“We can think and act our way to a new feeling. We cannot feel our way to a new way of thinking and acting.”

That line from therapist and author Nicole Zasowski cuts to the heart of anxiety, addiction, and the stories we tell ourselves when life feels uncertain. Nicole is the author of What If It’s Wonderful?—a book built around a disarming and deeply important question: What if, instead of bracing for the worst, we allowed ourselves to hope?

In this conversation, Nicole shares how a season marked by loss, miscarriage, and prolonged uncertainty exposed her own coping mechanisms—performance, control, and pessimism disguised as realism. She explains why catastrophizing isn’t just negative thinking but a form of control, and why preparing for the worst often robs us of joy without actually protecting us from pain.

We also explore the connection between shame and escape, how feelings can be real without being true, and why naming what’s happening inside us is essential for healing. Nicole offers practical ways to interrupt shame cycles, retrain the brain toward hope, and steward pain without glorifying it. This episode is an invitation to tell ourselves a truer story—about who God is, who we are, and what might still be possible.

We explore:

— Why catastrophizing feels responsible but quietly fuels anxiety
— How the brain learns fear faster than hope
— The difference between feelings that are real and thoughts that are true
— Why shame often drives both anxiety and addictive behaviors
— How performance and control masquerade as faith
— What miscarriage and unresolved grief revealed about Nicole’s inner life
— Why hope is not denial, but courage
— Practical ways to retrain anxious thought patterns
— How naming internal experiences leads to healing
— What it looks like to tell a truer story about God and ourselves

Website: https://www.nicolezasowski.com

Books: What It's Wonderful? and Daring Joy

Follow Nicole on Instagram: @nicolezasowski

Follow Jon: @jonseidl

Order Jon's new book, Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic.

Get daily motivation: www.theveritasdaily.com

&ldquo;We can think and act our way to a new feeling. We cannot feel our way to a new way of thinking and acting.&rdquo;
That line from therapist and author Nicole Zasowski cuts to the heart of anxiety, addiction, and the stories we tell ourselves when life feels uncertain. Nicole is the author of What If It&rsquo;s Wonderful?&mdash;a book built around a disarming and deeply important question: What if, instead of bracing for the worst, we allowed ourselves to hope?
In this conversation, Nicole shares how a season marked by loss, miscarriage, and prolonged uncertainty exposed her own coping mechanisms&mdash;performance, control, and pessimism disguised as realism. She explains why catastrophizing isn&rsquo;t just negative thinking but a form of control, and why preparing for the worst often robs us of joy without actually protecting us from pain.
We also explore the connection between shame and escape, how feelings can be real without being true, and why naming what&rsquo;s happening inside us is essential for healing. Nicole offers practical ways to interrupt shame cycles, retrain the brain toward hope, and steward pain without glorifying it. This episode is an invitation to tell ourselves a truer story&mdash;about who God is, who we are, and what might still be possible.
We explore:
&mdash; Why catastrophizing feels responsible but quietly fuels anxiety &mdash; How the brain learns fear faster than hope &mdash; The difference between feelings that are real and thoughts that are true &mdash; Why shame often drives both anxiety and addictive behaviors &mdash; How performance and control masquerade as faith &mdash; What miscarriage and unresolved grief revealed about Nicole&rsquo;s inner life &mdash; Why hope is not denial, but courage &mdash; Practical ways to retrain anxious thought patterns &mdash; How naming internal experiences leads to healing &mdash; What it looks like to tell a truer story about God and ourselves
Website:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nicolezasowski.com">https://www.nicolezasowski.com</a>
Books:&nbsp;<a href="https://amzn.to/4q7IIjW">What It's Wonderful?</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://amzn.to/3MHBwN0">Daring Joy</a>
Follow Nicole on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nicolezasowski">@nicolezasowski</a>
Follow Jon:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/jonseidl/">@jonseidl</a>
Order Jon's new book, <a href="https://amzn.to/4opuOt">Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic</a>.
Get daily motivation: <a href="https://www.theveritasdaily.com">www.theveritasdaily.com</a>

Jon Seidl is the bestselling Christian author who became an alcoholic, not the other way around. It's usually the other way around. Or is it? "Confessions of a Christian alcoholic" (based on the book by the same title) is all about real stories, radical vulnerability, and remarkable comebacks of people who have struggled with alcoholism and addictions of all sorts. The show features interviews with fellow addicts and alcoholics as well as professionals in the fields of trauma, faith, and addiction recovery. Because let's be honest, we're all addicted to something. "Confessions" is a place for the desperate, the downtrodden, the destitute, and especially, the drunk. But it's also a place of hope and healing. Jon found sobriety after decades of struggling, but more importantly than finding sobriety, he found Jesus. In every episode, he gets radically vulnerable as he explores what it looks like to be on this journey of messy sanctification. Visit christianalcoholic.com for more resources.

Jon Seidl is the bestselling Christian author who became an alcoholic, not the other way around. It's usually the other way around. Or is it? "Confessions of a Christian alcoholic" (based on the book by the same title) is all about real stories, radical vulnerability, and remarkable comebacks of people who have struggled with alcoholism and addictions of all sorts. The show features interviews with fellow addicts and alcoholics as well as professionals in the fields of trauma, faith, and addiction recovery. Because let's be honest, we're all addicted to something. "Confessions" is a place for the desperate, the downtrodden, the destitute, and especially, the drunk. But it's also a place of hope and healing. Jon found sobriety after decades of struggling, but more importantly than finding sobriety, he found Jesus. In every episode, he gets radically vulnerable as he explores what it looks like to be on this journey of messy sanctification. Visit <a href="http://christianalcoholic.com/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://christianalcoholic.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1747239325727000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1G-752Q-1dyjq6GN5gt7xw">christianalcoholic.com</a> for more resources.

Jon Seidl is the bestselling Christian author who became an alcoholic, not the other way around. It's usually the other way around. Or is it? "Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic" is all about real stories, radical vulnerability, and remarkable comebacks of people who have struggled with alcoholism and addictions of all sorts.

Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic with Jon Seidl

The One Question You're Not Asking Yourself: Nicole Zasowski on Learning to Hope Again

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/0cdd683a-a69f-40ac-93b4-b3b6001a0f5e/transcript

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