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Surviving Abuse, Addiction, Loss, and 11 Surgeries: A Purpose That Held with Don Wood · The Purpose and Progress Podcast Show

0:00
Don Wood:: And this is a message I give to people, God will put
0:03
you into situations where you won't feel like you're ready,
0:07
but you are, because God's with you. He's going to see to it
0:11
that you're going to work through this, whatever
0:14
difficulty you have in life, and you're going to get to the other
0:18
side of this. Because I'll say to people, no matter how
0:22
difficult your life is, there's two things you can always say to
0:26
yourself, it's not always going to be this way. This is not the
0:30
end of the story, it's only part of the story.
0:33
Jim Price:: Hello, I'm Dr. Jim Price, and welcome to The
0:36
Purpose and Progress Podcast. This is the place where we
0:40
explore how purpose can guide our actions, and how growth can
0:44
become a part of our everyday lives. On the show, I talk with
0:48
amazing guests, from educators and creators to everyday people
0:53
with extraordinary stories about the challenges they face, the
0:57
lessons they've learned, and how to keep moving forward. My goal
1:01
is to share conversations that inspire you to live
1:03
intentionally, embrace growth, and take meaningful steps to
1:07
your own purpose. Let's get started.
1:14
Hello, everyone. Welcome again to The Purpose and Progress
1:16
Podcast Show. I'm your host, Dr. Jim Price. Here on this show, we
1:21
share inspirational motivational stories about people who are
1:25
inspiring others to be the best versions of themselves through
1:28
self awareness, self love, understanding all the aspects of
1:31
themselves that can help them create abundance and create
1:35
positivity in their life. We should love to share all the
1:38
stories of wonderful folks that are able to inspire change. And
1:41
sometimes, people will see people that are successful, and
1:44
they don't always know the process that it took to get
1:47
there. And this show is definitely about seeing that
1:50
process. People see the glitz and the glamor, and all the good
1:53
things happening, but they don't always know about the story that
1:56
it took to get there, the journey that happened to get
1:59
there. And today is no different.
2:01
We have a fabulous guest today. He is an executive advisor,
2:06
Founder and host of The Don Wood Show podcast, formerly known as
2:10
Men's Leadership God's Way. Drawing on his background in
2:14
corporate leadership and athletic training, he helps
2:17
executives manage stress, strengthen self-awareness, and
2:20
lead lives of greater purpose. I'm glad that I'm blessed to
2:24
have on the show, Don Wood. How you doing, Don?
2:27
Don Wood:: Well, thank you, Jim. It's a privilege to be here.
2:30
Jim Price:: Thank you for opening up to be a guest on the
2:33
show as well. We're always wanting to find and connect with
2:37
people who are inspiring others to be the best versions of
2:40
themselves, and inspiring change in a positive way. It's no
2:45
different with you. You've definitely seen a lot of success
2:47
already, and we're gonna get into a little bit of the process
2:50
of the journey. There's always a process, there's always a
2:53
journey that precipitates getting to the levels and the
2:57
steps of success, wherever it is. Reaching those goals,
2:59
reaching those aspirations of what you want to reach to, so
3:02
we're going to touch upon that and get to know the journey and
3:05
stuff. So in to start off, we would like to find out when do
3:10
you feel that your journey started, and what influenced
3:13
that?
3:14
Don Wood:: Wow, that's a great question. I would say my journey
3:17
began when I was a young boy at home. We grew up in an alcoholic
3:23
household where I had to be on alert. I am alert all the time.
3:29
I had to be resourceful. I had to know when to perform and when
3:34
to stay quiet. There were nights where I could hear my mother
3:39
yelling for me because my father was hitting her, and I would run
3:44
down, and I would try to rescue my mom. And so at a very early
3:48
age, I learned adaptability, and I learned leadership skills of
3:52
how to deal with stress under pressure without even realizing
3:56
it. That probably too young of an age. I remember that by the
4:03
time I was in 3rd grade, I would be sitting alone in the
4:06
cafeteria drinking milk. Because at that time, that's how you
4:11
treated ulcers. I'd be sitting there all alone in the cafeteria
4:15
thinking, here I am, I'm the only one in the cafeteria. I'm
4:18
by myself. I had to create an environment for myself where I
4:24
could entertain myself and create a new reality in terms of
4:30
becoming adaptable to things that were, to be honest, lonely
4:34
for me. Another thing, and I share this in many of the
4:38
articles that I write, my father was beating my mother, and I
4:42
went to the phone to call the police. He took the receiver out
4:46
of my hand, and he hit my forearm many times with the
4:50
receiver. And then before we knew it, he had left. And there
4:55
I was sitting in my mom's lab, and I was looking at my forearm
4:59
with the bumps that had formed on my forearm. I remember
5:03
running my finger over the bumps, pretending that it was a
5:07
train going through the mountains. It was this kind of
5:11
adaptability, or this adaptive strategy that I would create
5:15
from a very young age that really lended itself to be
5:19
becoming very effective in leadership on the corporate
5:23
world.
5:27
Jim Price:: Thanks for being so open, candid and honest with
5:29
your experiences. I think sometimes, a lot of people, they
5:33
hear messages like that, and they feel like, okay, well,
5:37
other people are experiencing the same thing. And being able
5:40
to overcome those obstacles and work through a lot of time
5:44
trauma is the thing that propels us to change in a positive
5:47
direction. For myself, trauma can open up those doors of
5:53
purpose, and understanding one on a deeper level. Those
5:56
experiences are definitely traumatic experiences, and they
6:00
stay with you. When you get through working on the trauma
6:04
and stuff like that, and get to that point where you can put
6:08
yourself in a position where you're dealing with your purpose
6:10
and what you're meant to be here for, to help others, inspire
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others and let them know that they can overcome obstacles even
6:17
in situations like that, that's just a heartfelt story.
6:21
Perseverance in that way. I thank you for sharing that,
6:24
being open and candid about that experience. It allows our
6:28
audience to also be able to understand that even through our
6:32
experiences, we can turn those experiences to something
6:36
positive in our lives go through the traumatic experiences and
6:41
stuff.
6:41
Don Wood:: And you can imagine coming out of that household, I
6:44
didn't have a lot of confidence. Because my father would always
6:48
say to me, you're never going to amount to anything so I didn't
6:51
do well in high school because I withdrew. I wanted to go to
6:56
college, and I remember a friend of mine was going to this
7:00
university, and I wanted to go and be with them. I'll never
7:04
forget receiving that rejection letter saying, you're not
7:08
admitted. I was determined to prove myself so I went to
7:13
community college for two years, and I did so well in community
7:18
college that I went on to enroll into the most competitive
7:24
university in the state system. It was Binghamton, it was State
7:28
University of New York at Binghamton. I got accepted. Both
7:35
of my roommates were valedictorians of their high
7:38
school class, and I thought, I don't belong here. I remember
7:42
being so terrified that first semester, but I showed up, and I
7:48
did well. In my senior year, I learned that my mom was
7:54
terminally ill from cancer. All those years I had promised
8:00
myself I would never be like my father. I went to the one coping
8:04
mechanism that I learned from my father about how to deal with
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the news of my mother's terminal illness, and that was drinking.
8:14
And by the time I reached my final semester of my senior
8:18
year, I had to make a decision. My mom said, Don, I want you to
8:25
go and take care of yourself. And so what I did is I enrolled
8:28
in rehab, and I had to forego graduation to go to rehab. And
8:34
when I was in rehab, my mom passed away. I remember that day
8:39
that I learned that she had passed away. I had made a
8:42
promise to myself that I was going to go into recovery and do
8:47
it for her. I was going to dedicate my recovery to her. And
8:51
to this day, I'm 32 years into sobriety. And what it's done for
8:56
me is it's given me the tools to have empathy, concern and
9:01
genuine care for others when I'm helping them through their
9:04
traumatic events in life.
9:06
Jim Price:: Wow. Oh, my goodness. Talk about trials,
9:10
tribulations, and opticals in life. Grief and loss, those are
9:14
all traumatic in that sense. When you lose loved ones, and
9:21
even with myself when my grandma passed, I kind of blocked it out
9:25
for like two years like it never happened. But eventually, I got
9:29
to the point where I had to work on that and heal, and go through
9:34
that process grieving aspects of things. But sometimes, it takes
9:38
time. Everybody deals with trauma and grieving in different
9:42
ways. Everybody has their own way of dealing with it. And
9:44
however you deal with it, it's okay. Everything happens with
9:47
his divine timing. So however people deal with their grief,
9:51
trauma and stuff, at some point, there can be positive change,
9:55
there can be growth from those experiences and stuff like that.
9:59
So I always like to say, sometime, these obstacles and
10:02
stuff in life actually help us grow stronger. We'll appreciate
10:08
it more because of all the things that we went through to
10:09
get there. I always like to share some time to out. You've
10:15
really shared so many of the obstacles that you faced
10:18
throughout your journey. Is there an obstacle that was
10:26
probably the most difficult for you that you did face? I know
10:31
you've mentioned about all the grief and the trauma in terms of
10:35
growing up, childhood and stuff. If you were to say one of those
10:39
was probably projecting you to go toward your purpose, what
10:44
would that be?
10:46
Don Wood:: When I went into sobriety, I really turned to my
10:51
relationship with Jesus Christ. I learned that I was created for
10:57
a purpose. And then God was even more interested in my life than
11:01
I was, because he wanted to make sure that my purpose that he
11:05
created me for was to be carried out while I was here. I was
11:09
given a couple of gifts that I was to use to serve others, and
11:13
that's when I would feel the best about myself. The message
11:16
that I send to everyone is that you have a couple of gifts that
11:21
are meant to be developed so that you can serve others. And
11:24
if you think about it in your life, when you felt the best
11:27
about yourself, it's when you've helped someone and you're using
11:31
the gifts that you've been given, and you would do it all
11:33
day long if you could.
11:34
Jim Price:: Absolutely. That's the truth. Sometimes, people are
11:39
light workers, and that's what their spirit leads them to do,
11:44
to help others. They have a helping spirit about themselves.
11:48
You get good things in return. You get good karma and all this
11:51
good stuff in return when you're able to help others and be
11:53
genuine about it within your heart. Sometimes, people just do
11:59
things. But when you can do things from your heart and do it
12:03
genuinely on what you're doing when you're trying to help
12:06
others, it's so much more meaningful and impactful as
12:11
well. When you're able to do it in that way, you're definitely
12:17
on that path to purpose and light worker aspect of things,
12:22
incorporating God and all those things on your journey as you
12:27
continue to inspire people and stuff like that. I would also
12:30
like to, as far as achievements, what achievement that you hold
12:37
dear to you. If you were to say, whatever achievement that's kind
12:44
of dear to me.
12:45
Don Wood:: Well, that's a great question, Jim. It was a
12:48
situation when I was a junior in high school. I played football.
12:54
And as you know, with football, they have two a days that place
12:58
two weeks before school begins where you come home and you're
13:03
so tired and you don't even want to eat dinner. You just want to
13:05
go right to bed and hopefully get ready for the next day. And
13:08
it was a Friday evening, and my mom and dad went out to dinner,
13:13
and I was in bed. This was back in the days where they didn't
13:17
have voicemail. So the phone rang and rang and rang, so
13:22
finally I got up and answered it. And this woman who was on
13:26
the other line sounded intoxicated, and she said, Don,
13:31
is your is your mother home? And I said, no, she's out to dinner.
13:34
She said, please tell her that Kathy called, and it's very
13:38
important that she calls me when she gets home. So I left a note
13:42
and went back to bed. An hour later, my mother yells upstairs,
13:46
Donnie, get your clothes on, you're coming with me. Because
13:49
my mom and dad had returned, my father was intoxicated so he
13:54
went to bed, and it was a note that I'd left for this woman
13:58
that was a friend of my mom's who was in labor. She lived out
14:04
in the country in the middle of nowhere, and so my mom and I
14:08
went. We called the ambulance. The ambulance couldn't find the
14:11
place, and my mom and myself delivered a baby on Labor Day
14:16
weekend. It was the miracle of child birth that my mom and I
14:22
had participated in. And right after the baby was born, that's
14:27
when the ambulance showed up. So I had called my football coach
14:30
and said that I can't make it to practice because I was up all
14:35
night delivering a baby, and he thought it was a joke, and he
14:37
hung up on me. He thought it was a prank because it was Labor Day
14:41
weekend.
14:43
Jim Price:: Now that right there, that is a glorified
14:47
achievement. I'm telling you, to be able to be in a situation
14:51
where you were able to help someone in that way, and during
14:54
in a situation like that.
14:56
Don Wood:: And this is a message I give to people, God will put
14:59
you into such situations where you won't feel like you're
15:01
ready, but you are, because God's with you. He's going to
15:06
see to it that you're going to work through this, whatever
15:09
difficulty you have in life, and you're going to get to the other
15:12
side of this. Because I'll say to people, no matter how
15:16
difficult your life is, there's two things you can always say to
15:19
yourself. It's not always going to be this way. And this is not
15:23
the end of the story, it's only part of the story.
15:28
Jim Price:: Sometimes people say that the storm doesn't laugh
15:31
always. Sometimes people get have storms in their lives, and
15:34
that's a part of life. You get storms in your life, and
15:37
eventually the sun does come out to shine. It's just about
15:40
persevering and pushing through that storm, and doing the things
15:43
you need to do to stay positive, and keep a positive mindset and
15:46
all that stuff in that way.
15:48
Don Wood:: And it prepares us for the challenges that are
15:50
ahead in our lives.
15:51
Jim Price:: Yes, absolutely.
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blessed.
16:29
So if you were to say, in terms of future projects and things
16:35
like that, maybe that's in the works for you, what are some
16:37
things that you're looking forward to working on? Any
16:41
future projects?
16:42
Don Wood:: Yeah. I just finished a book. It's called Forged: How
16:47
Surviving the Unthinkable, What it Taught me About Leadership.
16:53
Later on in life after I had a corporate career, I decided that
16:58
I wanted to serve the Lord in the ministry, so I left a very
17:01
good job at Bell South in Atlanta, Georgia to go off to
17:04
seminary. I came back to Atlanta, and then moved up here
17:10
to Massachusetts where I had a local television show called
17:13
Harcourts for Life, where I would read scripture, and I
17:17
would say, now we're going to apply this scripture to your
17:21
life today. And I built that bridge. Well, in the middle of
17:24
all that, one day I was writing something for the show and I had
17:29
this intense pain in my lower right side. I'm like, what's
17:33
going on? And the next thing I know, I was down on the floor in
17:36
agony, and my wife came in and rushed me to the hospital. And
17:42
it was the beginning of an 18 month journey where I went
17:44
through 11 surgeries. It started out with kidney stones, which
17:51
led to septic shock surgeries, which led to open heart surgery,
17:56
and to kidney. Through that whole journey, the medical
18:01
professionals were just amazed at how they said to me, you take
18:07
everything in stride. You never complain, and you just accept
18:12
everything. And it was because here I was sitting in my bed
18:19
after all these surgeries, and realizing that there was nothing
18:23
I could do beyond the length of my bed. Anything that was going
18:27
on, I had no control over. And God had me one on one where He
18:32
wanted me, and He wanted me to know that this is my purpose
18:36
going forward, to encourage people that are going through
18:40
burnout, pressure, and stress. I really have a heart for men. A
18:45
lot of executives today have hidden challenges that people
18:48
don't see. They only see them from the lens of performance. I
18:54
want to let men know that I understand them, and I can help
18:57
them get to the other side where they can live a life of wellness
19:01
with their relationships, with their career, with their family,
19:06
and their overall purpose, and why they're here in the first
19:09
place.
19:10
Jim Price:: Wow, that is so inspirational. And sometimes,
19:13
people just don't always know how to navigate a lot of that in
19:18
their own personal lives and everything. This has been such
19:22
an inspirational holistic way of looking and experiencing things.
19:26
How can our viewers be able to connect with you in terms of
19:30
your work and things of that nature?
19:32
Don Wood:: The best way to get in touch with me is just go to
19:35
my site at donwoodadvisory.com, and there's all kinds of
19:38
resources and ways where you can get in touch with me if you want
19:42
to work with me individually or in with groups.
19:45
Jim Price:: Could you say that one more time?
19:48
Don Wood:: Yes, it's donwoodadvisory.com.
19:52
Jim Price:: Okay, excellent. Don, this has been such a
19:55
fabulous conversation, an inspiring conversation in a lot
19:59
of ways. I'm sure our audience and viewers are going to be
20:02
inspired in so many ways just by all the wealth and knowledge
20:05
that you've shared with us today, and being open and candid
20:08
about your experiences. Those experiences uplift others and
20:12
know that they can go through and meet challenges as well. I
20:15
appreciate you, Don, on joining us today on another fabulous
20:19
episode. We're always blessed, and it's definitely been a
20:24
pleasure to have you on the show.
20:26
Don Wood:: Thank you, Jim. I really appreciate the
20:28
opportunity.
20:29
Jim Price:: Thank you once again. This is the episode of
20:32
The Purpose and Progress Podcast Show. I'm your host, Dr. Jim
20:35
Price. And as we do, we try to motivate others to do the best
20:38
versions of themselves to go through healing, overcome trauma
20:41
and things, and share the journey of others who have
20:45
similar experiences, and go through those things through a
20:47
motivational lens and everything. Please subscribe to
20:50
the channel, and we'll see you next time. Stay blessed.
20:56
Thank you for joining me on this episode of The Purpose in
20:59
Progress Podcast. I hope today's conversation gave you insight,
21:03
inspiration, or a fresh perspective to help you move
21:06
forward with purpose. If you enjoyed the episode, please
21:09
subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who could
21:12
use a little encouragement. You can also support the podcast
21:16
through the donation link in the show notes. Every contribution
21:19
helps us keep sharing stories that uplift and inspire.
21:23
Remember, your purpose is waiting, and progress never
21:26
stops. I'll see you next time.