Faith Over Fear: The key to moving through fear with ease.

Faith Over Fear: The key to moving through fear with ease.
With Kijuan Amey & Samia Bano

Want to #breakfree of your #chainsoffear?

Listen now to this interview with Kijuan Amey, #USAirForce #Veteran, #Author and #ResilienceCoach to explore the different types of fear we face—emotional, spiritual, and imagined—and discover how surrender, focus, and faith help you move through fear with ease. Instead of fighting fear, this episode teaches you how to walk with it—and transform it into clarity, courage, and inner peace.

About Kijuan:

Kijuan Amey, the visionary behind Amey Motivation, hails from Durham, NC, where his journey of resilience and success began. After graduating from Southern High School, he dedicated a decade of his life to the #USAirForce, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant as an In-flight Refueling Specialist.

Medically retired, he transitioned into academia, earning a degree and founding Amey Motivation LLC. Formerly served as the vice president for the Carolina regional group of the Blinded Veterans Association, Kijuan is also a mentor and ambassador for the Air Force Wounded Warriors program.

Beyond his remarkable military career, Kijuan is a man of many talents, boasting over 25 years of drumming expertise, on-stage acting, and now, an upcoming bestseller, “Don’t Focus on Why Me.”

However, life took an unexpected turn on May 5th, 2017, when a motorcycle accident claimed his eyesight. Yet, as Kijuan profoundly states, “I may have lost my sight, but I did not lose my vision.”

Now armed with an inspiring story of #overcomingadversity, Kijuan has become a motivational force, empowering others to reach their #highestpotential. Whether addressing a crowd of 1,500 or engaging in one-on-one sessions, Kijuan is well-equipped for any speaking engagement. He’s not just a speaker; he’s a catalyst for transformation, ready for the task ahead!

Contact him at (919) 641-8150 | kijuan@ameymotivation.com | AmeyMotivation.com

To Book your Free HAPPINESS 101 EXPLORATION CALL with Samia, click: https://my.timetrade.com/book/JX9XJ

#WhyNotMe #FromTraumaToTriumph #ResilienceJourney #LiveUnfiltered #FaithOverFear #SpeakYourTruth #TruthHeals #BreakTheSilence #MentalHealthAwareness #VulnerabilityIsStrength #KeepSeekingHelp #SurvivorSupport #TruthTelling #DontGiveUp #SpiritualHealing #DivinePurpose #PurposeThroughService #ServeWithLove #FaithAndPurpose #LiveToServe #liveyourbestlife

Here's the audio version of this episode:

Full Video Transcript

SAMIA: Hello, Salaam, Shalom, Namaste, Sat Sri Akal, Aloha, Holah, Ciao, Bonjour, Buna, Privet, Mabuhay, and Dzień Dobry! It's really, really good to be with you again. And I know you'll be so happy and excited that you have joined us today, because we have a very special guest with us, and it's actually a returning guest, and that is Kijuan Amey, who is an author and resilience coach and actually so much more. But before we get into all of that, welcome Kijuan…

KIJUAN: Hello. Hola. Bonjour. Guten tag. Hey, I know a couple of them... Konnichiwa. How are you? I'm so happy to be back here with you.

SAMIA: Yes, I'm doing well. I'm doing well. And I'm, like, really looking forward to our conversation right now because we had such a meaningful conversation last time. Mostly we were focusing on learning a little bit more about your background, your history. You've written a book. Don't focus on why Me? From Motorcycle Accident to Miracle. And so a lot of what we were talking about last time is what you share in your book, but we have so much more to talk about. I'm so excited.

KIJUAN: Oh, yeah.

SAMIA: Ah. So Kijuan, you know, one of the things that you were sharing last time that I was like, okay, I really want to dig deeper into with you is this whole concept of, like, fear. And I mean, we did talk about it a little bit last time, but what really struck me when you were talking last time was, wow, you have experienced so many different kinds of fear in your life. Not only experience them, but you face them and learn to deal with them. And there's very few people I know that is true for. So maybe that's something we can pick up on again, if you are okay with that.

KIJUAN: Absolutely.

SAMIA: Awesome. Awesome. Okay. So for those of our listeners who may have not heard the last episode, and by the way, if you haven't heard the last episode, please go back into our archives and check it out. But for right now, would you give us a little recap, Kijuan, on some of the experiences you have had in your life? Particularly, like, when you think about experiences related to fear, what are, like, some of the top memories that come up for you?

KIJUAN: Well, as a child, I would say fear of snakes, fear of guns. So it's actually pretty interesting that I even, you know, it's not that I didn't want to use one. I was afraid of people who had one. You know, I didn't know anything about them because they weren't allowed in my household, where I grew up. I grew up my grandmother, she doesn't play with it. You don't. You can't have that here, you know?

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: The only guns I was allowed to have were right here. So that's why I always worked out, because these are the only guns I was allowed to carry. And then, so, you know, that. Let's see, fear of failure.

SAMIA: Yes.

KIJUAN: And also letting others down.

SAMIA: Ah.

KIJUAN: That was a fear. Then the fear, the unknown. Because, you know, I wanted to go to college, but when I had the admission hiccup that caused me to go to the military before that decision was made, I was like, what the heck do I do now? You know, so there was an unknown moment of what do I do? You know what I mean? There's all these different unknowns when it comes to transition periods, and that's one of them. You know, going from college to potentially high or I mean, going from high school to potentially college to potentially the military workforce, whatever, you know, it was just one of those things, the fear of the entrepreneur world. You know, there was the fear of that I'm taking this leap of faith. Is it gonna work?

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: Are people gonna actually flock to me.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: You know, the fear of the military.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: I didn't know nothing about. I mean, I was told about it, but to actually do it is another thing.

SAMIA: Yes.

KIJUAN: Because I had plenty of family who did it. Trust me, I had plenty of. But now it's my turn.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: And I'm not going in a branch that anybody else has been in.

SAMIA: Right.

KIJUAN: I was the first one to go to the Air Force. And I say first because my youngest brother is now in. And so, you know, that was new. They were like, well, I mean, it is still the military. I was like, yeah, but it's not the Navy, because that's what you guys are talking about. I'm not going to be on the water. Hopefully. The only reason you got to be in the water in the Air Force is if your plane goes down. What? No parts of that. Okay. So that was a fear. Oh. My first deployment in the military. Fear of potentially dying because there was a moment. Well, I thought it was over. I still remember it like it was yesterday. Yeesh. I never, ever, ever flying around on a plane with a bunch of gas and you see a fireball. I've never wanted that to happen in my life. That actually happened, by the way.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: 2012. Oh, yeah. I remember like, it was yesterday. Okay.

SAMIA: Yeah. I'm not surprised.

KIJUAN: Yeah. You know, these are types of fears. And then once again, going back to the fear of the unknown with, like, when I had my accident, I didn't know what to do next.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: But what I didn't do was give up on finding what I needed to do. Figuring this thing out. That's the... See, and that's the biggest part of fear, is now you got to figure out how to overcome it by somehow figuring out the knowledge that overpowers fear.

SAMIA: Yeah. You know, it's so interesting you say that, that you have to figure out how to overcome the fear because that. Actually, I don't think one can take that mindset for granted.

KIJUAN: Yeah.

SAMIA: Because there are so many people, including me. This used to be me. Not anymore, thank God. But it used to be me that I did not think of overcoming my fear. I just gave into it and I let the fear rule my life. You know, in that whatever I was afraid of, I was like, okay, I'm not going there. I'm not going to deal with it. I'm just running away from it.

KIJUAN: Yeah.

SAMIA: And that was me for, like, maybe the. Almost the first two decades of my life. So it's like, for me, I had to go through a really, really, like, down in the pits moment before. I was like, okay, I can no longer run away. I literally have run out of, like, anywhere I can go. There's nowhere else left for me to go, so I have to face it now. So until I hit that moment, I was like, no, I'm not, I'm not dealing with anything that makes me afraid. I'm running away.

KIJUAN: Yeah, yeah. You know, and. And I say this a lot. That's like. That's the easy thing to do, to tuck away and run. You know, and a lot of fear is based off of an anxious moment, anxiety. You know what I have called fear, which is, I put an acronym with it. It's pretty common, but it says false evidence appearing real is what fear is. The false evidence that, you know, "Oh, this is harmful, or oh, this is, you know, scary, or, oh, this is the unknown". It's unknown until you find out about it. It's scary until it's not. You know what I mean?

SAMIA: Yeah, Yeah.

KIJUAN: I tell you. You know what some people consider scary. And I'll give you an example here in a second.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: Is an adrenaline. Is like an adrenaline junkie's dream. So me personally, I don't want to jump out of an airplane if it's flying and it's not on fire. Let me stay inside. Okay.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: So that's what they call skydiving. What decided to make this the actual thing, you know what I mean? Like in God's name did we come up with this. And so anyway, what I'm getting at is that's fearful for somebody like me. I don't want them to do with skydiving, but a skydiving instructor has probably like a thousand jumps or something in their life, and they're just still going a thousand and one, a thousand and two, a thousand, you know, until they can't do it anymore. You know what I mean? And yeah, it's just like I mentioned earlier about snakes.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: I don't like snakes.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: But there are people who handle them.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: You know what I mean? Like that.

SAMIA: Yeah...

KIJUAN: Everything in some way, some shape, some form, especially by a human as other than in the sea, because I haven't seen it yet, has found a way to be either tamed or somehow manipulated into control. Just like an elephant. You know how they control elephants? They control them with other animals. So they'll put them on a plane in like a cage. I don't know if you ever knew this, how to get an elephant from one place to another. They'll put it on a plane in a cage. And so that it's not acting crazy or going rogue, they put little baby chicks all over, all around their feet. Why? Because elephants might be huge, but they're gentle giants. They don't want to crush the baby chicks, so they won't move. Oh, they literally will not move because they don't want to crush one of the baby chicks.

SAMIA: Oh, yeah.

KIJUAN: It's crazy how, first off, how we even come up with that, but secondly, how we've learned to manipulate things in order for them to behave to us. You know what I mean? And so it's a lot that goes into the fear monger of life. You know what I mean? And so...

SAMIA: Okay, okay. So is this team of learning to control things around us. So are you saying that is one of the strategies for dealing with fear is learning how to control the thing that you might be afraid of?

KIJUAN: Yes. For those who can. And I have to say that because there are people with true anxiety issues. You know, it's like, it's just like not gonna happen. They're on, the people who are on medication for anxiety. I'm sorry. Like, it's just hard for you to do that because you're already taking medication for this. Now those like myself who are not, we just have to figure out what is the solution. Say for example. And I don't have a fear of needles, but I do hate pain. So you stabbing me hurts, okay? It does.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: You know, so my goal is to make it so that I put pain somewhere else before you stab me. Well, where do I put it? I usually put it in my fist. That same fish you're about just. Or arm you're about to stab me in for that vein. I put my nails into my palm, which creates the pain point already before you even. And so when you poke me, I'm like, oh, that wasn't bad because I hurt myself before you did.

SAMIA: Okay, okay.

KIJUAN: So it's like... Have you ever seen, I don't know, have you ever seen the movie Major Pain?

SAMIA: No.

KIJUAN: Oh my gosh. It's back in the 90s, I think. It's such a, it's so funny, such a funny movie. But it's about a marine played by Damon Wayans. He's a comedic actor and it's played by him. He's a major in the Marines. And I mean a killing machine. Okay. He was back in Vietnam. I think he was basing it off of the Vietnam era.

SAMIA: Uh huh.

KIJUAN: And he gets this, I guess you say discharged because there's no more war at this point. So like, well, Major, you didn't make lieutenant colonel, so... And we don't need you to kill anybody right now because you've killed everyone. You know what I mean? So yeah, he's like, you mean there's no more room for a war fighting man like myself, you know, and he's like...

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: Yeah, no, I'm sorry Major. And so they have to discharge him. They said, but we did find you another. Well, after he gets in trouble in the civilian world, he gets in trouble because he tries to be a police officer. And when you're in the military, especially like legit war fighting, that was like real stuff back then, you know, where you thought everybody was out to get you kind of thing. And so when he does this training for, you know, trying to get the job for the police officer position, they give him a scenario, there's a man and a woman which are, you know, husband and wife or whatever. And he is the officer, you know, reporting to the scene of the crime where basically it's domestic violence. And so he's like, ready, action, right?

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: And so the lady starts crying. Oh, he hit me. He hit me. She's crying in the corner. He hit me. And she's pointing to the guy and he's like, you like to hit women? Do you ever hit a woman again? You hear me? Do you? Do you? He gets locked up, and the guy who discharges, he's like, I'm sorry, General, it was a civilian life. And he was like, it's only been a week. He's like, I'm sorry, General, it's only been. It's civilian life, sir. And then he was like, well, major, I found you a new assignment. Might not be war fighting, but at least you'll be back in uniform, you know?

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: And so he's at a military academy for children to a military preparatory school for children. And what I'm getting at here is he crazy, okay? That's the biggest thing. He's crazy. But he tries to show this kid that's running from one of the youth, one of the counselors, he's running away from running the counselors who's supposed to be taking him to get his shots. So just like I was just telling you about, you know, getting blood drawn or getting a shot, you know, whatever, he doesn't want to get his shot. And he runs into Major Payne because he was standing in the hallway. And then he's like, running, and then he run into Major Payne's leg and falls over. And he's like, I love this scene. He just bends down. He doesn't even take a step. He just bends over. He said, what you running from, boy? She's trying to give me a shot. You afraid of needles? Uh huh. And he's like, shake his head, huh. Want me to show you a trick to take your mind off the pain? He said, uh huh... He said, let me hold your finger. He was gonna break his finger.

SAMIA: Oh, no...

KIJUAN: And the reason I know he was gonna break his finger is because he did it in the opening credits to one of the guys that had got shot in the war. A guy had got shot in the war. He said, oh, my arm. Yeah, he's screwed. He's like, you want me show you something to take your mind out the pain? He's like, let me see your finger. He said, now you might feel a little pressure, okay? And I'm gonna say he crave. Broke his finger. He's like, ah, my finger, my finger. He said, works every time. But what I'm getting at is how. How he transfers the pain from one thing. That's already feeling painful to another thing, and you just forget all about the other things, you know? That's just what I mean by that.

SAMIA: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there's different strategies that we could use, and depending on what the particular kind of fear you have, maybe it's like, transferring the pain or in other words, in some other scenario and maybe about, like, more broadly speaking, like, shifting your focus.

KIJUAN: Distraction.

SAMIA: Yeah, yeah. Some kind of distractions and kind of shifting of focus and are learning to somehow control the object that's producing fear. Okay, okay... And what happens, though, when it's something less tangible, you know, like the fear of the unknown, let's say, or the fear of death? Because, like, that's... I mean, I guess a sort of, like, distraction strategy might still work in that context.

KIJUAN: Well, you know, what creates that. What creates the fear of death? Usually something you've heard or seen. I'm gonna give you an example. A movie that you saw somebody die in.

SAMIA: Okay.

KIJUAN: Somebody told you about something they witnessed. Now what do you do? Your mind has an ability to recreate or reimagine things that are like that.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: So that's where a lot of that stuff stems from. That's why I don't watch those types of movies. I don't watch scary movies because I want to hear a sound and be able to say, oh, that's just the tree brushing up against the wind or against the window. Not somebody knocking on my window, because that's what I heard in a movie. You know what I'm saying? Like, the same sound, which is just a tree, could be the same. It could sound just like somebody messing with your window. You'd be like, oh, no, somebody's outside, call 911. Like, you know what I mean? And all it was, you need to cut the limp. That's it. You just need to trim the tree.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: I mean, and so it's all the in concept and context of what is going on in your mind.

SAMIA: Yeah, yeah. No, that makes sense. I mean, like, personally, for me, the fear of death is something that I really felt are understood as much. And like, for sure, it comes from, you know, the perspective that I've been raised with around that, which is a more religious, spiritual perspective of, you know, seeing death as, you know, returning to our creator. And, you know, to... And not just that, oh, you're returning to your creator, but knowing that the creator is a loving, you know, entity, a loving being. And so returning to my creator is a really great thing. It's like a really awesome thing because I'm basically going. And basically, it's like I'm melting into an ocean of love. And it's like a wonderful, wonderful thing. So, like, I've never really felt afraid of the idea of death. In fact, it was like for me, because that was my idea of death. Like, when I was really traumatized and unhappy, I'd be like, why am I alive? I wish I would just die. And, like, then I think my suffering will end. And so it was actually... Yeah, yeah, it is. So you are right that it is a matter of perspective. Like, and we learn that perspective from somewhere.

KIJUAN: And that's why I tell people, you got to be careful what you allow in. Allow into your soul, your spirit.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: You know, because that stuff plays a part in, first off, how you think, the things you do, how you react to these things, how you respond to it. I'm a Christian, so I heard the... I heard the quote once before, and it sticks with me all the time. It says, everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.

SAMIA: Oh...

KIJUAN: And I heard that thing, and I said, wow. I said, that's crazy, because it's true. You know, when I hear people talk about soon as. You know, it ain't even talking about it. Soon as you mention something as simple on this earth as life insurance or death benefits? Oh, no, I don't want to talk about that. I'm not planning my will. What... Why would I do that? Because it helps. What are we talking about here? You know, and people don't realize there are two things that happen in life. Okay.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: You're born and you die. Okay. Those are two things that are gonna happen because you can't get here without being born.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: And right now, until something changes, you have to die in order to leave. So, you know, it's just like, why wouldn't you plan for births? We plan births. We go to those prenatal visits. We take prenatal, you know, supplements or whatever you want to call it, hormonal supplements. You feed your body correctly. You go to the classes, the Lamaze classes. You go to all of the doctor's appointments for it. You get all of the clothing, the baby showers, all of this stuff for the birth. You plan like there's no tomorrow, but you don't want to plan for your death. We all have to go through it...

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: You know what I mean? So.

SAMIA: Yeah. So true.

KIJUAN: Interesting. Interesting thought, right?

SAMIA: Yeah. This whole idea, though this, I think this thing will stay stuck in my mind, too. This idea of you. Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die. I mean, there is I mean, I guess part of it is like the again, like the meaning that you give to. Man... I mean, I guess in the religious context, in the Islamic and Christian traditions, I guess part of the, has a fear around that maybe that there's not just heaven, the concept of heaven, but there's also the concept of hell. And maybe not everyone feels so confident that they're going to end up in heaven.

KIJUAN: Yeah, no, I now…. So here's the part that I'm trying to get. So everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. What I'm getting at with that is if you are, you know, doing what you're supposed to do, if you understand how this thing works.

SAMIA: Mm.

KIJUAN: Well, what are you afraid of?

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: Why are you not okay with that mindset? Why are you not comfortable with the concept? I get you don't want to leave your family behind. I get that. But we're not supposed. This lifestyle is temporary. We should. We're supposed to be seeking eternally, eternal life. We're not seeking to stay here. That day is over. When Adam and Eve screwed that up. That's over. That was when that was happening. It's over. Done. We're done with that. You know what I mean? And so now that we're past that, this is temporary. Yeah, we're supposed to keep moving forward for eternity.

SAMIA: I think that's actually where the people lose perspective also. And then you get into this whole fear of death thing, is that you lose perspective on the fact that this life is meant to be temporary. And you get so attached to this human life experience that you're like, no, I don't want to give it up. You know? And so this, like, losing focus from the deeper truth, the deeper reality. I mean, that's probably one of the biggest challenges that we as human beings feel like. I mean. Sorry. That we face when it comes to dealing with, like, what causes so much anxiety in our lives, but also, like, failure. You know, like, when we fail to achieve different goals that we have. For example, or if you set yourself up for a mission and you fail to achieve it, a lot of times it's because you allow yourself to get distracted, you know, and you just lose your focus from moving forward towards that goal, towards that mission, and so then you get derailed.

KIJUAN: For sure.

SAMIA: It reminds me of one of the prayers in the Quran, actually. That is, it's like a prayer for help. It's structured as a prayer for help. And there's like a couple of things that it highlights in terms of challenges that we have to overcome in order to be successful with receiving the help and, you know, overcoming whatever our challenges. And actually this is one of the challenges is like, no, it's like, don't deviate, don't lose focus.

KIJUAN: Yeah.

SAMIA: And then the other challenge the prayer highlights is, you know, like, when you let your desires sort of dominate in terms of like, you're like, oh, I know what the right thing to do is, but I'm not going to do it because I have a desire for this other thing that I know is not so good, that maybe because it's going to harm me or harm other people, but I'm going to ignore that, and I'm just going to go for the desire that I have. And so like, that's another big problem is that we like literally ignore the, our own wisdom. We ignore the better knowledge that we have and we like really just allow ourselves to be driven by the baser desires.

KIJUAN: Yeah, it's an unfortunate thing to think about. I say it's unfortunate because, I mean, even I don't know how it reads for you guys in the Quran, but for us in the Bible, it says, you know, trust in God and it also says, lean not to your own understanding in all thy ways, acknowledge him and he'll direct our path. You know, so if we do that, that should be our forefront. Like that should be the main thing you focus on.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: If you just, you know, give him everything, what do you have to worry about? Because he's going to show you the guide. He's going to guide your footsteps.

SAMIA: Yes.

KIJUAN: And that's the biggest thing we're looking for is for guidance. If you're not seeking guidance, what, you're led astray.

SAMIA: Yes.

KIJUAN: So that is. We already know how that can go. That's a scene of destruction all day long. We already know that. And so that's kind of like how. Sheesh. How things are right now.

SAMIA: Yeah. So talking about, you know, just kind of. I'm going to use the word surrender. So like surrendering our worries, our cares, our fears that we have to God to God's guidance. What, how does that idea play into your life? Since you mentioned, you know, this aspect of your faith.

KIJUAN: You just mean like just surrendering. Like what, what exactly.

SAMIA: You see the like, like what? Like if you're afraid of something, let's say we go back to the theme of dealing with our fears and then there's, you know, all of these different, on the one hand, there are all these different strategies that we can try to learn and utilize. Like, or redirecting the pain or our attention to something else or learning to somehow control the object that's creating the fear, etc. But all of that sort of like is depending on me, right? Like it's depending on me, depending on myself to learn these things, to do these or implement these strategies and so forth. And I mean that's certainly one approach. And like from a place of faith, like the teachings of, in the Bible, from what you were just sharing, but also like teachings in the Quran. Really if you look at the essence of what the teachings are from like this kind of faith perspective, it's like, oh no, you don't have to depend on yourself. In fact, that's a very... Like, if you're depending on yourself to solve your own problems, etc. You're actually always going to be very limited in terms of the results you're able to achieve of, you know, and it's because we are limited, you know, as beings and we have so many constraints and stuff. So the better, wiser approach is to just, rather than depending on yourself, you depend on God, you surrender. So in the, in that context of depending on God, it's like, oh, you just surrender. Anything that makes you anxious stresses you out, it makes you feel afraid. You say, okay, I'm going to surrender this to God's care and to God's guidance and then that God take care of me, like God take care of whatever this, this problem is. And I was just wondering if you have ever experienced that or practiced that and if, if you have what that has looked or felt like for you.

KIJUAN: Well, I mean when it comes to surrendering fear, first off, I think of the Bible when it says God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of a sound mind and you know, basically good judgment. But we have to realize that we're not supposed to be afraid of anything except for God. Because in God he's created everything.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: Heavens and earth. So why are we afraid of these things if he created it?

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: Only thing we should be afraid of is Him. Because he's a creator.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: You know, he's the creator of all things. On this work, in this universe, in this world, you know, and so when, you know, it's so amazing, Godly kind of thing. Because when I sit here and I think about, like us as humans, we're very, you know, you know, curious. I'll say that. We're very curious.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: Very explorative. So we like to go explore and do these things. We still haven't even covered it all.

SAMIA: Yeah

KIJUAN: We still have not even uncovered it all. And there are billions of people on this world. We're nowhere near figuring out the entire ocean. Nowhere near it. We've been here for a long time. Just think about that. And they're trying to go to a whole nother planet. Why? We haven't even figured out everything here.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: I think about these things and I'm just like, why God made it for us to be able to survive here. But you're trying to go somewhere where we can't. It makes sense. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, it does not make any sense.

SAMIA: Yeah, well, I mean, I believe part of the logic that is motivating some of the, that research or attempts to go live on another planet is the realization of how we have messed up this one. And you know, having the... I mean, and that we in some ways may have done irreparable harm and we may be moving. Not that we may be moving. We are literally moving ourselves on a path where we're making this planet unlovable for ourselves and every other living thing. I mean, like, literally, we are... I mean, the scientists have been warning us for decades at this point that, hey, if you don't significantly change our behaviors, we don't drastically reduce our use of, you know, like oil, gas, petrol, whatever, you know, these kinds of substances, like we're literally destroying the earth and making it unlivable for ourselves. And they keep like telling us, okay, it's this many decades away, this many decades away. Now it's like 2030 is our deadline and we are nowhere near making the changes that we need to make in order to meet that deadline of... Not like it's not like we're going to be able to reverse the harm that we have already created, but to contain it in a level that, you know, we could still manage it to some extent, but it's like we're just blowing past all of that and headed in a direction where, I mean, we are going to not have enough clean water to drink. The weather is going to get more and More extreme and difficult for us to survive. You know, the we don't know if we'll be able to produce enough food. You know, we're like killing all the fish in the sea and it's very likely that, you know, all the fish might die, you know, like that kind of thing. And so we're like literally creating unlivable conditions for ourselves. And it's all very predictable that this is where we are headed. And we're still not as a people able to reverse or change course. And instead, you know, some people who have the capacity to dream and imagine being in a different place, a different planet and starting life there, they're like expending their resources to try and make that solution happen.

KIJUAN: I mean, again, that sounds cool, but guess what happens when you get to these other planets? We won't be able to walk around or look like this. We'll have to walk around in a bubble.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: I don't care for a bubble. I was created to live on this planet.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: Not somewhere else. So why not put all of these billions upon billions of dollars that they keep wasting, blowing up rockets that are not even making it off the launch pad into figuring out how we can try to salvage what we have.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: Because there's always a way to re verse something. Reverse engineer something. I wanted to be an engineer. They always tried to figure out how to reverse engineer something.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: So if I can say, okay, there's a ice cap still here, how do I get this thing to, to just start grabbing more water and creating it into ice?

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: How do I keep it that way?

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: How do I go to Antarctica and say, how did this thing stay like this?

SAMIA: Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, that's the thing. I get what you mean. And that's this, that's the irony of the situation, Kijuan, though, that we already have the solutions. It's not like we have to figure out what we need to do to make things better. We already know what needs to be done or could be done to make things better. But the will to actually do it has not been there. It's still missing. I mean, I think in some ways people are starting to become a little bit more aware, a little bit more conscious, like some of the. But the vast majority of people in the world are still living in a way where they're not really conscious of the environmental impact that they're having and what we need to do to be more responsible and not just. And the thing is that individually, whatever we can and cannot do. Of course that's important. And every person should make every effort that they can at an individual level to lead a more sustainable life. But the data clearly shows that the vast majority of the harm that's actually happening, it's not. Not because of individual actions. It's happening at industrial levels. At industrial scale, you know. And so really what we need is like massive change at the levels of these systems and how the different industries operate. You know, like one of the big, like fossil fuel industry. Like, we just need to stop drilling from new, new oil and gas and stuff and just shift to renewables. If they're going to continue to even depend on electricity and using electricity, we just have to just stop drilling new oil and stuff. Because the research has clearly shown that if you are to use all of these oil and gas resources that the Earth actually contains, we like, there's no way you can actually use it all up and still keep Earth a livable place. You just can't. So you just have to stop. You just have to realize that, I mean, as much as we have already used it has created so much harm and so much damage and there's no way, there's no way you can use up what the remains of what we have without like utterly destroying the planet. And so it's just like, stop. Come on, just stop it. But it's like, you know, you're still hearing these stupid debates, you know, in our Congress and so forth, where they're like, oh, but jobs. Oh, see, if you shut down the, if we shut down the drilling of more oil and gas stuff, oh, we lose all these jobs. But I mean, come on, it's like...

KIJUAN: Trust me, that ain't, that ain't the word. Jobs is not the word that they're wanting to say. It's money. We'll lose all this money.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: As long as any of this stuff is tied to a dollar, they're going to keep doing it. And that's the problem, because oil is one of the most richest things you can, you could be a part of. There are whole countries like, for example, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, those Middle Eastern countries. Those countries are so wealthy because of the oil that they own. That's why, that's the only reason they don't have nothing else out there just because of the oil that they own.

SAMIA: It's like, what's really the value of that wealth when the utilizing of it is like literally destroying the planet, literally destroying our futures? I mean, you and I will, if you're lucky, and we get to live another 30, 40 years. You know, we'll, we are already experiencing impacts of climate change that are harsh. I mean, just like the fires that we had earlier in the year in Los Angeles, which are said to be like the worst wildfires LA has experienced, you know that. So we are already experiencing these impacts and they're only going to get worse over the next so many years and decades. But it's like right now I have little nieces and nephews. What about them? When they're my age? Oh my gosh, what are they going to be having to deal with and the generations after them? It's just crazy. Like, what are we doing? What are we leaving for our future generations? Do we not care about them? Are we not scared for them, for their future? I mean, we've been talking about so many different fears that we as humans deal with. And I know that people are concerned about leaving legacies. People are afraid of just being forgotten. People are afraid of like ceasing to exist. And so people want to have children so they can leave legacies of something of them left behind so that they, you know, could see, like, oh, we're going to live on through our children after our own death and so forth. So I mean, it seems like on the one hand, you know, people care and have some fear in the context of, you know, wanting to make sure that we preserve the future for our children. But on the other hand, here we are, you know, like literally destroying the planet and making it unlivable for them at the same time. And so it's just a little bit mind boggling for me how, you know, this is happening and we're allowing it to happen.

KIJUAN: Yeah, I mean, only people who really, truly give a real care about this are the people that it's affecting and not profiting off of it. You know, if there's some way they're profiting, they don't really care, man. Like, and that's what I was getting it. Like, if they're making money off this, they don't care. Like, hey man, whatever, if it happens, it happens. Who cares, you know, and that's literally how it goes because all they're going to do is... And this is what I was thinking about earlier in regards to, like, why we would even try to go to another, you know, planet or something, create some kind of space living habitat, whatever you want to call it. Think about this. I'm pretty sure, you know, people like this, that buy either a new car every two, three years, they're changing out cars. It's because we've grown into this whole situation, modern living situation, of we can't keep nothing. Like, we just got to have the next, newest, next best. Why? You don't want to take care of what you have. That's the reason why as soon as a problem persists, not 1, not 2, not 3, not 7, not 8, not 13... No, just as soon as one problem persists, you're like, oh, I got to get rid of this thing. It's going to cause me problems. That's how I view this now.

SAMIA: Yeah, it's actually sort of like what I was saying. Like my mindset that used to be of just wanting to run away and not deal with, like, my fears. So it's like any problem that you face of, oh, this broke down, or this is having this issue, rather than being like, okay, how can we repair? How can we rebuild? How can we reuse? It's like, no, just discard and run away. Get the new thing, the better, the more advanced technology and just, you know. So like, you know, using that as a strategy to deal with whatever challenges that you have, it's like just... It's a form of running away. So how do we. I mean, so it seems like that is like a huge mindset thing where, you know, it's like, I mean, running away is like a strategy that people use in so many different contexts for dealing with problems and challenges in, in their life. But you're saying you started out by sharing with us that. No, what you, what you have done and practiced in your life, you want, especially in the context of dealing with your fears, is that. No, it's like, learn how to deal with it, learn how to face it, learn how to manage it. I mean, but I mean, like, did you always have that mindset or did, like, how did you learn that mindset? How did you come to value that mindset or have you just been one of those blessed people that have always had that perspective?

KIJUAN: It's kind of one of those. You gotta mature into it. So in my book, don't focus on why Me? There's a chapter in there called Embrace and Confront the Issue. There's a chapter in it. And I wrote that chapter because I kept trying to run from the issue of which was my eyesight, the fact that I lost it. And with me running from it, it wasn't helping because I wasn't finding ways to deal with it. I Wasn't finding ways to learn how to navigate this new life that I am now a part of. I wasn't getting better at what it would take for me to be dependent upon myself. Just me. Now, when it comes to being independent, yes, I am independent, but can I also. Depend on me. That's the key right there. You can be independent, but can you depend on yourself to do what you need to do to get things done.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: You know what I mean? So I had to learn these things, though. It. It came with the territory again of those unknowns, you know, the uncharted territories that I had not yet seen.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: And hadn't yet walked along the path. But when I tell you that it. It was like, let's see, the best way to put it. I take things as a challenge. I take things on as a challenge. The drums, the keyboard, writing the book, competing in adaptive sports, downhill skiing without sight. I take it on as a challenge. Let's do it.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: This is what we. Let's do it. If I was a part of this, like, if I could. If I could do a speaking engagement in front of the climate. The world's climate control committee. I just made that up, by the way. I would speak to them and say, let's make this a challenge. How will we fix this? How do we reverse engineer this? This. How do we get Earth back to being Earth?

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: Versus evolving into almost pushing us out of it.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: You know what I mean? And so that would be something I would be up for. What's the challenge? Y' all need to take this on as a challenge and to see if y' all can be successful in it.

SAMIA: Yeah. Yeah. I like that. I like that. You know, and that's also like, a whole mindset that you're so right. It's like when you say, okay, let's take it on in the challenge, you're actually sort of like. It actually kind of, like, makes it, like, a fun thing.

KIJUAN: Yeah. Exactly.

SAMIA: It's like figuring out, like, when you're playing a really challenging game and, like, you know, you go through all kinds of difficulties and you fail, but you keep going because it's like, part of the challenge. It's like part of fun, you know? Like, the challenge is experiencing that challenge, figuring it out, learning to master it. It's all, like, part of the fun.

KIJUAN: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, it's just me, like, my mind tells me things where I just sit back and I'm like. And this is what I was trying to say to you earlier, before we started recording, I read so much.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: Like, my brain is full of different topics, first and foremost, but things to say about these topics because I've read about them and I'm like, well, I wouldn't have done, I wouldn't have done it like that. You know, like what I would have done, you know, and it's not to say that it's necessarily done wrong, but it's to say that there are more ways to do one thing.

SAMIA: Yeah. Yeah.

KIJUAN: And so when you have. And this is where my mindset of being an innovative and an engineer type thing kicks in. It says, well, there might be two, three, four, five people on a team working for one cause, but if we come together as one, it makes us all better.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: It doesn't. It doesn't destroy or dilute the task that we completed. It actually made us complete it either faster or in a way that can't be torn apart.

SAMIA: Yeah.

KIJUAN: You know what I mean? Why do I say it like that? Most things that are created had a team. It wasn't just one person. I had asked one of my friends. This was back In, I think, 2017, not too long after my accident. No, it was at 2018. So not too long after my accident, I was at his house and he got a little, little, you know, smart with me and because, because I understand his position and how he had been working in this field for a long time and, you know, technology and all these things were his niche. I said, oh, that's cool. I said, man, that's pretty cool. You got, that's a nice bluetooth speaker you got there. Who made it? And you know, it's made by so. And so I said, okay, I wonder who. And then I said, I wonder who all helped make Bluetooth? And he was like, it was one person. What are you talking about? I said, no, I'm sure it wasn't. I'm sure it was a team. He's like, no, it was one person. And he was like. And I said, okay, well, look it up and tell me who did it, since it was only one person. And then he looks it up and he got really, really quiet. Why did he get really quiet? Because he found out that it took five people to come up with Bluetooth, not one. It's never usually just one. It's usually a team of people working together.

SAMIA: Yeah. And in this analogy, Bluetooth is an application of so many other technologies that, you know, like, if those hadn't existed Prior, someone else had not worked on, not just someone, but many, many someone hadn't worked to establish those technologies from, you know, the Internet to going even more basic to electricity, to going even more basic to, you know, like... And so we have been like, literally building upon each other's learning and so forth. So it's like, truly, I mean, there are stories of, like, people who have survived as the only human somewhere or the other, but even then, you know, you're you, even if you were the only human somewhere, you're still depending on nature, on God having created this and that in order to survive there. Like, you can't make your own food. And, you know, you have to. First there has to be like, something growing out of the earth or some animal that, you know, God has created and so forth that you can then use to eat. And same thing with, like, you need clothing. You literally. You can't make your own clothing. You need resources that, you know you're taking from the earth or borrowing from some other person and so on and so forth. It's like literally the you, like what can we do that's just depending on us? I mean, we can't even breathe without depending on, you know, having access to clean air created by God.

KIJUAN: Yep. You breathe breath into our lungs.
SAMIA: Yeah.
KIJUAN: You know, I was thinking about when you said something about the garden and having food and stuff like that. Think about the story of Adam and Eve. Adam before even he was even there. I don't know if you. How much you know about this story, but before evil Eve was even there, that garden was there before Adam was even there.
SAMIA: Yeah. Yeah.
KIJUAN: Adam was created to take care of the garden because it was already there. He didn't plant it.
SAMIA: Yeah.
KIJUAN: He was there to take care of it.
SAMIA: Yeah.
KIJUAN: And then. Which gave him a responsibility.
SAMIA: Yeah.
KIJUAN: So when Adam said, Lord, I need help. This is a lot for me, that's when Eve comes in. Well, Adam, let me go ahead and take a nap real quick. I'm gonna get you some help. He ain't know where the help was coming from. He didn't know the rib was coming out of him. He just knew that he was going to get some help when he woke up and there came Eve and, you know, here's your help, mate. Not for you to tell what to do, to push her around to do. She's going to help you like you asked.
SAMIA: Yeah.
KIJUAN: She will help in the garden.
SAMIA: Yeah.
KIJUAN: And that is not just a beautiful story about responsibility, but It's a beautiful story about help. We all need help in some way, shape or form.
SAMIA: Yeah.
KIJUAN: You know what I mean? And when you feel like you don't, that's when you start to run into problems. Because some, I mean, yes, you can fail, but I would rather say you run into problems that are either going to push your timeline back, your deadline back, your productivity back. It's going to do something to make things feel hard.
SAMIA: Yeah.
KIJUAN: You know, and. Oh, man, I heard this the other day. Somebody was talking about feeling overwhelmed. It was like, there's no such thing as feeling overwhelmed. There's a thing of thinking too far ahead, which makes you feel overwhelmed. There's no such thing as overwhelmed. You have to do things one step at a time. But if you're on step one, stop thinking about step 10. I need you to focus on getting one completed so you can get to two.
SAMIA: Yeah.
KIJUAN: Get two completed so you can get to three, get three completed so you can get to four, so on and so forth that you end up at 10.
SAMIA: Yeah.
KIJUAN: Because if you always at 1, thinking about 10, how do you get to 2, 3, 4, 5, and continuing on, how do you get there? That's a huge gap in between. That's where the overwhelming part comes in, because there's a huge gap in between, you know, and when I heard that, I was like, that is so powerful. And then the other thing she said was, stop saying try. It's either you're doing it or you're not. That's it. There's no I'm gonna try. No, you're either doing it or you're not. Because that's an active thing.
SAMIA: Yeah.
KIJUAN: You know, and so I use that for try. And I also use a quote that I heard from a elderly lady. She says using the word try leaves room for failure.
SAMIA: Okay.
KIJUAN: Yeah. I told you, I do a lot.
SAMIA: Oh, gosh. Okay. You keep bringing up things that I want to keep talking about, and I'm like, oh, gosh, once again, I have to force myself to stop.
KIJUAN: No worries. No worries...
SAMIA: Do you have any last thoughts for right now?
KIJUAN: I mean, I'll just say, man. For all my people listening, I'm gonna say this. And I'm kind of speaking to myself when I say it as well, but I'm sure you guys can take some things from it, but we just have to literally slow down. We're moving too fast in life. Why do I say that? We've sped up to this fast food thinking of a mentality. And when you want something so fast that you put it this way, if you ever go through a drive thru, you order some. As soon as you get to the window, you just want them to throw the bag out the window. That's a problem. Why do I say that's a problem? Because it wasn't carefully made for you. I would prefer to go sit at it. Sit down. Not in a fast food restaurant, but in a an eat in, dine in type of restaurant than to go to a fast food restaurant. Why? Because the restaurant that I'm sitting down and eating in, they're taking time to prepare my meal.
SAMIA: Yeah.
KIJUAN: Not just dumping it in some hot grease and throwing it out the window. Think about that for a second. Dumping it in some hot grease and throwing it out the window. So to hurry up and get you away from me and I can take your money versus me taking my time in a kitchen to make, give you the best product we got because you still sitting there while you're eating. So you can take, you can send it back. You can be mad, you can say I don't like this place. You, you could ask for the manager. That's way more pressure than you just coming through a drive thru. We have to slow down is all. I'm getting it.
SAMIA: Yeah.
KIJUAN: So yeah, I'll leave you with that.
SAMIA: Oh, thank you, Kijuan. Thank you so much. And for my last reminder, I need to just say please make sure you check the show notes because we will be dropping key one links in there so you can check them out, connect with them, get his book, it's really cool. And get the help and support you need whenever you're ready for it. And until we connect next time, I wish you luck and lots of peace and joy... :)