0:40

Welcome to another live episode. I am your host, w I z

0:43

e, and I'm excited for my next guest. She has an amazing

0:47

story. I'm just let's get her on the show. Welcome to the

0:50

show, Danielle Matthews. Let me get you in. Hold

0:54

on. There we go. Hey there. Thanks for having

0:57

me on. Oh, no. Thank you for being a guest. It's it's my

1:01

pleasure. Like I said, you have an amazing story, So I'm excited for you to

1:05

share it with everyone. Give me one

1:08

second. Hold on. Alright. I had to restart my

1:12

computer for some reason earlier. It was giving me issues with, the camera and

1:16

everything. But Mhmm. Alright. So Can can

1:20

you share with us the moment when, because for people who don't know, you you

1:23

overcame something very, Very serious. So tell us a little

1:27

something about about yourself. Well, if we just jump

1:31

right into the heart of it, I was hit by a drunk driver when I

1:34

was, 23, that car

1:38

accident caused me to have an injury to my brain that just pulled me from

1:41

life. So life I that I had known, pretty much stopped.

1:45

I was having really hard times concentrating. I

1:49

couldn't focus for more than 10 minutes. I was dealing with really severe

1:52

migraines, sensitivity to noise and light that,

1:57

was unbelievable. I mean, if you think about just natural light,

2:01

coming into the windows, like, you know, I have Now I'm sitting in a sunroom,

2:05

but that used to feel like somebody was shining a flashlight in my eye. It

2:09

felt so intense, And that was the same with noise. Everything was

2:12

coming in at the same level, and my brain couldn't kind of siphon out and

2:15

say pay attention to this, don't pay attention to that. So I found

2:19

myself, unable to work and having to

2:23

move back in with my family to focus fully on trying to get myself healthy.

2:26

And, the medical community, the neurologist that I was

2:30

seeing, didn't really have a lot of options with my type of injury. They

2:33

said I had a Mild traumatic brain injury, which

2:37

I've ever since the diagnosis, I've always kind of laughed at because I

2:41

thought, That's an oxymoron. How can

2:45

this thing be mild? But on the scale of brain

2:49

injury, I mean, I was fortunate in that I didn't have a bleed. I wasn't

2:52

having to relearn how to talk or walk, but I was still having

2:55

such severe issues that it was, you know, stopping me from living life. And,

3:00

what ensued was transformative. I mean, it brought me to my

3:04

knees in a lot of ways. Severe depression and anxiety. I

3:07

mean, I I lost the person that I thought I was. And, you know, my

3:11

ability to kinda show up in the world and all the things My ego mind,

3:14

you know, would tell you is is who Danielle is, and, I really started

3:18

to question. You know, why am I here? And what is the purpose of all

3:21

of this? And, Why is this happening? And at my

3:25

1 year appointment with my doctor, you know, he told me this would be my

3:28

new normal. He actually gave me kind of the the Sentencing, if you will. You

3:31

said, Danielle, you know, your body's done the healing it's gonna do from this type

3:35

of injury. And, you know, this is just your new normal, and you need to

3:38

shape your life around your symptoms. So can can you share that

3:42

moment when you made the decision to defy what your what your doctor was

3:46

telling you and and pursue your own path to recovery? Like,

3:50

What inside you told you that what he was telling you wasn't correct?

3:54

I, you know, I call it my higher self. People have different names for it,

3:57

but For me, it was like something within me

4:01

literally said, he's fired. You're gonna

4:04

get well. And I like, I didn't verbalize it. Like, I wish I

4:08

had, but I didn't verbalize it. I just you know, my I went in

4:12

to try to, like, It convinced him that, like, he was wrong, which is like

4:15

a ridiculous thing for a patient to have to do, but I I had a

4:18

book in my bag at the time that was called, The Brain That Changes

4:21

Itself. And it was a book all about neuroplasticity. And

4:25

my background is biology. I love research, and this book

4:29

well written. I mean, anyone can read it. It's it's like Good stories, but each

4:32

chapter was different research on someone that had had crazy brain trauma

4:36

and had turned around to, like, fully kind of get back to normal

4:40

health and normal operation, like, be able to operate normally in

4:44

life. And I said to him, like, what about neuroplasticity? And

4:47

his response to me was, that is a theory. It is not

4:51

proven. And with that response,

4:55

I was like, okay. We're done here. Because here I

4:58

am reading a book, clearly more, on the cutting edge of what

5:02

this doctor of mine knows, and I just said, you know, I'm gonna figure out

5:05

a way. I will say even though I was of the

5:09

mind, I'm going to get healthy. I'm I know that I'm going to get better

5:13

from this. His kind of dose of reality that he gave me

5:16

that day did bring me, honestly, to my knees

5:20

emotionally because I thought, well, if this isn't ending

5:24

Soon, and if I don't have the answer and I don't have the solution,

5:28

what can I do in the interim until that happens or until

5:32

I heal because the depression, the anxiety, I mean, it

5:35

was just it was awful? You know? I was having panic attacks where

5:39

I'd soak my shirt from crying so much. And I'd

5:43

had nothing to look forward to in my life. You know, in your twenties, I'm

5:46

mid twenties, early to mid twenties, all of my friends were

5:50

off you know, my group of friends were going. They were getting PhDs. They were

5:54

becoming doctors. They were getting master's degrees.

5:58

And here I was kinda sitting on the sidelines of life and having

6:02

no real clarity on would I ever be able to do something like that again

6:06

And, you know, to what level am I going to be able to function in

6:08

the world again? And so any thought of the future made me very

6:12

anxious. And honestly, any thought about my past just made

6:16

me depressed because it was just slipping further and further and further

6:20

away. So how did the shift in in

6:24

mindset for you play A, a a crucial role in the journey of,

6:28

post traumatic growth. And what were some key mindset shifts that

6:32

propelled you forward? Yeah. It was around this time.

6:35

So as I was just kinda coming to grips with, okay, this emotional

6:39

state is not good. And first, I just had to ask myself, like, are

6:43

you gonna stay? Like, are you gonna stay on this planet? Are you gonna make

6:46

this work? And, You know, I have the desire to

6:49

keep living, and I, I mean, I contemplated, which is an intense space

6:53

to be. But once I made

6:57

that decision, it was like, alright. Well, how how are we gonna get through this?

7:00

You know? And to me, I look at life as a game. And I

7:04

thought, alright. There's been new rules that have been put on my life, new rules

7:08

in the game. How can I, though, operate within these new

7:11

rules to still win? And to me, winning was being happy,

7:16

and, that was really all I was looking for.

7:19

So I started to think about what Can I do rather than what

7:23

can't I do? And it's a subtle shift, but a big shift because

7:27

my my time had been previously you know, this isn't fair. I wanna be able

7:30

to Snowboard again. I wanna be able to earn money again. I wanna be able

7:33

to hang out with my friends, and I kept thinking about the things I couldn't

7:36

do. And when I pivoted and I said, okay. Well, What could make me

7:40

happy right now in this moment? Let's not think about the future or the past.

7:43

Let's be in the present, and what could we do that could bring

7:47

joy. And, you know, every spiritual practice, it talks

7:50

about being present, that that is the essence of it. And I

7:54

was forced out of necessity into the present moment, and this is where it was,

7:58

like, kind of the single point focus opened up everything for me.

8:02

And in doing that and being able to focus fully on, okay, I'm

8:06

here right now. What could I do with people in front of me? Or, you

8:09

know, maybe I can go for a walk with the dog or, You know, cook

8:13

something, get creative. I found these things that I could do,

8:17

and I found myself, you know, shifting emotionally

8:20

into a much higher frequency, you know, where I was feeling joy

8:24

again. I was feeling happy. I was expressing gratitude to all the beautiful

8:28

things that I now had the time and was able to do.

8:32

So it's something that you know, it was an internal

8:35

switch, And I don't think anyone can do this switch for

8:39

you. Life, I think, it presents you

8:43

challenges and obstacles Because it's kind of pushing you and pressing you

8:46

to go inward to say, okay, what's in here

8:50

that I'm not paying attention to? And it's a chance For some beautiful things to

8:54

come out, like, I learned a lot about myself. The resiliency

8:58

I have, you know, the the abilities that I, you know, kinda

9:02

had locked away. I never thought of myself as a creative person. Right? I was

9:05

more left brained, like the analytical biologist. But here I was

9:09

having a chance To draw and to, you know, get creative in the kitchen.

9:13

And it was totally different than any, you know, version of

9:16

Danielle that had been in existence up to that point.

9:21

But, you know, I I I wrote an ebook where I share an equation that

9:25

it wasn't so clear in the moment, but looking back, You know,

9:29

it's kind of like the summary of this time for me and what I now

9:32

apply to everything in life, and that equation is this. You have

9:36

the external world Plus your internal

9:39

response, that equals your reality.

9:44

And The external world, so much of it, we don't have

9:48

control over. It showed up in this moment as it is. And so if we

9:51

are resisting it, if we are refusing to accept it, if we're saying

9:55

it's not fair, this shouldn't have happened, this shouldn't have been done to me, all

9:59

we're doing is butting our heads up against a reality that's already right in front

10:02

of us. And if that is your internal reaction,

10:06

well, the reality you're creating is going to be miserable. Mhmm.

10:09

So instead, If you switch your internal response to

10:13

say, okay. It's not that I accept this. Like, I don't condone the drunk

10:17

driver that hit me. I'm not okay with the fact that he hit me, but

10:20

it happened. So so if I just say, alright. Here's

10:24

the reality. You know? I've got a brain injury. I've gotta figure out how to

10:27

make my life one that's worth living. That internal

10:31

switch shifted my reality entirely, and what was beautiful is

10:35

it then started to impact the people around me. Because as I started to be

10:39

okay, Parents started to be okay. You know? Friends were like, oh

10:42

my gosh. It's gonna come out of this okay. Even though physically, I still had

10:46

all the issues, emotionally, I was making, You know,

10:50

that that inching back towards, you know, the Danielle, the vibrant happy person

10:53

that I had been prior to the accident. Wow. Yeah. And

11:01

And I and I could kinda sorta relate. So when I was 31,

11:05

my wife passed away in a car accident. Mhmm. And I

11:11

I was I was devastated, and then it was, like, 1

11:14

1 year after another, I reunited with my dad only to lose him.

11:18

Oh, wow. Lost 2 brothers, a aunt and uncle that helped raise

11:22

me, and I was angry. I was angry. I was upset. I

11:26

felt like, why me? Why is this to me me. And then and I

11:29

didn't look at the aspect of of listen. These

11:33

this is life. These are things you couldn't control. These are things

11:37

that just they hap this is life. This is what happens.

11:40

Yeah. And so when when when that internal switch, like you

11:44

said, came to realize, like, why are you so angry?

11:48

Like, you had no control over any of these things,

11:52

And yet you're so angry and and and

11:56

something like you need to let it go. You need to move on. You

11:59

need to Find your path and find your way. And

12:03

and I've been blessed to to find my podcast, find my purpose,

12:06

and and explore. And like you, I didn't consider myself a

12:10

creative person. Mhmm. And then I started podcasting, and I started

12:14

doing started graphic design, started doing all these different things

12:18

Because I found myself. It was

12:22

me really allowing myself to

12:27

To love again. Allow myself to really stop being angry. Allow myself

12:31

to to get back to where I was

12:35

at when I was with my wife, which was on the path of self

12:38

development and growth. And and I kinda let all that go

12:42

A way to this to waste to decide when I was angry, you know,

12:46

and I was dealing with the with my grief and dealing with

12:49

everything I was going through. So I kinda

12:53

understand when you say that switch inside of you turns on, and and it it's

12:57

just And since it's it's since I've switched the flip when

13:01

since I flipped the switch, it's it's it's night and

13:05

day. Like, The way I feel about everything, the way I look at

13:08

life, how much I appreciate things more, and how much grateful how much more

13:12

grateful I am for the things that I do have, and And they

13:16

and, I guess, I wouldn't want anyone to experience what I went

13:20

through, but it's made me who I am.

13:24

Mhmm. And I so I don't so someone asked me, do I regret anything?

13:27

Like, no. Everything that's happened to me happened for a reason.

13:31

It it it was the it was it was meant for me for it to

13:34

happen, and and thank God I've I've been

13:38

strong enough to overcome and and rebound and and Get

13:41

back to on that path to helping myself

13:45

and really helping other people with sharing my story and having people

13:49

come and share your story like yourself because you never know who needs to hear

13:52

this. You never know who needs to sit realize that, listen. Look.

13:56

She's overcame being hit by a drunk driver,

14:00

Had to get back to trying to get back to something what you

14:03

saw you thought was normal. I couldn't I can't imagine going through

14:11

such a thing. And so If someone can

14:15

listen to this story and or see this episode and

14:18

and look and look at that and be like, man, If they can overcome what

14:22

they overcame and and and then I can

14:26

do it. Then I'm able to do it. And So that's why I love

14:29

doing my podcast, and that's why I love having guests on that to have

14:33

inspiring stories because, again, you never know who's out there listening.

14:37

No. You never do. And isn't it beautiful that if all those things

14:41

hadn't happened in your life and in my life, like, we wouldn't be here.

14:45

It's, You know, it's I

14:48

I truly believe that we are given

14:52

gifts From the divine, whether your belief is in God, whether

14:56

your word for it is the universe, I call it the divine. I

14:59

believe that there are gifts put in front of us. The

15:03

passing of your loved ones, my car accident. I view these things

15:06

as gifts. And With that lens, you kind

15:10

of look at it differently. Well, why am I being presented with this? You

15:14

know? What is this a gift for? What is it helping me learn?

15:19

What is it helping me see? You know? Who is it helping me to become?

15:21

And when you start to look at life and and you know, I think it's

15:25

When we go to the gym, we understand it. We always lift up, you know,

15:29

heavier and heavier weight. Why? Because it breaks us down,

15:32

And then we build stronger. Our muscle gets stronger.

15:36

And I think in life, we forget that it's actually the

15:39

difficulties. It's the hard times. It's The intense moments

15:43

that break us down mentally, emotionally, spiritually, that

15:47

actually are what then build us up to be stronger in all of those

15:51

areas. And I don't know about you, but I don't wanna be in a

15:54

world that's a bunch of weak people. I don't wanna be

15:58

myself weak in those areas. I wanna be strong mentally,

16:01

emotionally, spiritually so that I can lead others, so that I can

16:05

have a larger perspective on life. I mean, I never would have

16:09

questioned why I'm here and what's my purpose. Like, those words never would have

16:13

come out of me if I hadn't had my accident, And I hadn't really

16:17

contemplated, like, what is this precious life that we have?

16:21

You know? What is my spirit doing here?

16:24

And what this, you know, manifestation of Danielle, what is she

16:28

supposed to be doing with this life? And I think we so

16:31

easily can get distracted by this external world. There's

16:35

so many things for our mind to go Get, you know, plugged

16:39

into or numbed out by whether it's, you know, alcohol or drugs or

16:42

conversations or video games or the news or Whatever. It's all

16:46

these external distractions that are stopping us from having these really

16:50

reflective moments. And the chance to actually hear the

16:53

inner guidance To to contemplate the things in the way that you have

16:57

and I have, why am I so angry? And is it possible to to

17:01

release this anger because it's making me miserable? You know, I had

17:05

similar anger, and it's, I

17:08

think beautiful when we can start to help other people see. Like,

17:12

this is why I Talk about post traumatic growth. You're you're a beautiful example

17:16

of the same thing, where the trauma you went through

17:19

actually opened you up to a bigger purpose, to

17:23

more knowledge of your own self about this life. And I

17:27

believe that we need to help other people kind of have the same, like,

17:31

Rise to the occasion that's being offered, you know, because a lot of people when

17:35

there's tragedy, and I'm sure you had this around you, I feel so bad for

17:38

you. It's So terrible what's happened. And, you know, they kinda they

17:42

think they're being helpful. For me, those thing

17:46

those comments were not helpful. And and and

17:50

it's not their fault. It's not their fault. It's not their fault.

17:53

PBS. People are, oh, Michael.

17:57

And and after a while, you get you're like Yes. You're like,

18:02

Yeah. You're like, you you be a part of you're like, Alright. It's it's it's

18:05

like, okay. I understand. Mhmm. I get

18:09

it. But sometimes it's just it's just wears on you.

18:13

And so and and and, again, it's not there for they're not they don't

18:16

mean it to, like, hurt you or anything like

18:20

that. It's just that you eventually just get tired of it. You just

18:23

get tired of hearing oh, and and because

18:27

then after a while, you start start thinking people like

18:31

They they start looking at you as you're weak or

18:35

or, oh, he's gonna just be. So for

18:39

me, it was like, yes. I understood why people were like that,

18:43

but it was me. I had to deal with what I was dealing with eternal

18:47

in internally and and really reflect on and,

18:50

like, sit down and just look at my life. I'm like, listen.

18:54

Yes. You've suffered a lot of loss,

18:58

you're still here. And what they would want for you to

19:02

just continue to continue on this path, now it

19:05

it's But it's now with everything I've gone through and

19:09

everything I've experienced. I know my

19:13

my purpose. I know I'm here to help people with my podcast and

19:17

show them that regardless of what you've been through in your life,

19:22

there is hope. There there's ways to turn your life around

19:26

and and make it better. But it it

19:30

it's with you. It it it reside it resides within you. It's it's

19:34

how you look at life. It's It's huge

19:37

the choices you make, whether to be happy

19:41

or angry or upset, it's it's those choices

19:45

that really make an impact. And and I and I've learned that in the past

19:49

few years with from from everything I have experience

19:53

and And with my podcasting journey, because

19:56

I've gotten to speak to so many different people and learn

20:00

and hear so many different experiences and realize that we

20:04

are we all have a story. We all have things in

20:08

our lives that have impacted us, But it's how

20:11

we react and how we bounce back. And I posted something early

20:15

about I posted a a thread earlier about how when we

20:19

were children, when we fell down, we always got back

20:23

up. Why is it as adults

20:26

When we fall down, we tend to quit.

20:30

Mhmm. And and and it it just and it just hit me a lot. It

20:34

was just like because When you're a kid, you don't think about it. You just

20:37

get back up. But as an adult, you start

20:41

to. You you think about, like,

20:45

a baby that's learning how to walk. How many times fall down?

20:48

And it is never a thought in their mind to give up trying to

20:52

walk. Yeah. It is just this inner drive to,

20:56

you know, want to wanna grow and wanna figure it out. And I agree.

21:00

I think as we get older, our mind because because our mind

21:03

is it's it gets captured by fear,

21:07

and we're not programmed to to to realize, no. You

21:11

have to fall down in order to learn. Like, if the baby never fell, the

21:14

baby would never figure out how to actually walk. And I'm sure you failed

21:18

at your podcast. I'm sure you failed at a number of things, You

21:22

know, on this journey and it's like you have to. Any successful person will tell

21:25

you that that's what occurred. You know, you think about the light bulb. Like, how

21:29

many failed attempts were there at the light bulb before you got the actual light

21:32

bulb? You know? You gotta keep going. And

21:36

I, for 1, believe we should celebrate these things. You know? For

21:40

when you're watching someone going through a challenging time, Say,

21:43

wow. Like, this is a chance that you're gonna be growing. Like, this is this

21:47

is lesson time. Like, it's test day for you. Like, you're learning something new about

21:51

self and about life, and I'm so excited to watch you grow through this

21:54

experience. You know? That's what we can do for other people. And then for

21:58

ourselves, we can adopt the same mentality. When we're going through tough things, we

22:02

can say to ourselves, okay. What is this challenge

22:06

making possible? What lesson am I supposed to learn? If this is actually a gift

22:09

from the divine, you know, what is this gift? What is it

22:13

giving me? And in that way, you just it's a it's a

22:17

slight change in perspective, but you'll become like that baby where it's like, alright. I'm

22:20

getting knocked down, but I'm getting back up, and I'm gonna learn

22:24

Whatever I was supposed to learn because I have found I don't know about you,

22:28

but I have found that life will continue to serve you

22:31

the same lesson Again and again, and it will get louder and

22:35

louder and louder until you actually solve it, until you

22:38

actually learn what you were supposed to learn. Otherwise, you know, you're

22:42

just gonna keep banging your head against the wall. But the moment you go,

22:46

okay. Like, you know, Let me look at this through

22:49

a different lens. Let me try and understand what could I be learning through all

22:53

of this stuff. Life is not punishing me. Life is not, you know, this

22:56

terrible thing. Was trying to be a teacher for me, and I'm

23:00

just, you know, being a bad student. I I guess a lot of us are being all bad Bad students because we're

23:08

not we're not learning from these lessons, and a lot of us are repeating the

23:11

same mistakes over and over and over again.

23:15

And and that's one thing that I've

23:19

come to okay. So I've I've

23:23

come to the fact that it I don't yes. It's a

23:26

failure. But in my mind, I'm I'm more looking

23:30

at it more now. Alright. It's a lesson learned. So do

23:34

I now I cannot repeat this failure because I've

23:37

already experienced it. So what do I do

23:41

now Not to repeat the same thing. Where do I have to

23:45

pivot now in order for it not to be the same

23:48

lesson learned? Exactly. Exactly.

23:52

You know, the quality of your life is, is based on the quality of your

23:56

questions. It's one thing that I have learned. And when we start asking

23:59

ourselves different questions about the reality that's in front of us, the

24:03

way things are playing out, it will cause us to to draw on

24:07

different answers. You know? And, honestly, the person you are today probably

24:10

can't solve some of the challenges that get tossed in front of you. You have

24:13

to grow into the person that that can. And that takes time, and you

24:17

gotta give yourself grace. And you have to realize it doesn't happen overnight. And

24:20

emotional growth, you know, It requires sometimes

24:24

support from from external people, from professionals. You know? I

24:28

went to support groups because Talking to other people that had brain

24:32

injury, I found just really relieving because they

24:35

understood it on a level that I didn't have to explain it. Nope. Everyone

24:39

that was around me tried to understand, but they didn't understand. I could talk to

24:43

somebody with a brain injury, and we could laugh about the ridiculous things that we

24:46

would do. You know? But other people, it might make them sad to know that

24:49

we were having those struggles. But for us, it's like, it's comical that, like, we're

24:53

a mess so much we leave the gas on, you know, and almost, like, I

24:56

have big problems in the house because we have to start them on. Right? But

24:59

we're able to laugh about it, because we just we just forgot.

25:03

You know, and then problem solve. Help each other figure out. Like, okay. Well, what

25:06

do you do so you make sure when you're cooking that you don't forget to

25:09

turn off the gas? You know? Like, oh, set a timer or or do this

25:12

or do that. Like, just little things that we could help each other with. And,

25:16

like, this human journey is not meant to be done alone. You know, we

25:19

are all connected. We're we're meant to support one another. We're meant to be there

25:23

for one another. I don't believe the answers are in the external

25:27

world, but I believe it's support. I believe all answers

25:30

come internally, and you're gonna get the inner guidance that you need when you start

25:34

asking the right questions. But sometimes you need support from a friend,

25:38

from a professional, for somebody that gets it, and it's okay to

25:41

ask for help. I I had a hard time, you know, when I was going

25:45

through my brain injury because I've always been, You know, top at

25:49

sports, top at school, and so I thought, oh, I'll I can do this myself.

25:53

I've got this. Like, I'll push through. And, You know, that I was that way

25:56

for, like, a year until finally, it's like life kind of broke me enough to

26:00

go, Danielle, there's gotta be professional out there. You know? There's gotta be other people

26:03

out there. And, why don't you seek seek them and seek some help and

26:07

seek some support? And and I'm so glad you

26:11

did because, You're here now, and you're you're

26:15

spreading a wonderful message. You're showing people, like,

26:18

listen. Look at me. I I went

26:22

had some horrible stuff with brain trap trauma,

26:25

and and look at you now. You're you're here

26:30

On a podcast, it's telling your story and and

26:34

proving that doctor wrong and and showing him that And, Shona, my

26:38

listen. I I'm not I'm not gonna limit myself to your beliefs,

26:42

and that's what it was. It was you wasn't gonna allow his beliefs

26:46

And what he saw affect what you were gonna do. You saw,

26:50

no. I'm gonna get back to to being Danielle,

26:55

And and and I'm gonna show this doctor that your

26:58

your your diagnosis is wrong, buddy.

27:02

Well, it's not only that. It's like getting back and doing more. So I

27:06

I mean, I look back. It's now been 11 years since my accident.

27:09

And I look at okay. So what have I done with my life since then?

27:12

And I was fortunate enough to come across a biotech

27:16

discovery while I was, recovering. I

27:20

had tried a lot of things. I mean, we it was a litany of things

27:23

we tried, a long list, and nothing was working. But I was convinced I would

27:26

get better, so we kept searching, kept looking, kept asking.

27:30

And I was introduced to this biotechnology called Redox.

27:34

It is the thing, I believe, that switched my body into

27:38

being able to repair itself. It put more communication in. They're

27:42

they're called redox molecules. They're signals that the system needs to figure out where

27:46

is their damage. And it will do something different in everyone because we all damage

27:49

in a different area, but it's you drink it. So I drank

27:53

this, and over time, it took about 90 days before I noticed

27:56

anything, but I started to kinda come back online. Like, I could feel that my

28:00

brain was repairing. And once I got well, I

28:04

thought, you know what? I I can't go back into the world that I used

28:07

to know. Like, I don't want to go back to the life that I had.

28:11

I want to educate people about this because this is something that

28:15

could help every single person, and it tied together my

28:18

world. Like, I had been I got a degree in biology, so I

28:22

understood the science. I had been teaching prior to my car accident.

28:26

I was teaching 6th grade math through a program called Teach For America. So I

28:30

knew how to educate. And then, you know, I had this

28:33

incredible response to this biotechnology. And I

28:37

thought, well, this is new, and other people need to know. I get the

28:41

science, and I can teach. So it's, like, amazing how Life unfolds

28:45

in a way uniquely preparing us for the next

28:48

step. Mhmm. And it just kind of was this obvious step take and

28:52

but I didn't know anything about business. I didn't know anything about any of anything

28:56

on doing anything on my own, so I had to figure it out. I read

28:58

a lot of books. You know, I just got connected with people that had done

29:01

what I wanted to do. And fast forward now,

29:05

I have an international business. I did 2,200,000 in

29:08

sales last year with my organization. I have helped thousands of

29:12

people with their health. And I look back and I

29:16

just think, you know, it is amazing because because of what

29:19

I went through and those dark moments that I had, You know, that's why I

29:23

have this upside, this one behind me because

29:27

it's like the yin yang. You know? We have dark and light, and Tree of

29:31

life is in this, and I love it because it's in the dark times that

29:34

you grow roots. Like, during my recovery was when I was

29:38

getting strong internally, And, like, roots were going down in

29:41

me that nothing else could have caused such deep roots to go.

29:45

It had to be a very dark time, but then slowly as I started to

29:48

come out of it, You know, now it's like this beautiful

29:52

tree, you know, and these branches that have reached globally, and it's all

29:56

because of what I went through. And It cycles. You know? I look

30:00

at that, and I go, okay. You know? We cycle dark and,

30:03

dark and light. Right? Good and bad. And I know another

30:07

cycle is is always coming, you know, but I'm excited for it because it means,

30:11

okay, this is more learning is about to come. You know? And then

30:14

what's the next version gonna look like? So, you just you

30:18

never know what life is preparing you for. If someone had asked me

30:22

Right after my accident or even a year or 2 after the accident and said

30:26

this would be the best thing that's ever happened to you and it really did

30:29

happen for you, I I probably would've punched them. I mean, like, I could not

30:33

see it. But now with perspective, 11 years on, I

30:37

can go, Wow. Like, thousands of people would

30:41

be in a different space with their own health had I not gone through this

30:44

challenge with my health. And what a beautiful thing that now

30:48

I can, you know, reach out and I can help other people, and now I'm

30:51

helping them help other people. And so this ripple effect you know, we fast

30:55

forward another decade. I don't even know. I mean, it just seems

30:58

like I got goosebumps just thinking about it. Like, it's like, we don't know

31:02

who because the the could be beautiful. Listen. It could be the

31:06

the, the reach would be 1,000,000, millions.

31:10

Who know? You no one never knows, but That's

31:13

that's part of the journey. And, like, and like you said,

31:17

it's had you not gone through what you went through,

31:21

What kind of impact you could have you had now?

31:25

Like, the the people you've impacted now

31:30

are because of what you went through. Like, the they they're they're

31:34

where would they be had you not gone through this This ordeal

31:38

and gone to what you had in your life, you wouldn't be here. You

31:42

wouldn't be doing this the work that you're doing now. You wouldn't have impacted the

31:46

people you've impacted now. And so,

31:50

like I said, that when I was when I read your profile, and I I

31:53

was like, man, that's an amazing story To be able to to to

31:56

overcome this and and and just to be able to And you and you and you you

32:04

could tell you have such great energy. You can tell that you love

32:07

life. Any 1 week or we're probably

32:11

giving up When I went through it, when so

32:15

this this story was meant this was your journey. This was your pa you were

32:19

meant to go and and experience this

32:22

Because universe, spirit, whatever you want felt

32:26

that you're strong enough to to deal with this. Mhmm.

32:30

Oh, yeah. I believe you know, I I've studied a lot of yogic

32:33

philosophy, a lot of eastern philosophy. I think because of the questions I

32:37

was asking, I wasn't getting Answers from more traditional means, at

32:41

least in the Western world. And an interesting concept

32:45

that the yogis believe, And I, you know, try it on. It's like you don't

32:48

have to accept it as truth, but it's a nice it's a nice perspective. The

32:52

yogis believe that, you you you

32:55

have a soul, and that soul travels lifetime to lifetime.

32:59

Okay? So this life, I'm Danielle. But what they say is

33:03

that your soul, before coming into this life, it chooses

33:07

your family. It chooses the closest friends. It Chooses

33:10

other souls to travel in this lifetime with, to teach

33:14

us our deepest lessons, to create the environment

33:18

where we have to learn Some very deep profound lessons

33:22

because that's the point that our soul is at, and that's what we're looking for

33:26

in this life. It's a very specific lesson we're looking to learn.

33:30

And so, you know, whether you believe that to be truth or not, it's a

33:33

really interesting thing. Like, I think about the story you shared with me about, You

33:36

know, losing your wife and your father and these family members. And

33:40

how interesting if your soul actually had chosen, you know, the

33:44

family and That would be your wife. How interesting

33:47

that there was some lesson that your soul was meant to learn that

33:51

they've, you know, kind of Sacrifice a shorter life or whatever it was for them

33:55

in order to help propel your soul forward in this lifetime.

33:59

It is, I believe an interesting mental exercise

34:03

to kind of go into that space and go, well, how fascinating would that

34:07

be, and how much love Exists between

34:11

those souls to have created that space and the

34:14

willingness to be that teacher and to do that. You know? It's just

34:18

I don't know. To me, it it humbles me, and it makes me

34:22

have deep appreciation also for the people in my life that have

34:26

been The most challenging because I realize now, well,

34:29

perhaps the sole contract, if you will, that we had before this

34:33

life started was actually that they would teach me a

34:37

lesson to stand on my own 2 feet, to have a voice. Right?

34:40

Because I My sister, she's a very big presence

34:44

and personality. And my whole life, I've kind of, like, been trunk

34:48

behind it, But I think, wow. No. She was actually continuingly,

34:52

day to day, giving me the lesson if I was choosing to

34:56

learn to actually speak up, To be louder, to

34:59

to find my voice, and to be able to project it. She

35:03

was creating the environment for me to have to learn that lesson, but for so

35:07

long, I was angry about feeling, you

35:10

know, like she was kinda squishing me. And now I realized, no. No.

35:14

No. Like, She was actually creating this beautiful environment for growth for me.

35:18

She is one of my greatest teachers in this lifetime, and I know that. Now

35:21

did my soul choose that before I got here? I'll leave that to, you know,

35:25

whoever's listening to decide, but it's an interesting exercise, and I think we'll

35:29

offer some different, different reasoning will come out. Like I

35:32

said, the quality of your life is quality of the questions you ask. And so

35:35

what if that were true? What could that mean? I think will lead you down

35:39

a a different thought pattern. No. Yeah. I I yes. Right.

35:42

Because Prior my wife is the one

35:46

who introduced me to the world of self development. She introduced

35:50

me to The Secret. She introduced me to Abraham

35:53

Hicks, all different afterwards, later on, years later, it it

36:00

was I realized It was her way of preparing me

36:04

for what was to come. Yeah. And and so I truly do

36:08

believe that that that's the way she was preparing my she introduced these these

36:12

books and these people into my life because that was her way of

36:16

preparing me for what she knew was coming, and and and that was her way

36:19

of preparing me to To know that, alright, you're gonna be

36:23

fine with me at least getting you started on that path

36:27

of knowing That there's teachers out there that can help you,

36:31

that can help guide you through life. Mhmm. Oh, that's

36:35

beautiful. Yeah. She was giving you the tools. And, You know?

36:38

Sometimes we don't understand when we're handed certain things, but in

36:42

time, it all makes sense. And that's why I just you know, I receive

36:46

everything that unfolds now in life. I try to just receive it

36:49

in whole, not having preference, you know, that I like this or I don't like

36:53

that or I wish this had happened and not that. It's like, you know what?

36:56

I know that There is something happening orchestrating beyond what my mind

37:00

can even conceive because I never could have conceived that a car accident

37:04

could help thousands of people. Like, I couldn't have made that jump.

37:07

Yeah. So now I just go, okay. Like, everything is

37:11

always unfolding for my highest and best good and for the highest and best good

37:14

for those involved. And when I just keep myself with that mantra, with

37:18

that trust, life becomes much more

37:22

easy. It becomes peaceful, and it becomes

37:26

something that I can surrender to and just kind of flow with rather than

37:29

trying to, like, force it and trolling and make things happen when, you know, my

37:33

mind has such a narrow view on the potentials that

37:37

actually could exist in my life. And when I'm in more open, The

37:40

universe, the divine, right, can play in different ways. Yeah. But when I forced it

37:44

into a tiny hole, it's it's it's no good.

37:48

Oh, man. This has been great, Daniel. Thank you so much for being a guest.

37:53

Do you not right now, you get the solo screen. You get to Plug away.

37:56

Let them know where they can find you, where where they can get the book,

37:59

everything. Yeah. I'd say jump over to to Instagram. In my

38:03

profile, there's lots of links. You can learn more about, you know, what I'm up

38:07

to. I'm always sharing about post traumatic growth. I absolutely love helping people to

38:10

kinda see the bigger picture of what they're going through. If you're interested about the

38:14

redox Technology that helped me to repair. Very likely, if

38:18

it's resonating with you, it's because you were meant to hear it. Lots of details

38:21

on my page about that. You can grab my ebook, free meditations.

38:25

Everything is there. And if you don't do Instagram, my

38:28

website is simply brain body self.com,

38:32

and you can access everything on that as well.

38:36

Alright. Thank you so much for being a guest. I appreciate it. This is

38:39

great. Yeah. Thanks for having me on. Oh, it's wonderful. Don't

38:43

leave just yet. Let me close out the show and maybe chat a little bit

38:46

off the air, but, But thank you once again. Yeah. Thank

38:50

you. Alright, everybody. It's, time for shout out.

38:54

Shout out to everybody who tuned in live. Greatly appreciate it. Shout

38:58

out to the, BS 3 Network for, airing us

39:01

live at 4 PM CST, 5

39:05

PM Eastern Standard Time Every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

39:09

Big shout out to my RealWise fan, Poppy j, Brandy j. Love you guys.

39:13

Big shout out to the boss lady. Love you and appreciate you, babe. And as

39:16

always, a big, big shout out to all the essential workers out there.