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I never planned to say this publicly.

My wife knew.

Nobody else did.

Until I talked about it recently on the podcast.

I've been dealing with body dysmorphia since I was about 13 years old. For years, I thought the problem was my body. I thought if I lost enough weight, got lean enough, worked out harder, or looked different, the voice would finally go away.

It didn't.

The Marines amplified it.

Weight standards. Tape tests. Constant pressure.

For years I ran miles wearing trash bags trying to make weight.

Nobody called it disordered. It was just what people did.n fact, leadership applauded it.

Looking back, I realize something..The problem wasn't my body.
The problem was the story I was carrying about my body.

The 13 year old version of me got handed a story and never got the chance to put it down. That's the work, fam... Not just changing your body. Changing the story.

And for me, that started with awareness.

Because you can't heal something you haven't named.

If any of this sounds familiar, don't start by asking how to fix yourself.

Start by asking... Where did this story begin?

Listen to the full episode by clicking the link below: flowcode.com/p/m7gi8a7zg?fc=0

Next week I’m interviewing Buddhist monk and mindfulness teacher Amitha Khema about meditation and the stories our minds create that cause suffering.

He also helped support a national Walk for Peace movement that impacted thousands of people through mindfulness, meditation, and human connection.

We’re going to talk about anxiety, overthinking, stress, emotional suffering, relationships, healing, mindfulness, and what it actually means to find inner peace in a world that constantly pulls at our attention.

Meditation was a gift given to me by a friend during one of the hardest seasons of my life.

If you could ask him one honest question about stress, anxiety, anger, relationships, overthinking, or inner peace…

What would it be?