The Saad Truth with Dr. Saad - August 05, 2024


Life Lessons a Stingray Taught Me (The Saad Truth with Dr. Saad_699)


Episode Stats


Length

6 minutes

Words per minute

156.52042

Word count

1,025

Sentence count

76


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Gad Saad talks about being stung by a stingray and the lessons it taught him about life and the things we can do to overcome obstacles. "Every moment is precious. Every moment counts. Every step counts."

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.040 Hi everybody, this is Gad Saad. We are Monday, August 5th, 2024. I wanted to share with you an important life lesson that life imparted upon me yesterday.
00:00:14.100 It was around 4.30 in the afternoon, local time here in Southern California. We had just finished playing soccer at the beach and I decided to go into the water at a beach that we've been going to for many, many years.
00:00:30.040 We've seen stingrays in the past there, but had always stayed clear of them. And as I was walking towards the deeper water to start swimming, I felt a massive impact on my foot that very, very quickly became excruciatingly painful.
00:00:52.260 So, made my way out of the water. Then my foot was just gushing, you know, a massive amount of blood. Made my way to a bench. It turns out that there was a family that has lived on that beach, has a beach house right there that are, they're aware of what happens with stingray, you know, stinging, stings there.
00:01:16.940 And so, right away she got a big bucket of hot water and for about the next hour and a half, two hours, it was just unbelievable pain.
00:01:29.980 And then eventually we made our way to the hospital because they wanted to make sure that the barb was not in me, the barb of this sting was not in me and that there was also a possibility of some very dangerous infections.
00:01:43.500 So, we went to the hospital, had an x-ray, there was no barb, then I was given a tetanus shot, and then I'm on antibiotics now I think for the next week.
00:01:55.300 But if you saw me today, you would think nothing ever happened. So, if you compared what I was like during those first two hours where I was really just writhing in pain compared to the walk that I just took today, it's unbelievable.
00:02:09.040 So, what are some life lessons that that stingray taught me?
00:02:14.000 Well, number one, it taught me that nature is majestic and we owe it much reverence because there are always things there, things in nature that, you know, make interacting with nature both awe-inspiring and at times scary.
00:02:31.380 And that's why we need to protect all of the ecosystems and all of the animals because, boy, life would be a lot more impoverished if we lost all the biodiversity.
00:02:42.320 I don't mean to get Greta Thunberg on you here. It's a real message of protecting nature.
00:02:49.240 It is awe-inspiring that, you know, that stingray did not want to cause me any harm. It just said, hey, don't tread on me.
00:02:59.560 And I did. And it said, well, I've evolved some defensive capabilities that are going to make you regret that you made that mistake.
00:03:08.960 So, that certainly is one lesson. The second lesson is that you don't know in life what's around the corner.
00:03:15.600 That's why it is so important to truly live in the moment.
00:03:18.860 I mean, I couldn't have known one minute prior to that happening that how much that day would change for all of us.
00:03:26.640 And so, that's part of the magisterial nature of life, the fact that there are so many unknowns.
00:03:34.100 Of course, it also makes it scary because sometimes that which is around the corner is something really bad.
00:03:40.120 In this case, it was bad for two hours, really, really bad.
00:03:43.440 But then there is hope. That's another message, which is after the great pain comes solace, comes your awareness that you're resilient, that you can overcome it.
00:03:54.560 And if I can tap myself on the back here, the lady who was taking care of me, the lady at the beach house, she said that she's already seen five stings this summer.
00:04:09.440 And she's seen over her 40 plus years living there many, many men who've been stung and they usually end up crying.
00:04:17.100 And I didn't and that I was taking it really well.
00:04:19.980 So, maybe this becomes my new honey badger story.
00:04:23.200 The fact that I would a really bad attack or sting and I took it.
00:04:31.460 That's good.
00:04:33.140 The other thing I would say is that, you know, what makes life beautiful is that we face these obstacles and we move on.
00:04:44.400 So, when my wife today was asking me, so how are you feeling?
00:04:47.660 Are you ready to go for a walk?
00:04:49.680 I said, you know what?
00:04:50.440 It's completely in my rearview mirror.
00:04:52.800 It's a story.
00:04:54.260 It's a scar of the trajectory of my life.
00:04:57.060 It's a story that we can tell maybe hopefully one day our grandchildren.
00:05:01.040 But let's go.
00:05:02.460 Let's go for that walk.
00:05:03.340 And we're now almost noon local time.
00:05:05.880 Let me see.
00:05:06.220 Yeah, almost noon.
00:05:06.900 And I'm already at 13,000 steps.
00:05:10.580 This is one day after being bitten by a pretty nasty stingray.
00:05:15.660 So, there you have it, folks.
00:05:17.120 Life is truly precious.
00:05:19.160 Every moment counts.
00:05:20.640 Every moment is infinitely precious.
00:05:22.700 Every moment that you waste is one that you could never get back.
00:05:26.080 Do big things.
00:05:27.880 Be kind as a default value, but tough if people come after you.
00:05:32.500 Love the right people.
00:05:34.140 Spend your energy in the right places.
00:05:35.920 Yes, talking politics is important.
00:05:39.300 I do it all the time.
00:05:40.680 But what's a lot more important than politics is making sure that my wife and children know
00:05:46.100 that I love them, that I have their back, that I would do anything for them.
00:05:50.080 So, modulate your actual investments and your emotional investments to the right people.
00:05:56.660 Life is too short to dwell on things that don't matter.
00:06:00.420 Have a great day, everybody.
00:06:01.660 And remember, I have been told this in the past, but apparently I didn't heed the warning.
00:06:06.720 Shuffle your feet in the sand when you are in an area that is inhabited by stingrays.
00:06:14.140 You don't want to get stung by a stingray.
00:06:16.820 Yesterday, I posted an article that listed the 10 most painful bites or stings.
00:06:26.680 And right there at number four was the stingray.
00:06:29.260 Let me tell you, it's not pretty.
00:06:30.980 Take care, everybody.
00:06:31.760 Have a great week.
00:06:32.500 Talk to you soon.