ZEN: Finding Joy in a World of Pain

Zen: Finding Joy in a World of Pain
Tuesday April 18th @7PM
Have you ever felt like you’re surrounded in pain? So much so that you feel you just cant get away from it?
A little about me: Hi, my name is Dustin Johnson. I am a 30-year-old father and husband. I was born and raised in Elkhart IN. I have been in the health and wellness field for over 8 years and it is my deepest passion to bring support to others that have a burning desire for more in their lives. So how did I get here in front of you to talk about finding joy in a world of pain? Firstly, I’d like to say that I hold no resentment or anger towards my parents or the life I had growing up. Everything happened for me in a way to help me develop. Without everything that Happened to me I wouldn’t be the man I am today, nor would I be here in front of you to be able to help provide support. As a young man I didn’t really go without in life. I was well taken care of when it came to security and never had to worry about food or clothing, but safety and belonging wasn’t in the picture. Throughout my childhood I was bullied and casted out from my peers. I even had to deal with bullying at home at times. I grew up around substance abuse my entire life and found myself abusing substances too by the age of 9. When I was 7 I had teachers almost enforce my mother to put me on ADHD medication which showed another layer of substance dependence. When I turned 9 my mother took me off the medicine because she felt like I was a drone and not my authentic self. Shortly after that I had teachers comment that I needed my medicine to be “normal”. This caused a lot of confusion within me. On one hand I had my mom who did not enjoy who I was on the medication, but on the other hand I had teachers and students did enjoy me on the medication. On top of that, I had a home environment that was aggressive, hostile, and downright scary at times which caused a lot of fear. As a young man I was taught that bad behavior gained attention, and attention was something I sought. You know negative attention is better than none at all, so I acted out in an attempt to gain attention. I also had a brother that was mentally handicapped and caused a lot of turmoil at home that would take a lot of attention from my parents. As I grew, I continued to get in trouble, so much so I ended up in juvenile prison for about half a year. When I got out, I found myself back in the same circle of friends doing the same old thing. Luckily, I found my wife just 1-2 weeks after my release. A month after that she was pregnant with our daughter. Interestingly enough, that didn’t impact me as much as I needed, and I then found myself back in jail for the first 6 months of her life. I realized I was becoming my biological father; he spent my entire life in prison for cocaine and I didn’t want to do the same to my daughter. This shook me and I stopped messing around, but that pain that I ran from stayed. I found myself abusing cannabis and alcohol extensively. So much so I was spending half my paycheck to catch a buzz. Ultimately, I was running from myself. Fast forward in time and I now have a successful business that’s bringing in 6 figures. I have way more free time with my family and freedom within my life. But that extra time with my wife came with a cost. I wasn’t a nice person and that reflected in her face whenever I was sober. I realized I was pushing her away and breaking my family apart. I had a very close friend of mine suggest a book to me. He told me the book changed his life and that I should read it. The booked was called “Zen and The Art of Happiness”. I’ve always wanted to be happy, so even though I hated reading at the time, I picked it up and read it. Implementing the lessons from that book changed my entire life. I went from being full of hatred, resentment, anxiety, depression, and a whole bunch of other shitty emotions to feeling joy, gratitude, love, belonging, and an overall bliss about my life, front to back. This caused my marriage to heal, my mental health to regulate, my relationship with my kids to improve, my relationship with my family improved, and my opportunities to open. I had a realization that I can’t be the only person out there struggling with their mental health and so I dedicated my life to helping others achieve similar results as I have. I have been through multiple courses to be able to provide a well-rounded view of healing. I am certified as a health coach, Transformational Method coach, a Self-Mastery coach, a yoga instructor, and a Reiki practitioner. I’m currently enrolled in a Guided Meditation course and an Emotion Code course that focuses on emotional trauma release.

Ok, now that were past the formalities, let’s get to the juicy stuff! Today you’re going to learn about how our perspectives create our results.
Were going to talking about:
1) The Challenges of our childhood and its impact on our current life.
2) The Challenge of our mental environment. *The value of life cycles (springtime, summer, fall, winter)
3) The Challenge of converting pain into purpose.

What I’m going to talk about today is a sliver of information that’s impacted my life. This just happens to be the seed that began this growth process, but I also have a few openings for 1:1 coaching that well talk about at the end of the talk if you’d like to take this deeper. Everyone ready to dive in? Great!
1) The Challenges of our childhood and its impact on our current life.
2) The Challenge of our mental environment. *The value of life cycles (springtime, summer, fall, winter)
3) The Challenge of converting pain into purpose. And the solutions to each.
Transition: Who here has learned one thing that they didn’t know before, or if you heard something you knew, but needed a gentle reminder? Please raise your hand. Great! Now, who is ready to go out and tackle this all by themselves? Please raise your hand. Right! Its so hard to go at it alone, but luckily you won’t have to if you don’t want to. If you would like to create a major shift in your life and build a life of your dreams I invite you to schedule an enrollment call with me to see if I can best serve you and your goals. What makes my program unique is its custom tailored to the client but always focused on their minds and how it influences their life. Having a deeper understanding of the mind, how it works and why it works, opens the door to awareness and through awareness we can create change. How can you “fix” something if you didn’t know it was broken? Bringing awareness, bringing solutions that work, and applying the lessons is what will create long term growth in your life. Clients tell me I’m the best type of friend they enjoy having. I don’t sugar coat things to fit their feelings, but I am also compassionate in my teachings. I have a deep level of empathy and a burning desire to help other succeed.