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When life throws a curveball, some duck, others catch it and toss it right back. That's Melanie Brown for you, a beacon of hope who turned her neurological battles into powerful narratives of resilience. Throughout our heartwarming conversation, Melanie opens up about her childhood stroke and the rare brain condition Moyamoya. Her story isn't just about survival; it's a melody of joy found in nature, puzzle-solving, and grooving to the nostalgic rhythms of 80s music. She'll have you chuckling with anecdotes from her life, showcasing an infectious positivity that's nothing short of uplifting.

Melanie is no stranger to adversity, and she's become an expert at using it as a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block. From the painstaking recovery of motor skills to embracing sports for rehabilitation, her journey is a masterclass in turning challenges into triumphs. The support system of family shines through as Melanie recounts the encouragement she received, fostering a spirit of independence and determination. As a motivational speaker and author, she extends a hand to all, guiding others through the winding roads of their own personal challenges with charm and wisdom.

Strap in for an episode that's equal parts inspiring and grounding, as we navigate the struggles that refine us. Melanie doesn't just share her story; she equips us with the tools for our own battles—faith, perseverance, and a positive outlook. She paints trials as preparation for our heavenly roles, blending life advice with spiritual insight. This is more than a podcast; it's a compass pointing towards purpose and contribution, both in this life and the next. Join us and let Melanie Brown's radiant spirit encourage you to face your struggles head-on, with humor, grace, and an eye on the eternal prizes awaiting us.

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00:00 - Melanie Brown Overcomes Neurological Struggles

14:33 - Overcoming Challenges and Inspiring Others

26:12 - Overcoming Challenges

36:43 - Staying Strong in Faith and Perseverance

WEBVTT

00:00:15.009 --> 00:00:20.402
Hello everyone, thanks again for joining me on the episode of the Dorsua Show.

00:00:20.402 --> 00:00:39.804
Today we have Melanie Brown, who is fighting to overcome life's tough challenges, and thriving isn't just the message she shares in her writing and speaking on the Challenges Won't Stop Me podcast.

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It's the message she lived all her life.

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Decades of neurological struggles and brain injury tried to stop her, but she chose to keep moving forward and pursue all God's land for her.

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Spending time in nature, solving rigor puzzles and enjoying the 80s in music her husband's band plays are her favorite activities.

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Her greatest blessings are 30 wonderful years of marriage, two chefs, two amazing adult sons, a beautiful daughter-in-law and a cuddly Labradoodle.

00:01:23.712 --> 00:01:27.842
Melanie, thank you so much for coming on the show today.

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I'm excited to spend some time with you, dorsey, absolutely.

00:01:32.491 --> 00:01:41.639
Usually I like to open up with a sort of easy icebreaker question and what's your favorite funny story to tell?

00:01:43.231 --> 00:01:44.717
Funny story to tell.

00:01:44.717 --> 00:01:50.862
Well, I will say that it actually goes along with one of my challenges.

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Almost three years ago, this Thanksgiving, I had to have emergency surgery because my colon flipped upside down.

00:02:01.344 --> 00:02:03.950
Now it's a rare thing.

00:02:03.950 --> 00:02:06.055
I didn't do anything to cause it.

00:02:06.055 --> 00:02:10.443
They don't know why it happens, but nonetheless it did.

00:02:10.443 --> 00:02:14.675
I had to have surgery and fast forward.

00:02:14.675 --> 00:02:19.002
About six months later I go to my regular dentist checkup.

00:02:19.002 --> 00:02:29.776
I'm explaining to him because as part of getting ready for your dental cleaning, you have to update your health records, right, and I'm telling the dentist about it.

00:02:29.776 --> 00:02:35.554
So I'm telling my dentist the story about what happened, crazy as it was.

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And I said and they took half of my colon and just like that, dorsey, he says oh, so now you're a semicolon.

00:02:45.052 --> 00:02:55.572
I'm like, yeah, you're 100% right, I had not thought of it like that.

00:02:55.572 --> 00:03:00.442
So I use that as my funny story all the time.

00:03:00.442 --> 00:03:05.060
Yeah, and I give him credit because I wasn't the one that came up with the semicolon.

00:03:05.180 --> 00:03:05.782
It was Dr.

00:03:05.842 --> 00:03:06.062
Cole.

00:03:06.811 --> 00:03:13.081
Tell us a little bit more about you know before we talk about your book and you know about your writing.

00:03:13.081 --> 00:03:15.925
Tell us a little bit more about your story.

00:03:17.031 --> 00:03:18.955
Sure, absolutely Well.

00:03:18.955 --> 00:03:31.810
My story starts at age two, when I had a stroke that paralyzed the left side of my body, and in 1972, I'm revealing my age I was two, so I'm 53 years old.

00:03:31.810 --> 00:03:40.625
They didn't know in 1972 why a two-year-old would be having a stroke Like that, just wasn't normal.

00:03:40.625 --> 00:03:55.795
The normal box for people who had strokes were people who were 65 years or older, who maybe were obese, they smoked, they drank alcohol, they were not healthy.

00:03:55.795 --> 00:04:07.521
That just didn't fit me at all, and so they didn't know what to tell my parents, except we're sorry, and here's some baby aspirin and physical therapy.

00:04:07.521 --> 00:04:10.230
Good luck, right.

00:04:10.230 --> 00:04:12.614
And so my parents.

00:04:12.614 --> 00:04:23.192
I'm just so blessed that I was given those parents, because when they got home, of course it was overwhelming how did this happen?

00:04:23.192 --> 00:04:25.075
What do we do that kind of thing?

00:04:25.075 --> 00:04:29.451
But my parents said this stinks, what happened to her?

00:04:29.451 --> 00:04:40.543
But we're not going to let it stop her from being a kid who does all the things that kids do, at least try them, and we're not going to let it define her.

00:04:40.543 --> 00:04:45.701
And so I lived my childhood very much like any other kid.

00:04:45.701 --> 00:04:51.555
I had to learn how to ride a bike, which took me quite a bit longer, because the stroke caused balance issues.

00:04:51.555 --> 00:05:02.709
I had to do all the sports because my dad was a sports enthusiast, still is, and it's not as much that I had to do it.

00:05:02.709 --> 00:05:08.021
They wanted me to do it to get the full childhood experience.

00:05:08.021 --> 00:05:12.336
But the blessing that came out of that is that it strengthened my left side.

00:05:12.336 --> 00:05:16.334
Now did it make it back up to normal as my right side?

00:05:16.334 --> 00:05:20.442
Nope, still not normal, but it helped me significantly.

00:05:21.069 --> 00:05:29.939
So now we fast forward to my late 20s and I start having migraines, which are also a neurological incident.

00:05:29.939 --> 00:05:38.237
It's not a stroke, but it's a neurological incident, and that lasted for about 10 years and they were debilitating.

00:05:38.237 --> 00:05:49.632
It wasn't once every 90 days or once a year or anything like that, it was two or three a week and debilitating in that many times I couldn't go to work.

00:05:49.632 --> 00:05:54.763
Many times I spent several days in the bed because they were just so awful.

00:05:54.763 --> 00:06:04.035
Again, no explanation for why this is happening, except I'm asking the question are these related?

00:06:04.035 --> 00:06:08.038
Because stroke is neurological, migraines are neurological.

00:06:08.038 --> 00:06:09.819
Are they related?

00:06:09.819 --> 00:06:18.223
And my doctors kept saying no's not a stroke of bad luck.

00:06:18.223 --> 00:06:24.888
I know I'm not a medical professional, but I know my body and I and I know that this just doesn't make sense.

00:06:24.888 --> 00:06:38.401
So finally got the migraines under control so that they weren't completely wrecking my life, and at about age 40, I started having many strokes.

00:06:38.401 --> 00:06:40.872
Well, again, neurological.

00:06:41.213 --> 00:06:51.586
So again I'm approaching my neurologist and saying, please, tell me that you know why all of these three types of neurological things are happening.

00:06:51.586 --> 00:07:07.449
No, actually I'm not.

00:07:07.449 --> 00:07:10.153
I know that I come and see you once every few months and you look at me and I look fine, but neurologically inside I'm struggling.

00:07:10.153 --> 00:07:20.245
And so, after my fourth mini stroke, my new neurologist that was listening to what I was saying and was concerned said we need to do an angiogram of your brain to see what's going on.

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Now, normally, dorsey, they do an angiogram of your heart to find out where the blockage is.

00:07:29.394 --> 00:07:42.947
But they did an angiogram of my brain and the results came back that yes, indeed, all three of those neurological incidences had been related and were causing problems for me.

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And the reason is because I have a rare cerebro meaning brain, vascular meaning blood progressive chronic disease called Moya Moya.

00:07:56.838 --> 00:08:08.299
It's rare and the three characteristics I know that you can probably guess where I'm heading strokes, many strokes and migraine.

00:08:08.299 --> 00:08:27.102
At least I had a name for what was going on and at least validation to say you know, I did know what I was talking about, I did know my body and know that there was something going on, right, and so I said, okay, what do we do about this?

00:08:27.102 --> 00:08:29.639
I'm 45 years old at this point.

00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:41.672
It's been 43 years of struggles Not every single day, mind you, please, please, make sure you understand that but 43 years of not knowing what's going on with my body.

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And now we have a name for it, hallelujah.

00:08:43.716 --> 00:08:45.881
But what do we do to treat it?

00:08:47.350 --> 00:08:56.617
And so the neurosurgeon that was doing all of my testing looked at me and he said well, we can do nothing and just wait until something more serious happens.

00:08:56.617 --> 00:08:58.423
And I said not an option.

00:08:58.423 --> 00:09:02.790
Something more serious happens.

00:09:02.790 --> 00:09:18.272
And I said not an option because we've been waiting all this time and I knew that there was something that could happen, that could be very catastrophic, because I know about strokes, thankfully, the one I had at age two, yes, it interfered with many things in my body, and still do.

00:09:18.272 --> 00:09:29.221
I've heard stories and and I know it's true that strokes can kill you or can make you so incapacitated that you're dependent on other people for the rest of your life.

00:09:29.221 --> 00:09:31.115
And I said no, we're not waiting.

00:09:31.649 --> 00:09:32.774
So what is the other option?

00:09:32.774 --> 00:09:34.258
Well, brain surgery.

00:09:34.258 --> 00:09:42.063
And I'll tell you, dorsey, that those two words together, that causes a lot of anxiety.

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Let's just be honest.

00:09:43.755 --> 00:10:01.514
So I said, ok, I'm processing this and I'm realizing that you know I guess this is where we're heading, and so I said, let's, let's go ahead and schedule it, let's go ahead and do it.

00:10:02.155 --> 00:10:24.332
So what they did is they took a blood vessel from right here on my right above my right ear that was thriving and was good blood flow, and moved it to the part of my brain that hadn't been getting blood flow my entire life because of what Moya Moya is.

00:10:24.352 --> 00:10:39.202
Moya Moya is where your blood vessels, which normally like this, just the straight, it's, got good blood flow, thriving, all those things Mine goes straight for a little bit and then it gets all kind of jumbled and crazy.

00:10:39.202 --> 00:10:42.598
And then it goes straight for a little bit and then it gets all kind of jumbled and crazy and then it goes straight again.

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But where the jumbly part was is the moyamoya and because of that, that's what caused the stroke and the many strokes and the migraines.

00:10:52.342 --> 00:11:05.854
But basically it had caused that part of my brain not to get oxygen and that's where the blood flow got stopped and that's what was causing all of the problems.

00:11:05.854 --> 00:11:17.282
And so moving that blood vessel to another part of my brain helps open up that area and start to get good blood flow, which we all need.

00:11:17.282 --> 00:11:22.657
I mean, we don't think about that because it's in our head and God's taken care of that for us.

00:11:22.657 --> 00:11:24.360
We don't have to think about it.

00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:32.442
But that's what was causing all of my issues, and so I had brain surgery seven and a half, almost eight years ago.

00:11:33.290 --> 00:11:37.982
I'm assuming it's because it's rare, but did you ever ask this new doctor?

00:11:37.982 --> 00:11:43.511
But did you ever ask this new doctor?

00:11:43.511 --> 00:11:48.038
Why did it take so long for all these other doctors to come up with a reason or an answer for your concerns?

00:11:49.621 --> 00:11:49.961
I did.

00:11:49.961 --> 00:12:03.764
I actually did, and part of the reason is because when Moi Moi was discovered, it was discovered in Asia, was discovered, it was discovered in Asia and it was primarily people who are of Asian descent.

00:12:03.764 --> 00:12:16.891
I'm a white girl, I'm not Asian descent.

00:12:16.891 --> 00:12:20.881
So right there, probably my doctors who did know about Moya Moya didn't put me in that box because I didn't fit in that box.

00:12:20.881 --> 00:12:27.502
And so the other reason is is it was discovered in 1969 in Asia.

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My stroke was in 1972, but it had not transferred over to the United States.

00:12:33.642 --> 00:12:56.716
That knowledge had not transferred over and while I had dealt with all of those things, those different types of neurological incidences, many of my neurologists didn't know about Moyamoya because it is rare and while it's probably talked about in medical school, they don't spend a lot of time.

00:12:56.716 --> 00:13:06.855
And so it took somebody like my current neurologist who said oh yeah, I know about that.

00:13:06.855 --> 00:13:09.824
I'm thinking that maybe that's what it is.

00:13:09.824 --> 00:13:15.276
Let's do the angiogram and confirm it or figure out what else it could be.

00:13:15.276 --> 00:13:23.552
So I think part of the reason, Dorsey, is because it is rare and not a lot of neurologists know about it.

00:13:23.552 --> 00:13:33.978
They probably have been introduced to it but they haven't studied it and become very familiar with it, and so I think that worked against me.

00:13:33.978 --> 00:13:48.322
But thankfully for my neurologist, Dr Anand, who I saw just last week just for a checkup, he said yep, I'm thinking that's what it is and let's do the testing, and thank goodness he did.

00:13:49.010 --> 00:13:55.423
How much have you improved over your life with the stroke that you had as a child?

00:13:57.044 --> 00:13:58.645
Well, improvement.

00:13:58.645 --> 00:14:17.057
I mean, if you look at me, you couldn't necessarily tell that and unfortunately there are people who have had strokes that you can most assuredly tell that they've had a stroke, because their face might be damaged from where it impacted the nerves there in their face.

00:14:17.057 --> 00:14:24.942
In their face, their arm might be up or they may have a very significant limp when they walk.

00:14:24.942 --> 00:14:33.885
I don't have those things.

00:14:33.885 --> 00:14:34.506
I can use my left hand.

00:14:34.506 --> 00:14:40.694
One of the biggest things that has continued to be a struggle for me is that the stroke really impacted the fine motor skills in my left hand.

00:14:40.694 --> 00:15:13.640
So when I was in middle school I went to physical therapy to help work on the deficits and the residual deficits of my stroke, and that was one of the things I had to do was I had to throw beanbags into a bucket, that kind of thing, but that's gross motor, and so one of the things that I can remember crying, crying when they made me do it is pick up pennies, because I can do it.

00:15:13.640 --> 00:15:19.771
It just takes forever, and so it's not.

00:15:19.771 --> 00:15:29.145
My fine motor skills are not necessarily going to just improve so much that they're going to be regular, it's just not.

00:15:29.145 --> 00:15:30.207
The damage is there.

00:15:30.207 --> 00:15:36.378
It has been improved, but it is not going to completely go away.

00:15:37.264 --> 00:15:40.548
My balance We've worked on my balance my entire life.

00:15:40.548 --> 00:15:46.791
We've worked on my coordination, which was part of why my parents really wanted me to play sports.

00:15:46.791 --> 00:15:49.993
When you play sports, you improve.

00:15:49.993 --> 00:15:51.414
You kind of want to lean.

00:15:51.414 --> 00:16:13.927
I kind of want to lean to the left, and so I had to figure out the different ways of playing basketball and softball, soccer, all of those things.

00:16:13.927 --> 00:16:19.306
They definitely improved my strength and my balance and coordination.

00:16:19.306 --> 00:16:22.445
But again, it's not something that's just going to go away.

00:16:22.445 --> 00:16:28.937
It's something that, unfortunately, is a lingering, residual deficit.

00:16:28.937 --> 00:16:32.386
I just I don't let it stop me.

00:16:32.386 --> 00:16:58.346
I mean, there's too many things that I want to do in life, want to do in life, and sometimes the balance part of it is really hard, but I want to do it and so it may not look really pretty, may take me longer, but I'm going to experience that because I don't want to miss out on opportunities or activities or time with my family, right.

00:16:59.471 --> 00:17:04.873
And I think and you know, know you talk about your parents and everything I think you know very similar.

00:17:04.873 --> 00:17:12.858
I can hear you know your parents being my parents as well, because you know my parents were the same way that your parents were.

00:17:12.858 --> 00:17:23.237
They were like, hey, we're not going to worry about him, you know, we won't give him away, we'll just allow him to go out and do whatever it is that he wants to do.

00:17:24.666 --> 00:17:32.199
I'm so glad to hear that because that is something that I feel was a make and break kind of thing for me.

00:17:32.199 --> 00:17:38.794
And I didn't have and you didn't, neither one of us being young people when these things occurred.

00:17:38.794 --> 00:17:45.469
We didn't get the choice because we couldn't communicate that we couldn't.

00:17:45.469 --> 00:18:00.317
So thankfully, our parents took care of that for us and they could have said oh sweet, melanie, I'm so sorry, we're going to take care of this for you, we're going to do this for you.

00:18:00.317 --> 00:18:11.126
They could have and said, no, that's going to be too hard and that will hurt your feelings, and so we don't want you to try that.

00:18:11.126 --> 00:18:12.430
They could have.

00:18:12.430 --> 00:18:18.924
But they said, no, we want you to try it, we want you to do everything.

00:18:19.065 --> 00:18:22.816
The other normal kids, normal what does that even mean?

00:18:22.816 --> 00:18:23.384
Right, dorsey?

00:18:23.384 --> 00:18:31.227
The non-disabled, non-neurologically challenged, whatever you want to call it, the regular kids.

00:18:31.227 --> 00:18:33.652
We want you to try those things.

00:18:33.652 --> 00:18:43.531
And there were times that I wasn't really happy that my parents were making me or forcing me to do those things, but I'm so glad they did.

00:18:43.531 --> 00:18:51.237
I'm so glad because my mindset of challenges won't stop me is started with my parents.

00:18:52.859 --> 00:18:53.400
Absolutely.

00:18:53.400 --> 00:19:03.359
So your story and you know what your message is is a message of overcoming Absolutely.

00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:08.695
How did you come about that and what made you write the book that you did?

00:19:10.787 --> 00:19:11.812
That's a great question.

00:19:11.812 --> 00:19:31.129
There were so many times throughout my younger years middle school, high school, college years, middle school, high school, college that I did things that were hard for me and challenged me.

00:19:31.129 --> 00:19:40.910
And then my friends would find out about my stroke and they would say, wow, like that is amazing that you're able to do those things.

00:19:41.431 --> 00:19:52.835
And I would tell them trust me, it's hard but I'm determined that what happened to me is not going to keep me from getting to do the things that I want to do.

00:19:52.835 --> 00:20:21.614
I don't want to miss any opportunities and so many times they would call me an overcomer and at first, when that started happening, I was like that feels like a really big word and I don't know that I fit in to that Because to me at that time, when I was younger, overcoming meant that you faced a challenge and you got past it and then you know like it never bothered you again.

00:20:21.614 --> 00:20:37.182
But that wasn't me, because my stroke and my neurological issues and the moya moya while it doesn't impact my everyday life, there have been periods where it's been very much that I have to deal with it.

00:20:37.182 --> 00:20:43.546
So it's not where I fought to overcome and then I never had to deal with it again.

00:20:43.546 --> 00:20:49.153
So in my mind, overcoming wasn't my story.

00:20:49.153 --> 00:21:05.361
But I had several people say it's the attitude that you have, it's the positive mentality of, yeah, these things happen, but I'm not going to let it stop me.

00:21:05.361 --> 00:21:21.141
That's what they said was an overcomer and I said, well, I'm so appreciative of you telling me that that's your definition of it, because I feel a little more comfortable with that word than what I thought it was.

00:21:21.141 --> 00:21:36.173
I feel a little more comfortable with that word than what I thought it was, and so about, I would say, about 11 years ago I went to a writer's I guess group and the speaker was talking about platform, and I'm sure you're familiar with that.

00:21:36.273 --> 00:21:38.394
And platform is what are you known for?

00:21:38.394 --> 00:21:42.036
When you, when you're a writer, what, what do people know that you write about?

00:21:42.036 --> 00:21:43.817
How do they think about you?

00:21:43.817 --> 00:22:03.178
And so I got, I went up to talk to her after her speech, when we had a few minutes of downtime to go to the restroom or whatever, and I said well, I write fiction and so I don't know how to have a platform because I'm talking about imaginary characters.

00:22:03.178 --> 00:22:16.054
Because she had said you know, if you want to write books about gardening, then you need to start sharing information like tips and tricks and things about gardening, and that's how people start to know who you are.

00:22:16.054 --> 00:22:19.930
And I said if I've got fictional characters, how does this work?

00:22:19.930 --> 00:22:22.673
And I said if I've got fictional characters, how does this work?

00:22:22.673 --> 00:22:28.281
And she said well, what are the themes that you seem to be drawn to in your fiction?

00:22:28.281 --> 00:22:48.115
And so I paused for a moment and I said I really like people that struggle, that say you know, I don't like this, but I'm going to keep fighting, I'm going to figure out how to get past this.

00:22:48.115 --> 00:22:48.616
And she said overcoming.

00:22:48.616 --> 00:22:50.783
And it was like whoa, that word keeps coming up right.

00:22:50.783 --> 00:22:58.966
She said how about if you start interviewing people who are overcomers and sharing their stories?

00:22:59.609 --> 00:23:07.259
So I went home and I thought about it and I was like, wow, yeah, I can do that, because I like those kind of people.

00:23:07.259 --> 00:23:10.008
I like those movies that are about those kind of people.

00:23:10.008 --> 00:23:14.178
I like hearing about real life people who are those people.

00:23:14.178 --> 00:23:19.836
So I started doing that and at the time, we didn't have the technology.

00:23:19.836 --> 00:23:21.067
Well, maybe some people did.

00:23:21.067 --> 00:23:27.212
I didn't have the technology to do a podcast, nor did I even really know about a podcast, because this was in 2013.

00:23:28.266 --> 00:23:42.493
So I started interviewing women who had overcome all these different types of challenges and specifically women who had the same kind of mindset like I don't like what's happened to me, but I'm not going to let it stop me kind of people.

00:23:42.493 --> 00:23:47.105
And I shared their written stories on my website and they're still there.

00:23:47.105 --> 00:24:14.225
And then I progressed into a podcast after going to a writer's conference, and so at this point, I've interviewed over 150 women who have faced all kinds of challenges, and the thread on every one of them very similar to your show is you know, what did you learn and how did you keep moving forward?

00:24:14.225 --> 00:24:20.589
And how do you have this mindset of I'm not going to let this stop me?

00:24:20.589 --> 00:24:29.413
That's what I wanted to share, and so I'm thrilled that I continue to get to do this.

00:24:29.794 --> 00:24:42.442
Like you, we get to talk to people who have faced some really terrible things and yet, like you and I, we're like all right.

00:24:42.501 --> 00:24:49.526
You know I don't like that, but it's not going to stop me.

00:24:49.546 --> 00:24:50.067
I'm going to keep living.

00:24:50.086 --> 00:24:51.610
I'm going to keep doing everything that I feel God has called me to.

00:24:51.630 --> 00:25:15.711
I'm going to hopefully impact lives, all those things, and so I'm just thrilled that you and I get to meet today and talk about this, because I think there are a lot of people out there and you probably have encountered some yourself that are facing a challenge of some kind, and they just live in that.

00:25:15.711 --> 00:25:17.173
Woe is me.

00:25:17.173 --> 00:25:19.016
Life is terrible.

00:25:19.016 --> 00:25:20.518
What am I going to do now?

00:25:20.518 --> 00:25:42.718
I just everything that I wanted to do has been taken away, and they need hope, like what you and I are sharing and they need examples of how do you face some kind of challenge and what do you do to get past it.

00:25:42.718 --> 00:25:52.246
What do you do to learn from it, what do you do when the dreams that you had now are different because of the challenge that you faced?

00:25:52.246 --> 00:25:54.889
How do you do that?

00:25:54.889 --> 00:27:05.197
And I love hearing that from the people that I have been honored truly honored to interview, because everybody's story is a little bit different and it's so interesting to hear the different things that they've learned.

00:27:06.959 --> 00:27:15.110
What is the name of your podcast and can anybody go and listen to it anywhere, or is it on a specific platform.

00:27:15.990 --> 00:27:20.139
Yes, so my podcast is called Challenges Won't Stop Me.

00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:23.688
You can get it on any of the podcast apps.

00:27:23.688 --> 00:27:29.938
I also have my YouTube channel, which is Melanie Brown, m-e-l-o-n-y.

00:27:29.938 --> 00:27:33.160
Brown like the color and my website.

00:27:33.160 --> 00:27:34.281
You can get Brown like the color and my website.

00:27:34.281 --> 00:27:36.603
You can listen to the podcast episodes there.

00:27:36.603 --> 00:27:43.868
And again, it's MelanieBrowncom, m-e-l-o-n-y-b-r-o-w-ncom.

00:27:43.868 --> 00:27:50.172
So all of the written stories and all of the podcast episodes are there on my website.

00:28:13.015 --> 00:28:13.937
Okay, as far as your books go.

00:28:13.957 --> 00:28:15.240
You said that they're more of a character type.

00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:16.544
You know book more of a character type written book.

00:28:16.544 --> 00:28:16.844
Who is that to?

00:28:16.844 --> 00:28:17.546
And is it for kids, for adults?

00:28:17.546 --> 00:28:18.047
And what is that?

00:28:18.047 --> 00:28:18.950
What are those stories based on?

00:28:18.950 --> 00:28:21.035
Well, actually, the fictional stories is where I started, about 11 years ago.

00:28:21.235 --> 00:28:41.923
But in the process of interviewing these women, of having my own challenges and navigating those, what all I've learned from my own experiences, what I've learned from the overcomers, I wrote a nonfiction book and it is also called Challenges Won't Stop Me.

00:28:41.923 --> 00:28:52.258
It is the first book in a two book interactive survival guide for overcoming and thriving.

00:28:52.258 --> 00:28:55.783
So let me grab these.

00:28:55.783 --> 00:28:59.195
So the first one is challenges won't stop me.

00:28:59.875 --> 00:29:17.605
I take the readers on an eight mile journey and at each mile marker, instead of chapter, I introduce the reader to essential pieces of gear, and what I mean by that is things that we need as we are journeying through life.

00:29:17.605 --> 00:29:42.802
Yes, these things are very important to have and to use when we're going through a challenge, but, in all honesty, having them ahead of time and using them ahead of time is going to prepare you, is going to equip and empower you to fight, to overcome, and so, for example, we have a map.

00:29:42.802 --> 00:30:00.619
Well, if you're going on a hiking journey in the woods, it's helpful to have a map, and the map in my book is related to the Word of God and we need to be consulting that map and studying that map because it guides us.

00:30:00.619 --> 00:30:04.250
Now does it say, melanie, you need to do X, y and Z?

00:30:04.250 --> 00:30:05.592
No, it doesn't.

00:30:06.113 --> 00:30:20.731
But if we read those stories with the mindset of how did God guide this biblical character through their difficult times, could I do that?

00:30:20.731 --> 00:30:22.956
Yeah, I could.

00:30:22.956 --> 00:30:30.654
I could do those things, and so it helps guide us as we are fighting to overcome.

00:30:30.654 --> 00:30:34.681
Another example would be binoculars.

00:30:34.681 --> 00:30:42.102
Dorsey, have you had other challenges in your life besides the ones that happened early on in your life?

00:30:42.550 --> 00:30:45.580
Sure, of course, I've had challenges all my life.

00:30:46.910 --> 00:30:47.932
Absolutely right.

00:30:47.932 --> 00:31:01.527
Okay, have you ever noticed that we all myself included, and I'm assuming you too, because you're human and this is just a human thing to do is we get so focused on our challenge?

00:31:01.527 --> 00:31:03.795
We're looking at it, we're going what do I do?

00:31:03.795 --> 00:31:05.017
How do I get past this?

00:31:05.017 --> 00:31:06.259
I don't know.

00:31:06.259 --> 00:31:07.523
I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

00:31:07.769 --> 00:31:31.076
All these things we get, we're building up our own anxiety because we're focused on that, right, but if we take out our binoculars which is something that you would want to have as you're going on a journey in the woods and we look up to God and we praise and worship Him, it changes our perspective.

00:31:31.076 --> 00:31:35.471
We're no longer laser focused on the challenges right in front of us.

00:31:35.471 --> 00:31:36.916
We are looking at God.

00:31:36.916 --> 00:31:39.763
Does that mean the challenge is going to go away?

00:31:39.763 --> 00:31:42.176
No, not necessarily.

00:31:42.176 --> 00:31:42.938
I mean it could.

00:31:42.938 --> 00:31:46.489
It could Hadn't happened to me, I don't know.

00:31:46.489 --> 00:31:47.192
Has it happened to you?

00:31:47.192 --> 00:32:07.590
Like, maybe not, but if we look up to God and we praise and worship God Like, maybe not, but if we look up to God and we praise and worship God it's changing our perspective because we know God's the only one that can do anything to change or improve or help our situation.

00:32:07.590 --> 00:32:14.277
So that's where our eyes need to be instead of worry, worry, worry, worry, worry about the challenge right in front of us.

00:32:14.297 --> 00:32:15.219
So, throughout Challenges Won't Stop Me.

00:32:15.219 --> 00:32:25.980
The first book of the Interactive Survival Guide I'm taking the reader on a journey and we're picking up pieces of essential gear that are going to help us to fight, to overcome.

00:32:25.980 --> 00:32:31.336
And then I just recently released the second book, which is called Keep Moving Forward.

00:32:31.336 --> 00:32:37.425
I just recently released the second book, which is called Keep Moving Forward, and it picks up at mile nine, because in the first book we stopped at mile eight.

00:32:37.425 --> 00:32:39.991
So we're going to pick up at mile nine.

00:32:39.991 --> 00:32:45.844
And now we're starting to look at the challenges that are common to most people.

00:32:45.844 --> 00:32:57.273
There are probably a limited number of people that have dealt with the challenges that you have or the challenges that I have.

00:32:57.273 --> 00:33:05.734
I know that right, but there are some common challenges that everybody is going to face at some point.

00:33:06.394 --> 00:33:28.753
So, for example, a refining fire, that time in your life where it gets really hot and scary and you can feel that it's just getting hotter and more challenges are coming and you're feeling completely lost and overwhelmed, and then, all of a sudden, you realize things are starting to be taken away.

00:33:28.753 --> 00:33:39.456
Maybe it's a job, maybe it's a friendship, maybe it's an activity that you love but is not really healthy for you.

00:33:39.456 --> 00:33:40.939
It's not a good choice.

00:33:40.939 --> 00:33:46.398
All of a sudden, those things are getting scraped away, just like in a refining fire.

00:33:46.398 --> 00:33:56.091
If you put silver and you're trying to refine it, the silversmith puts it in a cauldron and just heats it up and heats it up.

00:33:56.091 --> 00:34:13.983
But he's watching it the whole time, watching everything that's going on, and as the impurities, the things that are not good for the silver, that are keeping it from shining and being beautiful, rise to the surface, then the silversmith is going to scrape it away.

00:34:13.983 --> 00:34:21.695
That's when we feel the scraping away of a friendship that you know really they're talking about you behind your back.

00:34:21.695 --> 00:34:26.344
You don't need that friend, so it gets scraped away.

00:34:26.344 --> 00:34:27.351
In the refining fire.

00:34:27.351 --> 00:34:29.375
That job was going nowhere.

00:34:29.375 --> 00:34:31.380
It was only just stressing you out.

00:34:31.380 --> 00:34:35.596
It needed to go away, so it gets scraped away.

00:34:36.329 --> 00:34:45.259
So the refining fire is one of the common encounters that the reader will learn about and keep moving forward.

00:34:45.259 --> 00:34:47.797
Another one fears and enemies.

00:34:47.797 --> 00:34:52.041
Fears, in this day and time, we see it everywhere.

00:34:52.041 --> 00:34:53.025
What are we afraid of?

00:34:53.025 --> 00:34:55.434
Well, we're afraid of our spouse walking out.

00:34:55.434 --> 00:34:57.460
We're afraid of losing our job.

00:34:57.460 --> 00:35:04.380
We're afraid of many different things and it causes a lot of anxiety and worry.

00:35:04.380 --> 00:35:10.320
We also have enemies that friend who you thought was a friend that's talking about you behind your back.

00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:20.990
We call them frenemies, but we need to deal with them.

00:35:20.990 --> 00:35:21.551
We need to deal with them.

00:35:21.571 --> 00:35:22.553
So throughout that, throughout, keep Moving Forward.

00:35:22.553 --> 00:35:25.478
I'm sharing encounters that all of us will face.

00:35:25.478 --> 00:35:28.283
Refining fire is a challenge.

00:35:28.283 --> 00:35:32.641
Right, fears are a challenge, enemies are a challenge.

00:35:32.641 --> 00:35:50.036
So the first book primarily focuses on things that we need in order to face the challenges that we may experience personally Me, for my neurological issues, for my crazy colon that's now a semicolon All of those things.

00:35:50.036 --> 00:35:52.759
That's what that book is for.

00:35:52.759 --> 00:36:11.634
But the second one is to help the reader be prepared and equipped for those common type challenges, because we know challenges are part of life and we need to be able to be ready for them so that they don't take us down or make us want to quit.

00:36:11.634 --> 00:36:14.301
We don't want that to happen.

00:36:16.170 --> 00:36:22.583
Why do you think so many people do quit when times get tough and times get hard?

00:36:24.330 --> 00:36:27.780
Dorsey, I bet you and I could spend hours talking about this.

00:36:27.780 --> 00:36:37.081
I have to say, probably the biggest reason is because they aren't prepared.

00:36:37.081 --> 00:36:45.682
They almost live in that world of teenage years where they think they're invincible.

00:36:45.682 --> 00:36:58.198
Do you remember in our teenage years it's been said there's plenty of movies that use this same theme that oh, nothing's going to happen to me, I'm good, all of that.

00:36:58.198 --> 00:37:08.983
Well, we know that's not true and sometimes I feel like people in general don't want to invest the time to prepare.

00:37:08.983 --> 00:37:12.943
They just think, oh, I'll wing it when it happens, whatever.

00:37:12.943 --> 00:37:36.653
And then when it happens, it's so overwhelming because they don't know what to do, they don't know how to fight, to overcome, and therefore after a while they're like I don't see anything happening and it's just getting worse and I'm just overwhelmed and exhausted and tired and I just I can't do this anymore and they just, they just give up.

00:37:37.835 --> 00:38:02.326
So preparation and planning and and knowing who God is and knowing the essential gear that I mentioned in Challenges Won't Stop Me is really about developing a very strong personal relationship with God through prayer, through praise and worship, through running to his shelter, his tent.

00:38:03.349 --> 00:38:13.793
That's where you can find true refuge and protection and safety, because the world has a tent and they'll tell you come, come, we'll take care of you.

00:38:13.793 --> 00:38:16.522
But it's flimsy, it doesn't do anything.

00:38:16.522 --> 00:38:26.644
But if we have that essential gear and we're consistently using it, it's going to develop a very strong relationship with God.

00:38:26.644 --> 00:38:42.495
And part of what it does and I'll talk about this and keep moving forward is it develops those strong roots of a tree and, as we know from all the times we've learned about a tree and the roots and all of this.

00:38:42.495 --> 00:39:12.221
It's nothing new that I necessarily present strong roots in God so that when that wind blows, when that heavy rain comes, when that challenge wants to completely just knock you down, your roots are so strong in your faith and in God that, while you may bend, you're not going to break Amen, because you're prepared for whatever that challenge is.

00:39:13.289 --> 00:39:15.137
Moving forward is sometimes hard.

00:39:15.137 --> 00:39:19.461
What encouragement would you share about moving forward?

00:39:21.571 --> 00:39:24.399
Moving forward is hard, wouldn't you say?

00:39:24.399 --> 00:39:28.596
Would you agree that moving forward is kind of hard?

00:39:28.957 --> 00:39:29.498
Absolutely.

00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:38.339
Yeah, moving forward is kind of hard, absolutely yeah, moving forward is really a decision and it's not something that you can kind of just do casually.

00:39:38.339 --> 00:39:40.837
Oh yeah, I think I'll just move forward after this.

00:39:40.837 --> 00:39:43.198
I'm just going to put this behind me, whatever.

00:39:43.198 --> 00:40:03.544
No, it is a decision that you make and the reason that you make it is because when you study the Bible and when you have a relationship with God, you realize he's been with you through all the challenges and he's gotten you through it.

00:40:03.544 --> 00:40:10.420
Now is he going to do it exactly again the way he did it before?

00:40:10.420 --> 00:40:12.003
That's never happened to me.

00:40:12.003 --> 00:40:16.437
It's different every time and actually I'm kind of glad because it spices things up, you know.

00:40:19.085 --> 00:40:33.125
But when I read the Bible and I look at the stories in the Bible, it talks so much about how all of the things that we go through in life are actually pointing to heaven.

00:40:33.125 --> 00:40:53.680
It's developing our resilience and our strength and our mindset and our faith, because all of that will be used in heaven for whatever our new heavenly body is like and whatever our new assignment is or purpose is in heaven.

00:40:53.680 --> 00:41:10.197
We're not just going to sit there and just yes, we will do some of that, but God's developing us here on earth to be ready for what he will do in us and through us in heaven.

00:41:10.197 --> 00:41:15.522
So we keep moving forward and I say this a lot in my own head.

00:41:15.522 --> 00:41:18.905
Sometimes I say it out loud, but really much more in my head.

00:41:18.905 --> 00:41:28.714
Okay, mel, this challenge developed your stick-to-itiveness.

00:41:28.714 --> 00:41:36.557
Somehow God's going to use that in heaven, I don't know, but I'm going to keep moving forward because I'm excited to find out what that's going to look like.

00:41:36.557 --> 00:41:54.343
So to me, we keep moving forward, knowing that what we go through both challenging times and good times all of that, all of it mixed together, stirred up, is being developed in us.

00:41:55.384 --> 00:41:58.492
Because we can't take our car, we can't take money.

00:41:58.492 --> 00:42:01.561
You know all those things that that people know.

00:42:01.561 --> 00:42:06.641
We know that we can't take those things with us, but guess what we can take with us when we go to heaven?

00:42:06.641 --> 00:42:12.292
Faith, determination, perseverance.

00:42:12.292 --> 00:42:13.453
Faith, determination, perseverance.

00:42:13.453 --> 00:42:23.060
Those things are intangible, because I can't look at you and say, oh, you've got perseverance right here, right here.

00:42:23.060 --> 00:42:26.222
I can't see that, but God can.

00:42:26.222 --> 00:42:31.246
He sees all of that developing in us and we can take those things with us.

00:42:36.189 --> 00:42:43.582
And I'm glad because whatever I've gone through, I want it to be for purpose, I want it to have purpose and it does.

00:42:43.582 --> 00:42:44.764
It does.

00:42:44.764 --> 00:43:00.041
I can see some purpose here, but I know that it's all leading to heaven and I know it's all for what's going to happen in heaven, and for that I am super excited to see what that's going to look like.

00:43:00.041 --> 00:43:19.114
I'm just like, okay, god, I'm ready, let's go, so I can keep moving forward and really truly knowing that God's using it to get me ready for what he has in store for me in heaven.

00:43:19.114 --> 00:43:46.729
And that may sound a little too grandiose, that may sound too ethereal, but it genuinely helps me to not get frustrated, to not give up, to not whine about what's happening.

00:43:46.749 --> 00:43:46.850
Now.

00:43:46.850 --> 00:43:47.872
I do, probably you as well.

00:43:47.872 --> 00:44:02.462
There are days when I'm like, okay, god, really Enough is enough, like I'm gonna be some just like kind of amazing heavenly being with all of this, could you possibly share the wealth?

00:44:02.462 --> 00:44:06.593
And and like, have other people develop these things?

00:44:06.593 --> 00:44:09.178
Because, like I'm tired.

00:44:09.178 --> 00:44:19.744
But that's part of the whole process for me is that I have to talk myself through it and once I do, I'm like all right, let's go, let's go.

00:44:21.775 --> 00:44:24.023
And I think it's not just in heaven.

00:44:24.023 --> 00:44:29.526
You know, I didn't even really thought about it that way before.

00:44:29.526 --> 00:44:32.085
You know that God is preparing us for you know what we're going through here.

00:44:32.085 --> 00:44:34.396
You know, before you know that God is preparing us for you know what we're going through here.

00:44:34.396 --> 00:44:49.946
You know, for you know, I mean, we're not going to have trials and tribulations and all that or difficulties in heaven, which we're, you know, glad about, we're happy about, but you know to persevere and to persistently keep going.

00:44:49.946 --> 00:44:52.178
You know we'll, you know we'll take that.

00:44:52.178 --> 00:45:13.891
Like you said, we'll take that with us, but we'll also have that here on Earth, after we go through the difficulties and the trials, that we can keep going, that when we have the next difficulty, the next trial, we can, you know, push forward, because we know what we've been through in the past as well.

00:45:14.954 --> 00:45:25.137
Absolutely, and I'm glad you brought that up because I do talk about that very much, about how it's intended to help us here.

00:45:25.137 --> 00:45:42.331
Oftentimes our struggles and challenges lead us to our purpose, like my purpose, I feel, is helping people to be equipped, to be prepared.

00:45:42.331 --> 00:46:08.981
That's why the focus of my books are about that a survival guide for overcoming and thriving, because some people they don't know, they've never thought about it, they've never considered it they look at people like you and I and the overcomers that you've interviewed, that I've interviewed, and they're like oh if she can do it, if he can do it, then I can do it, then I can do it.

00:46:09.942 --> 00:46:18.791
So it's very much about our lives here and how we keep moving forward, saying God's not done with me yet.

00:46:18.791 --> 00:46:29.546
I've still got more that obviously he wants me to do while I'm here on earth.

00:46:29.546 --> 00:46:30.127
But yes, it's both.

00:46:30.127 --> 00:46:32.052
So it's both and Right.

00:46:34.343 --> 00:46:35.207
It's here and for heaven.

00:46:35.207 --> 00:46:41.000
As we get rid of the end here, what encouragement would you leave with?

00:46:41.020 --> 00:46:41.281
our audience.

00:46:41.281 --> 00:46:43.728
Whew, there's a lot I can say.

00:46:43.728 --> 00:46:46.516
Let's see.

00:46:46.516 --> 00:46:57.410
I think the biggest bit of encouragement that I would love to share to your listeners is the importance of this mindset.

00:46:57.410 --> 00:46:59.176
Now, this challenges won't stop me.

00:46:59.216 --> 00:47:04.626
Mindset is not as much about me, me, me, me.

00:47:04.626 --> 00:47:21.166
It's about seeing what God has done in our lives and knowing that he's with us, he fights for us, he hears our prayers, he wants to be near us, encouraging us, strengthening us.

00:47:21.166 --> 00:47:25.064
He does that during our challenges, if we allow him to.

00:47:25.064 --> 00:47:43.127
And when I look back on my journey and probably when you look back on your journey, dorsey we see how God has just been so much a part of our challenges and what happened as a result.

00:47:43.127 --> 00:47:47.380
So I want your listeners to know that the Challenges Won't Stop Me.

00:47:47.440 --> 00:47:54.574
Mindset is all about knowing that God did it before and he can do it again.

00:47:54.574 --> 00:48:06.627
So, no matter what challenge comes about in our lives, I don't want to say we can laugh at it because that doesn't sound.

00:48:06.627 --> 00:48:09.200
I mean that doesn't always make sense.

00:48:09.200 --> 00:48:16.040
But we can look at it and say always make sense.

00:48:16.040 --> 00:48:18.271
But we can look at it and say, oh man, I didn't see this coming.

00:48:18.271 --> 00:48:26.828
Or wow, this is a really big challenge, but then taking some time to think about what God did in the past and how he was there for you.

00:48:26.828 --> 00:48:27.712
Then you can say you know what?

00:48:27.712 --> 00:48:40.547
This challenge is not going to stop me either, because God is still for me, he is still with me, he is still fighting, he is still doing all the things he did, so my challenges won't stop me.

00:48:40.608 --> 00:48:49.076
Mindset is about believing that God's going to do it again, but it's also about okay, what can I learn from this?

00:48:49.076 --> 00:48:52.711
What am I supposed to learn about God through this?

00:48:52.711 --> 00:48:57.784
What am I supposed to learn about myself and my future?

00:48:57.784 --> 00:49:06.641
And so I encourage the listeners to really consider their mindset as they approach a challenge.

00:49:06.641 --> 00:49:12.321
Are they going to be defeated or are they going to say you know what?

00:49:12.321 --> 00:49:17.824
This is hard, but God's done it before and I believe he's going to do it again in this challenge?

00:49:35.874 --> 00:50:02.461
Reading the word about praying, about all the things that help us to strengthen our mindset and our lives and our roots, then challenges won't stop us, and I think it's very important to carry that mindset, because that's when we are living fully, that's when we flourish, because that challenge that wanted to stop us, we didn't allow it to, and all of us can make that decision.

00:50:02.461 --> 00:50:14.122
Yeah, that's what I would very much encourage your listeners and I walk readers through this.

00:50:14.122 --> 00:50:33.768
If they're interested, you can buy both of my books on Amazon, but you can also buy them on my website, melaniebrowncom, and I would love the opportunity to walk alongside your listeners as they go on the journey of overcoming and thriving.

00:50:34.334 --> 00:50:38.606
Amen, well, melanie, thank you so much for coming on the show today.

00:50:38.606 --> 00:50:41.003
We greatly appreciate having you.

00:50:42.055 --> 00:50:45.965
Well, dorsey, it's my honor, I've enjoyed it and I'm so glad to meet you.

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Thank you, guys and girls.

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Thank you so much for coming on the show today and listening again.

00:50:52.564 --> 00:50:56.194
Guys and girls, thank you so much for coming on the show today and listening again.

00:50:56.194 --> 00:51:10.627
Please check out Melanie's book on Amazon and her podcast as well, and be encouraged today and keep on persisting and keep on moving forward in what God has for you and until next time, god bless.

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Bye-bye.