What happens when your body stops supporting the life you imagined?

In this deeply honest episode of The SwagAbility Show, Stephen Wagstaff sits down with psychologist and chronic illness expert Dr. Jeff Bone, a man who spent decades helping others navigate chronic pain—before finding himself living through the very struggle he had spent his career treating.

After becoming chronically ill himself, Dr. Bone discovered that healing isn't always about getting better. Sometimes it's about learning how to live well in the middle of uncertainty.

Together, Stephen and Dr. Bone explore the emotional, psychological, and spiritual realities of chronic illness, identity loss, resilience, and hope.

This isn't simply a conversation about pain.

It's about learning how to build a meaningful life when life refuses to follow your plans.

Whether you're living with chronic illness, supporting someone who is, or facing an unexpected season of adversity, this conversation will remind you that purpose isn't determined by perfect health.

Chapters:

00:00 – Health Is a Crown Only the Sick Can See

00:26 – When Your Body Stops Supporting Your Plans

01:03 – Welcome to The SwagAbility Show

01:25 – Meet Dr. Jeff Boone

03:20 – The Values That Shaped His Life

09:10 – Helping Thousands Before Becoming the Patient

16:30 – Living with Chronic Illness Every Day

24:45 – Identity Beyond Health

33:15 – The Emotional Weight of Chronic Pain

41:10 – Finding Purpose in Uncertainty

49:30 – What Real Resilience Looks Like

56:15 – Practical Encouragement for Anyone Living with Illness

1:02:30 – Final Thoughts & Hope Moving Forward

Adjust timestamps slightly after final export if necessary.

✅ Chronic illness changes more than your body—it challenges your identity.

✅ Healing and recovery aren't always the same thing.

✅ Hope is still possible when circumstances don't improve.

✅ Resilience grows through acceptance, purpose, and community.

✅ Your worth is never determined by your physical abilities.

✅ Every season—even illness—can shape a meaningful life.

Have you ever had to rethink your life because of illness, disability, or unexpected adversity?

What helped you move forward?

Share your story in the comments. Someone else may need to hear it today.

Help us continue sharing stories of resilience, faith, disability, healing, and hope with people around the world.

https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/donation-form/donate-to-change-lives-today

Do you have a story of overcoming adversity, disability, chronic illness, caregiving, resilience, faith, leadership, or purpose?

We'd love to hear your story.

Apply to be a guest through PodMatch:

https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/swagability

SwagAbility is a faith-first nonprofit dedicated to helping people thrive wherever life finds them through authentic conversations about resilience, disability, trauma, grief, healing, leadership, and hope.

Because your story still has power—and your life still has purpose.

#PodMatch

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In this inspiring episode of The SwagAbility Show, Stephen Wagstaff sits down with former Silicon Valley CEO Nancy Deyo to explore an extraordinary journey of resilience.

After years of success leading in the corporate world, Nancy's life changed forever following an injury while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

What followed was nearly fifteen years of chronic pain, countless medical appointments, opioid dependence, and the painful process of rebuilding an entirely new identity.

Together they discuss:

• Life after chronic pain begins

Chapters

00:00 – What Happens When Success Stops Working?

00:00:54 – Meet Nancy Deyo: From Silicon Valley CEO to Mountain Climber

03:40 – The Drive to Achieve: Life Before Kilimanjaro

08:05 – Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro: The Adventure Begins

12:05 – The Injury That Changed Everything

17:30 – Living with Chronic Pain Every Day

20:05 – When Pain Becomes Your New Reality

24:10 – Searching for Answers and Finding None

26:45 – The Hidden Impact of Chronic Pain on Family and Relationships

30:15 – Identity Loss: When Your Career No Longer Defines You

33:20 – The Mental and Emotional Battle of Long-Term Pain

37:40 – Opioids, Hope, and the Road to Recovery

40:40 – Stephen Shares His Journey with Life-Altering Injury

46:45 – Finding Purpose After Everything Changes

51:10 – Faith, Perspective, and Choosing Hope

55:30 – Advice for Anyone Living with Chronic Pain

59:00 – Final Thoughts: Resilience, Healing, and Moving Forward

1:01:15 – Closing Remarks & How to Connect

Whether you're living with chronic pain, supporting someone who is, or facing a season where life doesn't look the way you imagined, this conversation offers hope, encouragement, and practical wisdom.

Connect with SwagAbility

🌐 https://swagability.com

Interested in sharing your story?

Become a guest on The SwagAbility Show:
https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/swagability

#PodMatch #SwagAbility #ChronicPain #Resilience #Leadership #Hope #Healing

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She Lost Her Son… Then God Met Her in the Grief

On January 1, 2019, Lisa Espinoza's life changed forever when her youngest son, Chandler, suffered a traumatic brain injury and passed away.

No parent ever expects to face that kind of loss.

In this deeply moving episode of The SwagAbility Show, Lisa shares her journey through unimaginable grief, how faith sustained her when nothing made sense, and why healing doesn't begin with having all the answers—it begins with taking the very next step.

As the author of First Brush Your Teeth, Lisa offers practical wisdom for anyone walking through loss, trauma, heartbreak, or life's darkest seasons. Her story is both honest and hopeful, reminding us that even in overwhelming grief, God is present and purpose can still emerge.

Whether you're grieving the loss of a loved one, supporting someone who is, or simply searching for hope in difficult circumstances, this conversation will encourage your heart.

00:00 — The Day Everything Changed

00:18 — Why Healing Doesn't Begin with Hope

00:32 — Welcome to The SwagAbility Show

00:50 — Meet Lisa Espinoza

01:48 — Remembering Chandler

07:30 — Living Through Unimaginable Grief

14:10 — Where Faith Meets Heartbreak

21:45 — Practical Steps Toward Healing

30:15 — Why "First Brush Your Teeth" Matters

38:40 — Helping Others Walk Through Loss

46:20 — Family, Grandchildren & Finding Joy Again

49:35 — Final Words of Hope

(Adjust slightly after upload if YouTube shifts timestamps.)

✅ Healing begins one small step at a time.

✅ Faith doesn't remove grief—it helps carry it.

✅ There is no timetable for healing.

✅ Remembering loved ones can become part of living well.

✅ God remains present even in life's darkest moments.

✅ Purpose can grow from profound pain.

Have you experienced a season of grief that changed your life?

What helped you take your next step?

Share your story in the comments below. Your words may encourage someone who needs hope today.

Help us continue sharing stories of faith, resilience, and hope with people facing life's greatest challenges.

https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/donation-form/donate-to-change-lives-today

Do you have a powerful story of resilience, faith, overcoming adversity, disability, caregiving, healing, leadership, or purpose?

We'd love to hear your story.

Connect with Stephen Wagstaff on PodMatch:

https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/swagability

SwagAbility is a faith-first nonprofit dedicated to helping people thrive wherever life finds them through authentic conversations about resilience, disability, trauma, grief, healing, leadership, and hope.

Because your story still has power—and your life still has purpose.

#PodMatch

#SwagAbility

#GriefRecovery

#Faith

#HopeAfterLoss

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Have you ever been surrounded by people and still felt invisible?

#AuthenticConnection

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What happens when your spouse is diagnosed with cancer, financial pressure is mounting, and it feels like everything you've worked for is slipping away?

In this powerful episode of The SwagAbility Show, Dick King shares his remarkable story of faith, resilience, and perseverance through one of the most difficult seasons of his life.

From infertility struggles and overwhelming financial challenges to watching his wife battle cancer, Dick opens up about the moments that tested him emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Yet through every setback, he discovered something stronger than fear—hope.

This conversation is for anyone facing adversity, loss, uncertainty, or a season where life feels overwhelming. It's a reminder that even when everything seems to be falling apart, your story isn't over.

🎙️ IN THIS EPISODE:

✔ Navigating a spouse's cancer diagnosis
✔ Facing financial hardship and overwhelming debt
✔ Finding gratitude during difficult seasons
✔ The power of faith through adversity
✔ Renewing your mindset when life gets hard
✔ Lessons learned from loss and uncertainty
✔ Discovering purpose through pain
✔ Why resilience is built one day at a time

If you've ever wondered how people keep moving forward when life hits rock bottom, this conversation will encourage and inspire you.

⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 – When Everything Started Falling Apart
01:12 – Meet Dick King
04:35 – Cancer Enters the Story
08:50 – Financial Pressure and Mounting Debt
14:10 – Facing Fear and Uncertainty
19:25 – Gratitude in the Middle of the Storm
24:40 – The Role of Faith During Adversity
30:15 – Renewing Your Mindset
35:55 – Lessons Learned Through Loss
41:20 – Finding Purpose Through Pain
47:10 – Final Reflections and Encouragement

💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Adversity reveals what truly matters
• Faith can provide hope during life's darkest moments
• Gratitude is a powerful tool in difficult seasons
• Financial hardship does not define your future
• Your greatest struggles can become your greatest testimony
• Resilience is built through daily choices

💬 JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Have you ever experienced a season where it felt like everything was falling apart?

What helped you keep moving forward?

Share your story in the comments below.

🔗 SUPPORT THE SWAGABILITY MISSION
https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/donation-form/donate-to-change-lives-today

🎤 WANT TO BE A GUEST ON THE SWAGABILITY SHOW?
https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/swagability

🌟 ABOUT SWAGABILITY

SwagAbility exists to help people thrive wherever life finds them through powerful conversations about resilience, faith, adversity, mental strength, disability, and purpose.

We believe your story still has power—and your life still has purpose.

Support the SwagAbility mission:
https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/donation-form/donate-to-change-lives-today

Want to be a guest on The SwagAbility Show? Send Stephen Wagstaff a message on PodMatch, here:
https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/swagability

#PodMatch
#SwagAbility
#FaithOverFear
#Resilience
#CancerJourney
#ChristianInspiration
#OvercomingAdversity

, Stephen Wagstaff, The SwagAbility Show, SwagAbility, cancer journey, wife with cancer, spouse with cancer, caregiver support, cancer survivor story, faith through adversity, overcoming adversity, resilience, resilience story, inspirational story, Christian inspiration, Christian testimony, faith during hard times, hope after loss, overcoming debt, financial hardship, financial recovery, rebuilding after loss, rebuilding your life, lost everything and rebuilt, rock bottom story, life fell apart, personal growth, finding purpose, purpose through pain, mental resilience, mental strength, overcoming obstacles, life challenges, hope in difficult times, motivational podcast, inspirational podcast, personal transformation, stories of resilience, adversity podcast, hope and healing, gratitude during hardship, faith and perseverance, Christian podcast, resilience podcast, purpose after pain, life after loss, overcoming setbacks, never give up

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70% of Americans live with at least one chronic condition.

But almost nobody talks about what chronic illness can do to a marriage, a family, or the emotional connection between two people trying to survive it together.

In this deeply honest and emotionally important episode of The SwagAbility Show, Stephen sits down with psychotherapist and author Lisa Gray to discuss the hidden emotional toll chronic illness places on relationships — including caregiver burnout, emotional grief, communication breakdown, isolation, resentment, and silence.

Together, they explore what happens when chronic illness quietly becomes “the third wheel” in a relationship.

Stephen and Julie Wagstaff, founders of SwagAbility are an inter-abled couple, after a diving accident left Stephen a C5 quadriplegic, at the age of 19.

The couple have made it their "public mission" to be outspoken about subjects that are not often talked about , yet have become silent epidemics that destroy once thriving relationships.

Stephen and Julie share the stage to speak on a number of topics together as a couple, or separately in differing venues, where they share captivating conversations that leave audiences wanting more. Visit www.SwagAbility.com for more about the work they are doing with foundation, SwagAbility, or to book them as guests at your next event. Whether that be, business, corporate, faith based, educational and more...

CHAPTERS

00:00 – The shocking reality of chronic illness in America

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

Lisa Gray is a psychotherapist with more than 20 years of experience helping couples navigate the emotional realities of chronic illness, grief, conflict, and relationship survival.

She is also the author of:

In this powerful conversation, Stephen and Lisa discuss:

This episode is for anyone who has ever felt emotionally exhausted while trying to hold a relationship together through pain, uncertainty, illness, or caregiving.

Because sometimes the hardest part of chronic illness is not what it does to the body……but what it quietly does to relationships.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA GRAY

https://lisagrayauthor.com/about

SUPPORT SWAGABILITY

https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/donation-form/donate-to-change-lives-today

BE A GUEST ON THE SWAGABILITY SHOW

https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/swagability

#PodMatch

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Football has long focused on protecting the head.

But what about the vulnerable area just below the helmet?

In this episode of The SwagAbility Show, Stephen sits down with Brian Williams to discuss the TriAxis football safety invention — an innovation designed to help reduce devastating cervical neck injuries in football before lives are changed forever.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – The hidden danger below the helmet

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Brian shares the story behind the TriAxis football safety invention, a device designed to help better protect athletes from devastating cervical spine and neck injuries during impact.

Together, they explore:

The alarming rise in football-related injuries

This conversation goes beyond football.

It’s about protecting lives, advancing safety technology, and preventing life-changing injuries before they happen.

LEARN MORE ABOUT TRIAXIS

https://triaxisprotectionsystem.com

SUPPORT SWAGABILITY

https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/donation-form/donate-to-change-lives-today

BE A GUEST ON THE SWAGABILITY SHOW

https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/swagability

#PodMatch #SwagAbility #FootballSafety #SportsInnovation #YouthSports #CervicalNeckInjuries

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The Weight Of Being Unwanted

What does it feel like to carry the belief that you were never meant to be chosen?

In this deeply honest conversation, we unpack the silent weight so many people carry — rejection, identity, and the search for worth in a world that often overlooks pain. This episode isn’t just about being unwanted… it’s about what happens when you decide your story still matters anyway.

If you’ve ever questioned your value, your place, or your purpose — this one is for you.

👇 Chapters:
00:00 – The Hidden Weight We Carry
03:15 – Early Experiences of Rejection
06:40 – When “Unwanted” Becomes Identity
10:05 – The Emotional Cost of Silence
13:30 – Searching for Worth in the Wrong Places
17:00 – Breaking Points & Honest Realizations
20:25 – The Turning Moment
23:50 – Reframing Self-Worth
27:15 – Letting Go of External Validation
30:40 – Choosing to Stay & Fight Forward
34:05 – What Healing Actually Looks Like
37:30 – A New Perspective on Being “Unwanted”

💬 Join the conversation in the comments — your story matters more than you think.

Support the SwagAbility mission:
https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/donation-form/donate-to-change-lives-today

Want to be a guest on The SwagAbility Show? Send Stephen Wagstaff a message on PodMatch:
https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/swagability

To join PodMatch at a Swag deal:
www.joinpodmatch.com/swagability

#SwagAbility #MentalHealth #HealingJourney #Resilience #SelfWorth #PodMatch

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What if something as simple as playing a video game was taken away from you?

For millions of people living with disabilities, that’s the reality.

In this powerful episode of The SwagAbility Show, Stephen sits down with Zach Runyan from AbleGamers, an organization dedicated to making gaming accessible for everyone—regardless of physical limitations.

After losing access to gaming himself, Stephen shares how AbleGamers helped him reconnect with a hobby that brought not just entertainment—but community, stress relief, and purpose.

Together, they dive into:

This isn’t just about gaming.

It’s about inclusion, dignity, and giving people their lives back.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 – The reality of inaccessible gaming

Learn more about AbleGamers:

https://ablegamers.org/

Support the mission:
https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/donation-form/donate-to-change-lives-today

Want to be a guest?
https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/swagability

Join Podmatch Network

https://www.joinpodmatch.com/swagability⁠

#AccessibleGaming #Podmatch #AdaptiveTechnology #InclusiveGaming #SwagAbility

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What if the thing you thought would break your life became the very thing that gave it meaning?

In this episode of The SwagAbility Show, Stephen Wagstaff sits down with Patti Bevilacqua for a powerful conversation about mindset, resilience, identity, and purpose.

Patti was a young athlete, valedictorian, and new physical education teacher when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at just 22 years old. What followed was not the life she expected — but it became a journey of discovering how to live fully, think differently, and refuse to let a diagnosis define her.

Chapters:

00:00 – Opening reflection on life changes
01:05 – Show introduction and welcome
02:15 – Introducing Patti Bevilacqua

03:30 – Patti’s early life and background
05:45 – Career path and life before diagnosis

08:10 – MS diagnosis at age 22
10:30 – Emotional impact of the diagnosis
12:45 – Navigating uncertainty and the future

15:30 – Identity and living with MS
18:10 – Understanding identity as fluid
21:00 – Letting go of limiting labels

24:15 – Mindset and reframing thoughts
27:30 – Practical strategies for resilience
30:10 – Learning to see life differently

33:00 – Finding purpose through adversity
36:20 – Daily motivation and perseverance
39:00 – Growth through life challenges

41:30 – Patti’s book and message
43:00 – The “Seeing Differently” newsletter
45:00 – Speaking and sharing her story

47:00 – Advice for those facing adversity
49:00 – Final reflections on resilience

51:00 – Where to connect with Patti
52:00 – Show closing and final message

Together, Stephen and Patti talk about:

This is an honest, hope-filled conversation for anyone walking through adversity, chronic illness, burnout, grief, or an unexpected turn in life.

Patti’s newsletter: Seeing Differently

Support the SwagAbility mission:
https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/donation-form/donate-to-change-lives-today

Want to be a guest on The SwagAbility Show?
https://www.joinpodmatch.com/swagability

#SwagAbility #PodMatch #MultipleSclerosis #OvercomingAdversity

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