Anticipating and Overcoming Adversity - A Way of Life Toward Purpose in Service to Others

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortez. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

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on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortez. Welcome back to

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Working on Purpose. Thanks for tuning
in again this week. I'm your host,

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Elise Cortez, joining you from Dallas, Texas. If you've been tuning

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in for a while, you know
the show is all about helping people more

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meaningfully and productively connect with their work
and equipping organizations due to the same for

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their employees. It was originally inspired
by the meaning and work research up and

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conducting over the last fifteen years,
and it now complements the work that I

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do. It Insignium, a global
management consulting firm. Let me thank my

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media partner. It's sponsor first Jopping
dot com. They are the leading locally

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focused job board in the nation and
our dedicated helping employers find quality talent in

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their own backyard and giving job seekers
control over their search so they can find

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work close to home. Great partnership. Thank you. Last week, if

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you missed the show, you can
always catch the recorded podcast, we were

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on the air with Principal Evan rob
of Johnson Williams Middle School in Berryville,

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Virginia. We talked about his passion, his passion to cultivate a growth mindset

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among his students and faculty, his
perspective that we've talked to ourselves as a

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nation into being bad at math and
what we can do about that, and

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his use of social media to engage
students and parents, among many other topics.

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Was a great conversation with us.
This week is Staff Sergeant Jason Morgan,

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who was a motivational speaker and best
selling author of a book called A

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Dog Called Hope, a wounded warrior
and his service dog who saved him.

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Jason shares with audiences his own remarkable
journey from the Special Forces to living as

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a wounded veteran, a Paralympic athlete, and a national speaker, and also

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his own inspiring message based on his
story to help people navigate back from adversity.

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We'll be talking about his own story
of serving in the military and becoming

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disabled, and what he's learned from
that experience, his perspective on adversity and

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the importance of service in our communities. Jason Joine it today from Dallas.

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Welcome to the show. Thank you, Thank you for having me. This

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is going to be a lovely conversation. I appreciate that we were connected.

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I think it was by Lauren Yates, and I so appreciate that she sent

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me send me to you, because
when I want to go look at your

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website and see what you've been up
to and hear and read about your story,

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I knew I had to have you
on the show. So glad to

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have you to get us started.
If you don't mind, I know a

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little something about it because we've talked
already in the phone. But for the

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benefit of our listeners, would you
introduce yourself and just maybe start with a

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little bit of a sketch of your
military career. Sure, Jason Morgan,

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I and listened into the United States
Air Force when I was twenty years old,

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and my job in the Air Force
as a combat meteorologist. At time

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of my job was actually called the
unicorns because there's only seventy of us to

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do our job in the military,
so we're quite few. The called the

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Grape Rays. But our job was
to provide combat weather combat support for special

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operations either on or behind enemy lines. So basically, if they social forces

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the Groom Brays who I've worked with, or other special operations when they had

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missions, the first thing I do
I was contact us to give them all

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the weather data so they can successfully
do their mission, which it might seem

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not much, but when you have, you know, lives depending on it

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in million dollars assets is such as
helicopters and stuff that it's it's a very

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challenging job. And I did that
for almost ten years until I was injured

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in nineteen ninety nine. And now
I'm, you know, a single dad

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with three boys that I've raised on
my own and and the help with the

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help of a awesome service dog named
Rue. Wow. Wow, we have

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so many things. I'm going to
ask about all of that. So but

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before we do that, just I
think everybody wants to better understand what happened?

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What what what happened that you became
disabled? Well, it was in

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actually I just celebrated a couple of
weeks ago my ateenth year anniversary, call

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it my my lived day. The
day that I had my injury, I

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was in South America and the Columbia
Ecuador Bolder working with the one succeeds might

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stock from from the maybe black Hawk
down sauce of the helicopter units that got

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Bin Lauden recently and thank you for
special operations. And we were down there.

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We're training the we're training the Ecuadorian
special forces how to combat the drug

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cartel group down there called the FARC, which is it's like an alcaotic except

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it's in South America and it's an
army rebel group and they they get a

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lot of their money from from drugs, obviously, and I also kidnapped engineers

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from the UK and the US that
are working down there. Down there are

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brands, so it's a it's a
really bad group. And so our job

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down there was to train the special
forces there, the local special forces,

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how to fight it. So in
order to do that, we had to

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go on missions with them, and
it was actually on one of those missions.

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Are just finishing up. They're in
a suv undercover, as we always

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were, and I'm not sure exactly
what happened. It's still quite sketchy,

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but basically, our driver was trying
to avoid a very dangerous situation. I

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was in the back seat providing security, and he sped up to try to

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make it around a corner and didn't
make the corner. Since I was out

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of the back seat. I was
in the back seat with my weapon,

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trying to help out with that situation. When the vehicles started flipping down or

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a beam. I flipped out of
the vehicle and then it flipped over the

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top of me and crushed my back. I guess to make matters worse,

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it left me face down on the
water and unable to move with a broken

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back. I was very fortunate that
American missionary that was working in the area.

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They saw the vehicle at the bottom
of the ravine, and when I

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talked to him later, he said
that the only way he found me is

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that he I saw the vehicle.
He wasn't sure if it was a fresh

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accent or not, and so him
and his buddies were that he was with

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they were skirting down the mountain side
and that's the way they found me.

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And he said almost tripped over me
because I was covered in mud and buried

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in the water. That's the only
way he found me. And then it

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brought me to safety. And that
was you know, I shouldn't have made

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it. In fact, I wasn't. I was barely breathing to have time

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to go into this a little bit, but i'll make it short where I

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was barely breathing. And he tried
to use their cell phones and other people

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who stopped to try to call for
an ambulance, and none of his cell

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phones work, but because he worked
for a Christian radio station called Voice of

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Andy's, he used a short way
of radio to contact an ambulance in the

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in the US embassy where to Acas. And they said that it's going to

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be about three hours for the ambulance
out there. And he said, well,

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this guy didn't have three hourance because
you know, he didn't know at

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the time, but he I had
one collapse long and the other one who

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was about eighty percent full of water
close. We are fourteen thousand feet.

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So he decided to load me in
his vand and the other injured guy and

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meet the ambulance halfway. And as
soon as I met the ambulance, I

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quit breathing. So actually I went
into I arrested and didn't wake up.

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So about two months later, back
in the US from a coma, Oh

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my gosh, Jason, I'm sitting
here with goosebumps listening to that story.

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I know you've told that story many
many times, and audiences like to hear

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you tell that story. I wanted
you to tell it because I think it

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really sets us up for some of
the conversation we're going to have around adversity.

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You are incredibly uniquely situated to talk
about overcoming adversity. I think it's

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amazing that you didn't drown. I
mean, the fact that you can't move,

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you've got a broken back, and
you're emerged face down in the water.

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It's it is a miracle that you
didn't drown as well. I mean,

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it's just it's crazy, absolutely,
and just thinking this, I was

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in good shaping and special operations for
that that is, so I'll probably save

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my life. And the work that
the doctors did over the next two months,

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and doc doctor listed for a whole
times during the two months, so

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I'm very fortunate to be here well. And and so what I find fascinating

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about that is I almost researched this
for my for my PC dissertation. But

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the idea of just you know,
perseverance and being a being able to persevere

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through you know, things that most
people would level most people is really fascinating

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to me. I guess I would
like to ask you where where do you

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think that strength came from for you? Or why? Why do you think

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you could persevere and did persevere?
Well, I think that's a good question.

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I think of a lot of that
has to deal with my training and

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special operations. You know, to
do a job that only you know,

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less than one percent of the guys
make it through challenging itself, so you

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have to do things kind of above
and beyond what you think you're capable of

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doing. It's always it's like always
a fight, always doing stuff that you

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be good minds telling you that you
can't do. And I think that really

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had a lot to do with it. Although it's always kind of I always

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kind of like that. I like
to selling things that I did, but

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I think it might really really helped
out made a big difference. Well.

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One of the one of the many
reasons I wanted to have you on the

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show is I think we can all
learn something from you about the way that

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you navigate adversity. And certainly when
I think about how this relates to the

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world of work, right, every
single day people find themselves in adverse situations

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that they have to navigate through that
either make them or break them. And

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so part of what right, so
part of what makes your story also interesting

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is you get through that whole experience
that you just described. And then I

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know, when you and I spoke
on the phone, you know, sometime

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later in your life, you'd spent
six months training for the Marine Corps Marathon

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when yet another tragedy struck you.
Will you tell us what happened then and

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how you handled it? Sure,
and you know, fortunately that was many

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years later after I was injured.
I don't think that's something that I've play

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would have made it through. During
the first part of my injury is just

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trying to you know, the first
figures, I was just trying to get

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by as I spent I believe in
the out of my first seven years,

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I spent three and a half years
in the hospital. So it was always,

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you know, going through that.
But so I was training for the

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Marine Corps Marathon and it's I told
my buddies, you know, when I

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was twenty nine when I was injured, and for my twenty ninth birthday,

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for your thirtieth birthday, supposed to
win thirty miles in the in the unit

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that I was in. So Ill
gave me a kind of a hard time,

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like, yeah, you just got
to hurt, so you have to

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yours. And I was telling him, I said, well, and I

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turned for down doing a marathon,
and I really thought I wouldn't believe it.

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I thought that, you know,
after being injured for fifteen years at

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that time, that I think it
was ten years after my injury, that

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that have a cure for processes or
I'd just be able to do it.

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Well, forty came and gone and
never happened, and I started doing seeing

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this thing I did, and then
a great organization came up to me and

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said, hey, we saw some
of your media clips about your success in

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the Military Paralympics and we want to
supons you to do the Marine Corps marathon.

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And I thought about that that I
promised my buddies I'd do this marathon.

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I'm like, I'm a great I'd
love to. I knew I needed

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all five months to train for this, and you know it's one thing,

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you know, do you use your
last on twenty six point two miles?

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But now I'm just using my arms
and much smaller muscles. So I I

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guess now about two months to go
before the marathon eat. I remember that

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my I started off like as a
medium search says, by the time I

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finished, I was an extra large. This is the kind of bolk and

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training you have to do to do
You want to use the marathon from up

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a racing chair, which a lot
of people do it, from hand cycle,

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which is a lot easier. I
didn't do it. I wanted to

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do it from a racing chair.
You actually push just with your arms.

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And so in the middle of my
training, I had a blister on my

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heel and all of a sudden I
got like really bad, and I decided

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to go to the maracing to get
it checked out. And they said that,

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you know, I have a bad
infection in my hill from a blister.

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Apparently the bone was infected. So
you know, I was trying to

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figure out what that meant, and
the only thing I can think about it

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was a marathon. And they said, well, it's not a big deal,

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And they said, we'll just scrape
off the infective bone. We'll put

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a skin flap over it'll be good
to go in three days. I said,

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good, because I have a marathon
coming up and you know, less

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than two months away, and it's
very very important to me, and it's

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something that I really not want to
do, but I really, I thought

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I really needed to do. And
he said, no other promises, we'll

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get your nemorh I come back in
three days from near my eyes red,

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and we'll get you, you know, scheduled, and get this thing done,

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saying get back training again. Well, when I came back in three

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days, the surgeon came up to
me and and no waiting room, and

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he says, you know, there's
no easy way to put this, but

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the bone has been infected. It's
a lot worse than we thought. It's

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spread and my strong recommendation to use
to amputate your leg. Those words just

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kind of hit me something I wasn't
expecting at all. And I was there

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actually with my service dog, and
he said, or we can try to

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treat, it might take up to
a year and we still not built to

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save your leg. So I said, I'll leave you for a few minutes

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and and i'll come back and remember
I left, I was just kind of

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staring at my dog, and my
dog is he knows me. It's almost

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like we can eat each other.
We spend twenty four seven each other.

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Actually got up on my lap and
kind of looking at me, and this

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might sound strange, but kind of
looked at me. He's like, you

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know what, buddy, we can
do this. And so the doctor came

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back in, and you know,
and I felt like I had two choices

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there. It's like when either I
could you know, and dreams that I've

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always done. I don't think anyone
would ever second guest know, when I'm

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having to have my leg amputated right
before the marathon, well, we can

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get this leg amputated. I could
still did that. Figured that would really

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help my healing and such. All
I said, well, le's going schedule

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less, the schedule would as soon
as possible, because I want to do

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this marathon. And he first kind
of told me that it's a very good

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possibility and I'm not gonna go do
it. He said, it's a very

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extensive surgery. You know, you'll
be in the hospital for a couple of

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weeks. Shaan ditches, You're not
gonna be able to really move around a

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lot. But I said, medically
would i'd be able to? And he

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said, you know, I think
so, and that's all I needed to

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hear. So we win had the
surgery done. It was a lot of

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time than I thought. I remember
when they first redid the bandage. Actually

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I put a blanket where my leg
was. I had it educated, just

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glowed the knee and put a blanket
there, just so I didn't have to

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deal with it or see it.
But a couple of days later, when

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they had to change the bandage on, I saw it. It's kind of

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broke down. I guess the reality
of having heart of your body taken from

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you hit me a lot harder than
I thought it was, even knowing that

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I'm already a paraplegic and paralyzed from
the waist down, and I'm just like,

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well, and all I can think
about. I just want to get

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back in the gym and start training, and so I the doctors. I

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ended up staying for a league instead
of two weeks. I got a hospital

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a lot quicker. The prosthetic guys
made a special brace from my leg that

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covered my leg with the stitches so
I could wouldn't hurt it any or getting

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type infection, and I was back
in there dead in two days after my

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I got out of hospital ten days
after my surgery, back in the surgery

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training, and I found out that
I lost a lot, I mean,

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spending out much time in the hospital
and having extensive surgery like that. I

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was nowhere near at the shape that
I was in when I started my training

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again, and I'm like, I
know, just the all day I'm going

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to do this. And so we
first schedule, it looks like we're gonna

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seven a little over some minute miles
and I knew that wasn't gonna happen.

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And but me and my teammates,
we literally got my trainers, we learned

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happened. Went to Washington, DC
being this marathon, and I found out

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that Hurricane Sandy was expected to hit
the day after marathon, so in America,

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and they're expecting forty five miles on
winds and really makes it hard to

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push because my hands the friction,
they slide really bad. I was just

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like, oh my god, you're
just gonna make this as hard on me

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as you can. But you know
the heart of things is the better the

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renewers. And I remember that I
was pushing through there and it was some

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of my mile times. I went
back and looked at it work almost twelve

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minutes that and then that was against
the wind, and some of the times

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were less than four minutes, so
marathon to say the least. And you

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know, I remember when I was
about on mom mark or twenty two,

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I was my gloves were breaking down. I was really struggling, and the

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people that were they ducked from the
coal and foundy and random inspiring me the

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rest of the way, and I
remember crossing that finished line is one of

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the greatest things that what I ever
did. And I felt like then it's

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like, you know what I made
it. It's like, you know,

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I've gone through adversity four and it's
really hit me. But this is probably

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the worst I've gone through since my
entry, and I was still able to

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do this and to fulfill my dream. I kind of felt like that this

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was kind of my my proving point
that I don't think there's anything out there

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that could really set me back anymore, Like like what first half when I

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first got injured and I even had
to be lifted off of my racing chair

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and put on a card for the
next three hours as my back on because

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I couldn't even move, you know, even from the back which is was

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gone and I was aching so bad. But you know, someone never forget

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it's It's definitely a high point in
my life. Wow, Jason, perfect

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time for us to cut for a
quick break. That was an amazing Sorry,

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I'm gonna probably ask you to see
if you can call back in because

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you're you're breaking up. You're breaking
up quite a bit there, but we'll

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take a quick breakcare I'm your host, Alice Cortez. We've been on the

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aerostaff Sergeant Jason Morgan, who is
a motivational speaker and best selling author of

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A Dog called Hope, a Wounded
Warrior and the service dog who saved him.

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Recently, he has been an ardent
folksperson for the training of service dogs

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to enhance the lives of individuals with
disabilities through his association with Canine Companions for

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Independence. He joins it today from
Dallas, Texas. We'll talk more after

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the break about how we can overcome
adversity, among other things as well,

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and and what's happening in the lives
of vets. Stay with us, It's

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your world motivates, change, succeed. Voice America Empowerment dot com Alice Court

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as a speaker and engagement and development
catalyst. She designs and delivers professional development,

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leadership and engagement workshops and can bring
her expertise to your organization. She

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will help ignite meaningful development within your
workforce that will increase employee engagement, performance

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00:19:15.400 --> 00:19:19.640
and retention. To learn more or
to invite Elise to speak to your organization,

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00:19:19.799 --> 00:19:25.920
please visit her at www dot Elise
Cortez dot com. She would welcome

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the opportunity to help get your employees
working on purpose. Follow us on Twitter

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00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:44.839
for more great ideas at Voice America
Empowerment. This is Working on Purpose with

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00:19:44.920 --> 00:19:48.279
Elise Cortez. To reach our program
today, please call in to one triple

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00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:53.119
eight three four six nine one four
one. Again that's one triple eight three

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four six nine one four one.
You may also send an email to Elise

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ali Se at Elise Portez dot com. Now back to working on Purpose.

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Thanks for staying with us, and
welcome back to working on Purpose if you're

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just joining us. My guest is
Staff Sergeant Jason Morgan, who is a

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motivational speaker and best selling author.
He served in the Air Force as part

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of the tenth Combat Weather Squadron,
completed Air Forced Weather School before joining the

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Elite Special Operations Aviation Regiment, a
unit within the Green Berets, as a

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combat meteorologist. After his injury,
he participated in the Warrior Games, a

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competition for wounded and injured service members
and veterans. I'm your host, Elise

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Cortez. Before the break, we
were talking about some of those situations in

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terms of how he got his injury
and then of course when he had his

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leg amputated. For this next segment
here, I want to talk about veterans

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and also your perspective on overcoming adversity. Jason. So first, for our

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listeners who don't know much about this, I found this quite fascinating. And

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you told me on the phone that
a problem we face as a nation is

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that twenty two veterans commit suicide each
day. So help us understand what's driving

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00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:06.359
these frightening figures, what's going on
for these people? You know, I

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wish I could you know, and
that's something that I'm trying to understand more

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is But yeah, when when someone
first told me that, I thought it

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was a mistake. I thought it. You know, there's no way that

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could be. But you know,
even myself, I've gone too far from

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any far too many funerals after you
know, people when they're out of conflict

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from you know, taking their own
life and it's it's tragic and it just

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has to win. So I've been
trying to look in that more. I'm

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you know, I'm not exactly sure, but I think a lot of these

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guys that I've talked to that really
go into a lot of depression that a

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lot of them they felt like they
lost their purpose in life. That all

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they known as the military and they
loved it, and they felt like that

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they had a purpose there, a
job that you can't find anywhere else.

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And I think when they go through
a severe or significant injury like mine,

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that they just kind of feel like
they just they lose hope and they lose

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purpose. I think that's a lot
of things. And the other thing,

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obviously is you know PTSD, which
I have in a small amount, so

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I can't relate to some of these
guys, but some of the things that

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go through it, I just don't
think they can overcome them. They just

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the resources aren't there or they haven't
been able to find the resources to overcome

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it, and it seems like to
them they're hurting so bad on the inside

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that it's their only option. Wow, well, this might be a good

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time to talk about what you've identified
as the importance of finding resources. It's

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obviously you've been able to do that, but can you comment and how you

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manage to find them for yourself and
how do you recommend other events look to

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find resources? Are even everyday people
that are out in the workplace. How

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would you recommend that? Well,
you know, for me, it's just

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you know, I've been a chair
out for eighteen years, so basically mine

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came over just by actively searching and
just over time and learning. But you

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know there's a lot, you know, there's there's ways to do that much

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quicker. That's why you know,
I started my foundation too. But I

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think the biggest thing is for people
just not be afraid to ask for help.

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I mean, people don't want admit
they're going through tough times and stuff,

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and we all go through it,
some more than others, but they

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all affect us the same, And
I think the best thing is to reach

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out to others and find answers.
As people that have been there, done

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it, and that's I think the
best person that you can learn from.

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In my opinion, it makes a
lot of sense to me. And you

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know, I think I think this
goes back to something that I talk about

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frequently on the show and another conversation. It's just the importance of having a

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coach or somebody else in your life
who can give you another perspective or say

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what about this, or have you
checked into this, or just someone to

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bounce things off of. I would
think would be incredibly helpful as well.

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Absolutely, And I don't think we
need to be scared when we see our

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friends that we feel that they're hurting, to not be scared to go up

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to them and tell them, hey, you know, I'm here for you.

355
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What do you need and almost be
a little persistent too. I think

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that that makes a different as well
as I had people and family and friends

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do that for me as well.
Now, you said something back before about

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this notion of some of these these
vets losing purpose, and you told me

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that through all your setbacks that we've
been talking about on this show, that

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you found your own purpose through all
your adversity. And I'll live to inspire

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others to persevere through their own setbacks. Well, you say more about that.

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That's quite quite an interesting thing that
you've been able to do to juxtapose

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or find two very distinct ways of
addressing purpose for yourself. For sure,

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I think I want to use it
collectors. There's a term that I don't

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think it's used very often and something
that I don't really like to men,

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But there's a term called the professional
winded warrior, and that's a guy that

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when we go. I do a
lot of events for veterans and help out

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a lot of inter veterans because I
have a lot to offer, and I

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see some of these same guys at
the same places of all these different events.

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It's like, what can you give
me? What can you do for

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me? And those are the guys
that aren't getting better? And I tell

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them, I said, you know
what, if you want to get better,

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then why don't you find one of
these organizations that you really like and

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get plugged in and start working with
them and do that to help others.

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Because that's what I found out was
gave me purpose and what gave me identy,

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identity back in life, is that
I'm using my struggles and stuff too,

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to help others and make a difference
in others, you know, other

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people's lives. I think that's the
biggest thing you could do, is to

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get back. That's where you're going
to apply more meaning, I think than

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anything I've ever done well. And
certainly another reason I wanted to have you

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on the show, of course,
Jason, is that you know, what's

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the name of the show, working
on purpose, and that's a double entendre.

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That means that for people who are
trying to find a way to work

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toward a more purposeful place in their
lives, that's one. The other piece

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is just doing it very intentionally,
is what I mean by that. So

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one of the things that I also
thought was interesting that kind of relates to

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some reading that I've done lately,
is Angela Duckworth wrote a book called Grit,

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The Power of Passion and Perseverance,
and my guest, as a few

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of the listeners who are listening to
the show, probably have picked up on

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it, or maybe I've already read
it, but but I connect this idea

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to what I think is your position
overcoming adversity. I mean, she talks

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about on the short really that actually
you said something about sometimes life is not

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going to get better when you're down. And so I think in general and

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00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:21.680
certainly in the world of work,
wrapping our heads around this idea and trying

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00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:23.799
to figure out how to deal with
it is critical to mental health and really

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ultimate success. And so she's all
about perseverance and passion and that grit piece

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of it. And I relate that
to how you talk about overcoming adversity.

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Do you see it the same way
or differently? Yeah? Absolutely, And

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I think the people that say,
you know, people say, well,

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it can't get any worse. I
think if you have that attitude and really

401
00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:48.599
feel that way, it's going to
get worse. I think that's something you

402
00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:55.279
know is for me, and you've
talked about you know, the passing of

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00:26:55.319 --> 00:27:00.480
this you know is that for me? Which helps me is that I almost

404
00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:04.279
you almost said expect adversity and and
if you know it's coming, you'll be

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better prepared for it and learn from
it and find a way to move on.

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I think that's the best way.
It's something you have to work at.

407
00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:18.920
It's not going to get any better
if you're just hanging around and just

408
00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:22.759
thinking it can't get any worse.
It's something you really have to look at

409
00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:26.559
and strategize and strategize to think,
how am I going to make my life

410
00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:30.799
better? How am I going to
make this situation better? And start working

411
00:27:30.839 --> 00:27:33.400
on it. I think that's really
the only way it's going to get better

412
00:27:33.400 --> 00:27:38.039
or your best chances. Yeah,
you're a mental You're mental. The health

413
00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:44.480
of a mental mindset is it's so
crucial. I completely embrace that whole idea,

414
00:27:44.680 --> 00:27:48.279
Jason completely. Why do you think
that many of us fall prey to

415
00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:55.000
giving into adversity though? Why don't
we charge back? I don't know.

416
00:27:55.240 --> 00:27:57.960
I was never a person just to
kind of give into my situation. I

417
00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:03.119
did it first, and you know, after I got injured, I spent

418
00:28:03.640 --> 00:28:07.400
a year in the hospital and came
back as a single dad and and had

419
00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:11.920
to raise three people, three three
boys. They were very young at the

420
00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:15.559
time, and I just thought,
wow, this is just instead of looking

421
00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:18.599
as like, you know, what
was me. I think that's what a

422
00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:22.759
lot of people do, is I
think they just kind of, you know,

423
00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:25.799
this is horrible, and they just
kind of feel sorry for themselves.

424
00:28:26.440 --> 00:28:30.920
And I think the way I looked
at is like, in a way I

425
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:33.640
found the good and my wife leaving, I know, that was really hard

426
00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:37.599
to do, and I could barely
even take care of myself much last three

427
00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:41.160
boys. But that's what gave me
the motivation to get better. It's like,

428
00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:44.079
I gotta get better, I gotta
get healthy because I have three boys

429
00:28:44.119 --> 00:28:47.400
who are counting on me, you
know that that need me as a father

430
00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:52.079
to raise them. I'm not gonna
I can't use my wheelchairs and my prowesses

431
00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:55.519
saying why I couldn't raise my boys. So for me, I just kind

432
00:28:55.519 --> 00:29:00.880
of looked looked the other way.
I tried to find motivate motivational factors and

433
00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:03.799
look at the good side of things
instead of I'm just feeling sorry for myself,

434
00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:08.200
which is unfortunately what a lot of
people do. They kind of fall

435
00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:15.119
into to pray of adversity and feel
like they can't get past it. Wow.

436
00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:18.519
Okay, So I heard one thing
in particular that I want to call

437
00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:21.279
out, and that is Jason.
That sounds to me like one of the

438
00:29:21.319 --> 00:29:26.720
things that you did was you cast
your eyes to a higher plane than your

439
00:29:26.759 --> 00:29:30.759
own circumstance. Right, So,
sometimes when we look beyond our own immediate

440
00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:33.759
needs, I've heard people say that, you know, they can do amazing

441
00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:37.680
things because they're no longer focused on
themselves. They're focused on the good or

442
00:29:37.720 --> 00:29:41.000
something that's bigger or more important,
or more powerful or has more meaning than

443
00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:45.200
just their own immediate lives. That's
kind of what I heard you say.

444
00:29:45.319 --> 00:29:47.839
Is that right? It is?
You said it so much better, So

445
00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:51.640
I'm going to take notes when you're
saying that. They come. Yeah,

446
00:29:51.720 --> 00:29:55.920
absolutely, when you you know,
there's always I'm usually when I'm in the

447
00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:00.240
room, I'm usually the worst off
as I deal with significant pain and I

448
00:30:00.359 --> 00:30:06.440
sometimes go days without sleeping and and
it's really easy for me to feel sorry

449
00:30:06.440 --> 00:30:08.559
for myself. But sometimes, you
know, when I work with these other

450
00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:11.920
foundations, I see guys that are
so much worse than me. And I

451
00:30:11.960 --> 00:30:15.480
see quadruplegic too. Like you know, Jason, I get anything to build,

452
00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:19.079
use my arms like you do,
or anything like that. And yes,

453
00:30:19.160 --> 00:30:22.920
when you when you put your focus
on other people and you're only helping

454
00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:26.720
them write, but it takes your
your focus away from themselves, as you

455
00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:30.920
so Helthcly put it. But yes, absolutely, thank you, Jason.

456
00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:34.000
Well, let me address something speaking
of what you just said about your own

457
00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:38.240
condition there, and I think I'm
asking this question for my own benefit.

458
00:30:38.279 --> 00:30:42.480
And that from my listeners as well. I hear your your breathing is labored.

459
00:30:42.680 --> 00:30:47.240
I mean it sounds like you're you've
got something happening there are you You

460
00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:49.720
Are you dealing with something in the
way that you're breathing? Yeah, I

461
00:30:49.720 --> 00:30:52.759
have right now and going through a
lot of pain. So it's it pretty

462
00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:56.720
much takes my breath away. It's
like someone seventy with a nice pick too,

463
00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:02.559
That's what it's. So I'm gonna
bear with you here and get through

464
00:31:02.599 --> 00:31:04.119
it. I'm paling on the choice
something. It happens all the time,

465
00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:07.640
so I wanted to call that out. I didn't know what the answer was

466
00:31:07.680 --> 00:31:11.960
going to be to that question,
but I again that even further situates that

467
00:31:12.039 --> 00:31:17.680
you are uniquely qualified to talk about
overcoming adversity and just charging through. So

468
00:31:18.680 --> 00:31:21.720
the next thing I want to ask
you is if you have any suggestions or

469
00:31:21.799 --> 00:31:25.599
our ideas or maybe you do this
in your talks on how people can develop

470
00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:30.119
their muscle to better handle or even
confront adversity. I think it's a combination

471
00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:33.000
for a lot of things. You
know I've said before is one thing is

472
00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:37.759
is to expect it, you know, and as they say it, you

473
00:31:37.799 --> 00:31:41.119
know, prepare for the worst,
but expect the best or something like that.

474
00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:45.759
But you know, if you're prepared
for adversity, if you know that

475
00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:48.240
it's probably going to happen, then
when it happens, it's not so bad.

476
00:31:48.319 --> 00:31:52.279
And then you know, and then
when it does come, instead of

477
00:31:52.359 --> 00:31:55.240
you know, getting down about it, figure out a way. You know,

478
00:31:55.279 --> 00:31:59.079
what can I do to change my
situation. So unfortunately, sometimes there's

479
00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:02.079
nothing you can do but just have
a positive outlook. But that's good enough

480
00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:06.839
in itself. But sometimes there are
things that you can do, and so

481
00:32:07.640 --> 00:32:13.559
you know, definitely, you know, expect it and prepare yourself and learn

482
00:32:13.640 --> 00:32:16.680
from it. And usually you know, when you go through adversity, know

483
00:32:16.799 --> 00:32:22.200
and try to be positive about it
that you're going to come out one top

484
00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:25.480
than you were before. So expect
better results if you do go through adversity.

485
00:32:27.160 --> 00:32:30.799
M do you have a perspective or
anything you that you can share with

486
00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:34.759
us about how to really work on
your mind? I mean you clearly have,

487
00:32:34.920 --> 00:32:39.400
and I would consider it an extraordinary
ability to address or not control maybe,

488
00:32:39.400 --> 00:32:44.680
but just stay in a very healthy
place in terms of your mindset.

489
00:32:45.240 --> 00:32:49.000
Well, I think a lot really
helped me was that, you know,

490
00:32:49.079 --> 00:32:52.400
getting back in shape again when I
did that marathon, and getting back in

491
00:32:52.440 --> 00:32:55.119
shape to have your your to be
healthy in general, I think it's going

492
00:32:55.200 --> 00:33:01.039
to help you have a healthy mind
and out to set affected me A big

493
00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:06.319
way is too, is to be
healthy. And you know, I don't

494
00:33:06.359 --> 00:33:08.640
sleep very well, so I try
to get sleep and eat right. I

495
00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:14.519
think that plays a big, big
part of it. And you know,

496
00:33:14.559 --> 00:33:19.160
but the biggest thing that's really helped
me I've used help others is just fine.

497
00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:22.400
An organization that you're good at or
that you like and get involved and

498
00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:28.440
and work on helping other people.
I think mine. You know, it

499
00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:30.160
does several things for you. It
gets you to and you don't do it

500
00:33:30.200 --> 00:33:34.160
because you want to feel good.
You do it to help others. But

501
00:33:34.599 --> 00:33:37.839
helping others makes me always feel good
knowing that I'm using what I've learned and

502
00:33:37.839 --> 00:33:43.759
the things I've gone through to help
others overcome similar situations. I think those

503
00:33:43.799 --> 00:33:47.359
are probably the two two things that's
helped me the most. I completely concur

504
00:33:47.480 --> 00:33:51.519
with those things and I do them
both myself. So I'm encouraged to hear

505
00:33:51.559 --> 00:33:54.839
that I work out six days a
week and I do affair amount of community

506
00:33:54.839 --> 00:34:00.480
service and it really does change your
perspective on your own circumstances when you're focused

507
00:34:00.519 --> 00:34:04.680
on somebody else and from a healthy
advantage point. I love what you said

508
00:34:04.680 --> 00:34:08.800
there, and it makes me also
wonder when you when you talk to audiences.

509
00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:12.119
I'm curious. I mean, I
got to guess that part of what

510
00:34:12.159 --> 00:34:15.079
you tried to impart is what you
just said there. But what is it

511
00:34:15.159 --> 00:34:19.039
that you are really trying to impart
through your book or through your speaking that

512
00:34:19.079 --> 00:34:22.360
you think that you really want to
get across to audiences when you speak to

513
00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:27.400
them, Well, I hope that
they get from it. It's like nothing

514
00:34:27.480 --> 00:34:31.800
is too difficult for you to overcome, and you know that It's like I

515
00:34:31.880 --> 00:34:36.559
bounced back on I hit with diversity
again and try to bounce back and get

516
00:34:36.639 --> 00:34:39.440
hit again. That you know that
you can get through it if you have

517
00:34:39.519 --> 00:34:44.920
the right tools and everything in place, that you can get through this and

518
00:34:45.960 --> 00:34:51.119
and and even overcoming adversity or not. What makes this country so great,

519
00:34:51.199 --> 00:34:55.840
I think is is that the Americans
through they volunteer and they help other people.

520
00:34:55.880 --> 00:35:00.480
And like for me to go snow
skiing after I was the wheel chair,

521
00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:06.920
took four volunteers for every participant to
snow ski and you know that's huge,

522
00:35:06.920 --> 00:35:09.079
and that's I think that's what makes
this country so great, is that

523
00:35:09.679 --> 00:35:15.360
there's so many people out there helping
and helping disabled veterans that you know,

524
00:35:15.400 --> 00:35:17.199
people always think me from my service, but I always tell him that it's

525
00:35:17.199 --> 00:35:22.199
to you that makes this country life
fighting for and just still blast to live

526
00:35:22.239 --> 00:35:27.599
in such a great country. Wow, that is an incredible way to send

527
00:35:27.639 --> 00:35:31.239
us into a break, Jason.
That is such a humble perspective to have

528
00:35:31.519 --> 00:35:35.519
from someone like you. I'm so
glad to have you with me. I'm

529
00:35:35.559 --> 00:35:37.239
a last Cortez, your host.
We went on the air with Staff Sergeant

530
00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:40.800
Jason Morgan, who was a motivational
speaker and best selling author of A dog

531
00:35:40.840 --> 00:35:45.480
called Hope, a Wounded Warrior and
the service dog who saved him. Recently,

532
00:35:45.480 --> 00:35:49.599
he has been an ardent spokesperson for
the training of service dogs to enhance

533
00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:53.159
the lives of individuals with disabilities through
his association with Canine Companions for Independence.

534
00:35:53.480 --> 00:35:57.559
He joins it today from Dallas,
Texas. After the break, we'll talk

535
00:35:57.599 --> 00:36:00.480
more about his notion of service and
giving actually community, among other things.

536
00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:21.039
Stay with us, it's your world. Motivate change, succeed Voice America Empowerment

537
00:36:21.079 --> 00:36:29.440
dot com. Elise Cortez is a
speaker and engagement and development catalyst. She

538
00:36:29.599 --> 00:36:35.440
designs and delivers professional development, leadership
and engagement workshops and can bring her expertise

539
00:36:35.480 --> 00:36:39.199
to your organization. She will help
ignite meaningful development within your workforce that will

540
00:36:39.239 --> 00:36:45.039
increase employee engagement, performance and retention. To learn more or to invite a

541
00:36:45.119 --> 00:36:50.280
lease to speak to your organization,
please visit her at www dot Elise Cortez

542
00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:54.159
dot com. She would welcome the
opportunity to help get your employees working on

543
00:36:54.239 --> 00:37:00.760
purpose. Follow us on Twitter for
more great ideas at Voice America Empowerments.

544
00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:13.800
This is Working on Purpose with Elise
Cortez. To reach our program today,

545
00:37:13.880 --> 00:37:16.960
please call in to one triple eight
three four six nine one four one.

546
00:37:17.320 --> 00:37:22.840
Again that's one triple eight three four
six nine one four one. You may

547
00:37:22.880 --> 00:37:30.039
also send an email to Elise ali
Se at Elise Portez dot com. Now

548
00:37:30.320 --> 00:37:35.920
back to working on Purpose. Thanks
for staying with us, and welcome back

549
00:37:35.920 --> 00:37:37.800
to working on Purpose. If you're
just tuning in. My guest is Staff

550
00:37:37.800 --> 00:37:42.559
Sergeant Jason Morgan, who is a
motivational speaker and best selling author. He

551
00:37:42.639 --> 00:37:45.639
served in the Air Force as part
of the tenth Combat Weather Squadron, completed

552
00:37:45.679 --> 00:37:51.079
Air Force Weather School before joining the
Elite Special Operations Aviation Regiment, a unit

553
00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:53.880
within the Green Berets, as a
combat meteorologist. After his injury, he

554
00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:58.960
participated in the Warrior Games, a
competition for wounded and injured service members and

555
00:37:59.039 --> 00:38:01.760
veterans, with talking a bit about
this experience that he's had. I'm your

556
00:38:01.760 --> 00:38:07.280
host, Alice Cortez. So for
this last final segment here, Jason,

557
00:38:07.320 --> 00:38:10.159
I wanted to focus really on this
notion of service and giving back to the

558
00:38:10.199 --> 00:38:14.679
community. I know that's really important
to you and what you're the message that

559
00:38:14.719 --> 00:38:17.519
you impart to listeners. And you
told me that you've learned a lot about

560
00:38:17.559 --> 00:38:21.639
service from your dog Rule. So
first, how was it that you and

561
00:38:21.719 --> 00:38:25.400
Rue came to be a pair?
Well, Rue is my second service dog,

562
00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:30.360
and actually the book is about my
first service dog, Nepaul. And

563
00:38:31.079 --> 00:38:35.840
unfortunately when the author flew and from
uninter write the story was the time that

564
00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:42.400
my Nepaul passed away. And now
I got this incredible dog, me Ruin.

565
00:38:42.440 --> 00:38:45.159
I got her from Kenna Continus for
Independence. I went out to California

566
00:38:45.679 --> 00:38:49.079
and got her and stay out there
for a couple of weeks and worked for

567
00:38:49.119 --> 00:38:52.519
several dogs. And they pair you
with the best dog based on the dog

568
00:38:52.559 --> 00:38:59.159
simperment and your own personality, and
they do an extremely great job of matching

569
00:38:59.199 --> 00:39:02.119
it with the perfect dog. And
she is she is my buddy, my

570
00:39:02.159 --> 00:39:08.159
best friend. Oh my gosh,
that's so lovely. I'm that just really

571
00:39:08.599 --> 00:39:12.239
that that just really touches me to
hear you talk about her that way.

572
00:39:14.320 --> 00:39:19.159
Favor doesn't. So yeah, okay, good, So all right, Well

573
00:39:19.159 --> 00:39:22.880
tell us about Rue and how she
teaches you about service. Well, you

574
00:39:22.920 --> 00:39:28.880
know, Rue is she is.
She was bred to serve and you know,

575
00:39:29.039 --> 00:39:32.400
to be a service dog. And
she does. She knows like over

576
00:39:32.519 --> 00:39:36.920
fifty commands. But a lot of
things she does real quick is she can

577
00:39:36.920 --> 00:39:39.079
turn light switches on and off.
She can open it closed doors for me.

578
00:39:40.199 --> 00:39:44.599
Well, she can pull my wheelchair, shoot my clothes out of dryer.

579
00:39:44.679 --> 00:39:46.199
She can't follow me at but we're
working on that, on that,

580
00:39:46.360 --> 00:39:51.840
but it'll probably did it pretty soon. But there's a number of different to

581
00:39:51.960 --> 00:39:53.480
us that she does. Gives me
dates. It's probably my favorite one.

582
00:39:53.519 --> 00:39:58.719
When you take this beautiful dog into
a place that dogs aren't typically allowed.

583
00:39:58.760 --> 00:40:02.159
It it does help that way,
but but you know, having her serve

584
00:40:02.199 --> 00:40:06.440
and do things for me, I
learned a lot from that and that so

585
00:40:06.599 --> 00:40:08.480
like if I drop something like my
keys, I think you have to give

586
00:40:08.480 --> 00:40:12.960
her the companion. She cannot or
sometimes she waits, but when I drop

587
00:40:13.039 --> 00:40:15.480
it, she like looks down at
my keys and looks at me, and

588
00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:19.840
her chel just starts wagging, like
she gets so excited. And I learned

589
00:40:19.880 --> 00:40:22.880
that like she loves to serve,
she loves to do that. She likes

590
00:40:22.880 --> 00:40:25.320
for me to to do something where
she can help me. And I'm like,

591
00:40:27.039 --> 00:40:30.400
you know, that's something I could
really learn from. And you know,

592
00:40:30.559 --> 00:40:34.119
I thought about that. I thought
that, you know, i'd be

593
00:40:34.159 --> 00:40:37.440
speaking to a lot of audience,
some of them that like Lions clubs and

594
00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:39.880
stuff where that's all they do is
community service. But I tell her,

595
00:40:39.920 --> 00:40:43.920
I said, probably the most qualified
person to talk about service and this room

596
00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:47.119
is my dog room. But also
tell him that probably the happiest person in

597
00:40:47.159 --> 00:40:52.239
this room is my dog room.
That just made me think that you know,

598
00:40:52.360 --> 00:40:54.199
to serve with a smile on your
face, and she loves to serve.

599
00:40:54.239 --> 00:40:58.800
And I really learned from that that
we should serve and help others,

600
00:40:58.880 --> 00:41:00.840
and you know, we got to
tell that it wad just like hers does.

601
00:41:00.920 --> 00:41:07.079
And I thought that was pretty significant. M M, well, that

602
00:41:07.159 --> 00:41:12.280
certainly does. You do. You
have a tremendous teacher there in your best

603
00:41:12.320 --> 00:41:15.000
friend, and I really admire and
applaud that. And again, it touches

604
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.159
me to hear you talk about her
the way that you do. It's and

605
00:41:19.280 --> 00:41:21.719
I also, as you as you
heard me giggle, I got a big

606
00:41:21.800 --> 00:41:22.920
kick out of the fact that she
helps you get dates too. I think

607
00:41:22.920 --> 00:41:27.079
that's great. Yeah, when you're
killing me, I'll help you can get

608
00:41:27.119 --> 00:41:30.199
so I'll take it right. I
know, we all know you help in

609
00:41:30.239 --> 00:41:34.400
that department. You know, there's
never a stranger, and you know,

610
00:41:34.400 --> 00:41:37.199
it's just really neat and that really
always puts me in a good mood when

611
00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:39.800
I taker places. Let's say I'm
having a lot of pain or fled down.

612
00:41:39.840 --> 00:41:44.320
Will people come up and they see
your dawn and they just get all

613
00:41:44.360 --> 00:41:46.920
excited. And it's like when there's
when you're around other people and they're in

614
00:41:46.960 --> 00:41:50.360
a good mood, it's going to
put you in a good mood too.

615
00:41:50.440 --> 00:41:53.480
So it's just it's endless the things
that she does for me, both physically,

616
00:41:53.519 --> 00:42:00.320
and mentally wonderful, delightful. Yeah. Well, speaking of what she

617
00:42:00.400 --> 00:42:01.320
does, I want to talk about
some of the things that you do for

618
00:42:01.360 --> 00:42:07.679
others. I know that you work
with wounded veterans and disabled kids, and

619
00:42:07.840 --> 00:42:10.480
I'm curious as to what that work
means to you. What what do you

620
00:42:10.519 --> 00:42:15.679
get out of doing that kind of
work. Oh, it's uh, that's

621
00:42:15.679 --> 00:42:20.000
everything to me. It's it's when
I started doing work like that to help

622
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:23.880
our veterans and get their disabilities.
Oh, that's what gave me purpose in

623
00:42:23.960 --> 00:42:28.559
life again, it gave me,
you know, this stream to to move

624
00:42:28.639 --> 00:42:31.280
on. Knowing that you're making a
difference in someone else's life is huge,

625
00:42:31.360 --> 00:42:36.159
absolutely huge. There's really probably no
words that I could I could tell you

626
00:42:36.159 --> 00:42:40.760
on this radio show, but it's
it's huge. Well, I think that

627
00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:45.159
most people from what I could tell
Jason and the research that I've done for

628
00:42:45.239 --> 00:42:49.320
the last fifteen years in investing in
how people experience meaning and their work and

629
00:42:49.360 --> 00:42:51.760
what does their work mean to who
they are as human being, in other

630
00:42:51.800 --> 00:42:55.440
words, their identity, what that
inquiry has taught me is that most people

631
00:42:55.519 --> 00:42:59.599
really do want to make a difference. They want to know that their lives

632
00:42:59.639 --> 00:43:04.960
have me a difference to other people
that they're being here mattered and even beyond,

633
00:43:05.039 --> 00:43:07.840
you know, whatever spiritual connection they
have, there's that connection. But

634
00:43:07.960 --> 00:43:10.039
just knowing that, hey, I
made a difference, it is a pretty

635
00:43:10.079 --> 00:43:15.119
powerful motivational force for I think most
people. And the reason that I like

636
00:43:15.280 --> 00:43:17.119
to do the show among others is
that many people say that some of the

637
00:43:17.159 --> 00:43:22.000
guests help them find or get closer
to finding a purpose for themselves through their

638
00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:24.159
work. That makes them want to
get up in the morning. So I

639
00:43:25.039 --> 00:43:29.880
do understand what you're saying, and
I really appreciate just simplicity of what you

640
00:43:29.960 --> 00:43:34.239
just said about why it matters to
you. Yeah. I mean, you

641
00:43:34.239 --> 00:43:37.800
know, when when I'll passed away
and you have the ulogy, it's I

642
00:43:37.800 --> 00:43:42.079
think the biggest compliment you give someone
was about how how they touched others,

643
00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:45.239
how they made a difference in other
other people's lives. I think that's the

644
00:43:45.280 --> 00:43:52.440
biggest compliment you could give to somebody. M Yeah, I agree. Well,

645
00:43:52.599 --> 00:43:55.239
we're coming close to the edge of
at the end of the show here,

646
00:43:55.239 --> 00:43:58.440
and I want to be sure and
talk about about the book here.

647
00:43:59.079 --> 00:44:04.320
So the book again, it is
called a dog called Hope, a wounded

648
00:44:04.320 --> 00:44:07.519
warrior and the service dog who saved
him. So I know that it's it's

649
00:44:07.559 --> 00:44:12.320
out in seven different countries already,
which is amazing to me. So I

650
00:44:12.360 --> 00:44:15.400
want to understand first how did the
book come about to be? Because I

651
00:44:15.400 --> 00:44:20.000
know that you had somebody wrote the
book for you and what does it mean

652
00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.800
to you? Well, at first, I the way the dog came about

653
00:44:24.920 --> 00:44:29.800
was that it was my first dog
that I had. No Paul and him

654
00:44:29.840 --> 00:44:32.239
and I were on the National and
Geographic channel called the Amazing Dogs. Oh

655
00:44:32.320 --> 00:44:37.119
wait, I should probably clarify that
my dog was on a national and geographic

656
00:44:37.360 --> 00:44:39.400
I was just there just kind of
helping them, seeing his family, but

657
00:44:40.119 --> 00:44:45.679
it's always about the dog and have
a service. Anyway, it aired in

658
00:44:45.800 --> 00:44:52.159
London and was great author named Damian
Lewis saw the story and there was a

659
00:44:52.239 --> 00:44:55.599
small book written about those segments of
stories called Amazing Dogs. And then he

660
00:44:55.679 --> 00:45:00.880
contacted me and told me, you
know, I am a writer and I've

661
00:45:00.880 --> 00:45:05.000
written several books similar to this,
and he's a best selling author. And

662
00:45:05.599 --> 00:45:07.320
he sent me some of his books
and I read them and got if there's

663
00:45:07.320 --> 00:45:13.239
anyone to write my book him And
six months later he flew down to Texas

664
00:45:13.360 --> 00:45:17.280
from London to start writing the book. And it took a couple of sessions

665
00:45:17.280 --> 00:45:20.400
like that where he came down and
spent three or four weeks with me,

666
00:45:20.440 --> 00:45:23.280
and we spent almost twenty four to
seven you know, going over the book,

667
00:45:23.320 --> 00:45:27.159
and he would go back home and
then fill in the blanks and come

668
00:45:27.199 --> 00:45:30.280
back we check it, and I
guess it took close to about a year,

669
00:45:30.559 --> 00:45:35.880
and it's it's pretty amazing. When
he first contacted me and said he

670
00:45:35.920 --> 00:45:37.400
wanted to write my story, I
told him, I said, you know,

671
00:45:37.440 --> 00:45:40.679
it's it's probably you know, it's
great for twenty minutes or me or

672
00:45:40.719 --> 00:45:45.280
forty minutes when I speak audiences and
stuff, but I think for a novel,

673
00:45:45.320 --> 00:45:47.280
I told him, I thought,
you're really wasting your time. There's

674
00:45:47.280 --> 00:45:52.159
just not enough information here. And
I'm glad he didn't listen to music thirty

675
00:45:52.119 --> 00:45:57.800
to become a bestseller and just very
well written. It was tough being written

676
00:45:57.840 --> 00:46:02.119
too. I actually, at first
I almost regretted telling all my secrets and

677
00:46:02.960 --> 00:46:07.800
not like military secrets, but stuff
that was really upsetting to me that I

678
00:46:07.800 --> 00:46:12.559
didn't discuss with anyone, that even
my family members didn't even know. But

679
00:46:12.639 --> 00:46:14.480
he had a good way of getting
that out. I mean, he said,

680
00:46:14.480 --> 00:46:16.000
look, Jason, you know,
we got to make this real.

681
00:46:16.440 --> 00:46:20.000
Said, admit the high points seemed
high, then the low's got to be

682
00:46:20.039 --> 00:46:22.519
low, you know. And it
says, we've got to make it real

683
00:46:22.599 --> 00:46:27.280
and truthful, and that's the way
it needs to be. And and I

684
00:46:27.360 --> 00:46:31.440
listened to him, and as difficult
as it was, up up writing a

685
00:46:31.440 --> 00:46:37.880
great book. I'm very proud of
it. I'm wondering, Jason, is

686
00:46:37.920 --> 00:46:40.239
that what lost your speaking career or
were you already speaking at that point.

687
00:46:42.039 --> 00:46:45.159
I was already speaking a little bit, But it sure has helped it out

688
00:46:45.239 --> 00:46:50.599
quite a bit. Yeah, I've
already. You know. At first I

689
00:46:50.679 --> 00:46:53.760
thought that, you know, the
book would kind of give me more credibility

690
00:46:53.920 --> 00:46:59.039
as a as a speaker, and
it would help my motivational speaking. But

691
00:46:59.519 --> 00:47:01.519
actually, to turn the way around, it seems like now that I'm now

692
00:47:01.559 --> 00:47:05.320
speaking, you know, for my
book, because there's so much in there,

693
00:47:05.360 --> 00:47:10.159
and I think lessons learned and and
things that I like for people to

694
00:47:10.239 --> 00:47:14.480
learn from me that I went through
that now kind of my career is really

695
00:47:14.519 --> 00:47:16.400
based on my book instead of I
thought it was gonna be the other way

696
00:47:16.400 --> 00:47:22.400
around. M I really appreciate what
you said about the fact that you've got,

697
00:47:22.519 --> 00:47:27.000
you've bought, You've you've buried your
soul out in this book and it's

698
00:47:27.119 --> 00:47:30.320
it's the good, bad, and
the ugly and you've you've it's all there

699
00:47:30.320 --> 00:47:34.280
in print for everybody to read.
And that has got to be a whole

700
00:47:34.320 --> 00:47:37.639
new level of living to know that
people know these things about your about you.

701
00:47:38.599 --> 00:47:43.000
Is it? It is and it's
not you know, And it's not

702
00:47:43.079 --> 00:47:45.800
just about me. There's it's about
the puppy race that that raised Appall and

703
00:47:46.239 --> 00:47:51.039
no, he was a paraplegic,
Jim was it that raised Napoll? And

704
00:47:51.079 --> 00:47:54.119
it's about him raising Apall and having
to give him up. And then it's

705
00:47:54.159 --> 00:47:58.719
also my my family's in there too, is that when I went into a

706
00:47:58.719 --> 00:48:01.280
coma for two months, i'd know
I went on and my mom and making

707
00:48:01.280 --> 00:48:04.880
a lot of notes, And that's
a big part of the story too.

708
00:48:04.960 --> 00:48:09.079
So it's not just from from my
perspective, but it's from other people others

709
00:48:09.119 --> 00:48:14.559
as well. So it's it's pretty
fascinating to get different perspectives on the on

710
00:48:14.599 --> 00:48:19.000
the same story. Do you hear
from readers at all? Do you ever

711
00:48:19.079 --> 00:48:22.960
hear from readers who get something from
your book and reach out to you.

712
00:48:22.960 --> 00:48:28.039
You know, all the time I
on my Facebook and on my website,

713
00:48:28.039 --> 00:48:30.800
I hear for people all the time. And at first I told you I

714
00:48:30.840 --> 00:48:34.920
had some actual regret writing the story. When I was in London on a

715
00:48:34.960 --> 00:48:37.880
book tour, a guy on an
on a bike that was writing down or

716
00:48:38.039 --> 00:48:42.280
right in the middle of London,
and he stopped and he said, I

717
00:48:42.280 --> 00:48:45.000
guess he was following me on Facebook, he just read my my book or

718
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:47.280
following me on my website and he
stopped. He is that rude from a

719
00:48:47.320 --> 00:48:51.480
dark called hope. And I was
like, I couldn't believe this guy recognized

720
00:48:51.519 --> 00:48:54.079
you from my book. Or there's
pictures in the book as well, because

721
00:48:54.119 --> 00:48:59.679
I don't do books without pictures,
so I'm just kidding. But so it

722
00:48:59.760 --> 00:49:01.360
was that having this. Of course
he didn't remember my name. You remember

723
00:49:01.519 --> 00:49:04.840
his name because I can't remember your
name, but I member his name,

724
00:49:05.400 --> 00:49:07.159
like yeah, of course, But
you know, when he started talking to

725
00:49:07.199 --> 00:49:10.360
me and I don't on the while, I was I cares a stranger that

726
00:49:10.400 --> 00:49:15.000
knows everything about what I've done and
my deep the secrets that I don't even

727
00:49:15.239 --> 00:49:19.800
didn't even tell my close family members. And I had a little bit of

728
00:49:19.840 --> 00:49:22.960
regret. But then I got home
and after the book was launched, I

729
00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:28.199
get messages every day about how my
story really inspired them and helped them overcome

730
00:49:28.239 --> 00:49:30.239
a lot of things in their lives
that they were dealing with. And you

731
00:49:30.280 --> 00:49:32.199
know, I had to realize,
like, it's not about me. This

732
00:49:32.199 --> 00:49:36.599
book was about to help others,
and then it made it, you know,

733
00:49:36.639 --> 00:49:38.519
all words. It as tough as
it was, there's definitely worth it.

734
00:49:38.679 --> 00:49:43.079
No regrets. Now, I'm so
glad to hear that. I said

735
00:49:43.079 --> 00:49:45.800
a lot of foods back and I
write too. I respond to every single

736
00:49:45.800 --> 00:49:51.400
person that reaches out to me as
well. Well I hope you get a

737
00:49:51.400 --> 00:49:53.119
few people who reach out to after
the show as well. So here we

738
00:49:53.159 --> 00:49:55.880
are at the close already, Jason. It goes by so fast, and

739
00:49:55.880 --> 00:49:59.719
I always like to give my guest
the last word, if you will,

740
00:49:59.760 --> 00:50:04.000
so remembering that this program is all
about helping people more meaningfully and productively connect

741
00:50:04.039 --> 00:50:07.239
with the work, and helping organizations
do the same for their employees. What

742
00:50:07.280 --> 00:50:12.760
would you like to leave our listeners
with? And maybe thirty seconds? Sure,

743
00:50:12.840 --> 00:50:15.800
Well, you know the biggest thing
is to you know, expect adversity

744
00:50:15.840 --> 00:50:20.480
and use that as an asset when
I was in the combat neurologists. We

745
00:50:20.599 --> 00:50:22.679
use a weather good and bad as
an asset, so you know, I

746
00:50:22.760 --> 00:50:25.639
think you can use as an asset. You can learn from it. You

747
00:50:25.679 --> 00:50:30.880
can go out there and find resources
and find tools like I found Nepal and

748
00:50:30.920 --> 00:50:34.960
were which has helped me tremendously,
and it's something you've got to work at.

749
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:37.360
Life's just not going to get better. And I think lastly is that

750
00:50:37.440 --> 00:50:42.360
you just need to keep yourself in
good mental and physical condition, which will

751
00:50:42.400 --> 00:50:45.320
really help you think better and stay
on your feet, so to speak,

752
00:50:45.679 --> 00:50:52.639
and to overcome the situations that it
arise because they will happen. Great way

753
00:50:52.679 --> 00:50:57.159
to close the show, Jason,
I so appreciate having you on the show.

754
00:50:57.199 --> 00:51:00.639
Staff, Sergeant Jason Morgan, thank
you for joining us today. How's

755
00:51:00.679 --> 00:51:04.360
my pleasure? Really enjoyed it.
If you want to learn more about Jason

756
00:51:04.440 --> 00:51:10.880
and the work he does, visit
his website. It's www SSgt Jasonmorgan dot

757
00:51:10.880 --> 00:51:19.199
com again www dot SSgt Jason Morgan
dot com. Join us next week when

758
00:51:19.239 --> 00:51:22.519
we talk with Mary Shores, who
is the author of Conscious Communications, your

759
00:51:22.559 --> 00:51:24.760
step by step guide to harnessing the
power of your words to change your mind,

760
00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.599
your choices in your life. We'll
be talking about the neuroscience behind words

761
00:51:29.679 --> 00:51:32.400
and her perspective on cleansing or clogging
ourselves in our diets, at work,

762
00:51:32.440 --> 00:51:36.079
and really everything we do in life, among other things. See you next

763
00:51:36.079 --> 00:51:37.519
week. Remember that works at least
one third of our lives, so let's

764
00:51:37.519 --> 00:51:47.320
work on Purpose. We hope you've
enjoyed this week's program. Be sure to

765
00:51:47.360 --> 00:51:52.480
tune into Working on Purpose featuring your
host Alis Cortez, every Wednesday at six

766
00:51:52.519 --> 00:51:58.599
pm Eastern time, FREEPM Pacific time
on the Voice America Empowerment Channel. This

767
00:51:58.639 --> 00:52:09.360
week, find your life's purpose at
work m