May 17, 2021
Life is like a game, it’s a game where many curveballs are thrown our way. As with all games, you can’t win all the time. And once we lose, it's often because of abuse or betrayal. Some people turn to drugs or alcohol to cope with these traumatic experiences, while others shut themselves in.
Jason Leenaarts knows this well, his traumatic childhood experiences have led him to make several bad decisions in the past. But his story is far from sad. Instead, it speaks of triumph and is a testament to the fact that there will always be a way out of any dark tunnel.
About Guest/Topic
You may know Jason Leenaarts as the owner of Revolution Fitness and Therapy in Ohio. Jason is a man who turned trauma into strength. But not many people are aware of the long journey he took towards self-healing and discovery.
During a downward spiral, Jason relied on various prescription drugs to cope with the pain of his past trauma. He realized, in hindsight, that these treated his symptoms but never the root cause, which eventually opened the door to substance abuse.
After years of struggling and countless visits to many psychiatrists, Jason was finally able to regain control over his life and develop a deeper connection with himself.
In this episode, Jason shares his story of trauma and transformation to inspire and help people in the same boat.
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please seek help from your nearest medical professional.
In This Episode
- Understand the different stages of betrayal and trauma
- Recognize what ‘rock bottom’ is and how to rise above it
- Learn about the ways that people cope with abuse, betrayal, and trauma
- Find out why you need to tackle the root cause of your trauma to truly heal
- Discover the journey towards self-healing and discovery
Quotes
“Here I was finishing up high school, about to go on to college, was gonna be independent like all college kids very much wish to be when they finally wanna get out of their parents’ home. And it just started this domino effect of bad things that happened and you don’t really know how to stop that downward spiral of ‘I don’t have a lot of self-worth’ and ‘I don’t really like how things are happening in my life’ and ‘I don’t really know how to cope with these things.’” [3:26]
“When you’ve got trauma in your life, all of a sudden, you look at things differently in your life.” [7:55]
“Life’s not going the way that I want. So, it must be because I’m not worthy of good things. And you tell yourself that story regardless of how untrue it actually is … Once we start that domino effect, it goes nowhere good. And it’s hard to get yourself out of that.” [18:26]
“At the time, I was still in so much denial that I actually have a drug problem. The drugs were a daily thing. I didn’t think that drugs were something that were taking over my life.” [20:33]
“The bad things that were happening were happening because I was not in control of the things that I should have been in control of.” [22:31]
“You know how certain things go in your relationship over time where it’s like ‘wow, some problems don’t go away when you get married.’ And so, you start to grab all of those things in, and they become the things that get swept under the rug. And you know, I think everyone knows what that’s like when you finally lift up the rug, and go ‘oh, there’s that mess I made’” [26:41]
“Just because you solve certain problems in your life doesn’t mean that they’re all solved.” [29:42]