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Faith Beyond with Tim Maceyko
Finding life success and fulfillment after adversity strikes is hard. We can be left questioning what it all means, why we are here, and how we go on. The Faith Beyond Podcast delves into topics like grief and loss, dealing with addiction, and various other forms of trauma and extreme adversity. Faith Beyond is about learning how each of us can use the pain of today for a better tomorrow.
The podcast also presents information about health and fitness, including both Eastern and Western beliefs and views on how we can improve our overall health. The show even takes a look at various belief systems found around the world and why individuals believe the way they do. At Faith Beyond, we present concepts, but never tell you what to think.
Author, Speaker, and Coach Tim Maceyko acts as your host, bringing valuable insight on overcoming adversity based on his personal experiences. At the age of sixteen, Tim was left with a broken neck, paralyzed after an automobile accident. He instantly went from a talented young athlete to a paraplegic, relying on others to take care of his every need. The accident changed his life trajectory, but in time, he learned to feed and bathe himself again. Eventually, he got out of his wheelchair and hasn't stopped since. He went on to become a successful coach. But tragedy struck a second time, when later in life, Tim and his wife lost their five-year-old son in a bunk bed accident. And then, a few years after the loss of their son, their teenage daughter was diagnosed with cancer. The hits kept coming.
Yet through it all, Tim has found a way to survive and thrive. He believes that those who have experienced trauma and/or extreme adversity are best positioned to find higher levels of life success and fulfillment. He espouses the value of Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) which can only be experienced by those who have faced the trauma. Tim even shares his secret Fulfillment Formula, a way to find success despite life's setbacks.
Faith Beyond with Tim Maceyko
Embracing Post-Traumatic Growth for a Stronger, More Resilient You
Can you imagine finding true growth and a new sense of purpose after experiencing trauma and adversity? In this heartfelt episode, I uncover the concept of Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) and how it has personally impacted my life after breaking my neck and later in life, losing my son. I kick off the show with a comforting Bible passage from 2 Corinthians 4:17, and then, I discuss the effects of trauma and the essential role professional help plays in processing the emotional baggage that often holds us back.
As I share my journey towards embracing happiness despite hardship, I explore the scientifically proven benefits of PTG, such as stronger relationships and discovering inner strength. Moreover, I encourage you to reach out with your own stories of post-traumatic growth and how you've managed to find the silver lining in the midst of adversity. Lastly, I offer a sign of hope I experienced that inspired me to look for similar hopeful signs in my own life, and I invite you to do the same. Join me in this empowering conversation and learn how to transform your pain into growth and purpose.
Disclaimer: All music played in the episode has been legally attained through a licensing agreement between Tim Maceyko and PremiumBeats.com. The Song of the Week is Happy for You by Life is an Epic Film. Additional music includes Let's Go Now by Beza and Our Time by Bex.
Host Tim Maceyko is an author, coach, and motivational speaker. His publications include "When the Cardinal Calls," "Child Loss 101," and "Seth's Snuggle Time Game," all available for purchase on Amazon. For book signings, speaking events, or media interviews, he can be reached at TimMaceyko@gmail.com.
Disclaimer: The Faith Beyond with Tim Maceyko Podcast is intended purely for informational, educational, inspirational, or entertainment purposes. The views expressed by guests are their own and may not reflect those of Faith Beyond. Listeners should independently verify any presented information and draw their own conclusions. Episodes discussing fitness and health are intended to examine various ideas that might offer health advantages. Faith Beyond with Tim Maceyko neither endorses any specific viewpoint nor advocates for any particular fitness or health regimen. It is recommended that individuals seek advice from their healthcare providers before initiating any new fitness or health plan. Comments made by host Tim Maceyko are presented to the listeners from a coaching standpoint, as he is not a licensed counselor or physician. The host's remarks are intended for inspirational and motivational purposes only.
Beyond the pain, beyond the adversity, beyond this life. It's faith beyond. Author. Coach and faith beyond founder. Tim Masako explores grief, loss, overcoming adversity, various belief systems from around the world and so much more. The faith beyond podcast starts now.
Speaker 2:Well, Tim Maceyko here, welcome to another edition of the faith beyond show. I've been promising that I would bring the post traumatic growth story, or information, to you. For several weeks I've been saying I'm going to do that, and so this week I'm going to do that. I'm going to bear down and bring to you this concept of PTG, or post traumatic growth how we can grow after the trauma, after the adversity, after we manage all the emotional issues that we're going to go through. Then the light starts to come back in right, and so I want you understand that, once you're through that negative phase and a little bit of light starts to peek through the clouds, there's this opportunity for growth. It's PTG. Post traumatic growth is phenomenal, and I believe in it. I live it every day. I've experienced all five of the things that they talk about, and so I'm going to share with you today a little bit more about that.
Speaker 2:Before we get to the show itself, though, i like to kick things off with either a quote or a scriptural reading or something, just to put us in the right frame of mind. Right, and this week I'm going back to the Bible and I have current second Corinthians, chapter four, four, verse sixteen through eighteen, i believe. Well, let's just go with four, seventeen, let's leave it at that, because I love this one, for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all, for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory the far outweighs them all. So the troubles are temporary, the problems are momentary. Right, we will have a glory, an opportunity that is way beyond any of the negative experiences in our life. I love that, i really do. I really do okay. With that said, i promise you PTG, let's get down with it and let's go let's go take a ride with me.
Speaker 3:Let's go say goodbye to the worries on your minds.
Speaker 2:So today I wanted to talk about this concept of what life is like after we survive the trauma, after we overcome the extreme adversity in our lives, like sometimes we get stuck right, like we can't move on. But yet we can. We just don't know how. And so let's start with talking about trauma itself. Like, what is trauma? we're all familiar with the concept of post traumatic stress disorder, right, ptsd as a result of trauma. We hear that, like the military guys come back and they have PTSD, or I went through this event and I have PTSD. But it extends from this trauma, and so trauma can be things like grief and loss, like, like I deal with child loss and it was a traumatic event that for some people, causes PTSD and other things. But it could be other things, such as maybe being raped or you have the severe drug abuse has caused these problems in your life, getting bullied, disease, illness, serious injury, maybe you had an alcoholic mother or an abuse of father, maybe you were kidnapped. I mean, there's all these different things that causes these traumatic events to occur in our lives, and it's usually out of our control. It's not something we wanted, but it's something we have to live with. But here's what? here's what happens you have what, what is referred to as emotional baggage as a result of the trauma that you faced, and so things like insecurity, guilt. You may feel guilty about whatever trauma you went through because it was your fault for whatever reason, even though it may not be, even if it is so, what at the end of the day, though? you hold onto this guilt, this emotional baggage. You might have fear. You're afraid after what you went through. Again, that insecurity I mentioned might be insecure from what you went through. You have this hurt, you have this pain like you just can't, you can't let it go, you're stuck with it, and then you may have this self-doubt Like I'm not worthy, i'm not able to, i can't do that, and so all these things are termed emotional baggage. And as long as we are stuck in this place of fear, this place of self-doubt, this insecurity, the hurt, the pain, the guilt, all of this, when we're stuck and we can't overcome those things, then we can't move on. We can't. That's where people get stuck right there, they hold on to those things and they don't overcome, and for some of us, that means we may need counseling, we may need professional help.
Speaker 2:Maybe we don't need professional help, but we still need time to deal with these emotions and these thoughts and these feelings and the emotional baggage that holds us back. You see, these storms in our lives really mess up our mind, right? I mean, if you could see in your mind, i always picture it like a hurricane came through a town and you know it knocks over all these trees and these buildings along the beach and all these different things, and then it's total devastation, right? You can just picture that, right, this town destroyed along the beachfront. And that's kind of what your mind is like after the trauma. And obviously we'd like to get back to the sunny days, we'd like to get back to better times, but again, we can't get there if we're holding on to this emotional baggage. So what do we do? How do we get over it? What is the key? Well, most of the time, again, it's counseling, professional help, talking to other people. But it's really the time right, the time to deal with whatever emotional concepts that you might be dealing with Now.
Speaker 2:Today's show really wasn't about how we get over that, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time on that topic, but you've got to give yourself some time You've got to deal with the feelings, the thoughts and the emotions that you're experiencing. I am not a counselor, i am not a doctor. I'm just a guy who's been there and has done it and lives it every day. Every day, i've got to deal with the loss of my child and it's a difficult journey And that's not something you just like let go and get over. You just continue to work around it and you try to learn how to use the pain to advance to better things.
Speaker 2:But today's show is about the benefits of PTG or post traumatic growth. So what is post traumatic growth? Well, first of all, we mentioned a little bit ago PTSD. Everyone's familiar with post traumatic stress disorder resulting of this negative traumatic experience you had. But not many of us are familiar with PTG or post traumatic growth, which can be the positive side of the trauma that you faced. Yes, there can be positives. I mean, we don't think of that, but it's very, very possible. And these are five scientifically proven psychological things that may occur in your life as a result of the trauma that you faced, and I like these, so I want to share them with you.
Speaker 2:Ptg benefit number one stronger relationships. Relationships strengthen Now if you lost a child, like I have, then you may value the relationships with your other children even more, you may relate the relationship you have with your spouse even more right, but in any general terms, you lost somebody. You're grieving. You may look at the relationships with those around you differently, but you also may reprioritize the relationships you have in your life, because maybe the people you thought would be there for you during your time of need weren't, and maybe people you never dreamed would be there for you in your time of need were. And so now you have this thing going on in your mind where you're re-prioritizing hey, maybe I should spend more time with this person or these people and less time with this person or those people. And so post-traumatic growth, stronger relationships, can occur, and it definitely will lease the very minimum, make you think about those in your life and what those relationships between you and them look like.
Speaker 2:Benefit number two find your inner strength. Yeah, you find your inner strength. Now here's the thing you are going through a traumatic moment and people love to say, oh, that person's so strong. I wish I could be strong like that. The truth is, we don't feel strong in those moments, but as we recover from them as we get over the emotional baggage that's been holding us back. We work our way through that right. Then we realize that we are stronger than we ever thought possible. We realize that we just went through something that the average person has not and we overcame. And so when the more minor adverse situations occur in our life, we can draw strength from the fact that, hey, that's nothing. What I went through over here was a million times worse than this. And so the post-traumatic growth benefit number two is you find your inner strength and you realize I am stronger than I ever knew.
Speaker 2:Post-traumatic benefit number three you learn to savor the moments more. Life is fast, right, life is fast-paced, and we go flying through life and we don't slow down to enjoy the here and the now. But after the traumatic event that you've gone through, you learn to appreciate every moment. For that moment You look at the sunset a little different. You appreciate the sunrise, the fact you get to see it the next morning. You take a walk through nature and you tend to hear the birds chirp a lot more than you did. You notice the beauty of the green leaves on the trees and the swain of the breeze and the flowers, moving and looking, blooming and beautiful. I can just all these things right. But the point is you learn to savor each moment, whether it's the walk through nature I mentioned, or it's a moment in time with someone you love, or just watching a TV show. Even right, anything you get to do, you have this different view of it. You appreciate it.
Speaker 2:I remember I broke my neck. I was in a wheelchair for a number of months. I learned to walk again And the other day I went out and I actually walked and jogged. I can't jog the whole time, it doesn't work But I walked, slash, jogged, five miles, five miles, which is great for me because I hadn't exercised for like a year. And so the first day I go out, i got determined in my mind I'm just going to do this, i'm going to go here and go this way and come this way and come all the way back home. And I did it. And here's the thing I was in a wheelchair at one point in time. So being able to walk, slash, jog any distance is amazing, and the fact that I was able to accomplish five miles with my limitations is just mind blowing to me. And I savored those moments. I savored every step. I didn't look at it as a negative at all, i looked at it as an accomplishment every step I took I was closer to getting to that next mile and it made me feel so good because I appreciated in ways that some may not, some may look at it as I have to do this. I gotta get exercise. I'm just out here trudging along, i'm out there going wow. I can't believe that I'm so blessed to be able to have this opportunity, when I may have been stuck in that wheelchair like other people have. So you savor the moments more.
Speaker 2:Post-traumatic growth. Benefit number four Love this one. Deeper spiritual connections may occur. A deeper spiritual connection. Now, if you are a Christian and you go to church every Sunday or maybe you go once in a while the traumatic event may actually convince you to go more or be more involved than you were. Maybe now you're giving more to the church and you're helping out at different events and you're really involved. Maybe you dive in the Bible more. Whatever it may be, but it can be more than that too. So for some people it means you question what you believed before and you ask questions and look at things that you never thought you would consider, because you're searching for this deeper spiritual connection. You want to connect to something bigger and more powerful, and you don't understand what that is anymore, and that's okay too. Both scenarios are fine because it gives you opportunity to grow in whatever way. It is that you need to grow Now.
Speaker 2:For me, i've done a lot of studying of different religions and faith belief systems from around the world over the last 10 years. I am still a Christian at my core at least, i feel that way but I'm also much more progressive in my thinking. I can appreciate the Buddhism, i appreciate Hinduism and the Muslim faith and the Jewish faith. I can look at meditation as a huge beneficial type thing in my life. I can look at the Quran or the Daudi Ching or the Bible or the Torah, you know. Whatever it may be, i can use that as a means to make my life better, because I'm looking at it from a different view than I ever had before. I'm looking at it as my relationship with God on a higher level than any single religion, any man-made belief system, anything like that. I feel like God and I connect now through nature and in ways that I never dreamed of, and that's what's working for me and I'm happy there.
Speaker 2:So, one way or another, the traumatic event may help you find a deeper spiritual connection than you ever dreamt possible. Post-traumatic growth benefit number five. So the last one in this is this concept that you're gonna go on a new journey, a new path. You don't have a choice. The trauma that you went through, the traumatic event, has forced you to look at life through different eyes, and so now you're savoring the moments more and you're reevaluating your relationships, and you are, you know, maybe having a more spiritual awareness, self-awareness, but it doesn't mean you wanted to go on this new journey. And so you say, well, how is that a benefit? How is that a growth thing? Well, here's the cool thing about it You may not have wanted to go on it, but you're on it, and what you will find, if you really look deep inside yourself, is that you will find a new purpose, at least potentially. A new purpose, a new way of thinking. Something that you never dreamt you would do, is now right there for your taking, and you feel this passion about it, you feel this drawl to it.
Speaker 2:When I broke my neck, i went from being an athletic young guy to a coach, and I became passionate about it. I loved it. It was the next best thing. In fact, i think it was what I was meant to be all those years. And now I lost my son and I've reevaluated my faith. And guess what? I'm on a new path where I've written books and I've taken my coaching from my younger years and taken it off the basketball court and off the baseball field And I'm putting it into my faith, beyond concept, where I'm out coaching people individually who have faced adversity, who have faced trauma, who need to overcome and continue to grow.
Speaker 2:That's my mission, that's my passion, that's my new purpose and the new journey that I'm on, and I would not have taken that if it wasn't for the traumatic events in my life. And so that is a post-traumatic growth benefit, all right. So get down with PTG. Learn that once you let go of some of that emotional baggage, once you can work your way through it again through counseling, whatever you need to do, get through it, because there are amazing benefits waiting for you, and if you haven't experienced them yet, they're right there. And if you have experienced them, i love to hear about it. So feel free to reach out to me and tell me how you've grown from your traumatic experience.
Speaker 2:All right well, i hope you enjoyed this week's post-traumatic growth benefits, the PTG concepts and information. I'm happy to provide it to you. Let's go ahead and take a break here. And one thing, though, i want you to learn is to be happy. Despite the adversity in life, there's a lot of positives, so learn to embrace the happiness, and that's hard to do at times, but I want you to think that way this week. In fact. I want you to be happy, and I wanna be happy for you, which segues perfectly into this week's song of the week. The band is. Life is an Epic Film, and this song is Happy for You.
Speaker 3:Close your eyes and breathe it out. You've been crying for some time now. When working hard is paying off, you just gotta seize the moment and fly So high that you feel like you could even touch the sky. Baby, it's time to let go and spread your wings and let them guide you. Now, hey, let yourself be proud of you. Let yourself be happy for you. Let yourself be proud of you. Let yourself be happy for you, happy for you. Looking back, you see the growth, how we move and find our ways. Everything that we go through Makes us what we are today. So fly So high that you feel like you could even touch the sky. Baby, it's time to let go and spread your wings and let them guide you. Now, hey, let yourself be proud of you. Let yourself be happy for you. Let yourself be proud of you. Let yourself be happy for you. Happy for you. Be proud of you, proud of you, happy for you. Be proud of you, proud of you, happy for you. Let yourself be proud of you. Let yourself be happy for you.
Speaker 2:Happy for you. Happy for you. Happy for you. Happy for you, happy for you, happy for you. And it's time for your sign of hope When the Cardinal Calls is my book. It's on Amazon and it shares my stories. But one of the things that happened I just want to share this with you was an amazing sign of hope And hopefully you can get something out of this. After Seth had died, we were back in our home And one afternoon I was sitting in the lounger and I was kind of knotting off, taking a little bit of a nap, and my wife like yells across the room. She said on the sofa. She says, hey, tim, wake up. And I look up. And she says, look, and I look up and the ceiling fans slowly turning. And I said, yeah, ceiling fans turning. What about it? She said, well, the light switch is off. They're ceiling fan switches off. You know it's not turned on. There should be no electric getting through there. I said, well, now hold on.
Speaker 2:You know you're still getting electrical current, even if the switch is off, because of you know the, the, the, the, all this stuff right. And so it's all of a sudden it stops. The fan stops moving and I go yeah there you go, see, i told you.
Speaker 2:And then the most amazing thing happened The fan stopped and then it slowly started to turn in the opposite direction. Now I have no way of explaining how that occurred that day, and my wife just smiled and pointed again And I I hated to admit she had me right. I don't know to this day how that occurred, why that occurred, but I believe that we all get these signs in our lives, these moments that are hard to explain, but yet, because we're humans, we attempt to explain them away, and a lot of times we do explain them the way, and so we miss the sign that we were given in that moment. Maybe it's from your loved one, or maybe it's just God leading you, either giving you comfort or leading you down a new path, a new direction, or guiding you to an answer that you've been searching for, but so many times we don't listen, we don't see and we fail to receive the messages we are meant to. So think about that as you go forward this week.
Speaker 2:Look for the signs, take a walk in nature and talk to God or whatever you know supreme being that you believe in, and see, if you can't connect on the spiritual level that it's beyond the norm, right? Don't think you're a freak or weird. Just go out and be alone and walk through the forest or whatever you can do. Go down local park and just reconnect. Put away the cell phone, put away all the outside information and people, right? I encourage you to try to take that walk alone. If you can no talking, just focus on what is around you this week And I think you'll be amazed at what you might find. So till next time, this is Timasiko. Hope you enjoyed this week's Faith Beyond Show. I will leave you with this. You can overcome any adversity in life. Together we can overcome, we can achieve, we can go on and do great things with the time we have on this earth. So go do it. It's your time, it's my time, it's our time, we will grow and become unstoppable.
Speaker 3:Become unstoppable. Take our dreams and make them real. Cause nothing is impossible. It's your time, it's our time. It will make it count. It's a life. It's a life. It's a little life. We don't stop here. We keep on dreaming, set the goals and we will achieve it. It's our time, it's our time. It will make it count. It's your time, it's our time. It will make it count.
