Episode 157: Michael Parker of Second Chance Ranch

When the uniform comes off and the service ends, what's the next chapter for a veteran? Michael Parker of Second Chance Rehabilitation joins us with his powerful narrative, charting a course from the armed forces to the founding of a transformative nature therapy ranch. Witness Michael's candid recounting of a personal odyssey through life's harshest challenges, emerging as a beacon for fellow veterans and first responders seeking solace and a new identity post-service. His open-hearted dialogue on the catharsis found in nature and animals will not only stir your soul but might just alter your perspective on the power of healing environments.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Let's go Sure, deal with an expert in the role of warfare, with a man who's the best With guns, with knives, with his bare hands, a man who's been trained to ignore ignore weather To live off the land job was to dispose of enemy personnel To kill period.

Speaker 2: 0:20

Win by attrition Michael Parker.

Speaker 1: 0:24

Welcome, thank you for being here today. For those of you that know the show, we know that sometimes we like to have crazy fun episodes and sometimes like to have some serious episodes and bring on people that have great programs, great companies, great organizations that are a benefit to the veteran and our first responders. Today With me is Michael Parker, the creator, founder, the man behind the mission of Second Chance Rehabilitation. Michael Parker, welcome, thank you for being here today. How are you doing? Good man, appreciate you having me Absolutely, man.

Speaker 1: 1:00

I always peruse social media, linkedin, looking for any organization that has the ability to take veterans or first responders and get them in the outside world. There's something important about getting back into nature. I know it. I've seen it work great For some of my friends, the most resistant guys that I've ever seen in the world. I've seen it work great For some of my friends, the most resistant guys that did not want to do therapy, they didn't want to talk to somebody, that people were like I'm never going to talk to anybody. Then they go do you know equine therapy and go out there, and some of them have been fortunate enough to go work in ranches after they've separated from the military and it's like seeing somebody just completely do a shift, just complete change, and that's why I believe it's so important, and that's how I want to talk to you today, how you found yourself in this space.

Speaker 2: 1:54

Yeah, um. So I guess, growing up like I always want to be a Marine since I was really little, like that was number one. But there was also a part of me that loved to watch in the old Westerns, love the cowboy thing, so there's a part of me that wants to be a cowboy as well. Uh, so after I got out of the Marines, it was like, well, what do I do next? I was like, well, we've already done one thing we wanted to do since we were a kid. Why not try to do the other one?

Speaker 2: 2:19

Um, uh, went through a rough patch. You know it was. It was definitely a journey Like. Um went through a rough patch in late 2015, early, well, most of 2016 actually.

Speaker 2: 2:32

Um and I had a good friend that was stationed in Hawaii was like, hey, you need to get your shit together. And so I ended up moving out there, staying with her, started working on a ranch uh, not doing anything with horses or cattle or anything. I was actually a zipline tour guide and got the chance to transfer over and work with the horses and you know it was being out in nature. You know that time I started getting out in nature and hiking a lot, because there's a lot of beautiful mountains and places to to see in Hawaii. And I noticed you know well, I quit taking medication at that point let's back up to that Like I didn't like the way it felt. I you know, I just I felt like I was like playing a third person shooter, like I was not actually in control of my life, you know. And so I quit taking the medication. When I went out there and when I started hiking and kayaking and stuff, I noticed that I started to feel a lot better and I noticed that started the more I did it, the more it carried over into outside life. And then I started working with the horses and, um, again, just more healing. Um, I was a very quick fuse and you can't be like that with horses. You know if, if you escalate, they escalate, and so the only way to get them to calm down is to calm yourself down. And you know, I gained a lot of emotional management and regulation in that time and that's where the journey started.

Speaker 2: 4:05

That was, um, probably late, late 2017. Um, and I was, I was actually in the middle of a horseback ride, you know, in the middle of the trial. I call it that light bull moment, like that light above my head and just went off and I was like, hey, like, if this stuff works for me, you know how many other people would benefit from this? And that's when I planted that seed and, um, I'm a huge believer that you speak things into existence, because from that point on, for the next two years, I told everybody, when they had asked me what my plans for the future were, I'll say, well, my five year plan is, you know, start this ranch to help veterans.

Speaker 2: 4:43

Yeah, um, at that, at that point, I didn't hadn't done my homework on the what was going on in the first responder world, so at that point, it was just veterans. Um, then, 2019, I was working at a different ranch, you know. I'd shifted over there. They let me work with cattle and I started learning the ranch hand stuff and they downsized guys let me go, and I was also living on the ranch. So when they let me go, I found myself just like that homeless and unemployed.

Speaker 1: 5:12

That's a real cowboy. That's a real cowboy situation.

Speaker 2: 5:16

For real. And I was like, well, what do I do now? You know that I was kind of still like at that point, like kind of drifting back into a bad space or actually coming up out of it. But we know, like when you're coming up out of it, there's still that period where you're going up, but it's still bad. And that's kind of where I was at when that all happened.

Speaker 2: 5:37

Um, and it was the life coach man that that got me to where I am now. I was applying for job after job after job and wasn't even getting. I'm like, dude, I'm overqualified for all of these jobs, and I think that was the problem. Is that I why do you want to flip burgers at McDonald's? And like, dude, I just need a job.

Speaker 2: 5:56

Um, but yeah, I was the life coach, um, and he said, yeah, I thought he might be able to help me get a job, but he did so much more for me than that. And yeah, he asked me he's like, well, if you could be anywhere in five years, like where would you be? And so I told him my five year plan and he's like, why don't you do it? And I was like I gave him this long list of excuses I wasn't qualified, I didn't have a college education, I knew nothing about running a business and all of that. And his answer was that's a bunch of bullshit excuses and I was taken aback. I was like what? Uh, but sure enough, you know that, just that that was that that pivot, um, that kick in the butt that I needed and pushed towards second chance, and it was. It was definitely interesting, yeah.

Speaker 1: 6:44

Man. I want to. I want to hit on that for a second. And that resistance Uh, that's something a lot of us deal with when we're trying to get out of that negative headspace that we're dealing with depression, anxiety, undiagnosed PTSD, whatever it is you're going through a thing that the common thread we all have is you have that resistance to go for your dream.

Speaker 1: 7:08

If you're lucky enough, you have people in your corner that snap you out of it or you know, you find something that connects with you, that gives you that ability, that okay, why not? That sparks that fire within you. But so many guys and gals are from our same, you know, background. There's that resistance. Um, I'm just going to go do this. I'm going to go do this mini old task job. I just need to get this job. We forget about the dream. We forget about the dream. You're fortunate. So many of us are so blessed that somebody came in and put boot to ass. It got us moving forward. Like what? Um, when you look back, what was that resistance? Why do you think it was so loud in your head to not achieve or not to try not to go for your dream?

Speaker 2: 8:03

Um, I think it was mostly. I just didn't know what you know, what you know, I guess you know you kind of want that safety, I think, and that's what a lot of we want that safety of just uh, because there's there's nothing safe about it. Like to be transparent. I'm very stripping by right now.

Speaker 2: 8:28

And like that's the things that people don't see about, like doing stuff like this is there's, it's freaking hard, and then like um, and there's no safety or security in it, uh, whereas if you go work in a regular job, there's a sense of security, but we all know you can get let go for no dang reason and so there's not really any security there either, um, but I think it's just especially with like trauma, you just you feel more safe in that environment.

Speaker 2: 8:58

Um, another thing too is a lot of us you kind of alluded at it already is like we we lose our sense of who we are. And you know, because we're so taught that, uh, I'm a Marine, you know, I'm a soldier, I'm a sailor, I'm this like the missions first, and we put ourselves on the back burner and we forget that we're our own individual. We have our own wants, interests, desires and so on, and we don't even know what those are anymore. And we have to rediscover that.

Speaker 2: 9:36

And I think it was kind of a long journey of me having to rediscover who or I probably didn't even know who Michael Parker actually was, cause, you know, you go in straight out of high school and you're still kind of figuring yourself out and then you're told this is who you are, this is what you do, and you, you just never put in the work. So I had to put in that work to figure out who I was, what mattered to me, um, and also, you know, I hear a lot in like this loss of purpose. Um, I don't have a purpose anymore. Uh well, that's because we confuse the difference between a mission and a purpose. Like, the military fulfilled our purpose because it was a mission that fed into what our purpose is at the core. And so you know until you can figure that out, like what your actual purpose here is and you know who you are and what matters most to you, you know you're just going to bounce around wherever the universe sends you, yeah, absolutely that, that identity piece.

Speaker 1: 10:38

That's the hardest thing for so many veterans, myself included. I had to work through that as well. Um, but that's what got the gears in motion. Okay, like, yeah, this, if I look at it through these, through this lens of oh whoa is me? I don't know who the fuck I am. I spent this vast majority of my career in life identifying with um, this profession, this beret, this, this way of life. Or I can say, okay, how fortunate am I to have the clarity now to start building it back from from nothing, start figuring out what's important to me.

Speaker 1: 11:17

And, and it's hard for so many individuals because they want to latch on to that identity, and that's it's also why it's so painful to see other individuals that are still stuck and you, you see them every day. They're still stuck in that identity of like I'm a, I'm a broken veteran. We sell that idea Like, oh, I got to stay a broken veterans. No, dude, remove that t-shirt, remove that idea. You're so much more. You're a human being. Find out who you are, find out what your values are. Like we, we get stuck thinking that the values that this organization gave me are my values and those are the only values I have. Like fuck, no, go, go, sit down, do the work, read, do the hard things. Um, and it's, it's a beautiful process. It's hard, it's not easy. Um, what were some of the things you identified that were truly uniquely you when you were going through that?

Speaker 2: 12:10

Uh on, what you just said real quick, and for I answer that you know the in case some of these listing that is in that stuck place, dude, the military was just a chapter in your book, it's not the end, like it was a chapter and you close the book. Or you close that chapter and you move on Like I don't know. I mean, I guess that there's the pride in it, but, like as veterans, we, um, we pride ourselves on being veterans, but you don't hear somebody that used to work at Walmart say, oh, I'm a former Walmart employee, you know, I'm, I'm the, you know, but we're just like it's in the bank. Again, it goes back to our identity, um, uh, but yeah, I, I'm going to diss on my Marines real quick. I think we're the worst because we have the once the Marine, always marine, and yes, true, but I think in a lot of cases that's a detriment because then you're just a Marine, I'm a Marine.

Speaker 2: 13:06

Well, yeah, take those lessons that you learned in the Marine Corps and use them in the next chapter, but don't keep living there. Yeah, and some of the things that I identified that were truly me is you know, dude, I didn't use to hike and be outdoors. Uh, I found that that that's my, that's my happy place. I like meditation. You know I like all this stuff and I found, you know, like everybody and I hear this all the time as people are like you're, not like other Marines that I met- You're not like other Cowboys that met.

Speaker 2: 13:41

You're not like other bull riders. I'm like, yeah, that's because I'm me, like I'm not any of them, like I don't fit in a box and I think too often like real K fitting in the box. And that was what was when I was saying I had to learn. It's okay, it's okay to be a nerd Like I love Star Wars, I love Star Trek, yeah.

Speaker 1: 14:01

You know I listen to all kinds of music.

Speaker 2: 14:04

Like I had to be comfortable in my learns, to be comfortable in my own skin. Yeah, I had to. You know, I always felt called to serve and I realized that, like that's, that is my purpose, to service. But what that looks like changes, you know, in different chapters of my life. Like, yeah, that was the military. And then, you know, I thought about going into and to become an EMT and doing stuff like that, and I was like, yeah, probably not good to add more trauma to the pilot from. I already have, but I still felt called to serve. And then I realized that like, yeah, that service is by giving back and helping, helping the veteran community, helping the first responder community. So just read, read, I don't. I think I always knew, like, who I was. I just didn't know how to define who I was, and I think that was was kind of was. It is like just getting that understanding of what the next chapter looks like.

Speaker 1: 15:11

And yeah, I think it's something that a lot of veterans forget to look at when they get out. They want to make a lot of money, they want to be really successful. They don't want to take a moment to stop and realize what is truly unique about us is that drive to be of service to others. And I've seen it firsthand with my great friends, my close friends, that get out and they get really lucrative job offers. They're really happy, they're excited, and then within like six, seven months they're like fuck, what am I doing? Like this is great money, but I am miserable.

Speaker 1: 15:47

There's nothing in here, in this profession, that is uniquely me. It's high stakes, high stress and it's of service to nobody but themselves. And then, obviously, if you can fit it in other parts of your life, then you're gonna be successful. If you volunteer, you're within your community, then that fucking works too. But if you don't have that ability to give back like, you're not gonna be fulfilled. And I've seen it and it's understanding your true core values. But I wanna go back to something that's really fucking cool that I didn't know you did like bull riding. How did that start up? Cause.

Speaker 2: 16:24

Yeah. So I was on my bucket list. I always joke and blame it on Tim McGraw and that song Live Like You're Dying. I said get 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu. So that was when I built out a bucket list. It was on there.

Speaker 2: 16:45

He like I gotta try bull riding. And I just never did. I never did. And then I was still living in Hawaii at that time and I had gone home to Arkansas and was at a rodeo and I was like are we getting ready to go to the rodeo? And I was like I'm gonna ride, like I'm gonna try it, and I, funny, like my uncle used to ride, and he goes, he goes. So I'm just gonna go one of two ways. He said you're either gonna absolutely hate it and you're never gonna do it again, or you're gonna be hooked and not be able to stop. And I was like, no, no, I'm just, I'm just wanna done. He looked at me and he said I know you better than that. I was like, yeah, you're probably right, went terrible the first time, came off almost right out the gate and I got up and I was like, hey, next time I'll do better. And I said next time, sure enough, I bought my own bull riding gear.

Speaker 2: 17:40

I started training with a guy that used to ride out in Hawaii, competed in a few rodeos. My second time riding I broke my leg. Oh, how bad, yeah. And the very next day I had already paid to ride again and it was like it was like a hundred dollars and I was like, yeah, I was like this battle in my house. I was like, well, we cannot ride, nobody's gonna blame you. Like pretty much everybody knows I just broke your leg yesterday and I was like no, we're gonna suck it up, we're gonna do it. And it was crazy because, like I got a lot of respect. Then people were like you're back. I'm like, yeah, and so you know, people helped me out, helped me get tied in right and went out and rode like 6.8 seconds. I was like almost there, you would have thought I covered, but I came off because I was so happy, until I remembered that my leg was broke. Jesus, I was like oh.

Speaker 1: 18:44

So you went right back with a broken leg. Fuck, oh yeah, where'd you break it?

Speaker 2: 18:52

This bone here in the front of your leg. I can't think of what it's called. I'm not good with anatomy, with the bone in the front, and people are like, oh, you didn't break your leg or you wouldn't be able to walk on it. I was like, no, I just, if I stand this way, I don't put pressure on that. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 19:08

Damn. That's the most cowboy shit I've heard.

Speaker 2: 19:12

Man, you know I had never broken a bone in my life until I started working with horses and riding bulls, and now I've broken my both feet multiple times, broken my leg, broke my forearm or this forearm. Broken ribs, bruised ribs, neck, back injuries. I'm like man. This is terrible.

Speaker 1: 19:36

It's terrible like decisions here. It sounds like more injuries on the road. It sounds like more injuries post-military career than you had Pretty much.

Speaker 2: 19:49

And the ones I already had I probably just made worse. Yeah, no.

Speaker 1: 19:56

VA. Please don't listen to this full episode.

Speaker 2: 20:01

VA is listening to. I'm not saying anything.

Speaker 1: 20:04

This is not Michael Parker, steven Parker, dude. So do you still ride? Do you still train for bull riding? Like how does that go? Like how, like that's insanely dangerous. A and but I can also see the thrill in it. I mean, being a cowboy gets coming back into pop culture and people are like going out of their way to learn how to ride and volunteer learn how to be a bull rider.

Speaker 2: 20:34

I just want to say I was cowboy before. It was cool. So, yeah, I quit riding. So I guess, about two and a half years ago my bull riding career only lasts about two years, but I gave it up because I was actually doing really well. It was about halfway through the 2021 season and I was doing good.

Speaker 2: 21:07

And then I had a ride and I landed on my neck and I had a really bad like actually back injury and you know, it was one of those like realizations. I was like like you keep doing this, but next time you might not be able to get back up, you know, and how hard is it going to be for me to do what I do for veterans and first responders if I can't walk? Yeah, so I had to really weigh what was more important to me, you know, bull riding or helping veterans and first responders, and so obviously we know which one won Doesn't mean I don't get on from time to time. I was in September out in California for a rodeo that was put on for second chance and got back on a bull for the first time. It felt great. I was like, wow, man.

Speaker 1: 22:12

Oh, how long did you last that time?

Speaker 2: 22:16

Probably about two and a half 30 seconds.

Speaker 1: 22:18

We didn't make it to the fall.

Speaker 2: 22:20

But we made it out the gate a couple of jobs. That's impressive to me, man. I was like you know what I'll take it. It just felt great to be back in there.

Speaker 1: 22:31

Hell yeah, I can imagine it's nothing like riding a bike.

Speaker 2: 22:36

Yeah, if the bike tries to kill you every two seconds, then it's similar, yeah.

Speaker 1: 22:45

So when you finally sat down and actually started following your dreams, man, like how did that go? How did building a ranch for veterans and first responders? Like how did that? Because there's a lot of people out there that conceptualize and they say I'm going to do something to bring people on. But dude, as I look and think of the logistics, the amount of support it takes, like how did you build a team and people to support you in this endeavor?

Speaker 2: 23:15

I will start with if I knew how hard it was.

Speaker 1: 23:22

When I started, you probably wouldn't be sitting here having this conversation.

Speaker 2: 23:28

Unfortunately, I'm pretty damn stubborn. So once I started, I was like, well, we got to see this thing through. There's definitely been times I thought about just throwing it out. I'm just like no, you put in too much work and people need this, you can't give up. Man. It didn't go anything like what I expected. I was like, cool, we'll try to raise money, get some land. I started looking at how expensive this amount of land I wanted was and I was like God, how do you raise that much money? And my beginning plan was to get a ranch and I always wanted to do these retreats for veterans and that was going to come after I built the ranch and had a place that I could come out to.

Speaker 2: 24:19

Obviously, covid happened not long after I set out on this journey. So, because I started laying the framework and making progress forward in September of 2019. So then here comes March. We're putting this work, we're getting forward progress, and then COVID comes and, on top of having to leave Hawaii, the whole world shut down. But I still made the most out of it because, since the world was shut down and everybody switched to Zoom and stuff like that, I was able to get a lot of education in that time. So I spent a lot of time just learning how to run a business and this and that, and picking the brains of people that knew so much more than I did and just trying and making the steps forward that I can. And I know this is God's purpose for me and I know that he led me this way and I know that he's not going to let me down. He didn't step me on this path. He didn't put me where I'm at to see me fail, but I have to do my due diligence. So you're doing your diligence and price. That's the right thing and 2021. Ok, so to get the support and everything to answer that part of the question In my head, it was a great idea.

Speaker 2: 25:57

In the beginning I made my own LinkedIn page and I made a page for the ranch because I was like, well, as we get going, like I don't want to just come out of nowhere and people will be like where does this come from? You know, like so I did that. We started building a following. You know, myself and the ranch and you know, almost immediately started getting asked for help and I was like I don't have a ranch yet, you know, and I turned away three people and I felt like the scum of the earth, like I felt like one of those people that that you hear, that's always talking, but you never see them doing anything. And I hate those kind of people, like I love that. And I felt like I was one of those type of people and so I was very, not very upset with myself. And so when the fourth person reached out, I stopped and I said, hmm, there's got to be something we can do. And I was like, well, I have a couple of horses here, so we then come out and do a horseback ride. And I was like, well, hell, like I live in the Ozarks, like there's lots of camping, like we can go camping. And I'm like, hell, there's no river we can go rent, you know.

Speaker 2: 27:12

And I started building those retreats that were supposed to be, like you know, like a phase two thing, and I realized, hey, maybe that was was the answer For now, like we could be making an impact with these retreats while we were working on getting that land. And one of the biggest thorns in my side for four years was people be like oh, I can't wait to come see the ranch. I'm like the ranch is my house. Like there is no land, there is no horses, there is none of that. We're work, but it's coming, you know, and it was always the hey, it's coming, yeah. And a couple of months back I actually was able to lead a horseback ride. I was able to lease nine acres of land so I can start building a ranch. And you know, even then you're like your mind is like nine acres, that's not a lot of land. But I'm like, well, hey, it's better than none and it's a start.

Speaker 2: 28:04

And I know, like for me the whole thing has been like a journey in, like in faith, which the definition of faith is complete trust and confidence, absolutely. My faith was never in question and in God, but it was in myself. Like I had no confidence in my ability to do things and so I had to had to build, you know, step by step, and build that confidence and trust in myself to get it done. And so I'm like, well, hey, if, if you can't be trusted with nine acres to make something happen, then you can't be trusted with a hundred acres or a thousand acres or, you know, multiple ranches across the country. Like you've got to, you got to build, you know. And so, yeah, it's definitely been one hell of a journey and I'm just, I'm just lucky and blessed to have met a lot of great people along the way, some really great mentors along the road who've stuck by my side for years and, you know, helped me get to where I am.

Speaker 1: 29:15

Yeah, I think it's important to understand the the value in doing what you can with what you have in that moment. I'm no stranger to that. I started a peer-to-peer support group and my endeavor is like, well, I'm just one person. It's like, well, you're a person that's overcome some things. You're a person that has tools and resources. You're willing to put yourself through training. You're willing to be of service to others. You have something to provide. Do it.

Speaker 1: 29:47

Don't sit on the sidelines just because you don't have a vast organization and endless budget. If you can help someone and you can provide a positive voice or a small retreat, do it. It might not be the grandest thing, we might not be that giant, friggin resort, but man, like, what you just said is so powerful. There's so many of us right now that have that seed of building something to help others and they're dealing with the same fear and trepidation of oh, I don't have any, I don't have the dream. I have the dream but I don't have the facilities built yet. But, man, like, I understand that feeling of people reaching out and being like, oh shit, I don't know what to do. I can't, I can wait a second. I know what I can do. I can do something today. I can make time and space for somebody and I can make people feel like they matter. You can do something. Everybody listening right now.

Speaker 1: 30:45

If you're finding, if you're trying to find a way to help out, like maybe your grand dream is to have this great thing, but maybe right now, like you're building it in flight, that's how so many people are doing their business, like, hey, like I got a runway, I got X amount of money and I can start doing X, y and Z. Fuckin' do it, live your dream. It's not about, like we often think, of the end result. Well, that's beautiful picture too, but set your sights on the day-to-day impact that you can have. And if it's having somebody come over and learn how to ride and go on a kayak trip and go fishing, go camping, fuck, that's a powerful thing to do, man.

Speaker 2: 31:29

Exactly yeah. And you know it's like people are like, well, what exactly do you do? I'm like I just save lives and like, well, how, I'm like well, I mean, I'll do whatever you know. Like to me it's like I've lost a lot of close friends to suicide. I've been that person on four occasions. You know I have four suicided attempts. You know I lost my grandfather. So I understand, I'm like dude, I'm tired of losing people. So it's like whatever I can do, like recently just helped a homeless vet who was really struggling go from Wisconsin to Arizona to reunite with his family and that seemed simple and straightforward.

Speaker 2: 32:10

It was a whole freaking ordeal, but you know, just to see that gratitude, see them keep on with that fight. You know coaching guys and girls, you know to help them find their purpose and their identity after service Like and see the transition to the shift in them. It's like cool, you know and help. If you're out there listening to this and you're like you've got that dream that you're afraid of failure, delete failure from your freaking vocabulary. That's like one of those hard things. You know things don't go the way you plan, okay, but guess what? Everything's got a lesson in it. Take the lessons, you know pivot and move on. And an example of that is I was supposed to.

Speaker 2: 33:01

I had mentioned that rodeo that I went to in California. There's supposed to be a retreat. With that. We did not hit the fundraising goals, didn't come close, completely whiffed on that, and we just didn't have the people commit to come out. You know so there was there's no money for it, there's no. It was complete failure. Failure, but it wasn't. You know. It was a success because I drove and I picked my buddy up who, in Phoenix, who's a retired NFL player, made him come out there with me. And you know we went to the rodeo. It was great. I got to share my story in front of almost 2000 people. You know that I'd never done before. It was really one of the scariest moments of my life. But you know I I build a lot of connections on that.

Speaker 2: 33:55

You know also, what I didn't know at the time is my buddy was. I knew he was struggling, but I didn't know where he really was at on the struggle. And a couple of weeks later, after we finished, he told me. He said, dude, my plan was to go out there, have one last good weekend with you, and then he's like I was going to come back and kill myself. But you know, on the way I was able to kind of coach and mentor him the whole way, you know, help them process through a lot of stuff that he was going through, help him see a new side of things. You know, on the car ride we had a lot of time in the car to have conversations. He got to see me at, you know, at the, at the rodeo, and you know see that.

Speaker 2: 34:39

And then the next day we went and we rode horses. Before we came back and he had never been on a horse before and after we rode dude, he had a biggest smile on his face the whole time and I thought I was going to get him in terror at one point because this horse just started trotting with no warning and I just turned and snapped the picture. I didn't even look back and when I looked at it later he had the biggest grin on his face. Like you know, he was like dude. I didn't know that that was something he's like. I thought it'd be cool he's like, but I didn't know it was something I need. So now he's constantly like looking for a place to ride and this is the paint, the picture for you.

Speaker 2: 35:17

Imagine, you know, a six foot two NFL linebacker, big black guy with dreads, you know, and he got him over here like dude, I need to ride horses, you know.

Speaker 2: 35:29

And so, in my eyes, like part of me was like, oh, like we failed, and I'm like, no, like we still got to have this opportunity to go share our organization and we saved a life. Yeah, and we saved a life. Didn't even know it, but we saved a life. And a couple of the people that I met out there, you know, I've been able, they've reached out to me when they were in distress, and these are people that met me for an hour at a rodeo and had a conversation, yeah, and they're like, oh, this is somebody that I can reach out to when I'm struggling. And they've reached out and you know I'm sitting there. Dude called me and was like, hey, I got this going on. He's like will you pray for me? That's all I did was pray for him, but that's what he needed, you know, and it's just doing what you can, when you can and how you can.

Speaker 1: 36:21

Absolutely Fucking Lutely. I want to ask you something. One of the things that I always talk about is my body and spirit. All are connected when you're visualized them and speak on them as if they're serious. When one is completely depleted, you can fall back on maybe the other two, and when you're depleted in all three, it's when you fall apart. That's why I found myself, and so many of my brothers and friends found themselves, in the same situation, and faith and spirit are something that's really hard for a lot of people to talk about. How did your faith play into this? How did your trust in God's plan help you go through this?

Speaker 2: 37:06

Dude, I love that I love this question, because that's what I always tell everybody is like I don't care if you believe as I do, but you got to believe in something because you know body, mind and soul or spirit, and if one's out of whack you might be okay, but if two are out of whack then you're all kinds of messed up, and for me that was a lot of. The problem is like, when I was in that dark place, I leaned real heavily on my faith and I was taking care of my body because I was working out. I was constantly in the gym working out. I was in church any time the doors were open. I wasn't taking care of my mental health, I wasn't taking care of my mind and I was still in this spiral. I couldn't figure it out. Then I go to Hawaii and now I'm still physical, but I switched to taking care of my mind.

Speaker 2: 38:03

My faith dropped off because I was hurt by people that called themselves Christians. I now call those types of people church folks. They just occupy a pew but their faith leaves the moment. They walk out the door and sometimes it doesn't even extend to the pew they're sitting on. Anyway, I got crushed on that, but then I was okay for a while, but then I still started struggling and then I found myself that was 2019. I was like, okay, I got to get back in church and luckily I found a good church home there that really fed into me and then, once I was working on my body, my mind and my spirit, I was able to go to a new place and be so much clearer in the head and feel better. It's just a great place to be. But yeah, my faith has always been a huge part. I grew up in church. When you come back, there was just way too many things, because if I believe in it, I need to know. So I tried to disprove or disprove whether there was a guy and obviously put them on trial.

Speaker 2: 39:46

If I believe in this, I need to know that I actually believe in this, and I'm just like you assessed everything and I was like, yeah, there's no other explanation, like there's too many things and unexplainable things. I'm like, okay, yeah, like there's a God, like God's real, okay, cool. So we believe that. You know, once these drawings have worked, clearly make sure that they. Ah, just lost my strength, though.

Speaker 1: 40:10

That's okay.

Speaker 2: 40:10

Tbi has all of us have it all time.

Speaker 1: 40:14

I'm gonna roll and just Don't worry, the audience is used to this. They've dealt with my blank out moments plenty of times.

Speaker 1: 40:22

I know for me faith has become more a prominent thing for me to talk about and speak about, and it's not because, you know, I'm a perfect human being and everything I do I'm like no dude. I forget to do my prayers Like dude. I'm a human being. But the thing that really brought me back into it was not only the amazing guidance of my wife, an amazing family, my in-laws or amazing people, but having that ability to tap back into what was something that I had as a child that didn't have. Growing up, going through some really hard times, but then finding and understanding the connection of all three, because my body was broken, failed surgeries, I couldn't do the things that I used to do, and then my mind, just like you said, I was dealing with really dark, horrible things that I couldn't fix on my own. And then I started plugging in back into the spirit sphere and into that realm of the world through mindfulness and meditation, just being still, just being still and redirecting my mind and really understanding that, okay, this is the same thing as prayer, this is the same thing as being able to sit down and do a rosary or sit down and just be present, still and listen, and that started my path to getting back into the church, back into faith, and I realized in this world we can talk about everything. We can talk about the most depraved, gross stuff on earth. People are like never going to bat their eye.

Speaker 1: 42:04

But then when you start talking about faith, people are like, ah, I don't want to talk about faith and religion. It's like, well, you know what it's helped me. So if it helps me just like medications have helped me, just like, you know still, ganglion blocks have helped me in the past so if this thing in my life has made a positive change and has brought me closer to those around me and has given me a strength that I didn't have and has given me the ability to feel better and do better in life, I'm going to talk about it and I'm going to ask about it because, like we just shared with each other, you're not the only person. A lot of us are starting to realize like, hey, you know what? Like there's something to this and I think it's a great thing to start asking. And what you said was spot on. It doesn't matter if you're not in the same church. You got to believe in something. There's a greater power out there.

Speaker 2: 42:59

I mean, think about it. Like any culture you ever think about has believed in something. You know, like the Native Americans, the ancient Aztecs, the Romans, the Greeks, you know everybody. And like you got whatever you believe in right. Like I mean, if you, if you were interested in my faith, I'll talk to you about it, but you got to believe in something and that's why I try to teach people and you know, like, for I kind of remember what I was saying before.

Speaker 1: 43:30

I got D-Railed earlier.

Speaker 2: 43:33

You know, like in 2016, when I was in that rough patch and I was in church like dude, like sometimes I was in church seven to eight times a week, right, like because I live in the Bible belt, so there's always revival and stuff, so there's always a church store open, and I was there because I was searching for that Again, wasn't working on the mental, so still struggling, but you know, that was kind of in that time. You know, I had this on the three separate occasions, which this, you know, like the first time I heard it, I literally laughed in the pastor's face. It was the pastor and he said you know, god put a calling of ministry on your life. And I laughed at him and I said, me this guy, do you know what I've done? There ain't no way he's using me. And then, like a week later, I'm at a revival somewhere else and an elder in that church said pretty much the same thing and I kind of like, well, that's the second time I heard that in like a week. And then a week after that, I was at a different church and the evangelists, you know, told me the same thing. And I'm like, okay, that's the third time and we know that God works in threes and I was like, okay, you got my attention. But you know, I realized, like that's kind of what I realized, like I was set out for a greater purpose than just doing whatever.

Speaker 2: 45:00

But you know, it's, it's, it's scary when God, you know, puts something like that on you because, like, I read my Bible and you know I take it in and I know what it says happens to those that lead people astray. And I'm like God, I don't want to lead anyone astray. Like I want to make sure, like you know, and I, I I'm very not spiritual, but not like in the spiritual, like like Christian spiritual, but I'm not into religion. I think religion is terrible, you know, like, so I don't get along with a lot of Christians in Arkansas, let's put it that way. But you know, this is like conversation I've had with my grandma because I recently did my first psilocybin, you know journey, and so you know they live in the Bible. They kind of look at you like you did what you did mushrooms, like, oh, you did drugs. I'm like, no, it's not like that.

Speaker 2: 46:03

And I told them about my experience and my grandma goes, well, since you've done this kind of stuff like what's your stance on like faith and things, and I'm like, I'm like, oh, I have all the faith I was like, but I don't believe in these church buildings that you have here. Like, most of these preachers aren't even preaching the preaching the word correctly, like you know, they're leading people astray, you know. And and then I, you know, and then of course, you know, with someone like that, you've got to back it up with scripture and I'm like here's the scriptures on that. And so she's like, oh, like he actually knows what he's talking about. Here I'm like, yeah, I'm like, you know, like Christianity is like a relationship.

Speaker 2: 46:46

You know to be a Christian, you're striving to be like Christ, so you're striving to live by his example. You're not sitting in a church, you know giving donation, you know. And then people like talking about ties, man it's. I got a different outlook than most people, but I just, you know, I just try to do be the best version of myself and be who God put me here to be. And you know, like I don't believe in giving money to a church. I'll give my money to somebody in need, I'll give my time and energy, you know, to support these, these missions and that and that's how, because I'm like dude, like I don't one of these pastors making way more money than I am to.

Speaker 1: 47:36

You know Christian, and that's somebody that's preached.

Speaker 2: 47:38

Like I know. Like I can write a sermon, especially if it's coming from the Lord. Like you can sit down and write that thing in two hours. Like you don't need all week to write a message.

Speaker 1: 47:49

I think it's a really important thing for for everybody when it comes to faith and religion is find your way, find your path, find what resonates with you. When people don't do that, when they just follow along, then it's not connected to who they are, it's not connected with something within themselves and they're just going and they're repeating the function, walking into a building, sitting down, kneeling, sitting back up, going for communion and then rinse the repeat again. But if you're not tied to it, if you're not tied to the teaching, if you're not tied to the experience and you don't make that conscious effort to be intentional, knowing that, like I am doing this to be closer to something, to believe in something, I always tell people like, dude, it's your life, these are your values, figure them out, sit down, write on them, speak about them, understand what's important to you. Otherwise you're just repeating actions and you're not aware and you're not cognizant. You're just doing things to do them.

Speaker 1: 48:54

I met plenty of people like that. They're happy, they're great people, but at the end of the day it's just walk in, walk out, repeating functions, but they're not too really tied to it. It's whatever it is, whatever you're passionate about, whatever you're doing to fill that spirit Part of your life. Take a moment to acknowledge what it is. Take a moment to learn about your faith and be actually intentional with it. Otherwise it's just like anything else. Like you're sitting down consuming TV, that's the same thing. You just go into a place.

Speaker 2: 49:27

Like you said, mindfulness and meditation. That's tapping into your spirit. That's why on my retreats, when we go out hiking, we find a spot, we just sit down and just have that space to meditate, because there's healing in nature 100%. That's where you got to get. You got to get back in touch with who we are meant to be, not what society tells us we're supposed to be Dude.

Speaker 1: 49:56

If it wasn't for mindfulness, if it wasn't and I went and got my certifications, I went and became a teacher of it, and if it wasn't for those sessions of me, just by myself sitting down and practicing and being mindful and meditating, I would never have been able to bring myself to that understanding of like, okay, this is tapping into spirit, this is like, this is church. This is exactly the same feeling. I am present, I am aware of what I'm doing, going into my church and that was a powerful thing. I didn't go into it thinking that it was part of my spirit. I didn't understand it and because we're taught that it's completely different, it goes against it. It's not the same thing, it's very much the same thing and it's a powerful understanding that brought me closer to my faith. I know it's the same for callous individuals, but what's the next step for Second Chance Ranch? What's the next, what's in the future?

Speaker 2: 51:00

Yeah, so right now, like I said, just moved on to Nine Acres.

Speaker 2: 51:07

Got a lot of work to put in there to get it going. So right now just working on trying to gather the money to build pastures so I can start getting horses and build a place where guys and girls can come out and kind of just escape, whether it's for the day or for the weekend. Got to take advantage of the winter time because all the underbrushes died off so I can get out there and I can clear a lot of the underbrush Going to put in. I'm going to clean up Well, I don't really have to put them in, I've already got it picked out but I'm going to clean up a hiking trail, you know, like a walking path, and going to put in some benches and stuff so people can have those places to just sit and meditate alone out there, fire pits, you know stuff like that, so people can come out. We can, you know, have those group discussions and get the horses so we can start doing horseback rides and I can teach people horsemanship. That's kind of the steps right now, kind of pushed off. Doing any retreats until summer yeah, to fall, because to me getting that going right now is kind of the priority building that place for guys and girls to come out. That's kind of the next chapter right now. So it's just right now it's building up, building up, getting the money and stuff to go for with that.

Speaker 2: 52:42

And you know, it's a little difficult because I didn't choose the nonprofit route, which I get shit for all the time and I'm like, dude, I can do the same thing with a for-profit. It's just a little different, you know, and like that's this for me, like that was the whole thing. It was like understanding the difference between a for-profit and a nonprofit and I weighed back and forth whether I wanted to be a nonprofit or not. For me, one of the perks of being for-profit is I can still raise money in all that, people can still donate to us, but I don't have all the red tapes Like if I was a for-profit and I say I help veterans and first responders.

Speaker 2: 53:27

That's all I can do, whereas I'm a for-profit, you know, if somebody, if Joe Blow off the street, who's had, you know, struggling with PTSD and has been through some stuff, he needs help, I can't I don't have to say sorry, you're not a veteran. You know I can take them in if I want and I can help them. So I have more freedom to help whoever needs help. And I'm not the type that you know, just because you don't have a DD214, just because you never put on a uniform, I'm not going to just turn my back on you. If you need help, yeah, so, yeah, so I guess that's the next step is just getting the ranch actually up and going. You know, yeah, that's been a long time coming. I keep doing retreats, working on launching a coaching program. You know helping people find their like you said core values, identify what core values are important to them, who they are outside of uniform, and you know finding their purpose and then helping them identify their next mission going forward.

Speaker 1: 54:37

Heck, yeah, so real quick. How can we support you? How can the audience or anybody listening to this podcast Support you in second chance rehabilitation ranch?

Speaker 2: 54:48

Yeah, I believe there's a link on our. I haven't checked my website in a while. I'm terrible. I believe there's a link on there so you can donate. If not, I'll drop you a link. Follow us on social media. You know, engagement helps, helps us get out there. You know, come by merchandise. Yeah, I've got some great merchandise out there, you know. You know all of that goes back into keeping things going, so just share it. If you know somebody struggling, send them, send them our way. I'll do everything I can to help in whatever capacity. And you know, if it's out of my, if it's out of my will house, I know people, so you know I'm good at pointing people.

Speaker 2: 55:37

If I'm not the right person, I'm good at pointing people to the resources that can help.

Speaker 1: 55:43

So yeah, Heck, yeah, awesome, michael, thank you for being here Again. Michael Parker, the CEO, founder of second chance rehabilitation ranch. I go to the episode description. There's a link in there to go directly to his website and go buy some merch. People Support the cause, mike, thank you so much for being here today. Can't wait to have you back on. Take care, brother, and we will see all of you later. Take care, if you like what we're doing and you enjoying the show, don't forget to share us, like us, subscribe and head on over to our Patreon, where you can be part of our community and get access to all of our episodes as soon as they drop. And remember we get through this together. Take care Bye.