Jodi Reynosa: Finding My Hero's Journey When Detours Derail

Jodi Reynosa's life didn't go as planned. She experienced multiple detours and struggles in her life—including finding a tumor in her brain.

Watch this episode on YouTube here.

Episode Discussion Points

  • Jodi compares her life to being in a car, ready to go and then then feeling like she is driving with the brakes on. Then, when she finally figures out how to go full speed a roadblock is thrown up in her path and she wonders “why?”

  • Jodi had a lot of “firsts” in her family

  • How she made the varsity basketball team as a sophomore, which got derailed by her eating disorder—and what that looked like—from negative mental thoughts to eating challenges.

  • When she was cut from the team she felt like she lost her identity, and after counseling and getting some help God helped her to pivot and turned toward the arts.

  • How she found joy along her new path.

  • How challenges can be blessings

  • How losing her academic scholarship steered her in a different direction AGAIN!

  • Don’t ask disempowering questions—that doesn’t help us, figure out which direction God wants you to go.

  • Her decision to serve a church mission to help people.

  • “Loving God allows you to see the divinity within yourself, and He helps you to love yourself. And then you can see the divinity in other people.”

  • As you love God, yourself and others, love can flow through you and to you like the infinity sign.

  • The chicken soup syndrome Jodi learned from her mom which applies to life.

  • How a professor tried to warn her about how hard it was to juggle family and a media career.

  • You can do everything you want to do in life at the right season and the right time.

  • What her early career in media looked like—life happens and we learn from it.

  • The diagnosis of a tumor in her brain which led to another life detour.

  • This shifted her to working on her YouTube show Guided.

  • God sees the whole picture and we don’t. We see the little threads, so we need to trust Him.

  • Sometimes you need to pause and “reset” and “be still.”

  • Often it takes time for us to process a new idea, or a change. Our knee jerk-reaction is to say “no.” But once an idea of change has been planted it takes a while for us to realize it wasn’t a bad suggestion after all. So approach change with a creative mind, and be willing to welcome new ideas.

  • Figuring life out is a process we experience day to day.

Empowering Questions

The concept of empowering questions was originally introduced to Jodi by Michael Bernard Beckwith, founder of the Agape Center.

  • Ask God what is trying to emerge from me right now that can help me serve my fellow man?

  • How can I be of service where I am right now?

  • If I had to be in this situation for a long time, what qualities would I need? (Example: I would need strength and empathy and trust in God). Then pray those traits down from heaven to help you as you pass through hard times.

Other Empowering Questions

These 4 questions come from from Byron Katie, who developed The Work. These are especially helpful if you deal with negative self-talk.

  1. Is it true? (Ex: That guy just passed me on the sidewalk scowling. He probably hates me. Is this true? Maybe, but maybe not.)

  2. Can you absolutely know that it’s true? (No, he could have just lost his job or maybe his dog died).

  3. What happens when you believe that thought? (I feel anxious, stressed and that thought doesn’t feel good.)

  4. Who or what would you be without that thought? (Without that thought I would feel at peace. I’d feel free. Whatever that scowl was—that was there’s not mine. I can go on my merry way now.)

Jodi’s Favorite Bible Verse

Isaiah 40:31

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Matthew 6:28

“And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin.”

Resources Jodi Recommends

Connect with Jodi

#tamarakanderson #storiesofhopeinhardtimes #podcast #hope #God #hardtimes #eatingdisorder #lifedetour #empoweringquestions #challenges #blessings #love #trustGod #tumor

Transcription

Jodi Reynosa 0:03

Like if I'm making the right choices, should I stay in this profession? Should I, you know, give more to my family? But yet I know there's bills to pay at the same time for those women who are the breadwinners as well--There's that to grapple with. So there's a lot of things you know, and you're trying to consult with the Lord. And it just life is hard. I'm not gonna say there's like an easy prescription for any of this.

Tamara Anderson 0:33

Welcome to Stories of Hope in Hard Times, the show that explores how people endure and even thrive in difficult times, all with God's help. I'm your host Tamra K Anderson. Join me on a journey to find inspiring stories of hope and wisdom learned in life's hardest moments.

Tamara Anderson 0:58

My guest today is an experienced television and media personality. She's worked at NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox interviewing influential people including presidential hopefuls like John Kerry, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, Dick Cheney, as well as notables such as Judge Jeanine Pirro and space shuttle commander Eileen Collins. She hosted a political talk show in New York called "Meet the Leaders" and recently launched the YouTube show Guided: Helping You Navigate Your Divine Journey. I am pleased to present Jodi Reynosa. Jodi, are you ready to share your story of hope?

Jodi Reynosa 1:39

Absolutely. Let's do this.

Tamara Anderson 1:42

The reason she's laughing guys, it has been a morning trying to get the Internet to work properly and to get this thing lined up. And so we were just laughing before we got on because we started and record it. We tried to get on and it wasn't working. Finally, we got on. And then we started and it just broke up.

Jodi Reynosa 2:06

It's crazy, in fact that your background is like amazing, because it reminds me that's how I feel right now that guy like on the mountain like, yes.

Tamara Anderson 2:15

We got it to work.

Jodi Reynosa 2:17

Exactly. So hallelujah. So guys,

Tamara Anderson 2:22

I know so so what this boils down to is you probably need to hear this podcast today because the adversary has worked tirelessly to get us not to record,

Jodi Reynosa 2:33

right? Oh, my goodness.

Tamara Anderson 2:36

So something Jodi's going to say today might just change your life, so you better listen up.

Jodi Reynosa 2:43

Take nots. Get your notebook out. Oh, interesting, because something I say May reiterate what I need to know, again, quite frankly. Because it's like, wow, all these roadblocks. It just means there's certain things when we connect Tamra and I, this dialogue, this interface is important for both of us and everybody.

Tamara Anderson 3:08

Yeah, it really, really is. It's important for all of us. So it's kind of symbolic of your life and what you've been through so far, just as what we've been through this morning, you have an idea. You're like, I'm going for that and things don't turn out. So Jodi, why don't you take us back into your life and the path that you were on and what that looked like, and then the thing that kind of changed everything?

Jodi Reynosa 3:37

Oh, yeah. Okay. You know, I think that's great that you bring this up, because what happened this morning that start and stop, or, let's see, think about a car, when it's like accelerating, but you have the brakes on, and you're just raring to go when the tires are spinning, and it's like, vrmm, vrmm, you know, that is like the feeling sometimes that I have it's then then it's like, finally you get the brakes off and you're ready to go. And it just like accelerates full blast. And then somehow something is in the middle of the road and you're like, oh, shoot, I got to put on the brakes again. Why? You know?

Jodi Reynosa 4:14

So Yeah, let me just take you to the fact that I've had a lot of firsts in my family. Because in my familial line, I volunteered before I came to this earth, apparently, to be the first child in my family. It's like, I've been the Pioneer. It's like, okay, I'll be the guinea pig for these things. I'll do it first. And then you guys can learn from me. And I'll learn from the experience as well. And I also was the first to go to college in my family. Wow. So that was really interesting. I actually had a, I would say traumatic at the time, because I was only a teenager, I was a sophomore in high school and I had worked really hard from sixth grade all the way up until that point to be on the varsity basketball team. So any teens out there or parents of teens, you know, when you've made like, you know, in California, it was AAU--it's like a specialty basketball team, you know. And you know that when your kids have worked really hard to be on these elite teams, they've put a lot of work into this. So there's a lot of pressure.

Jodi Reynosa 5:34

Well, everything kind of halted. I went through a lot of pressure in my family to and I had an eating disorder. And that really kind of changed the chemistry of my brain. And when I say that, I was actually describing this to my husband the other day, people would come up to me and be like, Oh, God, you look so great. Like, oh, you know, did you lose weight, and I would instantly turn it to a negative. And I was like, Oh my gosh, so I was like, so am I like huge and fat, like, instantly see, the cup is half empty. And so it changes the chemistry of your brain. It was such a hard hurdle to get over. You know, if if I was at church, and people say, Oh, that's a beautiful dress, you know, you look really nice. And I would think, Oh, so I looked horrible the Sunday before. I mean, it was awful. It was like it plagued me. And it was like very, I was like, obsessed with everything I put into my mouth, I would look like at all the calories on every box, you know, from a cereal box to anything, you know, that I put in my mouth.

Jodi Reynosa 6:38

And at that point, my body started breaking down because I didn't have the stamina and the energy I needed for basketball for the sports that I did. So at that point, my coach kind of saw this decline in my performance. And my best friend at the time, went to my coach and said, Hey, this Jodi's having a hard time. This is what's going on. And he's like, Oh, no wonder. what? It's really kind of ironic. He had a daughter at the time named Jody, who was also going through an eating disorder. So the way that he reacted was almost like over the top, he like, instantly said, You're off the team. He didn't say like, Hey, you know what, I have this empathy towards you. I know what you're going through. He just said, boom, because I think he was scared. You know, he was scared for me. It brought back all these memories with his daughter. And when he did that, I thought life was over.

Jodi Reynosa 7:39

I was absolutely devastated. Because my identity was wrapped up in that my identity was, as a sophomore, I made the varsity basketball team, we were California, northern California champions. You know, that was my identity. So everything crumbled. And I had to figure out, so now what? So I really looked within, I had a wonderful mentor in a young women's leader at church. And some people that really cared about me, and I looked inward, I looked to God. And I just said, What do I do, and I was able to get help through some counseling. And I was able to actually kind of reset.

Jodi Reynosa 8:24

And in the, whats next, I found the arts, I found music, I found singing. And I always had loved to sing, you know, as a child, you know, humming and singing and all of that, you know, throughout my day, but I really loved it. And I actually started taking vocal lessons like private voice lessons, and I also joined the choir in high school. Now, you know, how there's cliques in high school and all of that, and I thought, oh, only the quote, unquote, nerds, you know, like join choir and band and all that. I absolutely loved it. I joined it. I just, you know, this unadulterated like joy every time I was in there, and I did not care what anybody thought. I just had so much fun. So I went and I also got private voice lessons. And then I had I was in the community musical theater.

Jodi Reynosa 9:20

Well, then I decided, okay, you know what, I'm just gonna go for it. I'm gonna audition for vocal scholarships for college. So I auditioned for four different colleges. And all four said, yes, we want you. At that point, I made a choice. So if it wasn't for like, this challenge, and then turned blessing, I wouldn't have grown I wouldn't have discovered this talent that was kind of almost like I wouldn't say stagnant cuz I hadn't discovered it yet. But it was like, it was a little seed that needed to blossom, you know, that needed to grow. So that's kind of the start of of understanding what transformation was understanding what, okay, a challenge can be turned into a blessing. So that's how it started.

Jodi Reynosa 10:11

And then I actually chose to go to a non denominational Christian University in Southern California, it was called Azusa Pacific University. And I was there I sang with an all women's choir called Belcanto. And I was classically trained. And it was amazing. I learned the beliefs of every denomination in Christian dome. And it was beautiful, a beautiful experience. And people would ask me, Well, what what are your beliefs? And how are they different than mine, and I had an opportunity to share. And it was like a beautiful connection with so many people. Well, then there came a time, another challenge came upon me. And I also, along with my vocal scholarship had an academic scholarship. And in that time period, though, I had written an English paper. And for some reason, I got a B plus. And you had to have like a 4.0. To like, keep your academic scholarship. Well, I asked if I could appeal and rewrite the paper. They did not give me a higher grade.

Jodi Reynosa 11:20

So I lost my academic scholarship. I like, you've got to be kidding me. So that to me, was God saying, I want to steer you in a different direction. And I was like, Oh, my gosh, and still, it's like, at first I was thinking why. So for me, I've learned down the road. I can't ask those disempowering questions. I can't ask why me? Why is this happening to me? You know, because that doesn't help us understand what's trying to emerge within, you know, yeah. So I then said, Okay, I'm supposed to go in a different direction.

Jodi Reynosa 12:01

Well, then I actually applied to Brigham Young University. I got in there. And I had a whole new chapter, a whole new chapter of experiences that happened. And so many blessings that came out of that, I actually was able to serve a mission for my denomination. And I ended up in Colorado serving for 18 months, full time, you know, you pay for pay your way. And you know, you leave your family for 18 months, you leave your college, you don't watch TV, you don't watch the news, you don't you know, look at the newspaper, you do, you don't date, none of that. And it's just to dedicate your life for that time period, towards God towards the Lord. And it was a beautiful experience. And I just, I loved it.

Jodi Reynosa 12:55

So and then after my mission, I taught in the missionary training center, which is basically that's the place where all mich service missionaries, like myself, are trained before they go out to the service missionary, or service mission. So that's kind of like that was like the foundation for me in learning, you know, hope in hard times, you know? So, yeah,

Tamara Anderson 13:22

I love-- you've talked about some really key things there. The first one being that when a roadblock comes up in your life, and it will.

Jodi Reynosa 13:34

You can count on it

Tamara Anderson 13:36

probably multiple times as you're in God story so far. But so when that happens, ask empowering questions. Not the why me? It's more which path do you want me to go on God? What direction are you trying to steer me in?

Tamara Anderson 13:56

I was remembering the story of Joseph yesterday in the Old Testament, and I love his story. It's kind of parallels your own in a lot of ways just because, you know, there he is with his brothers things are going well. All of a sudden, they sell him off, you know, and and he's taken from his family. He he's just like, I'm sure he could have gone, God why me? But he did his best in that circumstance rose to Potifar's, you know, but he'd be the head servant and Potifar's house. And then he gets knocked down because he ends up going to prison because a Potifar's wife and that whole situation. Yeah. And he didn't let that get him down. Okay, God now what you know, I'm probably as low as I can possibly get. I'm in jail. In a country that's not my own. Ah, what now? And and through miraculous providence it brought him out to be, you know, second in all of Egypt.

Tamara Anderson 14:51

And so I think we can kind of take these parallels from both Jodi's life and Joseph's life and say, Okay, it's not just Jodi, it's not just Joseph. It's me too. And so to ask those empowering questions, what other empowering questions have you had to learn to ask in your life?

Jodi Reynosa 15:10

You know, and where I learned this concept was from a beautiful soul. His name is Michael Bernard Beckwith. He has what's called the Agape Center, which we know is love, right? In Southern California. And he teaches these beautiful principles. And he basically says, you know--Ask, what is trying to emerge from me right now, that may be latent, that hasn't been discovered that I haven't discovered? God help me understand what is within me that hasn't been discovered, that that can serve you? That can serve my fellow man? I think I was just actually thinking of the two great commandments a couple weeks ago. And they, you know, when you see him, they seem so easy, right?

Tamara Anderson 15:59

Oh, yeah. You know,

Jodi Reynosa 16:01

But then when you try to implement and practice them, you're like, oh, man, you mean, you want me to love that neighbor? You mean, you want me to love that group to, really? But they're so mean, like, No. And it's like, first, you know, when you love God, loving God allows you to see the divinity within yourself as well. And He helps you to love yourself. And in turn, then you can see the divinity and other people, even through their flaws, and their, you know, their meanness, quote, unquote, you know, because you can see that they're a child of God as well.

Jodi Reynosa 16:40

And so I think, then, it just, it's like, it reminds me of like a little rubber band, if like how it can snap back in a positive way. And it just comes back or the infinity sign that the eight infinity sign, if you have that heart connection to God, and then to yourself and then to your fellow man, it can just be this never ending infinity sign of beautiful energy, you know, that just keeps coming back, like a little rubber band coming and stepping back. And it's like, okay, I see my connection to God, I see how the divinity within myself, I can see the divinity within my fellowman, and I can see what's trying to emerge within me how I can help my fellow man how I can help humanity and raise the frequency of humanity to be more loving.

Jodi Reynosa 17:27

So, yeah, I think those questions of what's trying to emerge within me, how can I be of service? There was a gentleman on my service mission, who said, you know, a lot of people ask, you know, what path should I take? Or what should I do now? Instead, maybe even ask where I am right now, how can I be of service? Because sometimes, and this is also what Michael Bernard Beckwith said, he said, instead of trying to change our situation, you know, and do something different, because sometimes, immediately when it gets hard, we're like, can we just pop out of the situation? Can we shift? Can we somehow just get me out of this situation, right? Instead, he says, Ask this question. Okay. God, if I had to be in this situation for eternity, if you if you wanted me in this situation, like for a long time, okay. He said, Ask, what qualities or what things would I need to get me through the situation? We met ask or say, okay, okay, obviously, I would need strengths. Okay, I would need trust in you, I would need that strengthened, I would need a lot of empathy, you know, say if you're dealing with a certain person or persons.

Jodi Reynosa 18:51

So there are things that you can anchor down from the heavens, to you and to the earth, so that you can endure certain situations, instead of saying, Please change this, please take this from me, you know, I don't want to be in this anymore. So those are some of the things that I've tried to implement in my own life, to help with certain situations instead of just saying, Take it from me.

Tamara Anderson 19:22

Well, and that's so wise, because I was I was talking to another gal a couple weeks ago, kind of about this same type of principle. And, and she was explaining that, if you ask a why question, your brain is going to start answering it. Why did this happen? Well, that one time you hit that cat, you know, crossing the street, you know? But instead if we turn it and ask productive questions, like you just suggested here, what do you want me to learn? What qualities can I work on while I'm in this situation? Your brain will start thinking of those things. And then You can pray for those things. And God will empower you with the strength with the capacity. And I wish somebody would have taught me this when I was younger, seriously.

Jodi Reynosa 20:13

I know, I know. You know what I will say this though, my mom with the object lesson of chicken soup, She taught me a very wise lesson.

Tamara Anderson 20:27

tell me

Jodi Reynosa 20:28

Okay, sometimes when we can be in a fixed mindset, or get really rigid in our thinking, right in our little box, our comfort zone? We might say, no, no, no, we're not going to do that. Oh, no, we're not going to try that. Well, one day, she made this amazing chicken soup. Well, I didn't think it was amazing. At the time. It had celery and carrots and rice and all this like, at the time, I was like, you know? And she said, Jodi, I want you to just try it. And one of the rules that we implemented in our family in our family, home is a just try it bite. And so she said, I want you to just try it. And I was in the worst mood, oh, my goodness, I felt so bad that I just had her go through that. And I said, Okay, fine. So I took a teaspoon of the soup. And I did not want to admit to her that I thought it was the most delicious soup I had ever had up until that point. I said in grumbling was I said, Mom, she said, Yes. I don't want to tell you this. But I love this soup. She just started laughing and she's in real good.

Jodi Reynosa 21:48

And so she from that point on said that this is the chicken soup syndrome. And I said, Okay, she said, because you know, what you can learn from this is that there are situations in life that you from the outskirts looking in, you're going to think I do not want this, this does not look good. Get me out of this. But if you go in with what we just talked about the strength of God, how he's empowered you, and just with the approach of curiosity, that you might like the fact that he's given you an opportunity to either help others help yourself grow, and actually a challenge becoming a blessing. You will like the end result. So

Tamara Anderson 22:37

No, that is that is really, really neat. And I I know that you've had the opportunity to apply this chicken soup principle, yeah. Many times in your life. Yes. So you you had the opportunity to then pursue a career in the media? I did. Yes. And tell me what your goals were at that time and how life kind of derailed even that, right? Yes,

Tamara Anderson 23:08

We're gonna take a quick break. But when we get back, we'll have more lessons, tips and things you can apply to your life. Stay tuned.

Tamara Anderson 23:17

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Tamara Anderson 24:36

So you you had the opportunity to then pursue a career in the media?

Jodi Reynosa 24:42

I did. Yes.

Tamara Anderson 24:44

And tell me what your goals were at that time and how life kind of derailed even that,

Jodi Reynosa 24:52

Right? Yes. Oh, my goodness. So Well, first of all, for those of you that don't know, Tamara and I met at a conference And it was for, you know, publishers and media personalities and, you know, writers and everything of that nature. And I just adore her. And, you know, I was giving a workshop about being in the media, and about people that wanted to, you know, pursue that, be podcasters, all of that. And at the time, I was working for NBC, at a station in Oregon.

Jodi Reynosa 25:26

Well, let me before I go into that story, we'll kind of come back to that we'll circle around. But at Brigham Young University, I was pursuing a broadcast major. Now, I went on my service mission for 18 months, I came back, I finished, you know, the major The one thing I didn't finish, though, which is part of the coursework is you have to do an internship at a station. Well, at the time I met my husband at the time, we got married, we then packed everything we had, in a pathfinder, a Nissan Pathfinder, and drove across the country to New York, to Albany, New York.

Jodi Reynosa 26:06

And at the time, I had a newborn baby. And oh, my goodness, even that trip was pretty interesting. Because every little while, you know, we had to stop, and I had to nurse her and all that kind of stuff. And I remember before leaving, there was a professor who kind of took me aside and he said, You know, I would really think about getting into this business, because you can't be a mother, and be in this business, and, you know, be a wife and mother and all that. At the time, I was really, I just was like, I Are you serious? Like, you're really going to tell me that right now. I don't know, you know, I just kind of thought, Oh, he's just an older generation.

Jodi Reynosa 26:47

And now in retrospect, I know that he had some wise and timely counsel for me, because this business, not only is it cutthroat, but, you know, it doesn't leave a lot of time for family. I do tell people, you can do everything that you want to do in life, but at the right season in the right time. And I mistakenly tried to do everything all at once. I tried to just jam pack it into one season, and it did not work for me. So it ended up it resulted in I feel I know, my part was, you know, with my marriage, not focusing on, you know, the time to foster that marriage, and things of that nature. And, you know, he ended up going a different path. Everybody has their free agency and choice. But, you know, that was very difficult. You know, for me, what I did, though, at the time, you know, people who are pursuing a certain profession, they might have, like the thought, oh, when is it going to happen? When is it going to happen?

Jodi Reynosa 27:55

You know, because I wanted to be on air so bad, I wanted to be out reporting I wanted to be incurring, I started behind the scenes. And with a newborn baby, I was, you know, working late nights, overnights producing, I'd come home, and she'd want to wake up and play. And I'd be just sleep deprived and exhausted. So I was just burning the candle at both ends. It was not serving me or my family. So you can see kind of this vicious cycle of how it just was not. It was not a work life balance at all. Yeah. But I was, you know, type A personality galore at the time. And I just kept pushing, pushing, pushing. So I eventually got my first on air job in upstate New York. And, you know, that's one of the places where I had some amazing interviews. You know, I interviewed space shuttle commander, Eileen Collins, she was the first woman in space shuttle commander. I had interviewed a gentleman who the Bush administration was touting to be the first prime minister of Iraq. Just amazing people.

Jodi Reynosa 29:07

But I can tell you, it's never going to replace the time lost with my family and the time lost with my little girl. When she turned five and started kindergarten. I was like, freaking out. I was like, Oh my gosh, oh, my gosh, I need to either quit the media business or I need to go part time something needs to give because I want to be in the classroom with her. I want to be volunteering. I want to be that mom, you know, and so that kind of took a turn with my career in a different direction. So there was just all these I don't know if I would say doubts, but all these things ruminating in my mind, and I know you people out there in your audience have had that happen. Like if I'm making the right choices, should I stay in this profession? Should I you know, give more to my Family, but yet I know there's bills to pay at the same time for those women who are the breadwinners, as well, there's that to grapple with. So there's a lot of things you know, and you're trying to consult with the Lord. And it's just life is hard. I'm not gonna say there's like an easy prescription for any of this.

Jodi Reynosa 30:20

So all that was happening. And now, I will say, warning, don't go back and say, I should have done this, this, this and this not. Because life happens, and we learn from it. Just like Tamara and I are talking about we learn from it, we grow from it, and we are better for it. So, you know, in talking about this media career path that I took, yes, I was absolutely successful. I went from market 174. There's 200 markets in the United States. Somewhere in Alaska's like market 200. And market 1 is New York City. Okay, so I went from market 174 in upstate New York to market 50 in Scranton, Wilkberry, Pennsylvania to market one in New York City. So I jumped super, super fast. Like I had people saying, like, you're an anomaly and all of that, which, sure, that's great. But like I did, I gave up a lot, you know. And my daughter, now she's in college, graduating from college in May. Wow. And it's just, Oh, my goodness.

Jodi Reynosa 31:28

And there are times that we'll talk and she'll just say, I mean, I do remember seeing on TV, mom.You know, I remember your live shots. And I remember this and that. But you know, there's certain things I don't remember. So it's like me filling in the gaps for her or us having a conversation about well, do you remember this? Do you remember that? So it's interesting, because everybody will have a different perspective on family history as well, you know.

Jodi Reynosa 31:58

But in circling back to what we were talking about, in my most recent stint at the NBC in Oregon, once she started college, I thought after taking a break, because I wanted to be there for her, you know, through school and have that flexible schedule. And taking that break from the media. When she went off to college, I thought, Okay, I want to get back into the business. Yeah, so I did what people are called the impossible. And I went back in because that doesn't happen for a lot of people. So I started working as the main anchor at the NBC affiliate. And shortly thereafter, it was a three year contract.

Jodi Reynosa 32:42

And after 18 months, I started having these health issues. I didn't know what it was. My brother in California passed out at work. And he was rushed to UC San Francisco had to have emergency surgery, there was a brain tumor. And I asked my mum, I said, Tell me his symptoms. They started sounding a lot like symptoms I was having. And I was like, Okay, this is crazy. So I asked my specialist, I said, I know this is gonna sound crazy. This just happened to my brother, but will you can you order an MRI for me? Because I'm having the same type of symptoms. I had had a fever for like two months. And I was like, What is going on? I don't get fevers, you know. So the MRI did show that I had tumors on my pituitary gland. And what was going on is they were excreting hormones that just were going throughout my body and making me sick. I mean, I was like, so low energy, I was sleeping around the clock. And I just to take a shower in the morning was difficult, it just sapped my energy. So to think that I had to like put a pound of makeup on and go anchor for newscast in the evening was like, to me seemed, you know, just like the biggest feat, you know, on earth, it was very difficult.

Jodi Reynosa 34:02

So I finally got to the point where I went to my news director and said, This is what's going on. And I mean, I had taken a medical leave for even two months because, uh, nobody really knew what was going on. And there's, you know, there's chatter at the station, like, Oh, she's just trying to get out of work and this and that, you know, because nobody really knows. So you have these narratives going on, right? So I finally, actually just, I think a week ago, I came out with what really happened. And I think that was a shock for a lot of people. They had no idea. So when Tamara and I actually met at a conference two years ago, you know, I was still working at that affiliate.

Jodi Reynosa 34:43

And I was I was still feeling some symptoms, but it hadn't gotten super, super bad. Shortly thereafter. I would say like a few months later, I ended up you know, ending my career. So I concentrated on my, you know, YouTube channel and my YouTube show guided. And that's all based on the hero's journey. And all of us have a hero's journey, we all have a divine journey. You know, overcoming obstacles going from, you know, the, the natural or worlds, you know, to the unseen world to, you know, being masters, basically. You know, and it's funny, because every Hollywood movie basically has that template. You know, you have you have the Jedis, you know, and Star Wars, who like, it's like, they go from, oh, my gosh, I have this crazy thing happened to me, like the rug is ripped from under me. Then I'm like, in this almost like depression? Or what do I do with my life, you know, and then yo, Yoda comes to me and says, you know, you are this, you know. And then it's like, you know, you're trained. And you go through that really difficult road of training. And it's like, Soul alchemy, and then you become this master, and then you help other people. So that's what my show is based on, you know, helping you navigate that divine journey that we all have.

Tamara Anderson 36:09

Wow. And it's pretty amazing that God has, I think the reason that you're able to do this Guided show now is because you've had so much experience with these roadblocks. Okay I've got it figured out, I'm going down this path, kind of like you were saying with the car in the beginning. And eerrch!

Jodi Reynosa 36:34

exactly,

Tamara Anderson 36:35

We're taking a detour over here. Okay, we're going down this path.

Jodi Reynosa 36:40

Exactly.

Tamara Anderson 36:42

It's, it is very appropriate. It's almost like all that experience led you to this one path, where you are now impacting the lives of 10s of 1000s. You know, just by having influential people share their story that we all go through these hard times. We all have detours in our journey, and the little tips and tricks that help make those diversions become part of us. And asking those right questions like you were saying, trusting in God, learning how to grow into that new path, you know. You mentioned having growth mindset. And that's, that's pretty important, too. So that we are growing into that new arena that God has placed us in?

Jodi Reynosa 37:40

Oh, yeah. the Caterpillar transforming into the butterfly.

Tamara Anderson 37:44

Yes. Yes. And God sees the butterfly, and we don't.

Jodi Reynosa 37:49

Exactly, exactly. And, and, you know, and He sees the the final outcome, he sees the masterpiece. And we sometimes just see the little threads, you know. And sometimes we might get glimpses of the different colors, you know, but He sees it all. Yeah. And he's just asking us to trust him. And one of the scriptures in the Bible that I actually shared with you the other day, you know, has to do with the fact that we should trust him and toil not, you know, just like the lilies of the field? You know, they don't spin, you know, they don't worry, you know, they don't--we shouldn't, you know, worry about the rain meant, you know, the clothing or anything like that, it's like, Sure, easier said than done, you know, but when we're in the moment, we like, might freak out. But if we can just be still and meditate and pray, we can at least get that pause. You know, it's the power of the pause. Sometimes that allows us to be like, okay, alright, let me do a reset. Let me begin again. Yeah, that that definitely helps.

Tamara Anderson 38:59

Yeah. And I love that you call it the power of the pause, because sometimes when we have those detour moments, the knee jerk reaction is to slam on the brakes. And my progress has been stopped. It's been halted. What's going on? You know? And, and it might not be the right reaction. Especially for us type A people who are like, Okay, I'm setting my course I'm going this way. And God is like, Nope. And so it almost takes us pausing and saying, breathe. Okay, God, obviously you need something to change. Help me wrap my brain around it because I know that sometimes when somebody gives me a new suggestion, my initial knee jerk reaction is no! No, I don't like that idea. I don't like that concept. I don't want to do that. But it's like once the seed has been planted. Yeah, God takes that seed, and He kind of works it through in my brain. And all of a sudden, two months later, I'm like, you know, that was a good idea.

Jodi Reynosa 40:16

That is so funny that you say that Tamara, because my husband and I, we are working on the growth mindset like that, because one of the things and he said it's because it has to do with safety, and especially emotional safety, and security. And so like, if I make a suggestion, he said, sometimes his immediate. And I've noticed this too, and it has a lot to do with resistance. And again, due to feeling safe. Mm hmm. He'll immediately say, No. Or, here's why it won't work. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, okay. Can you Can I request something please? Can you? Can you approach this with curiosity? Because for the just try a bite, you know-- as my mom would say from the chicken soup thing. Because there are a bazillion options that actually could work. And I know, you are so creative, and so intelligent. And the thing is, like, think of us together thinking of those options, like there's something that has to work. There's something that will work. And so it's just like, our tendency as human beings is to like, resist. It is it's fear sometimes. And it's like, it's true, though. It's like after we take that pause, and we're like, okay, let's plant that seed of faith. Mm hmm. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, that was a good idea.

Tamara Anderson 41:41

Yeah.

Jodi Reynosa 41:42

But yeah, it's so it's tough. It's easier said than done. A couple other questions, because we're talking about empowering questions. There's a woman named Byron Katie. And she has this process called The Work, and I love it. So anything that we might feel, you know, is a challenging situation? Or maybe we have an issue with somebody? Rght? She has four questions, just four.

Tamara Anderson 42:12

Oh, share them!

Jodi Reynosa 42:13

oh, yeah. So she says the first question is, ask, is it true? A lot of times we assume things, right? We assume or we wrap a story around it because of our own filters, right? So, or we interpret things. Let's say, somebody passes us on the sidewalk, and they have a scowl, right? We say, oh, my gosh, like, they don't like me, you know, we like instantly wrap a story around it. Yeah. So she, her first question would would be to us, Is it true? Like, is it true that they don't like you? Is it true?

Jodi Reynosa 42:49

So her second question is, Can you absolutely know that it's true? Well, no, I can't absolutely know that that person doesn't like me. Their dog could have died, they could have just been fired from their job. Their wife or husband could have just passed away because of COVID. Who knows? Right?

Jodi Reynosa 43:10

And then her third question is, how do you react? What happens when you believe that thought? Well, I get I get anxious. Sometimes I get angry, might impulsivity, to just jump to that certain reaction? Because maybe it's my default because of like, you know, my maybe trauma in my life or something. I will jump to a certain reaction. And you know what, it doesn't feel good. Thought does not feel good at all.

Jodi Reynosa 43:40

Yeah, the fourth question is who or what would you be without that thought? So powerful, right? And without that thought, who my goodness, I would feel at peace, I would feel free, I would relinquish any attachment to that type of interpretation. And I would see like, oh, I can just go on my merry way. And that's theirs. That is theirs. Whatever that scar was, is theirs. And I'm in my lane. They're in their lane. I'm in my lane.

Tamara Anderson 44:15

Those are four amazing questions to ask when we're faced with especially negative thoughts, right? That negative self talk that we do. Yeah. And you have given us some really powerful questions to ask--not only when we hit detours, but also when we have negative thoughts. Day to day.

Jodi Reynosa 44:38

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Tamara Anderson 44:39

Oh, my goodness. This is awesome. I love this. Now you had another favorite verse. Do you mind if I read it really quick? And you can tell us why. Yes, please. It's all so you shared the verse in Matthew chapter 6, verse 28, but the other one was in Isaiah 40:31 And it says, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." Tell me why that one has become so important to you.

Jodi Reynosa 45:12

It gives me chills just when you read it. I'm like trying not to tear up here. Oh, deep breath. Um, first of all, it brings back amazing memories, because there is a song that we sing when I was in Belcanto at Azusa Pacific University. And most of that song was all Isaiah 40. And that verse, and I just felt so empowered by God, every time we sang that, and when we sang that, as acquire, our audience was just so filled with the Spirit. And they felt like they could just overcome anything. And secondly, I tend to have this Hurry up, and okay, tell me what to do next. Okay, tell me what to do next. All right. So what about this? What about this option? What about this option, I'm such a problem solver, right. And sometimes I just need to wait on the Lord and be still. It is the let's sit back. And let's just relax and receive. And that feminine energy allows us to just be let's be human beings. And that is that creative power in us that that mother nurture? You know, that creative power.

Jodi Reynosa 46:36

And when I wait on the Lord, I've received some of the most powerful direction and inspiration ever. You know, so, I mean, God always comes up with the most amazing plans for me than I could ever. Like, stop with my suggestions. I just need to wait on board. And yeah, timing is always perfect.

Tamara Anderson 47:02

It is. It is. It's just learning to trust that and breathe and be patient. Right? Exactly. Wow, well, this has been so amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your amazing story of faith and moving forward, even along your detoured path, because you trusted that God would get you where you needed to go, right.

Tamara Anderson 47:32

Now you you listed like probably 20 resources that you've used throughout your life. And I'm going to take all those and throw them in the show notes. Because we just don't have time to dive into every single one of them. But just know guys that if you go to the show notes of today's show, you can find all these amazing resources of things that Jodi recommends to find peace. Like there's songs, there's books, there's meditations and stuff like that. So I will be sure to put all of that in the show notes of today's show. And

Jodi Reynosa 48:06

It's practice to Tamra, it's like, you know, it's not just like, Oh, here's a bunch of suggestions. And you're good. Yeah, literally, from day to day, sometimes moment to moment. It is literally a practice. Mm hmm.

Tamara Anderson 48:19

Yeah. And, and it's learning to implement those little things into our lives. And sometimes one thing will work better than the other. And it's almost trial and error. Okay, right now, this is working for me. So I'm going to try that. And if that stops working, then I need to find something else. And so you know, that kind of thing. But I know people are going to want to hook up with you and find your show Guided what is the best way for people to connect with you?

Jodi Reynosa 48:46

Yeah, thanks for asking that. I would love to connect with all of you. And it's been a pleasure to be on this show. Tamara and to connect with you. So I am on LinkedIn. And if you go to LinkedIn, just Jodi Reynosa and you will find all my contact information, you'll find all of my social links. You can also go to my YouTube channel, Jodi's Jems, and it's Jody God I Apostrophe S and gems, je MS and I use j for the alliteration, instead of the G. And Guided. If you go to the guided playlist on Jodi's gems, you will find all the episodes of Guided, and guests from around the world. You know, a lot of authors, a lot of healing practitioners, people who have been through Oh, runs the gamut, what they've been through, and have they overcome. And it's amazing that the different tips and tricks that you know, they have for all of us. So that's how you can find me and you can find all of my social links there.

Tamara Anderson 49:45

Oh, wonderful. Well, thank you so much for coming in today and for sharing so much wisdom. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your journey today because I think it helps us realize that It's the human condition to go through this hero's journey. Right? And that we're not alone.

Jodi Reynosa 50:05

Absolutely. Thank you so much, Tamara.

Tamara Anderson 50:08

Hey,thanks so much for listening to today's show. If you like what you heard, subscribe so you can get your weekly dose of powerful stories of hope. I know there are many of you out there who are going through a hard time, and I hope you found useful things that you can apply to your own life in today's podcast. If you'd like to access the show notes of today's show, please visit my website storiesofhopepodcast.com. There you will find a summary of today's show, the transcript and one of my favorite takeaways. You know, if someone kept coming to mind during today's episode, perhaps that means that you should share this episode with them. Maybe there was a story shared or quote, or a scripture verse that they really really need to hear. So go ahead and share this podcast. May God bless you, especially if you are struggling with hope to carry on and the strength to keep going when things get tough. Remember to walk with Christ and He will help you bear the burden. And above all else Remember, God loves you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Tamara AndersonGod, Self-Improvement, faith, change