EAP 205: Turning Rubble to Diamonds – Mindset & Healing with Jo’mel Powell

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Okay, Kimi Walker here and welcome back to the next episode of the

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Early Accountability Podcast.

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Today we have a very special guest.

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We have Jomel, who has gone here and talked to us about his book,

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A Marriage Broken by COVID.

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He is going to talk about a loss that he experienced during COVID

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and tell us his personal story.

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He's gonna talk to us about transformation and how faith can help you in times that.

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I feel like a rubble and how we can turn those into diamonds with lessons of

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resilience per purpose and perseverance.

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So Jomel, first off, thank you for being here.

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Yeah.

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You know what?

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I wanna thank you for putting in so much effort to make this happen today.

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I appreciate that.

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No problem.

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Always happy to have guests here and I'm always excited and eager

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to showcase different stories.

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So you have wrote a book called A Marriage Broken by COVID.

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Why don't you first talk to us about, let's just talk about,

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becoming an author is a big thing, one that's a big accomplishment.

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You did that, but why don't you talk to us and just tell us about your background

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and what is the premise of your book?

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'cause I think you have a very moving story.

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Oh, yeah.

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Like I say I'm born and raised in Detroit, Michigan in the city.

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We, in our city, it's a lot of, a lot of negative things that go on, a lot

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of the positive things that come on.

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So I actually was a product of my environment, like everything

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that goes on in the neighborhood.

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Like I was influenced by all those negative things.

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But at the age of 19 I just didn't feel comfortable no more.

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And I gave my life over to the Lord and became a Christian.

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And then when I became a Christian, I thought I had

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to stop doing music at first.

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I was really deep into writing music and rapping when I was a younger man.

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But when I got into church, I found out that I could do Christian

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rap music, so I got really deeply involved with Christian rap music.

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I was a part of a group called the Gideon Crew with their first two albums.

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And I was a part of a group called The Sons of Thunder in Detroit, Michigan.

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I did two albums as well, and, during my last transition in life I got a,

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got away from the music a little bit.

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'cause music is just what was just always a part of me.

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But when I transitioned to this new season I looked up and next thing I

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know, I'm author, first time author due to the twist and turns of life brought

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me there, and my book of Marriage Broken by COVID is just about the struggle that

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me and my family went through and the trying times that we faced during COVID.

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I know a lot of people faced some trying times.

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We lost loved ones.

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Some of our lives changed and we're never the same again.

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And I just wanted to talk about my experience through the book.

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Take people with me on my journey through the bad.

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And then I wanted to also bring people to the point of hope and let people see the

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lessons that I learned and how did I keep my mind locked in and staying positive

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through all the dark times, so it's just about the lessons that I learned.

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During my struggle, the change of perspective, wisdom and enlightenment.

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Like I had to find a better way to look at things when I was going through the

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struggle and I thought about everybody when I was writing because I feel like

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a lot of people going through some things in life and they don't have the

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right perspective to look at it, and it makes people feel like there's no hope.

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So I wanted to use my story.

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To let people know how bad things got for me, but to let them know how to

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look at it, where they could still hope and they could still be positive.

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Not only survive, but to thrive.

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Yeah, why don't you tell us more about, so you talk a lot

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about turn to rubble overnight.

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And you said that happened to you in, you said your whole world turned to

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rubble basically overnight in 2021.

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Why don't you tell the audience what you mean by that?

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What happened?

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'Cause of course a lot of this is what came with the title of the

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book, A Marriage Broken by Covid

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Explain the situation, explain what happened give us, just a little bit

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more, more backdrop about that and what those steps look like for you

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after you experienced that event.

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When we first when everything first started going on me and my wife we

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were in a separation in our marriage.

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And I talk about the separation in chapter two of the book.

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We went through some rocky times, we separated, but when my daughter was

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conceived that was our motivation to get back together and work

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through our marriage problems.

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So we were really working hard at.

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Putting our marriage back together and getting our lives together

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to bring this new life in.

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And that's when everything hit us.

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Now, prior to this, like every, everything was going good for me.

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My money was going well my investment account was doing well, and I felt

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like I was in a good space in life.

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Me and my wife relationship seemed like it was going down a better path.

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We were communicating about.

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How we were going to make things work, how we were going to be good parents to our

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child, how we were gonna do this together.

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And then right when we got to that point she contracted COVID.

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And then when she contracted COVID, she ended up in the hospital,

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then she ended up in the hospital.

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They had to deliver my baby through C-section.

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And then my wife went to medically induced coma.

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And then from medically induced coma.

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My wife suffered an anoxic brain injury, and when she suffered the anoxic brain

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injury she was a medically induced coma for maybe like close to three weeks.

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Oh

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So

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Oh

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. It is just like everything.

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Was spiraling down lower and lower.

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And then when she finally woke up in the hospital she couldn't move, couldn't talk.

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Her arms were messed up her legs from the effects of the brain

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injury and things like that.

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And

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Yeah.

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It was a trying time, because I had to be a father to my child with

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no experience while not knowing if my wife was gonna survive.

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Being in a situation that I've never been in before, it broke

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me and it made me feel weak.

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But one of my friends always told me like, in order to get

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stronger, you must first feel weak.

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So I went to God constantly.

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I fasted, I prayed, and he gave me the strength to get through those rocky

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and dark times, I had times where I felt like suicidal at certain points.

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Like when you get to a point in life where you feel like your whole world is

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crashing down and everything that means so much for you is like falling apart

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and your life is on shambles, it make you feel like you at the end of the road, but.

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Going to God is what gave me the strength.

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And as I was going through all of this stuff, I was documenting everything.

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Because in my mind I'm like, I wanna tell my story and I want to take people

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on my journey with me because I know something good is gonna come at the end.

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And, God didn't bless me in the ways that I was looking for him to bless me.

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He blessed me in ways of wisdom, giving me wisdom about life,

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giving me wisdom about suffering.

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Just helping me to become a better person through my struggles, more

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appreciative for the good times.

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Thank, thankful for the things that we take for granted, like activity

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of our limbs having our loved ones in they good health, actually

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having our loved ones like God.

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God blessed me in so many ways, but the biggest blessing that I

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got was to change as a person.

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Though my situation didn't change according to how I would've liked

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things to change, God changed me.

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He made me a better me, a stronger me.

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And in a lot of ways I'm glad God allowed me and my family to go through a struggle.

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'cause it made us a tighter unit and it made us get before him.

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And it just grew us up, it grew us up and matured us and I'm just thankful

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for that process, even though we still going through the process.

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I'm thankful for it because.

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There is a light at the end of the tunnel and there is hope.

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And that's just the message I wanna send to everybody because one of the things

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that I thought about is I wasn't the only one that experienced something tragic,

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we had people that lost their loved ones.

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I know many people who spouses health decline and.

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Never returned to their normal state, but they still able to live.

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They lives still able to enjoy life even though they've been hit in a

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devastating way and they got scars of life, they still able to live.

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So I seen a lot of the people still living.

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They've been through similar things to me and worse things to me, and that was

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my motivation to be like, you know what?

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I can still get up.

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Live as well.

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Like I don't have to always be down.

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I don't have to be depressed.

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And that's like the motivation in behind the whole book.

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Like keep going.

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Get up even though it's hurt,

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Serve God with what you have.

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Get up, keep going.

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Persevere.

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Don't stay down because when you stay down, like that's it, it's,

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no, it's nowhere you can go when you just give up and don't move.

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But.

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You can get up and move through adversity.

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I feel like that's what separates the weed from the tears.

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That's what separate the 99% from the 1%, the people that's able to push through

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and persevere, even through failure.

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Even through failure, like I found the better perspective about

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failure because failure is actually.

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The tool that brings us closer to success.

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Like when we look at it in the right way, I felt like I was a failure as a husband

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before, I felt like I was a failure as a steward over finances, but failure,

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when looked at in the right perspective is what brings you closer to success.

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So it's just, it is just a journey.

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It's a journey.

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You talk a lot about you talk about the diamond mindset and you emphasize

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a lot the struggle refines, right?

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What kind of consistent practices or disciplines have you put in place

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or did you implement when you were really broken and dealing with the

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prolonged challenges with your wife's health and raising your daughter?

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I.

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One of the things that constantly have to get done is, and for me,

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that constantly had to get done was getting before God because that

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motivation and that inspiration.

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Sometimes it comes and goes, so you gotta get back to God and get back.

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Charged up man, and continue on with the journey.

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Sometimes you get tired when you're dealing with struggles and when

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you dealing with hardships in life.

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I got tired many times.

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I wanted to give up many times, but I had to get before God and continue to get back

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up, it's something about perseverance.

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Perseverance through struggle.

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The diamond mindset that's not actually in the book, but that's

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a framework that I came up with.

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'Cause I'm in the process of becoming like a speaker right now.

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And the diamond mindset.

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Yeah.

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The diamond mindset is just a framework and the whole meaning of it is when

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you go through dark places and struggle and you feel like you overwhelmed.

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It's all about emerging from that, emerging from that

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wise or stronger illuminated.

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Not just illuminated, but illuminated by the word of God and illuminated

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by the spirit of God, like 'cause diamonds come from pressure.

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Is it.

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That's very true.

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That's very true.

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That's very true.

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So you are an author and a speaker and you've talked a lot

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about turning pain into purpose.

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What do you feel is so important for you when it comes to being visible about

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your transformation and your struggles?

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What is it that you hope to get from that and how does that being visible

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with your story, how does that help you with accountable to your own personal

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transformation and self-development?

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Like it's actually being visible and people like seeing me and

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hearing from me a little more often.

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It's a actual motivation to continue to go.

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It's an actual motivation to not fall by the wayside, we would, we, in a

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world that's full of distractions, full of temptations, but I want to

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continue to go, to be that person that people say that I was like this.

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But while he's doing that now, wow, he's visiting podcast now.

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Wow.

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He's going this place to speak.

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Wow, he's a light in this dark world.

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Like it's all about being saw and light, like the world is missing, saw and light.

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But I feel like being visible just makes you wanna stand on

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your word and stand on your truth.

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'Cause people is quick to point out your flaws and people is quick to

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point out your shortcomings, but if you consistent, it's nothing, nobody can say.

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Yeah, and that's one thing I, we really try to talk a lot about on the show

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or push or like kind of accountability circles or accountability groups

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or accountability partnerships.

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Some kind of way of being like accountable and visibility really is that, and

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Oh yeah.

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point that sometimes it is not even to just, I.

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There's not even just also that accountability piece, but that motivation

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piece because that keeps you going, like the energy of other people.

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And those social interactions are so important to our overall wellness.

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'Cause I try to talk about how we're like accountable in a lot of

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different domains of wellness, but that's social piece is important.

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We need that kind of connection to.

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Like you said on those days where it's just a bad day and it is just

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somebody said one little nice comment and it can, and they don't even know.

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It could be everything is crumbling, but just those things, you're still there.

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People are still looking for you, you're still, tuned in,

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tuned into you is very helpful.

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But also too you don't know how that mess message trickles out to those

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who may never speak up or may never say anything, but just may watch it.

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So Jamil, tell us a little bit about so tell us about the book, where we

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can find it, how the audience can get a copy of it, download it, the

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formats, where we can find it, and how they can stay connected with you.

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Oh yeah.

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The the book is available on audio form, so you can get that on Audible.

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You can listen to it on Apple.

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What else?

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Spotify.

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Audiobook anywhere that audio books are available, all the major platforms and

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all of the smaller platforms is there.

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And I have a ebook on Amazon Kindle.

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So that's pretty dope.

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But I recommend checking out the audiobook because, the way it's set

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up is it's not what people would think so you might think you about to just

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listen to somebody read the audio book, but it got a little more surprise.

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It got some surprises in there here, and.

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Okay.

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We have to check it out.

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But I'm definitely audio book, so I'm gonna definitely listen to the

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audio book version by the time this show comes out and be published.

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I will have my feedback in here, actually in the episode.

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Yes.

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So that's.

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Awesome.

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So yeah, I definitely will be getting the audio book and I

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suggest other people do it.

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I think it's great and it's read by you or it's narrated by you, it's your story.

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And I really I really enjoy hearing authors do their books, so I it's

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great and you can just listen to it a lot of different places.

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So Jomel

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And guess what?

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Yes, it's great.

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It's

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It, and guess what?

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It's only about an hour and a half long, so it

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it's not long at all.

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oh no, I got in and got out with it.

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Oh, good.

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Good for you.

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Good for you.

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A marriage broker by COVID, you gotta look it out.

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Wherever you are looking for audio books.

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We definitely suggest audio books.

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However you would like to have the written version while you're reading along too.

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Don't hesitate to get it off Kindle and Amazon and maybe do whispery.

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Jomel, why don't you tell us some words that you live by.

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What is a daily mantra that you use to guide yourself?

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Don't give up.

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Everything has come in my path, has come in my path that make me feel like where

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I'm trying to get in life is impossible.

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I'm talking about everything I'm talking about financial issues, or

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I'm talking about like building up yourself to a certain point and then

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something come to knock you back down.

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Don't give up.

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Don't give up.

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Stay persistent because.

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It's about, it's all about consistency and continuing to press and good

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things happen when you don't give up.

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That is, that's very true.

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It may not happen.

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Right there at that time.

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But they do definitely always happen.

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Do always come to fruition eventually.

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So Jomel again, audience Jomel, author of a Marriage Broker by COVID.

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Make sure to check it out.

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Jomel, thank you so much for bringing your story and your just wisdom when

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it comes to self-improvement and just navigating life difficulties

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and those unexpected curve balls.

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We really appreciate you being here on this show, and it's.

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You are welcome and into the audience.

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Until next time.