045: RIP Kobe Bryant and the Eight Who Lost Their Lives

How do you manage the really tough things in life and death?

Hey everyone, it’s Lisa J. here and welcome to another Build Your Belief Podcast and YouTube Show.

So, on January 26^th, about nine o’clock on that Sunday morning, I received a phone call from my client and he shared with me that he had walked away from a helicopter accident. Thankfully he’s okay and so is his co-pilot, but how crazy that just one hour later I would hear the news of Kobe Bryant’s helicopter that crashed and all nine people perished. It makes no sense. Why?

Why is one person spared and then the other person isn’t? And then I started thinking about his wife, Vanessa, you know, they were all over Orange County, we live in Orange County, so we often saw them at Las Brisas in Laguna Beach and I knew that they just had their fourth baby girl in June. And I can’t help but think, how?

How is she going to raise that little daughter and her other two daughters, knowing that her second oldest daughter and their daddy are gone?

How is she going to go forward and do that?

Last week I had only questions, I had no answers, and for someone that sees themselves as a thought leader, as a coach who has solutions, I was at a loss. Completely insecure on how—what show do I even have on my Build your Belief? So, you probably remember was about procrastination. So, I literally hid behind what I knew I could deliver. And you know what, that’s not okay to me anymore.

It takes courage to talk about the hard things.

It takes courage to say, “I don’t have an answer.”

“I don’t have a solution.”

And that’s where I was last week, but in that reality of just saying, “I don’t have an answer,” and accepting that I don’t have to have an answer and neither do you.

Sometimes just throwing up our hands and saying, “I just don’t get it.” Sometimes that’s enough to unify us and to tap into an insight.

So, I’m going to share that insight with you after I share a couple of realties that I noticed in these last couple of days. And the first one is, John Altobelli’s brother Tony. How amazing when he gave that speech at the Pirates’ baseball opening game day about his brother, John and John’s wife and daughter, who also died in that helicopter crash. And Tony Altobelli said, “My brother was an amazing coach and he was a college coach for 27 years,” I believe, “with lots of accolades and trophies, and just such an honorable man.” But then Tony Altobelli looked out at that 2,000 people and his 85-year-old Dad was there too, and he said, “My brother John loved opening day, so how about for the next three hours we just have fun playing baseball?” Wow. And he gave everyone there; the players and all the people watching permission to put their pain aside and just enjoy opening day.

That doesn’t make sense. How did he have the courage to be that for others? How did he have the strength to do that? I thought that was incredibly impressive.

And then I think about the legend that Kobe left behind—as I said, he was so personable here in Orange County, but also that he was the star of the Lakers for over 20 years. And that consistency of him being on that team—wow, that offered a security to the world of that consistency that we’re going to see him on that Lakers’ court for 20 years. No wonder he’s so beloved. So, let’s hold him in that light of being beloved.

Which leads me to the last thought and insight, and that is somebody on social media posted, “Hey, remember that Kobe Bryant was accused of rape back in 2003.” Why even post that? That makes no sense. But I love what somebody commented underneath that post. And he said, “You know, first Kobe Bryant, was found not guilty. Second, I don’t know if he really did it back in 2003 or not, but what I do know is two hours before Kobe got on that helicopter with his 13-year-old daughter they were in church.” Now, that just tells you the character of the man today. That he cares that he’s in church with his daughter before he gets on the helicopter to go to her basketball game.

So, you don’t have to have the answers of why, I don’t have the answers of how, but collectively just being there for each other and being in “the inquire,” we can receive some insight.

And in closing here’s the insight that I want to leave you with this week: Everyone, doesn’t matter your gender, your social economic position, whether you’re a CEO or a janitor, everyone experiences heartache, and illness, and financial struggles, and these senseless things that’s part of being human. It’s just the human condition.

I truly believe that we are spiritual beings having that human experience. And if we would just practice being in our spiritual realm even more we would find spiritual answers. We would get insight into the spiritual responses to the why, and to the how.

So, that is my wish for you my friend, that this tragedy would help you tap into your spiritual nature and be elevated by that insight of the how and the why from a spiritual perspective.

Rest in peace Kobe Brant and the other eight people on that helicopter that day, and may your spirits guide us and inspire us to become better people and to connect with our spiritual essence to be the best we can be on this planet and then beyond.

Post your comments below, what did you learn? What is the insight you have? How are you doing when you just don’t now why—how to move forward? Collectively, we can tap into that spiritual essence that you and I both have and gain the insight that’s there.

Thanks everyone!