Leaders often struggle to make time for healing until their body sends out an SOS.

They postpone and avoid the need for deeper healing and then get slammed by illness, exhaustion, or burnout.

And at the heart it? There is usually the burden of unaddressed trauma.

Insomnia, chronic pain, hair and skin issues, digestive distress, mood swings, and illness after illness–if you’re experiencing these symptoms without relief, you might be one of these leaders. The cost of avoiding or bypassing the deep work and healing ends up costing you time, opportunity, and your physical and emotional well-being.

We need more leaders to show up and model what it means to prioritize healing by doing the deeper work to change.

That's why I'm excited to share today’s conversation with Jonathan Merrit.

Jonathan knows a thing or two about the deep work of healing because he has lived this truth in action.

He is a model of tenacity and commitment toward the long-game work of healing. The process has transformed how he is showing up not only when writing about the hard and controversial things around culture and faith but also in his vulnerability when sharing his journey and risking failure when making big life decisions.

Jonathan Merritt is one of America’s most prolific writers focused on religion, culture, and politics. He is the author of Learning to Speak God From Scratch and serves as a contributing writer for The Atlantic and contributing editor for The Week.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• 
  
• What it looked like to choose to not to bypass pain, repressed anger, and shame
  
• How psychological trauma and stress can manifest physically and ways to address that trauma
  
• How to listen to the sacred whisper and choose the risk of failure over the feelings of regret
  
• How Jonathan communicates his facedown moments in his relationship to his body and his own journey with languaging his faith
  

Learn more about Jonathan:

• 
  
• jonathanmerritt.com
  
• Facebook: Jonathan Merritt Writer
  
• Instagram: @jonathan_merritt
  
• Twitter: @JonathanMerritt
  

Learn more about Rebecca:

• 
  
• Work With Rebecca
  
• Sign up for the Weekly Rumble Email
  
• rebeccaching.com