Interview excerpt with Ackie (Ackie/Aki) Byrd, an 85-year-old who recently completed his first Spartan race. Byrd describes finding renewed purpose and community after his wife's passing, credits Brian Johnson/Heroic for supportive community, mentions creating a "sacred vow," and states he has a 20-year goal he feels purposeful about.
I think the biggest thing, it's given me a sense of purpose. I've always been pretty driven, ambitious, but it's given me a focus that made a big difference in my life. My name is Aki Bird and I've been. Well, I've been stalking Brian for years. I think two years ago my wife passed and I decided, okay, I'm going to jump in and, you know, find a community to participate in. And it's been great. I think what makes it special, what makes Heroic special, is that everybody has got a good heart and it's great to be hanging out with people who are being their best selves. I'm 85 years old and it's the first time I did a Spartan race. And it was really great to have people there to support me and be there for me and to help me over the walls and under the, you know, under and over and around. And I couldn't, couldn't have done it without the help of my friends. I've participated in a lot of things over the years. What Brian does, bringing it all together. Many of the books that he covers in the Philosopher's Notes I've read over the years and I've even have personal experience with some of the authors. Be true to yourself and to be true to your community, you know, to make an impact on as many people as you can. Well, yesterday we worked on creating what we call a sacred vow. That was real important to me. I'm still working on it. Like I said, I'm 85 and I've got. Well, I'm. I've got a 20 year goal and I feel I'm on purpose with that goal and the sacred vow is going to help me do that.
