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Well, welcome back everyone to another episode.

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Today we're going to cover a very important difficult topic of alcohol, how that can take

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us down a bad path, but it's not the end of the world.

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There's a joy in things that we can get to on the back end.

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We have a lovely story, lovely guest that we have on today that will get to hear her

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story.

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So, Roseanne, it's great to have you on today.

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Why don't you tell the audience a little bit about yourself?

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Yeah, my name is Roseanne Porte and I'm the author of a daily devotional called The Plans

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He Has For Me.

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And it is a devotional that helps people put alcohol to the side for 12 consecutive

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weeks.

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That devotional got written as a result of my own personal experiences.

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I was fairly successful executive in my career, CPA, COO, CFO.

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I was a leader in the church, yet I think I fell for the lies of the world and the alcohol

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companies and I got a little trapped.

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The devotional has won a couple of awards, so I'm pretty proud of it.

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And I feel like my life's been rewritten and it's very purpose-driven.

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I want to help other people kind of find the transformation and the joy that they're looking

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for when they remove alcohol.

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Now when you were talking about just real briefly with your story, believing some of

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those lies and things of that nature, which obviously our culture is filled with all sorts

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of lies, why don't you walk us through a little bit of that story and what some of those lies

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that you were believing, what those were?

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Yeah, I started at such a young age, like 13, stealing liquor from my parents' liquor

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cabinet.

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And at that point I was in high school and it's like to be cool, right?

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If you're going to fit in, you're going to have some alcohol and then college, you know,

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you start believing that that's the only way to have fun and socialize.

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Certainly the commercials and society would also make it available on every romantic occasion,

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so it can be used for romance.

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The stressing big one, right?

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Every television show we probably watch has the person coming home from work and cracking

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open that beer or opening that bottle of wine, so it just becomes second nature in society.

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People have talked to so many people now that I don't drink and they know I don't drink.

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And they say, you know, I'm so glad you're doing this because I'm really trying to take

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the shame out of it.

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There's a lot of languaging I don't use, but they're like, I don't even like to drink

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and I always feel under pressure when I'm with other people to drink and that's people that

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don't even like alcohol.

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So you know, the pressure is real and I'm trying to change the narrative to choose a

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life that's better, that's, you know, that more depth, peace, joy, productivity, meaningful

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relationships.

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And so when I go into a bar, I'm just like, no, I'm just, I don't drink, you know, I

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feel so much better.

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And quite frankly, a lot of people probably would go, huh, wish I could do that.

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I bet you I'd feel better too, you know, so yeah.

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Again, you talk about all those lies, which yeah, there's a lot that is presented in our

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culture.

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When did you really realize like, uh-oh, like, no, this is a problem.

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This is something that I need to improve on.

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When did that kind of realization come to you?

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Yeah, I don't know if I know exactly when, but I know it was a long time ago.

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I, the National Institutes of Health say that people struggle with and try to quit

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for four and a half years before they, on average, four and a half years before they

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get help.

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I want to say mine was 10, you know, 10 years.

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I think it happens over time, um, you know, maybe you wake up one morning and you have

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that horrible hangover and you go, that's it, enough is enough.

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And then you start putting boundaries around it, you know, only after five, only on weekends,

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only on special occasions, only for romantic times, only on holidays.

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And you start noticing that it's hard.

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Like, wait, I do, you know, I do want to relax today.

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I forget it, you know, and over time, the consequences start adding up, whether you're

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losing productivity or you said or did something while you were under the influence that, you

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know, maybe creating some relationship problems.

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Um, for me, my weight was going up, when you drink alcohol, your liver doesn't process,

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you know, the fat, the way it's supposed to, is trying to get rid of the toxin instead.

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So I was having issues, you know, losing weight, and I knew that I could not lose weight

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if I drank alcohol.

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Just an enormous amount of problems that occur and there are various people, you know, I've

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coached for years and it could be a car accident for some people, a diagnosis, a DUI, you know,

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there's just so many things that can happen.

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And I look back on my, my journey and I am so grateful that I didn't hurt anybody else

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and I didn't kill myself, you know what I mean?

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Because just the consequences can be, can be severe and I'm just, I'm grateful.

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I did get a DUI.

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That wasn't fun.

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Not, not fun at all.

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I was really humiliating because I was pretty, you know, I was a go-getter, I worked for

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public companies, I worked for one of the richest people in the world at one point, managing

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his well and that was humiliating.

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I don't want to be one of those people, you know, and here I was, I did it, you know,

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terrible.

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And we're looking at a lot of different situations, but I think particularly what you described

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there, a DUI, that there's a kind of a shame and guilt that goes with that.

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Now we add to the church component of that, which I know not everyone that gets a DUI

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is involved in church, but how did you work through that?

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Like, I'm supposed to be a Christian and I'm doing this.

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What was that like kind of going through that process?

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Yeah.

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So if you want to hear that live, I started a podcast recently.

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It's called Say Goodbye and Imagine and the first interview is me and the person who's

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interviewing me is my pastor at the time I got the DUI.

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And I was on staff, although it was volunteer staff, but I was responsible for a lot of

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things.

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I was responsible for a ministry for the sick and dying and I did Bible studies.

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And let me tell you, that was horrendous.

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This living in secret is having this secret that you're always supposed to hide.

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It's horrible.

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And that's why I want to start talking about it to let people know I want to share that,

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but I think people view people with alcohol problems as the person with the alcohol bottle

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and the paper bag on the street.

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But I know firsthand because I've been coaching that there's very high performing people that

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are really struggling with this.

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And there's people in the church that struggle with this.

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That's one of the reasons I wrote the devotional.

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I went through a coaching program myself and it was secular and I was so transformed.

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I had lost weight, my blood pressure was down, my resting heart rate was down, I had peace,

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I had joy, I had more self-confidence.

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I mean all these things.

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And I was like, this is secret sauce, you know?

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And I said, I want to work for you and I started working for them as an enrollment coach and

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having these conversations with Christian upon Christian upon Christian that was feeling

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the guilt and shame.

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I actually just talked to a pastor recently about the program that I'm doing and he shared,

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he goes, you know what?

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I got caught in COVID with an alcohol problem and I ended up having to quit and I'm like,

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wow, you know, you don't expect.

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And I actually have coached pastors.

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Again, the lie, it's the lie.

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Everybody thought nobody drinks alcohol thinking that's going to happen to them, you know?

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And it's an addictive substance.

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And the alcohol companies spend a lot of money on making you believe that this is the way

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to have fun and this is the way to get the guy or the girl, you know what I mean?

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So anyway, yeah, I think my, I guess we haven't talked about that either.

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My mental health was just going down the drain because you know, you're hiding the secret,

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you're usually on the type of person that when I put my mind to what I get it done,

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but when it comes to a substance, it doesn't work that way.

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There's a little bit more work involved and I didn't know, I didn't understand the process

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of changing my neural pathways, which is kind of what I focus on.

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I focus on the science of the brain and creating new habits and new neural pathways.

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Yeah, I think especially in your, like your position, yeah, I'm a go-getter.

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And I love that you brought up the example of the, you know, the homeless guy that's

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got the brown paper sack and that's who the drunks are, which, you know, there's a reason

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why we have that mental image that does happen.

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But there's the executives that are performing really well that you wouldn't think of that

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they are having alcohol issues as well.

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So yeah, there's not one face to people that are struggling with alcohol usage.

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It doesn't discriminate.

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And I think, you know, the people on the streets are the ones that probably couldn't get the

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help that they needed.

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I mean, this is something that gets progressive and when I was an enrollment coach, I guess

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for, you know, executive CEOs, entrepreneurs, you know, they are high performers.

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It's like I was a pedal to the metal type of person, which is why maybe alcohol agreed

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with me.

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But, you know, they are starting to feel the pinch.

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They are starting to feel like they're moving slower in their business.

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They know they're leaving something on the table.

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Maybe Mondays are super tough and they're not getting stuff done.

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So again, they're operating in this realm of secret.

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And honestly, I think it should be just as easy to say, you know, I really need to give

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up drinking as, you know, I really need to lose weight.

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Both are super hard to do.

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Both involve new ways of processing information and new habit formations.

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And yeah, I don't, they're both bad for you.

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They can both kill you.

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And they both, depending on the severity, can have severe psychological, you know, consequences

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of not succeeding at it.

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So, yeah.

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What you were talking about earlier with the substance portion, and I think that's something

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that's really important with this, that it's a, yes, it's a behavior, but you don't just

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snap your fingers and hey, just get over it.

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Just stop it.

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There's more that goes into it.

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So kind of explain when you're talking about neuro pathways and things of that nature.

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What some of the things you learned and how that brain science really helped you work

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through this issue?

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Yeah, we, you know, all those reasons that I explained earlier, those kind of we drink

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because we think it's required to be romantic or have fun or deal with stress or check out

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when we're depressed, right?

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And especially anxiety, this is where I think people get, this is why COVID created such

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a drinking problem for so many people because an addictive substance creates a jump in your

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dopamine level.

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So it does provide this jump and joy.

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It calms your nervous system, right?

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And so if you've got anxiety and alcohol calms the nervous system, you're like, oh,

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that's good.

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And the next time you're anxious, you use it again, you use it again, you use it again,

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and you're not allowing your body to equal up, to have equilibrium and get back, back

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set.

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And what happens with substances especially is you develop a neural pathway.

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Like for me, again, it wasn't anything I thought twice about.

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You get home, you open the bottle of wine, you pour it, you don't think about it at all,

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you just do it.

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And your body gets accustomed to it.

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And unfortunately, the more you use a substance, the more you need it.

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And my tolerance had gotten so high.

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And that's why you go, well, how do you drink that much?

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I practiced over a number of decades.

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And so the process of quitting or changing your relationship with alcohol is understanding

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what your relationship is with it, right?

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Let's just go with this anxiety thing, because that's probably what most people can connect

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with.

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It's this awareness of why you're grabbing it.

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I don't know if you've ever experienced this, but I'm sure if some of your listeners, I

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used to have anxiety at get home and I'd crack open the bottle of wine.

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And once the glass of wine was poured, I could let it sit there for 20 minutes or half hours.

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Now, oh, I need it right now.

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It's because I got that dopamine hit and anticipation that I was going to have it, right?

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But it's developing this awareness of I need something to de-stress myself.

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And I'm grabbing the alcohol.

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What other things could I do to create less stress?

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And so in the coaching program, or in the devotional, I say, let's do it for 12 weeks

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and see what's possible.

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Because over that time, you can develop a new habit of, wait a minute, opening the refrigerator

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is an old habit.

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I want to solve this with a new one.

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I think I'll go for a walk or I'll call my friend or I'll talk to my spouse or I'll

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clean the house.

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It's catching it, noticing it, understanding it and redirecting it.

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And then the more you practice doing that, the more it becomes second nature.

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One of the greatest gifts I got when I quit was I used it for that anxiety and depression

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and sadness.

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And now, because I've practiced it, it doesn't even come up as a thought for me anymore to

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solve it with alcohol.

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And that's what we're aiming for, is to change that thought.

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Yeah.

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Which is a very different approach than the 12th step.

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I don't know if you know anything about 12th step.

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Let's get into that.

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And I do think it's interesting on your devotional.

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You have the 12 week as opposed to the 12 step.

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Did you mean that?

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I'm like, I really didn't.

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I just wanted the three months of time.

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So walk us through what are those differences?

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I think everybody knows what a 12 step or AA alcoholics anonymous, either they've been

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in it or they've known someone or they just know have heard that term.

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What's different about that approach?

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Yeah, it's not even closely the same.

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So let me explain to you, for me, the reasons why I was reluctant to go to AA.

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Well, first let me explain that AA has saved millions in countless lives.

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So it is known as the most effective methodology out there, which I hope to change.

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So I do want to acknowledge its effectiveness.

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However, when I was faced with understanding I had a problem, there are a number of stumbling

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blocks for me to consider that.

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One was if you walk in, you have to quit forever.

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And I couldn't imagine that.

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Two was you had to call yourself an alcoholic.

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And that was absolutely out of the question for me because I already had super bad self-esteem

242
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issues.

243
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I was in a toxic marriage for 29 years and it had fallen apart.

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I already basically hated myself.

245
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I didn't want to add on top of that.

246
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I'm an alcoholic, you know what I mean?

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And then three looked to a higher power, well, I already did.

248
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I was Christian.

249
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I loved God.

250
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I loved Jesus.

251
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So for those reasons, I just was not attracted to AA, which is why I went this secular route.

252
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But what the difference is in this approach for me, it's hope-based as opposed to victim-based.

253
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It's choice-based.

254
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And I'm not saying like sometimes people get really offended when I say choice-based,

255
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:37,200
but I think there is... it's hard at the beginning, right?

256
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,960
That's why I want you to get 12 weeks under your belt.

257
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But after 12 weeks, you feel pretty darn good.

258
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I can tell you, you feel pretty darn good and you have learned how to say no.

259
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And I believe it is your choice.

260
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:57,080
So in this program, you would document your progress.

261
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Let's see.

262
00:21:58,080 --> 00:21:59,080
I'm sleeping better.

263
00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:02,640
Oh, I'm spending more time with my kids.

264
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I have more energy at work.

265
00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:05,760
I'm happier.

266
00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:07,080
I have more peace.

267
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There's no more anxiety when I wake up in the morning.

268
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You're documenting it.

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And that's that awareness piece again.

270
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So after 12 weeks, you feel so much better.

271
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You know how to handle social situations.

272
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And you know you feel better.

273
00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:33,960
So when you choose, you know what path I'm trying to solve for cognitive dissonance.

274
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Do you know what that is?

275
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:36,680
Yes.

276
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Yes.

277
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Yeah.

278
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So, you know, it's believing two competing thoughts about the same thing.

279
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And boy, is that true when we talk about alcohol, right?

280
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I love it.

281
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:47,200
I need it.

282
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:48,200
I want it.

283
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:49,200
It's good for me.

284
00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:50,200
I hate it.

285
00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:51,200
It's ruining my life.

286
00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:52,200
I want to die, right?

287
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:53,640
Which is true.

288
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And so over the 12-week period, we're really trying to solve what's the truth about how

289
00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:01,880
alcohol treated me.

290
00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:09,000
Because we have this love affair with it, but it's completely toxic.

291
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:12,880
It's hope-based versus victim-based.

292
00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:20,680
My understanding of the people I've talked to in AA or 12th step is like, you know what?

293
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:22,840
Well, they use that word, I'm recovering.

294
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:23,840
I'm recovering.

295
00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:24,840
I'm recovering.

296
00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,720
I'm like, oh my gosh, I've recovered.

297
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:30,440
I'm a new person.

298
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:35,760
I don't want to say I'm recovering for the rest of my life.

299
00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:42,360
And I mean, I can say with pretty big confidence, because I used to be a super heavy smoker,

300
00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:48,080
like called drug addict level, every half hour, two to three packs a day.

301
00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:52,480
And I didn't have to call myself a smokeaholic, a cigaretteaholic.

302
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:55,040
And I'm not in recovery.

303
00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:59,200
And I quit because it was killing me.

304
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:09,880
And that's kind of the same thing that I want people to understand with alcohol, that it

305
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:11,360
was killing you.

306
00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:14,680
And not only that, it gets worse over time.

307
00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:20,120
When I talk to people, it's like, well, how long have you been struggling with this?

308
00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:24,400
A couple of years, well, do you want to keep struggling for a couple more years?

309
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,480
Because it does get progressive.

310
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:27,480
No.

311
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:33,000
You know, and it's just coming to that conclusion.

312
00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:35,920
The program I went to was secular.

313
00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:48,720
The program I created was faith-based, because I believe that people need to understand that

314
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,720
they were created for a purpose.

315
00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:57,880
And I really want people to understand that they were given a gift in life.

316
00:24:57,880 --> 00:24:58,880
And most people know this.

317
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:07,200
I'm sure you know this, Johnny, that you know there's some super great gifts that you possess,

318
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:08,200
right?

319
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:12,760
Whether or not you're using it, we're all really good at something.

320
00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:20,240
And when we're using a substance, we're probably not pursuing that gift.

321
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:24,080
And we're not using it for the kingdom.

322
00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:26,880
And so that's the other thing about the program.

323
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:35,520
Like, we're taking something out of our life that we thought gave us joy.

324
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:40,240
Let's put something back in our life that's true joy.

325
00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:44,360
That was the joy that you were created for.

326
00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:48,800
And that way, people get to feel like, oh my gosh, I've always wanted to play the piano,

327
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,720
or I've always wanted to get my bowling game in order.

328
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:54,840
It doesn't matter what it is, right?

329
00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:55,840
I want to start carpentry.

330
00:25:55,840 --> 00:26:00,200
I want to go back to school and learn how to flower range.

331
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:05,920
And one of my clients, she wanted to be a real estate agent.

332
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:13,200
And she literally studied for it and passed her exam, you know, with all the extra time

333
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:18,000
she had not drinking, not recovering from drinking, and not thinking about how to quit

334
00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,640
drinking.

335
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:27,360
That frees up a lot of extra time in your life to do some of these really super good

336
00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:28,360
things.

337
00:26:28,360 --> 00:26:34,480
Because if you just, and that's what I, that's like I get the impression that they do an

338
00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:42,200
AA, I don't know if you have any experience with this, but it's kind of to bubble wrap

339
00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:48,240
yourself from the temptations.

340
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:56,560
And I try to teach people to go out into the world and have fun and learn how to be confident

341
00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,760
about saying, no, thank you, I'm so much better like this, right?

342
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,440
As opposed to, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I can't go there, I can't go there.

343
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:10,000
Actually, I know that for a, for a fact, I talked to some guy at church and he knew what

344
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:14,640
I did and he had not drank in and maybe 15 years.

345
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:20,360
And maybe he went to a wedding and somebody handed him a drink and he said he started

346
00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:24,160
shaking his son had to take him out of the place.

347
00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:31,920
And I'm like, wow, because he trained himself, I think he trained his spine to say, this

348
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:35,840
is always going to be a problem for you, you're always going to want it.

349
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:40,440
If that's what you train yourself to think, that's what's going to happen when you see

350
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:43,080
it, you know?

351
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:52,120
And so it's a lot of mindset, you know, a lot of mindset around how lucky you are to

352
00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:58,640
not drink, not how unfortunate it is that you're different than anyone else and you

353
00:27:58,640 --> 00:27:59,640
can't drink.

354
00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:07,240
It's like, no, I'm, so I've never felt healthier in my life than now.

355
00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:14,240
I keep up with all my blood tests, all my markers just keep getting better and better.

356
00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:21,600
And yeah, I just, I have such confidence in my health, whereas I used to go, well, when

357
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:26,240
I have these blood tests and she's going to tell me I have cancer or something.

358
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:31,840
And by the way, I don't know if you realize this, but alcohol contributes significantly

359
00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:34,960
to eight different types of cancer.

360
00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:37,360
Did you know that?

361
00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:42,840
That doesn't super surprise me, but I wasn't aware of that exact statistic.

362
00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:51,320
Yeah, especially breast cancer, apparently, because I had interviewed a holistic doctor

363
00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:54,720
and she said, yeah, it changes your hormones around.

364
00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:59,680
And I was like, I had no idea, no idea.

365
00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:07,880
But yeah, I, you know, even those people that don't want to drink, like those people that

366
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:13,520
I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast to feel peer pressure to drink when they don't

367
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:19,040
want, you know, they feel confident like, no, thanks, I don't really like it.

368
00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:24,640
I'm good, but I'm love to hang here with you and have fun, you know.

369
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:31,320
You know, kind of what you're saying there, it reminds me of, you know, basically trying

370
00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:37,960
to have everybody else around me stop their way of life.

371
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:39,920
Nobody else around me can ever drink alcohol.

372
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,720
I can't ever be exposed to that.

373
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:46,600
That is a, first off, it's impossible to do.

374
00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:51,640
You can't change everybody in the world around you, but it's also not a very healthy way.

375
00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:57,280
Like it's much easier to control myself than to control other people around me.

376
00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:03,240
So I like what you're, I like what you're getting out there of let me focus on myself

377
00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:10,920
and like I said, even if I don't drink, that I don't have to not be around it ever.

378
00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:13,160
Just say no, no, thank you.

379
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:14,280
And then that's it.

380
00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:20,080
And I'm imagining probably in your experience after you've been through this program and

381
00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:25,120
just in general for most people, if somebody's not comfortable with drinking and they say,

382
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:26,120
no, thank you.

383
00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:29,480
Most of the time, it probably just goes, okay.

384
00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:31,520
And we keep moving on.

385
00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:36,000
And that's really one of the biggest things I get is like, oh, nobody even cared.

386
00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:37,000
Nobody even cared.

387
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:43,280
Like here we think everybody cares and nobody cares, but I forgot that I do have friends

388
00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:51,720
whose fathers are in-laws, we're an alcoholic only they call themselves an alcoholic.

389
00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:56,320
I don't, I just want to say they had a problem.

390
00:30:56,320 --> 00:31:00,360
But yeah, no family holiday could ever take place with any alcohol.

391
00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:04,880
It was just, you couldn't have alcohol when Papa was around.

392
00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:07,000
And oh my gosh.

393
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:11,680
And then we wonder why people go, well, I don't want to be one of those.

394
00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:16,800
Like, oh, you have to announce to the world, I have a problem and you can't ever drink

395
00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:17,800
in front of me.

396
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:26,800
I was at a conference actually just recently, it was called the National Religious Broadcasters

397
00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:27,800
Conference.

398
00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:33,520
And it was after hours and there were some French authors, Christian authors that got

399
00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:38,240
together and went up and there's girl having a glass of wine and she's like, well, what

400
00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:39,240
are you doing?

401
00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:41,240
I told her and she goes, I'm so sorry.

402
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:44,040
I'm like, why are you sorry?

403
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:50,120
Well, because I'm drinking like, you know, and that's what I, I go, yeah, that's kind

404
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:53,000
of the conversation I'd like to change.

405
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:56,040
I don't care if you drink, you know what I mean?

406
00:31:56,040 --> 00:32:02,680
It's, it's, I'm laughing about it, but it's super sad.

407
00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:11,200
And I just think we need to have more compassion because, you know, when I say food, sugar

408
00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,640
is an addictive substance too.

409
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:20,520
For many people, including me, once I start can't stop, right?

410
00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:21,920
And it's, it's addictive.

411
00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:27,440
I think a doctor told me once cheese is addictive too.

412
00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:31,320
Anything that's addictive, my body loves.

413
00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:34,920
So, but those things are addictive.

414
00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:41,440
So people should have some more compassion understanding, even easier habits, right?

415
00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:47,360
Whether it's putting your cell phone down, checking your email during the day, all of

416
00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:54,360
those are habits that are super difficult to change and don't involve a substance.

417
00:32:54,360 --> 00:33:01,160
So if we could have a little bit more compassion for people that get caught in the, you know,

418
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:11,480
the alcohol trap, you know, I think that would be a great thing for us.

419
00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:13,400
Let's kind of take that and go for a second.

420
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:19,960
Let's assume somebody listening, they're not dealing with an alcohol issue for themselves,

421
00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:27,120
but they know somebody, their spouse, their friend, cousin, whoever.

422
00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:33,360
What advice would you give for them to be able to reach out to that peer friend, family

423
00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:35,360
member that needs help?

424
00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:40,960
What can they do to help somebody else out or at least approach them in a healthier way?

425
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:41,960
Yeah.

426
00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:44,480
And I thank you for asking that question.

427
00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:47,080
It's a really good question.

428
00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,360
Obviously there's a lot of different levels, right?

429
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:55,840
It's the friend who you've noticed drinks to access, but they've never said, I need to

430
00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:57,400
quit, right?

431
00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:01,640
I just think you leave that alone because everybody has to follow their own journey.

432
00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:07,240
But if they're close enough friend and they go, gosh, I really need to quit drinking,

433
00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:11,160
you know, you could say, and that's why I like this approach.

434
00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:20,120
You don't say to somebody, oh, you should consider AA because that would be super insulting.

435
00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:27,720
But you can say, hey, I know this daily devotional, a lot of people give this as a gift and it's

436
00:34:27,720 --> 00:34:34,000
received as something that they're grateful for because it's a 12 week challenge, right?

437
00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:36,120
It's not like you've got to do this forever.

438
00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:37,120
It's a challenge.

439
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:43,000
So I have a lot of testimonials where it was given as a gift and received really, really

440
00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:44,000
well.

441
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:53,280
If it's somebody that's close to you, let's say a spouse, let's just go to spouse because

442
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:58,440
that's probably one of the more difficult ones.

443
00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:00,240
It's a balance, right?

444
00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:12,360
I think if you're acting completely disgusted and you bang doors and remember that the person

445
00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:21,200
who's struggling is already having a lot of battles in their head with themselves.

446
00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:26,240
And so I think a compassionate approach like I can see you're struggling or is this hard

447
00:35:26,240 --> 00:35:30,960
for you to quit or what do you think about your drinking habit?

448
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:38,880
Just creating a conversation that has curiosity instead of accusations is a good starting

449
00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:41,520
place.

450
00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:49,840
Build that, solve the problem, not always and not generally, especially right away.

451
00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:53,120
I think boundaries need to be set.

452
00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:57,280
When you drink, I prefer you not to drink in the house when I'm around or you know what

453
00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:58,280
I mean, boundaries.

454
00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:01,840
If you're going to do that, I'm going to go into another room.

455
00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:04,400
But here it's loving.

456
00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:12,000
I love you, but you need to understand that when you drink, blah, blah, blah happens

457
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:15,000
and it's affecting our relationship.

458
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:23,320
I think having conversations about hope and how the relationship could flourish without

459
00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:33,880
it because I know when I was married and my husband used to just be disgusted with the

460
00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:34,880
cigarettes.

461
00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:39,800
And I remember I already was disgusted with myself because I smoked.

462
00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:40,800
I could smell it.

463
00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:41,800
I didn't like it.

464
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:42,800
I couldn't quit.

465
00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:47,760
And so just to see his disgust just sent me deeper, right?

466
00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:54,240
If he had just said to me instead of his perspective like, oh, I just hate it when he smoked.

467
00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:59,840
If he had just said to me, you know, I really love you and I want to spend the rest of my

468
00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:04,680
life with you and I'm worried that you're killing yourself.

469
00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:09,080
You know what I mean?

470
00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:13,920
Looking for something that's more hopeful because that's what I tell people, like, what's

471
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:14,920
possible?

472
00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:21,800
Let's just put it down for 12 weeks and say what's possible.

473
00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:31,640
So I think those are some general ways to deal with it with a little bit more compassion

474
00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:35,160
as opposed to disgust, not that their behavior.

475
00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:41,120
But you have to remember they don't necessarily know their behavior or they do, but there's

476
00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:42,120
so much shame.

477
00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:49,960
It's just really, there's such a gamut of severity, right, that we're talking about.

478
00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:58,880
But in all of the severity of coached people who have to drink a day serious drinking problem,

479
00:37:58,880 --> 00:37:59,880
it's affecting them.

480
00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:01,360
It's still affecting them.

481
00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:06,000
It's affecting their relationships or productivity, their health, everything.

482
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:14,520
So it doesn't matter if it's two or 20, you know, the conversation needs to be the same

483
00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:18,040
and understanding that it's not that easy to just stop.

484
00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:26,440
Yeah, yeah, I really like that compassion mindset that you're talking about there and

485
00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:31,920
asking those open-ended questions and just your observations coming from a place of I

486
00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:32,920
love you.

487
00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:35,840
And this is, yeah, it's affecting our home.

488
00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:38,200
It's affecting your health.

489
00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:44,760
And just being able to keep it at that level as opposed to, you know, this kind of intentionally,

490
00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:48,200
yeah, like you filthy pig, what's wrong with you?

491
00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:50,320
You know, like we don't want to go that route.

492
00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:51,680
You disgust me.

493
00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:54,760
I can't stand it anymore slamming doors.

494
00:38:54,760 --> 00:39:00,760
And, you know, I promise you nothing about that will help them quit nothing.

495
00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:04,760
And I'll just drive them further into despair.

496
00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:16,000
And it's hysterical because I literally had had clients who are successful in putting

497
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:22,800
aside alcohol and then they share that they are disgusted at their spouse's drinking.

498
00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:30,120
And I'm like, okay, weren't you just there a little bit ago?

499
00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:33,760
Like, do you have any compassion for how it used to be?

500
00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:40,280
They're like, oh, yeah, like even somebody who used to drink forgets that they have to

501
00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:42,920
be compassionate, you know?

502
00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:43,920
And yeah.

503
00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:49,440
Yeah, that's really interesting hearing it from that approach.

504
00:39:49,440 --> 00:39:53,200
But that I think that's the human condition.

505
00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:57,280
We tend to be pretty selfish minded.

506
00:39:57,280 --> 00:40:05,240
And that's what I love about your approach here and with your devotional of it being

507
00:40:05,240 --> 00:40:09,800
Christ focused, it keeps all of that into perspective.

508
00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:11,560
Like we're all sinful beings.

509
00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:15,120
And that's important for me on that compassion angle.

510
00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:20,120
I can get in that not so much on the alcohol side of things, but somebody on social media

511
00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:23,360
says something really dumb and like, what's wrong with you?

512
00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:26,680
And I can have that level of, well, I'm up here.

513
00:40:26,680 --> 00:40:27,680
I'm this Christian.

514
00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:29,360
I've got it all figured out.

515
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:30,360
Right.

516
00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:34,160
No, like I'm, I'm retched, right?

517
00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:36,040
I'm retched just like everybody else.

518
00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:37,040
It's not me.

519
00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:38,040
It's Christ.

520
00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:41,280
It's what he's done, done for us.

521
00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:47,120
And I think being able to have that worldview interjected into your curriculum like that

522
00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:49,720
to your devotional, that's wonderful.

523
00:40:49,720 --> 00:40:51,720
And it keeps it all into perspective.

524
00:40:51,720 --> 00:40:52,720
Yeah.

525
00:40:52,720 --> 00:40:54,200
And thank you for bringing that up.

526
00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:58,480
So a big part of what is the curriculum for sure.

527
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:03,600
And I know it's, it's in my daily devotional forgiveness.

528
00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:07,400
So just processing forgiveness itself.

529
00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:15,120
And you know, for whatever reason that you, we know intellectually that we've been forgiven

530
00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:22,920
by processing it is, can be super difficult and knowing it, not living in the past, but

531
00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:28,560
looking forward to what the future holds because God has wiped the slate clean for you so that

532
00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:35,360
you can pursue the future and be relieved of the shame of the past.

533
00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:39,240
But also forgiveness of others.

534
00:41:39,240 --> 00:41:49,520
A lot of people just, it's shocking how many people, but they've been abused, molested.

535
00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:57,560
A lot of people are drinking because something horrendous has happened to them.

536
00:41:57,560 --> 00:42:03,400
And they're trying to solve for the pain of that and check out.

537
00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:05,440
But again, same concept.

538
00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:10,600
I love this where, you know, a sin is a debt.

539
00:42:10,600 --> 00:42:14,000
Something's owed to you and somebody sins against you.

540
00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:18,960
But that debt is such a great heavy burden to hold.

541
00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:26,120
And when we really offer forgiveness to the other person, we're not saying it's okay what

542
00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:27,840
you did.

543
00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:30,320
We're saying, God, this is too much for me to bear.

544
00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:32,920
I want you to collect that debt.

545
00:42:32,920 --> 00:42:39,480
And again, being free to move forward and not allowing what that other human being did

546
00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:45,960
to you, you know, to stop you from being all that you can be.

547
00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:51,960
And so that's also a big part of moving forward.

548
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:52,960
Yeah.

549
00:42:52,960 --> 00:42:54,960
That's an excellent point.

550
00:42:54,960 --> 00:43:00,400
I had done some work previously with senior adults.

551
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:08,720
And these were people that had a lot of respect for and would share some stories of, like

552
00:43:08,720 --> 00:43:14,840
you're saying, being molested by Grandpa or, you know, really these hard, hard stories.

553
00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:18,480
But mind you, these were people that were there in their 80s.

554
00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:24,800
And they're still holding on to Grandpa, who's been dead for 50 years.

555
00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:31,720
And that forgiveness, it's not just somebody that is actively daily there in my life.

556
00:43:31,720 --> 00:43:35,640
It might be somebody that was dead a long time ago.

557
00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:38,960
And there, though, that that's something that we had worked through.

558
00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:40,280
Well, okay, we agree.

559
00:43:40,280 --> 00:43:41,600
What they did was bad.

560
00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:44,400
But who's being hurt by that right now?

561
00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:45,560
Why are you holding on to it?

562
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:47,280
Like they're dead.

563
00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:49,080
They're not being hurt by it now.

564
00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:50,080
Yeah.

565
00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:55,920
And I like that concept of letting God collect on it.

566
00:43:55,920 --> 00:43:58,760
Because it's not like there isn't going to be a consequence.

567
00:43:58,760 --> 00:44:03,480
And actually, I've learned in life, you know, that I just want to say, you know, what goes

568
00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:07,360
around comes around, I think, because God handles it.

569
00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:12,400
And, you know, somebody like that will pay the price.

570
00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:17,640
And they certainly are going to stand for God in judgment.

571
00:44:17,640 --> 00:44:22,960
So there's just a lot of evil things going on in the world.

572
00:44:22,960 --> 00:44:26,160
And we can be affected by so much of it.

573
00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:28,160
It's not that easy.

574
00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:30,600
I'm not saying it's easy to forgive.

575
00:44:30,600 --> 00:44:39,320
But we have to be able to realize our full potential because it's not right that something

576
00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:42,720
somebody did to you should affect you for the rest of your life.

577
00:44:42,720 --> 00:44:45,760
You know, you can use it for good.

578
00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:50,760
God works everything, you know, for his glory.

579
00:44:50,760 --> 00:44:53,440
And yeah.

580
00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:57,960
You know, just on that topic, something that I had struggled with.

581
00:44:57,960 --> 00:45:04,040
And I'd grown up in the church and had had had a saving faith in Christ since I was

582
00:45:04,040 --> 00:45:07,040
six, which I'm incredibly grateful for.

583
00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:11,520
But one of those concepts I always struggled with was God's wrath.

584
00:45:11,520 --> 00:45:15,880
Like how could there be a loving God that's wrathful?

585
00:45:15,880 --> 00:45:21,920
And then I met my wife and we weren't even married at the time.

586
00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:25,360
But I just remember having these thoughts like, I love her.

587
00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:28,520
If somebody hurt her, I'm going to be very angry.

588
00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:31,280
Like that wrathful sense there.

589
00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:35,480
And it's not even near that godly sense.

590
00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:41,120
But I understood it that that love and wrath are connected.

591
00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:45,880
He has that love for us, but he has a hate for sin.

592
00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:48,480
And that vengeance is mine.

593
00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:49,480
The save the Lord.

594
00:45:49,480 --> 00:45:51,760
There's a reason for that.

595
00:45:51,760 --> 00:45:52,760
But that's not us.

596
00:45:52,760 --> 00:45:58,760
I can make the vengeance my own and try to put all those daggers in all I can.

597
00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:01,440
I'm not as good at it as God is.

598
00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:07,520
So I think what you're saying there of those just punishments, give those to God.

599
00:46:07,520 --> 00:46:12,040
He's much better at that than anybody could be.

600
00:46:12,040 --> 00:46:17,480
And yeah, I think that's a really, really important part to not put that vengeance aspect

601
00:46:17,480 --> 00:46:21,640
on your own because you're not going to be able to do it.

602
00:46:21,640 --> 00:46:22,720
Yeah.

603
00:46:22,720 --> 00:46:34,040
And also when you live, when you say you love Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit and you're

604
00:46:34,040 --> 00:46:41,160
called to proclaim Christ and show light.

605
00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:48,920
If we're harboring anger and resentment, that light is being hidden under a basket.

606
00:46:48,920 --> 00:46:53,960
We are not showing God's love and light.

607
00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:57,000
And I just, I'm sure you've read the headlines before.

608
00:46:57,000 --> 00:47:05,600
There's some incredible headlines sometimes when somebody gets killed and a parent of

609
00:47:05,600 --> 00:47:11,240
a child gets killed shows up in court and says, your honor, I forgive them.

610
00:47:11,240 --> 00:47:14,400
And you're like, what?

611
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:18,000
Like what?

612
00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:26,680
And conversely, I've seen somebody do something and it may have been an accident and same situation

613
00:47:26,680 --> 00:47:30,520
a child, a brother, I will never forgive them.

614
00:47:30,520 --> 00:47:37,040
May they rot in hell for the rest of their life, you know, and there's the vengeance.

615
00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:40,160
And I've really noticed, have you ever noticed that?

616
00:47:40,160 --> 00:47:41,400
Yeah, absolutely.

617
00:47:41,400 --> 00:47:48,400
Such a difference and I think, you know, if you call yourself Christian, you definitely

618
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:52,240
want to be the first one, not the second one.

619
00:47:52,240 --> 00:47:53,240
Yeah.

620
00:47:53,240 --> 00:47:54,240
Yeah.

621
00:47:54,240 --> 00:48:00,080
Well, and that's what it all comes down into that it's easy for us at times, if we've

622
00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:04,520
been legitimately wronged to be in that latter position, I'll never forgive you.

623
00:48:04,520 --> 00:48:06,480
I would never do that to somebody.

624
00:48:06,480 --> 00:48:10,120
And you know, you probably wouldn't.

625
00:48:10,120 --> 00:48:15,280
There's some horrible things that happen, but we're not the victors here.

626
00:48:15,280 --> 00:48:19,720
We're not the ones that have done anything incredible.

627
00:48:19,720 --> 00:48:20,720
God has.

628
00:48:20,720 --> 00:48:22,800
Christ is the one that saved us.

629
00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:26,800
And it's important for us to keep that in perspective, because if we have that prideful

630
00:48:26,800 --> 00:48:33,560
boast in us, and it's about us and not Christ, we've lost the message that that's not what

631
00:48:33,560 --> 00:48:34,560
we're called to do.

632
00:48:34,560 --> 00:48:35,560
Right.

633
00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:36,560
Exactly.

634
00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:37,560
Yep.

635
00:48:37,560 --> 00:48:38,560
I agree.

636
00:48:38,560 --> 00:48:47,160
And all I can tell you is I climbed out of an abyss of darkness and into great light

637
00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:48,880
that makes me fearless.

638
00:48:48,880 --> 00:48:55,520
I went from a person who used to be, if you rolled your eyes at me, I'd crumble and because

639
00:48:55,520 --> 00:48:59,000
I had so little confidence in myself.

640
00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:05,400
And now I'm just like, okay, God, you've given me a purpose and I'm not stopping until

641
00:49:05,400 --> 00:49:06,400
I'm done.

642
00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:07,400
Yeah.

643
00:49:07,400 --> 00:49:09,400
Yeah.

644
00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:14,760
Well, incredible story that you've had.

645
00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:21,680
And what I love about your story too is that it's not finished and you're continuing to

646
00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:28,280
impact other people and desperately trying to help other people that are maybe not going

647
00:49:28,280 --> 00:49:31,840
to receive help in the traditional ways.

648
00:49:31,840 --> 00:49:33,000
And I think it's great.

649
00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:37,720
I love people thinking outside the box and not just saying, well, he's got it.

650
00:49:37,720 --> 00:49:39,920
No, like there's other approaches.

651
00:49:39,920 --> 00:49:47,080
Well, and one of the, I don't know if it's unintended consequences, but when people are

652
00:49:47,080 --> 00:49:53,800
trapped in addiction and they want to stop and they've tried every other way, they really

653
00:49:53,800 --> 00:49:55,560
want to turn to God.

654
00:49:55,560 --> 00:50:03,400
So this has been surprisingly a great tool for evangelism because it is compassionate

655
00:50:03,400 --> 00:50:04,400
and hopeful.

656
00:50:04,400 --> 00:50:07,960
There's no judgment in any of the 84 days.

657
00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:13,560
And so you're in there and you're, it's like, well, here's the scripture.

658
00:50:13,560 --> 00:50:14,840
This is what God told us.

659
00:50:14,840 --> 00:50:16,960
Oh no, shouldn't I have listened to us?

660
00:50:16,960 --> 00:50:18,320
He really loved us.

661
00:50:18,320 --> 00:50:20,280
That's why he told us that.

662
00:50:20,280 --> 00:50:27,920
And so it's kind of over and over and over showing a different side of God than the one

663
00:50:27,920 --> 00:50:36,120
they've heard about or experienced in a church or experienced from somebody they called Christian.

664
00:50:36,120 --> 00:50:41,920
And that really warms my heart, you know, because it's just people meeting God in a

665
00:50:41,920 --> 00:50:43,640
whole new way.

666
00:50:43,640 --> 00:50:44,640
Yeah.

667
00:50:44,640 --> 00:50:45,640
Absolutely.

668
00:50:45,640 --> 00:50:51,640
So for the listeners that have listened to your story or maybe interested in your devotional

669
00:50:51,640 --> 00:50:56,040
or your services, how can people be and reach with you after the show?

670
00:50:56,040 --> 00:51:04,240
Yeah, most people can find me on, well at www.theplanzehasforme.com and there's a red

671
00:51:04,240 --> 00:51:06,160
button that says freedom starts here.

672
00:51:06,160 --> 00:51:12,080
They can always download 20 flashcards for how to handle a social situation when not

673
00:51:12,080 --> 00:51:13,640
drinking.

674
00:51:13,640 --> 00:51:15,160
You can get the devotional there.

675
00:51:15,160 --> 00:51:17,040
You can find out about me.

676
00:51:17,040 --> 00:51:25,040
I'm on Instagram at rosanneforteplans and I just started that podcast, Say Goodbye and

677
00:51:25,040 --> 00:51:26,040
Imagine.

678
00:51:26,040 --> 00:51:30,520
So I'm trying to make my imprint on the world.

679
00:51:30,520 --> 00:51:31,520
Awesome.

680
00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:32,520
Yeah.

681
00:51:32,520 --> 00:51:36,320
Well, I'll have all that linked down there in the show notes.

682
00:51:36,320 --> 00:51:41,640
Rosanne, thanks again so much for being on the show and sharing your story with us.

683
00:51:41,640 --> 00:51:43,120
Thanks for having me.

684
00:51:43,120 --> 00:51:44,840
I love sharing that.

685
00:51:44,840 --> 00:51:47,560
I really appreciate the opportunity.

686
00:51:47,560 --> 00:51:48,560
Absolutely.

687
00:51:48,560 --> 00:51:53,640
Well, and thank you to everyone that's been listening to us talk today and we'll catch

688
00:51:53,640 --> 00:52:15,120
you on the next episode.

