Episode 512 Daniel O’Dell How One Dog Saved a Veteran Transcript

This transcript is from episode 512 with guest Daniel O’Dell.

[00:00:00]

Scott DeLuzio: Daniel, welcome to the show. Really glad to have you here. Really appreciate coming on the show and sharing your story with us. Looking forward to it,

Daniel O’Dell: Well, thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it a lot and it’s nice to see you again. The last time I saw you was at the military Influencer conference last year, and you know, that was an amazing time and I’m glad that we, you know, made that connection and kept it around.

Scott DeLuzio: you know that, that’s one of the things about that conference. I, I’ve met, I met so many people at that conference and I. You know, you obviously stood out with the star of the show, which is, you know, to your right. You stood out because, you know, with the, the, the green hair, uh, or, or fur, sorry, you know, hair fur on top of the, uh, dog’s head really like.

Stood out as, as a, uh, like, oh my gosh, that’s [00:01:00] catching my eye. That’s something you don’t see every day. And, and uh, you know, but there, there’s so many people that you meet there all with incredible stories and I’ve been itching to get into your story and kind of hear a little bit more about your background.

And you know, what? What makes you tick and, and all that kind of stuff. So, uh, so let’s dive into it. You know, you, you’ve talked about you know, your, your transitions, you know, out of the army and kind of some of the challenges that you faced. Tell us a little bit about that, that time period in your life and kind, what were some of those challenges that was going on with you?

Daniel O’Dell: You know, that’s a, that’s a, the best question I would say a lot of veterans that, you know, that we need answers for, and that, that transition is, was very hard for me. The biggest, the biggest struggle that I had was finding that purpose, you know, a lot of us veterans. We just struggle because when we were in this, when we were in the military, we were in charge of millions of dollars worth of equipment and, and personnel.

But when we get out the military, uh, a [00:02:00] lot of us even just getting a regular local job at a gas station, they don’t even trust us with a low company credit card. So it’s very disheartening. So a lot of times, a lot of veterans, it’s. Like what can I do? You know, their purpose when they were in the army was to either take care of soldiers or to complete a mission. So we don’t have any more missions and we don’t have any more soldiers. What do we do? So a lot of veterans like myself, we just dibbled dabbled into anything and everything, and ultimately with my disabilities. I couldn’t find employment and I struggled severely for so long. And finally I just picked up a, picked up a, uh, a phone and started filming my life and I just started getting a following and was like, you know, if I.

Some parts of my body do not work properly. What does, so my mouth works wonderfully. So this is why I tell my story. I tell my story to give hope and um, ultimately to give hope to [00:03:00] everybody to find their purpose and figure out what works in our body and our mind, just like in the military.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, for sure. And as long as you have the, the record button able to be working on your, on your phone or on your, uh, you know, camera, whatever device you’re using you’re able to capture that stuff and, and then you can put it out there to the world. And one of the things I love doing with this show is being able to highlight.

Other veterans and share their stories. Talk about the, the ups and the downs, the things that they went through, because you know, and I’m sure you’ve figured this out through your conversations and your interactions with other veterans, you’re not the only one who has gone through this. But so many people are out there after their transition thinking that they’re all alone in this space and that nobody’s gonna understand what they’re going through.

Nobody knows what they. Experience, what injuries that they had, what, you know, combat experiences they had or any of those other things. Nobody’s gonna understand any of that stuff. But there’s a whole [00:04:00] community of veterans out here who get it. We do. We get it. And it’s, and it’s not like in a you know, we’re, we’re talking down to you or anything like that.

Like, you know, pat you on your head like you’re a little boy and like, oh yeah, we, we understand you. You’re, you’re gonna be okay. You know, we’re not talking like that. We actually do get it. We’ve been there. You know, someone like yourself who’s, you know. Struggled with finding that sense of purpose, finding that next mission when you had disabilities that prevented you from a lot of other traditional employment type scenarios.

Now you have to figure out something else. And I’m sure you’re not the only one out there either. There’s somebody else out there who’s gotta figure that out too, right? But. A lot of times we throw the pity party and we just don’t know like what to do next. What’s that next step for us? Right? And, and in your case, you, you figured something out.

You found something to do and you know, it, yeah, it was a loss of identity taking off that uniform, but you know, you end up [00:05:00] rediscovering yourself and finding a new sense of purpose, right?

Daniel O’Dell: Absolutely. But it took a very long time to get there. And when I say that, you know, like you said, a lot of ’em, it’s that identity, you know, identity, you know, we thought it was, you know, so it was a hero. All of us were being a hero. All of us signed our life away on a dotted line. No matter if you. Seeing combat or not, and only a very small portion actually see combat.

And then out of those outside of, out of those who see combat, a lot of individuals still get injured and not even in combat. So it, it’s again, finding your purpose again, finding your place in society. And me, uh, one thing I didn’t mention earlier is I struggled mentally for so long because I thought I was alone.

Like you mentioned a lot of veterans. Think, oh no, I’m the only one going through this. But realistically, I knew deep down inside that I didn’t want any other veterans to feel like I did for so long. Thinking [00:06:00] about tying knots, you know, putting them up in the tree ropes, getting ladders, stepping on ledges, all of these things.

I know that the viewers, and you understand what I’m saying, I. I knew that I didn’t want to feel like that anymore. And the veterans all around the world shouldn’t feel like that. So I needed to tell my story. Let everybody know that. Yeah. I struggle with finances like everybody does. I struggle with marriage problems.

I struggle with being a father, being a parent, you know, getting things done, being a business owner. But again, you’re not alone. I’m not alone. Let’s just talk about it, figure it out, and. Kind of make a little battle plan like we did in the military. Make a little sandbox, assess it, develop a plan, and let’s do it.

Scott DeLuzio: You know, you just said something right there and it just triggered something in my head that I, I don’t know. I’ve been doing this for six plus years now, and I’m, I’m. Like kind of kicking myself right [00:07:00] now for it, not having clicked prior to that, but you said, you know, make a sandbox like you did in the military.

What if, and it doesn’t have to be a literal sandbox the way we did, and you know, where we had the mountains over here and we had the, you know, the enemy position over here, the buildings and all that kinda stuff. But what if we looked at it like a sandbox, that next step, whatever the next step. Thing is for you, whether it’s going to school or finding a, a career or finding, uh, the, the next thing, whatever your next thing is you know, relationships, whatever.

Let’s sandbox it. Let’s. Let’s see, what are the obstacles that are in our way? What are the what are the opportunities that we have available to us? You know, do we, do we get the high ground for any of these opportunities? Do we, do we have to worry about a valley that we might need to go through? Okay, well, there’s some, some problems going on there.

And I’m, I know I’m using figurative terms here to hopefully make it make sense to some of the listeners here, but there are. [00:08:00] Some opportunities that we have available to us. We just, let’s make a list of those opportunities. It doesn’t have to be in a sandbox. The way we, we did it in the, the military.

Just make a list. What are, what are those opportunities you have available to you? What are the, the strengths that you bring to the table? What are some of the weaknesses that you might have? Some of the things you might need to plus up some skills or experiences or, or those types of things. But in a, when you set it in a sandbox.

Format. I was like, holy crap. That’s like a perfect analogy for how you can, you can just take all of, all of the stuff that you have going into this next phase of life, good and bad. Just like you did going out on a, a combat patrol per perhaps, right? When you had a you had maybe enemy village, uh, that, you know, there’s a lot of enemy uh, activity going on in this village and there’s, there’s some high ground that you’re not so sure about and there’s some other, all these other things that you, you laid it all out and so you knew about it ahead of [00:09:00] time and that, that’s not so scary.

I mean, yeah, it’s, it’s scary, but it’s, you know, it’s, it’s not as scary ’cause you know what to expect and you, you kind of war game it a little bit and you know that there are these things out there that might come out and bite you if you’re not prepared for ’em. Right.

Daniel O’Dell: Absolutely. And like you said, you know when you, when you do that sandbox, and even for the viewers who are non-military, basically what we’re talking about is build a little bitty. Square and at one end of a square you put your end goal. So for the non, for the non-military, we’re talking about short-term and long-term goals.

It’s really that simple. And for the military personnel that are still learning those civilian terms and trying to get back into society, you know, all we’re doing here. Short term and long-term goals, and our short, short, short-term goals and our objectives, you know, we may be faced with those trees, that tree line, that valley, that hill, that saddle, you know, in the same on the same token on the other side.

Those short-term goals [00:10:00] may be, you know. Finding employment, maybe getting a suit, but how can we navigate those is utilizing veterans like drive on on this podcast using veterans like myself, the Military Influencer conference using Google by literally what I did a couple weeks ago is I didn’t have a suit to wear to go to Washington DC so I googled online if there’s any services that would help.

Um, veterans to get suits for employment, and I found one and I had a suit within two weeks at my front door.

Scott DeLuzio: That’s amazing, you know, and so. You could have taken a different approach to that, and you could have just sat there and said, well, you know, I don’t have a suit. I need a suit. Well, I guess I’m not going to this thing. You know, that’s obviously not a good approach, but so many people just sit there like, well, geez, I guess what?

What am I gonna do? I don’t have it. But you figure it out, you know? Yeah, sure. Anyone can. Get money to buy a suit at [00:11:00] some point, but sometimes there’s, there’s that short term like, Hey, I need a suit. Like now, like as soon as I, I can get it. Sometimes it may not be realistic. And so yeah. Going out to a place like you, you just mentioned a place in your, your area that was able to set you up with that suit in a very short amount of time.

That. That’s an incredible, uh, way to do it, and you got the job done. And going back to this sandbox analogy or a, you know, a combat scenario analogy where you’re out on a patrol and something doesn’t quite go right according to plan, okay? You have to figure out a way to complete the mission anyway.

So what are you gonna do? What’s that next step to in order to complete that mission? You gotta figure it out. And I don’t, I don’t know what they tell you there, there may not be a right answer to it, like, you did it one way, somebody else might have done it, done it a different way. You both end up with the same result.

Mission [00:12:00] accomplished. Okay, cool. It doesn’t matter. You didn’t do it right or wrong, you just did it. And that’s all that matters, you know? And so, so that’s, that’s pretty, um. Empowering. The way you’re thinking about it is that it’s it, you don’t wanna just sit there and just be letting life happen to you.

You’re, you’re going out there with a plan and attacking life and saying, I, I know what to expect and I’m gonna go, I’m gonna go hit this head on. And that’s, that’s important now. I’m gonna bring the star of the show back in to the, to the equation here. But tell us about, about your, your dog, your service dog.

You go by the fluffy poodle, uh, online. So anyone who’s, who’s out there, who’s falling in love with this, this poodle who’s watching this, this, uh, video right now, check out the Fluffy poodle. But tell us, tell us about him and kinda like how he came into to the equation for you.

Daniel O’Dell: Absolutely. And yeah, I swear he knows that you’re talking about him. ’cause as soon as you talked, as soon as you [00:13:00] mentioned his name, he started standing up in front of the

Scott DeLuzio: I think it, I think it was really when I said the star of the show and he is like, yep, that’s me. I guess it’s my turn.

Daniel O’Dell: You know, so, um, when I got out the military, I, I’m gonna back up a little bit

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Daniel O’Dell: I suffer from spine spinal injuries. My neck is, um, some of my spine and my neck is replaced, so my arms will never work properly. And then my lower back, um, I still have. Some, uh, lower back issues as in bulging herniated in my lower spine.

Um, I do suffer from PTSD from my time over in Iraq. Well, I’m good buddy. I’m really good now. He just scratched me right there. Just let me know that I’m okay because sometimes he senses, you know, what I’m about to talk about and sometimes it does affect me. But during my time, during my transition, I really struggled just.

Doing day-to-day activities. I can’t ride a regular bicycle. My arms don’t work. I can’t pick up, push, pull, um, a lot of [00:14:00] different weights and then, you know. My negative thoughts for so long, I needed help. My wife was wonderful as a caregiver, but I needed a little something different, so I was recommended to try out a service dog.

Well, he was not my first service dog. My first service dog was a German Shepherd, and that German Shepherd was amazing, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t up to standard, up to par for my disabilities, so I had to find another organization. Well, this organization in Chicago, Illinois. Said, Hey, we have a dog for you, but we’re not sure if you’ll like it.

So I said, okay, we’re gonna go up there. So I go up there and they said, you know, for real service dogs, we need to make sure that we get one for you and your lifestyle, and that helps with your disabilities. So I said, okay. They go, but again, we’re not sure if we’ll you’ll like this dog that we have. Next thing you know, this poodle comes running out a big old ball of fluff, and the first thing outta my mouth is like hard.

No, I do not [00:15:00] want a poodle. That’s like a, I mean, it’s just not a dog type for me. Right. And at the time I literally. Took off my hat and just put it on him and it just hit me like, this dog needs a hat. So I used dog hair dye specifically only for dogs to make him an army green hat on the top of his head.

Now how, how does he help me and that, and veterans like myself. One second. Fluffy light down. So. I stress the importance. I stress the importance for service dogs for veterans because a lot of veterans, going back to our purpose, okay, and finding our place in society, service dogs in general, and dogs in general, help veterans like myself have a routine.

I. When we get a dog like this, we’re gonna have to take it on walks. We’re gonna have to go out in public and buy that food. But when we go out in public and go on walks and buy the food that once a [00:16:00] month and get those shots, it helps us veterans get out of isolation because a lot of veterans stay in isolation.

But then also when we get out of isolation, a dog is a conversation starter. So when uh, you have a community member come up to that veteran and. Initiate a conversation. It makes ’em feel like involved in the community again. It makes ’em feel whole. It makes ’em, you know, find their purpose again. So ultimately, when I first started having the fluffy poodle we did, we had to train each and every day.

During that training, I had to pick up my phone and film it, and I had to send it to those trainers and those trainers, they, they were like, this is some awesome training. And then it clicked in my head. I could upload this to YouTube and help other people.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Daniel O’Dell: And then it clicked even more after many videos in, we’re constantly getting messages saying, thank you for giving me that little bit of hope and that inspiration.

Thank you for teaching me how to teach my dog to [00:17:00] sit. Thank you for, you know, showing that real life journey. And then ultimately, after all of these messages. This service dog right here, the Fluffy poodle, has, he earned the title in the US Veterans Magazine, the Service Dog of the year, this year. And it’s a proud, it’s an, it’s an amazing honor and we’re so proud of it because of.

What he’s done. It’s not what I’ve done, it’s not what I’ve trained him. Yes, he knows how to pick up my laundry. He knows how to, you know, open up the refrigerator. He, if I start getting, uh, I’m gonna fake an episode, uh, right now I’m gonna shake a little bit and he’s just gonna start nudging me. Yeah, yeah.

You see, he immediately came in because when I get angry, I start to shake a little bit, and if I raise my voice, he’s gonna let me know. He. That I need to calm down. And you’ve seen right there, it’s like, Hey, it’s okay. And then with my arms and my limited mobility, he can go and he’s like, he’s like my arms.

He can go and do anything. [00:18:00] But ultimately he helped me become a better member of society and find my purpose ultimately. Again, he’s a,

Scott DeLuzio: He’s a special

Daniel O’Dell: a life changer and a special, special dog.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, there was. There’s something special with dogs and they are, whether they’ve been trained like your dog has been or not, if they’ve been around you for long enough, they start to get to know little things about you and what’s what’s normal and when things are.

Maybe not so normal. And you know, how, how to you know, re pick up on certain things, whether it’s sense or, uh, like you said, your voice is elevated or you shake a little, they pick up on what’s normal, what’s not normal. Um, my, my wife is epileptic and when, and, and she only became epileptic later in life, and [00:19:00] so.

We had a dog at the time who’s since passed away, but she knew my wife before being epileptic and then knew her after being epilep, becoming epileptic. And whenever my wife was about to have a seizure, the dog would just come up to her and just start pawing at her legs. And at first we were like, what is, what is this dog doing?

We couldn’t understand why she was doing it. And then my wife. So, you know, she started having her seizure and then we started putting two and two together. It’s like, holy crap, this is an early warning system. Which was amazing because our, her doctor was able to get her some medicine to help stave off a seizure if, if it was starting to come, we, we can prevent it from getting to that full blown, like a gram mal seizure.

And so we were able to do that. Because we, we had the dog that was giving us this early detection system and I was like, that’s amazing.

Daniel O’Dell: Fun fact real quick is um, uh, how we train for that. The scent alert is [00:20:00] you put a cotton ball in your mouth and you take it out every 15 minutes and then once you have the a real alert, you save that cotton ball and then you use that to train your dog so they can pick up on those pheromones.

Scott DeLuzio: That’s, that’s,

Daniel O’Dell: fact, for the day.

Scott DeLuzio: I was, I’ve wondered how that that works. It just, the dog just eventually figured it out and, you know, it’s, it’s a good thing. But it, when you were saying before that it’s not about what you did and how you trained the dog, and I guess this is a long-winded way of, of. Saying it, it really is a dog.

It’s what the dog does, and it’s how the dog interacts because, you know, you could have done all the same training that you did and the dog could have just been like, P whatever, man, I’m not, I’m not paying attention to you. And, and, and went off and did its own thing and it wouldn’t be a very good service dog, uh, in that case.

But the dog paid attention. It wants it, it wants to have a purpose just as much as you want to have a purpose. And so, you know, your dog’s purpose is. To be [00:21:00] there for you to, to help you with maybe it’s mobility issues or PTSD, a combination of the things and, and so that gives that the dog purpose, but also gives you purpose and it allows you to, like you said, get out there in society.

And I gotta imagine you get kids running up to you all the time, like, oh my gosh, I wanna pet that dog. Right?

Daniel O’Dell: So, absolutely. Um, we get all sorts of individuals coming up and it’s, it’s honestly. I at first did not like it. Just like I’m sure most veterans when they first get a service dog, it’s gonna make you feel very uncomfortable because you are the center of attention wherever you go because everybody loves dogs.

But ultimately, the more you’re exposed, the more you start feeling uncomfortable, and the more you start. Dealing with your emotions and your issues that you’re going through, and that’s ultimately what the service, the, the, my service dog, the fluffy pood, [00:22:00] will help me with is talking to people without the anger or without, you know, everybody’s coming to get me.

Or, you know, the world is, you know, always at war when it’s not. You know, it’s, he let me know that I’m safe, I’m ultimately safe, and it’s okay. So when we go ahead.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And that, that’s, that’s a, a important piece that I, I want to just touch on. I didn’t want to interrupt you because I, I, you’re on a roll there, but the, the, the piece that you were just talking about was, is important because. We create habits in, in our li in, in our lives. We, you know, those intrusive thoughts that we have.

We start telling ourselves all these negative things about ourselves and about the world around us. And you, you do that enough, it becomes almost like muscle memory. It just is fact as far as we’re concerned because we’ve told ourselves these things over and over and over again, but. It doesn’t [00:23:00] necessarily mean that they’re true in our minds.

They’re true. But I mean, I, I could tell you right now to go look outside, the sky is red and you’re gonna be like, no, it’s, it’s not, it’s blue like that. That’s not how it works. Right. But, but when you allow yourself to practice those positive interactions with other members of the community, it becomes more like just muscle memory.

You, you, you’re kind of, you kind of get better at it, right? I would imagine.

Daniel O’Dell: Absolutely. And I would say that’s a great transition into, you know, a segue into, you know, a great organization. You’re also a part of that. I don’t know how much you realize what I’m about to say means the world to me and honestly changed my life. So I found out recently that you’re part of the Global War on Terrorism Foundation.

And the president of the organization is Mr. Rod Rodriguez. And when I was struggling tying those knots that I was talking about earlier and stepping on ledges and [00:24:00] everything, I. I heard Mr. Rod Rodriguez from the Global War Terrorism Foundation, one of his speeches, he said It would be a disservice if I ended my life because all of those individuals who aren’t here anymore would love to have this opportunity that we have.

So that sentence stopped me literally from taking another step. And ever since that moment, just like you said, how do we look at life a little bit differently? How do we view it and maybe a little more positive note. Well, when I have to remind myself of that sentence that Mr. Rod Rodriguez. Said, because, you know, the ones who aren’t here anymore would love to just be alive right now and be living like we are.

So I need to live in this moment to the best of my ability to honor each and every one of those who aren’t here anymore. So that’s ultimately what I do. And yes, there’s times where I, I literally struggle. I mean, just the other day I was at an event and I, I [00:25:00] was just nervous on the inside. But then I thought about that sentence that Mr.

Rodd said, and I go, okay. All right, Daniel. The ones who aren’t here anymore would love to just be here. So let’s just live this moment to the fullest. Let’s just go in with a smile and afterwards we’ll assess it. But let’s just go in there positive and at least we went in there. Okay, if we last five minutes, 10 minutes, 20, at least, we took that step and we accomplished the mission, and our mission was to go in however long we stayed.

That’s secondary. So you have Amen.

Scott DeLuzio: Absolutely. Yeah, I didn’t, I didn’t know this. Um, actually you know, I, I, I knew I knew, obviously you’re aware of the foundation ’cause Rod had you know, given a speech at, at the military influencer conference, uh, last year. And so hi, his name was out there, his face was out there, all over the place.

And you know, he’s. You know, got a lot of involvement there. [00:26:00] But I, I will, uh, uh, I’m not sure if he’s aware of your story and, and, and all that, but, uh, you know, I’ll certainly be sure to pass that along if he’s not. But you know, I, I think it’s, it an incredible statement that you said there is that those people would love to be here.

They, they would do anything to be here if they could, and thank thankfully. We’re here and we can carry on their memories, their, their legacies, their their everything. We, we get that opportunity. Sometimes it feels like a burden because it’s like, why me and not, or why them and not me. Right. And, and that, that’s, that sucks.

It, it really does. But

Daniel O’Dell: I have to answer after you finish.

Scott DeLuzio: But I, yeah. No, actually, you know what? You Go ahead. Go ahead. Because I don’t know that I have the best answers. I want to hear your answer.

Daniel O’Dell: I struggled severely wondering why me all the [00:27:00] time, because I’ve also been through every type of abuse there is as a child. And why me? Why me to have go through all of that, be a disabled veteran, a hundred percent disabled veteran? Why me that I can’t use my arms properly? Why can I not have a desk job?

Why can I not do hard labor? Why? Why? Why is because. My mouth works wonderfully. But besides that, the biggest why is not everybody is willing to tell their story and or wants to tell their story. So there’s people like me and you, people like me who are, who are are an open book to let everybody else know that you’re not alone and people like you who bring people on the show and exposing all of this great things that’s going on in the world because we need to drive on.

Scott DeLuzio: Oh yeah, absolutely. And there, you know, there’s a reason why I, I named this podcast when I named it because yeah, [00:28:00] sometimes you’re going through the suck and you’re. But it doesn’t matter. You have a mission to accomplish and you gotta drive on through that suck. Yeah, sure it’ll get better once you get through that suck.

But you, you gotta push through it. You know, there’s a saying if you’re going through, hell keep on going. And if you think about it. Why the hell would you wanna stop in? Hell? You know, why would you wanna stop there where it’s terrible? Keep going, keep going until you get through to the other side. And, uh, you know, that’s a, that’s a lesson.

I, I struggle with it too. You know, I’m not, I’m not sitting here saying that I’m, I’m perfect. I got it all figured out and I’ve, you know, my, my mental clarity is a hundred percent and I got, you know, everything’s just going. A hundred percent for me. No, I, I, I got, I got my struggles too. But you know, it, it’s one of those things that we have to constantly remind ourselves in order to keep going, even when [00:29:00] that day is tough.

We’ve all survived a hundred percent of our. Worst days so far. You, you can wake up tomorrow and, and we can try to make tomorrow just a little bit better than today was, and the next day the same thing. And, and keep on doing that. And, and eventually like yourself, eventually you’re, you’re outta place. And I’m not saying that you’re a hundred percent perfect either because, you know, gosh, we, no, none of us are, but.

It’s one of those things where you, you can look back years ago and and say, man, I can’t believe the difference between now and then. What, what a, a huge difference. You know, when I first got back from Afghanistan, I was, I was not a nice person. I was, I was an asshole. I’m, you know, I’m to everybody around me, you know, even, even to.

Kids to, you know, to coworkers, to neighbors, to family, to like everybody. I, I, I was just an ass and

Daniel O’Dell: [00:30:00] And that’s.

Scott DeLuzio: it, it is. Yeah. But I’ve worked through it and like I realized, hey, there’s something gotta change. And so I worked through it and I got better and I perfect. No, but I got better. And so it’s a, I think just a, a mindset of just let’s continue to try to get better.

No, ma, no matter what, no matter where we are in this journey, whether it’s your mental health, it could be a physical health thing too. Maybe it seems like, hey, things are just falling apart. My body has falling apart, my body’s destroying itself, or it’s, or I’m not able to heal as quickly as I used to.

Guess what? None of us can, um, you know, as you get older. Um, but, but it doesn’t mean that you just give up, you know? No, like. Figure it out. Go to the

Daniel O’Dell: So I, I say this a lot too, where. Especially us parents, uh, all the parents that are listening, there’s no manual to raising children. There’s no manual to us getting through our struggles perfectly, okay? Because otherwise [00:31:00] everybody would do it perfectly. So what we need to do is we acknowledge what is going on, and if we had a bad time or a bad day.

Seriously to tell yourself it’s okay. It’s okay to have a bad day. It’s okay if you need to break down and cry. It’s okay if you need to go and scream outside and maybe, you know, not punch a wall, but maybe you know, you know, be it. Do a little more things productive. Okay? It’s okay to go through that, but what I stress again is going back to that battle plan.

You know, I want you to think about is it okay to do that for a long period of time. Now, each person’s long period of. Time is different. So if you need to, if you feel like you need to cry for five minutes and that’s all that you’re gonna allow yourself for, then that’s okay. But if other somebody else is 30 minutes a half day, do that.

But then acknowledge that we also need to move on and honor of not just the ones who weren’t here anymore, but we only have one life, so let’s live it to its fullest. And do you think that what you’re going through right now is living it [00:32:00] to its fullest? I’m sure that. We always can improve anything and everything, and even if it’s at its fullest, I’m sure we can improve that too.

Scott DeLuzio: I, I’m sure we can add a little more on top if, if it, you know, a little more icing on the cake, never hurt. Right. So,

Daniel O’Dell: Oh yeah.

Scott DeLuzio: So you’ve, you’ve kind of shifted your, your gears from the, you know, the military setting. And you, you’ve gotten into, you know, the content creation, the, the motivational speaking, which, you know, just by listening to this episode or, or this interview, uh, right now sitting here.

You’re getting me motivated and whether you, whether that was your intention or not, it, you, you’ve done it. So, you know, check that box off for, for the day, for you, for you, good deed done for the day. But you know, I, I’m sure the listeners are, are motivated as well. Hearing your story, hearing what’s going on.

It, it’s, it’s inspiring And you know, think about if things went a little bit differently. Maybe you didn’t hear Rod talking about that and, and things went differently. You [00:33:00] know, all that motivation. Just gets sucked out. And and what, what does it do? It, it, it pulls in more darkness into the other people’s lives that are around you.

Right? And so I, I gotta imagine if you’re. If you’re motivating to me right now, and you were, when we met back in October I, I remember talking to you and I was like, I just wanna pet your dog. Like, your dog looks so cool. I just, I, I love dogs Anyway, so, you know, but then we, then we started talking, got to know you a little bit and, you know, you’re motivating back then too. And, and that, that to me is just like a, a, you know, an an amazing thing that you’re able to turn that dark period in your life into something that not only is ha have you turned it around for yourself, but you we’re able to turn it around and use it as fuel to go help others.

You, you’re, you’re, uh, keeping yourself accountable. Your, your own growth is serving to help others by, you know, like you. Telling your story today is, is one way of just [00:34:00] helping out others and you know, using your, your service dog as a way to amplify that message because who doesn’t love dogs and especially one with a Green Army helmet on, you know, like that.

That’s awesome. You know, and so it’s, it’s, it’s just a really cool thing that you’re doing. You know, even when days I’m, I’m sure you, like everybody else days feel heavy from time to time. I. But you keep pushing through. And you know what you know for, for you, what gets you to push through when the, when you do have those heavy days and things are seeming rough and you’re just having one of those, those down days, even, even with, uh, you know, all the progress you’ve made, what, what do you do to keep going?

Daniel O’Dell: Oxytocin. So, um, a short answer is, um, I honestly, I think about all the ones who aren’t here anymore. They would seriously love what we, what the opportunity that we [00:35:00] have.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, for sure.

Daniel O’Dell: I, I struggled severely for so long, thinking about the S word, um, stepping on those ledges, tying knots and everything, I, I struggled very severely, not just every other day or a couple times a week.

No, I’m talking minute by minute. In front of my wife, in front of my children and everything, and I don’t ever want another individual to ever feel like I did and even myself. So whenever I feel down like that, I have to quickly acknowledge it and tell myself that number one, what I’m going through is, okay, it is normal.

But I also need to tell myself that we need to make that ta, make that tabletop sandbox assess. Develop and execute. And in simple terms, for the civilians, I need to make a plan. I need to figure out what’s going on, make a [00:36:00] plan, and I need to complete my plan. And it’s that simple. But again, I can’t stress it enough.

I have to acknowledge what I’m going through and tell myself that it’s okay. It’s okay. Because some of us let, we, we say like, oh, we can’t go through it. It’s not normal. I’m the only one. No, you are okay. And it’s normal. It’s normal. I.

Scott DeLuzio: You know, I had a guest on the show a while ago, and. He said, I challenge you to give me a definition of what normal is. Normal. Normal is, it’s different for everybody and it changes from time to time. If you see someone crying, that may or may not be normal. I mean, maybe they just lost a loved one. Yep.

Completely normal situation. You know, they, they just won a million dollars. Yeah, I could see that too. I could see, I could see you crying with tears of joy in, in, in a case like that.

Daniel O’Dell: Mm.

Scott DeLuzio: [00:37:00] Just, you know, because you spilled milk when you’re pouring, you know, bowl of cereal. Probably, probably not so normal. Right?

But, but like, what is normal? Like, I don’t know, maybe you had a lot of stuff going on in your life at that point and that was the, the straw that broke the camel’s back and so, okay. Yeah. May, maybe it is normal to be in that situation. ’cause you, you’re carrying so much, what is normal? I don’t know. Normal changes.

Normal. Normal is like whatever you might expect in that situation. Given the totality of the circumstances that go around with it. When, when you’re looking at someone who has had years of trauma that has not been resolved, and they spill milk and all of a sudden they bust out into tears. Okay, well, yeah, that’s probably normal because of all of those circumstances going along with it.

When, when you look at someone who’s, you know, [00:38:00] jumping for joy over nothing like, oh. There’s probably some other things going on that is making them super ec, ecstatic and happy and but also the, the other side too sad and, and depressed. And so what is normal? You know, going to what you were just talking about.

God, I don’t know what normal is. I don’t know. I don’t, I don’t know if I’ve, I could ever come up with a definition other than, you know, reading it out of a dictionary, but like, I don’t even know if that’s accurate, you know?

Daniel O’Dell: So what I explain what normal is, is normal, is what you’re going through is simply okay.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Daniel O’Dell: It’s okay because. is a normal emotion, you know, frustration. All the stuff we even talked about on here going through, you know, marriage problems, being a parent, finance, those are the main things that people that really start the trigger other emotions.

Ultimately [00:39:00] just, when I say it’s normal to go through things, it’s normal to feel what I am feeling. It’s okay. Instead of maybe saying the word normal, it is okay to feel how you feel. Acknowledge it though. Acknowledge what you’re feeling so you can understand that feeling. So when it comes on again, it’s like that light.

Mm-hmm. And you know what’s happening.

Scott DeLuzio: exactly. Yeah. What do, what do you have coming up with, uh, the fluffy poodle? What, where, where can the listeners find more information about you guys? And, you know, what, what’s, what’s the next big, big thing for you guys? Uh, and, and any, uh, upcoming events or any, any cool things happening?

Daniel O’Dell: Well, uh, this is actually kind of major right now. We publicly, um, this is the first podcast that we’re gonna announce this on. We recently, last week, um, we went over to the Bluegrass Hall of Fame here in. Kentucky and we had some [00:40:00] artists, um, take our milit, my military history, and they wrote a song and the song is gonna be about never, never being alone.

Okay. Kind of like what we talked about on here. It’s literally a motivational song that is gonna come out at the end of May and June at the latest and give some hope and inspiration to everybody all around the world.

Scott DeLuzio: Excellent. I, I didn’t mention this before we started recordings. Th that that song should be out by the time this episode comes out. Uh, th this, for the listeners who don’t know the behind the scenes of how podcasts work, I, I am. I, I am backlogged, like with a cue of so many episodes right now. So, so this episode, this, uh, song should be out by the time.

And so I’ll, I’ll, uh, try to drop a link to it in the, the show notes, or at least the name or something like that in, in the show notes so that the listeners can find it. But I’m, I’m looking forward to hearing it when, when it does come out.

Daniel O’Dell: Outside of that recently or [00:41:00] coming up this, this coming week, uh, the fluffy put and I are going to talk to some at-risk youth. We’re gonna be their keynote speaker at their summit this weekend, and then next week we have another event, another. Speaking event, we’re always just helping everybody in the community, the nation, all around the world, letting everybody know no matter what you’ve been through, no matter what you currently are going through and or may face in the future, you are not alone.

And, uh, my company motive, fate, shameless plug right

Scott DeLuzio: No, go for it, please.

Daniel O’Dell: What’s your motive to get to your fate? Right? So we ultimately motivate you and help to get you to where you wanna be.

Scott DeLuzio: I love that. I love the name and the, the mashing together of the two words. Because that’s, that’s what we need. We, we need the motivation to get to what that, what, what is in store for us? What is our purpose? What were we built for? What, what are we meant for? And what’s gonna get [00:42:00] us to whatever that, whatever that.

Thing is, that’s meant for us. Whatever our fate is, how do we do that and how do we get the motivation? How do we get our butts off the couch? How do we get o out in, into the world and do the things that we need to do? Whether

Daniel O’Dell: The short answer to that, the short answer to that is honestly being around like-minded individuals and hearing things like this podcast and my business Motivefate, you have to be around those people who are gonna pump you up and you will, and you, uh, that aligns with your goals and ultimately. Who else doesn’t like to be around military personnel?

I mean, and a fluffy poodle. I mean, come on, we’re, we’re gonna have fun. We’re gonna have a dog that’s gonna be next to you, and we’re always about driving on to complete whatever we wanna do, and having that camaraderie all again.

Scott DeLuzio: Oh yeah, for sure. For sure. Um. Being, being at the [00:43:00] Military Influencer conference last year for me was just such an amazing experience because I was able to meet people like yourself. And, gosh, I don’t even know, I’ve lost count at how many other people that I met, uh, either for the first time or the, at least the first time in person.

I, there were so many guests that I had on the, on the show prior that I met for the first time in person at, at the conference. But like your, to your point, there’s, there’s other like-minded people there, and I don’t think, there was a single person that I talked to who wasn’t like, yeah, that that’s a absolutely we wanna help veterans.

That’s exactly what we are here for. That’s our mission, that’s our goal, that’s our community. And we want, by helping other veterans, we’re helping ourselves. It sounds selfish, but it’s not because we’re really helping a whole group of people. And so, you know, that’s, that’s what I was getting out of this this conference.

And, uh, you know, I’m looking forward to going to [00:44:00] it again this year and

Daniel O’Dell: Did you already get your ticket by chance?

Scott DeLuzio: for sure. Yeah.

Daniel O’Dell: Oh, I already got mine too. Absolutely.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah, but I’m, I’m definitely looking forward to it and I’m you know, that that’s, it’s gonna be a great, another great experience. And I, I, I’m just really looking forward to reconnecting with some of the old people that I met last year and connecting with new, new faces and, uh, just again.

Helping, just getting out there and helping spread the, the message for, you know, what we’re trying to do here, helping other people. It, it’s just becomes that, that new mission, that new sense of purpose and you know, for the folks out there who are struggling, maybe that’s not your, your mission or your purpose, but there’s something out there.

The, the point is, you, you gotta get out there and, and try something and, and you’ll, you’ll find it right.

Daniel O’Dell: let me add a little bit to that. I, I can help you understand what you just said a little bit more in the military and to the civilians who are listening. Um, a great analogy here is in the military, a lot of people [00:45:00] don’t understand the, on the other side of it is we go into communities and we just don’t, you know, demolish them or anything.

No. We, we make themselves sustainable and we leave them better than what we left it. So ultimately we go in there and just help. When we get out the military, we kinda struggle a little bit. So what do we do now? We help each other and we help the community. So again, what I suggest is all military personnel, all people who are listening, go out and just be a part of your community.

Ask them where I can help, where can I, what do you need assistance with? And that’s just one stepping stone to help you get a little more into society.

Scott DeLuzio: There you go. One step at a time. It could even just be a, a, a real small thing, but that small thing, you know, if you do that one small thing today, maybe tomorrow you do something just a little bit bigger than that small thing. And then the next day [00:46:00] I. Bigger and bigger and bigger until you find the thing that you’re meant for that you, you’ll, you’ll figure it out.

It, it’s, it’s not, life doesn’t come with a roadmap. It’s not meant to be an easy thing. You’re meant to. I kind of stumble your way and feel like you’re kind of wandering almost until you find it. And then when you find it, it’s like this big light bulb goes on like in the old cartoons and it goes on in your head and then all of a sudden it’s like, that’s, that’s been the answer this whole time.

But, but it’s also, but it’s also sometimes about the journey that you take because like yourself, you wouldn’t have much of a story without a little bit of a struggle behind it and. Looking at you now and saying, well, you know what, if this guy can do it, maybe I can do it too. You know? That, that to me is you know, the, the unfortunate part, you’re not gonna get outta this, this life without a couple scars on you and, and a couple, uh, you know, getting [00:47:00] banged up.

But you know what, if I meet somebody who’s never had a scar. Never had any, any kind of pain or suffering or anything like that. They probably don’t have a great story. Right.

Daniel O’Dell: Yes.

Scott DeLuzio: I mean, I’m not, I’m not discounting they, they probably have some story, but the, the people who have those scars, they probably got a pretty good story, like where that scar come from.

Like, check out the other guy. No, just kidding.

Daniel O’Dell: You know, and, but again, we can’t compare stories. Okay. And I want every, all, all listeners to understand that too. And even when they hear my struggle and your struggle and all the viewers, everybody’s struggle is different. But what is the same with all of us? I. Is we all has have either faced the challenge or currently facing one or may face one in the future.

So ultimately you’re not alone and there’s people and resources that are out there and willing to help you and guide you and lead you in the right direction. Just [00:48:00] sometimes you do have to put in a little bit of work yourself to get those.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And just like you with the, the suit example that you gave earlier where you needed it and you had to go and, and figure it out and find it, you had, you had to do something. It’s not like a suit just magically appeared at your door. You had, you had to go do it. Same thing with all these other things.

Yeah. There are people and there are resources out there who are willing to help you with whatever you have going on. But they’re not gonna just come knocking on your door and say, Hey Mr. Or Mrs. Veteran, um, we’re here to help you with whatever problems that you have. Because they don’t know. They don’t know you.

You gotta, you gotta get out and you have to go make yourself known to these people and, and then they’re gonna help you. They’ll move mountains to help you. But, but you got, you gotta do something first. So, I think, like I was saying, this has been a very motivational, conversation, uh, you got me motivated, you got me going.

And I’m ready. I, I know it’s [00:49:00] later in the day already for us, but I’m already ready to go make whatever’s left of the day. I’m gonna make it as best as it can be, and I’m gonna go tackle that. And, and tomorrow I’m probably gonna still be running on this high. So I, we’ll, we, we’ll be, we’ll be running, uh, you know.

For quite some time on, on this motivation. But I, I do want to thank you Daniel, for coming on the show sharing a little bit about your journey. I know there’s a lot more to it, and, and we only had you know, got to kind of scratch the surface, but I want people to be open to hearing. Kind of some of those other pieces of, of your story and learning more about you and, uh, you know, reaching out and finding out, you know, more information about you.

But definitely follow you on social media, YouTube, and all that. Where, uh, you, you post these great videos of, of you and, and your dog. And I really do appreciate everything that you’re doing to support, support, not only just fellow veterans the community. In [00:50:00] general. And so that there is hope for us beyond the uniform.

To me that’s just a really motivational thing. So thank you so much.

Daniel O’Dell: No, I wanna say thank you, Scott, and this and the Drive On Podcast, you know, without, without individuals like you who make this platform to allow us to share our stories and given hope to all military personnel all around the world and all listeners, you know, not just that one demographic, but our stories can relate to anybody and everybody because our challenges are no different from anybody else’s challenges.

So ultimately I wanna say thank you for allowing people to have a platform to come on and to give a little bit of hope, inspiration, and ultimately help them achieve greatness in their life that they only live once.

Scott DeLuzio: Absolutely couldn’t, couldn’t have said it better myself. I, I appreciate everything that you do and, uh, this is, this again has been a great conversation and, and I, I appreciate you coming on, so thanks so much.

Daniel O’Dell: No thank you and I look forward to [00:51:00] tacos very soon, or some other type of really good food when we, uh, fly over there to Phoenix.

Scott DeLuzio: Excellent. Looking forward to it. Take care.