Journey Through Life Podcast

I am a firm believer that there is a reason for “random thoughts” that just pop into our minds. And if we act on them, we or someone else can be greatly strengthened and blessed by those actions.

I am very excited to kick off the year 2020 with a very special 12 week series of the Journey Through Life Podcast. This series is called Journey In Recovery. I have interviewed many different people from many different locations and many different backgrounds on one of each of the 12 steps of recovery as laid out originally in the Book Alcoholics Anonymous. Now, before you shut this off and say, “this doesn’t apply to me”, I am asking you to please give it a shot. Whether you or I are an actual addict or not, I KNOW that we all have weaknesses in our lives that we may be the only one that knows about it, but we really wish we could move past them. But try as we will, we have not been able to leave them behind. I have come to learn that learning of and applying the 12 Steps of recovery can and is beneficial to any human being who goes into it with real intent and applies the principles of these steps into their lives will be able to move through any addiction, any habit, any self-destructive or unwanted behavior. This can include full-blown drug and alcohol addiction, or something as seemingly dumb, but just as gripping as putting lip balm on compulsively or popping ones knuckles.

This week, being week 1, we will be talking about Step 1 of the 12 Steps. I will be interviewing a woman who is the spouse of an alcoholic. Her story, even though she is not seemingly the one with the problem, is POWERFUL. So, you, may not be an addict yourself, but chances are that you are married to one, a parent to one, a child to one, or a co-worker to one. This episode will, IF you allow it, give you amazing tools so that your life can become more manageable, even if your loved one does or does not seek help for his or her addiction.

You may be introduced to concepts that you have never before considered, or may even seem contradictory to what you have considered truth for perhaps your whole life, but these concepts are shared as honestly and openly as possible, using real experiences that cannot be denied as being true.

So there you have it. If you have felt something in your heart or mind that is motivating you to act on it – whether that be to share this episode with a loved one, or to start taking some steps yourself to get a personal shortfall strengthened, please, I ask you, act on it. It can and will make all the difference in your life.

Once again, go and check us out on Facebook and Instagram at @JTL Podcast. Check us out online at www.jtlpod.com. Drop us a note at [email protected]. Visit our sponsors who I purposely did not put at the beginning of this episode or any other for the next 12 weeks. But they are helping this podcast continue forward. They are www.alifeuntold.com, www.sheppardbrackets.com, and www.radfordpineshomedecor.com . Use promo code JUSTIN with A Life Untold and JTLPOD5 at Sheppard Brackets and Radford Pines to save some money on your orders.

Resources:

Alcoholics Anonymous: https://aa.org

Al-Anon (support for loved ones of alcoholics): https://al-anon.org

Resources for many different fellowships:

http://www.reneweveryday.com/resources/the-lists/

http://www.reneweveryday.com/resources/family-and-friends/

A quick announcement for the first 12 weeks of 2020 in the Journey Through Life Podcast. Welcome to Journey In Recovery! Check out our partners:

Links to sponsors and to things discussed in the podcast.

A Life Untold: www.alifeuntold.com Promo code JUSTIN to save 10%

Sheppard Brackets: www.sheppardbrackets.com Promo code JTLPOD5 to save 5%

Announcing a new partner and the new promo code will be available Jan 6, 2020: Radford Pines Home Decor: www.radfordpineshomedecor.com.

In this week's episode of the Journey Through Life Podcast, we talk to a fascinating and REAL person. Jennifer Leeds is an amazing woman who has and is working through some major things. The transformation that she talks about in this story is amazing. You will get amazing insights, motivation, and wisdom from this conversation.

This conversation goes into some very real, and sometimes dark places. But, I love how the light of the Son is always on her horizon and how she chooses to open her eyes wide to the light and let them shine.

Links to sponsors and to things discussed in the podcast.

A Life Untold: www.alifeuntold.com Promo code JUSTIN to save 10%

Sheppard Brackets: www.sheppardbrackets.com Promo code JTLPOD5 to save 5%

Such a good conversation this week with Klaus Voigtlaender. He was born in 1941 in Nazi Germany and witnessed as a young child the burning of Dresden at the end of the war along with many other tragedies. He watched as the Americans liberated Germany and then marched away, relinquishing East Germany to the Soviets. His family miraculously escaped Soviet Germany when he was about 11 years old and went through refugee camps and eventually emigrated to the United States.

This story follows Klaus' life until now. It talks of the influence of a righteous and positive-thinking mother, and gives us perspectives that many of us just don't see first hand. I know you will enjoy this conversation and that you will learn something about life as a refugee and an immigrant that will perhaps open your eyes a little.

Links to sponsors and to things discussed in the podcast.

A Life Untold: www.alifeuntold.com Promo code JUSTIN to save 10%

Sheppard Brackets: www.sheppardbrackets.com Promo code JTLPOD5 to save 5%

In this powerful and heart-wrenching conversation with C.J. Eagar, we go places where no one wants to go. Into the untimely death of a child. We also go into the rarely-discussed effects of those similar trials in the emotions, lives, and marriages of those who walk through them. C.J. talks about each of these things in a way that brings emotion, hope, pain, and insight that can and will help any of us as we also trek through our own wintery seasons of life.

Also announced in this episode is a forthcoming and awesome JTL series called Journey In Recovery - a 12 week series on addiction and recovery and the 12 Steps of recovery. It will start the first week of January 2020 and go for 12 straight weeks. It will be very informative and meaningful.

Links to sponsors and to things discussed in the podcast.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255 and https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

A Life Untold: www.alifeuntold.com Promo code JUSTIN to save 10%

Sheppard Brackets: www.sheppardbrackets.com Promo code JTLPOD5 to save 5%

In this episode, we Journey through the life and experiences of a wonderful, godly man, John Dubois. There is so much meat in this conversation that you really must listen to the whole thing. He is a deeply spiritual and religious man who lives his religion through the amazing work and service he provides to those who are "invisible" to so many of us.

We tackle many difficult topics, not the least of which is suicide. John's takes on suicide will likely open your mind and heart and cause you to think deeply on this hot and current topic. He has worked as a suicide hotline manager and now is out on the front lines doing social work with people in crisis.

We also discuss mental health and mental illness in very real and meaningful ways.

He also talks of his own hopes for his life and his family and future generations.

This truly is a VERY important episode on some VERY important issues. Sit back and enjoy this as you work, drive, relax, or wherever else you strive to become a better person by consuming wholesome media.

Links to sponsors and to things discussed in the podcast.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255 and https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

A Life Untold: www.alifeuntold.com Promo code JUSTIN to save 10%

Sheppard Brackets: www.sheppardbrackets.com Promo code JTLPOD5 to save 5%

In this Journey Through Life with Richard Long we journey with him from his early days in the deep South with financial difficulties and parents who refused to give up and refused to abandon their principles and new-found faith. We learn of struggles that he dealt with as a youth and some life-changing experiences that he had while walking in the deserts of Arizona with the Anasazi Foundation as a young walker.

We see how these lessons learned have continued to help Richard and his family as he walks the paths NOT of least resistance and why that makes all the difference.

I can promise that you will gain something from this episode as you allow yourself to do some self-reflection along with Richard and with me. Thoughts will come to your mind, and the invitation is to act on those thoughts to make changes in your life and your path to become a better person.

Links to sponsors and to things discussed in the podcast.

A Life Untold: www.alifeuntold.com Promo code JUSTIN to save 10%

Sheppard Brackets: www.sheppardbrackets.com Promo code JTLPOD5 to save 5%

ACCI Cognitive Lifeskills: https://www.accilifeskills.com

Anasazi Foundation: https://www.anasazi.org/

In this conversation with Christine Schwan we range from her earliest days as a young girl in Chicago to her eventual home of Phoenix Arizona where she learned that having a voice is vital to connection. Through cool experiences and decisions she learned how important it is for everyone to have a voice, and in the process, found her own voice.

She parlayed a career as a speech-language pathologist into many avenues, one of which I am very excited about - she is a team yoga instructor for the Chicago Cubs. She shares her experience as she was in the clubhouse with the Cubs in their first world series win in 108 years in 2016.

There are some amazing stories and experiences that Christine shares. Please enjoy this conversation.

Also, please take a few minutes and check out these links:

To donate to the non-small cell lung cancer research fund-run that Brooke Ellefsen is doing, a guest from a few weeks ago (BElieve - Arms Around), please go to this link and donate: https://bit.ly/2NY4PJ5

To have your own story put into a hardbound book and to save 10% on that cool project, please go to https://alifeuntold.com and use promo code JUSTIN at checkout.

To get some amazing floating and open concept shelving installed with high-quality brackets, and to save 5% on those brackets, please go to https://www.sheppardbrackets.com and use promo code JTLPOD5 at checkout.

In this week's episode of the Journey Through Life Podcast we converse with Shawnee Jarman about her life and many of the lessons learned through the many experiences that have brought her to where she is today. We discuss the importance of finding your true authentic self and then living and being that way.

We discuss the power of seeking happiness even through perceived difficulties. We talk about Assuming Positive Intent (one of my favorite take-aways from this conversation), and how to analyze things when we feel offended or hurt by the words or actions of another.

These, among many other enjoyable insights and topics are covered in this conversation with Shawnee Jarman.

Links to sponsors and to things discussed in the podcast.

A Life Untold: www.alifeuntold.com Promo code JUSTIN to save 10%

Sheppard Brackets: www.sheppardbrackets.com Promo code JTLPOD5 to save 5%

Shawnee Jarman Life Coach: https://www.familyfusionaz.com/shawnee

In this conversation with Andrea Bodine, we journey through her life which started in a orderly home in Alaska to a small farming and rodeo community in central Utah to where she is today in Mesa, Arizona. Andrea talks of the fun and trial of her life growing up and then of the bulldozer of an unexpected diagnosis of breast cancer and the treatment, recovery, and reconstruction of life and body and mind.

In this conversation a concept was brought up that has revolutionized my thinking of how to approach trials in my life. That is the concept of "Choose Your Hard". It is super powerful and thought-provoking. Stick around and learn about it yourself. I know that you will walk away a better person for it.

Links to sponsors and to things discussed in the podcast.

A Life Untold: www.alifeuntold.com Promo code JUSTIN to save 10%

Sheppard Brackets: www.sheppardbrackets.com Promo code JTLPOD5 to save 5%