From Darkness to Light: Stories of Redemption and Resilience

Welcome to Breakfast of Choices! I’m your Host, Jo Summers. On this podcast, I’m diving into the journey of overcoming trauma, and extreme struggles, and discovering hope through personal narratives. I kick off the conversation today by sharing my own transformative experience. At the age of 19, I went to prison. My life had become a mess starting at about 11 years old. 

In everything, the partying, the drugs, the selling the running the much older crowd, and now caught up to me that first early morning in jail, I was staring down at my breakfast. The first thing I heard was someone asking if I wanted my biscuit and jelly, and there I sat thinking about all the choices I had made, that got me to where I was, I knew I'd put myself in this position. It took me a while to learn. But that also meant that only I had the power to change it. I could create my own breakfast of choices. 

Reflecting on the decisions that led me down that path, I realized the immense power within myself to enact change and I embarked from there, on a journey of personal growth. Through raw and authentic storytelling, I invite you to explore with me, the theme of overcoming adversity, highlighting the resilience and strength found within the human spirit. Together, we’ll go from Rock Bottom to Rock Solid!

If you would like to tell your story, I sure would love to listen. Please email me at breakfastofchoices@gmail.com.

From Rock Bottom to Rock Solid.

We all have them...every single day, we wake up, we have the chance to make new choices.

We have the power to make our own daily, "Breakfast of Choices"

Resources and ways to connect:

Facebook: Jo Summers
Instagram: @Summersjol
Facebook Support: Chance For Change Women’s circle

National suicide prevention and crisis, hotline number 988

National domestic violence hotline:
800–799–7233

National hotline for substance abuse, and addiction:
844–289–0879

National mental health hotline:
866–903–3787

National child health and child abuse hotline:
800–422–4454

CoDa.org
12. Step recovery program for codependency.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Welcome to Breakfast of Choices, the weekly podcast that shares life stories of transformation. Each episode holds space for people to tell their true, raw and unedited story of overcoming intense adversity from addiction and incarceration, mental illness, physical and emotional abuse, domestic violence, toxic families, codependency and more. Trauma comes in so many forms. I'm your host, jo Summers, and also someone who hit my lowest point before realizing that I could wake up every day and make a better choice, even if it was a small one. So let's dive into this week's story together to learn from and find hope through someone's journey from rock bottom to rock solid, because I really do believe you have a new chance every day to wake up and make a change, to create your own Breakfast of Choices.

Speaker 1: 1:10

At age 19, I went to prison. My life had become a mess, starting about 11 years old, and everything the partying, the drugs, the selling, the running the much older crowd had now caught up to me. That first early morning in jail I was staring down at my breakfast and the first thing I hear is someone asking if I want my biscuit and jelly. And there I sit, thinking about all the choices I had made that got me to where I was. I knew I had put myself in this position. It took me a while to learn, but that also meant that only I had the power to change it. I could create my own Breakfast of Choices. Little did I know that that moment would be the inspiration for this podcast, 30-something years later. Hello, my name is Jo Summers, your host, Now a state certified peer recovery support specialist and life transformation coach. I've come a long way from my time in prison. In the years before and after, I've made that difficult journey from rock bottom to rock solid, and now I'm ready to not only tell my story but also hold space for others to share theirs.

Speaker 1: 2:19

Each episode of Breakfast of Choices will be a conversation with a guest who will tell their true, raw and unedited story of overcoming and surviving extreme struggles and adversity. These include trauma, addiction, incarceration, mental illness, physical and emotional abuse, suicide, toxic families, domestic violence, codependency and more. We all face adversity in our lives, whether it's something we've brought upon ourselves or something we have no control over. And sometimes it's extreme, but through hearing someone else's story we can find hope and healing and even be encouraged to transform our present and future. Take guest Bobby Wetter. During our conversation, he talks about the moment he realized he had the power to change his life, I promised myself I would work just as hard at figuring this life out as I did fucking it up. If doing wrong got me to rock bottom, doing right has got to get me somewhere better. Bobby's words. Bobby is just one of many people who are ready to share their stories with you, and this is an authentic and judgment-free zone, so be prepared. Anything goes With that.

Speaker 1: 3:34

I want to welcome you to this community and invite you to subscribe and join me every week to connect, learn and celebrate wins. Addiction is the opposite of connection. Together we are stronger. Together we can overcome. Together we can understand how to create our own breakfast of choices. I am so grateful that you joined me for this week's episode of Breakfast of Choices. If you're enjoying this podcast, please subscribe, give it five stars and share it to help others find hope and encouragement. The opposite of addiction is connection, and we are all in this together. Telling your transformational story can also be an incredible form of healing, so if you would like to share it, I would love to hear it. You can also follow me on social media. I'm your host, jo Summers, and I can't wait to bring you another story next week. Stay with me for more Transformational Thursdays.