Brett Stalcup

Choices: A Year of Lessons, Community, and Growth As we wrap up another transformative year at the Choices Podcast, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the powerful conversations we’ve shared. From navigating the complexities of addiction to the simple, profound act of being a good neighbor, 2025 has been defined by one core theme: the power of the choices we make every single day. If you’ve missed our recent posts and episodes, here is a summary of the key lessons we’ve explored together: The Power of Community In our recent series (Episodes 74-76), we took a deep dive into “How to Build Community in Your Life.” We explored why connection is not just a luxury, but a necessity. The biggest takeaway? Community isn’t something …

Surviving the Season: Your Guide to Keeping Healthy Holiday Boundaries The holiday season is upon us. While it’s billed as the most wonderful time of the year, reality often involves navigating a minefield of tricky family dynamics, overwhelming social expectations, and abundant food and drink. If you want to make it through the festivities feeling good rather than depleted, you need one crucial tool in your arsenal: healthy boundaries. The goal for the holidays should be simple: “Keep the good in and the bad out.” Here is your practical survival guide for maintaining your peace this season. 1. Master the Art of Surface-Level Conversation When you are at a family gathering or a holiday party, your safest bet is to “stay surf”—as in, keep things …

Here is the complete blog post, combining the insights from both parts of the transcript into a cohesive narrative. Are You a Giver or a Taker? The Art of Building Your Personal Community Good morning and welcome to the Choices Podcast. We are growing, evolving, and learning every single day. As we look toward January 2026—where we’ll be taking the show to the next level with high-profile guests, federal judges, and athletes—we want to pause and focus on the foundation of recovery and life. That foundation is Community. But before you can build a community, you have to answer a hard question. There is no fence-riding here. Are you a giver, or are you a taker? You are either a taker—worried only about yourself—or you …

From the Trenches to Triumph: Randy Grimes on Recovery, Intervention, and the NFL’s Hidden Battles Welcome back to the Choices Podcast! Our conversation with former Tampa Bay Buccaneers center and recovery advocate, Randy Grimes, continued with a deep dive into the business of sports, the psychological toll on athletes, and the critical need for hope in recovery. The Cost of Competition: Money and Mental Health Host Carcass opened the second part of the discussion by focusing on the hidden crisis of mental health in sports, citing the tragic example of a young player’s suicide days after scoring a touchdown. Carcass posited that the immense money in professional and college sports may be slowing down the progress of genuinely evaluating athletes’ mental health. Randy Grimes didn’t …

This is a fantastic discussion! Here is the blog post based on your transcript snippets, focusing on the theme of intentional choices in community and due diligence. Choosing Your Community: Why Intentional Due Diligence Matters Welcome back to the Choices Podcast! (You can find us at choicespodcastofficial.com—go to YouTube or just Google us; we’re easy to find. Please subscribe as we’re growing!) Our recent conversation dove right into what it means to be “wound up”—not just with personal energy, but with the complexities of the world around us. From the simple confusion of Daylight Saving Time to the larger concerns about the political landscape, it’s clear that things are hectic. But rather than letting the chaos dictate our mood, we turned to a fundamental question …