0:02

Good morning, my friend. I hope you're doing well. This is Dr.

0:05

Lee Warren, and I'm excited to be with you today. This is an extra episode.

0:09

We have a Tuesdays with Tata episode coming out on the Spiritual Brain Surgery podcast today.

0:14

But I received an email yesterday, and I wanted to reach out with one of these

0:18

trauma rounds, one of these quick emergency episodes to just give you a different

0:22

way to think about something because the person that wrote in is struggling

0:26

with something they've been dealing with for a long time.

0:28

Time, and I know Lisa and I talk about it all the time, for every person that

0:31

we hear from, there's probably 10,000 people with the same issue that don't write in.

0:36

So I just want to make sure you hear me say it, your favorite brain surgeon,

0:39

hopefully. I want you to hear me say this today.

0:42

We're going to bring you back an old episode called Anthony Walker is Hammered. It's from season eight.

0:47

It's right before my book came out. It's a story from Hope is the First Dose

0:50

about a guy named Anthony that had a problem that made him unable to close his

0:55

eyes so that all he he could see was constant.

0:58

Everything in front of him, he could constantly see it because he couldn't close

1:02

his eye or blink away the debris or close his eye or divert it to stop looking

1:06

at the thing that was threatening his vision.

1:08

And over time, if you can't stop looking at something, then your cornea will scar.

1:13

And eventually you'll be only

1:15

able to see the image of the thing that you couldn't take your eye off of.

1:19

And that's relevant. And when we talk about trauma and tragedy and these massive

1:23

things that happen in our lives that can become so big.

1:25

We observe them so much from the same perspective. They become the only thing we can see,

1:31

which biblically, the definition of idolatry is if you see something that's

1:35

bigger to you than God, if it's so massive and so important and so powerful

1:41

that even God can't deal with it for you, then it becomes an idol effectively.

1:45

It becomes the only thing you can see, and that thing will become the truth in your life.

1:50

And I just want to remind you today, that if you're living in a truth that isn't

1:54

setting you free, then it's not the truth. Jesus said it clearly.

1:57

I am the way, the truth, and the life.

2:00

He says, if I set you free, you'll be free indeed. And so there's a way,

2:04

there is a way to be set free from whatever it is that's harming us.

2:10

There is a way to learn how to look away from the thing that we think is so big.

2:16

That is the only thing we can see. Lisa and I had to learn how to do that after we lost Mitch.

2:20

You'll have to do it too. If you want to stop living as if the thing that happened

2:25

to you or the thing that's going on or the thing that you're afraid of or the

2:28

thing that you're struggling with is bigger and impossible to move,

2:32

even more powerful than God, then you've got to learn how to look away from it and look at something that is true.

2:38

If it's not setting you free, you need to learn how to look differently at it.

2:42

And the story about Anthony Walker is going to help you do that.

2:46

But I just want to remind you of one thing. I got an email yesterday from a

2:49

woman who's struggling for years with an eating disorder.

2:52

And she wrote in about the futility that she feels. She's listening to Susie

2:56

Larson and she's listening to me and she's listening to Tabitha Barber and she's

2:59

reading and she's studying and she's praying and she's doing all the things

3:02

that she just can't break free from it. She had another bad day yesterday.

3:06

And friend, if you're hearing me, if you're the one who sent me that message, this episode is for you.

3:11

I just want you to understand this one important thing. We talk all the time

3:15

about self-brain surgery. We talk all the time about changing your mind before you can change your life.

3:20

We talk about taking your thoughts captive and doing thought biopsies and doing

3:23

all these self-brain surgery operations. All of those things are necessary, okay?

3:27

But hear me say this compassionately. If what you're doing isn't working,

3:33

then you need professional help, okay?

3:36

Sometimes you need a pastor or a therapist or a doctor or you need to go to

3:41

the emergency room or you need a mental health professional.

3:43

You need to change the perspective of how you're viewing the thing.

3:46

And if you're unable to do it with self-help techniques or with my ideas or

3:51

with Susie Larson's ideas or with prayer or meditation or abiding or any of

3:56

the things that you're doing, if it's not working, you need help. Okay?

4:00

Because remember the principle, what you're doing, you're getting better at.

4:03

And so if every day it seems impossible to change that thing and your mindset

4:07

is fixed on this thing that is impossible to change.

4:11

Then your brain is getting structurally more wired to believe that that thing is unchangeable.

4:16

And it will become harder and harder and harder to believe that there could

4:20

ever be a time when that thing won't be the thing in your life.

4:25

Remember, if the truth isn't working, if it's not setting you free, it's not the truth.

4:29

And you need to change your perspective on it. And sometimes we need somebody

4:33

else to help us do that. Sometimes we need medication.

4:35

Sometimes we need therapy. Sometimes we need a doctor. Sometimes it's a medical

4:39

issue you that's keeping your brain stuck.

4:41

And so don't keep spinning your wheels. Don't keep swinging the ax if it's already

4:47

so dull that it's clearly not going to chop that tree down. You need help.

4:51

You need to change your perspective. If it's not working, get some help.

4:55

So I just want to remind you of that. Don't ever forget that sometimes we need another person to help us deal with

5:01

the thing that we're struggling with. But don't forget, don't be afraid. It's not a sign of weakness or failure to

5:07

reach out for professional help when you need it.

5:10

But I want to give you one thing to think about when you choose a person who's

5:14

going to be helpful to you or you hope is going to be helpful to you.

5:18

You need to know who they are and the worldview from which they're coming, okay?

5:23

We talked before about reductive physicalism. There's a group of therapists

5:27

and psychologists and psychiatrists and scientists who believe that your brain

5:31

and your mind are the same thing, that your mind is generated by physical processes is in your brain,

5:37

that you're reducible to a bunch of electrical activity inside your skull,

5:42

and that there's no such thing as your mind. There's no such thing as free will.

5:46

There's no such thing as spiritualism or anything outside of your physical body.

5:50

And so if you're a therapist or you're a psychologist or you're a psychiatrist

5:54

or your doctor is coming from a reductive physical place, you can never find

5:58

the truth that your creator wants you to have.

6:00

So you need to make sure that you're choosing a provider who has a belief system

6:05

that's that's compatible with your worldview. If you're coming from different places and their place believes that you're

6:11

unchangeable and that everything inside your brain is just a bunch of electrical

6:14

processes and there's no mind outside of that that's changeable,

6:19

then how can you ever really change your mind if they don't even believe that

6:22

your mind is a real thing separate from your brain?

6:26

Understand who you're seeing. Ask good questions. Get second opinions.

6:30

And if you're trying and listening and doing all the things they say and you're

6:33

not making progress, change providers.

6:37

Sometimes I offer my patients a second opinion. If they're not understanding

6:40

what I'm trying to say or if they're not comfortable with my treatment plan,

6:44

I say, hey, go get a second opinion. Go see another doctor.

6:47

Don't be afraid to ask for a second opinion. I just want to remind you of all that.

6:51

If what you're doing isn't working, what you're doing, you're getting getting better at.

6:55

You're going to keep finding that it's not getting okay the longer you keep

6:59

trying the same thing that you've been trying, okay? So don't be afraid.

7:04

Ask for a second opinion. Get a provider. Reach out for outside help.

7:09

Don't stay stuck, okay, friend? Don't stay stuck.

7:14

That thing that you're dealing with, it is changeable. It is movable. You can heal.

7:19

You You can move past it, but sometimes you need outside help.

7:23

We're going to get after it. We're going to talk about Anthony Walker today

7:26

and how he had to learn to divert his gaze from the thing that was the only

7:30

thing that he could see. And before we do it, I have a question.

7:34

Hey, are you ready to change your life? If the answer is yes, there's only one rule.

7:39

You have to change your mind first. And my friend, there's a place where the

7:42

neuroscience of how your mind works smashes together with faith and everything

7:47

starts to make sense. Are you ready to change your life?

7:50

Well, this is the place, Self-Brain Surgery School.

7:53

I'm Dr. Lee Warren, and this is where we go deep into how we're wired,

7:56

take control of our thinking, and find real hope.

7:59

This is where we learn to become healthier, feel better, and be happier.

8:03

This is where we leave the past behind and transform our minds.

8:07

This is where we start today. Are you ready? This is your podcast.

8:11

This is your place. This is your time, my friend. Let's get after it.

8:16

Music.

8:21

I'm going to tell you one story today that comes out of Hope is the First Dose.

8:25

And one story because I think it illustrates a big thing that is important in

8:30

recovering from the massive things that come along in life.

8:33

If you've had something big happen, and if you haven't, you will,

8:36

so just follow this away for later. But if you've gone through something big, then you basically come to a choice

8:41

in your life. And we're going to talk about that choice in a minute.

8:44

And then we're going to talk about a kid named Anthony Walker.

8:47

And I told his story in the book.

8:50

And I just want to give you a little preview of one of the stories that's in the book.

8:54

And we're going to do all that in an attempt to learn how to change our minds

8:58

so that we can change our lives. Because Lisa's always telling us the good news. And that is...

9:03

We can start today. Hey, are you ready to change your life?

9:08

If the answer is yes, there's only one rule. You have to change your mind first.

9:13

And my friend, there's a place where the neuroscience of how your mind works

9:17

smashes together with faith and everything starts to make sense.

9:21

That place is called self-brain surgery. You can learn it and it will help you

9:25

become healthier, feel better and be happier.

9:28

And the good news is you can start today.

9:32

Thanks, Lisa. Lisa. Hey, so glad to have you listening today. I'm Dr.

9:35

Lee Warren and I live in Nebraska in the United States of America with my incredible

9:39

wife, Lisa, my father-in-law, Tata, and the super pups, Harvey and Lewis.

9:43

I'm a neurosurgeon and an author, and I'm here to help you harness neuroscience,

9:46

the power of your brain, faith, the power of your spirit, and good old common

9:50

sense to help you lead a healthier, better, happier life.

9:53

Listen, friend, you can't change your life until you change your mind.

9:56

And I'm here to help you learn the art of self-brain surgery to get it done.

9:59

If you'd like If you like the show, please subscribe so you never miss an episode

10:02

and tell your friends about it. If you tell two or three friends this podcast was helpful to you,

10:07

imagine how much good we can all do around the world together.

10:10

I'm Dr. Lee Warren, and I'm here to help you change your mind so you can change

10:13

your life. Let's get after it. Okay, so after we lost Mitch and over the course of my career studying people

10:21

who have gone through hard things, such as glioblastomas, brain injuries,

10:24

spinal cord injuries, and then seeing people with non-medical massive things, divorce,

10:30

loss, just the things that happen in life, all these big things that happen.

10:38

I've discovered something, that the people who have a resilience about them,

10:41

one of the podcasts I'm going to be on later today is called Brilliantly Resilient,

10:45

and their show is all about resilience and why it's so important.

10:48

But one of the key factors I've noticed in resilience is our ability to understand

10:52

this quantum physics thing that I'm always telling you about,

10:55

that two things can be true at at the same time, and it doesn't make either of them less true.

11:00

And here's an example. I will go to my grave.

11:04

Being really sad about losing my son, Mitch.

11:08

There won't come a day in my life when that doesn't make me sad.

11:12

Just yesterday, I'm walking out of the hospital. I picked up my phone and opened

11:16

my contacts as I was going to call Lisa.

11:18

And somehow my thumb must have hit the wrong one. It pulled up Mitch's phone

11:22

number. I've never taken him out of my contacts. And there was this picture and there was his phone number and there was the

11:28

last text message he sent me. And I just started crying on my walk back to the truck.

11:32

And it just, it comes out of nowhere, right? If you've lost someone or you've

11:36

lost something in your life that's real important to you, then you'll know that

11:40

those kinds of things never really stop. So, so it's true that I'll die someday and I'll still be sad about losing my boy.

11:48

But at the same time, it's also true that I have an amazing life and an an incredible

11:54

wife and family and grandchildren and neurosurgery practice and this podcast

11:59

and all of you listening and all the readers and this just incredible life that

12:03

I'm extremely grateful for. And I'm happy about that. And I've got a good life and I'm not sad.

12:11

I'm not only sad. And what I noticed in looking at people who are going through

12:17

hard things and what we had to decide for ourselves is this concept that both

12:21

of those things can be true at the same time, that it doesn't have to be but.

12:25

It doesn't have to be, I used to be happy, but my son died and now I can't be happy anymore.

12:31

It doesn't have to be, I used to be happy, but my husband got glioblastoma.

12:35

I used to be happy, but my wife cheated on me. I used to be happy, but the economy crashed and I lost my business.

12:40

And I used to be happy, but, right?

12:42

Or I thought I could be happy if this happened, but it didn't happen.

12:46

Or I thought I would be happy as long as this set of things occurred, but they didn't.

12:51

And so now I can't be happy. If you can get rid of that but and substitute it for and...

12:58

I was happy and I lost my son and I found hope again and I found faith again

13:02

and I'm happy again. It's a different kind of happy, but I'm happy again.

13:06

I lost someone, but I still have an incredible life.

13:11

If you can get rid of the but and say, I've lost someone and I still have an

13:16

incredible life, then you can learn to find hope and happiness again.

13:21

There's a kid that I took care of in Wyoming a long time ago.

13:25

And in the book I call him Anthony Walker. That's not his real name.

13:29

But I got a call from the ER, my friend, Johnna Cuban, who's in the book.

13:33

And she said, this kid is hammered and drunk and he's hurt and I need you to come see him.

13:38

And as I was driving, as I was walking to the car, I realized most people say

13:42

hammered drunk, but she said drunk and hammered.

13:48

She didn't say hammered drunk. I think I said it incorrectly a while ago.

13:51

She didn't say he's hammered drunk. She said he's drunk and hammered.

13:55

And I thought she made a mistake. And when I got to the hospital, I was going to ask her about it.

13:59

But it turned out he was drunk, but he had been assaulted by what he said were

14:04

two dudes who had hammers and they hit him in the head with a hammer.

14:08

And he had a whole bunch of little skull fractures that looked like little perfect

14:12

round hammerheads on the x-ray.

14:14

And he also was unable to move the

14:17

right side of his face and it turned out one of

14:20

the hammer blows that hit him right in front of the

14:23

right ear and crushed his facial nerve your

14:26

facial nerve is the nerve that gives you facial expression it lifts your eye

14:30

it closes your eye it lifts your forehead it allows you to smile all the little

14:34

amazing things that you can do with your face to show people the emotion and

14:38

feeling that you're feeling come from the facial nerve and And his had been

14:42

crushed on the right side, so the right side was flaccid like he'd had a stroke.

14:45

And he couldn't close his eye because the seventh cranial nerve,

14:48

the facial nerve, is the nerve that closes your eyelid.

14:52

And the problem with that is, so Anthony had this injury that did not allow him to close his eye.

14:59

And what happens if you can't close your eye over time is the cornea will begin

15:03

to be abraded, and they'll start to scar down, and eventually you'll go blind

15:07

if you can't close your eye.

15:09

And so the metaphor that I realized is that that's a pretty good thing about

15:14

what happens to us after the massive thing occurs is we can't stop looking at it.

15:19

We can't stop focusing on the massive thing. It becomes the only thing we can see.

15:24

And I'm just here to tell you, friend, this short little episode this morning

15:27

is if you don't learn how to look away from the massive thing,

15:30

if you don't learn how to turn it into a but instead of an and instead of a

15:36

but, But if you don't learn how to close your eye and stop focusing on that

15:39

one thing, over time, your heart,

15:42

your mind, your eye will scar.

15:44

And the last thing you'll remember seeing in your life when you thought you

15:48

were still happy is that thing that you can't stop looking at.

15:53

And I've seen people who went to support groups for the rest of their lives

15:56

and never made any progress. I've seen people who were broken by their spouse getting glioblastoma.

16:02

I've seen people who were so bitter and angry that they got cancer that even

16:06

when they were cured of it, they were still wrecked emotionally.

16:09

And they were never secure and comfortable and safe and happy again because

16:12

they realized that they were mortal. I see it all the time when people have some kind of injury and it's the first

16:17

time they've ever been in the hospital. And I see them three months later and they're depressed because they just realized

16:24

that they were humans, that they thought they would never be sick and now they

16:27

realize, hey, I'm getting older and someday I'm gonna die.

16:30

And I see it all the time in older people after back surgery,

16:33

they need a walker for a while and they're just so unable to accept that limitation

16:37

that they refuse to use it. And then guess what happens?

16:40

They fall and then they break their hip and then they really have trouble and

16:43

it becomes the beginning of the end because they can't accept the fact that

16:48

something's changed or has been taken away from them and they can't stop looking at it.

16:52

And over time, it becomes the only thing they can think about.

16:55

And so Anthony Walker's story, I'm not going to tell you how it turns out in the book,

17:00

but that's an example of this idea that I just want to give you today that you've

17:05

got to learn to turn the massive thing into something that happened to you,

17:11

but not the thing that happened to you.

17:14

It has to become a thing and not the thing if you're going to be happy again.

17:19

And that's the message for today. We're in season eight.

17:23

I told you it's going to be a hundred doses of hope. And it's been a couple

17:26

of days since I played Tommy's song, I Have a Hope. And I think it's time again.

17:30

I'm going to bring it back to you this morning because I want you to go out

17:33

today with I have a hope. I have a future.

17:36

I have a destiny that is yet prepared for me. So here's the thing, yet awaiting me.

17:41

Here's the thing, friend. And if you can't stop looking at the massive thing,

17:45

you won't be able to see the destiny that is yet awaiting you.

17:49

You won't be able to see all the other beautiful things that are still true in your life.

17:55

You've got to learn how to blink your eye and close your eye and turn your vision

18:00

and look on something else. Look on Jesus.

18:03

Look on the author and perfecter of your faith. and he'll give you this deal,

18:08

this peace, this hope, this happiness again that looks different than it used

18:13

to look before TMT came along, but it's still perfect and beautiful.

18:18

I'll be an old man someday, and I'll still be caught by surprise sometimes with memories of Mitch.

18:23

I'm looking at a picture of him right now. I'm not trying to cry on you,

18:26

but I'll never stop being sad about that.

18:30

But if Mitch was the only thing I could think about, then I wouldn't be able

18:33

to see Scarlett and George and Riker and Jace, my beautiful,

18:37

perfect grandchildren. I wouldn't be able to see Josh and Katie and Kimber and Kaylin,

18:42

my four perfect living children and their families and all the amazing things.

18:46

I wouldn't be able to see Lisa and how much she loves me and how much she perfects me.

18:51

I wouldn't be able to see Moon River Ranch and the incredible river outside

18:54

my window because all I could see was that thing that was taken from me.

18:58

And friend, I want you to learn how to close your eye and change what you see

19:02

again and have that TMT not be the only thing that you can see.

19:06

Have it turn into a thing that happened to you.

19:09

Devastating, yes. Crushing, yes.

19:12

Perilous, yes. But not the only thing because you still have a lot of other

19:17

things to live for, my friend. And the good news is you can change your mind about that and you can do some

19:23

self-brain surgery and you can learn how to think differently about the massive

19:27

thing because guess what? It probably won't be the only massive thing that happens to you in your life.

19:31

So you better get ready and develop a treatment plan.

19:34

And that's what I hope is the first dose is gonna do for you.

19:36

I'm gonna go out now and I'm gonna go for a run and try to get my body in shape.

19:40

I've got five interviews today and I need to get loosened up a little bit.

19:43

And I just wanted to give you this idea. Learn how to turn the massive thing into a thing that happened and not the thing

19:51

that happened because you can't change your life until you change your mind.

19:55

Music.

25:08

Hey, thanks for listening. The Dr. Lee Warren Podcast is brought to you by my

25:11

brand new book, Hope is the First Dose. It's a treatment plan for recovering.

25:16

From trauma, tragedy, and other massive things.

25:19

It's available everywhere books are sold. And I narrated the audio books.

25:23

Hey, the theme music for the show is Get Up by my friend Tommy Walker,

25:27

available for free at TommyWalkerMinistries.org.

25:30

They are supplying worship resources for worshipers all over the world to worship

25:35

the Most High God. And if you're interested in learning more,

25:38

check out TommyWalkerMinistries.org.

25:41

If you need prayer, go to the prayer wall at WLeeWarrenMD.com slash prayer,

25:45

WLeeWarrenMD.com slash prayer.

25:48

And go to my website and sign up for the newsletter, Self-Brain Surgery,

25:52

every Sunday since 2014, helping people in all 50 states and 60-plus countries

25:58

around the world. I'm Dr. Lee Warren, and I'll talk to you soon.

26:01

Remember, friend, you can't change your life until you change your mind.

26:04

And the good news is you can start today.