07/17/2026
Something happened today that made me want to share a little of what I’ve been working on as we develop The Man Who Couldn’t Kill Himself and continue building the subject matter for the Dr. PhilGood podcast.
Most of you know by now that I’ve been digitally recording pieces of my life since 2006, but I haven’t really shared how I’m using all of that information.
This is one example of how a moment that happens today can connect with something from decades ago and help explain what living, communicating, and healing with a brain injury can feel like.
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When I was 15 years old, I put two 45-pound plates on a standard bar—135 pounds total.
The other guys could lift it 15 or 20 times. I could barely lift it once or twice, and my whole body was shaking. I had never trained with weights like that before.
A year or a year and a half later, I could lift 325 pounds. That same 135 pounds that once nearly overwhelmed me had become something I could lift 20 or 30 times.
The weight had not changed.
I had developed the strength, coordination, and understanding needed to carry it.
That is one of the best ways I know to explain what communication can be like for someone living with a brain injury or disability.
I can say the same thing for years. I can explain the same pain, the same thought, and the same experience over and over. Then one day, someone finally receives one missing piece of understanding—and suddenly everything I have been saying becomes easier for them to recognize.
The truth did not change.
The words were not suddenly more real.
The weight was exactly the same.
What changed was their ability to understand what I had been carrying.
Sometimes people do not need us to say it louder. They need the patience, experience, and understanding that help them become strong enough to carry what we are trying to communicate.
The weight did not change. Their ability to understand what I was carrying did.
Real Talk. Real Healing. Real Good.
