This content was created by Thomas Anglero. This content was uploaded by Thomas Anglero. This is a podcast episode titled "Unlocking The Magic of a Heartfelt Hug" (Soul of Innovation) created on 2024-05-09. The excerpt is an English, diarized podcast recording featuring host Thomas Anglero (leading the episode) with additional speakers labeled as Speaker B and Speaker C. Thomas shares a personal story about coaching youth basketball, attending a teammate’s funeral, and the healing power of hugs — the episode focuses on grief, human connection, and compassion. Metadata includes a podcast thumbnail and the recorded/posted time of 2024-05-09T07:17:50.034000.
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Welcome to the Soul of Innovation podcast. I am Thomas Anglero, and I want to ask you a question, a really, really important question. Are you aware of how powerful a hug can be to the person who needs it so desperately at that moment? To a person who's dying on the inside, to a person like you. Let me tell you a story. Yesterday was a difficult day. Went to a funeral of one of my teammates. But in this story, in this real story, we didn't play together. I was his coach. I coached him from the time he was 7 to the time he was 17. I remember when at 7 years old coaching them in basketball, the ball's as big as their body. And it was really difficult because they would just, they would try to pick up the ball and they would roll over the ball and it was hysterical. But so it is when you're trying to teach a bunch of 7-year-olds who are so tiny how to pick up this thing that's bigger than them. It was still funny. But in the process of coaching the same group of 10 boys that eventually grew grew to 15 boys together for 10 years. You become a family. I coached one way and saying that the game of basketball, the lessons you learned together as a team Showing up to practice when you don't want to. But when getting to practice, seeing the other people on your team, they inspire you, they change you. You see how someone's getting better and it pushes you, and in return it pushes them, and in return, all together, people start bonding. People start maturing and growing. Players start having conversations with each other that they have with no one else. What happens is life. Life through sport. These young, these little boys became young men. They became a family. We became a family. They sweated for me when I asked them to sweat, when I asked them to run, when I asked them to dive, to jump. They bled for me. In return, I gave them my soul. And yesterday, one of my players, he lost his father just a week ago. He went in for a yearly medical check and they told him his cancer had come back, and within a few days he was Gone.
Literally a few days. 3 days.
It breaks my heart to see one of my family hurting that much.
The funeral was beyond beautiful.
The stories they shared of the family, of how the mother and father met, and the stories that the father held on to Some of the most cherishable memories he had with his kids was basketball. It meant a lot to me. I didn't know it meant so much to them as well. After the funeral, everyone's standing around. It's that awkwardness because you want to go and hug the family, but at the same time you want to give them their distance. And eventually we went over to my boy, who I was staring at throughout the whole funeral, making sure he was okay, and he wasn't. And it was my turn to give him a hug.
I couldn't let go. I couldn't let go. I could feel his sorrow.
And the thing was, as I hugged him harder, he paused for a second and then he hugged me twice as hard back and he started to cry.
And all I could say to him is, "I'm so, so sorry." 'Cause his father was a wonderful man.
Always smiling. Always positive.
A hug.
When you hug someone, you're not hugging the physical being. You are— when you hug someone when they need it, you're hugging their soul. You're saving their life. You're giving them life. You're giving them— you're giving them what we are here for. You're giving them love, you're giving them energy, you're refilling their, their, their reason for living. You're giving them hope. And you're seeing them, you're feeling them. Today we've lost connection with each other. You could save a life by just hugging someone. Just hugging someone. You want to save your life? Let someone, let people hug you. Go forth and spread beauty and light. Look at yourself and ask yourself, what am I doing that people aren't hugging me? And if that sounds like a strange question, then I'm— I have to ask you a bigger question. Then why is it a strange question for you? Why is that a ridiculous statement or question? Why aren't people hugging me more? If you don't get it, then you gotta change your head. People wanna hug people who are radiant, who are in need of a hug. People wanna hug people because they wanna be close to them, because they wanna bond with them. They wanna become one with them. They wanna become one with you. Who do you have to be so that people want to be one with you? How do you have to stand? How must you talk? How must you look? How must you feel? When I went up to my boy at the funeral, and I will not say his name out of respect to him and his family, I knew what he needed.
I've known him since 7. And I know, I know what people need, and I know what my family people, family members need when they are broken and they need love.
And so do you.
Be that person that everyone wants to hug.
Be that person that a stranger says— comes up to you and says, "Can I give you a hug?" Then you are where you're supposed to be. You are that person who God made you to be, or the universe, or whatnot, Jehovah, or Buddha, or Allah, whatever name you want to call it. Go forth and spread beauty and light and spread yourself and give hugs. To people that need it. They're all over the place. I don't think— I think we all know everyone needs a hug. Why don't you just be that person that gives that person that hug? And what an amazing world we would have at the end of that hug. I'm Thomas Anglero. I'm a different person today because one of my family members lost their father.
He's not gonna come back. So it's my job to make sure his son is still loved. It's your job to take care of someone else's son, someone else's daughter, and make sure they know they're loved too. That's our job.
I love you.
It's from the bottom of my heart.
Until next time.
Thank you for listening to that episode. If you want to contact me, you can contact me on my website at anglero.com, and you can also subscribe to the newsletter, or you can find me anywhere on social media with Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. Thank you so much, and I hope to hear from you very soon.
