Podcast: Brian Talks About Rebuilding His Life After the Fire

In this thought-provoking interview, Brian speaks with Jefferson Public Radio host Geoffrey Riley where they fully examine what happened in the fire, what fueled Brian’s resolve in the burn unit, and how he rebuilt his life thereafter.

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From Beyond the Mask

Live your life the way you want, never mind what anyone else may think, because it’s your life.

Life is about having purpose and dignity. There. That’s pretty much it. If you can help one person, then you have a purpose, and by helping them gain dignity, you do, too.

You simply can’t win at all costs. It’s a logical impossibility. It’s a statement that eats itself. If you have paid all the costs—damaging relationships, breaking laws, breaking your own ethical code—they you have lost. It doesn’t matter what it says on the scoreboard or your balance sheet.

When you help someone else, you help yourself in a way that can’t really be equaled by any other activity.

There can be no success, no real life success, period, without attention to people.

What we understand now is so tiny compared to what we have yet to understand.

Not many people have jarring facts about themselves, right there for everyone to see like I do. But everyone’s got something about which they’re self-conscious. Would a light-hearted comment about it help? Give expression to what you feel others might but don’t want to say.

Having expectations of your own doesn’t mean you have pressure, it means you have purpose.

People see the ‘worst’ of me the moment they lay eyes on me. So why not just be who I am, which is so much better than what they may think I am. Nothing holds me back.

There is always a cost to avoiding confrontation, especially if the one you’re avoiding is you.

I’ve mourned the loss of the 17-year-old Brian but celebrated the new and improved Brian who is stronger and heartier for having gone through what he did.

Look in the mirror. Know yourself. Be yourself.

If your position is unique, then maybe don’t bother listening to people who think they’re so wise, when their experience of the world is so different.

You aren’t what you do once. You are what you do all the time.

We all have blind spots. When you’re in a room and you’re looking around for the idiot and you can’t find him, it’s probably you.

When you look in the mirror, really look. If you’re just glancing, don’t waste your time (or the reflection’s).

Make a list of all the people who believe in you, with all your many capabilities and talents. Are you number one on the list? If not, then something needs fixing.

Life is a gift, not a given.

Whenever you do a favor for someone, however big or small, do it all the way—not halfway or three-quarters of the way. Do it in such a way that all they have to do is sit back, enjoy and appreciate the gesture.

Moments happen, no matter what you think you’re going to do to stop them from happening. But either the moments define you or you define the moments.

Your job in life is to be a ‘foxhole friend’ for as many people as you can.

I looked unique so why not live a unique life. Why not be myself?

You can’t hide. From yourself, sure, sometimes. But usually not from the rest of us. And in the end, not from yourself either.

Believe it or not, for all the variety and choice in the world, there’s always an absolutely right way to do things.

If you believe in yourself – your effort, your attention to detail, your integrity, your ultimate goals – then there’s zero risk involved in how you live your life.

If you’re not betting on yourself all the time, you’re just gambling.

There are only two choices before you, at all times: Accept what happened or slowly be ruined by what happened.