JOURNEY OF HOPE WITH RODNEY MATHERS (mathersrodney@yahoo.com) » Journey of Hope With Rodney Mathers (158)

JOURNEY OF HOPE WITH RODNEY MATHERS (mathersrodney@yahoo.com) » Journey of Hope With Rodney Mathers (158)



I've learned over the past few years that there may very well be a large percentage of ex-offenders that have un-diagnosed ADHD. I have no way of knowing how accurate that assertion may be but it certainly wouldn't surprise me if it was indeed true. For that reason I welcome my guest this week, Melissa Hood. 

Melissa Hood has written her life's story in a book called, Memoirs of an ADHD Mind. Her story is interesting in that her childhood, teen years, and beyond, mirrors the life story of many of us......up to a point. She was a able to tackle and overcome ADHD and lives the successful, meaningful life that many many of us are working toward and are close to achieving.

I really feel like stories of overcoming adversity such as Melissa's have within them at the very least a morsel of something we can use to better ourselves. Check out my interview with Melissa Hood!!

Are You Rational?

JOURNEY OF HOPE WITH RODNEY MATHERS (mathersrodney@yahoo.com) » Journey of Hope With Rodney Mathers (157)



 like the idea of of examining the rationality in my life. Isn't doing that...rational? My guest this week, John Vespacian, has examined our rationality in great detail over a series of books ( ten by my count) that deal with the application of rationality in our lives. Vespacian draws on history and philosophy to find some applicable methodologies that can be used to insert a higher dose of rationality in our daily lives. Vespacian has a message that is right on target for anyone that struggles with defeating the impulsive behaviors that come from emotional response. Impulsive behaviors are indeed the reason for many behaviors that have landed people in prison.Obviously some emotional responses are good - I'm referring to bad impulsiveness. So, join me for my interview with John Vespacian as he calls in from the Netherlands on this week's edition of Journey of Hope With Rodney Mathers.

Resurrecting Rodney Memorializes Elisa Lam

Resurrecting Rodney Memorializes Elisa Lam

JOURNEY OF HOPE WITH RODNEY MATHERS (mathersrodney@yahoo.com) » Journey of Hope With Rodney Mathers ( 156)

JOURNEY OF HOPE WITH RODNEY MATHERS (mathersrodney@yahoo.com) » Journey of Hope With Rodney Mathers ( 156)

Hi Everyone,

Every once in while I like to a podcast with no guest - just me. It's a great feeling to get some things off my chest. Today, it's just me. I had a little situation recently that I wanted to share so here it is.

Quit Comaring Yourself To Other People

JOURNEY OF HOPE WITH RODNEY MATHERS (mathersrodney@yahoo.com) » Journey of Hope With Rodney Mathers (155)

Hey Yall,

Are you happy with who you are? My guess would be everyone has a hard time honestly answering that question in the affirmative. Seriously, how many of us ex-offenders can say that 100% of the time we are totally happy with who we are? That said, I say, WHY THE HELL NOT? All human beings in our culture compare themselves to other people. Our appearance, our relationships and our general sense of self are all subject to this kind of "grass is always greener over there" sort of mentality. 

Want to stop doing that? I do. 

My guest this week, Susan Bremer O'Neill, has got some great ideas on how to do this. Check out our chat on this week's episode.

Where Does Strength Come From?

JOURNEY OF HOPE WITH RODNEY MATHERS (mathersrodney@yahoo.com) » Journey of Hope With Rodney Mathers (153)Hey Yall!

Even before my trouble with the law and subsequent incarceration, I've wondered about some people's ability to harness an amazing inner strength to endure rough situations. It seems to exist somewhere in all of us. The ability to find that strength can result in absolutely amazing things. There have been three times in my life where I flirted with tapping into that inner strength.

You wouldn't know it to look at me now but in the early 90's I trained for and ran 4 marathons. For four years in a row I went through a training cycle in which I had to find the place in my mind to acquire and maintain the discipline to do the things necessary to run 26.2 miles. I believe running a marathon is more mental than it is physical. I was able to successfully complete 3 Houston Tenneco Marathons and one Dallas White Rock Marathon. Did that strength come from the same place the strength comes from to maintain a job search, fight an addiction, and generally not give up?

A second time I dug deep was during college. I had one semester to get my GPA up high enough to stay on my degree plan and do my student teaching the following semester. I needed to make four A's and one B on 15 hours to reach the goal. This wasn't going to be easy for someone that was damn glad to get a C in a class! I did it. Was that inner strength the same inner strength we need to successfully reintegrate?

The third time I needed to reach deep inside was was when I entered TDCJ., the years I spent there, and when I left TDCJ and faced the realities of post incarceration life. I look back at it all and I have no idea where the strength came from.

My guest this week, Dr. Christopher Friesen, is an expert in helping elite athletes achieve their optimum and I put this question to him:  Where inside of us does this pool of strength reside and how we can access it? It seems to me the ability to do this just may define the success of our reintegration. Dr. Friesen also works with sex offenders in a prison setting and has a good grip on what we deal with as offenders, no matter what our case was about.  Dr. Friesen also talks about his soon to be published book, Achieve: Find Out Who You Are, What You Really Want, and How To Make It Happen.

Improve Myself While Driving....Seriously?

JOURNEY OF HOPE WITH RODNEY MATHERS (mathersrodney@yahoo.com) » Journey of Hope With Rodney Mathers (152)

Do you drive? Of course you do. Driving is such an extension of us and a necessity in our lives that most of us wouldn't be able to survive without it. What if there were a way to turn driving into an exercise that strengthened our personality and improve things our ability to forgive? Well, there just might be way! My guest this week, K. Scott, has written a very interesting book on how to make this possible. His book, Drive Me To Think, addresses how practicing things that patience and forgiveness during driving can empower us. Check out the interview and judge for yourself!