My Week: Death, Hurricane and Reverence for Life

Sometimes when the world just seems like it's completely falling apart, all you can do is just take a breath and a moment to try to have reverence for life. I'm Brendon Burchard, and you're listening to the Brendon show. In this episode, we've got some difficult topics to cover. Matter of fact, I think out of the four parts here, we'll be talking about tonight. As you know, when I do these, these episodes like this, I'm always breaking up into core, distinct stories for my week from things that really happened and how I view life or how I work with a client or what I'm doing in my own life to try to become, you know, a high performer the best that I can and serve my mission. And as I break up into four parts this week, I look back at this last week and I say this was a tough one. Matter of fact, the first three parts of this are relatively bad news. But I also share that with a hope that you'll listen because sometimes, you know, as you're seeking to live your best life, things fall apart, too. And as you're trying to go about living your life and trying to serve your mission or trying to be a good person in the world or trying to. Trying to work really hard, you know, the rest of the outside world steps in and something catastrophic happens. Somebody passes away. And this last week, I lost two people who are very important to me. I also don't use the word catastrophic lightly because in part two, we're going to have to talk about the Harvey storm and what has happened in Houston and all around Texas and sending love to those folks. All of this death and catastrophe all happening in the same week that, you know, we're doing one of our major launches. And unfortunately, that went incredible. But I was still moving into our new house and our new offices, and that went incredible, too. And so it was. It was a tough week where sometimes you're really, really, really busy. And then just as soon as you get as busy as, I mean, just you're so busy, and then everything falls apart. Like, all the bad news comes when you just can't take another ounce of pressure or demand or challenge. And I think those are the moments where it's the most important for you to deal with life in a very thoughtful, intentional, meaningful, positive manner. The whole world can be falling apart, and sometimes you just have to step back and take a breather and even in your busyness, have a reverence for life, have a reverence for the blessings that you have Have a reverence for the opportunity you do have to serve, because there's always something beautiful and something amazing going on in the world, even as there is death, even as there is destruction, even as there is turmoil. So the most important thing is when things seem so bad is to challenge ourselves to step back and say, how would my highest self deal with this situation? How would my highest self view this and talk to himself? How would my highest self be proud of how I dealt with this later? How would my highest self want to learn from this situation? And it's that question and that taking the step and I guess just the thinking about being my best self that has helped me deal with just a very, very difficult time. And I'll share this with you because I promised in this podcast this season we'd be going so personal. So here. Here we go. If you listen to my last week's podcast and we're labeling these, if you haven't seen it, usually the title is My Week, then there's a colon, then I describe the week, and those are the episodes where I'm usually doing an hour. And so if you look at last week's episode where it was an hour, that's the one where I would, you know, I was sharing a lot of things. And the second episode each week that we're usually doing is where I'm just teaching, taking a topic, giving you three or five things. And usually those are the shorter episodes. So if you. If you subscribe to my podcast, which I hope you do, and you download all of them, which you should, then you'll notice that there's usually two different episodes now per week. There's the. My week one, which is the hour where I'm sharing about my life and how I'm, you know, just like you, struggling to be my best and reach high performance in all I do. And then there's usually the shorter training episode. Well, I tell you all that because last week, literally five minutes after I finished recording last week's episode, I walked out of this little room I'm in. I've got this little podcast booth, and the phone rang, and it was my brother Brian. And I was so excited because I love him so much. And he and I don't get to talk as much as I wish that we do it. We did. We just. We're both so busy, and we're both kind of also, you know, our brotherhood, I guess, if you would. Our whole life together, we never really had to say much, you know, do you ever have a sibling like that? You just, the love is so deep and the knowledge of each other so real that you just, you're always good. I mean, I could show up to my brother's house anytime and we're just good. I mean, a month, two, three, six, a year could pass and we're just, we fall right into our routine and rhythm. Our love is just so awesome. So the phone rings. I'm so excited. He and I were going to catch up on some other things and he's like, you know, hey, how you doing? And of course I walked out of that podcast. If you heard that last one, I was fired up, you know, I was in a great mood. I was thrilled to serve and talk to you guys in this new format. So I'm telling about, you know, this little booth that I've literally created with my wife to film in here. You know, this, this three panel thing I've set up with these hinges in this little room until we get my new office all set up. I'm telling about that, I'm telling about the episode. I'm telling about all these things that are going great and amazing. I told them that I had found out not too long earlier that I'll be on the COVID of Success magazine and how stoked I am about that because, you know, I got into personal and professional development because of, as, you know, my car accident. But as I started trying to change my life, I subscribed to Success magazine so early on. I mean, this was 2000, no, 1996, you know, so longtime subscriber, and here I am on the COVID and so many of my friends have been on the COVID and I'm excited about that. And I'm telling about this book launch that I'm working on for High Performance Habits and you know, all the videos for that. And already the, you know, the, the accolades coming in about that book and that data that we gathered in the world's largest high performance study. I mean, just proud of the discipline that went into the book. And I'm just yammering on and on and on like that, like I'm doing here now, you know, to my brother. And he's listening, he's being so great. And then, you know, and then it's, he's like, okay, well. And he delicately told me that my grandmother, our grandmother, our beloved grandmother had passed. And, you know, a lot of people know my story of the car accident. And what a lot of people don't know is after my car accident when I was a 19 year old kid, I wondered, did other People have a similar experience, you know, toward the end of their lives because I had been forced to ask those questions. Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter? And I wondered if other people experienced that. And, you know, I read a lot about people's, you know, near death experiences. I didn't have a near death experience. I never went out of my body, if you're wondering. I just. I had the reflection that was necessary at that time of, of what it could have meant if I had died. And it terrified me and it made me want to live as a more intentional and good man. And. But I read a lot about people passing away. And later on I volunteered, as many of you guys know, in hospices. And I was also there with many of the people who I care about in their last weeks or months of life, and especially including my dad. And so I'm very familiar with death at a personal level. And I have been, you know, speaking about this for 20 years. So you have to imagine on when I go on tour or I do my seminars, people come up and they tell me, you know, if. If they'd ever face their own death or if with somebody else. I mean, they. I hear a lot of stories about end of life because of what I teach. And so I'm very comfortable in that conversation. And my brother did an amazing job about it. And my mother or my grandmother had, you know, been ailing in the last years, and I went out for her 90th birthday party. And so she's lived a very full and beautiful life. She lived in southern France, and she was. She just had her 92nd birthday, you know, two days before my brother called me to let me know that she'd passed away. My mom, fortunately, had gone out to see her and was in southern France with her. And. Wow, I don't even know how to describe it. Just maybe I just tell you the story. My mom got out there and grandma was so happy to see her. And grandma had been dealing with some heart issues and other issues, and she just was ailing. She was getting worse. The family who, you know, my. My extended family and friends who took care of her and was taking care of her had called my mom and said, she's getting worse. And so my mom went out there and was there for her 92nd birthday. And, you know, you see these pictures of my grandma, 92nd birthday, behind the birthday cake with a little 92 on it. And she's smiling, she's beaming, there's a vibrancy still to her. And then, you know, a Day or two later, my. My mom even took her. She said, hey, let's get out of this house. You've been cooped up in this house healing too long. Let's get you out of here. So she took her to the beach, and my grandma loved the beach, and they went with a friend, and they were singing French songs the whole car ride to the beach, having a good time. They had a great day. They had great lunch. There's a picture of my mom and my grandma at lunch that day, just looking like mom and daughter having a great, beautiful time. And then. Then she came back home. They went back home, and my cousin was there, and they went and hung out with him at his new house, I guess. Came back at night, and grandma was. Mom started cooking dinner, and grandma was shuffling about the house, and then, you know, complained a little bit of fatigue and tired and laid down, kept saying, she's tired, she's tired, she's tired. And which, you know, of course, she had been. And my mom went to. And she was breathing. I don't know how to describe it. If you've ever been with somebody towards the end of their life, there is a breathing pattern. And if you've ever done hospices, you know what I'm talking about. If you've cared for somebody, you know what I'm talking about. There. There's a breathing pattern that signals that this person is near their end. And my mom recognized that because in 2009, she was there with my dad. And my mom has also been in. Worked in hospitals her whole life. So she. She knew, and she sat and she just prayed with my grandmother and told her how much she loved her, and we all loved her and talked about her transition and had a very conscious. My mom, whose greatest fear was losing her mom, found courage in that moment to be there for her and solid and steady and strong. And I'm so amazed by her. And after I talked to her later, my mom was so proud of herself because she was so scared that could ever happen. And here she is now, alone in the home with my grandmother, as my grandmother's passing away in her arms. And my mom is just being strong and positive for her and helping her transition consciously and positively. And my mom got to hold her mom as she passed away in 92. And, man, it's. It's. It's never easy, and it's difficult. And obviously, you can hear. I'm still processing it because, you know, I don't really know how to exactly talk about it. You know, I know how to talk with my family and my friends and people who are in front of me. But I'm in a dark room and, you know, podcast booth. So it's a little different when I don't get to see and connect with you. But I can say that you know the value of life. I know you do that. If you've lost somebody before, a lot goes through your mind. I mean, my brother and I just talked about it and processed it. I was able to. My mom was able to call me a short time afterwards, and I talked with her, and she was so, so strong. I'm so proud of you, Mom. If you're listening this, so proud of you. The whole family is. You know, it wasn't easy because my mom is in another country at this point. Obviously, with her mom is. Her mom is passing away, and she's in this home alone because the rest of the family kind of took vacation, because my mom was there now to care for grandma. So when grandma passed away, my mom didn't know what to do. Like, she's in a strange town and a small little village type town. What do you do? Who do you contact? You know, she's alone. You know, if you've ever been in that situation, you don't know what to do. Who does she call? What's the protocol? And, you know, in smaller towns, if you live in a smaller town, you know, it's not like it is in the big towns where there's somebody to come over immediately and declare death. That sometimes that takes a process. My mom had to get a hold of the, you know, I don't know what you would call it here, like a fire company. And, you know, the fire engine and firefighters had to come. And it was a tough process for my mom, to say the least. But she was strong through it. And my grandma was like that. You know, I grew up in Montana, and grandma would come over every couple of years and stay a couple months and visit us. And so most of my childhood, my. My grandma was around not all year and not every year, but she'd come around and she'd spend a couple months with us, living in our house with us. And it was amazing experience because we all learned to kind of be good mimes because grandmother didn't really speak good English, and obviously our French sucked. So we were just kind of. We'd be around the house for months, and we learn a little bit here and there, but it wasn't very fluent. But it's also this thing I've talked about with my brother. That this unspoken understanding and this deep love that we had for each other. I don't know how to describe it. I never really spoke a ton with my grandmother through most of my life. Even when I learned French and got better at it, she and I, you know, I was kind of garbled, and she. She understood just enough English to understand, and I understood just enough French and. And it'd be great. And she was just the strongest woman. She. She lived in Vietnam. My mother was born in Vietnam, and my mother is French Vietnamese. Her. Her father was involved in the French Vietnam conflict, and he was killed by a grenade. And so my mom, before she ever knew her father, had lost him and the child. The Children of War program of France basically helped my mom and grandmother move to France with my mother's brother. And then they placed kind of in, like, orphanages and because, you know, the care and it just. My mom had a really tough, tough childhood. And you can imagine my grandmother did too. You know, losing a husband and a love and then being sort of taken to another country and then. I mean, I could go on and on, but the strength and the positivity and the love and the. Just the resiliency that my grandmother exhibited, it was amazing. And just how peaceful and simple of a person she was. I think I carry that with her. She had a peace about her all the time, and she was so loving. I mean, she was love. Her whole demeanor towards you was just love. And it was an unspoken but strong love that I just. I'll never forget. She was such a tender, caring woman. She was little, you know, she was five. Like, I don't know. I don't. Can't remember. Maybe five. It's hard to gauge, you know, because as I got much older and even though I saw her just two years ago, you know, it's. It's. Most of my memories are with her, with childhood, but it's something to lose someone you love. And I had to, as I'm talking with my brother and then my mom and then my sister and then my other brother, just step back and think, how should I deal with this? As my highest self? Not meaning. I don't cry, because, trust me, I've done that already, because that's part of the healing process. But how do I be there for my family? And what was beautiful about my family is they were all doing that for me, too. I could tell. You know, my sister cared about how we talked about it. My brothers cared about how they talked about. My mom cared. Like, we all cared about each other and how we processed it and talked about it because we lost my dad in 2009. And also grandma had lived a great life. I mean, her 90th birthday when I was there, she's dancing and clapping and having fun and. I mean, could you imagine. I don't know how to say it, but, you know, should we all be so blessed? I mean, her last day on earth was with her beloved daughter, going to the beach, having a great time, singing songs, having a good time, having a full, beautiful, connected, loving day, and then getting tired and passing away after 92 years as a good woman. I think of that. I don't think of my loss. That makes sense. My highest self wouldn't focus on just the loss and just how I am feeling. My highest self would take a higher perspective and think, well, how was this woman's life? It would think about the positive memories and the beautiful moments and how grandmother might want me to deal with it. She would want. She wouldn't want me to be devastated. She would want me to be happy that I got to see her. She would be happy that we got to see each other. She would be happy that, you know, she knows without a doubt that every. She loves all of us. And it's just. How. How do you approach death? And every time I think about that, I always say, well, approach it. Well, approach it with a knowing in your soul that it's going to happen. It's going to happen to you. It's going to happen to everyone you ever meet. And because of that truth, we can choose how to face it when it ultimately comes. And I think what I'm proud of, my family is no one, you know, fell apart. Doesn't mean that we didn't get emotional. It doesn't mean that. That it's not hard as hell and that there's going to be a hole in my heart. But it means that we approached it well for each other because grandma would want that. And I'm proud of my mom. Oh, my gosh. To be in another country and not know what to do like that and to be so fearful of something and then have to actually face it and face it consciously. And, you know, to hold my grandmother, it's a beautiful thing. Part two, Hurricane Harvey. My grandmother passes away, and we happen to be in one of the biggest online launches that we've done for my brand for a reason, a really long time. And, you know, so we're promoting the, at the time, the pre order of high performance habits, which I've been telling you about, and, you know, three years of research, all of this major effort, you know, almost a million dollars of research. Spend the data alone. I mean, read the book just for the data. I mean, we're rolling this thing out. I'm excited about it. I'm thrilled about it. And then grandmother and then Harvey. And I don't know when you're listening to this, but the storm that they call Harvey was about to make landfall later on maybe that week or that next week. I can't remember the timing now. It's all blurred together. It was so crazy. And, you know, I'm blessed to have a tremendous number of students and fans and, and loved ones in the wake of that, in, in, in, in, in dealing with that storm. You know, some in Houston, peers, friends, great friends, people who were majorly affected by it, to, you know, I think what didn't get covered as much as like the rest of Texas and the rest of those affected by Harvey, it wasn't just Houston, but Houston was just devastated. And it still is today. I mean, the rain just stopped, more or less, or what shouldn't say slowed, you know, yesterday. But the flooding is going to be there. And Houston and every area affected by Harvey will take years of recovery. And billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions of billions of dollars and lives were lost and homes and businesses, and it was just devastating to, to watch it. You know, I remembered everything happening in New Orleans when Katrina struck. And you know, years later, there I was speaking in the Superdome. You know, it's, it's. These are real places where real people gather and live. And I don't even know how to talk about it. It's just, you know, the messages and the video and I know you saw it all too. And I just say the same thing. When something catastrophic happens, how will your highest self view that, Contribute, give, serve, do something? And you know, I was sort of forming how I was going to address it as a public figure and one of our certified high performance coaches, if you're not familiar with that, we have a coaching community that we have really pioneered in the world. We, we, we have trained and certified more high performance coaches than any organization in the world. And these are like, literally, you know, you've heard of like a life coach or a business coach or a leadership coach or an executive coach. This is the top tier of that, like the best in the world. This is like the Navy SEALs of coaches. They're called certified high performance coaches. They have more advanced training built on proven curriculum and a Thoughtful community. Like it's just an imagine. It's also one of the most expensive training programs in the world. I tell you this because one of those elite like level people reached out and said, hey, how do we deal with this as people who have influence and who coach many people there and want to serve? And they, we had, we have coaches who live there, like, how do we as a community talk about this and deal with this? And you know, I wish I had a better answer because all I can say is whenever catastrophe happens, pull your family close, care about those around you, appreciate every frigging moment and breath. Because as you're watching that from tv, someone over there is drowning. You know, as you're watching that or hearing about it, real people are having floodwaters come into their house and the house is destroyed forever. They're losing their home, they're losing their job, their business, they're losing everything in, in a storm. And the most important thing that we can do when we witness something like that is to have a deep level of appreciation for humanity. Because when you come from that perspective of appreciation for what you got, you're more willing to give, you're more willing to serve because you realize how friggin lucky you are. And I think that what also is a beautiful thing is how many people worldwide just stepped up, whether it was anonymously or, you know, in public competitions. Shout out to Kevin Hart for what he did and, and shout out to all of the, the service organizations, especially for me, the Red Cross, doing such good work. I mean, but everybody, I mean there wasn't, it just didn't seem like there was anyone in this country who didn't want to do something. And I think that is a, a beautiful thing. And it's going to take years. It's going to take years. And so what do you do in a catastrophe? You get appreciative what you got, you get appreciate of your family. You remind yourself how lucky you are. You know, you just remind yourself, I don't know if you've done that lately, but it is part of living the good life is constantly having reverence for life. But it's almost hard to do that as you go through your day to day. You know, you, you get up in the morning, you try to get the kids there, you try to get your shake ready, you try to hop in the car and get to work or serve with excellence that day. It's easy to lose touch with how lucky we have it until we see it literally swept away from others. And so I hope that you have taken a moment of pause to have blessings for your life. I also am very aware that people are listening to this right now who are in Houston, who do listen to the Brennan show, who do have family, friends, businesses, life connected to what has happened with others who've been impacted by Harvey. So I just want to let you know that if you're hearing me, there is something to be thankful for. You are alive. I mean, in the darkest, in the dirt, in the cold, in the terror of it all. Take a breath in that you're okay for now, in this moment. We can always choose in a moment that we are okay. House can be gone, grandmother can be gone. But in this moment, if you're breathing, you're okay. Doesn't mean things will be easy. But trust at a spiritual level, you're here, you're alive. Have reverence and appreciation. And that's so hard to say to anybody, but I know some friends who I'm literally speaking to right now who are listening to this later and who are in Houston and who are in Texas. And I love you so much. And I hope that you take a breather away from the craziness of it and have reverence that you're still alive and appreciate that you have breath and appreciate that you can help and be of service there and know that we are here, that there's a lot of people listening to me right now. They're nodding their heads and they appreciate your life. They care for you. They're going to contribute. They'll go to the Red Cross, they'll go to the Houston Food Bank. They'll go. They'll go give and that. There's a whole community of people out here, both on the Brennan show and obviously the whole country, who deeply cares about the situation, even if you feel disconnected, lost or alone, because honestly, you might be listening to six months after the storm's gone and you're just bummed one day. I don't know who or when or where this message is going to hit you, but I want to let you know that you are loved, that in this universe, right in this moment, you are okay. And you can pull that in and be like, I'm okay because I have breath. I'm okay because I have the next choice for what I'm going to do next. I'm okay because I can choose, even the midst of the turmoil of it, how to think and be and interact with other people. I can choose to be compassionate and caring and loving and helpful at this moment of my life. Part 3 losing a legend Yesterday I had my team up here in Portland, Oregon, and I found out while we were having a team meeting that a great mentor and a great leader in the space of all of personal development had passed away. And that was Louise Hay. If you are not familiar with Louise Hay, she was literally one of the founders and the biggest creators of what we now know as the personal development community. She is, if you love self help, she was one of the pioneers of all things that they then considered like new age. She is a great leader in our space. Not just, just for what she did, for having, you know, her books have sold over 50 million copies. You know, that you can heal your life was her message. And you can use your mind and you can use affirmations and self talk and self acceptance and love to change your life. This was Louise's message, at least what I took from it. And if you've read any of, if you've read the motivation manifesto or you're going to read high performance habits, I want to let you know those would never be in your hands or you would never read those if it wasn't for of her legacy, which is Hay House Publishing company. He's named after Louise Hay. She's the creator. Louise Hay has not only sold 50 million copies of her own books, hundreds of millions of other books all dedicated to spirituality and personal development came through Hay House. And I will share with you that she had been, you know, ailing for a while and also, you know, in her 90s. And she, I mean, the world works in such magical ways. She passed away on the same night as Wayne Dyer had passed away two years prior. And if you know that connection, you know, Wayne Dyer was one of the, you know, a huge mentor for me in my entire life and one of the people I admire the most in the world. And Wayne, of course, was, you know, and will always be the, the great star of Hay House along with Louise Hay. And their friendship was just so deep and beautiful and inspired so many of us. And Luz, Louise was just like, wow, you know, we're losing so many great leaders in personal development. And I hope that you all in some way, you know, just, just go pick up a Louise Hay book this week. Go download Louise Hay audio. Go listen to something, whether it's free on, on YouTube or on hay House's website. Because she really did heal the world. She taught people that, hey, the way you think your thoughts control your health. And she healed herself from cancer and she had healed herself in so many ways. And I Just want to share one story about her because it's just on my mind. I've replayed it a million times. I was on tour with Wayne Dyer and Hay House on it was Wayne's tour and I was with, I was attending and just, you know, becoming part of the Hay House community. And almost no one on the tour knew who I was. So it was, you know, very incognito and you know, not really talking about my, you know, at that time I had a good followership, but I just, you know, was like going there for me. I was recovering from my accident, my ATV accident where I had a brain injury and snapped my wrist, my hips and my ribs. You know the story. And we are in somewhere in Europe and Louise joined a part of that trip and I had not yet met her, but she was a huge hero of mine. And you know, all of her heal your life type messages had so resonated with me. I, I, I learned affirmations like most of the world in the 50s and 60s and you know, who came on the beat of like wow, these affirmations are so powerful. Whether it was Earl Nightingale or later Louise, you know, in the 80s just controlled that conversation. Affirmations changed my life. And Louise was really one of the pioneering proponents to reach millions of people with that power of positive thinking and power of positive self talk. I mean, Louise was just such a huge leader in that. And so she came on part of that trip and I was so excited to meet her. And, and I remember I was that there was like a, a bar type area. I was down there sitting with some other friends who were on the tour and I was in, I was in rough shape. My wrist, I was wearing a, like a cast. I'd snap my wrist, I mean clean through in the accident. And I didn't know how damaged I was. I didn't had yet to have a diagnosis about my brain injury from that accident. I just felt like I was tired all the time and I thought maybe I pushed myself too hard. I was stressed. So when I was on the tour I was like, oh, I'm just recovering and I was sleeping in all the time and I was just, I just wasn't energetically there. And Louise walked into the room and I got to meet her and she saw that I was injured and she said, well, can I sit down with you? And, and we sat and she held my hand and asked if she could pray for my recovery, for my wrist. And I can literally still feel that energy from her. And I said sure. So we Closed my eyes, and she prayed for my hand and for my wrist. And then, you know, she said something, some kind of blessing. And I looked into her eyes, and her eyes were so beautiful and so deep and so soulful. Her full presence and energy were there. And she was talking about presence and energy and love at levels that no one else was when she was, you know, when she was launching her books at the beginning. And what's so inspiring, people don't understand. I mean, Louise was 50 by the time she was with her books and her publishing. She lived a full life. She. It was the second part of her life that she started Hay House that has impacted, you know, hundreds of millions of people. It was just. It was a magical moment I'll never forget. And I remember telling friends about it later on. I was like, wow, she really is magical. Because my wrist felt healed. It wasn't painful that night. It wasn't painful that next day. I felt better. I just felt better. And that was unfortunately, my only ever interaction with her personally. And a lot of my friends listening to this, I know who had much greater connection with Louise and much more time with her. I'm so happy you had that and so happy for anyone she touched and anyone she healed and anyone that she contributed to. And I hope that you. You realize that your. Your thoughts and how much you love yourself is shaping how you are living and caring for others and leading and running your life. I just ask that you honor Louise Hay by go get her book, any of them, go download any of her audios, just maybe spend an hour and listen to her. Because she is truly not only one of the great. She's one of the leaders, the pioneers, and I'm only getting to talk with you of the success of my last two books because of Hay House's even existence. And so much of that work that inspired me and changed my life came from a house as well. So the whole Hay House community. I love you. You're in my thoughts. I'm proud to be part of what is a ripple effect that has changed the world. That was the great late Louise Hay. Part four. And I march on. So what do you do when you're faced with all of these things? When there's death or catastrophe or difficulty in life, you appreciate it, and you keep marching on, head held high, trying to help as much as you can. Try to be a positive force in the world, no matter what you are doing. I haven't even told you about about half of what happened this last week from, you know, d. Dealing With a tremendous launch at the time, to hiring new people, to expanding the office, to so many things that have happened. And so if you participate in this last launch, by the way, whether you supported me with high performance habits to pre order, or with you're sharing the message of this show, the Brennan show, or you have been some part of my community in any way that helped me ultimately be recognized in such a way where I'm blessed to be on the COVID of Success magazine, all of that, I just. I just keep focused on it, you know, I just. What do you do? You just keep doing your thing. That's all you can do. I remember in 2009, when my father was passing away, you know, I'm there for my family and hospice and, you know, it's. I'm staying up caring for him. At late, we were taking shifts of the family and, you know, he'd be sleeping and I'd be worried about him staying up, and I would just. I remember I would find myself while he's sleeping, the whole family sleeping, still awake. I. I would find myself working on my websites. And I remember thinking, how absurd is this? I'm. I'm. I'm trying to finish up a new rollout of a website. And here my father is, you know, ill. I felt so almost useless, like I couldn't do anything. But you know what? I could keep marching on something he would be proud of. He was sleeping. I had done what I could that day, and now I had a moment for myself, and I said, I'm going to try to keep advancing what I'm doing, because that's all we can do. In death and destruction, catastrophe and sadness and sorrow, all we can do is keep waking up and keep marching towards our mission. Keep trying to serve, keep trying to keep our head up and be positive and be good human beings. Because no one wants to see you stop. In the difficulty and the sadness and the catastrophe. No one wants to see you disengage or quit or stop living your life. That's not what happens. Look, we all take a moment to pause during these terrible, scary times. We do. But what the world and what the universe does is it keeps expanding. And we must keep expanding. I know this is a weird way to end it, but I don't know how to explain it. Like, I. I'm as energized today as I was that last podcast. You heard me before I knew that I lost my grandmother, before Harvey, before Louise Hay, before all the crazy thing I haven't even told you about that you know in hours and hours and hours and hours of this last launch. So if you join us in the new High Performance Master's program as one of our new students, congratulations. Can't wait to see you in September or in March in Phoenix High Performance Academy. I'm stoked. I'm energized. If you talk to my team, they worked tirelessly, you know, for the. I mean, frankly, the summer. But these last eight days of the launch, I mean, it was 24 7, we didn't sleep. It felt like, I mean, we were just going and going and going and going and going, working so hard. So my team, I love you, shout out to you, because there's no way I could have survived these last couple weeks. Moving my house, moving my office, losing family, trying to be a leader in the community as we lose other leaders, trying to roll out a new book, a new podcast, a new online launch, a new class, gearing up for one of our biggest seminars. And I'm going on book tour all of this month. So it's not like, you know, bad things happen and we. What I always try to tell people is like, you don't have to slow your life, but you can slow time where you take two more beats to appreciate something. You take two extra breaths or you hold a gaze with someone you love for just two extra beats. Matter of fact, if you haven't read motivation Manifesto, I hope you'll read it. The last declaration, Declaration 9 is we shall slow time. We can keep marching forward and keep moving. I have so much coming up, you know, I'm hitting six cities, so hey, New York, Denver, Chicago, Boston, Pasadena. Gosh, I don't even know the rest of the tour schedule. I only know this month. So just go to brendan.com tour if you want to come out and join me. You get two tickets to come out and join me on book tour anywhere. If you'll just buy two books. Buy two books, get a couple hours of training from me, get to meet me, I'll sign your book, I'll cheer you on, we'll double high five. Because you know what? You'll be there, we'll be learning, and we'll be marching on together. Because that is all we can do amid the craziness of the world is keep expanding, keep learning, keep following our path, our dreams, our mission, keep loving our families. You keep on and that's all you can do. Because those who you have lost, they just want to see you keep on living your life, getting better, being better, serving more, caring more about life. In these times of tragedy, all we want to know is that we can still continue on, that there is always hope that things will be better. That no matter how hard, no matter how difficult, no matter how we're sad, no matter who's affected how, how many affected near you, far away from you or it's you or your family, that there is always hope. That there is always this promise that there's a breath right now. You get to have that. Enjoy that breath. Appreciate that breath. Know that you have the gift of life right now. So, my friends, as we sign off the brendon show this episode have reverence for life.