[Music]
when I was just a kid I lost my
companion my best friend my twin brother
passed away way too soon we used to do
everything together we used to eat
grapes all the time and speed the seats
in the back yard – grape trees grew from
that but only one survived that really
makes me wonder why for a really long
time I felt a hole in the middle of my
chest I hold it no matter what I did it
never seemed to be filled up needless to
say that I’ve been change the course of
my life and even though my bro and I
were inseparable we were completely
different as well
he was extremely confident and he was
always looking for an adventure me on
the other hand I was almost afraid of
everything but when he unexpectedly
passed away I change I began to be more
confident I began to search for
adventures as well I guess I was trying
to compensate for the hole that he left
behind
unfortunately the death of my brother
was not the only thing that brought pain
into my life when I grew up my parents
fought a lot maybe because they didn’t
know how to deal with my brother’s death
and when they finally separated in my
dad move out of the house we struggle a
lot financially it felt like I we always
were not going to make ends meet
we had the electricity and water share
off more than once and I remember that
many times in the supermarket it’s
standing in line wishing that we could
afford what was in the cart you see I
grew up being used to pain I grew up
feeling uncertain about the next day
since my brother left paying for a real
long time became my best friend and
that’s what I want to share with you
today my pain and how I turn it into my
biggest strength I want to share with
you how I left home and everything that
I knew so I could follow my dream of
traveling around the world so I could
live a life that God and my brother
would be proud of a lot that I would be
proud of I emigrated from Mexico 12
years ago since then I live in a couple
I graduated from college and work in
many different jobs one of the biggest
obstacles that I Encarta long the way
came as soon as I graduated from college
at the time I found myself broke
homeless with a gallbladder surgery that
was recuperating from and a pinched
nerve in my back when I was younger I
had two major accidents that impacted
the rest of my life one was a really bad
car accident that affected my neck and
eventually my back
and two I had a really bad groin injury
that affected the way I walk and so till
this day every single step that I take I
have to think about it so the time when
I graduated from college I had no money
I was living at friend’s place I’m
recuperating from a gallbladder surgery
and I could barely walk I knew I needed
to change I knew I needed to do
something drastic so what did I do
I sold everything that I had I give away
my clothes and I flew to Spain so I can
walk a pilgrimage call Camino de
Santiago a pilgrimage then tells working
from border to see the entire country
Spain 500 mouths now I don’t know why I
thought that I was going to be able to
walk an entire country if I could barely
walk at all but I did and I don’t know
why I thought the best thing to do at
the moment was to walk across Spain but
I did a couple hours a couple of weeks
later I flew to Spain then I started
walking only three days into the journey
I found myself we discuss she ate in
pain on my knees and besides my back I
was completely devastated
I knew my pilgrimage was over there was
no way I was going to do it the pain for
the next couple weeks
I finished the day I woke up the fourth
day and I told myself just tried one
more time but this time just focus on
taking one step at a time today I don’t
focus on the problem ahead of you going
faster than you then come the folks on
the pilgrim behind you going slower on
you don’t focus on the pilgrim next to
you today focus on yourself on your path
and taking one step at a time and that’s
what I did I walk until I could not take
the pain in a longer and then I took a
break
cup and wok until I could not take the
pain any longer any again before I knew
it I had already walked 14 miles that
day which was way more than what I
thought I was going to do and suddenly
I’m walking and I look up and infer me
there’s this massive mountain you see I
forgot to look at his schedule so I
didn’t know that at the end of the day I
was supposed to climb a massive mountain
and I stood there and look at it looking
at it for what seemed like an eternity
until I said to myself you already here
I started walking again and thus
Tipperary God the more pain I felt but I
didn’t stop and I did it again
I walk until I could not take the pain
in a longer a couple of hours later I
found myself in the top of the mountain
then it was a beautiful day I don’t
recall the last time that I was proud of
myself at that moment and I could see
the mountains I could see the valleys
and in the distance I could see a little
town and I realized that I was supposed
that was the time that I was supposed to
get to that day and so I decided to keep
going but as soon as I start going down
I realized that going down was going to
be way harder on my knees than going up
I took one step and was painful I took
another step but it was extremely
painful by the time I walk 100 feet I
was in more pain that I’ve never felt
before and so I stopped and I looked
down and I suddenly felt tears running
down my cheeks and then I said to myself
I’m not weak I’m not weak I’m not weak
and that come me down but then I’m
strong came out of my mouth that was
extremely powerful so I said it over and
over again I’m strong I’m strong I’m
strong and then I took one step and as
soon as my foot touching the ground I
felt the pain but I didn’t stop I took
another step and as soon as I felt the
pain I yell out loud I’m strong and I
kept doing that over and over again I’m
strong I’m strong I’m strong and before
I do it I was already at the but on the
mountain and at that time I started
bawling not because I was weak anymore
because I was thanking God for giving me
strength to keep moving forward
this time I was crying because I felt
strong and that was a new feeling for me
I find finish the day and a forty days
later I finally got to the destination
and I walked from border to see the
entire country Spain a couple weeks
before the Canadian walk when I get back
home I spend a lot of time thinking
about what happened that mountain
because I was stream ly powerful and I
got really curious about da decent
research and it specific some signs
behind the pain science behind the pain
and they all of that and so the first
thing that I found was that pain is a
survival mechanism to protect the body
so if you feel pain it’s because your
brain things that there’s a body part
that is damaged now sometimes your brain
is correct and sometimes it’s not
because your brain normally works in the
conservative side the next thing that I
found was that pain is an output of the
mind not the body if you feel pain is
because your brain sends the pence pain
signal so if you have a body part that
is damaged the nerve ending sends a
warning signal to your brain and then
your brain processes that information
and then decides whether it is useful or
not to feel pain in order to protect the
body your brain takes a lot of things
into consideration like emotions past
experiences traumas future plans and
many other things like for them because
of that each brain is different and
because of that pain is not an accurate
measurement of how damaged the body is
like for example you have a basketball
player in a soccer play and both both
break the wrist
the basketball player has the potential
to feel more pain because the wrist is
related to his emotion and future plans
or like the example of the phantom limb
pain when you have a patient that has a
missing body part but still feels pain
in that missing body part the way they
fix that sometimes the way they cure
that is by putting the good arm in a box
full of mirrors to make it look like he
has two good arms and then the brain
stops sending that pain and signal
another thing what I found is that
stress can potentially feel make you
feel more more pain so stress can affect
the pain modulator tube you are in pain
and then your stress on top of that
you can potentially feel more pain and
lastly I found out that pain the longer
you feel pain the easier is to feel pain
so the more you activate certain neural
pathways the easier is to activate those
neural pathways and the same thing that
happens with habits and skills so in a
way when I was a kid I was constantly
wiring my brain to be stressed to be in
anxiety to feel in pain until I wasn’t
that mountain in Spain when I started
telling myself that I was strong I was
actually wiring my brain to feel strong
and that was that was why it was so
powerful soon after I got home I got a
body to a project called pedal south the
plan was to ride our bicycles from
Alaska to Argentina over the course of
21 months the plan was to ride our
bicycles 14,000 miles from the top of
the world to the bottom of the world and
right away we started pre-production and
it took many many many months and out of
the blue six months before we had to
leave
I got another pinched nerve in my back
but this time is worst this time is
really bad this time is so bad that the
pain I can’t even sleep and this time is
so painful that I can walk at all four
weeks and that completely broke me down
broken without mentally physically
emotionally literally thought how my
heart and my spirit broke apart and I
know maybe a pinched nerve is not a big
deal but it is to me because for a
really long time that has been my
Achilles heel and in my head I had done
everything that I needed to do to get
better I sold everything that I had I
gave away my clothes I walk across Spain
and none of that was enough not only was
not enough I was in a worse place than I
was before and so I was in darkness for
a long time I have never felt so
hopeless I have never feel so lost the
depression got so bad that I ended up
calling my mom it was the first time
that I called my mom since I left home
for her help she came live with me for a
while and as soon as she saw me she
realized how bad the situation was she
said that she has never seen me like
that before she said that it seemed like
I gave up and I did I gave up I felt
like I got knocked down and I couldn’t
find a way to get back up slowly the
pain started going away
but it didn’t really matter because I
was still broken mentally one day my mom
got tired of me feeling sorry for myself
and said to me Ricardo my son is not a
coward so you’re not going to tell me
that a stupid back pain is going to
knock you down and so away I snapped I
realized that I forgotten what I learned
in Spain I realized that I forgotten
that I could rewire my brain and so I
started focusing not on how weak I was
but how strong I could be not on how
lost I felt but on how much purpose I
could have not on the fact that I lost
the way when I’m creating a way I start
getting stronger physically but more
important as I getting stronger mentally
the negative thoughts were not appearing
on mine anymore I was rewiring my brain
my family start getting really worried
about me because of anything I was going
to be strong enough to cycle across the
two continents they thought that my back
was going to give out at some point they
reminded me that not too long ago I
could not even walk but I’d been in pain
and attention because before I walk
Spain I was almost in the same situation
so before I knew it it was June 11 2014
the day that we had to fly to Alaska and
I was ready so I did ride my bicycle
from Alaska to Argentina over the course
of 21 months I did ride my bicycle
14,000 miles from the Arctic Ocean to
the Antarctic Ocean pedals out pushed me
beyond what I thought it was possible
and there’s no way to describe how
beautiful and Hardy was he literally
felt that I was ripped apart and put
back together anew during that time I
got to learn that we get to decide where
the pain is going to push his down and
push this forward having got to learn to
love the grind and the hustle I got to
learn to love the times that I was
called hungry and exhausted even the
times that I thought I was not going to
finish a trip I got to learn to love the
times that I almost gave up and the
times that I actually did I got to learn
to love the times where I had what I
thought I had nothing else to give when
I actually did because during those
moments I got to know myself because
pain helped me conquer my
of you see sometimes brokenness is
necessary sometimes you have to
experience complete hopelessness because
only then do we get to realize how
strong we can be thank
[Applause]
[Music]
you
[Music]
when I was just a kid I lost my
companion my best friend my twin brother
passed away way too soon we used to do
everything together we used to eat
grapes all the time and speed the seats
in the back yard – grape trees grew from
that but only one survived that really
makes me wonder why for a really long
time I felt a hole in the middle of my
chest I hold it no matter what I did it
never seemed to be filled up needless to
say that I’ve been change the course of
my life and even though my bro and I
were inseparable we were completely
different as well
he was extremely confident and he was
always looking for an adventure me on
the other hand I was almost afraid of
everything but when he unexpectedly
passed away I change I began to be more
confident I began to search for
adventures as well I guess I was trying
to compensate for the hole that he left
behind
unfortunately the death of my brother
was not the only thing that brought pain
into my life when I grew up my parents
fought a lot maybe because they didn’t
know how to deal with my brother’s death
and when they finally separated in my
dad move out of the house we struggle a
lot financially it felt like I we always
were not going to make ends meet
we had the electricity and water share
off more than once and I remember that
many times in the supermarket it’s
standing in line wishing that we could
afford what was in the cart you see I
grew up being used to pain I grew up
feeling uncertain about the next day
since my brother left paying for a real
long time became my best friend and
that’s what I want to share with you
today my pain and how I turn it into my
biggest strength I want to share with
you how I left home and everything that
I knew so I could follow my dream of
traveling around the world so I could
live a life that God and my brother
would be proud of a lot that I would be
proud of I emigrated from Mexico 12
years ago since then I live in a couple
I graduated from college and work in
many different jobs one of the biggest
obstacles that I Encarta long the way
came as soon as I graduated from college
at the time I found myself broke
homeless with a gallbladder surgery that
was recuperating from and a pinched
nerve in my back when I was younger I
had two major accidents that impacted
the rest of my life one was a really bad
car accident that affected my neck and
eventually my back
and two I had a really bad groin injury
that affected the way I walk and so till
this day every single step that I take I
have to think about it so the time when
I graduated from college I had no money
I was living at friend’s place I’m
recuperating from a gallbladder surgery
and I could barely walk I knew I needed
to change I knew I needed to do
something drastic so what did I do
I sold everything that I had I give away
my clothes and I flew to Spain so I can
walk a pilgrimage call Camino de
Santiago a pilgrimage then tells working
from border to see the entire country
Spain 500 mouths now I don’t know why I
thought that I was going to be able to
walk an entire country if I could barely
walk at all but I did and I don’t know
why I thought the best thing to do at
the moment was to walk across Spain but
I did a couple hours a couple of weeks
later I flew to Spain then I started
walking only three days into the journey
I found myself we discuss she ate in
pain on my knees and besides my back I
was completely devastated
I knew my pilgrimage was over there was
no way I was going to do it the pain for
the next couple weeks
I finished the day I woke up the fourth
day and I told myself just tried one
more time but this time just focus on
taking one step at a time today I don’t
focus on the problem ahead of you going
faster than you then come the folks on
the pilgrim behind you going slower on
you don’t focus on the pilgrim next to
you today focus on yourself on your path
and taking one step at a time and that’s
what I did I walk until I could not take
the pain in a longer and then I took a
break
cup and wok until I could not take the
pain any longer any again before I knew
it I had already walked 14 miles that
day which was way more than what I
thought I was going to do and suddenly
I’m walking and I look up and infer me
there’s this massive mountain you see I
forgot to look at his schedule so I
didn’t know that at the end of the day I
was supposed to climb a massive mountain
and I stood there and look at it looking
at it for what seemed like an eternity
until I said to myself you already here
I started walking again and thus
Tipperary God the more pain I felt but I
didn’t stop and I did it again
I walk until I could not take the pain
in a longer a couple of hours later I
found myself in the top of the mountain
then it was a beautiful day I don’t
recall the last time that I was proud of
myself at that moment and I could see
the mountains I could see the valleys
and in the distance I could see a little
town and I realized that I was supposed
that was the time that I was supposed to
get to that day and so I decided to keep
going but as soon as I start going down
I realized that going down was going to
be way harder on my knees than going up
I took one step and was painful I took
another step but it was extremely
painful by the time I walk 100 feet I
was in more pain that I’ve never felt
before and so I stopped and I looked
down and I suddenly felt tears running
down my cheeks and then I said to myself
I’m not weak I’m not weak I’m not weak
and that come me down but then I’m
strong came out of my mouth that was
extremely powerful so I said it over and
over again I’m strong I’m strong I’m
strong and then I took one step and as
soon as my foot touching the ground I
felt the pain but I didn’t stop I took
another step and as soon as I felt the
pain I yell out loud I’m strong and I
kept doing that over and over again I’m
strong I’m strong I’m strong and before
I do it I was already at the but on the
mountain and at that time I started
bawling not because I was weak anymore
because I was thanking God for giving me
strength to keep moving forward
this time I was crying because I felt
strong and that was a new feeling for me
I find finish the day and a forty days
later I finally got to the destination
and I walked from border to see the
entire country Spain a couple weeks
before the Canadian walk when I get back
home I spend a lot of time thinking
about what happened that mountain
because I was stream ly powerful and I
got really curious about da decent
research and it specific some signs
behind the pain science behind the pain
and they all of that and so the first
thing that I found was that pain is a
survival mechanism to protect the body
so if you feel pain it’s because your
brain things that there’s a body part
that is damaged now sometimes your brain
is correct and sometimes it’s not
because your brain normally works in the
conservative side the next thing that I
found was that pain is an output of the
mind not the body if you feel pain is
because your brain sends the pence pain
signal so if you have a body part that
is damaged the nerve ending sends a
warning signal to your brain and then
your brain processes that information
and then decides whether it is useful or
not to feel pain in order to protect the
body your brain takes a lot of things
into consideration like emotions past
experiences traumas future plans and
many other things like for them because
of that each brain is different and
because of that pain is not an accurate
measurement of how damaged the body is
like for example you have a basketball
player in a soccer play and both both
break the wrist
the basketball player has the potential
to feel more pain because the wrist is
related to his emotion and future plans
or like the example of the phantom limb
pain when you have a patient that has a
missing body part but still feels pain
in that missing body part the way they
fix that sometimes the way they cure
that is by putting the good arm in a box
full of mirrors to make it look like he
has two good arms and then the brain
stops sending that pain and signal
another thing what I found is that
stress can potentially feel make you
feel more more pain so stress can affect
the pain modulator tube you are in pain
and then your stress on top of that
you can potentially feel more pain and
lastly I found out that pain the longer
you feel pain the easier is to feel pain
so the more you activate certain neural
pathways the easier is to activate those
neural pathways and the same thing that
happens with habits and skills so in a
way when I was a kid I was constantly
wiring my brain to be stressed to be in
anxiety to feel in pain until I wasn’t
that mountain in Spain when I started
telling myself that I was strong I was
actually wiring my brain to feel strong
and that was that was why it was so
powerful soon after I got home I got a
body to a project called pedal south the
plan was to ride our bicycles from
Alaska to Argentina over the course of
21 months the plan was to ride our
bicycles 14,000 miles from the top of
the world to the bottom of the world and
right away we started pre-production and
it took many many many months and out of
the blue six months before we had to
leave
I got another pinched nerve in my back
but this time is worst this time is
really bad this time is so bad that the
pain I can’t even sleep and this time is
so painful that I can walk at all four
weeks and that completely broke me down
broken without mentally physically
emotionally literally thought how my
heart and my spirit broke apart and I
know maybe a pinched nerve is not a big
deal but it is to me because for a
really long time that has been my
Achilles heel and in my head I had done
everything that I needed to do to get
better I sold everything that I had I
gave away my clothes I walk across Spain
and none of that was enough not only was
not enough I was in a worse place than I
was before and so I was in darkness for
a long time I have never felt so
hopeless I have never feel so lost the
depression got so bad that I ended up
calling my mom it was the first time
that I called my mom since I left home
for her help she came live with me for a
while and as soon as she saw me she
realized how bad the situation was she
said that she has never seen me like
that before she said that it seemed like
I gave up and I did I gave up I felt
like I got knocked down and I couldn’t
find a way to get back up slowly the
pain started going away
but it didn’t really matter because I
was still broken mentally one day my mom
got tired of me feeling sorry for myself
and said to me Ricardo my son is not a
coward so you’re not going to tell me
that a stupid back pain is going to
knock you down and so away I snapped I
realized that I forgotten what I learned
in Spain I realized that I forgotten
that I could rewire my brain and so I
started focusing not on how weak I was
but how strong I could be not on how
lost I felt but on how much purpose I
could have not on the fact that I lost
the way when I’m creating a way I start
getting stronger physically but more
important as I getting stronger mentally
the negative thoughts were not appearing
on mine anymore I was rewiring my brain
my family start getting really worried
about me because of anything I was going
to be strong enough to cycle across the
two continents they thought that my back
was going to give out at some point they
reminded me that not too long ago I
could not even walk but I’d been in pain
and attention because before I walk
Spain I was almost in the same situation
so before I knew it it was June 11 2014
the day that we had to fly to Alaska and
I was ready so I did ride my bicycle
from Alaska to Argentina over the course
of 21 months I did ride my bicycle
14,000 miles from the Arctic Ocean to
the Antarctic Ocean pedals out pushed me
beyond what I thought it was possible
and there’s no way to describe how
beautiful and Hardy was he literally
felt that I was ripped apart and put
back together anew during that time I
got to learn that we get to decide where
the pain is going to push his down and
push this forward having got to learn to
love the grind and the hustle I got to
learn to love the times that I was
called hungry and exhausted even the
times that I thought I was not going to
finish a trip I got to learn to love the
times that I almost gave up and the
times that I actually did I got to learn
to love the times where I had what I
thought I had nothing else to give when
I actually did because during those
moments I got to know myself because
pain helped me conquer my
of you see sometimes brokenness is
necessary sometimes you have to
experience complete hopelessness because
only then do we get to realize how
strong we can be thank
[Applause]
[Music]
you
[Music]
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