- Well, guys, I am so excited for today's video
because the legend, Bethany Hamilton, is here with me,
and those of you that don't know her,
I'm gonna have her share her story in just a second.
But she's an author, she's a speaker, and she's just
doing incredible things in the world.
So Bethany, thanks for being here.
- Glad to be here, Rachel.
- Thank you.
Okay, so those people that don't know you,
- Yeah! - that are not familiar
with you, give them a little bit of taste of your story.
- Yeah.
So I was born and raised in Hawaii.
I'm still living there and I love it.
And growing up, the beach was my playground,
and the ocean, and I took a love for surfing at a young age.
And my whole family like we're all ocean lovers,
and they also raised me in a Christian home.
So it's kind of like a really sweet upbringing.
And at the age of 13, I lost my arm to a shark,
and that was kind of like life felt upside down for a bit.
- While surfing, right?
- Yeah, while surfing.
- Unbelievable!
- And then from there, I made a lot different choices
in my life that led me to kinda just share
those choices and the things that empowered me
along the way with others, and it's really fun.
And then also, today, I'm a mom of two boys
and married to an amazing guy.
And, yeah, just really thankful for the life I get to live.
- For sure, and the boys are adorable.
- Thank you.
- They're trying to teach me this like spinner thing,
and I was like,
when a 5-year-old is better at a game than you are,
you're just like, you know, you go, you go.
- Yeah, he's like,
I'll just show you how it's done.
- That what he did, he was like,
I'll show you.
I was like, No really, I don't know if I'm,
I'm not that coordinated.
Okay, so that all happened at 13.
And I feel like for most people that know your name,
that's like their knee-jerk reaction, right?
They know that part of your story.
- Yeah.
- So, what did life look like, like right after that,
like what got you into speaking and all that,
were people just like,
hey, we wanna hear your story,
will you come talk about it?
Or like, where did all that stuff start happening?
- Yeah, it's really interesting
when I think about my 13-year-old self,
and just how resilient I was. Like, its really like,
the only thing I can attribute that to is
my faith in God and kinda being
like my rock and strength during that
and I really was grateful to be alive.
And I was aware that I could have very well died that day,
and so I had that moving forward with like
a sense of gratitude rather
than pitying myself and my situation.
But, so I was like,
well, maybe I'll be able to encourage people
through my story, even at 13.
And I think, naturally, that just started happening,
and I started to embrace it more and more
and just see the beauty and good that was coming out of
what seemed like something so awful.
- Oh, absolutely, and I can just imagine. And I'm like,
I even look back even on my story
and so many people can do this, where you're like,
wow, in the moment, you had no clue,
that little light that God was giving you, right?
And then you make a step,
and then you make a step, and fast forward, you know,
10-15 years later, you look back you're like,
oh! All that was built for like this moment,
like this is like what I'm doing
because of all these steps.
But faithfully, you chose to continue to walk down.
So, you say something that I love, you say,
"Life is full of hard times. They're inevitable."
So I wanna know from you, what's the difference in people
that overcome hard times,
and then the ones that seem to just
constantly struggle in them?
- I mean, so often it has to do with our choices
and our mindset. And I kind of embraced having one arm
and with all my friends and family
and people I knew like,
didn't change how I acted around them.
I was very open. I never like hid my stumpy.
And so, just kind of embracing the new me
and the new challenges, and it was like
everyday challenges now,
like relearning how to live life with one arm.
- That's what I gonna ask you like,
what were the things that were like the hardest, right?
Like, because you,
I can't even imagine. - Yeah.
- Like tying your shoe,
or whatever the case may be, like...
- Well, thankfully, in Hawaii, we only wear slippers.
- There you go. That's it. (laughing)
- So, shoes wasn't a big thing,
but like getting my swimsuits on, doing hair.
- Yes!
- Just doing things around the house.
- And were there moments of like breakdown
for you in those, or was,
did you always kinda have- - Yeah!
- a consistent like, because you're so calm,
like I can even like feel you now.
I'm like, see- - Yeah!
- your temperament really is, it's so great.
It's so peaceful.
- I think I definitely had some down days
- Yeah, for sure. - and some times
of discouragement.
And too, like I started surfing less than a month later,
and it felt amazing, but it was incredibly
challenging every day.
I mean, whether you have one arm or all limbs,
like in the ocean, it's no joke.
- (chuckles loudly)
- Like it's such a challenging sport, and
I think that also instilled a lot of like resilience
and like push through those pain points in my life.
Because surfing is some days you paddle out
and it's like, feels like the oceans
just like pounding you back to the beach
and like just can be so frustrating and aggravating.
So then to have to approach the ocean
with one arm was like,
just such a game changer and...
- So impressive.
- Yeah.
- It is though. I'm like, the resilience it really,
it's unbelievable.
So, so someone that's watching and they're thinking,
okay, I haven't had this like crazy life-altering moment
in my life yet, but I just feel stuck.
What's your encouragement to people that to,
how do they get unstuck if they feel like they're just like,
I'm just in the rut of the day to day?
- Yeah, well a theme of mine lately
has been kind of approaching life with like,
I call it my adaptive method.
And so kind of adapting through
the different situations that come your way.
You know, still holding true to your values
and the things that are important to you
but like, kind of adapting through it
and like surrounding yourself with people
that are gonna cheer you on and help you adapt.
And as a professional athlete,
I'm still a professional surfer today.
I always have been seeking out coaches
or people older and wiser to like cheer me on
or like push me in a direction or give me advice
or finding other people to help you adapt if you're like,
at a roadblock and can't figure which way to go.
- I love that too because bringing other people
in in your life and having them speak truth in
is so, so important.
We talk about having community and people
around you all the time on the show.
But that's it, I'm like,
if you're stuck in this rut, day to day,
find someone who's gonna challenge you and help push you out
because you may not have it in the moment to do it yourself.
But having someone like, put that on you,
I think it's really good,
to do more than what you probably even think is possible,
which is so, so great.
Okay, so you have a calling on your life, you know,
that is undeniable.
But I know some days it can be hard
and for some people watching if they feel like,
okay, I have this thing that I wanna do,
but it just feels impossible.
What would you say to them?
- So I think just working toward setting little goals
to kind of eventually get you toward the bigger goals.
So then you can kinda zero in on the little goal
and not feel so overwhelmed.
And just keep putting away the little things
that will eventually lead you to the bigger goal.
One thing I try to make an effort toward
is just always like slowing myself down
and finding like that downtime to like not have my phone.
And I think today, in our culture,
it's just everyone's such hustlers
and getting stuff done all day long.
But we really need that time to decompress
and just be like normal
and not have like everything pulling at us.
- Yeah, I was gonna say,
don't you wish like rest was celebrated
as much as the hustle, right?
- For sure.
- Because there's an element of health to that.
Like, you have to, you have to have seasons of rest,
or rest in crazy seasons, all of it.
- No, and that's like, I feel like I'm, I just hit 30.
So I'm like, finally realizing that like, stress is a real,
- (laughing) - and like it's a real thing
that we have to combat. And so,
like finding like continually
working at that balance of like,
working hard but also resting too.
- Yes, and I love that bite-sized goal,
that whole mentality.
Because even we teach people to get out of debt,
we always say to get out of debt at the smallest debts,
and then work your way up.
Because once you get those quick wins,
it starts to feel possible. - It feels good.
- Yeah, the impossible goal - Impossible.
is like,
oh gosh! I don't know if I could ever do that.
But whatever you're doing in life, you know, yeah,
taking that little step at a time
because it does so much to your spirits to be like,
no, I can do this. Like, I'm doing it.
- And it's sometimes, I think,
so many of us struggle with overwhelm,
so when we're not having that time to decompress
or not setting the little goals
that kinda organize our bigger picture,
then that's when the overwhelm comes,
and we're just ahh!
- Seems like so much, so much.
So you mentioned gratitude earlier, and I love it.
I love the idea of living a life of gratitude,
but that's something that's really, really important to you.
So, talk a little bit about that.
- Well, as a Christian, I would say I'm always kind of
just grateful to God for His grace on my life.
And I see how that plays out now more than ever
in my marriage, and motherhood,
and friendships, and family relationships.
You know, lately, with my 5-year-old son, we'll go to bed
and just talk about a highlight of the day,
and then we've been incorporating more of like
something I'm grateful for today.
And if I forget, he always remembers. So...
- I love that.
- It's nice to kinda like make it a family thing
and just remember that we have
so much to be grateful for and...
- It's beautiful. And I love the idea of bringing
kids in too, because even like our 5-year-old we have,
we both have 5-year-olds, so we're bonding about that.
But she's so funny now, the two year old still
like a little bit all over the place,
right? - Yeah!
- But the 5-year-old, like we'll talk about that, okay,
let's talk about...
Yeah, we'll say that kinda thing, like,
hey, what are you thankful for?
- Yeah.
- Let's pray and just like, you know,
thank God over the meal and anything else
you can think of.
And the things coming out of their mouth
is so hysterical but it also,
it's so funny because it's so simplistic.
Like it's like the smallest, most random things,
but in their little perspective, like they find gratitude
even in a smallest, most random thing.
I think it's beautiful. I love it.
Whenever, I hear her talk I'm always like,
that's so good.
Like I wish I was as grateful
for like the smaller things - I know, they like
bring you back to Earth like,
it's not about like the big money or like-
- Yes.
- the super huge wins, but more like
the little wins throughout the day.
- I know. We were talking about, somehow
we got off on Disney World at dinner the other night,
and we were talking, and Amelia was like,
"Yeah, I do like Disney but I'm so grateful
I found a little treasure in my room."
And I was like a little treasure?
She's like obsessed with treasures.
But it was like the tiniest little crumb piece
of a toy, and she was like,
"This is what I'm grateful for."
I was like,
good for you, Amelia.
Good for you.
If I can just be as grateful for you,
for that little crumb of a toy as you are, that's great.
Okay, so tell me,
tell me things that you're working on now.
What are some things that
you're really, really excited about?
Because you're helping a lot of people and inspiring a lot.
- Yeah, no.
So, it's kinda been a dream in the works for years now,
and I knew that, at some point, I wanted to do more
than just be inspiring, but like to actually equip people
and really encourage them on a deeper level.
So over the last few years,
my husband and I,
I had filmed a documentary called Unstoppable,
and we had finished that project, and then we were like,
okay, what's next?
We have time, we have like motivation.
What are we gonna do now?
So we started working on a project
that eventually became The Unstoppable Life.
And it's like a, as of now,
it's an online mentorship program
where we talk about different things that have been tools
for myself to overcome so much adversity.
The course kinda starts with, actually,
like I was talking about earlier
about being present and slowing yourself down.
So that's our very first subject that we talk about.
So that kinda sets you up for the rest of the year.
I could like continue talking
about everything, but like, - I love it.
- we go into goal setting, mindset, living a healthy life.
Now we're gonna get to talk with you, and it's just yeah,
it's really, really fun.
- Yeah, I'm excited to be part of it.
I'm so thankful - Yes!
- you even asked.
And so everyone can find that at bethanyhamilton.com.
- Yes.
- Perfect.
And social media, where else can people find you?
- I'm just @BethanyHamilton, so...
- Awesome. - Yeah.
- Well, Bethany, thank you so, so much.
You guys, make sure you check that out
at bethanyhamilton.com, such incredible content.
Again, anything that just, I think, gives people
the tools and the inspiration, both,
the instruction and the inspiration with their lives,
I think is just absolutely incredible.
So the work you're doing is amazing.
- Thank you.
- So, thanks for that, and thanks for being on.
- My pleasure. Aloha!