Oct 28, 2019
Ashlie: (00:18)
Welcome back to another episode of tactical living by Leo Warriors. I'm your host, Ashlie Walton.
Clint:
I'm your co-host Clint Walton.
Ashlie:
In today's episode, we're going to
talk about how something as simple as a bracelet can have such an
impact on somebody, even when considering and contemplating
suicide. So just sit back, relax and enjoy today's content.
Ashlie: (00:43)
A friend of mine shared with me a
story of inspiration, a story of how he felt that he was at the
point in his life that his bipolar disease had so much control over
him that suicide came to mind more than once. Although he never
attempted suicide, he did get to a point in his life to where he
had to gather up every single knife in his house, seal it up in a
taped box and go and throw it out into the dumpster. He had a sense
of liberation once he did this. A sense of knowing that the tools
that were pinging at him in a way, to where it would be most useful
to possibly take his own life no longer existed for him.
Ashlie: (01:32)
He came across this company and he
shared it with me. You could find them on Instagram @Livelokai.
It's incredible when you look at these bracelets. They look like
typical gemstone bracelets. I'm sure you've seen them. They come
and in amethyst, jade…every stone that you can think of, but
there's something very special about these because on one side of
the bracelet, there's a white bead. The white bead is actually
infused with water from Mount Everest. As you sit there, especially
if you're somebody who is into hiking, you might understand that
Mount Everest is the highest point on the planet. On the other side
of the bracelet is a black bead and the black bead is infused with
mud from the Dead Sea, which is the lowest point on the earth. For
me, this channels a lot of emotion because we've all been in the
place where we experienced the highs and the lows. As you sit
there, if you or someone you know suffers from any sense of mental
illness, then you know that those highs could be really high and
those lows can be debilitating at times.
Ashlie: (02:53)
But what my friend shared with me was
that having this bracelet on his wrist is not just a bracelet. It's
a reminder of the places that he's been and also where he's going.
This simple bracelet gives him hope. In September, it was national
suicide prevention month.
Ashlie: (03:15)
And that's really why he decided to
share this with me. He decided to go into some details about some
of the struggles that he's had in his past as it pertains to
suffering with bipolar disorder.
Ashlie: (03:29)
I am so full of gratitude that he
would share something like this with me. I say that because we've
had past episodes when we talk about how difficult it is to summon
up that courage to be able to express to somebody else that
something doesn't feel right.
Ashlie: (03:47)
He also shared with me was that for
the past two years there's been a lot of self-development,
self-confidence and growth that has transpired in him that has led
him to start up a company of his own.
Ashlie: (04:01)
It's so inspiring to pay witness to
somebody who has struggled with a mental health illness for so long
and yet has used it as empowerment, not only for himself, but to
share the message with the world. Sometimes I wonder if that's the
whole point of it is that the reason why we get sick, why we have
hardships. I'll share with you something that was sparked in me
last night and believe it or not, it came from watching the newest
Aladdin movie.
Ashlie: (04:37)
A lot of memories were evoked in me
from watching that movie from childhood. When I was a kid, I can't
count how many times I watched the movie. We all fell in love with
the story, the beautiful Princess Jasmine, the adorable Abu and we
all know what the story is. I'm sure as you sit there, you dreamed
of having a magic carpet or even that priceless lamp, that genie of
your own
Ashlie: (05:10)
But what it brought up for me was not
the envy of having those three unlimited wishes.
Ashlie: (05:18)
Instead, it reminded me of something that my mom told me when she
was first diagnosed with lung cancer. As I'm sitting there watching
this movie and I'm seeing the evil that's transpired through the
actions of Jafar.
Ashlie: (05:37)
Something was brought to my attention
that I didn't see that when I was younger. I knew there was good
and bad, but I didn't see the evil for the face value. I didn't
look at just how devious his actions are and how that transpires
into the real world with how those actions play out on a day to day
basis with many people that we come into contact with on a routine
basis. That's why those words from my mom came to mind
Ashlie: (06:07)
When she was first diagnosed and we were told that she was going to die. And yet she understood that there was a way that she could still fight even through her death and her ultimate demise. The words that she said to me, and it was so vindicated in her faith, was that she believed that there was the devil here on earth and it wasn't in a human form, but instead it was the challenges, the evil, the struggle, the temptation, the things that we are faced with on a routine basis that allow us to make the decision of right or wrong, good or bad.
That ultimately leads to the choices
that we decide to make for ourselves, and that really stuck with
me. Seeing that evil transpired even in something as simple as a
Disney remake allows me to know that this is me growing. This is me
maturing. This is me understanding that there are pieces in life
that oftentimes come in the most unexpected forms that are the
gifts from the universe. Some might say that that was God for me. I
feel like it was a message that I was tapping into from my mom. Why
else would I have remembered that? Why would I have connected the
dots in the way that I did? And that's not to say I felt her
presence, but I certainly felt and still feel that message
Ashlie: (07:44)
When that clicked for me. I went back
to that very moment. I see her in the room. I remember why that
conversation started in the first place. I told her selfishly that
I didn't want this to happen to her. I was thinking about the way
that it would impact me and her response was so internalized and
she had no negative emotion around it. She said it so calmly and
with such certainty. And I think that's why I carried it with me
and why it was sparked the way that it was for me last night.
Ashlie: (08:26)
The older and older that I get, the more that I continue to meditate and tap into my own spirituality, I'm realizing that there's a much bigger picture. And as you sit there, maybe you've had that own realization for yourself, that understanding that the picture isn't always about you. There's always someone who's worse off than whatever it is that you're contending with, despite how miserable you might feel in the moment.
Ashlie: (08:56)
And when you're able to understand that and you know that you're surrounded by other people that may be experiencing something really traumatic in the moment, then you're able to embody a certain level of empathy. And there's this new level of awareness that exists, the awareness of evil. And on the backside of that, there's also the symbolic awareness of good.
I know that we think sometimes that there's much more evil than there is good. But when you stop for a moment and you look at the big picture and you sit through the moments and you go through the interactions that you have, even with random people on a daily basis, then it's easy to see that there is far, much good, more good in the world than exists evil and that element, that element of evil. It's usually very brief and when you live a life of virtue, and I'm not saying as you sit there, saying you're perfect, nor do I believe that you think you are, but I also know the growth that you've gone through from experiencing evil in your own life.
As you listen to this, maybe there's
been a moment in your life where you faced the possibility of your
own demise, that terrible C diagnosis, you have cancer. Have you
ever heard those words? Have you ever sat there in the confines of
an exam room when a doctor has said those words to somebody that
you love?
Ashlie: (10:38)
how did you interpret that? Maybe you
got angry. How did you travel through the emotions of that after
you first heard those words?
Ashlie: (10:54)
The thing that made me most calm when it comes to being and experiencing that with my mom was the calmness in her own voice and her explanation based out of wisdom and based out of her own spiritual connection to God that it wasn't just about her.
There was an entire message, an entire scripture surrounding those words and had it not been for that conversation in the beginning of my mom's illness, I don't think I fully would have understood her connection to her higher power and her ability to use that as her strength in fuel to power her through until she took her last breath. And it's incredible to me when somebody that deals with something that is so difficult physically or emotionally is able to summon the courage and to summon those words of inspiration to give to others.
I hold that so dear. Not just with my
mom, but also with my friend who decided to showcase how important
it was to use the symbolic meaning of a bracelet as a reminder
every single day to look down and to remind him that he's been at
some very low points in his life, but he's also experienced some
incredible things. And there's also the highest points in his life
that are still to come.
Ashlie: (12:25)
And when you understand that for yourself, and you know that that's true for you too, then you're really able to enjoy your Tactical Living.
Balance. Optimize. Tactics.
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