[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
there are moments in life that because
of the circumstance we fail to see the
beauty that surrounds us Manuela Alfredo
Garcia Castilla known by many as papi
was a sweet older fisherman from Mexico
with twinkling mischievous eyes and a
creased well-worn smile not too long ago
he was sitting next to me on a winter
day as was our tradition we had parked
on the edge of a road that swings out on
a hillside and overlooks the valley I
call home in southwest Montana as it was
cold outside we shared a warm bowl of
soup as a good friend does papi listened
patiently as I shared certain events in
my life that I was struggling with the
late afternoon Setting Sun started to
paint every aspect of life in front of
us in combinations of blue rose and
dusty purple which are softer colors but
perhaps because of the cold everything
started to transform and shift into
sharper crisp focus the view was turning
into something altogether extraordinary
from a place deep inside that place
within all of us where emotions are born
I started to cry now perhaps it was what
we were discussing the awesome view and
the emotions brought on by the tears but
it turned into a moment that was
altogether poetic and I let the tears
just run through wet cheeks and wet eyes
I said esto s mara-vee-oso
– which papi calm Wayne kulich responded
while twisting his moustache pero a
momento en la vida en que por
circumstance eeeh no vemos la baie Isaac
in Australia there are moments in life
that because of the circumstance we fail
to see the beauty that surrounds us
on October 9th 2011 I was electrocuted
with 2400 volts from a neglected
electrical junction box in the heart of
the Montana mountains miles from help
I was airlifted to the University of
Utah burn trauma intensive care unit
Salt Lake City the doctor on call that
day and I quote said that when I arrived
and I was wheeled in through those doors
I was a bag of bones with a heartbeat I
would spend the next five days fighting
for my life this image was taken on day
nine moments after being told by my
surgeon that despite valiant efforts
there was an infection present in the
damaged tissue of my left hand and there
was a high risk that that infection
could run up my arm to my heart and then
that could kill me I opted for surgery
and became an amputee in total I spent
50 days in ICU over the course of two
years of intensive plastic surgery and
physical rehabilitation I would tally 21
surgeries today just over six years from
that event in my life and I find I am
still working on the emotional and
psychological parts of recovery my life
had clearly just been flipped upside
down and yet Here I am smiling
ear-to-ear
practically grinning so I’m often asked
Eduardo in the wake of such a disaster
how is it that you remain so positive
and I think about Poppy’s quote there
are moments in life that because of the
circumstance we fail to see the beauty
that surrounds us now it could have been
the painkillers I was on all of them
but I believe I knew what top he knew
that the spark of the human heartbeat is
the birthplace of happiness and I was
still alive now I invite everybody to
find your pulse that rhythmic beat below
your fingertips represents the greatest
gift on earth life and surely that is
reason to smile while in ICU I recall
feeling empowered by the understanding
that although I was bedridden at times
bandaged head to toe unable to perform
the simplest of tasks I still had
abilities I could channel my attitude
and express it through the light in my
eyes and by doing so contribute to the
room of professionals family friends
working their tails off around me all of
a sudden I had a job to do I could
contribute my contribution was no longer
gauged by maximum output but rather just
the effort and in my case effort was
attitude the results of winning attitude
had on the rim around me were real I
turned to we and we became an ICU room
that laughed loved shared talked about
someone’s wild Saturday night kept it
human and ultimately we triumphed we all
have the power to choose our attitude no
one can ever take that from us we can
never forget that so what have I learned
I believe we are here to thrive that is
to live full and rich lives to take
advantage of every opportunity in front
of us I believe those precious moments
on earth represent life’s greatest
lessons
those lessons come at us and granted
they don’t all smell like roses
sometimes they look like 2400 volts
ripping through your body so what have I
learned
we are forged by fire we should in some
if not every way become stronger once
through any challenge this example is
perhaps best seen in ourselves are we
not a complex machine that adds on to
its existence through experience and
learning the strengths we develop in
order to pioneer forward is perhaps best
seen in ourselves take exercise through
the continued use of specific muscles
via targeted movements we stretch and
tear our muscles we purposely expose our
body to strain and fatigue why so that
those muscles learn and develop to
become stronger this example is seen in
all facets of our human body our
physical or psychological or mental or
emotional when we let it and when we
recognize it imagine a mental shift a
daily physical act whereby we wake up
and we walk out and we step into the
world around us free of the damaging
effects of labeling life’s experience as
being positive or negative and instead
we take advantage of everything as an
opportunity to thrive imagine that world
imagine if we shook free of our
calcified layers of learned doubt and
fear now I believe we can learn from the
child on the day we are born that child
knows intuition at the purest level and
when we experience pain for the first
time when our umbilical cord is cut from
our mother we run with the experience of
that pain and kicking and screaming we
fight and are catalyzed for life ahead
of us
we learned from day one to fight not to
lay down at the first sign of challenge
I had just received the greatest
ass-kicking of my life and lying on my
back in the woods miles from help I
returned to that primary place my eyes
open there was no high or low
there was no this is good or this is bad
there was no this will be easier this
will be hard there was just survival in
our core it’s what we do best now I can
thank the spirit the great indwelling
life force for the clarity and focus I
needed and like the newborn babe that
takes its first breath of sweet air a
hundred percent by its own efforts I
summoned every ounce of moxie and I
commanded myself get to your feet my
next memory was a sound of dirt and
rocks beneath my boots and I found
myself walking down a dirt road in
search of help the road I was on came
out of the mountains and wound across
the foothills of pine juniper sagebrush
and native prairie grass ideal habitat
for badgers and prairie dogs and Jack
rabbits and other little creatures now
my adult mind kicked in and told me that
the quickest way to help was to draw a
straight line from A to B and B
represented the homes below me that was
help that by doing so I would cut the
corners of the winding road and by going
offroad I’ve experienced a distance
savings of about 75 percent one heck of
a deal
my compass north screamed no the
intuitive wisdom within me knew that if
I was to trip and fall or stumble even
once
on an unforeseen rocker hole I would not
get up again and I would surely die it
is human nurture not nature that we
learn to love the things that are easy
every influential piece of medium around
us tells us daily to go looking for the
easiest sweetest quickest dollop of
cream we can find to this day I am
impressed and still reminded by the
truth of my next move I was walking to
save my life every second past was a
second I was that much closer to death I
had miles left in front of me and I
chose to walk the longer slower journey
so long as our heart continues to pulse
and fuel the unbelievable miracle that
is the human body we will always have a
choice and in that choice we are not
powerless two months ago
the world lost a very special man poppy
or dad as I also called him was an
architect of happiness he would walk
into a room like this and he would light
it up and he would light up others who
he came into contact with in his death
he left detailed instructions to guide
us in the details of his passing his
funeral his memorial together with the
help of my family we executed his wishes
we cooked meals from the heart his
favorite dishes we sang songs like
meheeco Lindo because they reminded us
of his legacy and we told stories late
into the night and early into the
morning we danced like poppy danced
because it brought us out of grief and
elevated just enough so that we touch
joy and it made the hell we were going
through just this side of tolerable
and so it was that when walking with my
family I found that I was crumbling to
pieces it was in the heat of that hell
that I was forged into something
stronger friends it is time to worry
less about labeling the experience time
to embrace the experience and be
grateful for the opportunity to feel
alive in all its many masks it is a
beautiful beautiful world out there and
regardless of the circumstance let us
take both the negative and the positive
and get charged thank you
[Applause]
you
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
there are moments in life that because
of the circumstance we fail to see the
beauty that surrounds us Manuela Alfredo
Garcia Castilla known by many as papi
was a sweet older fisherman from Mexico
with twinkling mischievous eyes and a
creased well-worn smile not too long ago
he was sitting next to me on a winter
day as was our tradition we had parked
on the edge of a road that swings out on
a hillside and overlooks the valley I
call home in southwest Montana as it was
cold outside we shared a warm bowl of
soup as a good friend does papi listened
patiently as I shared certain events in
my life that I was struggling with the
late afternoon Setting Sun started to
paint every aspect of life in front of
us in combinations of blue rose and
dusty purple which are softer colors but
perhaps because of the cold everything
started to transform and shift into
sharper crisp focus the view was turning
into something altogether extraordinary
from a place deep inside that place
within all of us where emotions are born
I started to cry now perhaps it was what
we were discussing the awesome view and
the emotions brought on by the tears but
it turned into a moment that was
altogether poetic and I let the tears
just run through wet cheeks and wet eyes
I said esto s mara-vee-oso
– which papi calm Wayne kulich responded
while twisting his moustache pero a
momento en la vida en que por
circumstance eeeh no vemos la baie Isaac
in Australia there are moments in life
that because of the circumstance we fail
to see the beauty that surrounds us
on October 9th 2011 I was electrocuted
with 2400 volts from a neglected
electrical junction box in the heart of
the Montana mountains miles from help
I was airlifted to the University of
Utah burn trauma intensive care unit
Salt Lake City the doctor on call that
day and I quote said that when I arrived
and I was wheeled in through those doors
I was a bag of bones with a heartbeat I
would spend the next five days fighting
for my life this image was taken on day
nine moments after being told by my
surgeon that despite valiant efforts
there was an infection present in the
damaged tissue of my left hand and there
was a high risk that that infection
could run up my arm to my heart and then
that could kill me I opted for surgery
and became an amputee in total I spent
50 days in ICU over the course of two
years of intensive plastic surgery and
physical rehabilitation I would tally 21
surgeries today just over six years from
that event in my life and I find I am
still working on the emotional and
psychological parts of recovery my life
had clearly just been flipped upside
down and yet Here I am smiling
ear-to-ear
practically grinning so I’m often asked
Eduardo in the wake of such a disaster
how is it that you remain so positive
and I think about Poppy’s quote there
are moments in life that because of the
circumstance we fail to see the beauty
that surrounds us now it could have been
the painkillers I was on all of them
but I believe I knew what top he knew
that the spark of the human heartbeat is
the birthplace of happiness and I was
still alive now I invite everybody to
find your pulse that rhythmic beat below
your fingertips represents the greatest
gift on earth life and surely that is
reason to smile while in ICU I recall
feeling empowered by the understanding
that although I was bedridden at times
bandaged head to toe unable to perform
the simplest of tasks I still had
abilities I could channel my attitude
and express it through the light in my
eyes and by doing so contribute to the
room of professionals family friends
working their tails off around me all of
a sudden I had a job to do I could
contribute my contribution was no longer
gauged by maximum output but rather just
the effort and in my case effort was
attitude the results of winning attitude
had on the rim around me were real I
turned to we and we became an ICU room
that laughed loved shared talked about
someone’s wild Saturday night kept it
human and ultimately we triumphed we all
have the power to choose our attitude no
one can ever take that from us we can
never forget that so what have I learned
I believe we are here to thrive that is
to live full and rich lives to take
advantage of every opportunity in front
of us I believe those precious moments
on earth represent life’s greatest
lessons
those lessons come at us and granted
they don’t all smell like roses
sometimes they look like 2400 volts
ripping through your body so what have I
learned
we are forged by fire we should in some
if not every way become stronger once
through any challenge this example is
perhaps best seen in ourselves are we
not a complex machine that adds on to
its existence through experience and
learning the strengths we develop in
order to pioneer forward is perhaps best
seen in ourselves take exercise through
the continued use of specific muscles
via targeted movements we stretch and
tear our muscles we purposely expose our
body to strain and fatigue why so that
those muscles learn and develop to
become stronger this example is seen in
all facets of our human body our
physical or psychological or mental or
emotional when we let it and when we
recognize it imagine a mental shift a
daily physical act whereby we wake up
and we walk out and we step into the
world around us free of the damaging
effects of labeling life’s experience as
being positive or negative and instead
we take advantage of everything as an
opportunity to thrive imagine that world
imagine if we shook free of our
calcified layers of learned doubt and
fear now I believe we can learn from the
child on the day we are born that child
knows intuition at the purest level and
when we experience pain for the first
time when our umbilical cord is cut from
our mother we run with the experience of
that pain and kicking and screaming we
fight and are catalyzed for life ahead
of us
we learned from day one to fight not to
lay down at the first sign of challenge
I had just received the greatest
ass-kicking of my life and lying on my
back in the woods miles from help I
returned to that primary place my eyes
open there was no high or low
there was no this is good or this is bad
there was no this will be easier this
will be hard there was just survival in
our core it’s what we do best now I can
thank the spirit the great indwelling
life force for the clarity and focus I
needed and like the newborn babe that
takes its first breath of sweet air a
hundred percent by its own efforts I
summoned every ounce of moxie and I
commanded myself get to your feet my
next memory was a sound of dirt and
rocks beneath my boots and I found
myself walking down a dirt road in
search of help the road I was on came
out of the mountains and wound across
the foothills of pine juniper sagebrush
and native prairie grass ideal habitat
for badgers and prairie dogs and Jack
rabbits and other little creatures now
my adult mind kicked in and told me that
the quickest way to help was to draw a
straight line from A to B and B
represented the homes below me that was
help that by doing so I would cut the
corners of the winding road and by going
offroad I’ve experienced a distance
savings of about 75 percent one heck of
a deal
my compass north screamed no the
intuitive wisdom within me knew that if
I was to trip and fall or stumble even
once
on an unforeseen rocker hole I would not
get up again and I would surely die it
is human nurture not nature that we
learn to love the things that are easy
every influential piece of medium around
us tells us daily to go looking for the
easiest sweetest quickest dollop of
cream we can find to this day I am
impressed and still reminded by the
truth of my next move I was walking to
save my life every second past was a
second I was that much closer to death I
had miles left in front of me and I
chose to walk the longer slower journey
so long as our heart continues to pulse
and fuel the unbelievable miracle that
is the human body we will always have a
choice and in that choice we are not
powerless two months ago
the world lost a very special man poppy
or dad as I also called him was an
architect of happiness he would walk
into a room like this and he would light
it up and he would light up others who
he came into contact with in his death
he left detailed instructions to guide
us in the details of his passing his
funeral his memorial together with the
help of my family we executed his wishes
we cooked meals from the heart his
favorite dishes we sang songs like
meheeco Lindo because they reminded us
of his legacy and we told stories late
into the night and early into the
morning we danced like poppy danced
because it brought us out of grief and
elevated just enough so that we touch
joy and it made the hell we were going
through just this side of tolerable
and so it was that when walking with my
family I found that I was crumbling to
pieces it was in the heat of that hell
that I was forged into something
stronger friends it is time to worry
less about labeling the experience time
to embrace the experience and be
grateful for the opportunity to feel
alive in all its many masks it is a
beautiful beautiful world out there and
regardless of the circumstance let us
take both the negative and the positive
and get charged thank you
[Applause]
you
[Music]
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