Meet John 2.0
"There was a day my whole brain flipped.
I went from John 1.0 to John 2.0 almost overnight.
John 1.0 was:
Goal-driven
Performance-obsessed
Always proving himself
Always grinding, never landing
From the outside he looked “successful.”
On the inside, he was running from what was done to him.
Then the recall hit.
Childhood trauma, full-color, full-volume.
My life blew apart.
I developed a chronic stutter.
Lost my marriage.
Lost my business.
Lost my church.
It didn’t just hurt my feelings — it rewired my brain.
And I never once prayed, “Why me?”
The only honest prayer I had was:
“Take this and turn it for good. Don’t let it be wasted.”
Slowly, painfully, that’s what happened.
I met John 2.0:
The guy who wants to write poetry,
smoke cigars under a tree,
help other men and women claw their way out of the dark.
I actually like John 2.0.
I never really liked John 1.0.
That’s what I talked about with @officialcatalinamagee on The Open Up Podcast —
how recall and trauma can wreck your “old” self…
and still lead you to a version of you that is more honest, more present, more free.
If you’re in the dark right now:
You’re not crazy.
You’re not weak.
You’re not stuck with your first version forever.
You may never get a good answer to “Why me?”
But you can still fight for,
“God, turn this to good.”
And He can. "
🎧 Full conversation with Catalina on The Open Up Podcast — go check it out.
If this hit home, drop a ❤️ or a “2.0” in the comments so I know you’re out there.
#trauma #ptsd #mentalhealth #healingjourney #mensmentalhealth #cptsd #survivor #drjohnaking #johnkingauthor