Sick & Tired Recovery

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On this Sick and Tired Recovery Podcast episode, I talk with Trace, a subtle energy practitioner, about emotional awareness and recovery. 

We discuss how gratitude can shift perspective, why self-love matters in relationships, and how the 12 steps can help people reconnect with self-acceptance. 

Trace also shares her personal journey through illness and hardship and explains how she approaches emotional and spiritual change. 

This conversation reflects the guests’ experiences and perspectives. 

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What if the voice telling you to quit is the one keeping you stuck? 

Zuma (the swearing therapist), shares how discipline, self-talk, and resilience helped her navigate addiction, cancer, and major life changes. From quitting smoking one craving at a time to going back to school later in life, her story is a reminder that it’s never too late to pursue a new chapter.

This conversation centers on recovery, self-talk, and the habits that help people keep moving through addiction, illness, and self-doubt. 

Zuma shares how she rebuilt her life through discipline, prayer, and a refusal to let age, perfectionism, or fear define what is possible.

We also discuss how cancer reshaped her perspective on self-worth, why changing the question from “Why me?” to “What can I learn?” matters, and how taking care of yourself is not selfish but necessary.

Key topics

• She shares that motivation is unreliable, but discipline is what gets you to class, the gym, or treatment when you do not feel like showing up.
• Zuma talks about quitting cigarettes by taking it one craving at a time, using a decision-based system instead of waiting to feel ready.
• She describes a practical way to challenge negative self-talk by giving it the voice of someone you cannot stand.
• Zuma says perfectionism became another form of addiction for her, and cancer forced her to release the need to be perfect.
• She reflects on breast cancer diagnosis, shifting from “Why me?” to “Why not me?” and deciding to fight instead of waiting to die.”

Timestamps

00:00 - Opening the recovery conversation and asking what each person is recovering from
 01:48 - Going back to school at 42, starting a master’s at 50, and moving countries at 60
 03:06 - Why discipline matters more than motivation
 04:00 - Quitting smoking one craving at a time
 07:07 - Turning negative self-talk into a voice you reject
 08:56 - Giving your positive voice to someone you admire
 11:16 - How addiction erodes self-worth and self-trust
 12:08 - Knowing your limits with nicotine and practicing self-care
 13:50 - Addiction showing up as perfectionism
 14:20 - Cancer forcing a release of perfection and body image pressure
 16:33 - Reframing a cancer diagnosis from “Why me?” to “Why not me?”
 17:49 - The mindset of “I had cancer, cancer didn’t have me”
 19:12 - Replacing “Why?” with “What can I learn from this?”

Follow Zulma:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theswearingtherapist

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theswearingtherapist

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Self-medicating is often just a symptom of something deeper. 

In this episode, my guest Marie, explains why real transformation begins when we stop chasing control and start rebuilding trust, self-love, and inner peace from the inside out.

If you have ever felt trapped in anxiety, over-caretaking, emotional reactivity, or habits that numb rather than heal, this conversation will resonate. 

You’ll discover:

• Why so many people get stuck in unconscious habit loops

• How breathwork can help interrupt anxiety, panic, and emotional reactivity

• Why self-awareness and self-compassion are trainable practices

• How a holistic mind-body-spirit approach can support healing

• What Marie’s “Take Five” method is and why five minutes a day can make a difference

At the heart of this episode is a simple but powerful idea: you do not have to keep living on autopilot. 

When you understand your patterns, breathe with intention, and reconnect with what genuinely brings you joy, you can stop reacting to life and begin moving through it with greater freedom.

Essential listening for anyone ready to break old cycles, calm their nervous system, and rediscover inner peace.

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Someone asked me during a live what I thought about religion. My answer was pretty simple: I don’t judge anybody’s religion, and I’m not interested in telling people what they should or shouldn’t believe.

In recovery, we often say this is a spiritual, not religious, program. Over the years, I’ve learned to stay pretty close to that lane.

For me, spirituality has become less about labels and more about the relationship I have with God, the way I live, how I treat people, and what’s happening inside of me.

In this episode, I share my personal thoughts on religion, spirituality, recovery, and why I believe we can talk about God without needing everybody to believe exactly the same thing.

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There comes a point when we get tired of the consequences, tired of the pain, tired of making the same promises to ourselves—and sick and tired of ending up right back where we started.

But having enough and being ready to change aren’t always the same thing.

In this episode, my guest and I share our own experiences with reaching that place where we knew something had to change. We talk about what kept us holding on, what it really meant to become willing, and why sometimes we have to experience the same pain over and over before we're finally ready to do something different.

Because “enough is enough” isn’t always one dramatic moment. Sometimes it’s a process. And eventually, we have to decide whether we're tired enough to complain about our lives—or tired enough to change them.

It Starts and Ends With You.

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I came into recovery thinking I had a drug problem.

And looking at my life at the time, it made sense. Drugs had taken me places I never thought I would go. So naturally, I believed getting clean would solve the problem.

But something happened when I stopped using.

I began to realize that getting rid of the drugs didn't automatically change the way I thought, felt, behaved, or saw myself.

The fear was still there. The insecurity was still there. The need for acceptance was still there. The way I saw myself—and the things I believed about myself—didn't disappear just because the drugs did.

Over time, I began to realize that, for me, drugs were just the symptom. Underneath them was something much deeper: an identity problem.

In this episode, I share what recovery began to look like once I stopped focusing only on what I was doing and started discovering who I was.

Getting clean gave me the opportunity to live.

Recovery started teaching me who was doing the living.

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Learning to love yourself isn't something that happens overnight. It's a process of remembering who you were before fear, rejection, shame, and survival taught you to become someone else.

Many of us spend years trying to earn love from other people while neglecting the relationship we have with ourselves. We criticize ourselves, ignore our needs, abandon our values, and wonder why we feel empty inside.

In this episode, I walk through what it actually looks like to build a loving relationship with yourself. We'll talk about learning to accept yourself without settling, becoming honest about your flaws without condemning yourself, reconnecting with the person you've been running from, and allowing God to transform you from the inside out.

Whether you're in recovery, healing from a difficult relationship, or simply tired of feeling disconnected from yourself, this conversation is an invitation to come home.

Because healing doesn't begin when someone else loves you.

It begins when you stop abandoning yourself.

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Why do so many people lose themselves when they fall in love?

It rarely happens all at once. Instead, it happens through small compromises, people-pleasing, fear of rejection, and slowly placing someone else's needs, opinions, and approval above your own. What begins as love can quietly become self-abandonment.

In this episode of Sick & Tired Recovery, we explore the deeper reasons behind this pattern. We'll discuss why low self-esteem, insecurity, and self-centered fear can cause us to lose our identity in relationships, the difference between healthy compromise and abandoning yourself, and why healing begins by rebuilding the relationship you have with yourself.

If you've ever found yourself asking, "How did I lose who I am?" this conversation will help you understand why it happened—and how to begin finding your way back.

Healthy love should never require you to stop being yourself.

If this episode encouraged you, follow Sick & Tired Recovery and share it with someone who may need this message. Together, we'll continue the journey of recovery, healing, and remembering who you truly are.

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Recovery isn't always exciting.

There are seasons when everything feels new, hopeful, and full of momentum. Then there are seasons when recovery feels ordinary, repetitive, and even boring.

The truth is, healing isn't built on constant excitement. It's built on consistency. Learning to live without the chaos, drama, and stimulation that once drove us can feel uncomfortable at first. But that's often where the deepest growth happens.

In this episode, we explore why boredom shows up in recovery, what it means when life starts to slow down, and how to embrace the ordinary without mistaking it for something being wrong.

Recovery isn't about chasing the next high—it's about learning to find peace in the present moment.

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Can someone sound recovered without actually recovering?

In this episode, we explore one of the most subtle traps in recovery: mistaking knowledge, self-awareness, and powerful sharing for genuine transformation.

Many of us learn the language of recovery long before we fully practice it. We know what to say, how to tell our story, and how to inspire others. But real recovery isn't measured by the quality of our shares. It's measured by the quality of our lives.

If you've ever wondered whether you're growing or simply becoming more skilled at sounding like you're growing, this conversation is for you.

Because recovery isn't proven by what happens in the meeting.

It's revealed by what happens when the meeting is over.

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