PODCAST (Resilience Unravelled) with Host Dr. Russell Thackeray and Guests John Marx and Sean Adam
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https://qedod.com/guts-grit-and-the-grind/
The latest episode in our Resilience Unravelled series has now been released, Resilience Unravelled – Guts, Grit and the Grind.
In this episode, Dr. Russell Thackeray talks to two guests, John Marx from Denver Colorado and Sean Adams from Dover, New Hampshire. Both have contributed their stories to a new book called Guts, Grit and the Grind. Regular listeners may remember that Dr Thackeray interviewed two of the people involved in putting the book together, Frank King and Dr Sally Spencer Thomas, a few months ago. Along with a third author Sarah Gaer, they have edited a number of men’s personal stories to produce some significant ideas about resilience and how it works.
John is a retired law enforcement officer who served for for twenty-three years in both a municipal police department and a county sheriff ’s office. He worked patrol, investigations, community service, and was a hostage negotiator for 19 years. When he left the service he felt very burnt out and he actually considered suicide. His article is entitled ‘What is the cost to protect and serve’. This is used by a number of law enforcement agencies as a motto. John loved his career but feels that people don’t understand the toll it can take. Officers have to respond to horrific situations, crimes and hatred. In John’s case, his career took its toll but he was resilient and able to seek support.
Sean graduated from the Thompson School of Business at the University of New Hampshire with an Associate’s degree in Business Management in 2009. Since then he has worked in a variety of roles before becoming an inspirational speaker. He had a ‘pretty normal childhood’ but there were some mental health issues within his close family. When he was 21 he had his first depression. He didn’t understand what it was and why it had happened. After four rounds of deep, dark depression he started having suicidal thoughts and finally sought help. His Father warned him of the danger of using medication so he took the spiritual path. Using things like Meditation and Reiki he started to move through his emotions and relearn how to think.
Dr Thackeray asked both guests whether they thought it was myth that men don’t know how to talk about their emotions. John, who is from the baby boomer generation grew up in the ‘man up and tough things out’ era. His career in the Police also involved considerable discipline. He feels that first responders, both men and women, have pressure put on them and that there is a need to act differently and become self more aware. Sean is from a different generation and is the youngest writer in the book. He feels that the sports world can also be very judgmental but now realises the need to make connections, not to get stuck in anything and to express yourself and move through things.
Dr Thackeray asked whether we have always had this conversation but did it in a different way. John feels that resilience should be thought of as comprehensive wellness. In the environment he served in, physical fitness is incredibly important. Many people feel it will solve all their problems but John thinks that if we don’t deal with the other components of our lives, intellectual or cognitive, emotional and spiritual components, we are losing parts of the foundation that makes us strong. Getting back in touch with these are what people do to heal and balance along with the need to raise awareness and do the hard work to be self aware.
During his earlier podcast, Frank King reflected that suicide is not talked about enough. John feels that we should we be looking out for people who seem to be OK. He lost a peer to suicide and cites the fact that worldwide it is a huge problem that gets overlooked in medical circumstances such as Covid. In the US potential law enforcement officers are vetted for the profession through screening and evaluation. There should be a low rate of suicide and depression but this isn’t the case. John feels it’s important to seek out resources and and learn about it before its needed whether for yourself or someone else.
Sean feels the effects of depression can be really trivialised. Someone like Robin Williams can seem outwardly happy and successful but inwardly there are problems. He feels that you can’t see what someone is thinking so you need to ask how they are really feeling. Sometimes people just need someone to acknowledge their existence. John thinks that if you really concerned about someone you just need to come out and ‘are you thinking about killing yourself’ so you can start really powerful conversation.
Both John and Sean had issues and faced challenges but both have come through to give a message of hope. John thinks we all have different levels of resilience but need to know that we don’t have to go it alone. The book talks about getting support and building a support system before you need it. Everyone needs someone, and someone will be there for you but you need to have the support in place. Sean feels that resilience is for everyone but everyone’s path is different. People need to think about what their goal is and where they want to be but they need to be patient. Everyone has ups and downs but there is hope. We just need to be open, ignore any stigma and allow people to help.
You can find out more at:
Guts, Grit & The Grind: A MENtal Mechanics MANual- Advanced Mechanics in Preventative Maintenance, or LinkedIn
You can find out more about John Marx from the Law Enforcement Survival Institute at www.CopsAlive.com His book is Armor Your Self™: How to Survive a Career in Law Enforcement.
You can contact Sean Adams through linkedin.com/in/sean-adam-054b036b
You can listen to the podcast in full and find out further information about Guts, Grit and the Grind here.
Our previous podcast episodes and upcoming guest list are also available and there is an option to sign-up to receive our podcast episodes on release.
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