← The Collage Podcast
The Collage Podcast
Episode 51- Jim
00:51:44
Jim sits down with Jeff and shares some of his life, including experiencing homelessness and staying thankful in difficult circumstances.
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- [00:00]
A
Foreign.
- [00:13]
B
Welcome you today to another collage podcast edition. We're very excited today. Got a special guest. So did you imagine that you would in your life be doing a podcast, Whatever this is? I don't really understand the concept, but.
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A
But no, no.
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B
Okay. So the voice you just heard, this is Jim. And Jim and I have known each other for a bit. He at this chapter right now, helps us every day pretty much. Yeah. Sunday night because you're at church. But every day he's up here helping at Feed my sheep. And then to backtrack just if you're new, Feed my Sheep. We are recording out of a little town called Temple, Texas. So little bitty town in my version, little bitty town. It's growing, but we're in the central Texas like right in the heart of Texas. What Feed my Sheep is, is among other things. But we do provide lunch every day of the week for people that you know, are without house or unability to have a meal that day. That's our nuts and bolts. That's where Jim kind of helps us every day. He checks everybody in and is super nice with everybody. And so I will let Jim kind of introduce himself a little bit. So Jim, tell the world a little bit about Jim.
- [01:36]
A
Well, hello world. My name's Jim. I. I started in the Fort Worth area. Born in 60, so that makes me kind of old. I joined the military fresh out of high school. It was something that I had planned on doing pretty much all along. It's kind of a tradition in my family. And while I was in the military, I got a degree in electronics that served me well. And after separating from the military, I went to work as a contract employee basically for the military. Modifying aircraft, designing electronics, you know, whatever came to be. And so jumped all about the world. Had a great time doing it maiden spent a bunch of money, you know, and basically had a really good time. And I met nice little girl in Montreal when I was working up there here about 24 years ago now. And we got married. And our plans were we were both going to retire at the same time, which we did. And the plans were originally we were going to retire to our place in Montreal. Well, I started falling ill and so I stopped here in Central Texas to go to the VA to try to figure out what the problem was. And it turned out that there was several different issues that kind of put me off of the track that I wanted to go down. You know, I should have been home several, several years ago now. And along that track, things outside my control just fell Apart, you know, And I ended up not being able to renew the lease on the apartment that I was in because the medical issues that I was having was causing some aberrant behavior, whatnot. It took a while to get that straightened out. And so I found myself sitting outside, which is something that never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined it would happen to me.
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B
And tell everybody out there real quick not to cut you off, because I know what is sitting outside mean.
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A
Being homeless.
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B
Okay.
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A
You know, I had a little patch on the sidewalk, and that was tough. But after we. After we got my medical conditions a little bit more under control, and I started acting normal again.
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B
That's a relative term.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Okay. So we're just going to leave it at that. So. I'm just kidding.
- [04:54]
A
But, you know, now I've. I've regained control of my life, more or less, and my health is stabilized and I have a place to live. And a large part of that was due to the efforts of the people here at Feed My Sheep when I was down and out, you know, they helped me. One point when I was in the hospital, my wallet became lost and so needed the resources here at Feed My Sheep, not only to feed myself, but to. To get my ID back so that I could proceed normally. And the last step we're going through now is for me to get my passport reissued so that I can go ahead and retire back up.
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B
Yeah.
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A
You know, back up where I was originally going several years ago. And, you know, you never know. You never know when you're going to hit a rough patch. It just happens, you know, and never in my wildest dreams could I imagine that. You know, everybody says this and all that about people, but it's not true. It happens. It happens to people. You know, if it could happen to me, it got to anybody.
- [06:14]
B
Agreed. So out of that. And there is a whole lot like that. You just unpacked right there. And then for you, what we're going to do. So then, just to clarify, if I hear, okay, wife of. And then we are not going to. I hope your wife doesn't listen as you flinched on the number of years you've been married. But then I would do the same because I know that's trouble. I've learned that the hard way.
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A
I had to stop and think, yeah, me.
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B
Well, my. My issue is I don't even know what year we're in. Okay, so, like, my first question is, oh, what year are we in? And then I'm like, oh, okay, let me backtrack. So but we have a wife, 24 years.
- [06:52]
A
Yeah.
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B
And she is. Just so that we don't skip over your wife right now, because I know this. But to make sure you have a place of your own.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Up in Canada.
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A
In Montreal. Yeah.
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B
Okay.
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A
And, you know, the, the plan was originally for both of us to retire up there. And she retired and I didn't quite make it. I started getting sick and it took them a while to figure out that there were multiple different things happening. It wasn't here. Just take, you know, it wasn't. Just take this pill. You'll be better. It took some time to figure out.
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B
Yeah. And we're going to go to that. So just for everybody out there listening for clarity, like the United States VA healthcare, it's not really rampant in Canada. They don't have a whole lot of our VA systems in Canada.
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A
No.
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B
Okay. So to come use the VA medical care, which you have earned through your service. We came back to the States for medical reasons, came to Central Texas because here in Temple, our VA is fairly large. I mean, like in their medical system is fairly, fairly robust. It's a fairly decent. In that system. So this would be, this is a common story that people would have come to our area for medical reasons.
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A
Right. It's. It's a good va. It's well staffed and it's not overloaded like some of the other regional VAs are. Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, they're overloaded. You know, and unless you want to go out to deep west Texas, you know, this, this is pretty much it. I felt comfortable coming here.
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B
Agreed. And it's a nice place for that. So that's just so we have a background. So you came in this area because this makes everybody's going, how's somebody from Canada end up in Temple? We came for medical reasons.
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A
Yeah. Okay.
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B
And you clarified that. And then you even had an apartment here as we're trying to figure out what was going on for you.
- [08:54]
A
Yeah, I, Yeah, I had a nice little place and I was bouncing back and forth out of the. In and out of the hospital a lot. And so when it came time to renew my lease, they really didn't want to.
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B
That's right. So I remember this. We've had this discussion. So I am privy to some that the listeners don't know, as I know some of the answers. But before. Okay. So you and I, way back when, had the lease. The lease came up for renewal. So it's like everybody knows out there, real estate, like you have a year lease, it comes up for Renewal. Okay, Gotta sign it again. Well, he was in the hospital. Yeah, he was in the hospital when the renewal came up. And the people in our world. I'm not saying what. And we haven't said any apartment, so we're not being negative to anybody. Okay. But sometimes in our world, it is beneficial economically for realtors and apartment complexes to not renew to certain people because they can rent it to somebody else for even more money. Okay.
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A
And so that's, that's basically what happened. I've been there through two rent increases that didn't apply to me because I had the lease well agreed. And so for them to release the apartment and the fact that I wasn't there. Yes, you know, I physically wasn't there.
- [10:18]
B
But it's still getting paid for so everybody would know. Okay, so he did not get evicted from his place. No, I mean, he was. He was clear. But it is in economic sense, like, let's just pretend these are random numbers, but this because my math is terrible. His contract through different stuff would be, ah, you're paying 800amonth, whatever. Okay. If they do not renew with that, they can charge. Right now the going rate is 1200. They're making $400 extra a month. So you're going economically, they can do these things. So that's where Jim found himself. He's in the hospital. And then, so just for everybody out there to know you and I met. Okay. I did not know Jim who was working for the military. I did not know Jim that was in Montreal with their wife. I didn't even know Jim that was in the hospital. I met Jim for the first time here outside our door as he is staying outside to feed my sheep. And that's all he has, correct?
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A
Correct.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Pretty low point.
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B
Yeah, very. So I don't know anything of Jim's story other than. And so born in the 60s. 1960.
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A
1960.
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B
Okay, so you're like me. I'm easy. I'm a 1970. So I don't ever know how I'm old. I am until I can figure out what year are we in and go, oh, that makes me this.
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A
At least I got an even number.
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B
That's me and a zero on it. So, man, I'm home run. So then you're everything and. Oh, you're 64, right? I'm 54, see? Ah, I'm a math genius. Did you see that?
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A
I saw that, yeah.
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B
Okay, so I met Jim, and if I remember correctly, it was in the cold time of the year.
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A
Yes, it was.
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B
So it Was cold. Jim is outside. Jim is not accustomed to being outside. Jim doesn't have the facilities or the equipment to make it outside. And it's cold. His health was poor. And you had a walker at that time.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Okay, so he had a walker. So keep in mind to. So you have a visual picture in your head. He is here because they would. You would have heard the narrative of come to feed my sheep. They've got food, they can help you there. Okay. We do try to help, but we have no place for anybody to stay at night. We are not allowed. It is against the law in our community. Okay, so we have no place for Jim to stay. We in its baseline, we provide lunch for people from 11:30 to 12:30. So Jim is here. Okay. Which is great, man. We got inside for him from 9:00 to 1:00. Outside of that, okay. Jim is making it in the winter on a walker. The radius, no offense to him, his radius, that he could travel less than half a mile. You weren't walking half. You couldn't probably walk a quarter mile.
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A
No, I didn't, I didn't go past the 7 11.
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B
Okay, so let's just say lack of a. His. If you could draw a circle around this place of about 300 yards, that's as far as he could go. Okay. Physically it wasn't, it wasn't like, I don't want to go. So. And within our area, okay, There is absolutely about zero to keep people well and good.
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A
Right.
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B
Okay, there's not. Okay. So he is limited to. He's outside our, our building here on the concrete on his walker. And that's how you would spend the night. Okay. And then so. And health, we don't know for sure at this juncture what all is going on.
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A
No, they hadn't sorted it all out yet. It was overlapping issues that it took several. I was in and out of the hospital a number of times before we finally figured it all out and agreed.
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B
And then that's just for everybody out there because this is out of the hospital. So you still, you're not well. They're still trying to figure out what's going on physically. Out of the hospital would mean where were you staying again?
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A
Here.
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B
Here out of the hospital means they, well, take me back to feed my sheep. And they. So they would bring you back here and let you out. Not well outside still and still and so not well. And then at some point on the medical stuff, you went bye bye for a little bit, didn't you?
- [15:15]
A
Yeah, that was a Bit of a shock, I thought.
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B
You reckon? Yeah. Tell us about that.
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A
I went in for what was supposed to be a simple procedure. We were gonna look inside my stomach with an endoscope, and something went wrong, and I ended up coding out on the table, as in. You know, as in gone, gone, gone. And they managed to restart me partially. And so when I started regaining consciousness, which was a task, I started trying to regain consciousness. I was wildly hallucinatory. And when I finally was aware of my surroundings, I realized I was on a respirator on life support in an icu, and I couldn't remember what had happened. You know, this was the shock of a lifetime. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. And it was a hard road coming back from that. You know, as I regained consciousness more and more, I realized that I had basically lost fine motor skills. Couldn't walk, couldn't talk, couldn't write, you know, couldn't feed myself. This. This was a complication that I recommend not doing it. I mean, you know, if you have some pesky muscles you want to get rid of, lay in a hospital bed for a month or two, and they're.
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B
Gone, you know, we're not laughing, but like that. You do have to chuckle at that. Yeah. Highly recommend the coding deal. Not for everybody.
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A
No, no, it's. It's not. Not high on the vacation list. You know, so, you know, that. That was my way of. Of intellectualizing and dealing with it. You know, it. It was something that was happening that I didn't have any control over, and I'm not the kind of person to be angry about stuff. So, you know, to me, it was all a bad joke. You know, I tried to make a good joke out of it. You know, when they finally pulled me off of the respirator, you know, started working with me in the rehab clinic to be able to sit up, feed myself, you know, things like that. I was really glad that I had the ability to, you know, to come back from a thing like that. At the time, I was wondering, have I got enough left to. To pull back from a deal like this? And turned out I'm tough. Tougher than I thought.
- [18:03]
B
Yeah. And that part of it. So then out of that. Okay, so I remember, then we have that occur. So then how long was the chapter here that we were scrounging around anywhere we could find protein shakes because we couldn't eat? For how long?
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A
Oh, geez. For more than two months.
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B
Months that we were trying.
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A
So then here I could diet. I couldn't digest food.
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B
And you're back here again. So you're back here to feed my sheep. I cannot stress that enough, which is this was home based. We're trying anything we can do to help you. So. So then we're trying to scrounge and find any of these insurers or Pedialytes or any kind of liquid protein drinks that we could get you to have to keep you going because we lost a bunch of weight.
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A
Yeah, well, I'm recovering.
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B
You gaining back.
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A
It's been a while, but I'm still 40 pounds underweight. I'm 40 pounds less than I was when I started.
- [19:06]
B
Oh, for sure. Like you were so out of that eating and nutrition and then functions. It wasn't all good. Like we're still. And still struggling. And then out of that I would say, I don't mean this. Okay. You weren't alone because we cared about you and there was people here, but lack of a better term, alone. Okay. You don't have family here. You don't have community or belonging in temple.
- [19:40]
A
No, I, I didn't know anybody here when I got here. And other than the people that I've met from, from Feed My Sheep group, I don't know anybody else.
- [19:52]
B
No. So out of that and then, so would some people and Jim like to have that are just. These people, they're just people. Like this isn't their job. Like, we are not a healthcare professionals. We are not anything of that. These are different volunteers that come help serve at lunch. And then this one would really like Jim and we started working with that and this one could find these drinks and get them to him and we would just go piecemeal. And keep in mind we're still here. We are not a facility for somebody in Jim's condition to recuperate and get well. This is not the place.
- [20:36]
A
But, but I tell you what, if it hadn't been, you know, for what y'all were able to do for me during that time period and still doing, you know, I would, I wouldn't have made it 100%.
- [20:50]
B
I can't say I'm not God, but it would have been very, very, very difficult to get out of the situation you were in. Anybody, anybody out of that situation. And we're still, it's still a work in progress. We are still working because the goal of where we're trying to get is where. Where would you like to get?
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A
I need, I need to go home. We need to get home.
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B
That's right.
- [21:18]
A
I'd like to go there. It's 1300 miles from here. But, you know, we've. We've been working since we were able to specify the metabolic processes that were insufficient and get a level of treatment going that was working, which has been recent. Within the past month, we, you know, we've gotten to the point where things are starting to work correctly again. As soon as they tell me I'm medically stable, I'd like to go home. I'd like to see my wife again. I'd like to get back to the plan of living out my remaining years in somewhat of a comfortable environment and not in and out of a hospital bed, sitting on the sidewalk of a walker chair.
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B
Outside.
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A
There wasn't part. Outside cold and the rain. No, that wasn't part of the plan.
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B
I'd agree. I agree. And so out of that. So then, couple steps, which is we're still working to get your passport and all of that documentation set, because if you're out there, Canada is a whole other country. Okay? So we got to have these documents to be able to get out of our country, into that country now. And so we're working on that because Jim needs to and this chapter of his life to get back home to his place and to find comfortable, beautiful surroundings like your place. It sounds beautiful. Like, tell us about the place you're going to go to.
- [22:52]
A
Well, we've got a. I was fortunate enough to, for a period of time, to make a large amount of money. And so instead of dropping it in stocks and bonds or whatever, just bought a place. And it comes in at about. Roughly about five acres.
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B
Okay.
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A
It's waterfront on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Got a nice little. I don't know about Texas standards, it'd be a cabin, but it's, you know, it's. It's basically a husband and wife affair. You know, it's got a. The single bedroom, nice kitchen, nice living room area, you know, deck out back, you know, and just me, the wife and the little dog, you know, do some fishing, hang out with some friends, you know, enjoy the retired lifestyle. I mean, you know, I've. As a contractor for the military, between that and active duty, I did 45 years of service to my country. And, you know, not bragging that that was what I chose to do, but now that that's over, I'd like to go home.
- [24:11]
B
Yeah. You know, like that. The weight of that sentence is profound. You know, like that, that sentiment, no matter where we are, when times are difficult, that we all understand what that means. You know, mine, I keep thinking a Forrest Gump you know, when things are really, really, really bad and he's like in this terrible situation and he just, like his buddy Bubba is like, I just want to go home. He went to a different home. Like, he went on in life. But we all understand like, that, like, we share this commonality of. You're like, gosh, we got to get Jim back to his place and he can just have peace and just go be with life. And then your wife, you know, and tell her vacation's over from you. She doesn't get any more time out for that.
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A
Like, no, no.
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B
So. But out of that. So I'm going to ask you a really easy, obvious question, okay? And so then the absurdity of it to you and I. So I'm just saying it just because it is that absurd. What would you say to somebody, everybody who passed to somebody who's outside and they have many people passed you. Okay.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And then so they say, oh, that dude just would work. And, man, he's just lazy. And he did this and this and this, you know, man, he could do. You've got property, you've had life, things happen. What do you say to that person? Is it that simple of just, I just gotta be tougher, stronger, abc, whatever?
- [26:02]
A
No. You're not gonna know what happened to an individual until you stop and look, when you try to compartmentalize people like that, you do everybody a great disservice because every individual has an individual life, an individual complexity of events that's happening. You know, you never know. I mean, I didn't do anything wrong. You know, it wasn't drugs that took me down. It wasn't criminality that took me down. I don't have a mental defect. So it was just things. And you never know until you stop and look. So the next time that, you know, you feel like lumping everybody together because it's easier to handle people in a lump, do yourself a favor and them a favor at the same time and just take a look, find out. You know, you never know when the smallest little thing that you did that seems so small to you may be so profound to someone else. A smile, a. A kind word, you know, some. Some gesture of acknowledgement to a person. You know, it may change their day, may change their life. You never know. You don't know until you do it.
- [27:29]
B
You don't. And then like this, it's. So that's even. Why do we even do this podcast thing is at least forces whoever's listening to this. They can't lump you into. They will now know Jim, a small glimpse of Jim. But they at least have taken time to get to know the person, the individual person and the story associated with that person. And I guarantee it, somebody sitting there going, oh, my gosh, there's no way. There's no way this could be. And it is true. We're not. I mean, what in the world are we going to gain by making anything up? This isn't made up.
- [28:08]
A
This is.
- [28:09]
B
This just. This is what it is. I mean, like, that it is. Is what it is. And so you go and you look at that and because me, it drives me crazy. In the world that we're in, we are so. We are so adverse to lumping certain populations into groups. And that's wrong. They're individual and they should. And then Detroit, this group over here, and I'm not pointing any direction, I use my. But this group over here. Oh, it's not all right to lump them by large stereotypes. And you go, okay, in this group over here, not right to lump them as large stereotypes. Every story is different. Homeless, somehow. It's all right to lump everybody in that population and put them in a blanket statement and to go, you know, drug addicts, alcoholics, this, this. Well, no, that's. Individual stories is. So that's kind of why we do this. And we're not answering for the whole population. We're just saying, hey, I'd like for you to meet my friend Jim. And when we happen to meet, that's part of our relationship. You happen to be unhoused, staying outside when it was stinking cold on a walker and you had to spend all night in cold. Okay, Sitting upright on a walker outside on the concrete. And people passed by time and time and time and time and time and time again. That's just. That's just. That's just fact. Okay? So that's out of our relationship. Okay. We're not going to beat that horse up, even though I could, because it drives me crazy. I want to ask you a question because we got you here. Harder question. And you may not know the answer. Okay? Because I don't know. But this. This intrigues me to no end. Why'd you not give up? You had a whole lot of difficult things coming your way at one time. I'm not at home. I'm all alone. My health is failing. This has occurred to me. This has occurred to me because I'm one. I think much of life and existence is a cognitive choice of, I refuse to quit. Why did you not quit?
- [30:17]
A
I'm not Built that way.
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B
Okay, what does that mean?
- [30:20]
A
Um, I believe that as soon as you stop trying is over. You know, the minute that you cease to try to. I hate to use the word struggle, because struggle, you know, may carry the wrong connotation, but the minute you stop trying to better your circumstances or trying to be the thing that you want to be or get the thing that you want to get, you. You can't stop, you know, then you become less than you are, you know, And I wasn't going to let this thing beat me down, you know, after all the. All the stuff that I've been through, all the places I've been in the world, all the travels that I've been through, good and bad, this was. This was the. One of the toughest things I've ever done. But still, I wasn't going to give up. You can't give up, you know, at the moment when you feel like you need to give up, that's when it's most important not to.
- [31:31]
B
Agreed.
- [31:32]
A
You know, you have to keep pushing and living and being. You know, there's a saying, I'm a human being, but I'm a human being. Something, you know, you can't stop that or you just waste.
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B
Agreed. Okay. Like that one for me, like. Well, I'm kind of obsessed with the movie Shawshank Redemption. I say it about every time I like that movie. And there's that. The quote in that. That turning point in his life, you know, he says, you know what? You got to get busy living or get busy dying, which is meaning either a, I'm going to fight and I want to truly live or get serious about just go ahead and be done with this thing and I quit completely and get over with it, which is not the option. That's a terrible option. Okay? But the fighting that life is worth life living for is profound. And I'm with you, okay? The minute you do not want to live anymore, I think there's a worse place that people exist in even than just physical death. The minute you give up living, you can go to a place that's even worse and you're still have a body that's still alive on this earth, but you're dead.
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A
Right?
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B
You can come out of that place, but a lot of people live in. In that place of neither life nor death.
- [33:01]
A
I've seen it as sad. It's truly sad. Yeah.
- [33:05]
B
Okay. We're going to come back to here, but on a more flippant note. That's a big word. Did you hear that? Nice. Wasn't it? Yeah. Okay, tell me the most intriguing, interesting place that you have traveled and all the. If you could go. This is the most intriguing place that somebody must go. Where did you go? See? And what place was the most intriguing, beautiful place that you have traveled to? Top two.
- [33:30]
A
Top two.
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B
Top two.
- [33:31]
A
Well, that's even easier. Iceland.
- [33:34]
B
Okay, tell me about Iceland.
- [33:35]
A
Iceland, the land of ice and snow and, and, and fire.
- [33:41]
B
And fire.
- [33:42]
A
They've, they've got active volcanoes, hot springs, lava flows. The continent splits open every couple of months and magma rises up to fill the hole. You know, and these majestic craggy mountains and these wide fields where the glaciers have plowed through and left these wonderful fields behind. And the, the people are very hardy and welcoming. Yeah, yeah. It's just a little cold in the wintertime, but it's, you know, it's. To tell you the truth, I was colder in Alaska than I was in Iceland. And so that's, that's one of my favorite in terms of just rugged beauty, you know, and intriguing for the people and the things that they do. I'm going to go with the Southeast Asia, Thailand, you know, the, the festivals, the, the colors, the, the vibrant way that they live. And the food. Oh my God, the food. You know, I'm a foodie. Everywhere I go, I try to eat the local food because I want to know what it's like.
- [35:04]
B
That's right.
- [35:05]
A
And. But you have, you know, sometimes you have to warn them. You know, round eye, you know, don't.
- [35:14]
B
Not too hot.
- [35:14]
A
Don't make it, you know, don't make it too spicy because I'll catch on fire. But I think if I had to choose to, I'd, I'd say Thailand and Iceland.
- [35:26]
B
It's interesting on those. Like, if you gave me two places I would love to go and what you even explained the two very different reasons I've heard haven't been there. But Thailand, the culture and the people and the history and beauty. Oh yeah, I've heard the cult like the just. And the colors and the, the oneness of people and community and caring is just unbelievable. Unbelievable. And it's worth seeing this and just the history and the. Everything is tied back for thousands of years.
- [36:03]
A
Beautiful, wonderful temples. You know, the, the, the way that they live their lives, you know, everything is brightly colored and, and dancing and you know, festivals and they have so little and they do so much with it. You know, the, the. So that was a revelation to me that I mean there are in essence a third world country and in comparison to us they're extremely poor, but they live so well with what they have, you know, and it was just, it was, it was amazing to, to, to be a part of all of that, you know, to, to go to the, go to the festivals, go to the dances. There's always a dance going on someplace.
- [36:56]
B
Really?
- [36:56]
A
Yeah. And. And, you know, it was great.
- [37:00]
B
And then I've heard Iceland, what you mentioned, the physical beauty is supposedly stunning. The waterfalls in the mountains are just, they are outside of an American scope of what the outdoors looks like. I mean, like, it's just so incredible. And so I want to see that. I've heard that the food over there, I take Thai food over. I've heard some of the Iceland dishes are a little bit. Not my favorite of the fishes and how they're going to prepare stuff because it's just different.
- [37:36]
A
But I'll tell you one thing that I did enjoy about the food over there. The animals have existed in isolation long enough that they're a different breed than what we have in other places. And Icelandic cows have developed this very rich milk. It makes the most exquisite ice cream.
- [37:58]
B
Oh, really?
- [38:01]
A
So, you know, I just, I'm a big fan of ice cream and I was going like, let me have some of that. Oh, that's good. You know.
- [38:11]
B
Okay, another dumb, impossible question, but this is what you said. I'm younger, so I'm asking you as a older mentor type person. Okay, so what advice would you give people that are younger than you about what is the secret to happiness in life? Because you've had a very vast life and so you got. We don't know. But tell me, what would you tell somebody? If I'm saying, hey, Jim, or I'm asking you, tell me, Jim, what is the secret to being a happy in life?
- [38:42]
A
Well, I think the thing that a lot of people miss is that you can't control the world around you. You can only control the way that you react to it. And that is. That's the beginning of being able to achieve true happiness, you know, and then also what you're going to want, what you're going to want is going to change. As you change, as you get older and your situation changes, what you want is going to change. But you know, if you have a dream, if you have a calling, you want to be something, keep your eye on that as the situation around you changes. And if it hadn't come to you yet and you just blowing around in the wind, just enjoy blowing around in the wind. Try to enjoy everything that you can while it's happening.
- [39:39]
B
Yeah.
- [39:40]
A
You know, find the. Find the happiness. Find the joy for the. The community. The, you know, the. The being whatever it is that makes you happy.
- [39:51]
B
Yeah.
- [39:52]
A
You know, and. And stick with it. Yep.
- [39:54]
B
And so I'm going to ask you on that path. Okay. If I asked you, I said, is Jim happy or unhappy?
- [40:04]
A
I'm basically happy.
- [40:05]
B
Okay.
- [40:06]
A
You know, I've lived an exciting. When I was younger, I read a lot of adventure books and I wanted to have an adventure. And I already knew I was going to join the military. I made that decision in Myrrh, like before I was a teenager, because it was a chance to get an education, to serve my country, Kind of a family thing, you know, and all of that. So I joined the Air Force because they had the best toys and I got an electronics degree and I played with some of the best toys and, you know, and so I had an adventure that started traveling the world with them. And then when I separated from active duty and became a contractor for him, I just continued to travel and had a great adventure doing it. You know, it lasted more like I said, 45 years of just being wherever I was being at the time, wherever the job was. And luckily enough, I was. I was good at it. I was in, you know, in demand and all of that. And when it came time to retire, I retired. So I'm basically happy. There's been some bumps, been some big ones here recently, but I'm basically a happy guy.
- [41:30]
B
I got what I wanted, an adventure.
- [41:33]
A
Yeah.
- [41:33]
B
Your life has been. And it is. It still continues to be. And we are going to get back to Canada. We're going to get back home, and it's been a grand adventure. Like I could not. What's funny, I hope we. We didn't even talk. Did we talk about any of this when we sat down? We didn't even know what we're going to talk about now. Never do. I don't know, anything we're going to talk about. Okay. Out of it. You just went to my wheelhouse 101, I must say, a million times in my head, over and over. I cannot control the weather. I simply can control how I react to the weather.
- [42:07]
A
Right.
- [42:07]
B
That's it. Life. I cannot control things that happen. I can control my response.
- [42:13]
A
Right.
- [42:14]
B
The only thing I have control of.
- [42:15]
A
And that's a basic thing that people need to consider. If you're constantly unhappy or if a thing is constantly bugging you, try to remember that you can't change the thing that's bugging you. You can Only change the way that you perceive it, the way you feel about it, the way you react to it. And if you can get to a place in your mind, in your heart, where that thing is not ruining your day, it's not running your life any longer, then you can be happy.
- [42:50]
B
Agreed. So I'm out of this discussion. Okay. So I hope in grand discussion, like, I've really enjoyed us getting to talk together. Here is if you are listening, and if you are listening, I'm not going to tell you what you hear, but if you did not hear that life is good no matter what comes around the curve. You've had, like, I mean, you would acknowledge this. I would say it. There's no stretch of the imagination, no way that you could possibly say this last chapter here, and it's been a fairly long chapter, has not been extremely hard and difficult. And lack of a better term, it's kind of sucked at different chapters.
- [43:34]
A
Yeah.
- [43:36]
B
That you can't. We're not denying that. We're not. But so then in it, we're talking to somebody who's lived it. Okay, so then whatever, you know, so we're saying, people out there, if you're listening to this, okay, life is tough. We're not saying that. But it can still be good. And if it rains like we. I mind because I'm just dumb. I said if it rains, I want to feel every drop. And if it's hot, I want to feel every beat of sweat. I want to be present at what's going on, whether it is good or bad, because it is my adventure. And I am still in the story.
- [44:12]
A
Absolutely.
- [44:13]
B
That's it.
- [44:14]
A
Absolutely. You know, it's this, this last chapter been a little bit bumpy, a little bit rocky. It wasn't something I would have done on purpose, but it's still. It's part of me.
- [44:26]
B
Yeah.
- [44:28]
A
And still part of the adventure.
- [44:29]
B
It is. And then out of that. So I would hope that people would hear the hope in the story. There's such goodness and hope in it. And then also that the story is still continuing. And it's going to be like this. I can just see. I can see your farm. I can see. I call five. I call your place a farm. I can see you getting to come back there, watching the sun come up or set over the sea. Beautiful. And to have just the peace and the calm that comes with that. And so I look forward to that. I'm honored that the people here that still do that love on you and care about you, because we're friends oh, yeah. That's what friends do. We're not an organization, whatever the crud that is. I don't even know. But we're friends, and we met an unfortunate circumstance, and friends help each other. You help now, like you are helping every day. You come up here and you help and you bring joy. Your task as a Jim, I need you to come at the front and just be pleasant and nice to people when they walk through the door.
- [45:37]
A
Sure.
- [45:37]
B
And he does. And he does. And so you go out of that. So then number two, there is not a person who is listening to this podcast that should be able to ever again lump everybody who is homeless into a category. You've heard Jim story, You've heard other stories. He's not the poster child for this at all. Whatever this is. Every story is different, and everybody's response to the story is different.
- [46:07]
A
Right?
- [46:08]
B
That's all we're saying. That's all we're saying. We're not asking to change anything other than understanding. We are human beings with a whole lot of stories going on and open our eyes all around us, okay? Because even if you don't come in contact with somebody today who is homeless, okay, you will come in contact with other human beings, and their stories are just as profound as the one Jim just shared. There's life going on around us everywhere.
- [46:42]
A
Yes, there is. And, you know, being a part of the community, the whatever community means to you, you know, life, the universe and everything, or your block, you know, just be a part of it. You know, be. Try. Try to be a useful part of it. You know, whatever your comfort level is, you know, there's always something that you can do to improve your situation, to help improve somebody else's situation. It doesn't take that much. You know, everybody can do a little bit, and then after a while, it's done.
- [47:28]
B
Agreed. And then the last little thing is like, you can say, life is an adventure. Life. Like, it's a story that is getting written whether we like it or not. The story is getting the narrative of Jeff's life. That's me, okay? So my narrative is getting written whether I like it or not. Every day it's getting one page at a time. It is getting written. So I tell my son, I'll tell anybody, listen, why not be the author? Why not write the narrative and let others write it for me?
- [47:58]
A
Right?
- [47:59]
B
It's a grand adventure. And so I get it. And then there's bigger than me that I would go, you know what the best thing about my life is? I do get to insert little things. But there might be even a bigger writer out there that is writing the story that was Jeff's life and knows that it's magnificent thing that he's put forth and there's pain in it and there's good and there's all these things, but it's life and to go out of that. So this. I do appreciate Jim coming up and I hope you've enjoyed this. It's just been a mag. You would now look and go, oh my gosh, that guy owns property in Canada. That guy has been to the edge of the no more living bill. You've been there and you're back again and you still go, there's still fight and you go. And it's been a grand discussion. I really, I enjoy.
- [48:59]
A
I enjoyed it.
- [49:00]
B
I did too. It's not too bad, is it? I mean, well, it may be bad out there to listen to, but I enjoyed us just getting to talk because life, it's interesting. The kindred spirits of man, it's. It's a choice. And living in this gray area of neither life nor death, that's a terrible option. Terrible option.
- [49:21]
A
Yeah.
- [49:22]
B
And so be part of. Be part of the bad, to be part of the good. Just feel life and then understand the community and how important it is everywhere. And then I would say we can do that like the same as Jim helps us. We helped him. Chapters change and they come and they go. But we're all interjected in other stories and we care. So we come back to that place. So it's been good. Jim. I appreciate. Not too bad, you know, and not too embarrassing. And so out of that, love to, you know, for y'all to get to know more about Jim. And I can't wait. I can't wait. And we're going to share it. Jim's going to send a picture back to us when he is back home. Oh, yeah, definitely, 100%. We're going to get back there and we're going to celebrate that together. And it's going to be a magnificent day. Okay? Magnificent day. So I appreciate it, Jim. And I'm going to tell everybody out there, okay. Like Jim said, everybody is a human being. And he's right. And we would also say, here, feed my sheep. That every person matters.
- [50:39]
A
Absolutely.
- [50:39]
B
Absolutely. And then what's easy sometimes to recognize is that other people matter. Like you can maybe sometimes people have a tendency to look at other people go, they matter. I would also say when you look at yourself to recognize that you matter as well. And that you are a human and you matter, and you are of worth and you are of dignity. No matter where you are or what's going on, that truth is what joins us all together. So I guess the we're going to end with the thing that we just fought the whole way through. We're going to end with a blanket statement for all of humanity is we are all people and we all matter. That generalization, I'll take to the bank this other crap, then throw that down the toilet. But we are all humans. We all matter. We all have life. We all have worth. That generalization is worth living for, Sa.