Shea Watson - Tragedy into Testimony

08/30/20 • 46 min

Many of us face difficulties, but how do you hold out hope when life continues to push you back down, leaving you broken? Shea Watson has seen some of the worst that life can bring. From times of brokenness and not being able to see any hope at all, he's now able to offer lasting hope to others, a hope that transcends it all.

The Pantry Podcast: https://thepantrypodcast.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePantryPodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepantrypodcast/

Email Shea Watson: [email protected] or [email protected]

(Transcript is a guide only and may not be 100% correct.)

Emily Olsen

Wherever there are shadows, there are people ready to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight. This is Bleeding Daylight with your host Rodney Olsen.

Rodney Olsen

Welcome to a really inspiring episode of Bleeding Daylight. I’m so glad you’ve joined me.

Don’t forget to catch Bleeding Daylight on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and please consider leaving reviews wherever you listen to podcasts.

Many of us face difficulties, but how do you hold out hope when life continues to push you back down, leaving you broken? It took many years, but today’s guest finally found that hope.

My guest today has seen some of the worst that life can bring. From times of brokenness and not being able to see any hope at all, he's now able to offer lasting hope to others, a hope that transcends it all. He co-hosts The Pantry Podcast with his wife, Michelle. His name is Shea Watson, and I'm thrilled to be able to welcome him to Bleeding Daylight. Shea thank you for your time.

Shea Watson

Hey, Rodney. It's good to be on today. Man, I've been actually following you on Instagram, listening to your stories, listening to your podcasts. I love Bleeding Daylight episodes and how people have been broken, but then they come out of that darkness and then they get to experience something much better.

Rodney Olsen

Well, thank you and I'm really looking forward to delving into your story today. So let's start really early. Go back to the very early years of your life. How do you remember that early childhood?

Shea Watson

Wow, let's let's just be honest on that. Before 10 years old, I don't remember a whole lot and I think that's because of the traumatic experiences that I had gone through. I grew up In a broken home, divorced parents. Probably not the best timing on telling us about this. They actually broke the news on Christmas Day and that kind of set a tone on how things would end up going in our lives. My sister and I grew up so basically with our mother, and our father moved away. And so we kind of just grew up in that one mother home. And it kind of left my sister and I vulnerable as my mom tried to come to grips with the separation from my dad, you know, that led to some some things that really had an impact. You know, if I had a word or a couple words to say it was like, my mold became broken, my identity became cracked. I lost my innocence at 12 years old. My mom was dating and, you know, back in the 70s and 80s, late 70s 80s. The thought of child predators weren't really in the minds of people back then. It was some a concept that people just I don't know if they didn't want to grasp it or just I didn't understand it, but they would give me money these, these boyfriends would give me money to go into the video arcade. And that is where I met a man who manipulated me, took advantage of me and actually ended up molesting me on several occasions. From that, because I would continually go back I was looking for something I was looking for love. I was looking for attention. I was looking to be accepted. And you know, I never even told my parents what had happened. I just kept going back. That was a summer and then the school year started. And it kind of faded away. It was like a season. And I never told anyone about this too later in life,

Rodney Olsen

There must have been an enormous amount of shame within your own life. We know now that this obviously was not your fault, but did you feel that it was at that time? Did you feel guilt?

Shea Watson

Oh, absolutely. Rodney. It was a destroyer of what I would called my identity who I was, I blamed myself. I never even looked at the the person that did it as being at fault, I looked at myself as being the one to blame because I just kept going. I felt like it was my choice and that actually created identity issues within my own sexuality.

Rodney Olsen

I'm looking at all of that and thinking, the people that you should have been able to trust, the adults in your life, there's your parents, then there's the the men that come to visit with your mom and they just want you out of the picture. So they paying you to go off...

The Pantry Podcast: https://thepantrypodcast.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePantryPodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepantrypodcast/

Email Shea Watson: [email protected] or [email protected]

(Transcript is a guide only and may not be 100% correct.)

Emily Olsen

Wherever there are shadows, there are people ready to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight. This is Bleeding Daylight with your host Rodney Olsen.

Rodney Olsen

Welcome to a really inspiring episode of Bleeding Daylight. I’m so glad you’ve joined me.

Don’t forget to catch Bleeding Daylight on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and please consider leaving reviews wherever you listen to podcasts.

Many of us face difficulties, but how do you hold out hope when life continues to push you back down, leaving you broken? It took many years, but today’s guest finally found that hope.

Shea Watson

Rodney Olsen

Well, thank you and I'm really looking forward to delving into your story today. So let's start really early. Go back to the very early years of your life. How do you remember that early childhood?

Shea Watson

Rodney Olsen

There must have been an enormous amount of shame within your own life. We know now that this obviously was not your fault, but did you feel that it was at that time? Did you feel guilt?

Shea Watson

Rodney Olsen

Previous Episode

Jean Bailey Robor - Overcoming Excuses

Jean Bailey Robor is an international writer, speaker, comic, professional communicator, and so much more. Her book, 'She Has a Big But: Get Past Your Excuses and Realize Your Dreams' tells the stories of women who've overcome obstacles and excuses on their way to success. She is also a successful fitness coach for over 50s.

Website: www.JeanBaileyRobor.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/JeanBaileyRobor

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jeanbaileyrobor

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/JeanBaileyRobor

Fit After 50: www.FitAfter50TheRevolution.com

(Transcript is a guide only and may not be 100% correct.)

Emily Olsen

Wherever there are shadows, there are people ready to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight. This is Bleeding Daylight with your host Rodney Olsen.

Rodney Olsen

If you’re a regular listener to Bleeding Daylight, welcome back, if this is your first episode, please remember that you can find Bleeding Daylight on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Don’t forget to share this and other episodes of Bleeding Daylight to help shine even more light into the darkness.

What do you get when you cross a comic, an author , public speaker and fitness coach? You get today’s guest.

My guest today is an international writer, speaker, comic professional communicator, and so much more her book, 'She Has a Big But: Get Past Your Excuses and Realize Your Dreams' tells the stories of women who've overcome obstacles and excuses on their way to success. Jean Bailey Robor is also a successful fitness coach for over 50s. Through everything she does, it's obvious that she has a heart to see others reach their potential. Jean, welcome to Bleeding Daylight.

Jean Bailey Robor

Thank you, Rodney. Thanks for inviting me to be a part of your show. I'm just so grateful to be here and thanks to all the guys that are gonna be listening and tuning in. I just appreciate this opportunity to speak to you today.

Rodney Olsen

You seem to be the kind of person who's very comfortable in her own skin, happy to be in front of people.

Jean Bailey Robor

Absolutely. You have pegged me exactly right because when I was growing up, I was super shy if you can believe that.That's how I was most of my life. And I realized that that was really holding me back from a lot of opportunities that, you know, would have been a lot of fun. And if I could have had more success, it took going through a really hard time in my life. You know, sometimes you have to hit rock bottom is what we say sometimes in order to start rising back to the top. And it took a really tough time in my life when I went through a divorce that was just horrific. And, you know, there was no place I could go but up. So I started listening to books on tape, you know, back in the day, they were on cassette tape, and I started listening to those as I sat at work, trying to find myself trying to, you know, dive into these self help books and there was one in particular, the author's name was Cheryl Richardson, and she mentioned something about how she learned to speak in public through Toastmasters. And I don't know if you've heard of Toastmasters Rodney, but it's an organization that teaches leadership and communication skills. And I thought, well, what the heck is that so I googled it and that was a turning point in my life Rodney because I joined a club. It's been about 15 years now and they taught me how to regain my confidence and I regained my self esteem. And I actually found out that I enjoy being in front of an audience, which in the past, that would have scared the heck out of me, you know. So it's those little steps that we take sometimes and those choices that we make, that can lead us in a whole new direction, to go to a place that we've never even dreamed of. So I got past the fear of public speaking the fear of speaking in front of people, and being able to find my own voice and speak confidently about what I believed in and found a way that hopefully I can help other people step into, you know, their purpose in life. It's just been an amazing journey.

Rodney Olsen

So back in the day when you were listening to those voices on cassette at work, what did work look like? What was your job back then?

Jean Bailey Robor

I was working for a lab and don't let that make you think that I know what I'm doing in the lab because I worked behind the desk. I didn't actually, you know, do the lab work. But I was working in a lab and processing specimen records. And it was sort of, you know, mundane at that point, because it was the same old, same old, but the good news was, for t...

Next Episode

Meg Glesener - Finding Home

Meg Glesener is a remarkable woman who has turned a traumatic upbringing into a life that brings love and hope to so many. Her home is one marked by openness, safety and love but her experience of a family home growing up was starkly different.

Website: http://lettersfromhomepodcast.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/lettersfromhomepodcast/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/lettersfromhomepodcast

Email: [email protected]

(Transcript is a guide only and may not be 100% correct.)

Emily Olsen

Wherever there are shadows, there are people ready to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight. This is Bleeding Daylight with your host Rodney Olsen.

Rodney Olsen

Thank you for dropping in on Bleeding Daylight once again. I’m always interested in your thoughts and comments so please connect with Bleeding Daylight on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Also, I’d really appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts.

Today’s guest is a remarkable woman who has turned a traumatic upbringing into a life that brings love and hope to so many. I can’t wait to introduce you.

When you think of Meg Glesener one of the first words that comes to mind is family. Her home is one marked by openness, safety and love and I suspect that her definition of family spreads far wider than blood relatives. So maybe you're surprised to find that her experience of family growing up was starkly different. These days, she hosts and produces the podcast Letters from Home. I'm honored to have Meg join me as a guest on Bleeding Daylight. Thank you for your time.

Meg Glesener

Rodney, thank you for having me. I feel so blessed to be part of all the great stories you're getting out there to encourage our hurting world.

Rodney Olsen

Thank you very much. I mentioned you growing up in an environment that's very different from the one that you and your husband have created. So let's start with where you grew up. Can you describe what kind of neighborhood you grew up in?

Meg Glesener

Well, I went to about 10 Elementary School. So as far as the neighborhood Well, I'll tell you about My parents so my parents met in Memphis at playing a game in college. They were playing Bridge and my dad thought, Oh, she's really smart. And anyway, I think he lost some kind of a bet and ended up on a date with my mom and they dated for a very short time. Then my dad ran into a telephone pole while he's backing up for a football catch, went into a coma. He had broken up with my mom just before that my mom came and visited him and then they redated again for a very short time, and my brother was conceived. So they married, both being Catholic, but their marriage was volatile and loveless from the get go. And my dad didn't really grow up with a father. His father had abandoned him. He was very abusive, and then you add alcohol to the mix and they have three kids in three years. And so their marriage started off really, really bad. My mom because of the physical abuse kind of went internal and when I was five years old, they had moved to California and my mom had tried to reach out to her family, but nobody believed her that she was being abused, which is really awful. And so they ended up moving to California with three kids had a fourth in California and when I was five years old, it was Christmas time. And my mom and dad were fighting. It's the .. only have two memories of when they were married, and they were fighting and they were yelling and they shoved us and sent us in a room. And I was sitting there on a bed with my brother and my sisters and I could hear that song that Christmas song Oh Tanenbaum, Oh Tanenbaum, and that's the only memory that I have of my parents interaction together and they divorced after that. Then I ended up living with my mom, while my father disappeared for probably five years or so didn't want to pay child support or anything and just kind of Adios. And my mom is trying to raise us on welfare and food stamps. in California.

Rodney Olsen

You mentioned that no one really believed your mom's story of abuse and these days, it's becoming more common that we hear of stories and that people are getting help. Do you think that life could have been very different for your whole family at someone believed her back then in that first place?

Meg Glesener

You know, hadn't even thought of that. But yes, it could have been so different for her because not having the people that raised you and my mom was young, she was 20. And by 25, had four kids and If her parents would have believed her, maybe my dad would have gotten some help. Right there at the beginning. It could have Yeah, it could have been really different. Maybe he would have gotten the help that he needed. Maybe she would have had a completely different life. Maybe they would have separated, who k...