S2E11: When Cancer Attacks
Nelson Beltijar, Entertaining International Motivational & Educational Speaker, is a Certified Life & Executive Business Coach, Physical Therapist, Accomplished Book Co-Author, and Author of the “Accidentally” Global Impactful Blog “ThePositiveDrip.com”
He Considers Himself Fortunate To Have Had The Ability To Participate, Struggle, FAIL, and Excel In Many Personal Endeavours, as well as, Team and Individual Sports & Business Ventures.
He Feels Truly Blessed To Have Had Coaches, Teachers, Instructors, Mentors, Teammates, Friends, and Family Members Who Have Always Provided Him With A Positive Environment To Grow.
However, at the height of his professional career he was faced with “THE” adversity of his life, and as a result, Nelson will “Lovingly” be The Very First Person to tell Anyone, without a Shadow of a Doubt, that “Adversity” Truly Introduces a Person To Themselves.
Social media and contact information: Blog / Website = www.ThePositiveDrip.com
E’mail = ThePositiveDrip@hotmail.com
You Tube Channel = “The Positive Drip”
Facebook - Nelson Beltijar
Podcast Transcript:
[00:00:00] Damaged Parents: Welcome to the Relatively Damaged Podcast by Damaged Parents where cancerous, struggling, smiling people come to learn, maybe just, maybe we're all a little bit damaged. Someone once told me it's safe to assume 50% of the people I meet are struggling and feel wounded in some way. I would venture to say it's closer to 100%.
Every one of us is either currently struggling or has struggled with something that made us feel less than like we aren't good enough. We aren't capable. We are relatively damaged. And that's what we're here to talk about. In my ongoing investigation of the damaged self, I want to better understand how others view their own challenges.
Maybe it's not so much about the damage, maybe it's about our perception and how we deal with it. There is a deep commitment to becoming who we are meant to be. How do you do that? How do you find balance after a damaging experience?
My hero is the damaged person. The one who faces seemingly insurmountable odds to come out on the other side, whole. Those who stare directly into the face of adversity with unyielding persistence to discover their purpose. These are the people who inspire me to be more fully me. Not in spite of my trials, but because of them. Let's hear from another hero.
Today's topic includes sensitive material, which may not be appropriate for children. This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as advice. The opinions expressed here are strictly those of the person who gave them.
Today, we're going to talk with Nelson Beltijar he has many roles in his life, son, older brother, uncle godfather, cousin, and more. We'll talk about how at the height of his career, he was faced with the adversity of his life. Shockingly diagnosed with cancer and immediately admitted into the hospital for supervision. He's going to tell us his story of how he found health and healing let's talk
Welcome back to Relatively Damaged by Damaged Parents. Today, we have Nelson Beltijar entertaining international motivational and educational speakers. He's a certified life coach and executive business coach, physical therapist accomplished book coauthor and author of the accidentally global impactful blog.
ThePositiveDrip.com. You're going to want to check that out. He considers himself to be fortunate, to have had the ability to participate, struggle, fail, and excel in many personal endeavors, as well as team and individual sports and business ventures. He is truly blessed to have had coaches, teachers, instructors, mentors, teammates, friends, family members, and you
support him. However, at the height of his professional career, he was faced with the adversity of his life. And as a result, Nelson will lovingly be the very first person, to tell anyone without a shadow of a doubt that adversity truly introduces a person to themselves. Nelson. I love the last part of that statement, that adversity truly introduces a person to themselves.
How did you come to that?
[00:03:20] Nelson Beltijar: well, hello. Hello. And to your community and friends, I just want to say good morning, good afternoon. And good evening. And how did I come up with that? Well, it's funny how you mentioned that, but before I say anything, I want you and the entire planet to know that me Nelson Beltijar is nothing but an imperfect soldier for Christ.
And if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here today. But since you're going to let me stay a little bit longer, I'm going to answer that question. the way that that sentence came to be was, I'll never forget this. I was in grade three and I think everyone was in grade three at one point. And I was misbehaving.
I think I was chewing gum in class and in Toronto, Canada, you're not allowed to chew gum in class. So as a punishment, I had to stay in for recess while the rest of my classmates were able to go out and play. And my punishment for my grade three teacher was she wrote this sentence on the board and it said it comes to adversity, there's only two outcomes conquer or crumble when it comes to adversity, there's only two outcomes conquer or crumble when it comes to adverse conquer or crumble. I had to write that for 29 times, not 30, not 25, not 20. 29 times 29.
[00:04:31] Damaged Parents: That's interesting.
[00:04:32] Nelson Beltijar: And it's funny how I've hung onto that sentence throughout my darkest, darkest chapters of life.
And I've come to realize that it's true, that adversity adversity truly introduces a person to themselves, either we find a way to conquer it, or we crumble beneath it. And it's ironic that, that, that punishment was a sentence that is still ringing in my ear today and how this helped me get through my darkest chapters.
[00:04:57] Damaged Parents: Yeah. And that was from chewing gum in class. And
perhaps I'm trying to figure out the adversity. Was it because , it was against the rules.
[00:05:05] Nelson Beltijar: absolutely. You're not allowed to chew gum in school in Toronto, in Canada. So that was my punishment. I got caught breaking the rules in class chewing gum, and she caught me and she said, spit that. And you're going to have to stay in for detention at recess and that's how it started. And that's how the word adversity entered my life.
[00:05:25] Damaged Parents: Wow. What a great sentence for a teacher to discipline with.
[00:05:29] Nelson Beltijar: I know little did I know.
[00:05:31] Damaged Parents: Because it had nothing to do with the gum nothing to do with anything except adversity, which we all have in our lives. Every single one of us, it's like the no child escapes childhood unscathed. and if part of your scathing was writing that sentence, I'm grateful. Right?
[00:05:50] Nelson Beltijar: Yes, absolutely. Yes. And we all know this. Adversity is a word that no human being will be able to escape during they're timely days on earth and it's coming whether we want it or not, and it's going to unexpectedly show up and we have to be ready for it. And we either, either, either we crumble or we find a way to conquer it because there is no escaping it.
And adversity will attack you regardless of your age, your gender, your status, and your religion and it doesn't care and it'll come after you and we have to be ready for when it unexpectedly shows up.
[00:06:22] Damaged Parents: Yeah. And I'm thinking, well, I know at least for me, during parts of my struggle, there are times that where I definitely felt like I was crumbling and not conquering and I'm wondering if you had, has been there too where you're feeling crushed and not like you're moving forward.
[00:06:40] Nelson Beltijar: Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. Yes. If I can just bring us back in time for a little bit to help set that answer up. Is that okay?
[00:06:48] Damaged Parents: Yes, please.
[00:06:49] Nelson Beltijar: You know, Angela I am a guy that's lucky. I'm a guy that knows what it's like to climb that mountain of ambition and success. Get to the top enjoy the view for a while only to come crashing down, spiraling down, losing everything that I'd ever worked for in a blink of an eye humbling.
So humbling. You see, I was lucky enough to build a thriving, thriving, physical therapy, private practice that's specialized in injury assessment, treatment and rehabilitation, and I'll never forget this. It was May, 2016 and we were on the second floor of my studio loft, my staff and I, my staff and I, and we were celebrating, celebrating, clogging those champagne glasses, which were secretly filled with diet Coke, because we were at work
[00:07:30] Damaged Parents: I love it.
[00:07:31] Nelson Beltijar: Secretly, secretly celebrating
because we had reached a monumental goal. We were living the dream. It was amazing. And we were on cloud nine and then 168 hours from that specific joyous moment in time, I was shockingly diagnosed with cancer and I was forced to go into the hospital immediately, immediately for supervision, evaluation, and chemotherapy treat.
And to add salt to the wound as a secondary complication, I lost my ability to walk and I became a prisoner of a wheelchair for almost three and a half years. That's 1,651 consecutive days out of my adult life. And the reason why I share that story with you is again, to show you that adversity will attack you any, any, any, any time it wants.
But that was the easy part of my cancer battling journey. That was. The most difficult part was it was 2016 and 2017. And I was forced to live in five, five different hospitals, five
because safe for me
[00:08:28] Damaged Parents: Now you say forced,
what happened?
[00:08:31] Nelson Beltijar: I was unable to even hold my head up. I could only keep my left eye open I couldn't walk.
I couldn't sit up. I became a prisoner of my bed. I could not function. They couldn't. They said we cannot let you go home. So I would immediately have to stay and live in the hospital from starting 2016, June 26th, 2016. I was put in the hospital and I had to start to live there. And the funny thing was my very, very, very first cancer doctor.
Let's call him doctor K. Dr. K gave up on me and he told my family that I was terminal and that there was nothing he or the hospital could do for me. And that he was going to transfer me to the palliative care unit where I would be comfortable and pain-free in my remaining days. And when I heard that I'm not going to lie to you, it was like a sorted swooped and cut me through at the knees
and my life flashed before my eyes.
[00:09:21] Damaged Parents: This is at your first hospital?
[00:09:23] Nelson Beltijar: My very first hospital
[00:09:25] Damaged Parents: And you this in your life, flashes behind your eyes. I mean, was it like just sadness or anger? What came could you even describe your feeling in that moment besides my life passed before my eyes.
[00:09:39] Nelson Beltijar: My life pass before my eyes, the first thing was shock. And then anger. And then I allowed myself to wallow in self-pity for about five or 10 minutes,
[00:09:49] Damaged Parents: You think, and that was maybe helpful.
[00:09:51] Nelson Beltijar: Absolutely five or 10 minutes. And then I promised myself that if I am going to die, I'm going to go out in a bang and I'm going to chase down one more undying goal, one more undying goal, regardless of if adversity had me by the ankles and they were pulling me down
and I just didn't know what that was yet. And I remember lying in that hospital bed, staring at the clock with tears, rolling down the right side of my face. And then it dawned on me that I'm going to write a blog, a blog. I know you're thinking, why is he writing a blog or why does he want to write a blog for vanity reasons?
Absolutely not. You see, at that moment in time, I had a six year old nephew, two nieces five and three years old, two brand new born twins that I love dearly, but I knew I wasn't going to get a chance to see them grow up in that broke my heart. So I decided to write this blog to put my thoughts in there, to put ideas in there, to put topics of conversation that I know that I would have with my younger family members, if I was allowed to live.
And it became my goal to write this blog, to house, all those thoughts so I could leave it behind for them. So that way I could still, I could still be a part of their lives after I had passed away,
but it looks like the joke's on me because if we fast forward to September 28th, 2018 I'm going to let you guys know. I left Dr. K in the background, my family and I left that hospital left my first cancer doctor and went to a new one and my brand new cancer doctors at a brand new hospital who tirelessly fought to keep me alive.
Miraculously stepped me. Cancer-free on September 28th, 2018, and told me to go live my life. Ha yes and two that blog that we're talking about, that's gotten me all this attention. The positive drip.com has accidentally trickled across the planet and developed a global readership, which was never, never, never the plan. And three, an online community is walking alongside that blog, hanging on to it.
And it's so humbling to hear that people want to hear what you have to say, but, but I've come to realize that us human beings on this planet secretly are being evaluated based on the tests that we go through endure and overcome, which I think qualifies us to be heard. And I promised myself that because I found a way to conquer.
And win I refuse to let that trial and tribulation be in vain and I'll continue to share my story with anyone, who's willing to listen, to share the possibility of hope and faith and that it's possible to defeat adversity. Will it be easy? Absolutely not, but it's still possible. And that's how you and I got together.
And how life unfolds.
[00:12:25] Damaged Parents: Yeah. Yeah. I just, I mean that, so resonates with me that I just still, I'm going to go back to that sentence of oh, darn it. Now I lost it. Where was it? Adversity truly introduces a person to themselves because I think there is a universal truth there in that I don't think I'm not certain I could definitively know who I am without the challenges that I have.
It's kind of like relationships. Who I am alone. I know what that is. Do I know myself in relation to you or to the next person or the next person? I don't until I experience it and then maybe we'll have a little bit of conflict in there. Right?
[00:13:07] Nelson Beltijar: Oh, it's a little bit, you should be so lucky to have a little bit of conflict. Only A lot of conflict will be down the road, big mountains to climb and, I'll be the first one to say that, you know, adversity doesn't always have to be a bad thing because I shared this story with you not to brag about the blog, but to show you how adversity introduced me to a more stronger, more resilient me , how adversity opened my mind up to the possibility of fighting instead of faltering, how adversity
inspired that one last undying goal to create that love-filled blog from my younger family members and how adversity opened my mind up to the things that I could do with my perceived remaining days. And instead of me lying in that hospital bed, waiting for the coffin to arrive, I decided to write this blog and here we are today.
[00:13:54] Damaged Parents: Yeah. And there were probably some tough days along, along that road. And, I have not gone and read everything. Right. So I'm certain, there are some days in there where it was hard to write.
[00:14:07] Nelson Beltijar: Yes it was. And if you read a couple of the articles in there, I didn't realize this, that people have told me that if you would read the articles, you wouldn't think that I'm a guy who's on his way out. Who's slowly exiting the planet because remember I was writing topics, little chapters, little articles of hope, possibility, overcoming thinking, you can do it because I was trying to inspire my younger family members to go after the things that they want and that they were blessed and highly favored and they could go and do that.
And that I was writing to them because I love them. And then I think people are starting to soak that up on their own
[00:14:45] Damaged Parents: yeah. And I'm, wondering if, while your goal was to help and give them hope, courage, things like that. If, when you were writing to them, you inadvertently gave that to yourself.
[00:14:57] Nelson Beltijar: Oh, yes. Writing the blog gave me purpose. It gave me something to do in between treatments. It gave me purpose, outside of. All I had was my hospital bed, the clock, and my friends and family who stayed with me during the day. And my biggest fear was that I was going to pass away and die alone. I had asked my mom and my family members, whatever happens, just make sure I don't die alone.
So that's when my friends and family decided to give me their time and it was inconvenient for them. And some took graveyard. From 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM and some would bring a yoga mat lie down beside me in the bed, would lie down beside me in the hospital room. So that way I wouldn't be alone just in case I left the planet when nobody was around.
So during the day I always had somebody with me and then at night, because it was terrifying to go to sleep. But the only peace of mind I had was when these thoughts came to my mind and I just had to get them on paper or in text. And it was peaceful for me
[00:16:00] Damaged Parents: So I probably, this is probably a weird question, but even, even with the people surrounding you and being there sometimes, did you feel alone because of the struggle even with people there, does that make sense
[00:16:14] Nelson Beltijar: Before that point in time, where I thought I was going to exit the planet
there are words that I got to know, which I never knew before I learned what it felt to feel inadequate, insignificant, invisible, lonely, alone, scared. Words I never knew before. And it's these words that almost buried me, but by being introduced to these words, they have shaped the way that I see the world now
through the lens of my eyes. And I have a new found empathy for people around me. And I'm a firm believer that I had to protect my attitude and my environment to put myself in a position to win. And every person that was with me was someone that truly wanted to see me win, who was giving me their time so I could win.
And I said to myself, how dare I not fight for these people that are unselfishly giving me their lives, their time and underneath my skin, I promise myself I'm going to do everything I can to win, not just for me, but for them and for every person that has ever been a, client in my calendar, because now their coach was in the arena and they had heat now had to use all the tools and skills that he had instilled in the people that were brave enough to listen to me
[00:17:25] Damaged Parents: That's really beautiful. Just thinking about how much inspiration you've got by having those people around you. And you also reminded me of the Theodore Roosevelt quote. And I don't think this is the perfect quote, but it is not the critic who counts. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.
And what you said. Totally. reminded me of that quote.
[00:17:54] Nelson Beltijar: Angela wow can you repeat that again?
[00:17:56] Damaged Parents: Yes, it is not the critic who counts. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. And that was from Theodore Roosevelt.
[00:18:11] Nelson Beltijar: Wow.
Wow I wish I knew you June, 2016. You could have whispered that into my ear.
[00:18:17] Damaged Parents: Isn't it true though? Like your experience and what you were saying is exactly that we don't get to live wife and be. The people we are without that huge struggle.
[00:18:31] Nelson Beltijar: Yes. Yes. And I'll be the first one to tell anybody, anybody that I did not get to where I am all by myself. I'm a product of every single friendship relationship, good or bad. And I did not get to where I am all by myself. Impossible. And, and that blog that, that has gotten me all this attention.
I have to share this story with you. I have to, I was writing my first blog sheet and at the time I'd finished it, and I was terrified. I was terrified of putting it up into the world because I'm not a writer. It's the last thing. And I'm a private person and remember how I told you I had that six year old nephew.
[00:19:06] Damaged Parents: Yes.
[00:19:07] Nelson Beltijar: His name is Austin. Awesome Austin is I like to call him. Austin saw me and he guess he figured something was a little bit wrong with me. And he walked up to me. He goes, uncle Nelson, what's wrong? And I told him, Austin, I'm having trouble uploading my blog sheet. So through the eyes of a six year old child, he looked at me and he goes, it's easy.
All you have to do is press the send so he took his six-year-old finger leaned over my laptop and he pressed the send button. Awesome. Austin, press the send button on my laptop and in a blink of an eye, that first sheet when it, the cyberspace. So I can't even take credit for the birth of that, because if it were up to me, I'd probably still be sitting there right now.
Wondering do I press send do I press send yeah. Five years later, it's because of him. Through the eyes of a child, he was brave enough for me to press send and like I said, I am a product of every single friendship I've ever had. And again, a six year old boy had to help create this idea into a reality because me a full grown man, wasn't brave enough to press send, but because he did here we are today and the rest of the world gets to benefit from it.
[00:20:18] Damaged Parents: Yeah. And that reminds me of something you had said earlier, The people around us are so important, and what about, I mean, were there times in your life where you didn't want to let people know you were struggling and you just thought, oh, I'm a burden. Did any of those thoughts ever come through your mind?
[00:20:36] Nelson Beltijar: I believe in God. And I love my family and friends and I love who I love. And I remember in my hospital bed, I made a deal with God. I remember saying this out loud. I said, I'll go through this. I'll go through this, but leave my friends and family alone. I'll go through this, but leave my friends and family alone.
And I was okay with it. Because I knew that I was strong enough to go through it. And I believe what our God said. He will not give me a trial and tribulation that I can't bear. And I said, I'll go through this, but just leave my friends and family alone. And I was okay with that. Sorry.
[00:21:05] Damaged Parents: No. It's okay.
[00:21:07] Nelson Beltijar: So yeah, I was okay with it. I was okay. Rather me than them.
[00:21:11] Damaged Parents: Yeah. It's one thing that I've learned doing this podcast early on was never just us I remember, I, didn't understand. I had a gal come on. Who said um, her struggle was that her husband had cancer. And I was at first confused because I always thought like with my hands, it was my struggle and my struggle alone.
And when she came on and I talked to her and I started understanding, it's not just my struggle. My kids have challenges because my hands don't work right. It's never just us. And I think we're so lucky when we have people around us, even when we think it is only us, right.
[00:21:57] Nelson Beltijar: Yes.
[00:21:57] Damaged Parents: That come in and they like, the isn't there like a sane about Christ walking with you on the path, right?
Or the footprints poem, I think is another one. Right? I think our family and friends, whether we realize it or not, They're there too. And we don't see their footprints either because we don't even realize that our struggle is creating something inside of them. Also.
[00:22:22] Nelson Beltijar: Yes. Yes. Yes. Just the idea that they have a perception of my struggle from their perspective. And it's important to ask them, what did they experience? What did they feel? How do you feel now seeing that I've won, and they have indirectly walked alongside me the whole time, the hurt, the pain, the worry, the jubilation of celebrating, they were all a part of it.
They just happened to walk in a different lane. I happened to be the one in the arena. One happened to be in the stands. One happened to be in the dressing room behind me. One happened to be walking in front of me, making sure nobody was in my way with the wheelchair. Another person was someone who was always staying with me from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM every day.
So everybody had their place and everybody had their points of view and, and you know what, it's a very good point because even now we sit back and we still discuss these moments in time, but it's very important for me to hear how they felt because they are just as important to the story as I am.
[00:23:28] Damaged Parents: Yeah, that's a great point too, because every character, if I read a novel, right, every single character is important, even, I mean, especially to the main character. Right. And I love how some of the books in today's world break off and tell the story of the other characters so that they get to have their main.
Like I get to learn their story along with the main character story so that they have more depth and, and how that all of us impact each other in these little ways, we don't even realize it.
[00:24:04] Nelson Beltijar: Yes. everything is a thin thread, a thin thread. We don't know just the impact we will have on someone, just sitting beside someone breathing beside them for 90 minutes might be enough. I would have someone just sit beside me during my chemotherapy 90 minutes sessions where all I could do is open my left eye.
And I could just see them sitting there beside me breathing, knowing that there were there beside me. That's somebody that has given me their gift of time that they cannot replace. And I never took that for granted.
[00:24:38] Damaged Parents: Yeah, time and love. Now you use one word, prisoner. You call yourself a prisoner, tell me what makes you use that word?
[00:24:46] Nelson Beltijar: Remember how I told you I had to live in five different hospitals
[00:24:49] Damaged Parents: Yes.
[00:24:50] Nelson Beltijar: And the very first hospital, actually in all of the hospitals, I was a prisoner of my bed and my hospital room because I physically could not get out of there. I could not walk. I could not do anything, but I chose to not let my mind be a prisoner of the hospital room
or the hospital and I would secretly use this tool called mental imagery and visualization or imagination. And I would imagine myself roaming around the world beyond the four walls of the hospital, seeing a typical Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday of my life, a typical Monday going through my patient roster, going through the aims of treatment, going through the arguments that I'd had with friends, family, and coworkers.
On a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And the reason why I did this and let my brain roam beyond the four walls was because I heard my doctor say, your son is stuck here. He can't leave. And when I heard that word stuck, I said, you don't know me, I may be physically stuck in here, but I'm going to let my brain roam freely around the world.
Why? Because I was taught this in university that the subconscious cannot tell the difference between what's real and what's not real. So I chose, I chose to trick my subconscious into believing that I was out in the world living instead of lying in that hospital bed slowly dying. So the reason I use that word prisoner, because I remember my doctors using that word, prisoners stuck you're here.
And I said, you know what, you're wrong about me?
wrong.
[00:26:19] Damaged Parents: Yeah, it seems
[00:26:20] Nelson Beltijar: that's exactly what I did when we all close our eyes, it's dark and it's black. And I went through everything that I just told you like a film strip. And that became my favorite movie every day. It's Monday, I see patient at 9, 10, 11, 12, lunch at 1-1:30 next patient. And I know who my roster is and I would hang out with them.
I mean, mind you, they would come and physically visit me in the hospital as well. Visit them in my brain create my own reality in my brain. Have you ever played this game called Pac-Man?
[00:26:53] Damaged Parents: Yes, long, long time ago.
[00:26:55] Nelson Beltijar: All right. You and I have probably spent a lot of quarters on that machine. So you know, what's your viewers, just bear with me if you've played Pac-Man you'll appreciate this story, in the game Pac-Man is the Pac-Man icon, whose job is to gobble up all the dots, right?
Chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp. That's its goal. I would mentally envision. Every breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime that I had my own internal Pac-Man in my body. And I would imagine it eating up all the cancer cells in my body. I would have that film strip in my brain of that. Pac-Man eating the cancer cells
And three. Remember I told you I couldn't walk. I was stuck in a wheelchair and I had a goal of one graduating into a Walker to two canes, one cane, and hopefully triumphantly walking alongside my friends and family. Again, I would have this mental image in my brain that I would be walking down a specific street, making a right down a specific street towards a gas station, buying a specific drink
at that gas station with a specific group of people, turning it back around, walking all the way back, home, high five, once we got there. I played these filmstrips in my mind for almost three years. And the fact that they've all come to fruition and in 2018, it's ironic that I'm a physical therapist.
I had to be a patient and I became a patient and I had to learn how to walk again I fell so many times I got back up so many times I fell so many times I got back up so many times, but I can honestly tell you that on January the third, 2021, I took my cane and I put it in the closet forever because I am now walking on my own completely on my own
since January 3rd, 2021, but that's not even the best part. I have a friend in the states, she's an accountability coach, Andrea Mason from AndreaMasons.com. And she said to me, what are you going to do next? I said, my goal is to run trot and jog by December 31st, 2021.
but see jokingly said. Why don't you aim for June 1st, 2021.
I say June 1st, that's six months in advance, but she looked at me. She winked at me smiled, and then she hung up, but she had dropped the idea into my brain. And if you go to my YouTube channel, the positive drip you will see that on June 1st, we have a compilation video of, to two-minute video of my progression from the wheelchair to all this stuff, walker, and then eventually you'll see, on June 1st 2021, you'll see me running down the street.
So I did it six months in advance, but I had seen this all in my brain for the past three and a half years. And it is amazing how these things come to fruition. people thought I was nuts, I was crazy creating my own reality in my brain refusing to listen to what the doctors told me. But in the end I promised myself in the end, only one of us is going to be right.
And one of us is going to be wrong. And I'm grateful in a position to have a whole bunch of check marks on my to-do list. And now the question is, what am I going to do next? I always tell people whatever my mind and think up next.
[00:30:04] Damaged Parents: Yeah, it sounds like believing is extremely important. And has been because I uh, got to interview Kyle and I always mess up his name. I think it's Spyrides Yes. Yes. I said it. Correct. And he talked about something similar. But he had a hole in his heart. And so he meditated on visualizing the heart. Whereas you visualize getting rid of the cancer cells running down the street, doing your daily tasks and both of you are here now reporting that there's something there.
[00:30:40] Nelson Beltijar: Yes. Yes. I'm a firm believer that everything in this world is born twice, once in the mind and once in the world, but in between once in the mind, and once in the world is faith belief and action, and I'm foolish enough to believe in the impossible and I suspended disbelief long enough that I went after the things that I thought that I could go and get, because I believe it's possible.
Will I fail along the way. Sure. But failure is not a person it's an event and we all have the ability to dust ourselves off, get back up and start again. and that's all I did. I'm just a guy who remained driven. I'm a guy that accepted what had happened to me in the past, but more importantly, chose to take responsibility of my future days.
And I do what I do to help my friends and family believe that it's possible. Things are possible. And, and as long as I'm alive and breathing, I'm going to inspire people. And I'm going to say, you can do it. If you don't know how let's find someone that's crossed that bridge before you, and let's go bug them and find out how they did it.
So you can too.
[00:31:46] Damaged Parents: Yeah. I mean, there are what 7 billion people on this planet. Right.
[00:31:51] Nelson Beltijar: gotta be one, you know, I there, there's two right here. You and I, you and I refuse to go down regardless of what all the qualified people were telling us, and we're still here.
[00:32:02] Damaged Parents: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it does take. for me, it's, it's that, okay. So my hands aren't going to work the way I want them to what's next. It was kind of my thing, so for a long time I read and I learned, and that was what I did. And I was mom and then came a time where it was time to do the podcast, so I think what I hear you saying is, it might not be exactly what we think it's going to look like, but it can still look better than how it is in this moment.
[00:32:30] Nelson Beltijar: Yes, but you know, and I know when we are in the thick of it, it is dark. It is gloomy. It is lonely. It is scary. But once we can come through the fire and get to the other side victorious, we now become an example to those that are stuck in it. That it's possible to win.
[00:32:48] Damaged Parents: Now I've got to ask because I certainly still have days where it's oh, you know, I just did, it's hard to get out of bed or whatever it is in that day. what do you do in those moments where you're maybe feeling a little overwhelmed.
[00:33:03] Nelson Beltijar: You know what ever since I've been cancer free and given this second chance at life,
I don't sleep much now.
[00:33:10] Damaged Parents: No. '
[00:33:11] Nelson Beltijar: cause, I don't want to waste a minute. I sleep all that I can to be rested it's good. But you know, when you have this urgency, I was almost taken off this planet, but I get to stay. You let me stay the big daddy let me stay. Why did you let me stay? And I'm going to use my remaining days to give hope to people because I never ever thought
that I would create ThePositiveDrip.com. If I never got sick, I would have remained along my life. Been a physical therapist, clinic owner, and I would have never created ThePositiveDrip.com. Just like you might not have created this podcast, if not for your trail and tribulation, but we chose to step into our next assignment on this earth.
And I'm okay with where I am today and the way that I'm functioning. So people say, do you ever get down? I said, no, because I'm still here. I get to be here.
[00:34:04] Damaged Parents: Yeah, I think that's really interesting because I definitely get uh, you know, Days where, and it probably has a lot to do with the pain that I have, where it's time to take it easy and relax. And I fight that tooth and nail I'll tell you sometimes I just, I don't want to, and then I've learned,
listen to my heart, take the break of not doing or not. Cause sometimes my brain will just get going. Right. And then I can come back and it magically works out still at the end of the day. Like I, I don't know how to explain it, but that break is actually beautiful for me.
[00:34:43] Nelson Beltijar: Yes. Yes. I totally agree. Okay. Between you and I and the rest of your viewers, I still have pain. My low back, my lower legs are still heavy because of the lymphedema. That is a side effect of surgery. And I have to live with walking around with heavy legs and that's okay. It's a small price to pay. And when I feel they're too heavy to carry, sometimes I will lie down on the bed, elevate my legs on some pillows, drain the heaviness out of my legs, and then start the rest of my day.
My legs would get heavy, again, a lie down, elevate them things, get lighter, go and walk again. And I'll go through that cycle during the day. And that's basically what I do, but that's a secret between you and I, we won't let anybody else know. Okay.
[00:35:25] Damaged Parents: No I'd love that because it makes it makes you just a little, even more human and right. Cause you're such this amazing hopeful and inspiring man, that now it's okay, well, if he can do that, okay. It's okay that I do that too. Right? You know what my thought there is and cause it took me a long time. Of thinking I need to be super, woman before I, it took me the longest time. I mean, you being a physical therapist, learning how to pace. I did not understand pacing. All I knew was get it done, get it done, get it done. So with what I have, I was putting myself into more pain. And more pain.
And then I was crashing. So it's instead of having like little Hills come along, I had like steep mountains and valleys
[00:36:16] Nelson Beltijar: Yes.
[00:36:17] Damaged Parents: so I think learning to pace and go, okay, you know what it is going to be. Okay. We're just going to keep aiming toward that goal. And today's not going to look like yesterday did, and yesterday is not going to look like today.
But just to keep that that trajectory going, because God's got a plan, I don't know it is, but there's a plan.
[00:36:38] Nelson Beltijar: Yes. Yes, yes. And the one thing I want to say to you also, and again, we'll keep this between you and I. I get nervous every single time before I go on camera or on radio, I feel like I'm going to throw up the last nine minutes before I get on camera and, you wouldn't believe it when you see me, but the truth is, you may see my face.
You may see my story on camera, but my friends constantly remind me that Nelson, you have the perfect face for radio.
So maybe so maybe, maybe that is my mission.
[00:37:10] Damaged Parents: Well, you've got a beautiful smile for camera. So there you go.
[00:37:15] Nelson Beltijar: Right. I mean, we joke around, you have this fabulous podcast that is making a difference into people who listen to this, you give hope, you spread faith. You make people believe, things are possible when things are dark, you know, me and you somehow cross paths. It's no accident, big daddy put us together.
And you know what, there's someone that's angry that you and I got together but it's okay. They're relevant because we got God on our side.
[00:37:44] Damaged Parents: I love it. I love it. Oh my gosh. Okay. Top three things you want the listeners to walk away with. We've already talked about so much, but what's the top three. If somebody's struggling right now that you want them to know.
[00:37:58] Nelson Beltijar: The first thing is. It's okay to not be okay. And that you don't have to go through things alone. If it's to be it's up to me, doesn't have to be your mantra and there's strength in reaching out for help. And it's okay to do that
Two, the world is upside down right now with this craziness and COVID and everything. And I think it's important from me to you that we should do everything we can to protect our attitude, because what we think about creates feelings, positive or negative, and it's these feelings that will create how we behave and our behavior will just reinforce our thoughts.
And the way that I would protect my attitude is I would read from a positive mental attitude book, maybe 10 or 15 minutes a day, someone that succeeded or someone that shares the idea of hope. So that way I can believe that if they could do it. So could I, and you know, there are some days I don't like to read.
And for those of you that don't like to read, I totally. I plugged into an audio book or a video or a DVD that's right. I said a DVD, I'm a dinosaur. Right. I plug into those things so I could watch the information in and three, surround yourself with people that truly want to see you win. And at the same time, accept what happened to you.
But then again, take responsibility of your next future days and the last thing that I learned when I was living in those hospitals where the sky opened up for me, I learned when I was surrounded by death and sickness 24/7, that the biggest lie that we've all been led to believe even me, is that we all have time.
And a long list of some days in a whole bunch of I'll do it later. Opportunities. That's a lie because no man or woman knows the last minute or their last breath and it's up to us to go after the things that, we would like to do with our earthly experience. So that will be when we do pass away, we can die, empty, leaving no unfinished business on earth that we have to take with us to the grave.
And that's what I'd like to leave with you. But, but since you've allowed me to say God on your show, for those of you that have tried everything in life and nothing has seemed to work and you're still stuck I invite you to say, hey, there's this guy named Jesus that you might say, Hey, I need some help. I've tried everything.
I'll try you. I got nothing to lose everything to gain. And if you're someone out there that's currently stuck and don't know how to find a way to win. Just think about my last point. And hopefully, hopefully. You'll be on camera, sharing your story because your face will be made for video. Unlike mine.
[00:40:23] Damaged Parents: Nelson Beltijar I'm so glad I got to have you on the show. Check out his blog and website at thepositivedrip.com. Thank you so much.
[00:40:33] Nelson Beltijar: No, I want to thank you, Angela, for letting me be a part of your mission, because I know it could have been anybody else but you picked me, so thank you very, very much till next time.
[00:40:43] Damaged Parents: Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Relatively Damaged by Damaged Parents. We really enjoyed talking to Nelson about how he recovered from his diagnosis. With cancer. We especially liked when he spoke about getting the help he needed to start his blog. To unite with other damaged people, connect with us on Instagram, look for damaged parents. We'll be here next week still relatively damaged see you then!
