Sports and Mental Health - Tamir Goodman and Eddy Curry

foreign [Music] Goodman I am so glad to be able to spend time with everybody today and also introduce you to my dear friend Eddie Curry um I remember one story practice uh when I was playing for Coach David Blatt who ended up coaching the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA he one time shouted out in basketball I said basketball is 90 mental 10 physical so uh coming from the basketball space we focus a lot on on mental toughness and mental health and we're so grateful today that we could learn from from a very very special person and player Eddie Curry um Eddie uh and Patrice his his dear wife were in Israel this summer and we got to spend some great time and to get really close um and um so Eddie you know amadim is uh is an unbelievable organization that works Around the Clock serving thousands of people uh helping them with any mental health challenges that that they make May encounter um regardless of who they are what time of day it is they're always there for them so uh thank you for your time and uh hopefully being able to to share your expertise and knowledge with with people that we could all gain from it so um thank you so much Eddie we're glad to have you yeah thanks for having me um what an incredible cause just an incredible uh platform that that you guys have um I've never heard of anything so so like so good honestly uh you know you you see uh little blurbs here and there when you watch some TV or when you when you're looking at something on social media that they think might trigger something and they're like okay if you have a problem you know dial this number um but I think what you guys are doing is much more just active and much more just just being able to reach out to someone 24 7 man and and just uh no matter who you are and what you got going on man I think that that's that's so crucial because I mean mental health doesn't come with like a schedule you never know when when when something might grab you and something might just take over your mind and things might get kind of dark for you so I think that the fact that you guys are always available the fact that this type of um engagement is able to to take place man I think that that's incredible and I I'm just proud and happy to be a part of it uh thank you so much and we're glad to be able to spend some time with you you know Eddie it's it's almost impossible to make it to the NBA it's like less than one percent of the people in the world and um you have had such an incredible journey uh can we start off where you share a little bit about you know your early days of basketball and maybe some of the mental challenges that that you may have to go through at such a young age because already in high school you were world famous everybody you know I remember going to Envy NBA camp and and everybody there was talking about you and just at such a young age um maybe talk to us a little bit about your basketball background and and early on like mentally how hard was that you know going from high school straight to the NBA yeah uh for me I think uh going from high school to the NBA I think around the time NBA Camp happened um I think a lot of the hard stuff the mental stuff kind of was already I was so focused on basketball I really wasn't even paying attention to the mental part I think all of the mental stuff happened before that and then while I was in the NBA um during that brief time that you saw me I was kind of on cruise control and I was kind of caught up in the I want to be the best and I want to do this and do that and I had started I started to actually see the fruits of my labor I started to see you know um the payoff from carrying my basketball around as a kid everywhere I went um choosing to not join the gang when all of the gang members were were getting together and doing knucklehead stuff I started to see the payoff of you know missing birthdays and missing certain holidays because I got basketball tournaments and this and that um but as a as a child I didn't understand that you know I'm as a kid you think instant gratification you think hey my birthday is coming up I get a gift Christmas is here I get a gift um if I do good Mom can I get some shoes um I didn't have those type of parents where I you know I I had the best of everything I was always taller than everybody so now I was a super tall kid at school I didn't have good clothes didn't have good shoes and I went to I went to a school I lived in the neighborhood where those type of things matter to the kids that were around you would get labeled as being a bum or being being labeled as being just an uncool person because you didn't have what everyone else had so on top of not having everything that everyone had I mean I would go to school so I would just try to uh disappear uh so much so that I found myself walking like almost hunched over I was trying to be the same size as everybody else and I'm head and shoulders above everyone you know by fifth or sixth grade I was taller than all the teachers I was talking to all the students and I'm the biggest kid in school and I'm walking like a hunchback because I really don't want to stand out um to the point where even when you know by the time seventh grade sixth seventh grade rolled around I got to Middle School um I didn't even want to play basketball I'm like no it's too it's just too much it was too much for me and and thank God I had the kind of parents that were like no you're going to play basketball you know you're going to find something to do because they saw of course they didn't look at it as like uh oh this is gonna get you to the NBA because like you said man that's like so far fetched that's so far out of like that's like okay I'm gonna go play the lottery one time and hit the lottery it's like that and it's like for them for my parents it was more so just I want you to start feeling like normal I want you to walk around and be able to you know hold your shoulders hold your hold your head high because you're around other tall people and you start to see that it's not just you out here and you can be in an environment that that people actually um um praise you so I think that's where it all started for me I think my parents did a great job at paying attention to like kind of my feelings and what was going on when it came to just my self-esteem um they knew that they couldn't do a lot for me in terms of Mom I just I just want this new this or that but when it came to I guess just having a pulse on my feelings and emotions for the most part um my parents were were were really you know spot on with it now they had their own issues my you know my my dad and my mom you know they would go back and forth they were fighting arguing things like that um but in terms of yes me I think they did all they could to make sure that myself and my sister mentally you know were in a good place and and I always appreciated them for that because um man I understand uh growing up as I got older I realized you know where I was from a lot of kids didn't have two parents in the household you know so both my parents come in the parent-teacher conference or both my parents come into the game like that was a foreign thing most times you only saw the single mother or you only saw a dad you know it was it was it was pretty cool and it was pretty impact impactful for me to have both my parents so much so that when I look at it today um that's been my main focus throughout everything is keeping my family together as I went through my trials and tribulations as I've done you know as I as I've done like uh you know self-destructive things in my relationship um things that would have ruined other relationships that's why I'm so close to my wife now because I realized she could have been gone man and I and everything that was so crucial and pivotal to me growing up I could have taken that away from my kids and so I always praise her and I thank her for that but um but yeah man I mean we can we can definitely get into it I mean it's a lot of you know being a kid man it's tough because a lot of times you spend you spend your time just like want people to take your pain serious and I think a lot of times what I find with my own children is everything they're going through listen I I I I believe you I believe you are feeling that but let me tell let me try to let me try to help you work through it let me try to tell you what you can do to kind of manage what you what you got going on and kind of dictate um try to put you in a place to where you don't have to keep you know going through this through this because some of what you're going through is self-inflicted and as a child they don't know that they don't realize that by them choosing today to not do a project that's due two weeks ago uh two weeks later that you know 11 12 days from now you're going to be hit with some of the craziest pressure that you've ever felt because now you got a dirty room because you haven't been cleaning your room you haven't done your project and now you got to cram and do this project you slipping behind in other classes and and you trying to still put on this facade to us the parents has like everything is okay and I'm on top of everything and and and as a kid who put everything off in school I could tell you like that's some of the worst anxiety I've ever felt going to school knowing that I haven't like studied for a test knowing that I haven't done a project waking up that morning like that's that's crazy now you add that to all the other things that we have going on today with social media and just and how important images to kids and like it's it's compounded and it makes it even crazier so um at this point I I've always been the person uh even I talked to my wife about it like look we got to take we got to take them serious if they say they're hurting we gotta we gotta believe them because they're hurting they are hurting now if we look at that problem and compare it to us that it's not like the problems we have where it's like okay how are we gonna pay these bills how are we gonna do this how are we gonna do that but believe me it's still affecting them the same way they still feeling the same anxiety they're still feeling the same things and I think that a lot of kids man like I said they don't have those type of parents that understand that what they're dealing with is a real thing it's a real pain it's a real uh uncomfortable feeling and a lot of times kids try to unfortunately take the easy way out and say you know what I'll do I'll do harm to myself or I'll do enough things to where maybe I'll do this and they'll see that that I'm for real they'll see that I'm I'm really feeling something and that's just what I try to avoid with my kids and luckily for for me like I said I had basketball things did start getting better for me in basketball as I saw the more I report in basketball the more positive things happen I started getting free shoes I started getting free Nike gear I started being able to dress a lot better and honestly at that point I didn't even care about dress no more because I was so good at basketball it didn't matter what I wore it was like you know you I just it was different it was a certain confidence that basketball that that Sports gave me that I didn't need the the physical things I already had the physical gifts I didn't need the clothes to go with it yeah and yeah you're you know your heart is one of a kind and the compassion you share for for your kids and your family is just so so amazing and I'm always just so so amazed by by your generosity and your care and you know we've also spent some time you know for Eddie's like for those of you watching he's like seven foot well he's over seven feet seven foot one and you know it is you know people don't realize it but it is very harmful it's like everywhere we go together everyone always comments not on you as a person or your feelings or your emotions they just comment on your height right away they could have negative reactions or different facial reactions when they see you and you know it's it's very um it is not always so welcoming and you know you mentioned as a kid you were purposely hunching over and so how did you gather yourself at such a young age to say like I'm gonna stop punching over and pick myself up and and pursue basketball you know like how did you get that strength was it Inner Strength you mentioned your parents did you meet a good coach did you just start feeling good on the court like like how can what what advice can you share for someone that might be going through something similar where they have a hidden blessing but they feel a little stuck where there's other circumstances that may be holding them back from pursuing it you know how how can they how can they jump over that fence um for me I surrounded myself with like-minded people um I surrounded myself with the basketball crowd I surrounded myself with kids that were trying to do the same thing I was doing they wanted to try to find a gym they wanted to try to find a hoop um I met I became all my friends were basketball players I didn't I didn't gravitate toward the the other crowd because I'm like that's not what I'm trying to do I was I was focused um it started like I said my mom and my dad definitely uh appointed me at at basketball they're like look okay cool um you tall your middle school has a basketball team you know let's do that um and then my my my a lot of my basketball friends when school started it was like it became like okay let's everybody we're gonna try out for the team and we're gonna try and make the team and we're gonna try to you know keep this team together from now and all the way through high school and then we're gonna all go to the league together so it became like a group mentality um almost like every everyone just kind of had the same goal everyone had the same goal to try to to try to make it but it began with like I said my parents pointing Me In One Direction and also just having like-minded friends um of course the the fast life seemed more attractive to me at the time they had a little money and they had that family feel to them um I didn't spend a lot of time with my parents growing up because my mom worked 24 hours a day almost and my dad he drove trucks all across the country a lot of times it was just myself and my sister um but my dad was always really my dad and my dad's side of the family like his mom my grandmother they were really religious um everything was uh church I took a lot of time in church spent a lot of time in Sunday school spent a lot of time praying my mom only really listened to uh gospel music and so we had a very like I mean I had a I had a really good mix I think of religion and real life and um also like I said my mom and dad were always there for me when I needed them and they paid close attention to how I was feeling um I can't say that enough because I do I do real I do think that if you don't have that person something like what you guys have would have been great for me you know if I didn't have my parents or something like what you guys have would be great for some of my friends who got who got lost along the way who fell who fell between the who fell you know and the cracks because I'm sure other people wanted to do what I did other people wanted to hide a basketball friends but some of that stuff some of the darkness some of the distractions is right in their house some of their parents were selling drugs some of their sisters and brothers were selling drugs and doing different things so it was it was it was closer to them and it was harder for them to avoid for me um you know I try to just stay on a straight path I knew what I wanted to do I didn't have any corruption in my house I was lucky man I was lucky I was blessed and I know for a fact that like God wanted me to pull me I know for a fact I couldn't have gotten through certain situations without God I guess there's no way around it it's just no way around it you know you look at even now when I look at how my life is playing out is I just know it's God because there's no way I couldn't have done this my parents couldn't have got me through once I once I left the house it was all on me everything that's happened since then I didn't I just been winging it man I just been winging it I've been praying a lot and I've been just trying to just stay in tune with just really just trying to do the right thing I just try to move with my heart I try to do what God would want me to do and um and I just pray a lot and I just hope that I'm doing the right things to make them happy oh yeah you definitely are and um you know that was two great pieces of advice number one uh for everyone who's listening that may be struggling surround yourself with greatness you know listen you know even if even if you can't not everyone could be around greatness like Eddie was saying like he was found a group of players that were all you know dream chasing and they were positive and trying to find a gym and find you know maybe not everyone could get that opportunity but surround yourself by greatness could also mean you know listen to positive things listen to positive podcasts this is a positive people that are successful um listen to positive music you know learn from people that are successful you know just surround yourself put yourself in a situation as much as possible to be around as much greatness as possible that was that was such a great piece of advice and the other piece of advice is Faith you know having a strong relationship with God could definitely help us overcome and and jump over that bridge like we were talking about earlier so you know you were lucky enough to have an unbelievable High School career legendary High School career and a legendary area against an unbelievable talent and then you know can you talk to us a little bit about draft night you know what it was like when they called your name and you got to shake the commissioner's hand and what what training camp was like yeah uh okay so draft night man I ain't gonna lie well draft night was like uh by the time the draft came I was so caught up in the I want to be the best and I'm number one I'm the number one player because like this was before this was before uh you know the internet and things like that so I never met like the other top 10 or whatever players I would see him in Camp but by the time I would go to Camp I would already know who was who and my my people that were around me would be like okay that's what they're saying is number one that's who they're saying is the best guard that's who they're saying is okay now I know this now I know who I gotta dominate right so I kept that once I once I had that competitive like fire in me and I'm like I want to be the best quite naturally The Next Step was to try to be the number one pick right so I'm like I got to be the number one pick at the time I didn't really care to be the number one pick because I'm like I wanted to be the number one pick but if I wasn't I wasn't going to be mad because I didn't necessarily want to go play for MJ I had a I had a good friendship with MJ at the time I had known Michael Jordan since like I don't know maybe like uh my sophomore year in High School freshman year in high school I've known Michael Jordan um but so I didn't I knew his personality didn't quite like I didn't like how he talked to me at times I'm like if I play as a teammate of Michael Jordan and I knew how he treated the other like I just knew I mean you guys saw the documentary probably so imagine how he would have talked to a 17 18 year old kid like come on man so I I was like you know if I go there that'd be great uh because I get to be a number one pick out of high school like that'd be incredible but if I don't I really wanted to go to the clippers because I was very I was friends with with Darius and I was friends with q and I'm like those are my brothers man I played AAU with them I love the youth and the exuberance that they played with the fire the passion like it almost was like when you watch their games you didn't care if they won or lost it was just like it was such a action-packed just fun thing that they did man the style that they played was so it was so different so I was like I want to go to the clippers but as it turned out the Clippers drafted Tyson that night and then my agent came to me and said okay now with the third pick he said the Clippers are going to draft Tyson so that's out and I'm sitting there mad I'm sitting at the table mad like man are you serious man like come on man and so he was like all right so you can either go to uh he said you could either go to uh the third pick was Memphis Grizzlies he said you can go to the Memphis Grizzlies or you can go to Chicago it's it's your choice they live they literally left it up to me it was in between commercial break and I'm like I'm like I'm not going to Memphis I just go to Chicago and I was so mad I didn't even realize like I'm too I'm able to go play for my home team I was so mad that I wasn't going to to the Clippers I was like I just go and I was even more mad because they were going to take Tyson and I was like that's my enemy I can't even believe you know what I mean like they picked my enemy to go where I wanted to go even though that was his hometown later on I started thinking like that was so selfish of me you know what I mean because like as a as a he's my brother now and I can't imagine taking that opportunity away from my brother to go play for his home team like with his mom God bless her she passed away but with his mom and his family and everything that to be able to do what I did like I I I I I feel I feel bad now to this day just thinking like that just my mentality but I was really like nah man I don't care I need to go there but anyway they they they they drafted Tyson we're number two they drafted Pau Gasol because I passed up there so they got Pau Gasol in Memphis and then I went to Chicago and I can remember being in a I remember right after they picked me my I go back to my table and my agent is like they're gonna make a trade they're gonna bring Tyson they're gonna bring Tyson and they're gonna send out Elton brand I'm like no way and I was so happy first because I get to have another High School guy with me but really I was happy because he didn't get to go to La I was like yes I was so like I was just so angry I was just I don't know I was different it was different than man you know but you know when I got backstage though and I saw Tyson interviewing he had the LA Clippers hat on I never forget I go back there and and he's talking to the media he's got the camera on him and I see his agent like leaning to his ear and tell him something and he handed him the Chicago Bulls hat and he had to take the Clippers hat off and I and I saw the disappointment I saw the disappointment in his face and it made me it hurt me so bad to see that but then I saw him just hit a switch and and just be happy that he was going to Chicago he's like you know I was just like wow I really learned a lot from that moment like okay well I guess you could look at it as a negative like I'm not going home but man I'm still in the NBA like right but when I looked at her like that I'm like wow and then me and him we instantly hit it off we became my best friends right away I get to Chicago I had already met Jamal Crawford because I have been to a few Bulls games being in Chicago you know they would have me come to the to the games a lot I hope I don't get anybody in Chicago in trouble but I would go to I would go to the games a lot uh I got to meet Jamal Crawford early on so when I got there it was like finally my brother I'm here and he's like man so I mean that was that was an incredible experience um yeah getting drafted kind of just really it was so I knew I was going to get drafted I knew I was going to be a top pick you know I only worked out for like three or four teams going into the draft and I really could have worked out for none of them but I really wanted to try to be the number one pick so I worked out for the Wizards I worked out for the Bulls and I worked out for the Atlanta Hawks I think they had like the fifth or so or so pick because they were like you know worst case scenario you'll go here so let's just go work out for them just to make sure um but so I really wasn't I really honestly went in there with no pressure I just really wanted to go to uh to the Clippers man honestly and but but once I actually left New York and went back to Chicago I was like okay I like this I like this I like the feel of being a HomeTown kid um they were okay the city embraced us they knew that we weren't going to win right away not like not like MJ had just won there and they still came out and they still supported and they still treated us like like royalty in Chicago and to this day like anywhere in Chicago I go I don't really pay for meals I don't it's just so dangerous there I I kind of I kind of don't go as much as I as I really would want to just out of just because it's just so dangerous there I wish I could really help my city more but um but yeah man back then though I mean I had an incredible incredible time in Chicago on the court for sure yeah so um thank you and that was another great piece of advice we learned for anyone that's struggling uh that we learned from Tyson Chandler when you know that story about switching the hats he's like I just lost a lot but you know I'm going to focus on what I can control and what I do have instead of what I don't have and what I can't control and and you know he made the best of the situation and ended up having a great career you ended up playing in the NBA for over 10 years which is unbelievable ended up winning a championship uh with the Miami Heat and LeBron James um what's like three moments from your NBA career positive moments that that that you think of when you think about your career that the first top three things that come to mind when you think about like cool things that happen on the court while you were playing three positive moments won the court on the court yeah on the court man I would have to put it all like all like meeting the players that like I idolized meeting the players that just looked magical to me Allen Iverson uh Vince Carter Kobe Bryant Shaquille O'Neal walking up to those guys man and for them to call you by your name it's like how do you know my name you know you still in this like how do you know me bro like you know I remember the first time I saw Shaq we were playing uh we were playing the Lakers in Chicago and the whole time I'm warming up you know I'm watching him warm up and I'm trying not to make eye contact with him because he's just such a big person I've never seen him before I'm just watching this dude warm up I'm just like this is crazy and so I'm laying down on the ground like a half court getting stretched out by the trainer I'm looking at him and every time he looked at me I like look away and then one time I looked at him and made eye contact and I noticed he was walking in my direction and I'm like oh my goodness and I'm like I look again he's getting closer he's getting closer and he's right up on me I'm just like okay I gotta make a decision I just stood up he he he I reached my hand out to shake his hand and he just hugs me he like bear hugs me and he was like man I've been watching your show man I feel like I know you I've seen it because I had this show that came on in high school I thought the show only played in Chicago I had no idea this show was playing around the country he's like I used to watch your show preps every day man he was like I would be late to the bus trying to figure out what was going to happen if your car was going to get fixed and this and that and this and that he was like where are your parents where are your parents and I pointed to my mom she was she was standing right there at half court and he ran over and he was like Mom I love you I love you you hug my mom and he's like he's like I'm gonna take care of your son and and I promise you man he was like I'm never gonna do anything to uh I'm never gonna do anything to embarrass you I'm never gonna do I'm not like in my whole career man every time I play Shaq he's never tried to dunk on me he's never tried any time he one time he accidentally elbowed me he he apologized to me mid game like I'm so sorry man like I didn't even know that was you I'm so sorry like he caught the ball and just turned and just went up and I just took all of it like all of my my neck and everything and he's like I'm so sorry I didn't even mean to do that and it was just kind of like the unwritten thing like he just would not do any like we would be on the side we would be on a free throw line waiting to go in and he'll just say make it look good you know act like he'll just act like he's fighting for the rebound but really he's not he's like he's taking it easy and then I come out the game and I would watch what he would do to Brad Miller and watch what he would do to other Sinners on my team and it was like oh my goodness I'm that's what I'm avoiding thank you like it was crazy it was crazy man it was such an incredible time I think that was I think that's one of that's one of the most incredible moments for me I think another moment for me is um just having a good game like to have an incredible game in the NBA is crazy to yeah to hit a shot and have the crowd react every time because they they're with you they see you rolling they see you got it going be I'm at the free throw line and they chatting MVP in Chicago like I've had that happen several times I've had it happen in New York I went on a run in New York where I where I scored like 20 points in like a bunch of games in a row and it was like people were coming to the game to see if I was gonna get 20 that night it was crazy um and I've been hitting the three I hit a three to send the game into overtime in uh and Milwaukee and the whole time my whole career I've always like man I want to just hit a three you know this is before this was It was kind of frowned upon for Bigs and shoot threes even though I knew I could shoot threes and my coaches knew I could shoot threes from from practice and stuff like that but I had never done it in the game and Isaiah Thomas called a play for me to for me to uh for me to tie the game up for three and I never forget I couldn't and to this day like I'm telling you it was just all God man like I probably I probably would miss that shot I probably would miss that shot Maybe just from where I shot I don't I never liked shooting like from the sides I always like shooting from the top or from the elbow and where I hit that shot from I probably would miss that shot eight out of ten times man and I hit it all net over over Dan gazuric jumping out as hard and as high as he can to contest the shot and I switched it to send the Box send the game into overtime and it was in Milwaukee all my family was at the game because Milwaukee and Chicago was really close in proximity so everyone drove up had my dad sitting course side my parents all like it was crazy it was crazy it was so and and I was having an incredible game like that was to get like I think I scored ended up end up scoring like 43 points that game we won in overtime like incredible incredible feeling incredible feeling wow thank you so much for sharing that and yeah no doubt that Shaquille O'Neal is absolutely one of a kind I've actually received one of his uh legendary hugs in real life too and he is there's nothing like getting a hugged from him but it's just like the hidden charity he does the heart that he has the kindness that he shares with the world is really unique he's he's definitely one of the most special people out there Israel this summer spending time in Jerusalem with you and Patrice was like Unforgettable for for our family um something will always cherish um and uh when I say Israel you know what comes to mind for you from from your traveling here to Summer peace man honestly just peace I have never felt that I didn't even realize I was walking around with that kind of tension you know honestly because I consider myself to be a really optimistic guy no matter how dark things are I've always been that guy that's like yeah I know this is happening but but this but we're here Patrice we're breathing we're alive but when I got off that plane man when we got to you and got to the hotel I'm I'm just like I just I don't know everything just let go I just I just remember that feeling of everything just being let go and I can remember just looking at Patrice and she had the same feeling like I knew it was just it was just we've been together so long we're so yeah and I know you you know how it is with with your wife man you just kind of connected you just know because I can remember yesterday man like I had some really good things happen even this like this is a great thing for me to be able to do this this is a great thing I look at this as an opportunity to to just keep sharing my story keep talking and keep like keeping myself out there and hopefully I can help somebody um and I had something really good happen the other day and I'm telling Patrice like man I'm looking at her and she's looking at me and I'm like I just don't know how to act I've been soaked for so long I tried to be good I try to do things the right way and I've been close to things being good for me and then sometimes they'll just flip the other way so much so that when something good happens I started to think like man is the Royal gonna get pulled from under us like I don't even want to be happy about it I don't know how to be happy I don't know how to celebrate I don't know how to bring bring positive to my wife because I because then you find out one you you find out a few minutes later that it's not gonna happen or it didn't happen or something else happened and now I gotta look at the pain in her face because she thought we were just and we just literally talking about this and she's crying and she's like man you know we just gotta have faith and I'm just like I know but it was just it was just it was just an incredible moment for me because I realized she knew exactly how I felt and I think that that for me like I just I've been so lucky and so blessed man to have those type of people around me man like I feel like I I lived a life early on full of jazz greed and not necessarily Greed for money because I was never a money guy if anything I was a little too generous like I want everyone to feel how I felt going to going to Jerusalem I want everyone to feel that feeling I want my whole family to come I know I know like as far as like money-wide money goes I probably could not I probably would never be able to afford to bring my whole family to Jerusalem but I'll try and I'll spend my last to try to do that and that's just always how I've been and but when it came to women and it came to infidelity I needed everything I'd seen a pretty girl I like pretty girls I like this like I was greedy and I had to learn that I had everything that I that I wanted everything I needed right in front of me and the more I poured into this person that was right in front of me the more she pulled back the more she completed me man and the more and the better I felt about myself I felt better as a man I felt better I felt good because I was able to to just just I don't know man I just felt like I was doing the right thing I don't know really how to describe it I just felt like I was doing the right thing I felt like that was more aligned with who I was as a person because I felt like I had it everywhere else but I just didn't have it there and I feel like that was the final piece and once I started Living like that man I'm telling you there's been a certain it's been a certain peace and comfort and optimism that I've never had before and going to Jerusalem really kept that off for me because I had my wife with me there and it was how it was supposed to be and I know we both felt that release at the same time and since then man things have been so so beautiful for us so I thank you for bringing us man I just thank Eric you know Eric everybody that was involved man everybody Bradley everyone that was involved man like it's just beautiful man I look forward to coming back you know I still talk to all some of the guys on WhatsApp man I'm just I'm just happy man and I thank you for having me today yeah thank you so much my dear friend please send my love to Patrice and the entire family everybody in Jerusalem misses you guys as well and look forward to being in touch and thank you to everyone who who tuned in to listen to us today Eddie you were incredible as always and um let's just give a joint blessing to everybody out there that that's you know having a hard time with their mental health um just you know you everyone should be blessed with only good news and like Eddie just said there's nothing like the feeling of overcoming a challenge and and and feeling the uniqueness of of reaching your own inner potential by overcoming each Challenge and realizing the challenges are just opportunities for growth and not something to break us and um uh I wish everybody only blessings and success and Eddie will finish with your blessing just give everybody a blessing yeah man I I just want to Second what you said man I just I wish everyone happiness man and and peace and calm like I I understand the happiness and peace and calm it can be a uh attached to a financial thing but but man I found my fault my most happy moments weren't attached to money they weren't attached to fame they weren't attached to this basketball game it was attached to people around me it was attached to me appreciating who was around me it hurts to lose people I lost a child man like there's no pain like losing a child but I've got so many good people around me man I felt like it would have been selfish for me to to start really just dwelling on the few people that God called early you know there's so many people still here and I'll be doing myself a disservice and I'll be doing my ancestors that passed a disservice if I didn't try I'm gonna keep trying to my last breath I'm gonna keep trying to to make a happy Aura around me to where anyone that comes into contact with me you're gonna feel it you're gonna be happy you're gonna feel optimism you're gonna know that it's a brighter deadhead and I just wish everyone could feel that feeling and uh and if you're not feeling that feeling please feel free don't hesitate reach out to amodeine this is why we are here here this is why they are here and I and I wish you nothing but the best nothing but health and success God bless you amazing love you thank you guys so much [Music]