Electronic Walkabout. No one should have to walk through life alone. We share the good times, the bad times, and the best times. Everyone needs a little direction now and again. And TC and Maddog are here to show you the way. A podcast where we talk about the important things in life. Come journey with us the Electronic Walkabout Day around the world. And welcome to this episode of Electronic Walkabout. This episode is inspired by a Foo Fighters song, Something from Nothing. It's from their eighth studio album, Sonic Highways. It was released as the album's lead single on October 16, 2014. This episode takes us to a place where there is nothing, using that as a catalyst to go wherever we want to go. Enjoy this episode as we impart a message that dreams really do become a reality with a few setbacks along the way. But first, as always, a thought for the day. There are too many people that live like they are driving blind. Remember, it's gone in the blink of an eye. How are you today, Mad Dog?

I am doing excellent, tc. Thank you very much, yourself.

Well, the sun is shining again. Not that you know. And that's the thing, when you ask someone how they're doing, what do they first refer to?

The weather.

The weather. I didn't ask how the weather was. I asked how you were doing. But people say, oh, it's a beautiful day. The sun is shining.

It does set a tone, though, for the day.

It does set a tone. But never let the weather dictate how you're going to be or your mood that day.

True.

Well, anything new and exciting in your world?

Not much. Got some travel coming up, but outside of that, just enjoying time with the family and just have some free time come up. So I'm just looking to adventure into new things.

Adventure into new things. And it's. It's funny. And I'm just learning how to kind of gradually get into retirement. Learning how to do new things should really be the theme of every day, when you think about it.

Absolutely.

And you shouldn't wait for retirement for that to happen.

No, not at all. It's just if the opportunity is there to try something new, take it.

Okay, let's. Let's get on topic now. Okay. Something from nothing. When I say this, does a number of life scenarios pop into your head?

Absolutely.

Do you wanna.

Anything to me from. Well, literally, you can apply that to anything. If, if, if you're not presented with something 10, technically, you're starting with nothing. And then if you have the, the drive and ambition and desire to do something Then you're gonna make something of that. Nothing. So I think you can apply that to a new relationship, a new job, an endeavor that you want to do if you're starting at nothing, but at least you're starting. And then it becomes something.

And then it becomes something. And then I'm going to take it to the next step. It becomes something and then something comes out of left field and literally hits us in the head like a two by four. And we're talking about adversity at this point. And then, then what happens? We're back to nothing again.

Yeah. And it, I think that helps define who you are or your mindset that if you let that adversity derail you. Okay, well, you know, maybe there's a chance to toughen up, get a little bit thicker skin and try again. Or you face it head on and, and conquer it and get the train of action that you were on before you got derailed.

So what I want to really do is explore that adversity because when you hear the word adversity, first of all you get this negative connotation. But is it fair to say that if we kind of embrace adversity and take it as a positive, that there's some good things that come out of that?

I would say so. I know personally myself with work, if some adversity pops up, I enjoy taking it as a challenge and facing it head on with the goal of becoming victorious. To be able to say, I navigated that. So. And as you do that, as you go along, I think it helps develop your character and your wherewithal to be able to face those said adversities and come out positive on the other side.

And I totally agree with you. But the question that comes to my mind when you say that, why are we so surprised when we, when we do have to face adversity? When you think about that, it's just a part of life. It really is.

But if it wasn't in your initial plan and it wasn't one of the steps that were going to take place, it's a, it's a curveball you weren't expecting. Oh my gosh. So I think sometimes we, we go into different things thinking, yeah, this is going to be smooth, it's going to be no problem at all. And then wham o. That adversity hits and you know, some people either get rocked to the core and it throws them off, or it's a challenge and you overcome it.

Yeah. And then you have those people that are be the Chicken Littles and the sky is always falling. And guess what? The sky is. That's my point. The sky is always going to fall. It's a question of how you manage that sky falling around you.

Yeah, exactly. Where, where are areas that you notice adversity over the course of your life or whether it's work or whatever?

Well, well, you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned that you have your, you're basically your, I'll say your work, your relationships, but there's been a couple of times of relationships, and this is basically been my second relationship. So that, that first relationship, when it started to kind of fall apart, that your world is really falling apart because you don't expect that. You don't know how to deal with that. And literally you're hitting a real, real low at that point. And you're, you're trying to figure out, how am I going to get out of this? Because this is just killing me. What am I going to do about this? And then you take it literally one day at a time. And then somehow, and I don't know what it is, and you can, like you said, perhaps you take it as a challenge, saying, I'm not going to let this beat me, and you just take, take it by the horns and move forward.

So, yeah, no, and because, yeah, adversity is never part of the plan. So it's always shocking when it presents itself.

So why don't we just make it part of the plan? Right.

There should be an A and a B as a defaulting case. Said adversity shows up.

Yeah. And then. And when we talk about. There's been a couple times in my professional career where I've, I've, I'd said, you know, I work so hard and I set my sights on a certain position, and the next day the rug is just out from underneath my feet. And here I am going, okay, now what I'm gonna do.

And that's demotivating. It's demoralizing. It's. It's all the Ds that just, you know, it really has an effect on you and, you know, your intention.

And it gets worse because the people that are around you saying, you know, you really deserve, that's the last thing.

You want to hear when you didn't get it right.

It's true. And like, literally you would say, okay, fine, maybe that person that got the job is the better person for the job, but you're just trying to rationalize just to make yourself feel. Exactly.

To make it painless.

So, I mean, but I Always took, I always took the stance that, okay, if that adversity basically said, no, you're not going to get that there's got to be a few more doors that you can knock on that they would get you to that same place. It's just going to take you longer to get there. Right.

And I think mindset plays into that. To your point about the Chicken Little sky is falling. If you are always expecting the sky to fall, it will always fall.

Oh, say that again. It's kind of like a self fulfilling prophecy.

That's what I would feel about that.

So that's almost the glass is half empty kind of thing is what you're saying.

Yeah. If you're walking around and everything's a downer, everything's a problem, everything is, oh, it's always life stocked up against me, then you know what, that's the world that you're going to live in. Because, you know, I'm a big believer, thanks to my wife that, you know, thoughts have mass and what you put out there, you better be careful because a lot of the times it comes to fruition and if that's your, if you have that kind of negative, everything's always bad and against me, then chances are it's always going to be.

That just reminds me, earlier on Today I was kind of cruising the, the Internet. I came across the old Saturday Night Live sketch, Debbie Downer.

I was just thinking of that. Yeah. Like, and she played that role perfectly. Rachel Dratch. But yeah, that's exactly what I mean. It's if everything that comes out of your mouth is, is terrible and miserable and stuff, that's. You just end up staying in that state.

Yeah. And like, I, I couldn't live like that. Yeah, it's pretty. Actually, you know what, it's pretty, pretty easy to look at the negative things and take that, that path. Right. And if you were to take the high road, and the high road really is taking that challenge, which means the adversity and moving past it.

And you know, like I, when my wife and I went and we bought our first couple houses, there was always, always something with popped up. Always. So the first one, it was frustrating, it was angry. And then the second one, I was a little bit wiser. I'm like, okay, well this didn't work out perfectly last time, so let's expect this. But then different things happen. So on our third house, you know, I started to look at things not from a negative standpoint, but what can go wrong here? Like, how can we figure this out? So it doesn't repeat itself. So I think sometimes when you are challenged with that adversity and you have to go through it a few times, then you might start looking at adversity differently because you possibly have maybe found a way to, to get through it from previous experience.

From previous experience. And getting back to that, that whole purchasing of a house. I know exactly what you're talking about because the mindset was, okay, what's going to come out of left field that I'm not expecting, that I'm going to have to deal with. Let's call that a self fulfilling prophecy. Because that, and, but that's a practical one. Right. Because you know something's going to happen.

Yeah.

That you didn't expect.

Yeah. And it, you know, you're, I think whether it's your parents or whatever, make it seem like, oh yeah, buying houses, no big deal, it's like, yeah, put in a little offer, everything goes fine. But no, once you get through the thick of it with, you know, conditions and qualify, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, it adds up.

Yeah, it's. And, and that's probably one of the biggest stressors that an individual or individuals can go through in their life is selling and buying houses for sure.

Right.

Why are people afraid of adversity, do you think?

Just because it's, you know, I think we've talked about this before. It's the unknown. Right. Like if something presents itself, if you would have known about it ahead of time, you would have planned for it but didn't know about it. Maybe you just didn't realize that this was something that was going to happen. And, and again it, when adversity happens on something that you're targeted in doing or you're putting action towards, it makes you feel like it's not going to come to fruition or it's not going to get completed because all this stuff keeps popping up. I'm not sure what the question was, but I just started rambling.

I think you answered the question, but I'll just take it one step further. What's the best way to manage adversity? First of all, we're trying to manage something that we don't know is going to happen. But if we actually put our mind to that, I think you could come up with a plan.

So what's in your work? You've had a long successful, now you're retired and speak about it differently. Was there a large adversity that you faced through your career? Be it, you know, promotions or working with people or just it Was.

There was. There certainly was a lot of adversity, and it was more or less having a positive attitude, knowing that at any second, what you were working on and you're putting a lot of effort in, you had to actually switch gears, put that aside, and deal with a different kind of adversity, because virtue of what was coming through the door at any given day, and you just had to be, I'll just say, up for it all the time. And you didn't think about. You just did it.

Yeah. And I think a lot of people, you know, one of the things that attracts them to, you know, whether it be a police officer or fireman, they're always like, oh, no, it's a new challenge every day. Well, that is challenging in itself because there's also, you know, a lot of things that might be uncomfortable you got to deal with on a daily basis because it's new.

You know, I was. I was talking to Jeanette the other day, and. And I was talking about that whole being on call thing. What it was. You could sit there and you. The phone would ring and you wouldn't want to answer that one because you, You, You. You know, that you'd had to all of a sudden kick it into gear. But once you kicked it in the gear, like, you were like. It was like riding a bike again. You were back on it.

But doesn't that trigger. Didn't that trigger you, though, that over the phone, anytime it rang, whether you were on call or not? That was probably the.

Yeah, that's right. Feeling that. That you got little tense and you get that little adrenal adrenaline rush. And then it was like, okay, here we go. It was. It was interesting to the fact, like, when I finally retired from. From policing, I said, okay, I need to get rid of this phone. I don't want to have a phone on me anymore. And I said to Jeanette, are you okay with that? She said, yeah, I'm okay with that. Right. Because there was a time where actually I was carrying three phones. People always joke, you know, like. And someone said, you know, if you have more than one phone, people think you're a drug dealer. And I would just laugh. And I said, no, it's not the case. Quite the opposite.

Right, Exactly. I need as much context I can to catch those guys.

Yeah, yeah. But I don't know. There's so many things out there that are going to hit you in life, and you have to be prepared to do it. So one of the things I find very, very interesting is that when People are facing adversity. They think that they're the only ones that have experienced this particular scenario. It's been experienced by hundreds of people.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And that's. To that point, I do suggest sometimes, or most times for people that are having issues and challenges to seek therapy and counseling, because that was presented to me when I was very young. I was in my early 20s, and I was having some issues. And the gentleman I was working with was a little bit older, and he gave me that advice. He's like, James. He goes, these guys deal with this day in and day out. You might think that you're the only one in the world, but most likely they've dealt with this 500 times in the last year. So they could probably provide you with some sort of thoughts or, or, or. Or a way to work around this. And I was like, yeah, okay. And sure enough, I followed it. And it worked. It worked.

But it, it's the, the, the. The feeling that you have is that you're all alone. You don't know what you're going to do. And I don't know whether it's because of pride or, or whatever it is, you don't bother reaching out.

Yeah.

Until. Until it's. It's almost sometimes too late to do that. Reaching out, really.

And that's it. And to that point, one of the. The biggest adversities that call them. It's weird. I, I call it a point of correction that when everything is going so well in life, all everything's lining up and everything's successful. There's a piece of my brain that keeps it in check that. No, no, just relax. Like something else could happen that you're not prepared for. And we had a younger family member pass away in our family, and that was, it was at one of those points where everything was going great and, and it wasn't lost on me. And you know that at any point something bad could happen and you have to be able to not deal with it, but that. Navigate your way through it, and it is not easy. Not easy at all.

That's got to be a terrible thing to experience and manage, I'll say it that way. And I'm being. I don't know. That's just so high.

There's no right words for it. It's, you know, it is unfortunately, something that our kids were, you know, exposed to and that, you know, we would put them all in counseling and stuff to make sure that they were okay, because it is a pretty heavy cross to, to burn or wear or whatever the, the wording is. But the little bit out of that is that, you know, they, they've managed to kind of work through it and come to terms with it. So I think that's helped build their character through that adversity. Not that anyone needs to.

Wants to go through that. Is it safe to say that by going through adversity or adversities that it, it helps to build confidence and strength?

Absolutely. Absolutely. It's like if you were, you know, a soccer team that, you know, never won a game, and then you're playing the toughest team in the league and by some miracle all everything lined up and you beat that team, the feeling that would come from that victory would propel you to, I guarantee you many more victories in the future. Maybe not as much as that winningest team, but, but that's an adversity that, you know, when you can figure out a way, it definitely adds to that toolbox of no, I've, I've been in a crappy situation before. I can get out of this. And, and then you put your mind.

To it and, and, and it's funny how you, like, you bring up the sports because we often talk about sports, but you, you look when it comes to time, and I'll just talk about hockey and how the, the commentators are always talking about who has that playoff experience, which really is adversity experience. Right.

So it's a whole new level once you get to that.

And I don't know how you measure that, but I mean, it's, it's, it's like the je ne sais quoi then that's so important that if it's there, it just, it brings confidence to everybody.

Yeah. And the other thing too is that once you get to that level, you know that your next game is either make or break, your season's either over. That's a whole other, you know, bag of things to deal with, or you kind of get through that and get to the next level. But yeah, so there's always this looming thing that's going to happen whether you win or if you lose.

And it's true, win or lose, there's. There's something positive that's going to come out of it. It's always, always been my, my thought. But are there any other positive things that come could come out of adversity? Because, I mean, obviously talk about by getting through it, it builds confidence for the next time, for sure. It. From a development perspective. You've mentioned character a couple times.

Yeah. Like, I. I think your whole body goes through something when you are faced against something that's challenging. Right. You know, the mental aspect, there's a physical aspect. You could get stressed out, but, you know, and tensed up and all that sort of stuff. But I think that that's. It's hard to define what it is that adversity, you know, is. Affects you personally. But I would imagine that every time that you conquer one of those adversities or face them successfully, that lightens your. Your spirit, I guess, because you've. You've kind of. You're victorious. So there, you know, there's that. That little bit of joy feeling. Yeah, it might not. It might be small, but yeah, there. I think there's definitely a metaphysical piece to overcoming that sort of thing.

So the next time it's going to be. Is that all you got for me?

Yeah, exactly.

Well, you know what?

If you got to that point, that's not a bad place to be.

Here's a. Here's a crazy thought because it. First, he's just. White noise in our life.

Is it white noise? I think it's legitimate noise for sure.

Yeah.

But, yeah, I think, you know, you can't go through everything without having some sort of pushback or road bump or something like that. So call it white noise. But I definitely think it's always there or has the potential to.

Okay, so is it fair to say some of it's white noise and some of it's actually legit noise that you need to. Absolutely. You need to listen to?

Absolutely.

Okay, pay attention to the noise. It's funny, when I was kind of. I always joke about this. We do extensive research for each and every episode. But when I thought about overcoming adversity, another song kind of popped into my head with the lyrics is, I get knocked down, I get back up again. Right. So, yeah, that's right. So, yeah. So you think soon as you hear the song and. And it's actually a political song, but we're not going to get into the political aspect of the song. But getting knocked down and getting back up again, that's. That's really the. The simple path for overcoming adversity.

Absolutely. And, you know, have a bit of a martial arts background, and I've seen that time and time again where, you know, young people get in to compete and if they do, you know, catch a right cross hard and they go down to be able to get back up and stay in the fight and potentially come back and win that fight, it is just. It's empowering and it's really hard to describe it, but yeah, it's. And you hear that while if you get knocked down nine times, you get up 10. Right? All those, you know, adages and stuff like that. But. But it does.

It.

It adds to your character to be able to get through that and get up.

You go through a few of those experience where you literally get knocked on your butt and get back up again. It's when you're on the ground that whatever it is that pops into your head, I gotta get up again. That's. That's gonna make the difference in your life.

You know, you might focus on your family, your kids, something like that. That gives you the wherewithal to get up. But you know what? Then that becomes a go to. And then you recognize that, you know, like I, when I was much younger and I had kids very, very young, I stayed very focused and it kept me out of trouble. And that was a. That was my go to. Oh, no, think about the kids. Think about the kids. So even when adversity started happening, you know, comes and it goes, that was a main thought for me that I latched on to and that helped propel me through challenges.

Unfortunately, there's that music that's telling us this. I'm not going to say that you walk about to come to man, but this episode, just this episode. So remember, adversity will always be a part of our lives. It can never stop your dream from becoming a reality. In fact, but improperly, it can help our dream become a reality. Learn to embrace adversity. Sounds funny, but share your adversity with someone who cares for you and see where that takes you. And that gets back to. Who do you reach out to again? Right? So each time you face adversity and meet that challenge, you will always be a stronger person. Person. And more readily able to face that next. Finally, when faced with adversity, keep a positive attitude and add a little humor to ease the stress.

Yeah. And don't be afraid to reach out to somebody and ask for help. How to navigate through things like that. To our point, sometimes people go through these things and support.

Thanks, Mad Dog, for that. And remember to take advantage of the moment before the moment takes a advantage of you. To learn more about eWalkabout, please visit us at eWalkabout.ca.