Warrior Notes: Don't Isolate Yourself

Chris Albert 00:00:01 (link to this point)

The Warrior Soul podcast is written, edited, and produced by me, Albert. Our mission is to provide tools, tactics, strategies, and ideas that help The US military veteran community to show up as the wisest, strongest, most capable versions of themselves in the civilian world. If you're not a veteran, stick around because anything we talk about will most certainly apply to you as well. This podcast is made possible with the help of F Bomb Nutrition. They make delicious packets of fats that you can carry around anywhere with you in little portable packets.

They make macadamia nut butters. They mix them up with chocolate. They mix them up with sea salt. They mix them up with coconut butter. They're absolutely delicious, and they're really good for you.

They don't have any sugar. They also make a lot of cheese snacks. They make meat sticks, and it's just a great company. These guys send packages of this stuff to the troops who are on the front lines overseas to supplement their MREs, and we didn't ask them to do that. They just did that on their own initiative.

Really great company. If you wanna get 20% off your first order of f bombs, head over to www.dropanfbomb.com and use the code Warrior Soul at checkout. This podcast is also brought to you with the help of Save the Brave. Savethebrave.org is a five zero one c three charity for veterans. They run camaraderie events that include fishing, golfing.

They also do a lot of work with gold star families. And unlike a lot of other organizations, their board doesn't take a salary. Really great organization that is doing amazing work. So go and check them out at savethebrave.org. With that, thank you guys so much.

Let's get into today's programming.

This is Chris Albert, and I'm here to remind you of one thing. Someday, you're going to die. Now that's not some morbid statement or scary idea. It's solid fact. Your time here on this earth is limited.

And we need to be reminded of this as much as possible for one simple reason, to live your best life while you can. This is the Warrior Soul podcast.

So one of the things I've become aware of about myself in recent days is that I am an extreme introvert. And I am somebody who tries to do everything myself. Tried to do everything myself. And, you know, so to some extent, that's a note of pride. Right?

I I think that people like us, those of you who listen to this podcast, obviously, I haven't met most of you. But, you know, I think a lot of you come from similar backgrounds to what I have. I I grew up in, you know, not the most advantageous of financial positions. I had a single mother. She worked three jobs.

We were taught to work, to work hard, to not complain, to push forward, and to be independent. And that is something also that the Marine Corps taught me. Right? To push forward, to never complain, to suffer, and suffer well, and to also, you know, be as independent as possible. Right?

To learn your craft, to be proficient in it, and to... You know, you had NCOs that were looking out for you. You had a team. You had to rely on your team and everything like that. But if you weren't good at your job, it was on you.

And when I got into the civilian world, I think that there wasn't anybody around me anymore who could... I could rely on as a teammate. Right? I couldn't rely on other people as a teammate anymore. And I think one of the problems that that that created for me is that I have a real problem reaching out for help.

I have a real problem reaching out for help. And that has put me into some crazy situations. Right? So when I was really, really sick with ulcerative colitis, I tried to hide it as much as possible. Right?

So I would continue working. I'd continue running myself into the ground. I would push myself without sleep. I would stress myself out by taking on too much. I wouldn't complain about my symptoms or tell anybody about my symptoms or anything like that until finally they would get so bad that, you know, I had lost 50 pounds and looked skeletal and ended up, you know, nearly passing out a bunch of times and having to be...

You know, having to get emergency care. And the thing that I didn't realize at the time was that when I wasn't asking for help, that was actually hurting the people that I I love the most. Right? So my girlfriend, Shauna, who has watched me, you know, basically deteriorate physically and mentally during that time, You know, the the people who depended on me with my business, my family, my friends, I let a lot of friendships go. And a lot of that was because of a combination of things.

One, I didn't wanna ask for help, but the biggest problem I faced with it was shame. Shame. Right? Shame because of the nature of the disease. Right?

Somebody who can't even hold their their colon, you know, somebody who can't go to the bathroom normally. Shame because I didn't want to admit to being depressed and to being in in in really bad, you know, a really bad mental state. Shame because I didn't want to admit to being in a really bad financial state. Alright? And shame because, you know, over the past five years, I've I've come on here week after week and talk to you guys about trying to live your best life while I was, you know, constantly deteriorating.

And, you know, my message to you guys and and what it's always been is is that I'm in all this stuff with you. Right? I'm I'm not somebody who's speaking to you or speaking at you, telling you or lecturing you on what you should do. I'm somebody who's basically just trying things out and trying to figure out the way forward just like any of you are. And the reason this podcast exists is because I know there's so many of you out there who are better people than I am, who are also struggling, who who sacrificed so much.

And what I want to want to tell you is this, and and again, I'm telling you this as I'm learning it, but you got to let people know when you're in a bad state. You got to reach out. You've got to to to try to find a helping hand. You've got to have a support system. This life is very, very difficult.

And over the past few months with COVID nineteen and everything else that's going on in the world, it's gotten even more difficult. And what I try to do here is I try to speak about things that transcend. You know, no matter where you come from, no matter what you look like, no matter what your background is or anything like that, we all have this human experience. And I think that this is something that translates throughout the human experience amongst men and women who've had to struggle in life. We all have that sense that we don't deserve what we're getting.

We all have that sense that we don't need anybody else or that we're gonna try and push forward on our own and that that we're going to to do everything we can to move forward by ourselves even if it kills us. But in a lot of cases, the way to move forward is not by going at it by yourself. It's by enlisting others. It's by endearing yourself to others. It's by making other people your allies.

I think far too many of us push to isolate ourselves away from other people, away from those who love us, and we try to alienate them in the process of our own fight, whatever that fight is. Right? Because there is a fight going on in all of our heads. And and sometimes, in the midst of that fight, we get tunnel vision. So, again, you know, with everything I say, sometimes I say things, and and I wonder if those of you out there understand what I'm saying or if if you can relate. And and, you know, that's part of this experience here of of talking into a plastic box, trying to reach out to people that you've never met, you've never known personally, but who you love with all your heart. And and I love this community. I love my brothers and sisters in arms more than you can imagine. And, I want you all to be good.

And not only do I want you all to be good, I want you to be thriving so that we can have an impact on this country. Alright. So I hope that makes sense, guys. I'm always here, always available. If, you want to talk, just reach out to me on my Instagram at Warrior Soul Agoge.

Life is a little bit busy right now, but I will make the time. And I want you to get out there and live your best lives while you can. This is Chris Albert, and I am out.