Show Transcript

0:00:01 - (Kevin Lowe): Imagine being relentlessly bullied as a child. Imagine struggling with addiction as you get older. And yet somewhere inside of you, you find the resiliency to rise above it all. Today, im addressing the profound impact of bullying, the struggle of addiction, and the transformative power of resiliency. My hope is by the end of todays episode that we can all find a little inspiration from the woman who inspired this all, Marcy Langlois, my friend.

0:00:32 - (Kevin Lowe): This is episode 307. Welcome to the podcast. Yo.

0:00:40 - (B): Are you ready to flip the script on life? Cause those bad days, they're just doors to better days. And that's exactly what we do here at grit, grace, and inspiration. Your host, Kevin Lowe, he's been flipping the script on his own life, turning over 20 years of being completely blind into straight up inspiration, motivation, and encouragement just for you. So kick back, relax, and let me introduce you to your host, Kevin Lowe.

0:01:07 - (Kevin Lowe): If you caught my conversation with Marcie Lingvois inside of our previous episode, then you heard her story. Her story of dealing with horrible bullying as a child. Her story of being born with a cleft lip and palate, having multiple surgeries, many surgeries. Throughout her childhood, she battled addiction, starting in just middle school. And yet, somewhere along the way, she would develop the resiliency to one day rise above it all.

0:01:40 - (Kevin Lowe): I feel it's safe to say that Marcie, her story is a beautiful example of resiliency in the face of adversity. And her story, it's what inspired today's episode. And more specifically, it's what really got me thinking about these three important aspects of her story, building addiction and resiliency. And in this episode, that's what we're diving into as we unpack the aspect of each one. And the fact is, true bullying, it's not just for children.

0:02:16 - (Kevin Lowe): Adults experience it, too. So this episode is relevant for anyone and everyone. But before I continue, my friend, I got to invite you. I would love for you to book a call with me. I'm offering free coaching all summer long. I want to be able to do more than just be, hopefully, a voice of inspiration here on the podcast. I want to really be able to help you in your life. And so I made it super simple for you to grab a free 30 minutes, no obligation, low key coaching call with me, where me and you, we can just literally sit down.

0:02:55 - (Kevin Lowe): We can figure out what's going on in your life, what's working, what's not, where you want to be, and hopefully come up with a plan to get you there. It's super easy to sign up, all you have to do is send a text message to the phone number 3377 seven. Again, that phone number is 33 triple seven and you are going to input summer 2024 as your text message. That is all one word, so no spaces. Summer 2024.

0:03:27 - (Kevin Lowe): When you text that to 33 triple seven, I'm going to respond with my calendar for you to grab a spot for us to have this free coaching call. It is my way of helping you and taking this podcast to the next level. Kicking off my three biggest takeaways from my interview with Marcy is the topic of bullying. I personally don't really think that bullying is discussed enough because most of the time when we think about bullying, we think about it in school, elementary school, on the playground.

0:04:08 - (Kevin Lowe): But the fact is true is that bullying, unfortunately, it happens in adulthood. Also, it happens in the workplace. It happens in our circles of friends. Unfortunately, it kind of seems like the bullies in school sometimes continue to be bullies as adults. And I feel like Marcy's story, it addresses this so well, well, in the fact that it brings it to light, this idea of bullying. Now, the bullying that she experienced was in school, and it was horrible being born with a cleft lip and palate.

0:04:47 - (Kevin Lowe): She didn't look like everybody else. And as we know, for some reason, as children, when somebody is different, they don't look like everybody else. They don't sound like everybody else. There's something a little bit different about them. For some reason, as children, we want to pick on them. We want to make fun of them. I don't know why this is, to be honest. I've had this conversation with many people of what is it in our childhood that takes us from being first born innocent with no meanness in us, to then all of a sudden we go from a small child who's laughing, giggling, playing, learning to just love this life to then all of a sudden picking on other people, making fun of other people.

0:05:39 - (Kevin Lowe): I don't know what it is that happens. I'm definitely not the person to figure that one out, but I know it does happen, but I wish it didn't. And I want you to realize that if you've ever experienced bullying, whether as a child or as an adult, I want you to realize that you are heard, you're understood, and that I want you to know that I'm sorry that you've dealt with it. But I hope you'll take inspiration from Marcy and the fact that through pure grit and resiliency, you can get through it.

0:06:11 - (Kevin Lowe): I guess the biggest thing that I took away from her story is the fact that we need to speak about it more as adults, especially to let it be known that bullying is not just on the playground. It happens in our office. It's probably happening at your workplace, whether you know it or not. And maybe you do know it. Maybe you're not the one being bullied, and maybe you're not the bully, but you still stand by, silent.

0:06:42 - (Kevin Lowe): I hope that today in the story of Marcy, I hope maybe it can be a little inspiration for you to stand up, to point it out, and to not let it happen, because it's not right, no matter who it's aimed at. Yeah, it may come across as innocent fun, but the fact is true. If anybody's making fun of somebody else, and, you know, when it crosses the line, I hope that you have the courageous to stand up for that person.

0:07:10 - (Kevin Lowe): That's the only way that bullying will ever stop, is if we all take care of one another. Stand together. Stand united. And when done together, I feel like we stand a chance at making a difference. The second little takeaway from Marcy's story that I feel is unfortunately, all too common in today's world is addiction. And as we learned in her story, addiction can take many different shapes and forms.

0:07:41 - (Kevin Lowe): It's not just alcohol or drugs. It can be working too hard, being obsessed over your physical health, anything that has you so wrapped up in it that you forget about everything else. You forget about taking care of yourself. No. You're just addicted to the work. You're addicted to the drive. You're addicted to the drug. Whatever it is, it's there. It's tempting, and it's difficult. Fortunately for Marcy, she would finally reach a point when she hit her breaking point.

0:08:21 - (Kevin Lowe): And once she reached that point, she got out of it. She went through AA. She did the twelve step process, and she got out of her addiction. I want you to realize that if addiction is affecting you, I want you to realize again that you are heard, that you are understood. And I want you to feel comfortable here on this podcast listening today. I want you to realize that nobody is judging you. And more than anything else, I just want to send you a big hug right now.

0:08:55 - (Kevin Lowe): I want you to know that it will be okay. If you need to go back and listen to her interview, please do it. Get that inspiration from her. A woman who's overcome it herself. If she can do it, so can you. I know you can. Let this be your moment to take action, to start making a big, massive change in your life right now. And then, of course, there comes the third point, resiliency. In order for us to overcome bullying, to stand up for others, for us to overcome addiction, for us to fight through it, to get past it, we have to develop resiliency.

0:09:37 - (Kevin Lowe): Now, you may think to yourself that you are not resilient, but I promise you, you are. I believe we all have it in us. We just have to find it. We have to tap into it. Marcy, my goodness, does this woman have resiliency? We saw it in so many aspects of her story. Just the fact that as a child she had to deal with adversity right off the bat. Being born with, quote unquote, something wrong with her being forced to face surgeries, 18 different surgeries by the time she turned 18 years old.

0:10:14 - (Kevin Lowe): It was relentless. And yet she was resilient. Whatever you're going through, whatever life throws your way, you will get through it too, because you also are resilient. Resiliency, it's not you stopping yourself from getting knocked down. No. It's you being able to pick yourself back up. Because the fact is true, this life, it's tough, it's hard, and it's going to knock us to our knees more times than we can count.

0:10:48 - (Kevin Lowe): But every time you get back up, every time you keep charging forward in spite of it all, you build on your own resiliency. That is the key to it all, my friend, is resiliency. And Marcy, my goodness, did that woman give us a masterclass in being resilient? To round out today, I want to remind you, if you heard Marcy's story, which again, if you did not, I highly encourage you to go back and listen to her interview.

0:11:22 - (Kevin Lowe): So, so very powerful. But when you listen to it, you're going to feel sad, you're going to feel sorry for her. I all that she went through. But theres the ending, theres the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Or maybe better said, theres always a rainbow after the rain. And that, well, it came in the way of triumph, it came in the way of love, it came in the way of overcoming, of being resilient.

0:11:53 - (Kevin Lowe): Such a beautiful representation of what is possible. It's not what happens to us, it's how we react to it. It's not about yesterday, it's about tomorrow. It's about you charging forward. If she can do it, so can you. Remember, if you want to take advantage of that free coaching call, or, heck, you know what, whether it's summertime or winter time, if you have something you're dealing with struggling with.

0:12:24 - (Kevin Lowe): Because you're here listening to this podcast, you reach out to me, no matter when it is. My contact information is inside of every episode's show notes where you can reach out to me directly. I am more than happy to be here to help you remember the only way that any of us are going to get through this life is if we do it together. So I hope that can start right now. With that, I encourage you to stay inspired, to be empowered and make the most of this day.

0:12:56 - (Kevin Lowe): This is Kevin Lowe, and this is grit, grace, and inspiration.