B is the belief. C is the commitment. D is for dreams. E is for enthusiasm. Master failure. Failure went to success. So I did all these, you know, stories. I mean, if I listen to it now, I'll probably cringe. So I've learned a lot since then.
And, and my story also involves, I'm I'm a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, so that obviously taught me a lot too. Anyway, I lost my way really in the 2000. I was diagnosed with hepatitis c, you know, which is a bleeding, blood to blood virus, and that was from my hemophilia. I'm a hemophiliac, which is a bleeding disease. I was born with that. People don't know what that is. It's basically I don't have a clotting factor in my blood that most people have.
At least I don't have very much of it. So my when I get hit, you know, trauma or or get cut or something like that, I bleed more than other people. So through that, that's caused probably I was supposed to be the boy in the in the fossil bubble kind of thing, but I went in the opposite direction of that. And through that, probably had 175 or so emergency room visits, over 70 admissions in life.
So, I was as being very active, it caused a lot of, you know, trauma and stuff, but I through tree blood transfusions in the 19 sixties, 19 seventies, I did get hepatitis c. And I think I had a little bit of an attitude when I first was diagnosed in the nineties of, you know, ethic. You know, I just you know, a little bit of my passion for life, I think, dwindled a little bit. I would you know, it was the uncertainty and the fear I I feel that I probably had affected me.
Anyway, so I got, I did in, like, 2006, I went on something called interferon riboferrin for a year, which is like a I had to inject myself. It's like a low grade chemo for a year, and I did get rid of that virus. Anyway, kept going through life, doing different things, trying to find my way again after I lost some of my businesses. In 2,000 let's see. 2015, I finally got into accomplishment coaching through my friend, Sarah, Bernier Olin, who's who's an old friend of mine.
And she kept calling me as you know how how how it goes, Ryan. But she kept calling me and rolling me into it. And Oh oh oh, I know how persistent she can be. Oh, yeah. And she's amazing. She's a powerhouse woman herself, and she's amazing. So I finally I finally made a commitment to go through the program. And that year was a year that I was still struggling personally a little bit.
I owned a a martial arts studio at the time, and I remember I I just you know, I learned a lot during that period. Let me tell you. And then I graduated in 2016, but I still own my karate school, so I didn't really get a coaching practice kind of up and up and going. But at the time, I was writing things like that.
And then, you know, what happened was, last year, doing a 4 day workshop in California, I decided I wanna move out there from Connecticut, and that's, that's kinda what started this the journey that we'll probably talk about, into the COVID cancer journey, I guess, we call it. Got it. Got it. So so that was, like, the legit full circle of your Little bit. Of the last, of the last handful of years of your life.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm 54 now, so, you know, I'm no I'm no I'm no youngster, but, and I've lived a a very full, full life for sure. Lots of ups and downs and but I will say, and we'll talk about this, but no matter what was happening in my life, first of all, I wanna take personal responsibility for it. You know, it's a cause and effect kind of thing. You know? And I was at effect a lot of times, instead of being a cause.
And, and I learned that a little bit through, you know, certainly through accomplishment coaching and through some of the training that I've had and that, you know, when we plant certain seeds in life, we're gonna get certain fruit. And when we plant those good seeds, we're gonna get some good fruit. So my life up to this point has been a result of a lot of the choices I've made, and some of the choices I made were not so great choices. So, but through it all, I had a positive attitude.
I knew that I knew for some reason, I always knew that everything was gonna work out. Got it. Got it. Almost like and I can certainly relate to this. Almost like there was something just kind of nagging at you that there's some that that there's something better. There's something bigger. There's something more important out there for you. You just gotta it it may be a it may it may be a brass ring that might be going by kinda quickly, but you gotta grab it. Yeah. For sure.
And, and there's awareness there. Right? So if that brass ring is going by and, you know, you're, you know, you're creating obstacles and blocks to that brass ring, you're never even going to see it. And that's what I get. I definitely you know, probably through drugs and alcohol, other addictions and stuff, I created obstacles and challenges in my life that I was unable to see those opportunities to see.
I wasn't really connected to my source, which, you know, for me, is, you know, kind of universal mind, creative mind, universal truth, just energy. So I was creating a lot of blockage to that. So it's clearing out that blockage and doing a lot of the deep work that's necessary to clear it out so that then we can get back to our purpose and find our way again. Exactly. Exactly. Just to it it it is like a little saying that I have. You gotta get the crap out so the gold can flow.
Yeah. There you go, man. For sure. You know it. Exactly. Exactly. Well, as I mentioned at the outset, you're one of the, one of the fellow authors in this just incredible new book, book project. I know I posted on social media that I believe this book could have the same impact as the chicken soup for the soul series. I mean, I really think it's that. It's, you know, that much of a just a brilliant concept.
And Mhmm. Of course, a lot of credit goes to Liz about that, but there's also 24 other just brilliant, beautiful stories that are in this, that are in this book, and you've got a hell of a story to tell. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. And it's something that, obviously, it's not what I planned. But Well well well well, no nobody plans to get that c word. Yeah. We'll do it. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. And I know some of the authors in the book. I'm really excited to read, you know, the rest of it.
So but so my story, basically, what happened is, you know, I had to deal with cancer during the COVID period. The the yeah. I'd like to have some humor and everything. So the crazy part is that, Stingray possibly saved my life. So when I moved to California in the last weekend of July, the 1st weekend of August was the first time I went out into the Pacific. And as I was coming in from getting pounded by the waves, all of a sudden, I felt something on my foot. I thought it was a shark attack.
I'm gonna be honest with you, Ryan. I thought my leg was getting ripped off, and it hurt like it hurt like hell. So, I've come to find out, and I did not know this, there are stingrays, in the in the ocean Pacific, and they're pretty close to shore. So I must have stepped on one. The the pain is relative to the size of the, like, the stingray or how much venom gets into your foot. So, of course, I think I probably stung by the biggest stingray ever.
And, and, even though it's probably really small, but it really hurt. And what happened was I ended up in the hospital because of my bleeding disease. I had to be careful of swollen with being swollen and any bleeding. So, through this hospital visit, you know, we took care of the the wound and everything, and I got some medicine for my bleeding. But through the visit, it was discovered that I had a small lump under my left armpit. The doctor told me to get that checked out. It was really small.
I wasn't really worried about it. But over the next 2 months, it started to grow. I kept kinda kinda checking on it once in a while. And then I got a little bit concerned, and I went to a general practitioner, found out. He told me to go get it checked out with surgeon. October 15th, the day before my birthday, I was diagnosed specifically with cancer. It's like, awesome. You know? I got cancer for my birthday. And, thank you very much. Happy birthday to me.
But, you know, I still had a positive attitude that everything was gonna be okay. And it's interesting. I just moved to California. I do believe that God had a plan to, for me to heal out there. I really do. So she thought I had lymphoma at first, and then I went to the doctors in early November, and the lymphoma oncologist had the sad look on her face and she's like, I'm so sorry, but you don't have lymphoma. And I'm thinking, well, that's awesome. You know?
But but then she said, but what you do have is, advanced metastatic melanoma, and there's no cure. So I'm like, alright. That's not that's not so good. Anyway, so I ended up in take getting medication for that in December, immunotherapy, and I had a bad reaction to it. Ended up in the hospital for 40 days. And, well, the first the first episode was 26 days, and I got pneumonitis, which is a drug induced pneumonia from the immunotherapy. And what that did is it caused me to be in a coma.
And, from there, you know, I I got healthy again, but I was probably gonna need oxygen for the rest of my life, the doctor said. And then I got out of the hospital for about 2 weeks in January, and then things went sideways again. And I became septic, and I got e coli, infection, and my lungs went again. I was in the hospital for another 11 days. And this is February when the COVID, coronavirus started to to first come out. You know? Right.
Yeah. Right around right around the time that right before things just really hit hard and heavy. Exactly. Exactly. So what happened there is, you know, things were kinda they weren't really sure how much was gonna come to the United States, you know, and if it if it was gonna become a a big thing or certainly it was this was before it became a pandemic.
And and I got out of the hospital, and because of the lung damage, they they they they were they had to do a surgery on my left armpit to take out the large, big growing tumor. And, so I had a I remember I had a I think I had the first surgery was scheduled around originally, it was scheduled around, I believe, Valentine's Day, but then it got pushed off because I was in the hospital again. And then it got pushed off because they were worried about my lungs.
And then all of a sudden, the coronavirus, COVID 19, is basically really starting to spread. Now California, where I live, in the beginning because it was in the West Coast where it was kinda starting, California in at the beginning, it did a pretty good job of quarantining people and, you know, creating some restrictions. So I end up quarantining for, like, 10 weeks in an Airbnb. And during that time, obviously, you know, this tumor is probably growing.
You know, cancer is a cancer that kills people. And, unfortunately, because of the coronavirus, I mean, they didn't they have so immunocompromised. They did not want me in a hospital. So they had and, also, they started to put off some surgeries. Although they could have gotten my surgery through, but more more importantly than that, it was my lungs weren't, you know, they were worried about me coming to a hospital where I could possibly get infected with the coronavirus.
So, you know, it was to be honest with you, it really like the death kind of situation for me for quite a while. So For sure. For sure. Just a lot a lot really, really, really writing on that. You know? And Mhmm. I have read your chapter that is gonna be in the book, and I Mhmm. Say that if you know, once you read this book, you may wanna get some tissues for this because it's, it's, you know, it it it it got me pretty good. It got me pretty good.
But, you know and just, you know, just kind of full disclosure, I know this is audio only, but Mhmm. How do you feel? I mean, you look great. I mean, you've you you look you look like you feel good, man. Well, so, you know, I did get, I did have a surgery about 5 weeks ago, and, one of the things the doctor wanted me to do is, like, get my lungs healthier. So I started to walk and then run a little bit and bike a little bit.
I have been a personal trainer and kickboxing and boxing instructor for a long time, so the physical, being physical you know? And when you're saying how do I feel, I'm talking from a from a kind of a physical well-being standpoint. You know, that was always a big part of my life was being physical. So, you know, when they told me I might be on oxygen the rest of my life, and I mean, I couldn't even, you know, walk a couple of steps. I couldn't walk upstairs without oxygen.
And then slowly but surely, I really started to, just keep working on it. And a lot of that was through meditation and breath work. I worked with a healer in your city that specifically deals with breath work. You know, so I did that's part of the chapter certainly is kind of wellness and, you know, really taking care of yourself. And, I mean, even, you know, through diet and the silo suites, I'm I'm in full transparency. You know? That's a big thing.
But, but, you know, the diet is really important. What we eat is how we feel. And so the day before or the day of the surgery when I was in the hospital, just for fun, I banged out, like, 5 handstand push ups, with my feet up up on on the wall. But, you know, it was and I do that just for fun. So part of the thing I did, Ryan Yeah. Yeah. As one does for fun. Yeah. Alright. I see you now. I see you.
Well, part of the part of the the process that I really engaged in was, you know, creating Cancer Warrior Chronicles online with you know, I'm doing videos and things like that through this entire process.
The reason I did that was really selfishly was was for me to really engage in my recovery and not curl up on a couch and, you know, put myself out there a little bit and spread awareness about, you know, the cancer and the melanoma and also using showing people that you can have a positive attitude through this and showing people that, you know, you can take care of your wellness through this. So, that's what really inspired me.
People people gave me the strength that reached out to me and were praying for me and things like that. So that was a huge part of it for me. And throughout the whole COVID process as I was quarantining, I was just trying to take care of myself. And, you know, so that that was a that was a big part of it. So I feel really good right now. It's been a huge, you know, a a long journey, and I still have a long way to go.
And, you know, I will get scanned in a month to hopefully be the cancer will be, as they call it, NED, which is no evidence of disease. It's they say it can't be cured, this this kind of cancer, but, you know, I have a lot of faith. I talk about faith over fear a lot, and I have a lot of faith that everything's gonna be, be okay. You know? Before I went into the coma, I did a video about, you know, there's a purpose for me, and I'm not my job is not done.
So I'm here to, you know and that helps you wake up every day now and be a a better man because there's certainly times in my life where I was not the man that I that I that I that I want to be. So, this gives me an opportunity to also make some some wrongs right as well. Oh, well, it's a it's a powerful testimony. Thank you. You know, I just full disclosure here. Many of my audience knows this, but my sister went through, like, a similar situation, in the spring of 2019.
She was diagnosed with stage 3 throat cancer, at a a very curable cancer, but still that word that word. And one of the you know, I I truly believe I mean, and don't get me wrong. Cancer I mean, the the treatments kicked her ass. I mean, they absolutely beat her silly, but she got through it. And I firmly believe that she got through it because it wasn't just her and the disease. It was everybody praying for everybody pulling for the support. Even me, I live a 1000 miles away.
I felt helpless most of the time, but just to be able to to be able to kinda lend that energy to that. So my question to you with that, after that reflection is how much of what you were able to do in your recovery and like you just said, it's in process. But how much were you able to, like, how much do you credit your recovery to, like, the people in your life, to the support, to the, you know, to the team, to the army that you were able to build? I would say it's a it's a huge part of it.
I mean, as you know, in coaching, we like to set up a lot of support systems and structures, and that really is what I was thinking about was, you know, through different through different parts of my life, I've met a lot of people. So family, friends, people in recovery, coaching, martial arts. I've been an actor, so the people in the theater community. So I have all of these different, kind of communities.
And by putting it out there on social media where I have, you know, people that I'm friends with or followers and things like that, there's this incredible outpouring of support. And it I believe that with the my my I'm sorry. Mind body connection, that feeling good has an effect on our physical health. So feeling good from people reaching out and encouraging me, supporting me, praying for me, visiting me in the hospital, that's the one thing.
I was brand new in California because but because I had really dove into the recovery community out there, you know, I had visitors at my hospital every big single day. I mean, the nurses I I didn't even live there, and the nurses were were shocked and like, they had never seen anything like this, you know, even in the ICU. And when I got out of the ICU, I remember being there on Christmas and, you know, 3 friends coming in and singing, Felipe, the ukulele, and it was just beautiful.
I mean, there are so many moments when through the being in the hospital that, were I mean, it breaks me to tears because it was like, you know, the support from these people are were incredible. And the community in Connecticut, the outpouring, and then, you know, people coming out to visit me even from Connecticut. Yeah. Obviously, my children came out.
That's a big part of my story is, you know, when I came when I was getting put into the in this coma, 2 of my kids were on an airplane, and I didn't know if I was ever gonna see them again. And then, you know, being able to come out of that and then seeing my 3 daughters there was amazing. And then, you know, my grandkids and my daughter came back out. My, youngest daughter came back out. My middle daughter came back out. And they have you know, which is in my chapter.
They the 3 of them had their own journeys throughout this COVID process as well as you as you read. Yep. So Yep. And, that's definitely, you know, this is definitely once this book comes out, your chapter is definitely a much read. I I I yeah. I gotta say. I gotta say.
You know, one of the things that, you know, one of the things that I'm take that I'm taking away from this from not only reading your chapter, but also during this conversation is that mindset is just crucial to being able to overcome, you know, to be able to overcome big obstacles. I mean, I mean, you you know it on several different levels through addiction recovery, through, you know, through, you know, your various health problems and through this cancer stuff.
I mean, how important is it to just as, as, as David Goggins, the the great author, once, wrote many times in his book, how important is it to just call us your mind to be able to get through all of this stuff to be able to get to the other side? Yeah. I I feel that's huge, and I I do believe that, you know, we're we're born with that gift. I think some people like, oh, you know, you're just you know, you're happy go lucky or, you know, you just think positive all the time.
And I believe we're all born with that. But as I said earlier, I think we're conditioned at times to different things to lose that. And then, you know, my point is that I I believe that we all have access to that. But, yes, I mean, it's it's it's it's huge. The second time I was in the hospital, they were going to, intubate intubate me again, you know, which would put me, you know, into an induced coma again. And I remember thinking, you know, I I gotta do something about this on my own.
And I went to a 3 hour meditation just really focused and working on my breath, my lungs and my breath work. And all of a sudden, you saw my oxygen levels, you know, just incredibly, you know, improve through that 3 like, I mean, it was it's scientific. You just look at the look at the numbers, and I'm sitting there. I'm meditating. I'm breathing. I'm meditating. I'm breathing. 3 hours of just focus using my mind my my mindset. And, you know, that just totally changed things for me. You know?
Listen. I also say that my mindset when I was making some bad decisions in my life, and as I was saying earlier, you know, creating obstacles and putting the blockage for my source, that that probably that possibly caused the cancer as well. You know, I don't you know, cancer is a disease, which means, you know, disease, you know, being, you know, not at ease in some capacity.
I mean, that's a tough pill to swallow for myself and probably for a lot of other people, but that's just the way I feel. I'm not trying to put that on anyone else. But I do believe that because of that, we can also reverse it as well. So what I did was through mindset and kind of eastern practices combined with the western medicine of the things that I really needed, I believe that all saved my life.
I, 100%, feel that between the supportive people, the prayers, and then all of the work that I did, you know, on myself and, obviously, the great care that I had at University of California San Diego that, you know, all of those things combined saved my life. Incredible.
Just just really, just really an incredible testimony to the power of not just the power of positivity, but the power of just asking for help, pressing f one because when when, you know, so many of us get into tight situations, even situations that are of our own doing, We get into tight situations, and we have no idea how to get through it.
But so often pride gets in our way of actually asking for help, actually asking for that support that you need, and that's a really powerful testimony to you just to, you know, to say, hey. I need help. I can't get through this alone. Yeah. And that's a great point. Right? I mean and I probably learned that through asking for help for my, addiction and alcoholism because, you know, I was circling the drain pretty fast.
And, you know, I used to be a guy like a lot of people where, you know, you find yourself in a in a rut and somebody comes over and, offers you a hand up, you know, you say instead, you know, no. Give me another shovel or, you know, bring it back. I'll I'll dig deeper, you know, for myself. And, you know, people are like, hey. I'm trying to help you up out of this rut, out of this, you know, the gutter that you're in.
But, it's it's you know, a lot of times, we have to find it within ourselves to ask for that help. And because I probably learned that, like I said, through, you know, addiction recovery, things like that, Through this process, I was able to ask for help as well, and that and that was part of me posting on, you know, Facebook and Instagram, you know, videos of my healing process. That's part of asking for help in getting that support.
I was talking to somebody the other day that is a cancer survivor, breast cancer survivor, and, you know, she was talking to me about, you know, watching my journey and how she kept it to herself the whole time. And, you know, she realized watching my journey, like, wow. You know, she never thought of that. She thought she needed to keep it to her stuff. And, you know, one thing I would say is, like, well, where's the power there?
Like, what what what purpose does that serve by keeping it to yourself? You're it's like you're you're, it's like you're isolating. Right? And no matter when we isolate in in usually, no matter what kind of thing, you know, that's usually it doesn't usually work out that well. You know what I mean? So, yeah, asking for help, Ryan, I think it's a huge part of, helping anybody out of anything. You know? Just think you would think of yourself in that hole. You know?
Somebody comes down and they offer a hand, you know, take that hand and, let them help you. Indeed. Indeed. It's like the it's like the it it it's like the great, it it's like the great story. I think it originated in in AA, but I know it was on, I I know it was a really beautiful scene from The West Wing, from a from an episode of The West Wing of The Guy in the Hole. Mhmm. Familiar with that story? Not really. No. I I want you to start, but yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, it starts off a priest walks by. There's a guy in the hole. A priest walks by. He's like, father, can you help me out? The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole, and moves on. Yeah. But then his friend walks by and says, Joe, I'm down in the hole. Can you help me out? And then the guy climbs down in the hole with him. And then his friend is like, are you stupid? Now we're both in the hole.
And then Joe says, well, I've been down here before, and I know how to get out. Yeah. That's awesome. Beautiful. Yeah. And that's that's what it's all about. That's all and especially in recovery, I mean, that's what it's all about is when they talk about the 1st step of helping, you know, helping another alcoholic, you know, get sober. So Totally. Totally. Yeah. Man, we could sit here and talk about this all time. Your story is just incredibly compelling. And Thank you. Thank you.
It's good that I'm I'm happy to be on this on your, podcast, man. I'm I'm, excited to to listen to some of the other episodes that I have with a couple and, and then get that book out there. All of us follow. Absolutely. Before we wrap up, is there one little, like, one little nugget that you'd like to leave with our listeners that has been your biggest takeaway from your journey in this, during this pandemic, during this COVID 19 pandemic?
Sure. I would say that when it seems like the world is falling apart, that, there are always opportunities to be of service, to be present in life. And just overall, you know, it gives you opportunity to plan that this is this is not the end. You know? You can be positive in any situation and to keep looking at the world in the way that you want to see it, and it will become clearer and clearer, on the life that you know, you'll you'll start living a life that you dream about. You really will.
Doesn't matter if there's a pandemic going on. There are opportunities, for happiness, and for, you know, spiritual awakenings and all of those great things. So just be present to it, and, you know, don't get too caught up in the negativity. You can find negativity anywhere. You gotta find that positivity within yourself. Indeed. Indeed. It's been a real privilege, my friend. How can people find you online?
I would say, michaelrobertech.com is a site that is kind of under construction, but it it'll be done, very soon. But, then also, you can always, email me, michael at michaelrobertx.com. Got it. And we'll include that information in the show notes below. Awesome. Yeah. It's been a real privilege, my friend. Thank you so much for sharing your story, and just keep up the good fight, brother. Thank you, Ryan. Appreciate you having me. No. My pleasure.
And that'll just about do it for this episode of the solar powered podcast, the presentation of Royal Hearts Coaching. For more information, you can just go to royal hearts coaching.com, my soon to be redesigned website, by the way, or you can just follow me on social media at Ryan Hall Writes on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or you can just shoot me a good old fashioned email at [email protected]. Thank you so much for listening.
Until we meet again, this is Ryan saying so long for now. Go get solar powered. I love you all and go wash your hands and wear a mask.