Kenny Chapman (the “blue collar coach”) recounts his wife Christy’s recent surgery (total thyroidectomy, one parathyroid removed, another relocated) and reflects on how perspective and gratitude shape responses in life and business. He describes focusing on caregiving over work during the first post-op week, contrasts their situation with more severe health challenges (e.g., blindness), and encourages viewers to protect perspective, practice gratitude without losing ambition, and prioritize relationships, mindset, and happiness.
Chapters
Hey, my friend Kenny Chapman here, the blue collar coach, wanted to touch base with a little bit of perspective for you here today. So just recently about. Well, a week ago today, I reached out and I asked for thoughts, prayers, energy to have us in your thoughts. As Christy went into a challenging surgery, she had a complete thyroid taken out. She had one of her parathyroids removed. She also had another parathyroid relocated, which has completely thrown her body out of balance. Her hormones are a mess, her calcium is a mess, whatever. Today's a week. They say it's supposed to only be this bad for a week. Structurally, everything's good. Incision, everything went well. But what's my point today? My point is it's been a very challenging week personally for the lovely Christy and I. I kind of checked out from work and really focused on what matters most. And right now, that was taking care of my wife and making sure she had everything that she needed to make her recovery as good as possible in that first week. Now, as I reengage in work and clients and the fun that I love to do with when it comes to work in business, I just want to kind of share a little perspective, and that has to do with gratitude. So last week, you know, I've never had any situation like that. Christie's only been under twice for different procedures, nothing major, and watching her get wheeled away, you know, and you never know, of course, it's minor, it's this, it's that. But it was a challenge, and we were upstage. We went to Denver to seek a different level of care than what we felt we had been exposed to in our local market, whatever. So we have these challenges, but think about your business, think about your life for a moment. What I know is that perspective drives everything. What I also know is that gratitude is incredibly powerful. Another thing I know is we're not taught to practice gratitude when it comes to our lives, to our businesses, to our relationships, to our finances, whatever those things are. See, there's a psychological barrier that many of us run into when it comes to gratitude. And it's like, well, gratitude's selfish because I'm focused on myself. Therefore, my mind says, no, you need to be selfless instead of selfish. And the reality is, if you're focused on gratitude, taking care of yourself, making sure that you're focused on the great things in your life, the better off you're going to be to help other people. So Christy was very frustrated. She had an emotional roller coaster, you know, just out of control emotions that she couldn't Control couldn't understand those different things. I had to stay focused on gratitude. I knew the main things of the surgery were, well, we would ride this roller coaster together. Now, what's my point? She doesn't have cancer. She's not blind. She didn't lose a limb. She didn't have a life threatening situation. So it's all about perspective. I remember the second day she was in the hospital. I was walking down the hall, coming back from getting her some water, and I glanced across the hallway and I saw a sign on one of the doors of another patient, a patient's room. And the sign had just written in marker on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, and it said, patient is blind. Please do not disturb. Wow. Okay. There's a little perspective. Yeah. She's struggling. She's hooked up to machines. She has these different things going on, but she has her eyesight. She has hope of returning to hell. She has a quality of life that many people long for. All these different things. Wherever you are right now, my friend, wherever your business is, wherever your personal relationships are, wherever your personal finance situation or your profitability of your company is, it's simply a matter of your perspective. It's simply a matter of what you're willing to put up with. It's simply a matter of how you view the world. See, you know, one of the things we have to protect is our perspective. Because I feel like I've done really well and I have a lot of support. I read a lot, I pay attention to a lot. I train and coach. I help people embrace and create their great lives, right? And so when we're dealt a challenge like this, I have to look at and go, what's the lesson? You know, what? If Christie would have been taken from me that day on that operating table, I would have gratitude for the almost 10 years that we spent together in our lives. Or I guess it is 10 years now. So with that, you think about that and like, okay, what's that perspective? We got friends and clients that have lost spouses, that have lost children, that have had far more difficult things than what we're dealing with. I just want you to use this as a little perspective for yourself. If you can get up and walk away from your phone or your desk, wherever you're watching this right now, you've got something to be grateful for. If you've got a roof over your head and you've got food on your table tonight, you've got something to be grateful for. Now, sometimes we think gratitude can be A blocker. I used to think, well, if I'm grateful, then I'm not hungry. If I'm grateful, then I'm not going to want to grow. If I'm grateful, I'm going to be stuck right where I'm at. See, I'm grateful, but I'm not satisfied. I'm grateful that Christy was able to seek out the best medical care in the country based on our personal situation and what we felt like we could attack and take direction for ourselves. I'm very grateful for that. I'm very grateful that she has a mindset and a perspective that believes in growth, believes in the body healing, believes in a better tomorrow than today. I'm grateful for those things. I'm also grateful for each of you that are taking the moment to listen to this, to watch this, to think about this, this in your own scenario. Because what got you here, my friend, won't get you there. It's about your perspective, it's about your mindset. It's about you feeling good about where you are, building your confidence, knowing that you can accomplish what you want and bringing your best foot forward. There's no guarantees in life. You never know what's going to take place the rest of today, tomorrow, next week, or next year. Live today, make changes in your life, make changes in your business, be rectify relationships, challenge your financial mindset and seek, more than anything, happiness, my friend, just be happy. Those of you that are in titanium, I can't wait to see on the call tomorrow for a weekly update until we talk again, my friends, have a better than fantastic day and in happiness, I'll see you very soon.
