Phil Pinti is a full-time single parent, widower, as well as a military veteran, philosopher, and ultra runner. He lost his wife to cancer at the young age of 33, which left him reexamining his life and his purpose. Phil believes you can wallow in your story or use your experiences to push you forward. You can be your best advocate or your own worst enemy, but the good news is you can choose.

Key Takeaways:

• It's not what happens to us in life that matters, it's what we do with what we've been given.
• Phil shares how he met his wife, Jen. Phil's wife made him a better person.
• Jen was 33 when she passed away from lung cancer. How did it happen?
• When Jen died so young, Phil felt jibbed by life. There's a natural order of things, and Jen wasn't supposed to pass before her grandparents or parents did.
• Statistically, men marry really quickly after the passing of their wife. It's usually 18 months after, but for women it's 5 years.
• What can you do tomorrow? This weekend? Set yourself up to look forward to something.
• We are either our own biggest advocate or our own worst enemy.
• It's difficult to be a single parent. When you lose your other half, you really have to do everything alone.
• Phil's children spent the weekend with their grandparents, and that's when he realized he was alone for the very first time in a big house. The loss really hit him.
• Phil shares what his mental state was like before and after putting his body through an ultra marathon.
• Anybody can have the excuse to have their story weigh them down.
• For Phil, Jen was a huge intersection and connector piece to his community. When he lost her, he also lost his circle of friends.
• People don't want to catch grief.
• Phil shares why he feels COVID has been a blessing to his family.
• We get to choose how we want to feel and act based on the day we face. We also need to set an example for our children because they internalize the stress you are projecting.
• We need to find what our story is about now.
• No one can give you your midlife crisis, you can only do that to yourself. Phil lost his love, but that doesn't mean he's going to just give up.
• Phil loved that his wife still stayed true to herself until the very end. He admires and loves her so much.