Life Can Feel Hard and Scary Because I Never Realized How Much I Had to Change — The Emotional Healing That Prepared Me to Become the Person My Higher Power Created Me to Be

We!

Joe Mitiga shares a deeply personal journey of emotional healing and spiritual transformation, revealing how true change comes not from external

Key takeaways

• Emotional healing isn't about returning to who you were—it's about becoming who your higher power created you to be.
• Transformation is often scary because we're caught between the old self and the new self, both unfamiliar yet essential.

Main topics

• Emotional healing as internal transformation
• Letting go of old identities and beliefs

Notable quotes

I wasn't simply healing so I could return to the person I used to be. I was healing so I could become the person my higher power created me to be.

Conclusion

Joe Mitiga concludes that the path to true selfhood is not about fixing external life but embracing

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:01) If you felt lonely, isolated, disconnected, with an empty feeling inside and just yearning for more, knowing something is missing, then this podcast is for you. So here's your host, Joe Mitiga. Speaker 1 (0:27) Hello, and welcome to WE. Sometimes life can feel hard and scary. Not because something is necessarily going wrong, but because something inside of us is changing. For most of my life, I thought change was about changing the things around me. You know, changing my circumstances, changing my relationships, changing my career, changing where I lived. Even sometimes I thought I just had to change what I had. Speaker 1 (1:02) But what I didn't understand was that sometimes the greatest change life asks of us isn't around us. It's within us. And I never realized how much I was going to have to change before I could become the person my higher power created me to be. I never realized how much I was going to have to change my life. I never realized how much everything was going to be different. I had to begin looking at all the fears I carried for years. I had to understand the emotional wounds that had shaped the way I saw myself and the world. I had to learn how to let go of people, beliefs, expectations, and even parts of my old identity that no longer belonged in the life I was becoming capable of living. And quite honestly, that was really hard. Sometimes, to tell you the truth, it was really scary too. Because there comes a point in emotional healing when we begin to realize that healing isn't something that's simply about feeling better. Healing truly changes us. It changes what we want. It changes what we're willing to accept. It changes our relationships. It changes the way we see ourselves. And eventually, it changes the entire direction of our lives. And I believe that's one of the reasons transformation, quite honestly, can be so frightening. We're standing somewhere between the person we used to be and the person our higher power is helping us become. The old life feels familiar even when it no longer fits us. And the new life can feel uncertain because we haven't lived it yet. But maybe that uncertainty doesn't mean we're lost. Maybe sometimes it means we're becoming. Today I want to talk about the part of the journey, the part nobody really prepared me for. What happens when emotional healing begins changing who you are? Why can becoming healthier, more emotionally aware, more spiritually connected, sometimes feel so uncomfortable? Speaker 1 (3:44) And how do we find the courage to keep moving forward when our higher power may be asking us to become someone we've never been before? Because today I understand something I could have never understood years ago. I wasn't simply healing so I could return to the person I used to be. I was healing so I could become the person my higher power created me to be. And maybe, just maybe, that's happening to you too. My name is Joe Mitiga, and this is we. Welcome, everybody. Welcome from around the world. I am really excited to be here tonight. You know, it's a beautiful August night here in Atlanta, Georgia. I have to tell you, I have had quite an amazing month, two months. The transformation in my life has just been truly off the charts from my oldest son going to college to my 11-year-old German Shepherd having to be put to sleep a couple weeks ago. I literally, just this past week, traveled up to my hometown where I grew up, northern Indiana, South Bend, Mishawaka. I grew up about five miles east of Notre Dame University, and I hadn't been up that far north in many, many years. And one of the last surviving family members of my dad's family, I grew up very traditional Italian, and his sister, his last surviving sister, passed away. My aunt Joanne, God rest her soul, a beautiful woman. She passed away in her sleep at 93 years old. And so I made the trip and I was very grateful because two weeks before I had heard she passed and, you know, I was in the caregiving of my dog Zeus and for new people, you know, listen to some of the past episodes. I had to put my 11 year old German shepherd to sleep because of some health challenges he was in. You know, I wanted to go, but there was just no way. I was grieving too hard myself and how God just works. And I'm going to tell that story here in a little bit, but it was just a beautiful weekend and a beautiful celebration of a wonderful life. And she's somebody that truly taught me what unconditional love is. And I'm going to talk about that here in this particular episode. I want to welcome people again from around the world. The We Podcast is exploding, literally. I say it every day, and I want to welcome everybody here. You are a true spiritual warrior if you're able to listen to my podcast, that's for sure. And my belief that humanity is waking up is truly just constantly being showed to me as a truth. And it doesn't matter where you are. It doesn't matter where you live. It doesn't matter the color of your skin, the gender, your religion. We are all humanity. And literally now, the WE Podcast at nine months old, and this is going to be the 50th episode, we are literally now in six continents around the globe. That's why I talk about in my last episode, we are truly the generation of change, and technology allows that as a big part. I want to welcome people from Norway and Canada, a brand new huge group of people now in the United Kingdom. Welcome to the WE Podcast. You know, I look forward to visiting your country someday soon. Malaysia and South Korea are two newer markets that now have joined the We Podcast. And I can always tell when a new country and a new area of people are actively involved because it gets ranked. And, you know, United Kingdom has, I don't know, 30, 40 million people in it. And the We Podcast is in the top. three rankings of the how-to in that wonderful country and welcome all of you. You know, I am a person that in my younger years, I was just busy building a business and I had a wife and a family and, you know, the white picket fence, lived the American dream, truly. And over the past 10 years, raising my kids. My oldest has launched. He's in college. My youngest is just this genius, literally a genius. And I'll talk about him later too. And I say all that because I never had the desire to travel. I really didn't. I go out on my back deck and it felt like vacation. But, you know, I've reached an era of time now that I really look forward to traveling the world. I look forward to doing presentations in the countries I just mentioned. United Kingdom is a place I've wanted to visit forever. And I look forward to someday going there and meeting people that have listened to the We Podcast. basically walking up to you shaking your hand and hugging your neck and you know just knowing that we together are spiritual warriors and I say that all the time because humanity's waking up and Not everybody's doing it in fact the matter of fact is most people aren't and that's why if you're here and you keep coming back and you know you keep listening to the we podcast if you're able to I say it all the time. If you're able to, you're a true spiritual warrior because my message is kind of in the face sometimes of people. I'm going to ask you, when's the last time you went 90 days without drinking? Why do I get to? Because for 30 some odd years, I had to put the alcohol down too. I'm going to ask you about your codependence. I'm going to ask you about your addictions. I am. I'm also going to celebrate with you as you make a difference. And I've got... you know, some things I'm going to talk about today, because we are truly the generation of change. We are. And though to be able to live it, it's one thing to know y'all. It's another thing to be able to truly live it. And quite honestly, the myth that a spiritual path is all airy-fairy and lovey-dovey and wonderful, it's just not true. You know, Yes, becoming one with a power greater than yourself is the single grandest experience. It is literally why we were all born. We are all spiritual beings having a human experience. And I want to validate that. I want to mirror that. I want to honor it back to you because you know what I'm talking about. You know the feeling. You know the experience. And you may or may not have ever heard it before. Let me say it again. It's worth repeating, and I'll repeat it over and over. You are a spiritual being having a human experience. And the human experience sometimes can be so freaking confusing, full of emotions, full of decisions, full of stresses, full of fears, full of concerns. Yes, it's called being human. And no, it's not easy. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's amazing. Sometimes it's so dark you can't breathe. And here at the WE Podcast, I want to share my stories. I want to share my experiences. I want to share my hope. And I want to share what I did. And that's why I believe that the WE Podcast is really making a difference. And if it wasn't making a difference, we wouldn't have tens of thousands of people listening. And I thank you. I thank you because for years and years and years. I had never met anybody on a conscious path. And that's just the truth. And I tell the story all the time about this one particular female that I still have never met, that I listened. I read a document of hers, and she's talking about her grander tomorrow. And then I listened, and my heart opened. And, you know, beautiful woman, single guy, of course, in the beginning, I'm thinking. Now, you have to understand, a freaking podcast, it's like watching a human. through an aquarium, quite honestly, you know, so it literally had nothing to do with the person. It's my personal experience. And I was conscious enough to know. But the truth of the matter is for I said this before, 18 months, I felt like I had a crush on a woman I'd never met. It was that kind of wild and that kind of bizarre. And eventually, just not long ago, four or five months ago, I realized it was never emotional. It wasn't emotional. It was expansion. And what does that mean to Joe? It meant that I came across another human on this planet for the first time in my life, September 20th, 2022, who was more spiritually connected to her heart than I am. And I say that because it's the first time it had happened to me, that it was the first time I came across somebody whose heart was more open than mine. So my heart mirrored hers. Expansion, which is a spiritual experience. emotion is a human experience. This was expansion. Now, since it was a first, it took me a while to figure it out. And I say that because that was my first endeavor of that. Well, now, as the We Podcast explodes around the world, all of you are mirroring back to me that I'm not the only one. I always knew I wasn't the only one, but you know, you can know something. But if you don't ever get it validated, there's a huge difference between faith and fact. And now Joe lives in the fact that there are spiritual beings just like me on a similar path around the globe. And the We Podcast being ranked 76th in the globe because of all of you proves it. And it proves that we are a community of people that is... craving a knowledge and craving a mirror and craving an interaction that we never had before. That's what the We Podcast is all about. And I've said it over and over, and I will eventually follow through. I'm just figuring this whole podcast thing out. That's why I talk a lot about finding your higher passion and your higher purpose and how to do it and all that, because this whole podcasting thing, I knew nothing about it, literally zero. Wendy Stevens, my producer, said, you'd be great, Joe. I was like, great at what? Doing a podcast. I was like, Wendy, I know nothing about a podcast. She says, fine, you push play, talk, push end, and I'll do the rest. Wendy Stevens, you want an amazing podcast producer? Wendy Stevens, look her up. Come on my LinkedIn, you'll see her. And I say that because I'm the type that just jumps in. And I figure it out as I go. I just learned about this thing called Spotify not long ago. And people, you know, my kids, they are merciful with me. Dad, how can you do this? I said, listen, Wendy said all I have to do is talk, and I'm doing it. And I say that because... This particular message today is about the journey of becoming who your higher power wants you to be. Now, did I have any idea a year ago right now that I was supposed to be a podcast host? No, I didn't even know what a podcast was, literally. And here I am. Why? Because I happen to be very practiced at following this higher power concept. But it doesn't mean it's not uncomfortable. It doesn't mean it's not scary. It doesn't mean it's not freaking confusing as all get out because it is. Now, I'm blessed because I just happened upon a couple of titans in this world, Wendy Stevens and Adrian Ashley. Wendy's my podcast producer and Adrian is a PR person for me. And I tell him all the time, thanks for just being patient with me because I just don't know. I'm learning as I go. And Adrian says to me the other day, she says, Joe, I know, but I got you. And I have to tell you, that was just a beautiful feeling to know that there's people out there to support. And I'm the guy who will put it out there. You know, some things I know a lot about some things I don't. Well, the podcasting world I'm learning. And I'm glad all of you are here with me because together we're making a difference. We truly are. And I want to just kind of tell you my story. Because I could talk about how wonderful my life is. I mean, I could. And I do have an amazing life. I do, no question. But it wasn't always like this. It wasn't. And just because I have an amazing life doesn't mean it's not hard. It doesn't mean I don't wake up on a Tuesday morning sad. I mean... A couple episodes ago, I had to talk about, and I did it on purpose. I wanted the world to hear a grown man grieving at the depths. And God help me, I hope I never have to go there again. I'm not sure, besides the death of a loved one, if I would ever be in that much literal pain. And I did it. with a lot of praying and a lot of strength, asking for strength and courage. I say it all the time, ask for strength and courage. And please understand, folks, anything I'm sharing with you to do, I live it literally every day. And when I'm in a challenge like I was having to make the decision, I was the one who had to make the decision with no human around me to talk to. I had to make the decision about my beloved friend, Zeus. It's 115-pound German Shepherd. I still get choked up now. And no guilt, no remorse. Listen to the episode of Letting Go a couple episodes ago. But I want people to understand that this whole spiritual guru, one with God, and everything's airy-fairy, and let's live with the angel. No, it's all BS. I'm not saying it doesn't happen. But you're human also. You're also human. And the human side of you is going to have fears. It's going to have confusions. It's going to have emotion. It's going to have grief. You are going to feel loss. you're also going to feel glory. That's all part of the human experience. And so very often, I've heard people, I've seen people, and I see the different influencers out there that kind of miss that part. It's like they're trying to say, don't be human and do the it anyways. No, that don't work. How do I know? Because if it did, you wouldn't be here. I say that all the time. I want you to understand you're on a spiritual path that you would not be on my podcast. You couldn't be. You know, you couldn't be. Go to my, whatever they call that, the description page of the We Podcast. I've had 75 people give me ratings. And please rate the show. I think it's a good thing. And two people gave me a one. And I thought, it's okay. 73 people gave me five stars. Why? Because whatever I'm speaking, whatever I'm saying, you're giving stars to the message, not the man. And I'm just a normal guy. I'm not a doctor, not a therapist. I'm not a researcher. I don't do any of that. I'm telling you my experience and my strength and my hope. And over time on my Tuesday episodes. We're going to have other people do the same thing. I will do the best I can to always have people that aren't going to get on here to tell you what to do, but tell you how they did it. I'm going to have a lot of people in the future, again, especially as the show gets bigger, that are going to want to come on and be a preacher or be a guru and go to, no, no, not on this show. I'll try. Now, you know, I get some big famous person, you know, I'm going to be in. whatever, starstruck. Of course I am. I'm going to probably have people on, but I want them to tell you what they did on a Tuesday morning before they were a global speaker or the biggest author on the planet or a billionaire, because they all went through their challenges. Nobody wakes up without challenge and then is just poofo, miracle, everything great. No. And I want... people to know because all of you are in your challenging times and your grand times and that's what i'm sharing here and that's what i want to continue to share here you know when my aunt passed my aunt was a beautiful beautiful person she and my priest father kim were two people that truly showed me what unconditional love was all about. Because for Joe, the Catholic religion didn't work for me, but it worked beautifully for them. And that's why I say all the time, I'm not against religion at all. I honor whatever works for you. It didn't work for Joe. doesn't mean I'm right and they're wrong. In fact, these people lived a blissful life during my 20 years of complete misery. Maybe I should have tried harder. I'm kidding. It didn't work for me. But the unconditionalness of these two people in particular was just so beautiful. And it showed me that we all have a path. And my path can be different than yours. And I don't have to make you wrong for me to be right. They never made me wrong. They loved me anyways. And they both knew exactly how I felt. My priest especially. And he never judged me. Never did. And in fact, he was the man taught me how to work out. My dad was never around eighth grade. He'd make a special effort to come be a male role figure figure in my life. And I honor him for that. I really do. But the we podcast, it's not about either or it's about honoring of all. And there's a huge mass of people. that are waking up to a spiritual essence of themselves that consider themselves more spiritual than religious. And in that position, that's more of what this context is about. Because that's what I know. I don't know Christianity. I don't know Buddhism. I don't know other types of paths to oneness with God. Now, if my Aunt Joanne was here, you couldn't meet somebody more peaceful than this beautiful spirit. I don't know her path. That's why this particular show is about that. And that's why I talk about it all the time, where we're all on a path. And if you're on this path, I want to honor the feminine side of you is waking up. The feminine side of you is waking up to humanity because humanity is waking up. It really is. I always give the example of 200 years ago, owning a human. Well, 100 years ago, the world was truly closed down. One story had an amazing opportunity. In my next episode... I'm not cussing anymore. I'm trying not to cuss. Sometimes I get so amped up it slips. But I'm going to tell the story. I met my perpetrator. For most of you, you know, if you're new here, welcome. I always have to remember tens of thousands of people. This is your first episode. Back in April of 1994, I had memories of being sexually abused as a kid. And my whole world closed down. I went into what I call a modern-day monk era of time, seven years of darkness, truly to heal. All I wanted to do was heal. I lived on less than $3,000 a year from 1994 for seven years, literally. And I share that story because it was a turning point. Those memories were a turning point. And the depths of my pain was truly healed. I learned what forgiveness was because forgiveness is not an action step. Look at the episodes I talk about in forgiveness. Forgiveness is not an action step. unlike what is projected out there all the time. It's not. You can accept something. That's not forgiveness. You can realize why something happened. That's not forgiveness. And I want you to understand if you