Sept. 2, 2026

Choose Your Hard

What happens when the hard in your life isn’t something you chose? In “Choose Your Hard", Cory Young joins Other People's Shoes to share how a surfing accident at just 20 years old left him paralyzed from the neck down and forced him to rethink what life, purpose, and moving forward could look like. As part of our new season, Lost and Found, Cory’s story is a powerful reminder that sometimes what we lose changes everything, but it doesn’t have to be the end. We talk about perspective, resilience, chasing the feeling of being fully alive, and one difficult question: How do you choose your hard when hard has already chosen you? 🎙 "Choose Your Hard" Season 24: Lost and Found | Guest: Cory Young Thank you for walking in Other People's Shoes. 👟🩵

🎙 Choose Your Hard

Season 24: Lost and Found | Guest: Cory Young

Would you rather is a dangerous game to play.

So, let’s play.

Would you rather give up walking or give up the hobby you’re most passionate about?

For most of us, it’s just a question.

For Cory Young, something close to that choice became his life.

This season of Other People's Shoes, Lost and Found, explores what happens when we lose more than something we can replace. Identity. Purpose. Hope. Direction. Faith. Sometimes even the life we thought we'd have. Through each story, we’ll discover that being lost doesn’t always mean the story is over. Sometimes losing what we knew is where we begin to find who we’re becoming.

At just 20 years old, a surfing accident left Cory paralyzed from the neck down.

The odds were staggering: roughly a one-in-a-million chance of breaking his spine and about a one-in-one-hundred chance of being left with permanent spinal damage requiring a wheelchair.

Cory didn’t choose the accident.

He didn’t choose what came with it.

But he still had choices to make.

How do you choose your hard when hard has already chosen you?

Welcome to “Choose Your Hard,” an episode of Lost and Found.

🧭 GUEST INTRODUCTION

Cory Young is an inspirational speaker, mentor, coach, disability adviser, and advocate whose life changed dramatically after a surfing accident at age 20.

In the years that followed, Cory faced addiction, depression, anxiety, PTSD, financial hardship, and the difficult process of figuring out who he was and what life could still become.

Today, nearly three decades after his accident, Cory has built a life filled with purpose, marriage, travel, service, and a desire to help others navigate their own adversity.

His vision is to create a global ripple effect of hope, emotional fitness, service to others, and a genuine love and appreciation of life.

🧭 EPISODE DETAILS

In “Choose Your Hard,” Neil and Cory explore:

🏄 The surfing accident that changed Cory’s life at just 20 years old

🎲 The incredible odds surrounding the spinal injury that left him paralyzed

🥊 What it really means to choose your hard when the hard wasn’t your choice

🧠 Why finding a new perspective can be difficult, but necessary

🌊 Whether life truly goes on after a life-altering accident

🎯 How Cory began finding purpose again after losing the future he expected

👟 Why moving forward doesn’t necessarily mean getting back what you lost

🔥 How Cory continues to chase the feeling of being fully alive

And underneath the entire conversation is a question that sits right at the heart of Lost and Found:

When life takes something you never thought you would lose, how do you decide what is still worth chasing?

🧭 MEMORABLE QUOTE

“Choose your hard.”

🧭 CONNECT WITH GUEST

📘 Facebook | 🎬 YouTube

Learn more about Cory Young, his story, mentoring, speaking, growth mindset development, water safety advocacy, and his mission to create a ripple effect of hope and appreciation for life.

🧭 LISTEN & FOLLOW OTHER PEOPLE'S SHOES

🧭 LEAVE US A REVIEW

If Lost and Found has made you think about something you’ve lost, something you’re still searching for, or the hard you’re making in your own life, we’d love to hear from you.

📝 Leave a Review

Thank you, Cory, for sharing your story and allowing us to see life from a different perspective.

Thank you for walking in Other People's Shoes. 👟🩵