YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Episode 63 - Adrift to Survival with Steven Callahan

Episode 63 - Adrift to Survival with Steven Callahan — Transcript

by I Share Hope · 8,639 words · 1,165 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00other people's experience is quite
0:02enlightening or can be both from you
0:06know what works and what doesn't work
0:07you know look around
0:09perhaps if people who you think oh man
0:12you know what they're just not getting
0:14it they had this opportunity and then
0:17they failed because of XYZ you know
0:19what's that all about
0:20as well as the people who have succeeded
0:23despite the fact that they face huge
0:25obstacles there are a lot of lessons to
0:27learn from other people's experiences so
0:30I don't want to belittle that but at the
0:31same time you can't lock yourself into
0:34oh well so and so I did it this way and
0:36I can't do it therefore I'm due find
0:39another path and find somebody else who
0:41speaks to you or some other way of
0:44dealing with it sometimes you have to
0:46destroy a little bit in order to create
0:49welcome to I share hope the podcast
0:52where world leaders share their real
0:54stories of hope and how you can use
0:56actionable hope to start changing your
0:58life today and now here's your host
1:01Chris Williams hello sir how are you
1:07good this video gonna work on your side
1:10today I'm gonna give it a whirl on my
1:15side too and see how we come out all
1:21right I can see me I can see you too
1:23great how are you sir I'm doing fine I'm
1:28doing great so again I'm Chris Williams
1:30you go by Steve or Steven okay and then
1:34Callahan is that the right way to say
1:36your last name man I've I've read about
1:41you before in the past it's a pretty
1:43amazing gig not one I'm sure you choose
1:46but wow you got a great story oh thanks
1:49long time ago when I was a young guy
1:51like you and
1:52I don't know man I'm not not as young as
1:56I used to be you are so what do you do
2:02I'll ask you this in the interview I
2:03don't want to get too far ahead because
2:05everything you say is just interesting
2:06to everybody so okay so this interview
2:12is all right do you edit this as a tape
2:14live how do you do this yeah so we try
2:17to not edit if we don't have to because
2:19kind of the the whole podcasting thing
2:21everybody that's in the podcasting world
2:23that does interviews it really loves the
2:25authenticity of an interview and they
2:28don't want the whole CNN take and the
2:30spin so we ask the questions it's your
2:33story it's your time and you know if you
2:35listened to any big interview podcast
2:37they're all pretty rough and we try to
2:41keep artists kind of timely and not hour
2:43and a half two hours long like some of
2:44these guys get but just to make it where
2:46it's relevant and real real people
2:48connect into real people's stories and
2:50something you can use you know it's a
2:53pretty straightforward I I sent you a in
2:56the signup process you probably got that
2:57interview 101 document they kind of had
2:59the five questions we walk people
3:00through yeah great huh I'm not I'm not
3:03sure how how how well I'll be able to
3:05answer them it's strange when you
3:07contacted me about the show and talked
3:09to me about hope perhaps ironically it's
3:12not something I actually
3:14or ever out really that's not it's
3:18interesting some of the people we
3:20interview a lot of people interviewer
3:21actually say that they like man hopes
3:23not something I really work on and they
3:25are the best people at it I don't know
3:27how it works
3:30well let's Google some quotes and
3:37whatnot perfect so I got it some down
3:43and drive down a couple ideas of my own
3:46that I could probably read better than
3:47kind of describing it's fine
3:50if that's okay totally okay yeah and I
3:53know if you wanted me just to send you
3:55these things I can you know I'm good I'm
4:00good either way you can email me your
4:02answers if you want to or read them most
4:03people that do that they read them
4:05actually out loud if you have an answer
4:06for a question they they just read it
4:08cuz again this is most people are
4:10learning and hearing about this stuff
4:11via audio so your words man that's what
4:14counts
4:14let me just get my mic set up right here
4:16I think I'm getting a lot of can you
4:17hear a lot of background noise traffic
4:25or stream nearby or what yeah it's
4:27traffic app I love being outside and and
4:30sometimes that gets me into trouble but
4:35I'm pretty determined to keep you in
4:36itself you're disappearing now though oh
4:39you can either the volumes way down or
4:41something happens yeah I cut it back a
4:43little bit let me turn it back up just a
4:44little bit more
4:45yeah that's take it a little better how
4:49about that okay yeah all right good okay
4:54adjust that - it should why here I live
4:57in the sticks of Maine and so I mean my
4:59wife's kind of rattling around upstairs
5:00that is usually what part of Maine do
5:02you live in in your mouth Desert Island
5:05Acadia National Park absolutely you know
5:09I know it not not as well as you do but
5:11I know well enough and if they're a
5:12couple of times and my wife and I went
5:16from let's see we were in is a Bar
5:20Harbor Maine Canada up that way yep we
5:23rode our bikes in Bar Harbor to Acadia
5:25with that that
5:26I was a long ride and she was pregnant
5:30and she didn't do so well on the way
5:32back so we hitchhiked our way back it's
5:35probably ten years ago down towards Bar
5:42Harbor I mean we were a long way out we
5:44spent a lot of time and some hikers we
5:49were on a bike ride yeah and we found
5:50somebody with a with a trailer on a jeep
5:52and they keep us a ride yeah all right
5:57I'm gonna meet some of this background
5:58noise we get started all right well now
6:03I don't hear you at all well I'll hit
6:06the mute when we talk in that way when
6:08I'm not talking they'll be able to hear
6:09you a little better off how about that
6:12okay well Steve Callahan if I get this
6:17correct
6:18you have been afloat at sea for what 76
6:23days and written a book that's a New
6:25York Times bestseller adrift is that
6:28right that's all correct and you're
6:31still here to tell the tale so I got
6:33fascinated with seagoing life boats
6:37stories when I first read the Life of Pi
6:39which is I know a mockery of the real
6:41thing but nonetheless that's what got me
6:44started and I I can't tell you how
6:46thrilled I am to talk to you today a
6:47real-life guy who's spent a lot of time
6:50far far away from everybody and
6:52everything that there is to eat that
6:54you'd probably consider yummy man tell
6:58us what you're doing what are you doing
6:59today apart from your speaking and all
7:01that stuff you're in Maine what do you
7:02do up there
7:03I live in Maine with my wife Kathy and
7:07we've been based here for about 40 years
7:09we feel at home a lot of places around
7:12the world
7:13we've both traveled a fair amount mostly
7:15to my work and we like to say we have
7:19homes everywhere but Maine's our home of
7:21phones as we like to say up here where
7:24men are men and so are the women it it's
7:27it's kind of a rugged place people you
7:30know kind of do their own thing are very
7:33independent and pretty Hardy we're used
7:35to going through big ups and downs in
7:37the state a lot economically and
7:40so on so people up here pretty resilient
7:43and I always love the wilderness
7:46environments and in Maine has got a lot
7:49of wilderness still it's a beautiful
7:51place to live physically so it's good
7:55for us and I do a live done a lot of
7:57different things I'm well I'm a lot
7:58older now you have to remember that when
8:01I was stupid enough to lose my boat in
8:03the middle of the Atlantic and spent the
8:05next two and a half months bobbing
8:06around like a an aquatic caveman that I
8:09was a just 30 years old just turned 30
8:11years old in life raft actually not the
8:14best of my birthday's yeah I'm 63 now so
8:20I've done quite a lot since then I've
8:22designed and built boats and written
8:25both adrift and capsized and contributed
8:28to a lot of other books written a lot of
8:30magazine articles and so on I've been
8:32playing around with boats in the ocean
8:33for a long time and also with a lot of
8:36survivors when I got ashore it seemed
8:38like a lot of people thought that I was
8:40some kind of survival expert which I
8:43wasn't really but I've learned a lot in
8:46the years since and one of the things I
8:50learned was that a lot more people were
8:51interested in this this little tale of
8:54mine than I ever expected they would be
8:57because I think in part you know when
9:00you get into survival it's the universal
9:02human issue we all go through it one way
9:04or the other
9:04pretty much every day so we people can
9:07relate to the story even if they've
9:09never been to sea before don't know
9:11anything about the ocean because of the
9:14universal human qualities and what we
9:17all experiences we struggle to your life
9:21you know you're right I think that's a
9:23fascinating way to take it because
9:24survival really comes down to surviving
9:27and and I kind of think survival goes
9:30farther than that it goes back into
9:31thriving too because kind of if you're
9:33just surviving and just barely hanging
9:34on you wouldnt want to spend your life
9:35in the lifeboat xxx guess it's 76 days
9:39yeah 76 days was quite enough and and
9:43you got back to life again
9:44and that's a big part of it you know
9:47yeah well you know I'm sure we'll touch
9:50on a number of these these issues you're
9:54absolutely right in fact I often talk
9:56about not only surviving but thriving
9:58literally using that term and have been
10:02working on a book pretty much forever
10:04about about that topic about not only
10:07surviving life's greatest challenges but
10:10learning how to thrive through them and
10:13I think that I've I can I can speak for
10:16a certainly a lot of survivors in that
10:22we don't choose to be in these kind of
10:24circumstances certainly but we do have
10:29the opportunity to gain a huge amount
10:31from them and you know I've got other
10:33survival experiences in the year since I
10:37don't think anybody gets to be my age
10:38unless they're extremely lucky without
10:41going through some kind of real survival
10:44experience and doesn't necessarily have
10:46to be physical but certainly certainly
10:48some kind of emotional or you know other
10:54kind of experience can be crises and
10:56business or all kinds of different
10:57things that have commonalities with me
10:59bobbing around in the middle of the
11:00ocean but it's through these struggles
11:02we do find huge opportunities and it's
11:07interesting that you mentioned Life of
11:09Pi because that was an opportunity for
11:10me because in 2009 Angley the director
11:14that film got in touch with me because I
11:17mentioned in the book and I guess since
11:20Captain Bligh and some of the other
11:23characters who were mentioned in the
11:24book are no longer available for comment
11:26the they chased down the only guy left
11:29left standing wow that's great so we
11:34spent some days with him and I ended up
11:35being the survival and marine consultant
11:38on that film and one thing we tried to
11:40do to it even though it's such a kind of
11:44wacky allegorical fantasy is to bring my
11:49experience 30-some years forward and to
11:53use a lot of the the basis of it for
11:57what was filmed is that as Aang said to
12:00Linda
12:01authenticity and make it convincing and
12:05I that would have only been possible by
12:07using kind of integrating real life
12:11survival experience and how you feel how
12:14you the things you go through and what
12:17the nature of the ocean is actually like
12:18it's different it's amazing diversity
12:20and I don't know grandeur as well as its
12:26ability to inflict a lot of horror and
12:29pain in onto the big screen so I you
12:33know I really appreciate it having that
12:34opportunity to also work in a another
12:37film since then that that's sort of the
12:39same thing so those things would have
12:41only been possible had I had I been
12:43drifting in the Atlantic 30 years before
12:46that's a good point it's a great point
12:48well all the movie opportunities for
12:50somebody who wants to go floating in the
12:51Atlantic I should recommend meta people
12:53people try to get the movies all the
12:54time they just need to go get in the
12:55lifeboat right you know it's not like we
13:02look for this stuff or or want to have
13:04these experiences but we can't be afraid
13:07of life and doing things in life because
13:10inevitably we'll run into challenges and
13:12that's that's a big part of life it's
13:13actually the thing that really does give
13:15us these these huge opportunities for
13:17new understanding and growth any great
13:21point well let's hear the questions and
13:23the answer so question one and anybody
13:25who's new joining us we're asking a
13:27thousand people who are leaders in the
13:30realm of hope around the world these
13:32same five questions and the answers are
13:35diverse and fascinating so question one
13:37what's your favorite quote about hope or
13:39statement of hope your belief about hope
13:42whatever you want to put in there
13:44well I I had to look these up I had to
13:48look up some quotes I really am NOT an
13:52expert about hope and in fact I really
13:56don't think about it as a subject very
13:59much we all use it in everyday language
14:01all the time oh I hope that it's not
14:03gonna rain tonight or whatever but it
14:05usually doesn't mean a whole lot but of
14:08course when you're really in a crises it
14:13takes on a whole
14:14meaning so I did look up some quotes to
14:17see what I might most relate to when I
14:20if you don't mind I might read a couple
14:22of them anyway that's great I'll take
14:24all you got man okay well the first one
14:27is from aristotle onassis of all people
14:30who married of course Jackie Onassis the
14:35late President Kennedy's wife oh so not
14:37the not the Aristotle that we read about
14:39in ninth grade but the other one
14:40yeah the current not the ancient
14:44philosopher Aristotle but the the modern
14:46ship magnate who I'm sure is is no
14:50longer with us as well but he said we
14:52must free ourselves of the hope that the
14:54sea will ever rest we must learn to sail
14:57in high winds and I think that that's
15:00very apropos and another I liked was
15:04hope lies in dreams in imagination in an
15:08the courage of those who dare to make
15:10dreams into reality that's from Joseph
15:13Jonah solid another is it is often in
15:16the darkest skies that we see the
15:18brightest stars by Richard Evans and
15:21finally from William Faulkner an
15:24American great you cannot swim for new
15:27horizons until you have courage to lose
15:29sight of the shore Wow I like all of
15:33those and those are good I do too hey
15:37question three maybe made more sense
15:39than question two so we'll get to
15:42question two in a minute but I'd love to
15:43jump in and see just tell me your story
15:45how did this happen
15:46what what went on my life is kind of
15:54disarray
15:54I separated from my wife and so I set
15:59off on pee-wee Herman's great oceanic
16:02adventure and left the United States
16:05with everything that I had I'd always
16:07wanted to sail across the ocean
16:09with in a small boat simple boat and to
16:12see what's really possible to do with
16:17very little sort of oceanic version of
16:21backpacking if you will and so I had a
16:24really great time going over to England
16:26and then things got a little rough I
16:28started to race there dropped out I
16:31ended up cruising down Spain and
16:32Portugal out to the Canary Islands and
16:34left the Canary Islands and February of
16:391982 and you're somewhat far south there
16:44so it's not like being in the winter in
16:46the North Atlantic it's the southern
16:48part of the North Atlantic and the trade
16:49winds and I thought I'd have a pretty
16:51easy time and the milk run then but that
16:53was not to be about a week out something
16:55hit the side of the boat at night and it
16:57was in a bit of a blow so we're talking
17:00North Atlantic like tell me again what
17:03we're near by land wise for egg north
17:06and the equator but it's the southern
17:08part of that the Canary Islands you get
17:09off of that basically and that
17:13surprisingly is even the Sahara Desert
17:16so a lot farther north and you imagine
17:18it is because it's it's warmer on that
17:20side because of the nature of currents
17:22and whatnot and so I was going west a
17:26little south of West to go to the
17:29Caribbean where it would be nice and
17:32balmy and all that kind of stuff and I
17:33got out not to quite where it was balmy
17:35yet water was still cold and the weather
17:39was brewing up and something hit the
17:40side of the boat and it filled up with
17:42water and I bailed out the house and in
17:47the inflated life raft with about six
17:49feet in diameter not quite big enough on
17:53the inside so I could stretch out and I
17:56had a little tent on the top and I went
17:58drifting across the Atlantic for the
18:00next 1,800 miles and credible yeah and
18:06so basically you know that kind of an
18:08experience we have all kinds of survival
18:10experiences long short term this is sort
18:14of a longer term experience and people
18:17tend to go through a number of different
18:19stages so the psychology and what
18:22happens to people it gets to be pretty
18:24complex it's hard to cover it all but
18:26I'll give you a few examples of things
18:28that kind of kept me going and the
18:31initial stage of course you're escaping
18:33the immediate threat and fortunately for
18:36me I had been out on my own and kind of
18:39isolated environments dealing with
18:41problems with limited resources
18:44throughout most of my life
18:46both backpacking in the in the mountains
18:49and being offshore in a boat where you
18:53can't just Park it on the side of the
18:54road and hope that somebody's gonna come
18:55and get you out of the fix you gotten
18:57into so that was good training for that
19:00immediate stage because a lot of people
19:04can become frozen about 15% of people
19:06come frozen and in panic or you know
19:09just don't know what to do
19:11or they're running around like chickens
19:12with their heads cut off and actually
19:14becoming a problem can endanger people
19:16around them and about two-thirds of
19:19people can be pretty functional but need
19:22direction they just don't know what to
19:24do that they're out of there they're
19:25there their wheelhouse and really are
19:30just a bit lost until somebody can
19:32correction them and about 15% of people
19:34are able to do this kind of
19:36psychological splitting where they have
19:38enough training and whatnot to be able
19:41to go through the steps of just going
19:44through the motions I got to get up I
19:45got to do this I got to do that so in my
19:47head in those initial stages there was a
19:49lot of conflict because people aren't
19:52single dimensional I found they're
19:53multi-dimensional animals and we think a
19:56lot of things feel a lot of things all
19:58at the same time when you think you can
19:59you ask somebody well what do you think
20:01about that I you know if you're a lot
20:04'full person and really figure it out
20:07you'll probably think a lot of things
20:08about it sometimes converting better
20:10yeah so I went through all that there
20:12was part of me that was freaking out it
20:14was telling me I was gonna die and
20:15whatnot but I was able to get through
20:16that stage and then the second stage
20:19sets in which is very difficult to get
20:22through and that's one of disorientation
20:25and fear I call it some people call it
20:27recoiled and it's not a lot more you can
20:29do but your whole old life has gone away
20:31and it's like what
20:33and for me it was like how can I even
20:36survive out here the ocean beautiful but
20:38it's completely clear fish I can't
20:41figure out any way of making fresh water
20:43even though I had devices this we're
20:45supposed to work for that and whatnot
20:47and it took me about two weeks to get
20:48through that stage and it's really
20:49horrible it's when all those bad things
20:53in your life kind of come back you all
20:55your failures haunt you you feel like
20:57you the most idiotic person ever to have
21:00existed you just really beat yourself up
21:03and it's hard to get through that and
21:06especially for that period and I think
21:10for a lot of other episodes throughout
21:14the two-and-a-half months I I really did
21:16rely on what Winston Churchill once said
21:19which is when going through hell keep
21:21going you just keep on doing it if you
21:24have a failure you just kind of keep on
21:27working at it and eventually maybe
21:29you'll figure it out I mean they're all
21:32so ballast out with knowing when to when
21:33to cut your losses and try something
21:36else and stuff like that which is hard
21:38to do when you're by yourself but there
21:40are a lot of these techniques on the on
21:41the longer term there are things like
21:44normalizing life as much as possible
21:46it's got me doing really so even in a
21:49situation like you're in I mean so let's
21:52say trauma happens here stateside and
21:55it's you know a family trauma and you
21:58try to normalize that by talking to
22:00friends by having a regular routine by
22:02by getting out and going to the coffee
22:04shop or going to a movie but I mean
22:06you're freaking all alone in the middle
22:08the ocean there's really not much normal
22:10about that that you can lean back and
22:12say oh yeah we're just gonna call this a
22:13normal day well I was okay tried to
22:20convince myself of was that it was not
22:23the end of the voyage it was a
22:24continuation and a little bit more
22:26humble craft so I got up in the morning
22:29I needed I did exercise once the
22:33ecosystem started developing around the
22:35raft on which I would depend for all my
22:38food they were you know early early in
22:42the morning and a dust were the most
22:44productive times for me to fish
22:46I rationed things I navigated I kept the
22:49log I I tried to find humor where I
22:53could find it it's a really bad sign in
22:55the survival situations when people have
22:57a compute complete sense of humor
23:01failure especially somebody who normally
23:04is humorous and all of a sudden they go
23:06dead quiet and not a good sign
23:08well and and fine humor everywhere
23:13they're sort of an I don't know a
23:15gallows humor that you develop these
23:18situate where you even recognize the the
23:23humorously absurd in the situation that
23:26might be killing you at the same time so
23:28all those things were very helpful in
23:32getting through it and then you know
23:35adaptation also requires acceptance
23:40acceptance of reality the quicker you
23:43can accept what is actually happening
23:46and the truth of your situation the
23:50quicker you can get on to dealing with
23:52it denial is absolutely the worst enemy
23:55you can have so a question right there
23:59then how do you go from I have to
24:01normalize this experience I'm I'm stuck
24:05in the ocean by myself with the sharks
24:07so we're normalizing that and yet we're
24:10not denying the situation obviously yeah
24:13I'm stuck in the million with only my
24:15shark friends but but denying that in my
24:18mind we cannot be like normalizing egg
24:20oh it's it's it's not as bad as it looks
24:22or hey it's okay it's just another day
24:24in the ocean or I mean there's a fine
24:26line there I assume where you're which
24:29way you're gonna go with that you know
24:32what you're saying but for me anyway and
24:35and I found for other survivors no the
24:38it's it's real brasstacks time you can't
24:43you can't lie to yourself you can't put
24:46things off you can't you know wish for
24:49things and and I've thought a lot about
24:50this and your basic questions about hope
24:54you know hope is not wishing for
24:56thinnings it's not sitting around
24:59wishing
25:00that somebody would come and save you
25:03from the predicament that you almost
25:06always gotten yourself into or at least
25:08found yourself in and it's not wishing
25:13for things to quote return to normal oh
25:16I just can't wait for things to turn to
25:17normal we often say that in our lives
25:18it's like what's normal normal is what
25:20exists and normal is what you forge out
25:23of what exists now otherwise you you
25:27know normal will be you know you're the
25:30victim of the new normal that everybody
25:33else in reality is creating so you have
25:36to kind of take that responsibility from
25:37square one and say well you know what is
25:41it that I actually need versus what I
25:43want that's one bit of truth that you
25:47need to separate and then okay how do I
25:50achieve what I actually need an a
25:53minimum basis and go at it and if you
25:57can't find a solution and you come up
25:59with another one one thing that
26:01survivors are famous for are I said I
26:04say that if necessity is the mother of
26:08invention and survival is its matriarch
26:11because they're just all survival
26:15stories are full of all these real bits
26:17of invention where you take things out
26:21of their normal context and you use them
26:22in a completely different way and have
26:24people the the the film Apollo 13 by Ron
26:31Howard has a beautiful part of it where
26:33you know they're they're being poisoned
26:35by co2 and people are always back the
26:38designers are always back filling and
26:40going oh well wait a minute that wasn't
26:41designed to do this and that wasn't
26:42designed to do that and kind of covering
26:44their butts about it and in finally the
26:46the head of the operation says look I
26:49don't care what it was designed to do I
26:50want to know what it can do and they
26:53designed this whole thing riggan we're
26:55all you know pulling out bits of duct
26:58tape and whatever they can find on the
26:59crap yeah problem elders do this all the
27:02time you know it's C Murphy is an octave
27:06optimist because not only will
27:08everything that can go wrong go wrong
27:09but even the things that can't go wrong
27:11will figure out a way of going wrong so
27:13you got to be prepared for that and deal
27:15with that on a kind of constant basis
27:16and you know I've talked to survivors
27:19who signal planes with credit cards
27:21because they're no longer useful as a
27:23credit card but they're a shiny
27:24waterproof surface and so you start
27:27looking at things lightly different way
27:28you you you you look for key qualities
27:31and again it can even be in people's
27:33personalities it's very important for
27:35groups of people who interact to figure
27:38out you know what are people really good
27:41at you know if you're it with a team of
27:44people or if you know I've gone through
27:46especially the last few years a very
27:48serious illness and it was a very
27:50different kind of situation from the
27:52drift because there I was completely
27:54dependent on everybody around me and you
27:56know some people were really good at
27:59some things and some people are really
28:00good at other things and you learn about
28:03these things and try to try to exploit
28:09that if you will because everything is a
28:12balance I look at life and everything in
28:16life even when I was in the life raft is
28:18having a kind of yin yang balance to it
28:21there's a huge beauty in the middle of a
28:24storm and there's also a great power
28:26there's danger there but there's also an
28:28exhilaration and a being in touch with
28:31yourself that you can't get in any other
28:33way the whole life raft experience was
28:35like that I saw so many things that were
28:38potent to me in a visually beautiful
28:46incredibly rewarding
28:49inspiring uplifting spiritual and I
28:54could not have had those experiences had
28:56I not been in this horrible situation to
28:58begin with so I try to look at that in
29:01life and when you're in a situation you
29:03can say okay well this frankly this
29:05really sucks from this and that point of
29:08view but what can I get out of it or you
29:10know how can I minimize that kind of
29:13damage your threat and maximize other
29:17qualities that come with that so when I
29:20was in the raft it was things like okay
29:23it's blowing hard and that made it
29:25really difficult
29:26me to fish and it made it made it
29:28difficult for me to produce water but
29:30then I would I would become elated
29:32because I'm being pushed to my
29:33destination at a quicker rate and when
29:36it was hot and and completely flat out
29:39it was really grueling and but I could
29:42at least fish and I could produce a lot
29:43more water doing that way so you accept
29:47that it doesn't mean that you're happy
29:50about about whatever that balance is but
29:52you at least come to accept it and move
29:54forward well you've got so many great
29:57just nuggets of wisdom in there for so
29:59many circumstances in life not just the
30:01few of you who get to float around in
30:04the ocean by ourselves but there's but
30:06most people have some sort of trauma or
30:10something to survive in life life's just
30:12not kind enough to leave everybody alone
30:14or most people alone there's always a
30:16hard day and man he's got so many little
30:19nuggets of wisdom in there so back to
30:21question 2 then kind of going out or
30:24derp here who's shared hope with you in
30:27the past who's who's been somebody who's
30:29just kind of pumped it into and said hey
30:31don't quit don't give up maybe in your
30:33current or recent illness versus life
30:36raft I don't know any other situation
30:37life well Jesus lots of people it's hard
30:41for me to to single things out because
30:45of course life is this mishmash and so
30:47many influences and parts of it come
30:49from one person or another in the raft
30:51in the end adrift I bring up a couple of
30:54people one was the guy who taught me how
30:57to sail who really taught me a lot about
31:01personal responsibility and in dealing
31:05with things he always allowed me to make
31:08decisions with him and he was really
31:10perfect mentor who would let me get into
31:12just enough trouble to learn something
31:16from it but but never to put anybody in
31:18danger and allowed me to have take
31:21responsibility for making decisions
31:23navigating you know doing everything on
31:25the boat and so on myself and so that
31:27was really a positive in in terms of
31:31learning to deal with life yourself
31:34don't you know not having somebody come
31:37along and you'll always pick up my
31:39own trash but making me do it myself
31:41that was that was a good thing I mean my
31:43parents did that I there was an old
31:47lobstermen friend of ours up here George
31:49Bracy and he went through incredible
31:51things during his his lifetime did a lot
31:54of stuff and he'd tell you these stories
31:56and you just tell them how you're full
31:57of it you know that never havin any drag
31:59out something newspaper story that's it
32:01well yeah George Gracie you roller
32:03skated down Cadillac Mountain okay and
32:07and and so that was that was a you know
32:10those kind of people are a great
32:11inspiration to because they show you
32:13that the the longshot the the miracle
32:17does happen and people make it happen
32:21and you know I have read a lot of
32:23survival stories before I got myself
32:26into this situation to other ocean
32:28survival stories and whatnot I love that
32:29stuff as a kid whether it was Robinson
32:31Crusoe which is actually based on a real
32:33historical character too you know 119
32:38days adrift by Maurice and Marilyn
32:40Bailey who were in a life raft in the
32:42Pacific and created a world of their own
32:44out there you know even though it looks
32:47hopeless when you're in it and I think
32:49it's inevitable that people feel very
32:52alone when they face a crisis even if
32:55they know intellectually like yeah
32:57million other people have had cancer but
32:59I have cancer and nobody really gets
33:01where I'm coming from especially in my
33:02circle the people I'm dealing with all
33:05the time and whatnot and there is a
33:06certain truth to that that there you can
33:09you can be isolated but what also joins
33:12us all is that as we as I said at the
33:15beginning you know survivals the
33:16universal theme in human existence and
33:21we all go through it so we have
33:23something to learn from all those people
33:25who have gone before us and just knowing
33:27that they've gone through tough times
33:28and for me I was worldly enough I
33:30traveled around the world and seen
33:34people living in very rudimentary
33:38existences things that we would consider
33:40survival experiences here in the United
33:43States and yet somehow they found a
33:46reason not only to get up in the morning
33:47and get through day but actually found
33:49reasons to laugh and to play and
33:53to make music and you know create life
33:57so it's tough doing it when you're
34:00really in the trenches but it helps to
34:04keep that perspective at least in the
34:06back of your mind
34:07that's good laughing and playing and
34:09making music and being intentional about
34:11those things that's so hard to do you're
34:13right
34:13when times are tough but what that
34:16encouraged me to get out there and do a
34:17little more that on a daily basis to
34:27this was a thing that went on for a
34:30couple of years can ask what the illness
34:32was are do do you talk about McKinley at
34:36a complication that required a stem cell
34:40transplant in the clinical trial and
34:43fortunately it worked for me right now
34:47going through all of that I can't think
34:50of a day that went by in the hospital
34:53where we didn't find reason to kind of
34:55joke around with the nurses and whatnot
34:57and you know there is life in crisis or
35:03can be that's a good quote there is life
35:08in crisis if it can be life in crisis
35:10either way you want to look at and it
35:11probably is you just got to find it
35:13question four what are you doing to to
35:17share hope with other people today
35:18what's your world all about hey you're
35:21again you're the person who's answering
35:23the questions and you say you know I
35:24really don't focus that much on hope but
35:26man I don't know what else you focus on
35:28then you must have to be a natural at it
35:30so what are you doing out there today
35:32well today I'm talking to you basically
35:35I love that thanks and that's okay and
35:39I'm given those kind of opportunities
35:42quite frequently through having written
35:45adrift and I go out and talk about it
35:47and all that kind of stuff and I don't
35:50do it a lot but every now and then a
35:51couple times a year I'll go someplace
35:53and interact with people and tell them
35:55tell them this tired old tale and they
35:57seem to still seem to be interested and
35:59yeah and I think again it's because it
36:02ties into everybody's life experience
36:04one way or the other
36:05and so that's mostly how I do and I also
36:08write articles I you know I've written a
36:11lot about safety and survival and I've
36:15been involved with the groups of people
36:17who deal with other kinds of survivors
36:20besides oceanic survivors everything
36:23from you know abusive environments to I
36:27don't know other like like real hands-on
36:31ocean survival training that kind of
36:33thing so I do it through that through
36:36writing and through working on these
36:39films hopefully you know if people have
36:41seen the life of Phi and they feel
36:44inspired by it well there's a part of
36:46that at least a little bit of that that
36:48comes through you my prior experience so
36:52I'm sure a large part of it so this
36:54Robert Redford movie that's on Netflix
36:57all recently you have anything to do
36:59with that one or do you think it's
37:00accurate I mean it's like this a great
37:02movie got my attention
37:03oh well I'm glad you enjoyed it but
37:06basically no I didn't have any Mariners
37:15are kind of cringing at that film
37:17because like everything technically
37:20everything in it is kind of wrong oh
37:23that's too bad man so you're saying the
37:25life of Pi the fictional tale is is more
37:28accurate than the Robert Redford maybe
37:30that's that's and in Hollywood great man
37:37movies are so fun you know I'm happy
37:43when you know something like that
37:45touches anybody and it seems that that
37:47film has reached on a lot of people so
37:54alright question five
37:56give me some simple ABC steps how do I
37:59start sharing hope or pushing others
38:03towards this not just surviving but
38:06thriving mentality that you talk about a
38:08lot so I'm gonna walk away from this
38:10conversation and do what next
38:14jeez that's a really tough question I'm
38:17not sure if I can answer it oh I bet you
38:20can you do it all day long everybody has
38:22to find their own path honey that's a
38:25good answer take things one step at a
38:27time one really important thing is don't
38:33overwhelm yourself with with the huge
38:37bowl whatever it might be for me in
38:39recent years it was like to survive
38:41leukemia you know it was like okay fine
38:44I got it you know that's the goal but
38:47I'm not focused on that and in fact I
38:50don't think about that a lot what I'm
38:53thinking about is what are all the baby
38:56steps that will add up to that you know
39:00somebody's coming in and they're they're
39:02gonna go I'm gonna have to go through
39:04this particular procedure and it ain't
39:06gonna be pleasant so how do I do that
39:08take it one step at a time you know I'm
39:10I've always been the kind of guy who's
39:12like doesn't focus too much on throwing
39:15myself off the end of this diving board
39:18that's way up there and just think about
39:21you know where do I put my next hand on
39:24the ladder and then I'm up there and
39:26then it was like okay now I go down
39:27there and I focus on that just just be
39:29really focused I think actually it kind
39:32of brings up something that this guy I'm
39:39gonna have a chemo moment now wrote
39:42about he he he was a Zen master Alan
39:47Watts excuse me for a minute for that no
39:50no it's okay Alec Watts wrote a book a
39:52great book called the wisdom of
39:53insecurity and it's about you know that
39:56acceptance of things not being secure
39:58that we live in this insecure world and
40:00insecure moments and everything's always
40:02in transition and I can't remember it
40:06was in that book or one of his other
40:07books and he he mentioned sport
40:09he said sports the Zen of Western man
40:11and it took me a long time in my life to
40:13kind of figure out what is that all
40:15about what does that mean and the more
40:17I've talked to a number of other people
40:19about it in in kind of the last couple
40:22of years one of whom was a mountain
40:24climber who fell a long distance and
40:27landed on a basically exploded his legs
40:29he's lost leg you know and other people
40:33who do those sorts of things I have lots
40:35of friends who go out and they do these
40:37things that we normally consider a a
40:39little off the edge and there is a
40:44commonality amongst these people where
40:47they feel a kind of spiritual
40:49enlightenment through the act because
40:51one thing that happens when you're doing
40:52something that's very difficult and
40:55risky and on the edge which includes
40:58survival is that you're very focused and
41:01kind of the past doesn't really mean
41:03very much in the future doesn't mean
41:05very much it's all in the moment and
41:07unless you do that kind of stuff you
41:09really can't quite get it I think so
41:12I would encourage people to expand their
41:16comfort zones take a little bit of risk
41:20I think the riskiest thing in life is to
41:22try to avoid all risk because then you
41:25get kind of like somebody you know
41:29trying to keep themselves from having a
41:30heart attack so they just sit at home
41:32and eat a lot of food and lay around and
41:35you know it's really not a good
41:37prescription right fortunately life
41:40requires risk and annakodi requires us
41:43getting up and going around and doing
41:45things and that entails running into
41:49problems and failures and all that stuff
41:52and that's how we learn how to adapt and
41:54how to deal with the new situations that
41:57aren't exactly the same but they're
41:59stressful and they present the same
42:03philosophical problems that that my
42:06floating around and a life raft yeah
42:07that you know the more we put ourselves
42:10out there in life the better we get at
42:13it I think it's a really good quote the
42:16more ourselves out there the better we
42:17get so I'm taking away from that too to
42:19make your own path in a sense you can't
42:21do what somebody else did to heal
42:23because it might not be the same way for
42:25you or to survive or to thrive and you
42:28really have to to take those very bold
42:32deliberate steps throughout life so that
42:34so that I don't grow stagnant and that I
42:37continue to grow as a person and then I
42:40continue to find
42:41that opportunity where I am so focused
42:43on the here and now that I'm actually
42:45living in in this moment not in the
42:48future or some great goal that I have
42:50for me long term that overwhelms me
42:53inevitably but I get focused on these
42:55tasks right now right here and I succeed
42:58one day at a time I do want to add this
43:06though that it's not about avoiding
43:08other people's experience either that's
43:11why you know it did me a great deal of
43:13good to have read about other people's
43:15survival experiences before I found
43:18myself in one other people's experience
43:22is quite enlightening or can be both
43:27from you know what works and what
43:29doesn't work you know look around
43:31perhaps it people who you think oh man
43:35you know what they're just not getting
43:38it they had this opportunity and and
43:41they failed because of XYZ you know
43:43what's that all about as well as the
43:45people who have succeeded despite the
43:49fact that they face huge obstacles there
43:53are a lot of lessons to learn from other
43:55people's experiences so I don't want to
43:56belittle that but at the same time you
43:58can't lock yourself into
44:00oh well so-and-so did it this way and I
44:03can't do it therefore I'm doomed you
44:05know find another path and find somebody
44:08somebody else who speaks to you or or
44:11some other way of dealing with it and as
44:13I say you know not everything's gonna
44:15work a lot of times you're gonna fail
44:16when I was in life raft I failed it a
44:18lot of different things but sometimes I
44:22could then back up from that and throw
44:25away that solution and find another one
44:28and I one of the ironies of facing at
44:32least the physical problems I did was
44:35that I learned that sometimes in order
44:37to fix something you have to make it
44:38worse
44:40I had a holes in the floor and I
44:41couldn't figure out any these little pin
44:43holes and all its water was squirting up
44:45and it was a real pain in the neck and
44:47so what I had to do is I had to open up
44:50those holes bigger until I had them big
44:52enough that I could put a plug in them
44:53and you
44:55you see this in companies trying to
44:56reinvent themselves all the time that
44:59you know they look at their business and
45:01they go well maybe that's okay and
45:03whatnot but basically it just does not
45:05work for our future right so even though
45:07is we're gonna lose revenue by shutting
45:09this down that's the better long-term
45:13solution sometimes you have to destroy a
45:15little bit in order to create great
45:19point man I love this all right
45:22well Steve Callahan you have lots of
45:26places online and books and things that
45:29we can go and find out more about you
45:30and what a wealth of knowledge and a
45:33resource you are for so many individuals
45:36and organizations who need to hear this
45:38message of don't just literally just
45:41don't survive through it but you're
45:42you're thriving through things not just
45:45a rare occurrence of stranded on a
45:48lifeboat that even cancer I mean you
45:51just keep doing it so where can we find
45:53out more about you websites social media
45:55where we go yeah I'm not a real big
45:58social media I'm pretty old-school
46:02although I try times although you gotta
46:05admit that Twitter from a life after
46:07site
46:10Steven Callahan botnet and kind of a
46:15potpourri of junk on there and otherwise
46:19I have my books adrift and capsized
46:22another ocean survival tale and you can
46:27go to the movies and watch watch Life of
46:29Pi or upcoming film with done by Ron
46:33Howard called in the heart of the sea
46:35which is a another ocean survival tale
46:38based in 1820 based on the true story
46:40the real moby dick story really huh yeah
46:43things like that so I'm around you could
46:46find me oh that's great yeah that's
46:49great I can't wait to see that new movie
46:50yeah me too
46:52when does it come out you know I think
46:54it's out December 12 it was supposed to
46:57come out May but they delayed it till
46:59Christmastime oh all right chris
47:02hemsworth anybody who's a big for fan
47:03they'll find Chris and all his his his
47:07his masculine glory yeah out there so
47:11I've seen trailers for that the big
47:13movie dick movie is that the big moby
47:15dick movie that keep seeing like
47:16trailers for no way yeah i should be
47:19good it should be good fun yeah it's
47:21probably not gonna be history but you
47:22know I think Ron's got a good message in
47:25it yeah he makes good movies and a man
47:29they just the graphics on that are
47:30incredible so what are you doing that
47:32but like in that kind of a setting what
47:34are you doing
47:35you bring accuracy to the sea voyage
47:37process to how the sailors work to have
47:39a sea ax I mean how does that well in
47:42that case not so much in life a pie I
47:45did a lot of different things I made
47:47props I read I kind of directed the wave
47:49tank I you know I had input on the
47:52script that I had lots of different in
47:54the world like I in Ron's case he
47:57basically wanted me to be there for the
48:01actors
48:02unlike Life of Pi there are a number of
48:04actors in this this crew and so basic I
48:10was there for them trying to fulfill
48:15whatever needs they might have in terms
48:16of understanding what their roles might
48:20be like on board ship and well but what
48:24would they be going
48:25what would their kind of character be
48:26going through through the survival yeah
48:28kitchen and that sort of thing I did
48:30some other things there too but that was
48:33my primary role that's really cool he's
48:36really cool it was a lot of fun and I
48:39you know as it is maybe as a final note
48:41I think one thing that's brought a lot
48:43of hope to me you know as we get older
48:45especially you know our lives get bogged
48:49down with with problems and you know
48:52it's it's tupper's you get older to roll
48:56with the quickly changing world that we
48:58have and you become very conscious of
49:03the huge problems facing our world and
49:06humanity and I think one thing that's
49:08really picked up my spirits and given me
49:13probably more than anything else is when
49:15I interact with younger people and I
49:18find that it's their world now and
49:22they're very generally I'm not saying
49:25that they're not like every other
49:26generations come before that there are
49:28people who are users as well as givers
49:31and there aren't people who are greedy
49:32as well as generous and all that kind of
49:34stuff and lazy as well as industrious
49:37but I find great hope in the energy and
49:41spirit of young people and where they
49:44what they want to do with their lives
49:45and take the world forward and deal with
49:48these huge problems that unfortunately
49:51they're gonna have to face just as every
49:53generation faces the problems handed to
49:55them by prior generation so all right
49:58that's a good source of hope but I
50:00appreciate all that you do and in other
50:04people talking about these important
50:06issues well Steve thanks for your time
50:10you're the guy who's initiating all this
50:12and giving is a reason to get this
50:13conversation going so man thank you very
50:15much for your time I know it's valuable
50:17time and you are a wealth of knowledge
50:18and a great source of hope even though
50:21you don't think you talk about it all
50:22day you sure do a heck of a job
50:25delivering thanks have a great night
50:30bye-bye you you just listened to I share
50:34hope if you're ready to make a change
50:35head to our website at I share hope comm
50:38and claim your FREE copy of the top ten
50:41actions of hope from world leaders to
50:43use hope in your own life thanks for
50:45listening and we'll talk to you next
50:46time
50:52you

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Episode 63 - Adrift to Survival with Steven Callahan by I Share Hope, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 8,639 words across 1,165 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.