Speaker: [00:00:01] pretty dark time in my life, so my wife eventually came to the hospital. I'm chained to [00:00:06] a gurney, uh, like, like my...Speaker: I have handcuffs on me and I'm chained to a gurney. I see [00:00:11] these lights and I see my wife kinda pop into my view and I said, "Where is [00:00:16] God?" And she said, "He's right here." he hasn't gone anywhere.Speaker: It's you that's gone somewhere. [00:00:21] Curtis: Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Run to the Hard Podcast. My [00:00:26] guest today, his name's Dave Corey. First of all, he's a son of God. He's a husband of [00:00:31] one. He's a father of four, he was a championship rower. He found himself [00:00:36] married, moved to Columbus, and, found himself being successful in sales in [00:00:41] medical technology. Uh, he and his wife, they've run several [00:00:46] businesses. They're entrepreneurs and small business people. But a few years Dave found his [00:00:51] calling, he grew up an athlete, but then of course life happens and you become, you know, [00:00:56] dad, husband, all those things.Curtis: But he, he found a new calling and, uh, has dedicated [00:01:01] his life to strength and to health. And last year in [00:01:06] 2025, he became a world champion in Decastrong and DecaAtlas, [00:01:11] which is an indoor decathlon, um, group. And in his age group, he's [00:01:16] 52 years old, folks, and he's a beast. Um, but he's become a world champion in this [00:01:21] sport.Curtis: But, um, something else happened as he's been going through this new [00:01:26] person of Dave. He wrote a book, and it's [00:01:31] called Discipline Determines Destiny Because the Life You Want [00:01:36] Won't Wait.Curtis: And so I've read the thing. Folks, it's really good. It's [00:01:41] really good. And we're gonna dive into this thing today. He also leads a chapter of, of [00:01:46] what's called Better. It's a group designed to help men lead their homes in faith, finance, fitness, [00:01:51] fun, and friendship. And so without further ado, Dave, welcome to [00:01:56] the podcastSpeaker: Curtis, it's an honor to be on here. I've watched this podcast grow [00:02:01] from its, uh, very first episode.Curtis: Well, man, I appreciate you. Hey, I wanna, I wanna do something you [00:02:06] probably didn't expect.Curtis: But, um, you know, I knew Dave, but I didn't know you. We've [00:02:11] had that conversation, right? We used to go to church together. And, um, I want you to know [00:02:16] that, uh, how I view you. Um, Dave's an [00:02:21] all-in guy, folks. He's, he's a larger than life character. It's c- can be intimidating to some people. I [00:02:26] totally get that. But it's not just that.Curtis: He has a spirit and a, [00:02:31] and a presence about him. This dude sits on the front row of the church. Front row. He's a front [00:02:36] row guy. He's engaged. His eyes are focused. Whatever's happening on that, in that service, he's there. [00:02:41] But more than that, Dave is a worshiper, and I love that about you, man. I [00:02:46] can't-- That's-- When I see Dave Corey, I want you to know this is what I see.Curtis: This is my mind's image. [00:02:51] I see worshiping Dave. I see hands up. I see tears coming down your face.[00:02:56] Speaker 2: Thank you. It wasn't always Curtis: you. buddy. I love you, [00:03:01] buddy, but I want you to know that that's the guy that I see. And, uh, it inspires [00:03:06] me. I, I, I trust it inspires others because, man, I wanna be more of [00:03:11] that. I wanna be all in for God at all times.Curtis: And so I s- I had to [00:03:16] say that. I actually wrote it down when I first introduced you, or when I first asked you to be on [00:03:21] the podcast 'cause I didn't wanna forget that moment that I've seen. But dude, you've written this book. I've [00:03:26] read it, and, um, there's so many things that I wanna talk [00:03:31] about that we, we probably don't have time.Curtis: But I wanna start with... [00:03:36] And folks, hey, we're gonna go deep, and so I'm telling everybody to hold onto your bootstraps 'cause we [00:03:41] are gonna go deep. But there was an aha moment in your life, and it had to do with your, [00:03:46] your health, your, your physical health, mental health, and all that. And you [00:03:51] were an athlete as a kid, as a college kid, and then life happens.Curtis: But then you realized [00:03:56] it was the thing that was gonna help you be successful in all the [00:04:01] areas of your life. And so, and, and by the way, let me just give some people some [00:04:06] context here. Um, in your book, Discipline to [00:04:11] Decide, oof, get off the toilet, let's go, right? Um, discipline to [00:04:16] learn, discipline of health, discipline to forgive.Curtis: We are gonna get to that chapter, folks. [00:04:21] Discipline to try again. Dude, we are a people of second [00:04:26] chances, and, um, we gotta remember that. Discipline to care, to say yes, to say [00:04:31] no, to serve, to harmonize, to thrive, to win, to believe. Here's [00:04:36] another one, to walk away, to know when to walk away. And then discipline to [00:04:41] practice.Curtis: And I couldn't help it, my head went, "Practice? Why are we talking about practice?"S3E2 Dave Video: You're Speaker 2: a [00:04:46] coach. Come on, man.[00:04:51] Curtis: Oh, Craig, you can't help it, man. It's the, it's the w- it's the best. Anyways, and then you got a bonus [00:04:56] chapter. I hope we get into that. But if we go back to, I think it's chapter three, the [00:05:01] discipline of health, take us on a journey because it, for you, it was the aha [00:05:06] moment. And, um, and then, then we're gonna go deep and talk about some of the other stuff[00:05:11] Speaker: So, like you said, I w- I was blessed. Uh, I, [00:05:16] in ninth grade A gentleman bought a house next door to us in [00:05:21] Miami, Florida. His name was Dennis Lavelle. Um, if, if you're listening to this [00:05:26] podcast and you know that name, it's because he's an absolute legend in Dade County football, history. [00:05:31] Uh, he's coached the Shula kids.Speaker: Fernando Mendoza, who's the Heisman Trophy winner, went to our high [00:05:36] school. That was all... the, the, the whole baseline for that football program was [00:05:41] Dennis Lavelle. Um, Mario Cristobal, who's the current coach at the University of Miami, played for [00:05:46] him. So Dennis Lavelle bought the house next door to us, and that was his summer job [00:05:51] as a teacher.Speaker: He would flip houses. So long before you and I knew what house flipping was, Dennis Lavelle [00:05:56] was doing it. So I got to kinda work with him that summer. And then my mom was a public school teacher, and [00:06:01] she said, "You're going to, you're going to that Catholic boys high school." I said, "Okay." So I, I, I played football [00:06:06] at a very high level, um, down in Miami.Speaker: Um, Brian Griese, who was Bob [00:06:11] Griese's son, was our quarterback, just to give you con- He went to Michigan and beat Ohio State three years in a row, so, [00:06:16] um, great guy. Uh, but, uh, you know, uh, I went to college to [00:06:21] play football, got ki- kinda injured again. I got injured in, in high school one time pretty bad, and [00:06:26] then in high school-- in college I got injured again and I'm like, "Eh, this just isn't worth it."Speaker: So I'm out running one [00:06:31] day and this, this pickup truck stops by next to me and goes, "Hey, do you go to the college?" I'm like... And, [00:06:36] and so being from Miami, I was very cordial with my response. Like, "Yeah, what's it to you?" Uh, and it [00:06:41] ended up being the, uh, it ended up being Tom Stefanik, who was the rowing coach at Marietta [00:06:46] College.Speaker: So he said, "Come down to the boathouse," which I had no idea what a boathouse was. I'm, I'm from Miami, Florida. [00:06:51] Rowing's like, no, not where we were. So I ended up rowing for four years. Uh, we [00:06:56] had a coaching transition. Uh, John Bancheri came in my sophomore year, and he just [00:07:01] lost h- his life. Uh, he's up in heaven, uh, praise, praise God.Speaker: But, uh, just, [00:07:06] just an amazing experience. And so yeah, I, I did all this stuff. And then you get out of college and it's just, [00:07:11] you gotta get to work. And of course, I had college loans and credit cards and everything else. So [00:07:16] I, I just got busy working and hustling and, and doing all that stuff. So [00:07:21] fast-forward, I don't know, 15, 18 years, my [00:07:26] parents' health started to go downward.Speaker: Um, I'm the last of four kids, so my, my parents' health [00:07:31] started going... A- and I, I think there was a time that I knew every toll booth operator in West Virginia 'cause I was [00:07:36] making so many trips down to North Carolina and back. And it finally came to the head that we had [00:07:41] to take custody of my parents. Now my, my dad was a, a, you know, [00:07:46] officer in the US Navy, and you weren't taking his car and taking his home.Speaker: But yeah, we kinda had to [00:07:51] do all that stuff. And so it was at the nursing home where my parents were. And at this point I'm [00:07:56] probably like 290 pounds, and I'm sorta kinda [00:08:01] exercising-ish. And, um, S3E2 Dave Video: [00:08:06] I, Speaker: I looked at my parents' health and I said, "If I don't do something This is me in 30 [00:08:11] years. Speaker: And that was kinda like my wake up aha moment.Speaker: You know, I, I still see the, the [00:08:16] fat guy in the mirror. Body dysmorphia is a real thing, so if you're out there and you've lost weight and you still see the old [00:08:21] you in the mirror, it's real. Um, and that's what got me on this trajectory to start [00:08:26] cleaning up my intake, um, focusing on my output, my [00:08:31] exercising, and, uh, knowing that we're all gonna die, every single one of us.Speaker: We're all gonna have what [00:08:36] Peter Attia calls his last 10 years of life, and what's that last 10 years gonna look like? Is it gonna be you [00:08:41] in a walker, you in a wheelchair because you neglected your health in [00:08:46] your 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s? Or are you gonna be vibrant? Are you gonna be walking? Are you [00:08:51] gonna be out traveling or doing something?Speaker: And so we all have a deck of cards, [00:08:56] and it's up to us to stack that deck of cards in our favor for our body habitus the [00:09:01] best way that we possibly can. So I've worked in healthcare. I've seen what happens when people [00:09:06] neglect their bodies, from obesity to kidney disease to liver disease [00:09:11] to, um, lung disease, et cetera.Speaker: So I, I've, I've experienced all those things in the medical field, [00:09:16] and that was my aha moment, and I'm trying to inspire as many other people [00:09:21] now to take that seriously because no one's coming to rescue [00:09:26] you. It's you. Curtis: Yep. No, there's a quote and I love it. Um, [00:09:31] "The best day in a man's life when he wakes up and realize nobody's coming to rescue you."Speaker: Yeah. [00:09:36] Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: It, it sure is a little kick in the pants, that's for sureCurtis: It, it is. And, uh, it's, [00:09:41] it's that moment in life you're like, "I gotta take control and I gotta make some things happen." And as a Christian, we know [00:09:46] God can help us do that, but there is this point in life where we have to say, "Man, I [00:09:51] gotta get it done."Speaker 2: Right Curtis: love it. All right, folks, hold onto your boots, [00:09:56] um, because it's not just about physical health, Right. [00:10:01] Curtis: There's a mental aspect to this. And, uh, Dave, I didn't ... [00:10:06] Like I said, I knew you, but I didn't know you. And, um, when [00:10:11] I got to this chapter, um, I'm just gonna tell you, man, I, I sobbed. [00:10:16] And I thought to myself, my first, my first thought was is, "Oh, dear Lord, help [00:10:21] me to be able to see people, and to recognize that [00:10:26] everybody has a story and everybody has a struggle, and we've gotta pay [00:10:31] attention."Curtis: And so I'm gonna read a little bit and then I'm gonna let you [00:10:36] talk.Curtis: But, um, yeah, I was, I was reading this, I got to this chapter and [00:10:41] I thought I knew it was go- what it was gonna be about, but I, I totally missed the boat. [00:10:46] You write, um, "Back in 2015, I had a great job with a great company and [00:10:51] was doing better than well.Curtis: I was let go despite hitting all the numbers I [00:10:56] was supposed to hit. I was a sales trainer and opened some amazing accounts. [00:11:01] Despite all this, I was let go. It has happened before, but this time was different. [00:11:06] Mind you, my identity was tied to what I did." We can all relate to that [00:11:11] in life. If that is you, I [00:11:16] would suggest a different formula. You say, [00:11:21] "I had a job interview late September. I knew it wasn't a good role. We had [00:11:26] depleted our savings, and I was failing as a father and a husband, so I thought. I went to [00:11:31] the interview, and like any prepared American male, I took a wad of cash and [00:11:36] two handguns.Curtis: I left my wallet at home along with my phone. My [00:11:41] plan: go to the interview, fail it, head down to North Carolina to the [00:11:46] family home, and walk out on the dock and end it [00:11:51] all." I sat there early in a parking lot and I got my gun out. I [00:11:56] unloaded it. I pulled the trigger against my skull three times.Curtis: I [00:12:01] reloaded it, put it away in a secured lock case, and drove to the [00:12:06] interview. I didn't get the job. Geez, I wonder why.[00:12:11] S3E2 Dave Video: Ugh.Curtis: Glad you'd laugh. I left the [00:12:16] office. I was immediately pulled over by the Dublin, Ohio Police Department [00:12:21] and was taken to Dublin Methodist Hospital, kind of against my will. [00:12:26] Prior to this, across town, my wife noticed that I left my phone and wallet home. Phew. [00:12:31] Praise God for good womenCurtis: I could be in the middle of an eight-hour trip, and if [00:12:36] either was left behind, we would turn around and get them.Curtis: She also knew the state of mind I was in [00:12:41] weeks and days prior. She knew where I was going and called our friend who was a detective at the sheriff's [00:12:46] office, who called her colleagues in the area and where I was at, and they [00:12:51] were on the lookout for my car. And then you write [00:12:56] Angels above meSpeaker: Yep. [00:13:01] Yeah, that was a tough time, man. Um- [00:13:06] Like, like I said in the book, you know, my identity was kinda wrapped around what I did for a [00:13:11] living. Um, and you know, you go to a, you go to a party and you don't [00:13:16] say, "Well, I'm the, I'm a son of God," or, "I'm this." It's like, no, I'm the chief territory [00:13:21] manager for this company and blah, blah, blah.Speaker: You know, the we, we-- A- And I represent this technology and [00:13:26] there's only 12 of us in the country that do that. And, you know, it's, it's, it's kind of like this little [00:13:31] status, little bit of ego, little bit of pride. And so when that was taken away from me, [00:13:36] uh, a- and I've met a lot of people, uh, who have had their identity in [00:13:41] their job in the military or in, in this sort of fitness thing, and when that thing [00:13:46] gets taken away from you, now what, right?Speaker: Because we, we build up the physical side so [00:13:51] much that-- A- and, and our mental health is attached to a job. Well, i- [00:13:56] if, if you haven't woken up and seen that your average college degree has a [00:14:01] shelf life of about three to five years, maybe six if you're lucky, uh, before [00:14:06] AI or something else or a shift in, in the paradigm takes that away, and so [00:14:11] you have to be willing to do what a good basketball players do, and that's pivot, right?[00:14:16] Speaker: I don't have a shot here, but if I turn my body and do this and do that, then I, you know, we, we have a shot. [00:14:21] Um, so that's where I was. Um, pretty dark time in my [00:14:26] life, so I, I went... A- And if, if you keep reading in the chapter, my wife eventually [00:14:31] came to the hospital. I'm chained to a gurney, uh, like, like my...Speaker: I have handcuffs on [00:14:36] me and I'm chained to a gurney. I'm looking up at two-by-two tiles, on, in the, in the [00:14:41] ceiling at Dublin Methodist ER. But I see these lights and [00:14:46] I see my wife kinda pop into my view and I said, "Where is God?" And [00:14:51] she said, "He's right here." Now she wasn't saying she Speaker: was God, but she was, Speaker: he was... she was, saying [00:14:56] that he hasn't gone anywhere.Speaker: It's you that's gone somewhere. And that was true. And so I spent a week in a mental health [00:15:01] institution at Fairfield Medical Center on the sixth floor, which they closed and hopefully they're reopening because it's [00:15:06] very much needed, uh, for people out there. And I had to kinda reinvent myself.Speaker: [00:15:11] Uh, if, if somebody is saying to you, a- and you're a dude and somebody's saying to you, "Hey man, I think [00:15:16] you need to see a therapist," put down your ego, put down your pride and go. Uh, and go see [00:15:21] somebody and go talk. And it's not a sign of weakness, it's the beginning of strength, a lot of it.Speaker: [00:15:26] Um, 'cause A, you weren't meant to Speaker: walk alone and B, man, life's tough. And, um, [00:15:31] I, I had a lot of... I, uh, Anne was a great therapist, uh, for me and helped me out [00:15:36] tremendously. And then I, I gotta thank, uh, Tim Custer, he's a surgeon, a friend of [00:15:41] mine, and he said, "Hey, you need to come do this exercise stuff with me."Speaker: I'm like, "Exercise stuff?" [00:15:46] I'm like, "What are you talking about?" So I go and like there's this workout. I'm like, "I was a college athlete, I can [00:15:51] do this." And I think like within five minutes I'm outside emptying the contents of my stomach. Um, [00:15:56] but, but Tim kept encouraging me to come, to come, to come, to come and, [00:16:01] and, and eventually I did and that's where my fitness [00:16:06] rebirth kinda came from and I'm so thankful.Speaker: I'm ever so grateful that, that Tim just stuck out his [00:16:11] hand and said, "Hey, come join me." And that, that falls under the chapter of the discipline to say yes, [00:16:16] right? 'Cause you're gonna have opportunities and things that are gonna come your way and if you're just constantly saying, [00:16:21] "No, no, no, no, no."Speaker: Like sometimes when you say yes amazing things are gonna happen [00:16:26] out out of the blue. Uh, and and that's not happenstance, it's not fate. That's, that's an [00:16:31] ordained momentCurtis: Yep, it is. No, that's good. Um, [00:16:36] growing up in a military home, [00:16:41] overseas, all over the place, give us, give us a little context [00:16:46] because s- some people who, who are not part of the military, have not seen that, they don't have any [00:16:51] idea what that means to be a, a military brat kid who's all over the globe. Help us Yeah. [00:16:56] So my dad was the first person in his family to go to [00:17:01] college. Um, his dad kinda walked out on the family, I think when he was about 15. [00:17:06] Uh, he went to Villanova, go Wildcats, and, um, on a Navy ROTC [00:17:11] scholarship, commissioned immediately, uh, got his first thing, and then my two sisters were born [00:17:16] back to back.Speaker: Um, they're I, I think 12 and 13 years older than [00:17:21] me.Speaker: and then my brother was six years after them, and then I'm basically five and a half years after my brother. [00:17:26] So when my mom, uh, had me in 1974, I, I know it [00:17:31] doesn't look like it, thank you, I appreciate that.Speaker: But, uh, when she had me in 1974, [00:17:36] um, being a 37-year-old mother was, like, unheard of. You know, that, that you had all your kids by [00:17:41] the time you were 22 or something like that. So, um, my... So I was born in, um, [00:17:46] Fort Belvoir, Virginia, which is outside of Washington, DC. My dad took a, [00:17:51] a role, with, um, basically the Southern Command.Speaker: So we were down in, [00:17:56] uh, Lima, Peru, uh, for five years, and then we were in Bogotá, Colombia for about three and a half years, [00:18:01] uh, after that. So being that I grew up all over South America, we've been to [00:18:06] Chile and Panama and Brazil and all these cool places that I got to do with my [00:18:11] dad. Sailed on some pretty cool ships like battleships when they were still, you [00:18:16] know, out there, uh, in the early '80s.Speaker: So [00:18:21] when we got back to the US, I, I saw my first identity crisis when my dad [00:18:26] retired. So my dad retired in 1984, and he w- had all these dreams about being an [00:18:31] entrepreneur, like he was gonna start a bus tour company and all of this. Ended up starting, like, a vending business. [00:18:36] Ironically, years later, guess who else owned a vending business?Speaker: It was kind of funny how the apple doesn't fall [00:18:41] far. And so I remember, like, counting quarters on the, on the kitchen table and Speaker: stuff with him, [00:18:46] and then he owned a pizzeria, and I remember folding all the boxes and delivering flyers to the [00:18:51] apartment complexes. Like, yeah, you, you send your 13-year-old kid out to...Speaker: You would never do that today, [00:18:56] like sending your 13-year-old kid to an apartment complex to deliver flyers. Like, it's unheard of. [00:19:01] Um, but I, I watched him kinda have an identity crisis for a few years once [00:19:06] he got out of the military. There was really no good transition programs for veterans back then. [00:19:11] Uh, he eventually became high school teacher and then a college professor, and he ended up, [00:19:16] um, that, that was where he ended up shining, um, until he retired from that.Speaker: So he [00:19:21] ended up at, uh, High Point University eventually. Great school. So that, that was [00:19:26] growing up in the military family. But, Curtis: What did mom do?Speaker: So mom was a [00:19:31] homemaker, Speaker: um, until we moved back to the States, and then she was a teacher. So she taught English, [00:19:36] um, at the parochial level and then went off to, uh, a middle school.Speaker: it was tough because [00:19:41] when my brother went off to college, so my brother also went to Villanova on a Navy ROTC scholarship.Speaker: [00:19:46] Um, and when my brother went off to school, I ended up being the only child. And then when I was about [00:19:51] 14, my dad went to Florida State, which is in Tallahassee. We were in Miami. I became the [00:19:56] man of the house basically at 15 years old. Uh, and I [00:20:01] know that you maybe know some people in their life that have kinda had to do the same thing.Speaker: And at the time it [00:20:06] seemed kinda weird that like, I gotta mow the lawn, I gotta do this. But the ironic part is my [00:20:11] mom came to me and said, "Hey, listen, I've been doing this mom thing for 30 years and I, I'm, [00:20:16] kinda done, so you're on your own as far as cooking and cleaning and everything else." So I, I kinda had to learn how to [00:20:21] do some stuff, and it's made me into a better man.Speaker: Uh, we-- I took my daughter to [00:20:26] a, uh, a concert last summer and her, the strap on her dress broke. [00:20:31] And so here we are in the CVS parking lot. I bought a, uh, a sewing kit and I'm sewing [00:20:36] her, her, you know, with, with the proper sewing technique 'cause you don't want, like, the knot on the outside, You want it on the [00:20:41] back, you know?Speaker: And her friends, her two friends were just sitting there staring at me like with wide eyes like, [00:20:46] like, "This guy knows how to sew." And yeah, man, you just, you just... A- and make [00:20:51] it look good. So, uh, so that was, that was growing up. I mean, [00:20:56] um, I, I wouldn't know any different if you, if you sit my brother and my two sisters down and you [00:21:01] ask about us growing up, we would say, "Hey, we never wanted for anything."Speaker: But the emotional [00:21:06] love just wasn't present. Um, I never remember crawling up into my dad's lap and [00:21:11] him hugging me and saying, "I love you, son." You know, like, like that was just n- no. [00:21:16] So I'm, I'm kinda, I'm kind of a little over the top with my kids as far as hugging them and telling them that I love them [00:21:21] every day because I I, missed out on that.Curtis: Well, there's a part in your book where you talk [00:21:26] about when you left, it didn't, it wasn't really that great,Curtis: and the things that you told [00:21:31] your dad and, and so forth. Uh, just shed some light on that.Speaker: Sure. So, [00:21:36] you know, I can't go back to when I was 19 and say, "Okay, like, here's [00:21:41] exactly what happened." But it basically was, "Hey, I'm done with you." [00:21:46] Um I, I just don't want anything to do with you. You're, you're mean, [00:21:51] you're this, you're that." And I was kinda coming out of my cocoon, so to speak, right?Speaker: Uh, but I do [00:21:56] remember telling him, "You will never see your grandkids." And if I could take one thing back in my [00:22:01] life, it would be that. Um, so I-- What I ended up [00:22:06] doing, and this kinda leads into our chapter on forgiveness, and might as well, you know, get rolling. What I ended [00:22:11] up doing when I was 19 is I built a prison for my dad, [00:22:16] uh, to, to...Speaker: You know, he he smacked us around a lot as kids. [00:22:21] He was very stern and, and, you know, mean, and, you know, sometimes he said things that [00:22:26] were just-- He would never apologize. And i- it's funny how those, those things trickle down into, [00:22:31] into the kids, and you have to be like, "Don't wanna be like that." But, so anyway, I built this prison for him.[00:22:36] Speaker: Uh, the only problem is, is that I ended up walking into the prison, reaching out the little [00:22:41] window, turning the lock, and pitching it, and I lived like that, in that prison, [00:22:46] till I was about 32 years old. S3E2 Dave Video: I Speaker: graduated college, I got [00:22:51] married, I started career, all that stuff with this, this anger, uh, that was, that [00:22:56] was inside of me.Speaker: And I was at the Lancaster Vineyard Church in Lancaster, [00:23:01] Ohio. Pastor Joel Seymour is preaching, and he gets up, he goes, "Hey, we're gonna talk about a great topic [00:23:06] today, and, uh, a lot of you in here probably need this 'cause of this, that, and the other, and we're gonna talk about forgiveness." And I [00:23:11] looked around and I went, "Well, that's great for all you people, but, you know, I'm, I'm good," you know? [00:23:16] 10 minutes into the thing, I looked around and I was just wondering if anybody else was there 'cause he [00:23:21] was speaking right to this heart. And basically what he said, he, he went in... I don't have [00:23:26] time to unpack the whole, you know, sermon, but basically what he said is like if you can find it in your heart to call the [00:23:31] person.Speaker: No, don't, don't, you know, was te- yeah, texting was there. But don't text them, don't [00:23:36] email, don't send a le- like call them and say, "Hey, I forgive you." And the next [00:23:41] words out of their mouth are gonna be, "For what?" I'm like, "Okay, we're gonna try [00:23:46] that." So that was Sunday. Monday, I'm driving. I called my dad [00:23:51] and w- you know, "Hey, David," blah, blah, blah. We chit-chat and I say, "Hey, Dad, I forgive you." And [00:23:56] you... "For what?" Is what he said. A- and just how [00:24:01] God has wired the mouth shut of a lot of people throughout the Bible, like can't [00:24:06] speak.Speaker: I couldn't-- My s- my dad's like, "David? Dave? Dave? Dave?" Click. He hung up. I'm [00:24:11] like... So I called him back. I have no idea what the conversation was when I called him [00:24:16] back, but I do remember I-- d- it just felt like doves [00:24:21] were flying out of my chest, just, just like this, just emptying [00:24:26] of, of stuff. And from that day, I, I talk about forgiveness because it [00:24:31] is such...Speaker: When you decide to hold a grudge against somebody [00:24:36] and you say, "I'm gonna, I'm gonna fix this person. I'm gonna put them in jail," you're not putting them in jail, you're putting you in jail. [00:24:41] And my dad went on to live his life and do what he was gonna do without a [00:24:46] concern for what w- I was feeling. And the person that you decide not to [00:24:51] forgive is gonna continue to live their life and go do what they're gonna do without a concern.Speaker: W- A- and [00:24:56] it's you that end Curtis: That is so true. Oh my goodness. Speaker: and you carry that into [00:25:01] everything you do. I think that had a lot to do with, with [00:25:06] my identity problem, because I, I literally lost 10 [00:25:11] years because, because there was this, this block, this anger in, [00:25:16] in m- in my way. Um, and so when, when you let that go, it's absolutely Now, does that [00:25:21] mean I forgot everything that he did? No. Of course it doesn't mean you forget. But you, you, you [00:25:26] separate it from who you are and, and you, and you... c- That, [00:25:31] that block, that, that chain that is holding you together to that person is, is just [00:25:36] broken and gone, and you can now step into who you're, b- you're supposed to beCurtis: I have a [00:25:41] little different of an experience. Of course, I didn't have a relationship with my dad. He, he was a Vietnam vet, [00:25:46] lived a terrible life. Um, my mom had to drive us away at [00:25:51] the age of six, literally in a little red VW Bug. I mean, we just [00:25:56] drove away with the shirts on our back. And, um, you know, I didn't see much growing up, and then [00:26:01] when I became adult, I had to make the decision that I didn't want that kind of lifestyle in, [00:26:06] in our life, in our family's life, in my kids' life.Curtis: And so I, I had to make a conscious decision. But, you [00:26:11] know, I would get a phone call every once in a while, and so my situation's a little bit different. But every... You know, especially [00:26:16] when I got to be 30s and 40s, every once in a while he'd be coming off of a high or something and feel bad, [00:26:21] call and say, "Hey, man, just wanted to tell you I love you and I'm really sorry for the way I've lived my life [00:26:26] and treated you guys."Curtis: And I remember for the longest time I wouldn't say anything. I couldn't say anything. I mean, I [00:26:31] really did have a lot of bitter and anger and hatred. Like, this dude, if you knew what he did to [00:26:36] my mom, if you knew how he treated us. Never paid a dime of child support our whole [00:26:41] life, ever, and left my mom desolate, poor.Curtis: Like, we struggled [00:26:46] growing up. But I remember the first time when he, when I actually said the words, [00:26:51] "Dad, it's okay. I forgive you." Phew. [00:26:56] I, I know that moment, because it's not thinking about [00:27:01] forgiveness, it's not acting like forgiveness, but something about the actual words that come out of [00:27:06] your mouth. and and I did.Curtis: At that point, he wasn't gonna change him. He died a [00:27:11] few months ago, and, and I hope somehow he had a thief on the cross moment. I- that's all I can [00:27:16] hope for and pray for. But I remember the day that I, I was able to [00:27:21] verbally say it, and I meant it. And from that moment on, he... You know, I would get a phone call like that [00:27:26] about once a year, same thing.Curtis: "Dad, it's okay. I forgive you. I've forgiven you. It's okay." [00:27:31] It's life-changing.Curtis: It, it it really is life-changing. [00:27:36] And so man, I, I'm proud of you, and I know that's part of your story, is, [00:27:41] um... And we all have, we all have story, but that's part of your story, is you're working [00:27:46] through all of these pieces to become the man that you know you're supposed to be.Speaker: Yeah. [00:27:51] And it's, uh, it, it, it's been amazing because I've gotten a lot of feedback on that [00:27:56] chapter specifically because it's just not something that's talked about. You know, you're, you're to- you, [00:28:01] you hold that grudge and you hold that person and, and like this scowl on your face and like, [00:28:06] man, that's no way to live life, youSpeaker: know?Speaker: Um, it's just, it just isn't. Like, like [00:28:11] it's... A- again, it doesn't mean that, oh, you forgot what that person did or [00:28:16] you... No, but, but it's, it's, it's the shackle that gets to be broken and that chain gets to [00:28:21] fall off. It doesn't mean that you forget what happened [00:28:26] or discount what happened. Speaker: No, you... And if that's, that's, that's something, that's an experience of your life [00:28:31] that's real.Speaker: But now you get to rebuild and, and continue to, to build on that scaffolding, so [00:28:36] to say, and, and build something new.Curtis: What's some other things that, um, as [00:28:41] part of this process of the new you have happened?Speaker: now that I have [00:28:46] kids that are in their 20s, you know, when-- A- and if you're a young parent out there and you're looking at [00:28:51] your kid and you're like, "Hmm, I wonder why, you know, some animals in the wild eat their young," and they're, you're [00:28:56] looking at your kids and like, you know, relax.Speaker: They're, they're gonna be really cool [00:29:01] adults. Uh, you know, I, I think the way the dynamic has changed with my kids is, like, [00:29:06] I remember, um, a gentleman in church telling me, "Hey, listen man, you don't wanna be friends [00:29:11] with your kids. You need to discipline them and you need to be their dad, and blah, blah, blah."Speaker: And I'm like, "Okay, okay." But, [00:29:16] um, I I now, like my 23-year-old and my [00:29:21] 20-year-old, it, it's so cool and, you know, my, my third son just turned 18 and he's, he's taking it to [00:29:26] heart. It's so funny. He's like, "Man, this is like my childhood is ending," [00:29:31] and all this stuff, and it's so cool. And it's, it's, it's fun to be parenting [00:29:36] this change.Speaker: And it's also a really different change for me because I'm like, you know, you raise this little ball of cells [00:29:41] to do good and to be independent and to go take care of your [00:29:46] bills and be wise with your money and all. a- and then they go do that and you're like, [00:29:51] "Wait a minute," like, "I wasn't ready for you to go off yet."Speaker: Like, uh, a- and so it's, it's [00:29:56] fun kinda letting the, letting the rope out, but always knowing that it's there and, and [00:30:01] really, um, challenging them to, to be better, challenging them through tough [00:30:06] times. Um, I've got a, uh, my middle son is an athlete, and so he's going through some [00:30:11] stuff right now and, it's cool to just be there and say, "Yeah, man, been there," and, and "Look, you, [00:30:16] you gotta fight through this. You just got to." And, um, that's gone well. Um, [00:30:21] obviously getting into the, the Deca stuff, I-- It, it's funny how we got into that. So I'm in [00:30:26] a competition, a CrossFit competition. There's a team right next to us, [00:30:31] okay?Speaker: Uh, the team captain was Scott, and uh, I looked [00:30:36] over at them and I said, "Hey, you guys wanna pray before we get this thing started?" He's like, "Yeah, man." So all four of them and all four of us, [00:30:41] we got together, we prayed real quick before three, two, one, go. The first event went down and, like, we won [00:30:46] the first event, they won the second event, we won the third one, they won the fourth one, and like the tiebreaker went to [00:30:51] them, so they ended up finishing first on the podium that day.Speaker: Even though we were competitors, [00:30:56] that day a brotherhood and a friendship was born between Scott and I and just, it, it's just [00:31:01] an amazing... And like we've seen each other, so like we've competed together in regional events and [00:31:06] we won a world championship together last year. We're ranked number one this year.Speaker: We're competing tonight, which is [00:31:11] awesome. But more than that We have a [00:31:16] brotherhood. Uh, we've seen each other through some, some tough times, and we've been there as a [00:31:21] voice, uh, late at night or early in the morning. And man, when you get [00:31:26] genuine relationships like that, so that's what it's all about. So just [00:31:31] just being able to step into things like that.Speaker: Um, I [00:31:36] a few months ago stepped out of a sales role, um, [00:31:41] which has been what I've been doing for 20-plus years. I have a clinical background with my degree, [00:31:46] uh, from, from college. A clinical trainer position opened up at my company. I [00:31:51] stepped into it. Um, I've never [00:31:56] fasted before. Uh, I fasted on a day and I said, "Okay, God, I need to [00:32:01] hear, I need to hear from you."Speaker: Like, th-this is big because the income difference was big. [00:32:06] Of course, I-- the first thing I do is I don't go to prayer. The first thing I do is go to a spreadsheet and say, "All right, how is this [00:32:11] all gonna work outSpeaker: for the family?" Right? Then I went to prayer and, uh, [00:32:16] and so I fasted and, and I'm like, "All right, cool."Speaker: So what about my day? The [00:32:21] next day, Kevin Owens calls me. Kevin is a boss from a couple jobs ago. [00:32:26] Um, Kevin is one of 300 people that has, uh, successfully swam the English [00:32:31] Channel and the Straits of Gibraltar.Speaker: Like, the dude's a stud. Like, he's got an ESPN story on him [00:32:36] and everything. And so Kevin's one of those guys that I would follow to the end of the earth, like, uh, [00:32:41] "Dave, jump through that wall.Speaker: How fast, how fast, Kevin?" You know, that, that kind of guy. Um, so he called me out [00:32:46] of the blue and we, we chit-chatted about the kids, whatever, and I said, "Hey, man, I gotta run something past you." [00:32:51] And I told him kind of my predicament at work, and he, he, he said, "Dave, stop. That's, that's a perfect role for you, and you're [00:32:56] gonna fit right into it.Speaker: And, you know, I, I know that this and this is a, is a difference and you're concerned, but you're gonna be [00:33:01] fine." And I don't know where he is on this. I, I know there's some faith in there. I just don't know how deep it is. [00:33:06] But hearing those words from him... So, so, like, I [00:33:11] don't think it was a coincidence that he calledSpeaker: me the next day after I fasted the day before, and I've never fasted in [00:33:16] my life.Speaker: Um, but it was just something that, that I've I've been able to do some things in, in the [00:33:21] spiritual realm that have just been really cool. And, um, I, I just... [00:33:26] it's it's fun. Every day is different, and I love just walking the- when the sun comes [00:33:31] up. I love walking today. I prayed for peace Speaker: for our entire country because it seems [00:33:36] like we're very polarized right now and, uh, what not a better time than on 9/11 to pray for [00:33:41] peace and, Speaker: uh, to, to really pray for what happened on 9/12.Speaker: Uh, for those of us who [00:33:46] were alive on 9/12/2001, it didn't matter if you were a Jew or a Gentile, a [00:33:51] straight, gay, Christian, atheist, Black, white, y- you know, [00:33:56] Hispanic. N- none of that mattered. What mattered is we were Americans on that day, and we [00:34:01] need to get back to that and stop being polarized by, well, the [00:34:06] politicians and the media, quiteSpeaker: honestly.Speaker: Uh, we just need to get back and love one another as, as humansCurtis: [00:34:11] Yeah. No, that's, it's all good. You ever had to quit anything?[00:34:16] Speaker: Well, yeah. Um, and it's, it's not easy. And [00:34:21] so there's a couple things. Um, I was a terrible baseball player, uh, really was. [00:34:26] There's, there's no, no doubt about it. So I, I played for a season and I was [00:34:31] like, "Dad," uh, and of course I'm, I'm at the ripe old age of probably about 11 or 12, [00:34:36] you know, with, with my frontal cortex fully developed.Speaker: And, um [00:34:41] I, uh, I said, "I wanna quit baseball," and my dad said, "You you can quit at the end of the [00:34:46] season." And I'm like, "Oh, I wanna quit bas-" So, so I, I ended up stopping at the end of the season. Um, [00:34:51] fast-forward to college, I didn't feel that I was getting my way on the rowing team my [00:34:56] sophomore year, so I told my coach that I quit.Speaker: Of course, we were in Summerton, South Carolina on spring [00:35:01] break. We took a bus down there, he's like, "Well, the Greyhound station's down the road. You can start walking." [00:35:06] And, and by John challenging me, I said, "All right. I'm gonna I'm gonna stick [00:35:11] it out," and I ended up having a great career, uh, for the next two and a half years.Speaker: [00:35:16] So the-- But there's a big difference between quitting and walking away from something [00:35:21] strategically. And it, it needs to be known that you're gonna be put into some [00:35:26] situations that you have to finish. There's, there's no, there's no like, "Well, I tried," [00:35:31] but no, there, there are some situations that you're gonna have to finish.Speaker: And there's the, [00:35:36] the last chapter or one, one of the last chapters of the book is, is the discipline to walk away. And [00:35:41] sometimes you may be doing something and you're, you've been trying and trying and trying and trying, and [00:35:46] then there's some strategic pieces that may be in front of you that you're gonna need to [00:35:51] look at to say, "I have the discipline to walk away from this."Speaker: And that's okay. Um, [00:35:56] if you look at a baseball player, if they get on base three [00:36:01] out of 10 times, they're, they're a millionaire. They're a 300 hitter, they're a [00:36:06] millionaire. The other seven times, I mean, could you imagine a baseball player like, I don't know, [00:36:11] Sammy Sosa or I don't know. I, I don't know any baseball players anymore.Speaker: But can you imagine him after striking [00:36:16] out saying, "I quit. I walk away"? No, you gotta try again, you know? A- and this is what you're destined to [00:36:21] do. So if a baseball player can, [00:36:26] you know, be a millionaire by failing seven out of 10 times, if you start a [00:36:31] business and it fails, it doesn't mean that, okay, well, you're not destined to be a mil- Look, I know plenty of business [00:36:36] owners, this one included, that have started businesses that have not come out to fruition.[00:36:41] Speaker: So if you start 10 and three of them work, the three that work, oh baby, look out, you know?Speaker: [00:36:46] So, so Yeah, I've, I've had to quit stuff. Um, I quit drinking. Uh, [00:36:51] and, and this is, this is a fun story. So you mentioned that you and I really didn't know each other, [00:36:56] and we didn't. I mean, I knew who Curtis Christopher was.Speaker: He's the guy over there in the corner, rah, rah, rah, right? [00:37:01] Um, I really think I got to know you a little bit better when you and Michal [00:37:06] got married because Ella and Spencer, my oldest son, were about the [00:37:11] same age, and they were in school together, and you heard of Ella Hood and blah, blah, blah. You, like... And then I think our [00:37:16] wives kinda connected through some school functions and stuff.Speaker: But it was Speaker: really a [00:37:21] game night that we had. Uh, there was four couples. It was the Bryants, uh, [00:37:26] you guys, usens, and, uh, the Blisses. And we were at the Blisses' house, and [00:37:31] I had my standard six-pack of beer, uh, that I had brought over to [00:37:36] consume that evening while we were playing card games and whatever, and I remember saying, "Hey, Curtis, man, you want me to get your beer?"Speaker: He's like, [00:37:41] "Uh, no man, I don't drink." Now, what happened when you said that is that planted a [00:37:46] seed in my head. I'm the guy that when COVID hit, I had a vending business and one of my machines [00:37:51] went bad, so it was sitting in my garage, and one day during COVID I looked at it and said, "I bet I can make a kegerator out of this [00:37:56] thing if I cut the top of the machine off, and I can buy a, a, the, the keg tap to put [00:38:01] in, and I've got this huge refrigerator here that I can just fit a couple kegs.Speaker: This would be great." [00:38:06] So I, I, I loved my beer. I loved... A- and, and why [00:38:11] was that? Because I didn't come out of the womb going, "Mom, where's my beer?" [00:38:16] It started because in college you just kinda did what you did. There was no good [00:38:21] reason. When I, when I got down to look at it, there's no good reason anybody starts to drink.Speaker: Why, why [00:38:26] is it? To give your money to the alcohol companies? To drive drunk? To say things you wish you [00:38:31] wouldn't have? Uh, to poison your liver, to poison your kidneys, to poison your brain? Like, like [00:38:36] what, what logical reason did you choose to start doing this? It just started because [00:38:41] more, more than likely societal pressure.Speaker: So I started reevaluating [00:38:46] things and I, I quit, um, New Year's Eve [00:38:51] before my son Cameron graduated from high school and stopped. I poured the champagne out I'm like, "I'm [00:38:56] done." And that summer we went on a cruise for, [00:39:01] uh, their graduation. So my son and his girlfriend, which is now his wife, and their [00:39:06] family and our whole family, we went on a cruise.Speaker: And I don't, I don't think the ropes were off the, the [00:39:11] pilings, uh, before I cracked my first beer on that trip. And it was the Thursday night prior [00:39:16] to sailing back the next day, and I told Hillary, I was like, "I'm gonna go up to the bar [00:39:21] and get a beer before dinner." She said, "Okay, one beer." And so I, I ordered a pitcher and I drank out of the pitcher [00:39:26] to, to s- to, to keep my word, Curtis, that I was only gonna have [00:39:31] one beer.Speaker: Um, and you know, more, more drinks after dinner, et cetera, and I'm [00:39:36] laying in bed Friday morning at 4:30 and I'm having these [00:39:41] vivid dream... Like, like, like you're falling and you wake up and you're like, "Oh my God, did I really just fall?" Like those [00:39:46] type of dreams. Like 10 in a row I had. And I finally said to myself, "I gotta get out of this bed."Speaker: And so [00:39:51] I did. I got out of that bed and I, I'm walking around the track on the cruise ship, like [00:39:56] me, the dolphin down below, and like the guy steering the ship were the only people awake. [00:40:01] And I said, I, I just literally said, "Okay, Lord." And he [00:40:06] said, "Hey, man, you're three months away from being 50. [00:40:11] What are you doing?" S3E2 Dave Video: that?"Speaker: I didn't have an answer. He [00:40:16] said, "Your oldest son just turned 21. S3E2 Dave Video: The Speaker: average [00:40:21] American male dies at 73. You've got 23 years left.Speaker 3: [00:40:26] YeahSpeaker: What are you doing?" And it was at that moment that I, I put down [00:40:31] all alcohol and, you know, I started doing like non-alcoholic beer and all this [00:40:36] other fun stuff, and then I just said, "It, it's all gotta stop," [00:40:41] because I'm giving money to an industry that, uh, m- my son [00:40:46] ended up helping save a kid's life in college..Speaker: due to alcohol. [00:40:51] And that Monday, the people that were making the stuff that almost killed this kid are back at it making more. Now, I'm [00:40:56] not gonna sit here and say the government needs this. No. You gotta have discipline [00:41:01] in your heart. What kind of life do you wanna live? Do you wanna turn your money over to an [00:41:06] industry that's hell-bent on killing you?Speaker: Do you wanna turn your money over to an industry that creates a product that causes [00:41:11] you to say things you wish you didn't? Are you gonna turn your money over to a, [00:41:16] a, a, a product that you consume that, that radically changes your judgment and get behind the [00:41:21] wheel of a car and kill somebody?Speaker: Are you gonna put that stuff in so that you can feel like a macho [00:41:26] man at home and smack your wife around or say things to your wife that you shouldn't? I don't wanna be part of that [00:41:31] industry anymore. So that was my thing, and that's what I'm trying to teach men and especially young men, like in [00:41:36] their 20s and 30s, like, "Hey, man, live a different life."Speaker: I'm not gonna tell [00:41:41] you not to I, I, like, I'm not gonna come here and say, "Put down that beer." That, That's not, that's not what it is. It's more... It's [00:41:46] so much bigger than that. So much bigger Curtis: I could get hung up on that topic 'cause you [00:41:51] know me, but you don't know that that's a passion topic for me. You know, um, I'll never [00:41:56] forget, um, some family members wanted to, um, be involved in our [00:42:01] family. You know, I'm raising a bunch of kids on my own. I, I'm a single dad, and, and, and we always appreciate all [00:42:06] the help.Curtis: But, um, there's, there's family that, you know, they have alcohol, tobacco, and things in their home, and [00:42:11] I'm like, "Yeah, we're probably not gonna hang out with you. The kids are probably not gonna go to your house and stuff." And, [00:42:16] and I'm the kind of guy, too, that doesn't just fade away. I'm gonna talk about it.Curtis: And so we talked about it, and of course I was [00:42:21] the bad guy for bringing it up. Curtis: And, um, And, and, and, the... I'll never forget, the wife said sh- [00:42:26] she said, she said, "Curtis, it'd do you good to sit down and have a beer with somebody." And I [00:42:31] was like, "OkaySpeaker: Thank God I wasn't there. [00:42:36] Curtis: Uh, well, just stop and think about that for a second.Curtis: Like, I just buried [00:42:41] my dad, who was an alcoholic, a drug addict, who probably got [00:42:46] started as a kid drinking his first beer. You know, I served on PARS, Pickaway Area Recovery [00:42:51] Services, for years on their board. You know, and, and to take a, a, a person in, like [00:42:56] alcohol is done because it's a starter drug. You know, they're taught this is a starter drug.Curtis: This is where it started in your life. [00:43:01] And, and I'm thinking, I'm like, "These people know me and know where I'm [00:43:06] from, and that's the comment?" I'm like, "Where's your social [00:43:11] awareness?" Like, what in the... But, but that's the lie, not just [00:43:16] the world, but the enemy has even sold the church. I mean, these were, [00:43:21] these were Christian people telling me, "It'd be do you good to go have a beer with somebody."Curtis: And I was like, [00:43:26] "Wow, that's what we've come to." And so I,Speaker: How about I have an Arnold Palmer, [00:43:31] uh, you know, so- some unsweet tea and lemonade, you drink your beer, and we'll talk, you know? But [00:43:36] I-- Why, why would I take a carcinogen, ethanol, which, I [00:43:41] mean, y- we're putting ethanol into our engines to make them run, and then we're also saying, [00:43:46] "Hey, drink this drink with ethanol in it." Like, okay. Speaker: And [00:43:51] again, I'm not coming from a place of I've never drank alcohol. Speaker: I have. I have. I've had to make [00:43:56] the phone call on Sunday morning to call my buddy to apologize to what I said to him, him and his [00:44:01] wife the night before. Speaker: Like, like, Like, I've had to do that. Speaker: and I just didn't want my [00:44:06] children to... I mean, u-unfortunately, they grew up and they've seen me act in ways that, [00:44:11] that they shouldn't have seen, and that's on me, 100% on me. Speaker: But if I can help [00:44:16] another father who's got an 18-month-old right now and say, "Hey, bro, [00:44:21] live a different life. Live a Speaker: better life. Let your son see excellence in all that you [00:44:26] do.Speaker: And, and don't let-- Don't turn your, your parenting over [00:44:31] to an industry that creates a product that there's zero benefit, Speaker: [00:44:36] zero benefit to you. Zero." So anyway, I, yeah, we could talk about this. I'm actually looking at writing a [00:44:41] second book, um, on, on alcohol and, and I'm interviewing doctors [00:44:46] from multiple differentSpeaker: specialties to ask them their opinion on what happens to your bo- Okay, you're an [00:44:51] orthopedic surgeon, so if I'm an alco- What does that do to the skeletal and And Speaker: muscular [00:44:56] system?Speaker: And you're an OBGYN, and you're an endocrinologist, and so I, I've got some stuff that I'm [00:45:01] brewing, soCurtis: That's awesome. We look forward to it. Well, we'll do another episode. We'll bring it on. [00:45:06] Yeah, Speaker 2: sounds good. You know, hey, our, you and I's favorite pastor of all time is Wendell Brown. [00:45:11] He has this incredible story, um, and we both know his story. You know, he went to the [00:45:16] military, got into everything. Like, if there was something you could be addicted to, he was addicted to it.[00:45:21] Curtis: But he has this great story where he gets saved and he's, and he's in Bible [00:45:26] college of all things, and the Lord's calling him to preach, and he's still struggling. He's struggling with [00:45:31] tobacco and, and he would literally get in his car, I think he said he had an old Chevy Impala [00:45:36] or something, old nasty thing, and he would have to get in his car and drive down Route 22 to [00:45:41] get a smoke in between classes because he was still so addicted to nicotine.Curtis: And then [00:45:46] he, he was able to finally s- you know, put the cigarettes down, but then he was still chewing. And, uh, [00:45:51] he would, he would hide his chew and, you know, he's trying to go to Bible college. He's trying to, you know, accept this [00:45:56] calling to preach. But he tells, he tells a story where he's literally out on the [00:46:01] road and he's trying to get his little nicotine fit and, and God comes to him in an [00:46:06] amazing way and says, "Man, i- if you could give that up [00:46:11] to me, just imagine what I could do with you."Speaker: Yep [00:46:16] Yep. And, and I have a, a very similar story to that, and I think there's, there's a lot [00:46:21] of people out there that, that do have that. And so, um, I, I'm touched by another, uh, [00:46:26] person a- and this is maybe a good one, too, to kind of tie into what you just said. [00:46:31] Steve Harvey, everybody knows Steve Harvey, you know, Family Feud, all, all the fun stuff.Speaker: So he was talking one day that he was in [00:46:36] early years living in Cleveland, and he was a comedian. And he would come home and he would [00:46:41] say, "Mom, I made some good money. I'm putting some money aside for a car, but here's, here's the rest and help with the [00:46:46] bills." He's... And she's like, "That's great, baby. That's great.Speaker: I'm, I'm, I'm glad you're saving for a car, but you got that old one out in [00:46:51] the driveway." He's like, "Okay." Well, then he'd come back and, you know, a couple weeks later with some more money, and, he, [00:46:56] "Your Mom, here, I'm putting money aside for a car." She's like, "Yeah, that's great, baby. You got that old car out in the driveway, and it's broken [00:47:01] down."Speaker: And every week it was something, like there was leaves under the car, there was parts laying around, there was trash around the [00:47:06] car, there's oil stains in the driveway. Like, like week after week there was something else he was adding. And [00:47:11] Steve was just, he went to one of his mentors and he's like, "Uh, hey man, I don't know what, my mom's on [00:47:16] something or, you know, she keeps telling..."Speaker: She Oh, no, no, Steve, what she's trying to tell you is, is that [00:47:21] you, you could be saving for this new car, but the problem is, is that you've got nowhere to put it." [00:47:26] And he went, "What?" He said, "Yeah, you nowhere to put it." So, so Steve says, "I called my buddy with a [00:47:31] tow truck and for $25 he to-" And I'm like, "What tow truck did you find for $25?Speaker: Man, I wanna know [00:47:36] that guy. Like, that's great," you know? But the, he tells the story that he got rid of that car, cleaned up all [00:47:41] the grass, cleaned up all the leaves, cleaned up all the trash, got the parts, went down to a store and bought [00:47:46] product to clean the oil out of the driveway. And wouldn't you know it, the week after he did all [00:47:51] that stuff, he had a brand new to him car.Speaker: And Steve's point was, is [00:47:56] that if you're so full of stuff that you're holding onto that you're [00:48:01] gonna get to someday, and you don't get rid of it, where are you gonna put the [00:48:06] new stuff that God has for you? Right? and and that was the whole... A- and [00:48:11] so there's so many people out there that are like, "I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy," a- and they're like, [00:48:16] they're like at capacity,Speaker: but for all the wrong things.Speaker: And it's like i- if you don't get rid of [00:48:21] some things, like watching TV, okay? Like, there's people out there that, uh, screen time [00:48:26] right now, there was a pastor last week talking that the average American male is like four and a half to five hours of screen time [00:48:31] a day. And I'm just like, "Oh, my lord." You know?Speaker: Um, so, [00:48:36] so we look at that and, and I say, "You know, prioritize. Prioritize your [00:48:41] time and make room for things." And, and as you're given these things, [00:48:46] he had to have the discipline to let go of that car that he was, like working on and trying to fix or whatever, because [00:48:51] where is he gonna put the other...Speaker: Where are you gonna put the new blessing coming into your life if you don't get rid of some of the [00:48:56] stuff that you're at capacity on? So that just kind of ties into what, to what you were [00:49:01] saying about getting rid of something, getting rid of something so something else can come in [00:49:06] better, greater, stronger, more impactful, whatever [00:49:11] whatever you could choose there.Curtis: So with each podcast, I always do two things. I always have, [00:49:16] like, some quotes and things that I'll have off my phone in case one of them fits. But more importantly, [00:49:21] I, I love worship music, and so I've always got lyrics to different songs 'cause sometimes, [00:49:26] you know, we'll be talking about a subject and then something will click, and dude, what you just said, I literally[00:49:31] Curtis: I printed these lyrics off this morning. This is crazy. So there's a song, [00:49:36] um, I Was Made for More. Um, I don't know if you know that song or not, [00:49:41] b- but the lyrics, man, I would say over the last, oh, couple [00:49:46] months it's, it's, it's entered into my playlist and I play it pretty much every morning now. In fact, I was at [00:49:51] a, um, camp meeting, um, last summer where a, um, [00:49:56] evangelist friend, Billy Huddleston, was preaching a message, and he ended by talking about this song, and it says, [00:50:01] "I know who I am because I know who you are.Curtis: The cross of salvation was only [00:50:06] the start." Getting saved is just the start, folks. If you haven't figured that out I, I hope [00:50:11] we helped get you over that hump. "The cross of salvation was only the start. [00:50:16] Now I am chosen, free and forgiven. I have a future and it's worth the [00:50:21] living, cause I wasn't made to be tending a grave."[00:50:26] Speaker: Yep. Man. A- and that's, so I got a question [00:50:31] for you, man.Speaker: Speak... S3E2 Dave Video: s- Speaker: well [00:50:36] You've experienced loss. You've interviewed a lot of people [00:50:41] on this podcast that are experiencing loss. You were telling me about a young lady who was on [00:50:46] your podcast a couple weeks ago who is staring down the barrel of a really [00:50:51] nasty gun How?Speaker: How do you do it? [00:50:56] How do you guys... How do you persevere? Be- I mean, because [00:51:01] if, if the average person out there who doesn't really know you would've seen you [00:51:06] a couple of years ago, um, they, they'd be amazed that you're [00:51:11] here doing this. So, so how?[00:51:16] Curtis: So my wife [00:51:21] had the secret to life, and I've had four years since her passing to [00:51:26] really explore this mantra. You know, on her deathbed, she says to us, she [00:51:31] literally word for word, kids and I are in the room and she says, "Hey guys, this stinks. I'm really sorry. [00:51:36] Don't feel bad for me. I'm going to heaven. I mean, it's gonna be amazing, but I know I'm gonna leave you guys and I'm [00:51:41] so sorry."Curtis: But when she said the words, "Run to the hard, run [00:51:46] to the hurt, for it's in the greatest hard God wants to do his greatest work," that's the [00:51:51] mantra of our podcast, and so I say it all the time. But that's not how the conversation finished. [00:51:56] You know, she actually went on to say, "Hey guys, don't run away from this thing 'cause it's gonna [00:52:01] hurt.Curtis: It's gonna sting. It's gonna harm you." But she said, "If you guys will run into this and not run [00:52:06] away from it, I promise you," she said, "I promise you God's [00:52:11] gonna do something in you." She, she made a promise to us [00:52:16] She said, "I promise you he'll do a work in you, [00:52:21] and you're gonna be able to go do this again." And so you're seeing [00:52:26] me live out my wife's secret to life.[00:52:31] Speaker 2: Mm.Curtis: [00:52:36] Yeah, I don't wanna do this sometimes. I'm like, I'd rather go, I'd rather go out in the garage and work on a car. I [00:52:41] got some old cars out there. I'd rather go hang out there with my car buds and just work on cars and [00:52:46] not think about this. Um, you know, my wife's been gone for four years. I miss her like crazy, [00:52:51] and it's not the same pain, but yet there is a, a part of it where [00:52:56] it'd be, in some ways it'd be easier just to kinda like, okay, we need to move on now.Curtis: [00:53:01] But my wife left us this secret to life that if we [00:53:06] will truly go into this hard thing, it's going to somehow [00:53:11] motivate us to wanna help others. And so yeah, you're right. [00:53:16] Couple years ago I was not ready to do this. It was hard, but I had people in my life that would reach [00:53:21] into my life and pull me out of that pit through prayer.Curtis: Sometimes dudes would [00:53:26] meet me at my door, like totally unexpected. You know, some guys that we [00:53:31] know show up on my doorstep, say, "Hey, we need to go to breakfast. We need to go to coffee. What's [00:53:36] going on? Let's talk." And sometimes we didn't talk about anything, but, but it was people reaching into [00:53:41] my life, pulling me out of that hole, because I am the [00:53:46] guy who would much rather go climbCurtis: into a fetal position and stay in the hole for a [00:53:51] while, and ISpeaker: Yeah, and you know, there's something to be said for, you know, every now and again [00:53:56] you need to isolate, but there's, there's a line, and you cross that line of [00:54:01] isolation, it's bad. And that's w- kind of what led me on my downward spiral is that I, I decided to [00:54:06] have a really, really big pity party and invite nobody else.Speaker: Um, [00:54:11] and, and so it was only when people came beside you and said, "Hey, man." And, and this is, this is I [00:54:16] think when times seem like they're good, that's really when you need to step into other people's [00:54:21] lives. Um, now I, I would suggest that men, you're not stepping into women's lives and saying, [00:54:26] "Hey, Speaker: I'm proud of you today."Speaker: Like, noSpeaker: don't, don't do that. Like, you, you stick to dudes or if you're, if [00:54:31] you're with a, a, if you're married and you're with anotherSpeaker: couple, then you can talk Curtis: that again. I [00:54:36] want you to say that again because I don't want anybody to miss this. Say that again. When you see [00:54:41] things are lookingSpeaker: When you see things are looking good, th- there, there's a [00:54:46] time to step into people and really say, a- and like listen, if you ask a dude, "Hey man, how's it going?" "Yep, good." [00:54:51] Don't accept that. Do not accept that. Like, "All right, cool. Awesome. I'm glad things are [00:54:56] good. Let's go have lunch. Let's go have coffee. Let's go have something."Speaker: Because for me, [00:55:01] um, man, good is just a, a way to just get people off your back kinda sort of. Curtis: [00:55:06] Yeah, no. That's why I wanted to Curtis: just say it againSpeaker: yeah. When times are good, step [00:55:11] into people's lives. When times are bad, obviously you step into people's lives. But, um, [00:55:16] it, regular community is a really good thing. A- and I, I'll be honest, like these things right here, [00:55:21] yeah, they have us, they have us closer than ever, don't they?Speaker: These phones, right? But I think we're [00:55:26] further apart than ever because it's so easy to just pick up a phone and send somebody a text. Like I, [00:55:31] I text my wife every day, "I love you," but I also tell her multiple times a day, like this voice, [00:55:36] she will hear this voice say, "I love you," right? Because this ain't good enough.Speaker: This is not good [00:55:41] enough. And, and, um, you know, as humans, we have [00:55:46] an innate need to be loved, and I think we also have an innate need to love. And if we lose that, [00:55:51] bad things happen.Curtis: Yeah. That's goodS3E2 Dave Video: Bad things happen[00:55:56] Curtis: Well, folks, I wanna just... You can find it on Amazon. You can find it anywhere. [00:56:01] Discipline Determines Destiny, and it's not just a workout book. It's got some really, [00:56:06] really good stuff. And so the book itself is good, but then you give kind of a [00:56:11] life-changing chapter. It's called the bonus chapter.Curtis: And, and it's almost, it's almost like [00:56:16] this, you know, some of the changes you made in your life, um, [00:56:21] allowed you to be catapulted into other things, but there's this moment in time where it's [00:56:26] almost like your, your physical world collided with your spiritual world for the first time, [00:56:31] and you saw and experienced things that you're, to this day, are still justCurtis: Take us there[00:56:36] Speaker: So the bonus chapter is, is co-written with a gentleman by the name of Luis [00:56:41] Godoy. Uh, he is from Belize. So... well, how did that happen? [00:56:46] Aha, glad you asked. So, uh, about a year before that, my [00:56:51] pastor at church said, "Hey, we're gonna go on a missions trip to Belize, and who wants to [00:56:56] go?" So, uh, for the record, Dave Corey does not go on missions trips.Speaker: I, [00:57:01] I fund them. I will be happy to give money and donate and this and that. I do not do [00:57:06] missions trips, ever. Never have done one. Um, and so Belize and da, da, [00:57:11] da, and I'm looking around the church, you know, like who's going, who's going? And all of a sudden [00:57:16] I look up and I see my hand in the air. And of course I'm sitting in the front row, so Pastor, [00:57:21] Pastor goes, "Dave, glad you're going because they speak Spanish and I know you do too."Speaker: And I'm like, [00:57:26] "Oh, Lord have mercy." So I'm fortunate enough that I just, I [00:57:31] paid my, my fee and I'm in, but I also helped the missions team raise money so [00:57:36] that other people could go and, and everything else. So I'm like, "Cool, I'm on this missions trip." So like [00:57:41] two days before the trip, I coach in the morning at, at, at the gym that I was at.Speaker: So I, [00:57:46] I, I'm getting up and I usually get to the gym at about 4:30, set equipment up, et [00:57:51] cetera, et cetera. We had a storm the night before, it knocked down a tree. And you've been to my house, so right where you [00:57:56] cross the, the, the bridge to, to come into our property, a tree fell across that. [00:58:01] So I had to go back up to the house, get the chainsaw, cut up.Speaker: I'm, you know, manhandling [00:58:06] these logs out of the way I go coach the 5:00 and 6:00 AM. I'm on my way [00:58:11] home and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I'm itching really bad. Like, what the heck?" You know? [00:58:16] And, and all of a sudden, I take a shower and it's burning. So the tree was covered in [00:58:21] poison oak, and, and so I, I broke out into these [00:58:26] nasty rashes all over my torso, my body.Speaker: I mean, they were oozing. It was dry, [00:58:31] scaly, nasty. And here I am, you know, this is like we're coming out of COVID, you know, so [00:58:36] here I am going into a foreign country with... So I'm like the only one in my group wearing a [00:58:41] long-sleeve shirt. Uh, it was crazy. So anyway, that, that, that's just, uh, I think God's sense of [00:58:46] humor.Speaker: Uh, but it was funny. So I, I got down and I found a place to [00:58:51] exercise there. So I, I got my morning exercise done before everybody else was awake. That's what I do [00:58:56] anyway. And so we had a church bus, like a 40 Connoline, you know, bus, and then we [00:59:01] had the quintessential church van. Four mismatched tires, little bit of squeaking [00:59:06] that was coming from God knows where.Speaker: And so I was driving that van with, uh, a couple of the [00:59:11] pastor's kids and some other people. And so I'm driving down, You know, of course, you know, I'm one [00:59:16] day in country, so I know exactly where I'm going. So I'm driving down this road, and all of a sudden the van just quits, [00:59:21] right? The van just stops. And, and I'm heading downhill facing a river, and the [00:59:26] van's, I'm trying to start it, nothing.Speaker: Uh, and so I finally get it down, turn the [00:59:31] corner, and put it in park, and the church was like right down the road. So I told the girls, "Grab these [00:59:36] equipment, go. I'm gonna figure out. We're clearly out of gas," right? Something like that. [00:59:41] So I go across the street where these tour guides are taking people across the river on this, this [00:59:46] hand-crank, um, ferry.Speaker: You put a, you put two cars on a hand-crank ferry over a river. [00:59:51] Okay. So, in Spanish, I asked, you know, "Hey, I'm looking for gas." And this guy [00:59:56] goes, "Oh, no, no. I, I'm a tour guide. I'm not gonna help you." He points me to this other guy, this little guy, who's about this [01:00:01] tall. And, I said, "Hey, do you have a gas tank?"Speaker: He's like, "Yeah, I carry one in the car. Am I gonna get it back?" I'm like, [01:00:06] "Where do you think I'm going, dude?" Like, you know, like the... But again, you know, so I said, [01:00:11] "Where's the closest gas station?" She said, "It's a mile up that hill." I said, "Okay, well, I already ran two miles that morning, so what's [01:00:16] another two?" So I start walking.Speaker: He goes, "Hey, you need a ride?" I'm like, "That'd be great." [01:00:21] So we get into the car and I'm looking over at his, at his gas gauge, and he's like [01:00:26] on the, the, the, where the three E's are, like his gas gauge is right there. I'm [01:00:31] like, "Oh my gosh, this dude." So I go up and of course it's full service. I tell the guy, fill [01:00:36] up his tank and fill up this little one-gallon container because I mean, he, he offered to [01:00:41] drive me up.Speaker: The least I can do is... I, would do that here in the States, except now if you drive a diesel truck, I'm not filling up your [01:00:46] truck, man. It's, it's not happening. So, so we get back down, I put the gas in, the van [01:00:51] fires up, no problem. We exchange WhatsApp numbers, you know, just 'cause I said, "We're gonna do [01:00:56] these ruins at the end of the week.Speaker: I want you to be our tour guide." didn't think anything of it. Drove [01:01:01] up, filled up, and gas is like $8 a gallon in Belize, so I, I had an expensive morning [01:01:06] filling up his car and then the rest of the church van. Brought the church van back, parked it. I get a [01:01:11] text later that morning. He's like, "You've restored my faith in humanity."Speaker: I'm like [01:01:16] I bought a tank of gas, man." Like, "What are you, what are you talking about?" He's like, "What you [01:01:21] don't know is that I had 50 bucks in my pocket, and it was either to buy gas or [01:01:26] medication for my son." And his son had, um, bad, uh, [01:01:31] epilepsy. Long story short, we get together over a, a watermelon soda and a [01:01:36] Coke, and we talk.Speaker: And he was a teacher in Belize, lost everything he [01:01:41] owned because his mother developed, uh, pancreatic cancer and he mortgaged his house to help her treatment. If you know anything [01:01:46] about pancreatic cancer, it's pretty much a death sentence anyway. and he had lost his, his faith in the Lord.Speaker: He's [01:01:51] wide need, and then, and then his son comes down with all this stuff, and I said, "Okay, cool. Why don't you [01:01:56] bring your family by and, um, you know, the, the team will pray for your, for your son tomorrow." He's like, "Okay." [01:02:01] Speaker: Well, Speaker: then I tell the missions team that night, "Hey, he's coming, so I, I need you guys to pray for this [01:02:06] kid and his epilepsy."Speaker: And they're like, "Well, well, why don't you pray?" I'm like, "Uh, [01:02:11] 'cause I'm not qualified to pray for stuff. He, he has epilepsy for crying [01:02:16] out loud. Man, I, I pray for, like, having a good day or something. I, I don't pray for epilepsy. Like, you're [01:02:21] nuts." Uh, and they're like, "No, no, no. You're, you're doing this." I'm like, [01:02:26] "Yeah, no, I'm not."Speaker: It's like, "None of us are qualified to pray. You're doing it." I'm like, "Okay." [01:02:31] And I think that was kinda like Amy Poehler and her redheaded self, like, just kinda got in my grill and said, [01:02:36] "Yeah, you're doing this." So we bring, we bring him by, we start praying, and [01:02:41] the pastor, uh, down there starts praying.Speaker: If you wanna hear a, a person speaking quickly in [01:02:46] Spanish, have him pray. Like he's like, going. Anyway, we prayed for this kid, uh, and I [01:02:51] prayed, and we wrote on the church wall before we put new, like, drywall up that we wrote, like, [01:02:56] little prayers that said, "I prayed for his epilepsy to go away." Well, I just talked to Luis. [01:03:01] So this has been probably three or four years since we've been there. He's had one episode in [01:03:06] the last four, where he was having episodes weekly,Speaker: right? Um, [01:03:11] and, and just, just an amazing trip and, it... I, I left out a ton [01:03:16] of stuff in the, in the chapter. Um, uh, I was able to meet his wife [01:03:21] Marisol and his, uh, daughter Adara as well.Speaker: and, um, just, [01:03:26] and I still keep in touch with him on WhatsApp. But just a cool thing to, uh, to do. And, and again, [01:03:31] it's, it's the bonus chapter, um, and it's co-written. So Luis, I don't know if you [01:03:36] wanna read, like, part of Luis' thing or, like, it's in the italics in there. Uh, [01:03:41] but it's, it's, uh, from his perspective, like when he said, "This beast of a gringo was [01:03:46] approaching me," It was just, when you, when you wrote that, I was just tripping out.Speaker: It was so [01:03:51] funny. I'll just read this part. Uh, it said, [01:03:56] "I approach this massive beast of a gringo and offer the gas canister but [01:04:01] tell him I can't wait for it and I want it back. He asks for directions to the closest gas station and starts [01:04:06] walking. I am from this village and I know it is one mile uphill.Speaker: I offer a ride, which he accepts. That [01:04:11] mile was less than five-minute drive, but enough time to learn that this guy's name is [01:04:16] Dave Cory and he's helping the Nazarene Church." And then he, he goes on to say, [01:04:21] um, again, this is from her pers- his perspective, "When we get to the gas station, Dave had the attendant fill the [01:04:26] one-gallon canister and also tells him to fill up my car's tank.Speaker: I'm like, 'What's happening? Is he going to pay for [01:04:31] it? I have no money.' Dave pays. No way. This is not happening. Nothing good ever happens to [01:04:36] me. This kind of thing only happens on YouTube videos. We drive back to the van." Now this is all him writing. I, I, I didn't [01:04:41] edit this at all. Speaker: We part ways and the same guy that had turned away from helping Dave comes running to [01:04:46] me because he wants to know how much I charged the gringo to take him to the gas station.Speaker: Still in [01:04:51] disbelief of what just happened, I tell him I didn't charge him a single dollar. He laughs, calling me dumb for not charging [01:04:56] anything. I then explain that I had no intentions of charging for a one-mile drive, and then [01:05:01] after what Dave did, I don't think anybody would charge. That's when I tell him that Dave filled up the tank.Speaker: He had to [01:05:06] see it to believe. He poked his head through the window to see the fuel gauge. His eyes widened. Oh, how he lamented [01:05:11] for not having helped the gringo." And so it just goes, you know, [01:05:16] I was there to serve, but I got served by [01:05:21] somebody who has dedicated his life to serving, and it was just a cool story and [01:05:26] really deepened my faith.Speaker: Um, there, there's some other good stuff in that bonus chapter as well.Curtis: [01:05:31] Yeah. I got one right here. This is really weird because I don't interact with missionaries. You- [01:05:36] I looked over at him, said, "Missionary? I'm not a missionary, I'm Dave Corey."Speaker 2: That's [01:05:41] right.Curtis: All the other people on the trip [01:05:46] are missionaries. Missionaries are the guys in white shirts, black ties, riding bicycles around [01:05:51] with a nameplate on their chests. That's ... I love that. That's a missionary. [01:05:56] I'm just a dad, a husband. I'm a dude in another country. I'm no missionary. [01:06:01] Well, God had other plans. I love that, dude.Curtis: I love it. Yep. [01:06:06] good. Oh, man. Folks, please get the book. [01:06:11] It's, it really is worth it. It's good, and I promise you're gonna be motivated, not just by the book. [01:06:16] I hope this podcast will help somebody. And I'm gonna take a minute just for a quick commercial [01:06:21] break. Dave, um, if this podcast has helped you in any way, I'm [01:06:26] begging you, please like, subscribe, comment.Curtis: And [01:06:31] then, we do have a foundation. It's called The Michael Foundation, where we help widows and orphans get back on their [01:06:36] feet. And, um, people give to that in order to help keep the podcast on the air as well as, [01:06:41] you know, we literally give money away to people in financial need, [01:06:46] um, who have experienced tremendous loss or tragedy.Curtis: And so you can find us on, [01:06:51] um, runtothehard.com. And if you wanna give to us, you can [01:06:56] do /give. But on the bottom of every single page of [01:07:01] runtothehard.com is a place where you can put your email address in, and you can receive updates as to when new [01:07:06] podcasts are coming out. Uh, I'm gonna do a better job this season of, of giving you updates on the [01:07:11] foundation and needs and things like that.Curtis: I'm trying to raise a salary right now, folks. I'll just be honest with you. I've got a, [01:07:16] a widow with three kids who, um, the, it's a terrible situation, but [01:07:21] we're trying to raise ... And I've, and I've, um, asked my church and my Sunday school class to help out, and we're trying [01:07:26] to raise monthly support to help get them back on their feet.Curtis: And so we're doing some things. And [01:07:31] so Dave, I appreciate and love you for, for what you're doing, 'cause in the corner of [01:07:36] your world, you're making a difference. Speaker: Well, I, Speaker: I'd like to take it a step [01:07:41] further. Uh, if you're listening to this podcast and you order this book, um, I'll donate [01:07:46] $5 for every book sale to the Michal Foundation. Um, that's about my profit on the [01:07:51] book.Speaker: Uh, but I will be happy to donate that to the Michal Foundation. So, um, [01:07:56] oh, I'm gonna re- lament doing this, but, uh, [01:08:01] cory.dave@gmail.com is my, uh, email address, and if you take a picture of yourself and you said, [01:08:06] "I, I heard about your book on, on the 'Run to the Hard' podcast," I will donate $5 right to [01:08:11] the Michal Foundation, um, to, to help out, Speaker: to, to do my part, [01:08:16] right?Speaker: So I'll be honored to Curtis: you. ThankCurtis: you. Hey, you wanted to give us a [01:08:21] charge, especially the men listening, before we close this session out, and so the floor is yours, man[01:08:26] Speaker: Well, I wanna thank you for the, uh, the opportunity. This has been great and, uh, I, I hope if you're [01:08:31] listening to this it, it has maybe motivated you or, or helped you to, to take some [01:08:36] charge and to do some stuff. And, um, I started [01:08:41] a club, I guess you will, when I wrote this book called "Fit [01:08:46] Dad's Club." And what I did it for was to just acknowledge men to, to [01:08:51] be, uh, like if you see a guy in the gym, you hand him a patch for his bag or a, a Fit Dad's Club sticker or something like [01:08:56] that, and that was cool.Speaker: I was then introduced to a guy by the name of Don Hickman, who, um, [01:09:01] has started an organization called Better. It's just #Better, and the website is [01:09:06] menmadebetter.com. I've tabled the Fit Dad's Club [01:09:11] because this is more important. So I've become a chapter, uh, president, uh, [01:09:16] for Central Ohio for the Men Made Better.Speaker: What this is, is this is designed [01:09:21] for exactly what it says, for men to become better. Better versions of themselves, better husbands, better [01:09:26] fathers, better leaders in the community. This is not partisan. It is not religious. It is not... [01:09:31] I, I mean, there's some faith in there. We don't talk about sports. We don't talk about politics.Speaker: We talk about [01:09:36] man stuff, helping men get better. Your faith, your finances, your [01:09:41] fitness, your fellowship, you know, and, and friendship and to, and to be able to have fun [01:09:46] in life, and that don't take yourselves too seriously, but at the end of the day, [01:09:51] take your job, your role as a husband, as a father very seriously, [01:09:56] and as a leader in the community very seriously.Speaker: So, uh, the group, it, it, it's a [01:10:01] paid group. It's 20 bucks a month. I pay 20 bucks a month. Don, who's the founder, pays 20 bucks a month, [01:10:06] and it's, it's a daily accountability piece. We have a Slack [01:10:11] channel on our phone, and that's why... That's one piece of technology that I do love, is [01:10:16] that I've got dudes that are holding me accountable.Speaker: When I say I'm gonna do three, four, or five things in a [01:10:21] day, and I get four of them done and the fifth one isn't, I got about 10 to 15 guys jumping [01:10:26] down my throat in a nice, uh, peaceful sort of way saying, "Hey, that fifth thing ain't [01:10:31] done, man." Um, and it's, it's cool. So I've been able to become much more efficient [01:10:36] because when I say I'm gonna go do these five, 10 things over the weekend, I've got, [01:10:41] I've got people watching in a good way, right?Speaker: And so come join us, come check us out. We do, [01:10:46] uh... Every now and again, we'll do a fireside chat. It's usually Friday night at 9:00 PM 'cause that's when most men are [01:10:51] getting ready to go out and go to the bar. We just decided to say, "Hey, we're gonna do something different." Last week [01:10:56] we were on till 11:30 at night, um, just talking about stuff, [01:11:01] man, and just, encouraging one another, helping one another, and that's what we're about.Speaker: So if you have [01:11:06] interest in not being average, if you [01:11:11] have an, uh, interest in, in doing more than just showing up, but you wanna [01:11:16] be excellent, you wanna do great things, you wanna get better, come join us. [01:11:21] And, uh, we'd love to have you. I'd love to talk to you more about it, and, um, yeah, [01:11:26] that's, that's all I wanted to say on that.Curtis: No, text me a link so I can stick it into the podcast as [01:11:31] well into our show notes. And so I love it. All right, I'm gonna call you out, buddy. You ready?[01:11:36] Speaker: YepCurtis: So one of the things we do on this program [01:11:41] is we always end the program in prayer. Lots of times I'll do it, but every once in a while I'll say, "Hey, I'll have a [01:11:46] guest pray us out." And, um, you've been called on the spot before. I'm gonna do it again. [01:11:51] Man, pray for our dads, our husbands. Pray for the [01:11:56] men that we're trying to reach who may be stuck in something.[01:12:01] Curtis: Um, maybe they're just stuck in a job. Maybe they're just stuck in life. Maybe all they do is work, [01:12:06] go home, sit on the couch, and don't do anything. Pray that we beco- we can become the [01:12:11] men that God has called us to be. And so I'm gonna ask you to pray us out. Deal?Speaker: [01:12:16] Deal.Curtis: Right. Do it, budSpeaker: Heavenly Father, I praise you and thank you for this day, [01:12:21] 9/11, 2026. I thank you for this great country that we get to call [01:12:26] home. I pray for the leaders of both parties, [01:12:31] that they do what's right and not what's, um, party [01:12:36] specific, but what's right for our country as Americans. I pray for any of the [01:12:41] men listening to this channel, that they can step into the role that they're supposed to [01:12:46] be guardian, protector, provider.Speaker: I pray for the women that are listening to this, that [01:12:51] they love their husbands or, um, are, are able to [01:12:56] step in the role that, that they have, uh, Father God. [01:13:01] I pray that people who are listening to this that have experienced great loss and hurt [01:13:06] and pain, that those scabs may be healed over with fresh [01:13:11] inlaying of skin and, and I just pray for a fresh beginning and a renewal in their [01:13:16] lives to be able to go and accomplish what they need to accomplish to make [01:13:21] their purpose whole.Speaker: God, we love you. We thank you for everything that you do give us. [01:13:26] We pray for this country, we pray for our communities, and we are just grateful and [01:13:31] thankful and honored to call you Father. AmenCurtis: Amen. Thanks, man. [01:13:36] Hey, love you guys. Dave, love you. Thanks for doing this. [01:13:41] We'll see you guys all later. Thank you [01:13:46] [01:13:51] [01:13:56] [01:14:01] [01:14:06] [01:14:11]