The Devil Is Real And He's ATTACKING Your Mind Every Single Day

I think that the mind is a really tricky enemy to have, and I would say it's the devil. I think the devil gets in my head. Suicide rates are increasing. Stigma around mental health is increasing. I don't want to see more people die. I was in a place where I thought the decision was okay, and I thought that that was it for me. I think everyone needs to know how important mental health is and how important having a good mental framework is because you're only as good as your worst thought about yourself. So everyone needs to be a good thought. Do you have a framework that you could share with the wikis listening? what it is brad lee back again with another episode of dropping bombs today in the studio folks i got a real treat for you andelina grassy better known as storm and that's your middle name too yes that is my middle name that's just a cool middle name thank you are you have hippie parents no actually my parents went to like a fortune teller when they were dating and they said don't get married you'll create a storm so then they just decided to make me the storm that's legit Mm-hmm. That's legit. Now, folks, if you guys don't know her, you will probably know her. She's running around. She's speaking on stages. She's getting the awareness out for ultimately suicide prevention. Yeah? Yes. Essentially? Yes. And you guys can follow her on Instagram, andalena.storm and at peaceinthestormpodcast. You already have that out? Yes, I do already have that. How's it going? Good. It's been fun so far. So andelina.storm, A-N-D-E-L-I-N-A.storm, just like it sounds. She's got a book out there, Sanity in the Storm. I like how the storm is the through line for everything. Yes. Born with perfect marketing. I was going to say, is that whole marketing ploy you're doing? Yes. Is there somebody coaching you on that? No, not really. You're just doing it yourself? Yes, pretty much. Okay. So let's get to the bottom line. Bottom line is there's a lot of, uh, not only just youthful people, but you know, there's a lot of people out there that contemplate suicide, contemplate harming themselves to the point of no return. And you were you one of those? Yes. I, um, I myself have gone through seasons where I didn't think life was really worth living anymore. And that to me is something that is super disheartening because I know a lot of people feel the way I did. And I want to make sure everyone knows that that's not the option for them, that they should stay here. Well, don't you think they already know that? I think that the mind is a really tricky enemy to have. Like if your mind isn't for you and it's against you, I think it's really hard to look at the positives and to think that you should stay here. I think it's really hard to look at the fact that like people do love you. People do care about you, that things do get better because your mind's constantly telling you lies. You're going to start believing them. Why do you think that's your mind? My mind? Like if my thoughts are creeping in, I would say it's the devil. I think the devil gets in my head. It's not you. It's not your mind. It's not. No, it's not you. I think the devil attacks people when they know, when the devil knows you're going into a season where you're going to be a threat to him. And for me, I've always been someone that I've believed in God. I've put like everything I've done into like, thank you, Jesus for giving me this opportunity. And the closer I get to God, the closer I get to the calling God has for me, the more my mental health plummets. And I know that is the devil attacking me. So when the devil gets into someone's head and starts telling them lies, it's really hard to argue with the devil unless you have truth and a good routine in place to argue against him. Well, what do you think about suicide and God? Is he happy with that? I don't think God is happy with suicide. I think everyone's life on this earth is a gift from God, and God knows that he gave you this gift that we didn't deserve. So I don't think God is happy with suicide, but I know Jesus loves us above all else. So if anything, it makes it more sad than mad that we make that decision. So would you get into heaven if you committed suicide? You know, I'm not God, so on Judgment Day, I'm not the person that's going to come down and say who does and who does not get into heaven. It's really something I've struggled with, especially after losing people I do love and care about, to suicide because it's so hard to think that people would choose not to live in eternity with God. So I don't know what the decision God's going to make. There's scripture that points people to believe that people don't get into heaven if they make that decision. But I myself am not coming on judgment day, so I don't know. Do you think if you knew for a fact heaven was real and it's everything, it's cracked up to be times a million, wouldn't everybody just commit suicide? If that meant you'd go straight to heaven, sure. Yeah, so would I. I'd be like, what are we doing here? We got to freaking have pain and illness. But I would also challenge the fact that I think less people would make that decision if they knew heaven was real. because I think if everyone came onto the earth and knew like this place is for sure a thing and God is for sure someone that one day I get to spend eternity with, they would just make sure they were the best version of themselves on earth until God took them home. There wouldn't be that same sadness and fear that I'm all alone because if you thought you had God, you wouldn't be all alone. Or if like you knew one day you were gonna be with everyone in heaven, you wouldn't think that this was it and that life is meaningless and nothing good is ever gonna happen. when if you thought all the good was going to happen. Is that what the youth is thinking? Yes. So I think a lot of the reason that the youth gets so caught up and roped up into this like woe is me mindset and that the world is in a great place and that life is meaningless and nothing matters is because you're constantly comparing your low light, your lowest moment to someone's highlight reel on a social media. You're looking at people that are more successful than you or so it seems, people that look like they have it more together than you or so it seems. And you're just constantly comparing yourselves to other people. You're constantly just like comparing the world around you, that something is better, like that you will never live up to what someone else is doing. And that's sad. Like that's depressing. Like if you constantly think like you're not good enough and that someone is better than you, we also live in a huge participation trophy generation, which has been so harmful for us. Honestly, like when I'd go to a soccer tournament as a kid and I get a trophy just for being there. But then when I actually grow up, I don't get a trophy for just going to class or showing up to work. Like then the world gets real and the world gets hard. But if I've just been coddled my entire life, obviously things are going to seem really big and scary when I'm not in the comfort of my parents' home, getting a participation trophy just for showing up to practice. Like life looks big and scary and sad and depressing. Even for you, I mean, because you wrote this book about your own experience, yeah? Yes, absolutely. So what were you depressed about? So that's the thing is sometimes you actually have no reason to be sad or depressed or upset. I grew up in a loving family. I have a best friend. I've struggled with friends, but everyone does. I've like struggled with. What do you mean struggle with friends? I got bullied. Bullied for how? For what? Sometimes people just don't really have a reason. Like there was just rumors about me in high school that were never true. People were making up lies about me. People were just like trying to ruin my life for no reason. and I tried my best to just like keep my head up and not really let them and just gravitate to the fact that God gave me one really, really good friend, Sydney, who I've had since I was nine. So if I had said I was good, if I had my parents, I was good. But I mean, that kind of gets heavy sometimes. And then I went away to college and I'm not someone that's the typical college student. I don't love going out every night and getting hammered at Michigan State's campus. It just wasn't really my vibe. So there was a lot of peer pressure and people like trying to get me to go out, even though I didn't really want to. So then people hated me just for the fact that I didn't want to live the same lives they lived. I didn't want to make the same decisions they made. So in college, I was, I was alone. It was the first time I was away from my parents. I was scared of sleepovers growing up. And now I'm like living in a dorm room away from home. And I don't really have a lot of friends besides my best friend. And she would leave or she's been dating the same guy for five years. Like when she was with him, I was just all by myself. And sometimes the devil just creeps in and he's like, you're all alone. Like no one cares about you. Like you're not going anywhere. I wanted to be a dentist. I was struggling in chemistry, so that wasn't really going to work out, but you didn't have people approaching you and meeting you and not really at first. No, not until I made the decision to put myself out there and make friends, which is something I'm really big on is that you fully, like your brain, it's like the same thing as if like you want to be good in business or you want to be in the gym every day. It's like a discipline. Like your mental health is also a form of discipline. Like you have to choose every day to wake up and fight how you're feeling. You have to fight every day and be like, okay, well, if I'm telling myself I'm all alone, I need to go out and make new friends. I need to go out and meet people. Or if like I'm telling myself I'm super anxious, I need to go to the gym because as soon as I start working out, I'm not going to be anxious anymore. It's like a daily decision to have the discipline to not let yourself fall into that state of mental health that just ropes you in and swells you whole. but your parents had no contribution towards that feeling the feeling towards being depressed or the you're just not good enough no my parents have my parents are great I was extremely blessed my parents told me I could do anything I set my mind to my dad has like turned the world upside down to give me a bunch of opportunities like my parents so where did you get that from I think just the people around me, social media, like again, the comparison, I compare myself to other people. Like I'd want- You just do that naturally. Naturally. Like it was, it's programmed. Like your algorithm is trained to show you things that will rope you in. So you keep scrolling. So when you keep scrolling and you see like all these influencers and this great life and this person's in Europe studying abroad and like this person just got like engaged. And it's like, like there's so much comparison and there's so much that you just naturally, like you want what other people don't like want what other people have. And before social media, that wasn't as big of a deal because you're like a fish in a small pond. Like you're looking around at like people that grew up in the same town as you or at the same college as you. But then now we're like a small fish and like a ginormous pond because I can look at what people are doing in Italy. I can look at what people doing in Canada. Like I'm not stuck to there ain't nobody doing nothing in canada come on but italy yeah yeah well why don't you just go to italy i mean there's a few like i've been to italy it was the greatest experience of my life but i can't just pack up and move my entire life to italy because i'm 21 like you still got some some growth to do don't you young lady i do that's what you call limited now you have a limited mindset we got to get you abundant okay well sure i could i could you're 21 your dad can't tell you nothing anymore you can do whatever you want number one number two uh your your self-talk is limiting do you know that i did not know that well you just said it you can't go to italy yes you can you can do anything you want well true i could fully pick up and uproot my life and move to italy i don't know if that's necessarily what i would want to happen i don't know if i'd want to move to italy well there you go see this is therapy right right you just made it sound like i could go to italy but i can't i can't do that like yes you can maybe i don't even want to exactly i think young people don't know what they want they're they're they're being almost like programmed by social media you should want ferraris and you know parties and yachts and you know sleep around for women you know dress scantily you know so guys want you listen the wrong guys are going to be attracted to that i think so at the end of the day what are you supposed to do well that's to me ultimately what you get from your parents your environments you know your communities that's why they say a village raises a child because it's it's sometimes they aren't you're not listening to dad you're listening to the dickhead at high school you know what i mean like your dad don't know nothing what does he know that type of thing that's what my daughter does my daughter doesn't listen to me at all and it's like i'm the one that cares about her the most no me and my friend like have a joke about that like said i mentioned her we have a joke about it it's like at 18 our mom would try to give us advice and we're like you don't know anything mom like you don't know what i'm going through and then now at 21 we're looking back and we're like man we should just listen to our moms like it really wasn't the end of the world like things do get better your life doesn't end at 18. so i'm just making sure because you're young still 21 i I mean, that's still a baby. So in this book, how old were you? I just published it in January. I wrote it when I was 19 going on 20. When were you going through the mental anguish of going to college by yourself? Well, 18 and 19. I hit like my wall at 19. That was right before my friend died, before he took his life. Keep going. Well, I just got so many questions because I almost want to be like, what do you have to be sad about? like you're pretty you're in college there's nothing you got the whole world ahead yet and you're over there worried because you don't have any friends at college well that wasn't necessarily it either it genuinely I really didn't have necessarily a reason I had some like health issues going on which like was just like messing overall like if your physical health isn't intact your mental health isn't intact like they all work together it's like that was a really big deal for me was like, I like had really, really high cortisol. So it was like always spiked. I had mold poisoning. Do you drink coffee? I do drink coffee. In the mornings? Yeah. I had to, I had to stop that. I had to stop drinking caffeine before noon because it spiked the cortisol. That's right. So my, my thing was I genuinely was just the perfect storm, not to play on the word. It was the perfect storm. I like had, I had some health issues going on. I cared a little bit about what people thought about me and the devil saw me. Allodoxophobia. Yes. Where's the mold? The mold? It's black mold. No, where was the mold? Oh, in my college dorm room. Oh. Right. I told my dad we should sue. Exactly. We should sue and get tuition off. A hundred percent. There's mold in there. Can you prove that? Yeah. There's any attorneys out there that want to get, I mean, because again, I mean, someone should be held liable for that. Right. Like it's mold exposure. What if she would have killed herself? How would you be feeling? Yeah, like it'd be freaking, it'd be the worst thing ever. Yeah, it'd be pretty bad. Yeah, I'd be pissed off. And it could be because of that mold. Yes, exactly. So that was more for me was I had like health issues going on. College was a big transition. It was less about people not wanting to be my friend and more just about that. It's like, whoa, I'm away from home for the first time. Like, I don't really know what I'm supposed to do. Like, am I supposed to go out and like make all these terrible decisions I'm going to regret in the morning or do I just like not care what people think? Like it was just a bit of like a wrestle. And for me, my biggest thing, the reason I was able to overcome everything was because I realized that routine is like absolutely everything. Like you have to be so locked in with like your physical health, like what you're eating, how you're working out, like getting up in the morning. Like you just, the more you like lay in bed and you don't get up or you just like let yourself sleep in or I'm in college. My first class is at 1020. Like why wouldn't I just roll out of bed at like 1010 and then just like go to class? It like you have to like make the decision to be the best version of yourself in order to fight what your brain or the devil is telling you Because if you telling yourself lies or the devil telling you these lies you have to have truth to counteract it. So for me, it was getting healthy. It was realizing that it's harder for me than other people to be healthy. Therefore, I had to put in more effort. Why is it harder for you? Because I had the high cortisol and the mold poisoning. Other kids my age, just like, they're like peak athletic ability. they're just going to the gym and they're like lifting twice and then going home and eating a pizza and they're fine like i had to like really like watch like i couldn't have coffee before noon or i what would happen i just my cortisol wouldn't lower and if my cortisol doesn't lower constantly anxious and i can't like going to the gym doesn't even work anxious meaning anxiety anxiety like yes you're you know like my heart was like beating out of my chest my like my chest was always like super tight and locked up i've like said it before like i always felt like i was wearing like a weighted vest. Why do you think that is though? Cause like my daughter does that. Like the anxiety? Yeah. I think a lot of it. She's only 12. I got like, when I first got anxiety, I was nine when I first got like diagnosed, but my dad has this like thing where he doesn't let me say I have something. He had, I've said I struggle with it. Cause the minute I say I am something, that's my identity. And then my brain's going to think I like, I have anxiety. I am anxiety. But if I say I struggle with it, it's something I can overcome. So I started struggling with anxiety when I was nine. And I think a lot of it genuinely is just how like fast paced everything is like social media. And like, you're always chasing the next best thing. Like the food we're eating, like the food is like so bad. Even if you're buying like the greatest food in the world, like it's really not that good for you right now in America, we don't have the greatest food. So it's like, you're like constantly like putting junk and chemicals and everything into your body. like your mattresses have heavy metals in them. Most mattresses have heavy metal in them. And I figured that out because I got my blood tested. I have heavy metals, heavy metals cause anxiety. Why do you think it's from your mattress? It's so Gary Brucka, I was at a conference with him in like January, February. And he was talking about how they put like your mattress in order to be sold has to be like flame resistant. Like it can't catch on fire because sleeping on something that catch a fire can be really bad. So they put like flame repellent or like anti-flame fluid on your mattresses before they put them in the stores to sell them. And like, and that is like heavy metal. So you're like sleeping on chemicals and you're sleeping on things that are like naturally just going into you or like, think about like all the microplastics and everything. Have you ever had ice cream? Yes, I've had ice cream. I love ice cream. Yeah, but that shit will kill you. Yeah, it will. It will. And it's why like most, when you go to the store and you look like most of the ice creams don't say they have dairy in it like they won't say like or they can't say like ice cream or something they have to like change the wording of it because there's not actually dairy if you look at cheese it can't say cheese if it's not actually cheese on it like it's like a whole thing they like change the word who's telling the truth all of a sudden like they can't say that dude trust me they'll lie to you right they'll say it's organic when it's not organic Like they'll say natural flavorings when they mean rat shit. Exactly. Which is why everything's always all messed up. And like, but, but again, but it's never going to change no matter what. So people, especially younger folks should realize. So. Right. Which is why, like, to me, having a good, like having good systems in place is how you combat it every day. Because if it's not going to get better, like if we just, if you look at life, Like it's like life sucks. Your life is going to suck. You have to decide every day. Be like, well, life could be happy if I just like decided for it to be like. That's all it is. It's a decision. It's like you literally just have to make a decision every day. You have to have the discipline to wake up and be like, ooh, yesterday was tough. But like today can be better. And you just have to think about it. Like sometimes you got to make the analogy that like you're the main character in your story. Like if people are watching this right now, like the main character is not looking like they're having too much fun. Like no one's watching this movie. this movie looks lame. Like what would people want to watch? Like, Ooh, what should I do? It's like, Oh, people would want to watch me like get up and get out of bed and do something fun. They wouldn't want to watch me like rot and like feel sorry for myself. You got to just like choose to like enjoy life. Who taught you all this? I mean, I've had a great role model as a father. My dad's always been, he grew up really, really poor and had all the cards stacked against him and overcame everything. And he's told me since I was a kid, like growth mindset, like you can do anything you put your mind to, like you can succeed in anything. Like I'll back you up, I'll support you. So it was hard to have a really negative mindset and think things weren't going anywhere. When I had a mom that loved me no matter what. And a dad that told me I could do anything I set my mind to. So that didn't work apparently. Cause you were still thinking these things. I know, but I'm sitting here right now. I know. So I'm thinking like, when was this going on? Like 18 years old. Now you're, you're only 21. It's only three years. So you've learned a lot. I've learned a lot in the last three years. And I tell, so I went back and spoke at my high school earlier this year and I went and told everyone, I was like, you're going to grow more from 18 to 19 than you grew all four years of high school. Like the minute you step away from home, the minute, like you have to like rely on yourself and form some independence, you're going to start remembering all those things. Your parents are like your coaches or people told you when you were a kid that you just ignored and never listened to, or like only kind of like half listened to. and you're going to realize like, oh, those are survival skills that I actually need to have. And you're going to grow up really fast. Like the second you're away from people that are constantly like supporting you and building you up. Do you wish you could go back and be a kid again? Yeah, all the time. But at the same time, no. Wasn't it nice? No bills, no stress, no worries. I miss like obviously being a kid with like my siblings, but I love the stage of life I'm in right now. I think so far I'm only 21, but 20 has been pretty fun. Like I've grown a lot. I've gotten a lot more confident in who I think God is calling me to be and who I want to become. And I know that this chapter of my life is something God is going to use, like to help other people. And that's all I want to do is help other people. Who's your buddy that didn't make some good decisions? His name is Vincent. He passed away a little over a year ago when we were 19. And yeah, he made the decision. He went to University of Michigan and he made the decision that you can't dig back. And since then, like our friend group has stayed really close and made sure we check in on each other and made sure that no one else was in a state to make the same decision that he made. But how do you know? Cause you said earlier, he, he didn't seem like he was depressed, but no one was asking him if he was okay either. I know, but do you want to be asked all the time? Not all the time, but I think if once in a while I got a text just being like, Hey, like, how are you doing? Like, and feeling like someone is checking in on you. Like that feels nice. Like if no one ever texted you and was like, Hey, like, what's up? Like anything new going on? You'd probably be like, man, these people hate me. I have no friends. I don't know. But I feel like the difference is I'd almost, I'd almost not want that. Like, in other words, I don't mind someone checking in, but am I like displaying some, some signs of depression or something? Like, why are you checking? Oh, Jim, man, I just love you. I just checking in on you. Okay. Yeah, I'm good. Cool. But they'll still say that when they're not, is my point. No, agreed. And you have to make sure that the community, like I say, four quarters is worth the same as a hundred pennies. Having four really, really good friends that actually pour into you and actually genuinely care about you is the same value as having a hundred fake friends. Like, so I think better. It is. Yeah. So you just have to pick. There's only four. You don't have to deal with a hundred. No. And those four people actually care about you. What if you had to buy dinner for all your friends? Yeah, that'd be. There's only four to buy dinner for. It would be a lot harder if there was a hundred of them for sure. Do people believe that they need 100 friends? Absolutely. So many people believe that the more friends they have, the more publicity they have, the more popular they are. It sounds like a social media issue. Oh, it totally is. Social media. Let's sue social media. Right. Zuckerberg. And anybody with social media, because you're making our kids think like killing themselves. And again, I mean, you know, I, I, I've never lost a kid, but I can't, I don't even want to go there. Like that would be the absolute worst. Vincent's parents, they probably feel terrible because they didn't know. And how do you know? And then they spend the rest of their lives like questioning it. Like, why didn't I see this? So in your book, is it your story or do you teach people kind of what symptoms to look for? so I think that vulnerability is strength and you have to show that you're like you know what you're talking about first for people to trust you because if you just like went on and talked about money and you had like nothing to back it up like no one's gonna really be like man this guy like has like the credibility to back it up so the first thing I do is I do a little like paragraph explaining a way I felt and then I label it as what it was like maybe it was like anxiety Maybe it was grief. Cause grief is something like you struggle with. Like you go through grief, grief, like someone dying. Oh, so it's like someone died in your life. That wouldn't like upset you at all. Depends on who. Right. That's grief. Right. Like you'd go through grief. Like you'd go through grief again. I mean, you know, I'm, I'm a gen X. Okay. We don't do grief. Good grief. That was Charlie Brown saying, but like people die and, and I'm a little, unique in this case people die i'm gonna die you're gonna die your dad's gonna die your child that you don't even have do you have children no yeah so yeah you are a child no you're 21 believe me like i had a kid when i was 17 so so i mean at the end of the day they're gonna die we're all gonna die and i realize logically that we're all gonna die so when people die it does affect me less but it's outside people if my children died it would make them i would be grieving right okay so that's just children though like when my dad died oh man that sucks well i went up and i i don't even joking i went up and you know attended his funeral and yeah it was sad he's gone i don't get to hang but guess what people die so i went back and now look like everything's just fine and that's what's crazy about death you ever hear that saying where like when you die, for example, they'll cry for about three days. And then after that, you're gone and they're laughing again. And pretty soon they moved on. And so what are you so worried about what everybody thinks? Because that's where I go. It's like, why are you so worried about what everybody thinks? Nobody cares. And that's the crazy part. And when people think that, they're like, well, now it's going to be opposite. Well, if no one cares, why would I live? That's the opposite. Like, don't worry about what other people think. What do you think? But you can go to Italy if you wanted to. And if you don't want to, you don't want to. I could go. And I'll bet you, you weren't lonely at college. You just thought you were. 100%. It was like a lie. That was like actively being told like to myself. Are you still in college? I'm graduating this spring. So do you have a bunch of friends now? Yeah, I do. See, what changed? My mindset. Yeah, nothing. You realized this was you doing it. Yes, 100%. I wonder why kids do that, though. Like, you know, my camera guy, dude, his test levels are low. I told him, go check your test levels. He came back where it's like, dude, if I were you, I would be depressed. Why? Because he had low test levels. Right, your hormones. And then the other day he comes in and he was talking to his mom, and I make fun of him. Because, you know, what are you talking to your mom for? Like, that's weird. Aren't you like a grown up? And he's like, well, you know, we have a good relationship, which I'm just joking him, obviously. And so I said, and, and he's like, you know, I was just saying that kind of like, you know, being an adult is harder than I thought it'd be. But it's like, you know, we're so far beyond that now. We fail as adults, like full grown adults, that maybe you guys are transitioning into this whole thing. that maybe it's a little bit different than you thought it would be. But when I grew up, I was business owners. Listen up. 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So whether you need quick money to bridge a gap or do more marketing, get some equipment, or hire more people, I'm telling you, apply today at cardiff.co forward slash Brad. stop letting slow money cost you opportunities that move fast there's no impact on your personal credit so apply now at cardiff.co forward slash brad subject to approval terms and rates vary cardiff borrow better i got kicked out at 16 and so i just got hit in the face with reality but i've never really thought about killing myself i've been to a point where i've like been lonely or depressed, but I've never thought about it. I wonder if it's a, if it's a unique thing. Like in other words, do you believe a lot of people do out there? Yeah. Your friends, obviously someone didn't catch him in time. Do you have other friends that did? No, I've just had friends that have come close. And what would you say if someone's listening to this and they're close? So first I would just like to point out like, you're right. Like a lot of guys, like your age specifically, like your generation that are listening to this right now, like maybe you guys are like, what is this girl getting on about? Like, I've never thought like that. I would never make that decision. Some, maybe there's someone your age that like is thinking about making that decision, but also you have, you have daughters and you said like your daughters like struggled with anxiety. Like you guys all have kids. And I think this like generation, I think it, I think it is different. And maybe that's like, in your guys' perspective, like, oh, like it's a weak generation. And like, we hear that all the time. Like everyone says Gen Z is like a weak generation, but if that like is true, which I'm not arguing, like again, participation trophies, like the mental health of those kids are like a hundred percent worse because worse, because no one was really saying like, like just rush it off and like get back out there. Like everyone was like coddling us or like we'd go to school and like counselors are now able to like fully bring you into their office and like talk to you. Ace for you. Right. Like no one was really taught. Like no one was really taught how to get through things or like how to deal with things. Like everyone was very just like people would deal with things for them. So if someone is listening and maybe you're like, I don't relate to this at all. I would say like. You act like everyone old listens. Like there's youngsters. Well, no, I'm saying like all audience. Like everyone listening. There's people right now listening to this in the same situation you were in at 18. That why I glad you here and talking about it because obviously it is a it is a problem And regardless of whether we think the kids nowadays are weak and I do think they are and the reason why is because of that it because the coddling and the political correct nonsense that goes on like hey you lost okay beat it go get better practice you came in third third's the freaking is a losing position man right fourth you're not even in the rankings right okay go cry to your parents you know get better come back next year nice try that's what we were told and and but and guess what we got over it because you do get over it but nowadays kids don't man they are they are being held to a like you ever heard hold space for somebody yeah what the hell does that mean i personally am not like the best addicts i also think it sounds like a little ridiculous i don't even know what it is you have to like hold space for like their feelings but what does that mean how do you hold space? Like if you were like coming to me and you're like, I like am really upset that you did something. I'd have to like hold space and let you like say how you're feeling and why that upset you before I can just be like, that's stupid. I didn't do that. Like it's like to avoid the whole like defensive, like I didn't do that. Like, why are you crying? Whatever. What if you met a man and he was like that? There's plenty of men around my age that act like that. And I personally don't entertain it too much. Yeah. I think that, I think that might be why there's a, there's a lot of younger women liking older men nowadays. They're always like going 10 years above because maybe that's why. Yeah. Big mama's boys generation. All men your age are holding space for one another. Right. Right. Sometimes they're holding space for each other. Right. So I was like, when I was a kid, we had to go play in the dirt with a stick and we had pine cone fights. Right. And that's what it was. And then when you, when it was dark out, you'd have to go home because it was dark. Now it's like, I don't want to, I don't want to let my kids out of my neighborhood. Why? Cause there's kidnappers. Yeah. You know, there's weirdos now, but if you think back, there were probably kidnappers and weirdos then it was, it just wasn't in your face. Cause your phone's not like news, this news, that Twitter, this Instagram, that like, you just didn't see it. So I decided out of mind. So social media is, is an issue. I agree. And I try not to be a big hypocrite with it because obviously I use social media, but I also limit my social media. I know that if I like start scrolling on Instagram reels and then five minutes turns into like three hours, I'm going to feel bad about myself. So I don't scroll on Instagram reels. Like I don't use social media to like go into like the loop of being unproductive or like letting myself obsess over certain things or like influencers. Like I don't really keep up with any influencers. Like I don't really care. What about the anxiety? I think the longer you're on your phone, the more you're going to be anxious. like if you're scrolling and then you don't do something and oh I have that assignment but now I'm like stuck on my phone or like this and that like you're just gonna get more anxious or how about this we see everything wrong with our country like every two seconds like we are just constantly in a state of fear like our social media is constantly telling us to be afraid of something like oh we're gonna get like bombed or like oh like this is happening right exactly but like when you're like a younger kid and you're scrolling on social media and it's like school shooting in blank. And then it's like blank threatening to bomb us. And then it's like Epstein's files released, which like, should we be up to date on the news? Sure. Like, but there's a healthy amount of it. It's not every single thing I swipe past is someone arguing over something and something like really terrifying. Obviously as a younger kid, I'm going to get really scared and anxious about it. Like COVID-19. I mean, we don't need to get into that, but when I was, cause like, I don't, I mean, I just have my thoughts on it, but when I was like, I just think it's the flu. I don't think COVID was all it was made out to be, but that is a hundred percent correct. Right. And by the way, everybody knows it now. Yes. But then at the time it was like, my dad was very like, this is stupid. This is the flu. Like everyone's going to be fine. But when I was 14, I thought everyone was dying. Like I thought I was never going to see my, like my Nana again. That was really scary. Did you get a vaccine? No. Because your dad didn't let you. Right. Yeah. That's why my kids are what we call pure bloods now. Yeah. When they're begging you to get a vaccine, you gotta, you gotta raise an eyebrow. What are you so eager for? You know, it's free. Okay. There's a problem. What do you mean it's free? How come cancer medicine ain't free? You're worried about our wellbeing. are you well why aren't you worried about anything else like dude it just didn't make sense if you're if you're if you're like a free thinker if you're a sheep then you would just believe that they're telling you this nonsense but i'm glad you didn't fall for it yeah no but let's go back to the anxiety because my little girl really does like she'll get to the point where she's crying and she's like she's like saying my heart is just beating and it's like i'm thinking it's her hormones changing i'm thinking you know it it's anxiety i even tell her i'm like that's just anxiety calm down breathe box breathe but she's not making up that her heart's beating fast and she feels like it's you know pressure and she doesn't know why no she starts to cry she even says take me to the hospital i i'm having a heart attack and i'm like you're not having a heart attack but she's not faking it in other words it's not a mental issue her body's doing it so i've taken her to the emergency room once because i'll do it once um i would feel bad if she died and i'm saying it's just just hormones knock it off dirt on it that's how i'm doing i'm doing i'm like knock it off stop being like that because i don't want my kids pansies so i tell her and that is all that's happening so i take her to the hospital And sure enough, that's what the doctor said. Nothing wrong. There's nothing wrong with her. There's hormones and, you know, she doesn't know what that feels like. And, you know, but I want to do something. What can she do? Do you know anything she can do? Do you feel it still? Yeah. So I, like, I started having like panic attacks like that when I was like nine. And I, like, to her point, like, you actually feel like you're dying. Like, I, like, the room would spin. My eyes are all blurry. I'm like, dad, you have to take me to the hospital. Like, I'm going to die. there was a few times like my mom did end up having to take me in because i was like no i'm dying guys like i'm actually dying um and honestly was that that wasn't mold then no it was just like i like i like watched my grandpa die in hospice when i was like really little and like that gave me really bad anxiety because i was just scared everyone was gonna die every two seconds see again like see i don't watch people die when when people say come to the funeral i say nah They're like, what do you mean? I'm like, I don't want to remember him like that. I want to remember him like that. And so like, I remember everybody that I know that passed already. I remember him from being alive. I don't look at people in caskets. That's a good point. But I mean, you said you watched your grandpa die in a hospice. Yeah, it was for two weeks. He was laying in a cot in the living room and our parents bring us over every day after school and we slowly watched him. Yeah. But every day for like two weeks, like, yeah, we like watched him like say goodbye. But then, I mean, eventually he took his last breath in the living room and I was like nine. Your dad? No, it was my mom's dad. Well, what'd your mom, where's your mom now? Home. What does she say about that? She apologizes. So she realizes, yeah, I shouldn't have done that. No, she apologized. They all apologized. Like they were like, no one had ever died before. We didn't really, it's our first time living too. Like we didn't really know what to do. And I mean, I don't blame them for it. Like, I don't, I don't know what I would have done if I had three kids and my dad was dying and I'd never watched anyone die before. Like, what do you do? Like your kids were really close to this person. Or you let the kid decide. I was nine. My sister was five. You make decisions. My nine-year-old right now, she makes decisions all day long. I got to like veto some of them. True. I mean, moving forward, I would obviously do things different living through it, but I don't know what I would have done if I had never experienced anything before and I didn't know any better. But back to like the anxiety thing, I first, I would honestly like get her, like get her like tested for deficiencies because if she has like an iron deficiency, which is like super common nowadays or a vitamin D deficiency, that could be what was easily causing her anxiety. Like me, like I have to be on supplements. Like I don't recommend pills and like pharmaceutical meds to anyone. I think they just make everything worse and put a bandaid over a bullet hole. But if you actually like take a supplement that like treats a genuine problem that is happening, like that's when I feel better. Or like for some people like ashwagandha, like really, really works. And then as soon as they start taking an ashwagandha supplement, like it's like all natural holistic and then they don't have anxiety anymore. So I'd look into like what deficiencies like she honestly has. Like for me, like I had an iron deficiency. I started taking iron, not having as much panic attacks. Like blood tests. Cool. Yeah. Blood test. Um, and there's like a bunch of different kinds of you take a blood test. You can take a urine test, like whatever. She might also be mental. I mean, if you like took a scan of my brain, I'd probably also pop up as a bit. Well, like she doesn't like to blow her nose. Yeah. You could get some other testing done as well. Like, isn't that weird? I did you not want to blow your nose too? Don't tell me that. I had really, I had weird issues like that when I was a kid. Like I'm, I'm very, like I was very easily like overstimulated and I was like really weird about certain things, like very OCD. Um, like I'd have to like walk up and down stairs four times or like mom was going to die. Like I was like also like really weird or like I overwashed my hands because like if I touched anything, it was like dirty. And it was just something I kind of grew out of. Like when I was little, I was like a little bit of. Well, she walks around and it sounds like her nose is plugged and i'm like why do you sound like that and she's like whatever and then my wife will say she won't blow her nose i'm like what are you talking about i'm like blow your nose she refuses to blow her nose it's the weirdest thing it could be like uh like an obsession compulsion like that's the anxiety one exactly like if she like like in her head she could be like if i blow my nose my dad's gonna drop dead at work and like that sounds crazy to you but like genuinely like her brain is telling her or like the devil's telling her like that would happen or like she'll break her arm. If like she blows her nose, like it's just like, she's like telling herself something else is going to happen. It's like an obsession and a compulsion. Like the obsession is like someone's going to die. And then the compulsion is like blown her nose. So are you, are you taking any classes in school to help you with this chosen? Yes. I, I graduate with my bachelor's in psychology. Like, yeah, May 2nd. Are you going to pursue a career? Yes. I want to get my master's and my doctorate because I just want to know more about it. Like I want, if someone comes to me with questions, I want to know exactly like the answer they're looking for for the question. Like I want to be so educated on it that like I just know everything that I'm just like a sponge of information. Well, you know what you're going to find out? What? that you you'll never know because the education is made up half the time i experienced that undergrad it was so just because they say it doesn't make it so you know what i mean but it's good to it's good to learn and form your own opinion right and and just come with your own answers but yeah education is a part of it just don't believe it because they've educated you you know where the doctors that swore to God you should get that vaccine? Yeah. They went to school too. And guess who taught them? People that went to school. And then guess who taught them? And you keep going back and eventually you're like, oh, so you bastards are who put that curriculum together knowing full well that we'd all end up using all of your petroleum products and your medicines. And next thing you know, you realize like these doctors don't know stuff either. No, and that's why I think it's like really important that you look more on like the science and the art part of specifically like psychology. Like if you take a psych art class, you're going to go into a discussion based course where the professors get to tell you everything they want. And you're probably just going to get filtered into like what they believe, which is what I experienced in undergrad. It was just a lot of my teachers have really strong beliefs here. Therefore, that's what I'm being taught, which was frustrating. but in like my psych 101 class or my abnormal psychology class which is about like mental disorders like they couldn't really like lie about the curriculum because it was like literally just science like it was like this is your brain this is what your brain does this is your amygdala like this is this this is your frontal lobe this is what all this means and they can't really make up a lot with psychological disorders there's a few things i disagreed with in like the dsm because they can take things out and take things in kind of always question things would be my advice to you. Just because they're saying it doesn't mean anything. Doctors, like when you hear four out of five doctors recommend, who's the one that doesn't? And why can't they agree? Yeah, no, that's a great point. But it's still, it's like, just because they were educated doesn't make them right. It doesn't make them wrong either, but it doesn't make them right. Because otherwise all doctors would agree. And there's doctors that disagree with other doctors and they're both doctors and they both were educated so who's right how who do you trust that's what it boils down to who do you trust you know who i think you should trust yourself you know what i'm saying yeah and honestly trust yourself first right and that and now let me listen to this doctor let me listen to this doctor and let me see what i feel let me pray right because i think intrinsically you'll get your right answers. Like what's the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist? Psychiatrists can prescribe meds and psychologists can't. So why not? They just, I honestly, they like psychiatrists have to just go to more residency and schooling to be able to like prescribe medicines and psychologists don't. To learn drugs. To learn drugs. So it's like, what's the difference between a chiropractor and a medical doctor? They both go to med school. But what's the difference? It's just like their residency and what they specialize in. Chiropractors can't prescribe drugs. Yes. Yes. MDs can. But so can a nurse. I think a registered nurse or some sort of nurse. PA. Yeah, PA. Yeah, so it's like drugs. That's like the major difference. Well, what's one of the highest paid professions in the medical industry? Anesthesiologists. And all they do is just give you drugs, put you under. drugs drugs so to me if i was going to go be a doctor i would definitely want to be able to prescribe drugs because you'd get paid more i want money like what else am i doing it but if i just gonna learn you know so i know um I going to do what you doing I going to study I going to listen to multiple people I'm almost going to be like a philosopher instead of if I'm doing it for money, I'm doing drugs. So I was going to ask you, why not be a psychiatrist? Because I don't believe in medicine. So morally, I don't want to go into a profession where I'm expected to prescribe medicine to people because I don't believe in it. I like that. because more than likely i mean i do believe in some medicine but i believe like if you're dying like go to the hospital please like that's not what i mean like medicine like you know you the food is the medicine like i mean you know black seed oil if you get real pure black seed oil that stuff will cure all kinds of things um garlic you know like but i believe in real medicine i believe in god-made medicine not man-made yeah it's the it's the man-made medicine that i don't believe in. And especially in like the psych space, like no hate to anyone that takes meds. Like I like fully understand, like you went to a doctor and they told you you had to take this or like something bad was going to happen. Like you probably listened if you didn't have other people telling you not to like, my dad is extremely holistic. He's a dentist and dentists are like one of the more holistic approaches to like being a doctor. And he's always told me like, no, we're not doing that. And like, he's educated me on what like psychiatric meds actually do and like if you're like dopamine is like really low they just lower your serotonin tone in to like mellow you out and then you're just a zombie walking around they don't fix your dopamine they just lower everything else to like even it out it's a band-aid over a bullet hole well i wouldn't go to a dentist that didn't believe in drugs you ever went to the dentist yeah you want drugs at the dentist well i guess one place i do want drugs like numbing medicine sure like yeah numbing medicine for sure can you imagine just going in there straight up getting the tooth pulled and it's like you know hey we don't believe in medicine here one time my dad did make me go without numbing because i like broke my tooth like chewing on my nails and he told me to stop chewing on my nails so it was a lesson to get the tooth taken out without any numbing well when you're a kid like a tooth gets loose you know you eventually pull it out and it's fine but i'm talking about like you'll get teeth work done yeah like no meds like give me the meds i want that gas i want the i want the shot i want it all matter of fact that yeah there's a there's a um drug i think it's called halcyon is there a halcyon you don't issue drugs no that's like what i'm saying is like he'll give you numbing medicine but then if you're like oh like my root canal really hurts i want some morphine he's gonna be like i'm not giving you pain meds for the work I just did in your mouth. Like you're fine. Like you just got a filling. Well, as long as it's true, I'm down. But like only if you got like an implant, not if someone got like a filling. Well, there's, there's also, there's also rumors about, uh, root canals. Oh yeah. He like real. Yeah. He doesn't like root canals. Yeah. Because root canals supposedly like, you know, there's like, it's causing you a problem. Yeah. Like big lead to breast cancer in women. Yeah, all kinds of things. And not only that, but the DNA or the cord blood or whatever's in there is also very therapeutic and healthy, and they want it out. Now, again, is there a real evil conspiracy out there that are teaching dentists from a thousand years, give them a root canal? Or did they believe it? We'll have to get dad on next time. Yeah, dive into it. Okay, so here's my question. your future is to go stop or help children, not children, but people stop even thinking about suicide. And you know that that is a moot, effortless, thankless, ongoing thing. What, why are you choosing that? Because I, I've seen the way like mental health truly does affect people. And like, we can sit here and say all we want that. Like, like you've like never really thought about it or like it is like an easy fix. Like for me, it was like, okay, I just had to like make the decision to like counteract those thoughts every day. But like for some people, like that is everything for them. That's like all their thoughts, like everything they're just going through. And they don't see it the same way we do. Like they don't see it as like, I just have to wake up and choose to be happy. And those are the people that are going to like make that decision or that they're the people that aren't going to seek help when they need it. Because if they have the mindset where it's like, it's embarrassing to ask for help in this, like, who knows they could have like a deficiency that's making them feel that way. Like maybe it's not even them. Like maybe it's not even like they're choosing to like be like, Oh, like no one likes me. Like they could easily just have a deficiency that like makes them more prone to having these mental struggles. And I like, frankly, like, I don't, I don't want to see more people die. I don't want to like look around and know that I have solutions to something as simple as they actually are. Once you get into it, that could save someone's life and be the reason someone knows like they don't need to make that decision. Like suicide rates are increasing. Stigma around mental health is increasing. And I look at it like a ripple, like in a pond, like if you're skipping stones and it's just constantly negativity about mental health and like negativity about like, oh, just like feel better. Like, oh, like don't think like that or just like whatever. Like it's going to be a negative ripple effect and like everyone's going to stay silent and they're not going to reach out. But if I throw like one stone in there that it's like, oh, like if you like listen to this or you do this framework, it's going to get better for you. And that like, I, I like, I love you. I care about you. I don't even know you. There's going to be a positive ripple effect there. People are actually going to be willing to reach out and get the help they need before it's too late. Do you want anybody that might be suicidal to DM you or call suicide prevention? Honestly, either. Like, I think if you're at the point where you're thinking of making the decision right the second, you should reach out to 988 and reach out to the hotline. what's 988 that's the suicide hotline number i thought it was 911 nope that's the police like if you call the police and say like i'm about to like commit suicide they're gonna just tell you to call 988 988 is like the suicide hotline have you ever is there such a thing as being put on hold i've never called but i'm like pretty positive that's like not a thing like they're supposed to have people working 24 7 to reach out but you should test it you should mystery shop 988 Okay, I will. And I'll get back to you and let you know. What if they're rude? That's true. I wouldn't know. I've never called. If you're calling 988, you're about to commit suicide and you want someone to talk to, you better have a nice trained professional on the other phone. It can't just be some rude ass. No, that's true. That's 100% true. I'll have to test that out. But then if someone else is out there and they're just struggling in general and they want more just advice or to reach out for resources and stuff, I totally open to people DMing me and reaching out, but I'm not trying to be like their life or death. Like if they're about to make the decision, they DM me and I'll check their DMs for three days. Like it's not going to go too well. So they should reach out to 98. Yeah. Like that wouldn't work out too well. Like don't do that. Call 98. So would you say that you're a hundred percent cured or do you still have any negative depressive thoughts? I don't think I'll genuinely ever be a hundred percent cured. and I think that it's, I just think it's a daily decision. Like I have to wake up in the morning and say like, I'm going to beat these thoughts in my head. And I'm someone like, I'm very faith-based. Like, so I know that the lies and being told are from the devil. So I just immediately like whatever the lie is, I just find a verse in scripture that actively counteracts it because every lie you tell yourself, there's a verse that is the truth that's basically telling you that the lie is a lie. So I just like, I'm constantly reframing the way I think. I'm constantly just telling myself, a true to outweigh the lie and how heavily the lie is like weighing on me. But I think mental health is a roller coaster. And I think there's low moments and there's high moments. And I think right now I'm on a pretty good high because a lot's going my way. I'm getting healthy. Like I'm taking the supplements I need. I'm like on the come up, but who knows what happens in five years. Maybe I'm in another low place, but now I have all the framework I know to be able to build myself back up to a good place. Well, ironically, do you see that the low places you were in is what prepared you for this high place that you're in now? Absolutely. I think so. So again, if you think about it, the next time you're in a low place and you start going, it's like, that's literally what conditions and prepares people for what it is they're praying for. So people pray for strength and then curse the adversity. It makes no sense. No, a hundred percent. Like even like Jesus had to like go on the, like the desert for 40 days before his crucifixion. Like he like literally fasted for 40 days. He didn't need anything. Like that would suck. He had to get crucified. Like that would suck, but like it was for a greater purpose. And then everything like worked out the way, like God planned for it too. So you just have to look at it like that, where it's like, this is a season of preparation and like preparation is never fun. But then when you get to like the point of things succeeding, like that's when things are fun or when you like feel better. And honestly, I like, as much as like, I look back and it's like, wow, that was like, I like, I don't know why I thought like that. Like, I don't know why I ever thought that that decision was okay. But I am like so grateful that I was in a place where I thought the decision was okay. And I thought that like, that was it for me because now I can go back. And if I find someone in the same place I was, I can be like, oh my goodness, like I've been there. Like, I promise you, like it gets better. Like, I promise you, like those are lies. Like that's not the truth. Like, and I promise you, like there's great things coming. Like life is full of highs and lows. Everything is temporary. Like the greatest day of your life is still temporary. So like the worst day of your life is temporary too. Like laughing with my friends is temporary. Like I'm going to like go home and then go to bed. And then like the next day I could be really sad, but like everything is temporary. Everything in life, every stage of life is temporary. You turn a new age every year. Like nothing's forever. That's right. I almost feel like maybe you've been listening to me because like you are, you are correct young lady. So, um, I hope there's nobody out there listening that that feels depressed and like they want to kill themselves because that's definitely not the way to go um but i would recommend that they all get your book sanity in the storm is now you don't have audio yet not yet but we're working on it especially with your voice you got that little demi moore sounding voice you should be reading your own book you know what i mean branding your voice because you have a distinct voice thank you no it's um It's on the agenda this summer. The book was just published in January and then I had to graduate college really fast, but now we're back. So I'll do it this summer. Now you're back. And what is your goal? Do you want to speak? Do you want to do, what do you want to be? Yes, I want to be like a keynote speaker. I want to be just like a speaker in general, like anywhere, any place. I think everyone needs to know how important mental health is and how important having a good mental framework is because you're only as good as your worst thought about yourself. So everyone needs- Do you have a framework that you could share with the, the weekies listening? I call them weekies. Cause like that'd be, that'd be weak folks. If you want to hear it from an old jet X, or here's what I tell you, I say, quit being a little punk. Okay. It's going to get tough and it's going to get better. And the tough is actually what makes it better. Believe it or not. That's why they say, you know, if without the pain, you know, the, the, like if someone's punching you in the face, it feels good when they stop. Right. But if you've never been punched in the face, you wouldn't know any better. So now you're just almost taking it for granted. It's just like what I call earthly energy and heavenly energy. Okay. Heavenly energy. What would you expect to be in heaven? Perfection. The vibrational frequency of things, you know you would feel like gratitude right certainty joy peace love peace enthusiasm like you hear angels you know that sound and then and then earthly down here greed uncertainty depression anxiety anger all that's here you got heavenly and then you got earthly now if you had to choose which one would you choose probably heavenly so why wouldn't you choose it that's a good point it's like almost like to your point when you're punching in the face like if you don't know what you don't have you don't know what to seek well because people don't realize it's a choice right 100 god gave us free will and free will is the ability to choose and that's the power So once you realize that I have the power, he gave me the power to choose. So I can choose to be upset or I can choose to be excited in the same situation. Getting punched in the face, believe it or not, sounds crazy, but you can be sitting there getting punched in the face and choose to enjoy it. Now, some people that can't grasp that, they have work to do. And no, I didn't say it's great to get punched in the face. I said, you can choose to enjoy it. You just have to shift your perspective and your mindset. That's really what it is. And you've already found that. And that's what's powerful. So I'm glad you're out there doing it because there's a lot of kids that won't listen to us because we're older, but they'll listen to you. And then vice versa. So we're joined forces. Yeah, dynamic duo. Get the word out there. You got the cool dynamic name already, though, Storm. now now if there's people listening that want her to speak at your event do you have a keynote speech or do you just go talk on it um honestly like kind of depends on where i'm speaking and like what the event is but like typically i have a speech do you have any goals like i'd like to speak at harvard's commencement speech or anything crazy um not yeah i think it'd be cool to like go back to my university and like speak once like once i'm out there but anywhere anything okay and then one last time where to get that book so if you look in sanity in the storm.com you'll come across my website and my website has access to get the book and the podcast and everything or if you're just like an avid amazon shopper it's on amazon so well thanks for coming in and i'm glad you've made the right choices thank you and uh folks as always take this take this mental health uh seriously there might be people in your family that seem happy and they seem fine and they're not and maybe you reach out and just ask them would you have a way to do that i think people are like always scared like oh i'll put the thought in their head if i reach out and ask them but honestly like that's not the case at all and honestly i recommend because no one wants to like sit down and ask someone straight up like oh like are you struggling? Are you okay? But I think just going in and checking in on someone and be like, Hey, like just letting you know, like, I love you. And I'm here if you ever need anything. Like, that's good. They're going to remember that they're going to remember that you're there. But if you are someone that you think someone is actually really struggling, ask them straight up, like be direct, be straightforward because honest questions get honest answers. Boom. Folks, as always till next time, keep it real. There you have it.