Fixed By Nature

04/11/2026

We’ve been lied to about one of the most powerful healing tools we have.

The placebo effect.

They call it “fake medicine.”

But let me ask you something…

If your brain can release real chemicals that:

Reduce pain

Calm your nervous system

Lower inflammation

Improve how your body functions

👉 How is that fake?

For years, I believed healing had to come from something outside of me.

A pill.
A prescription.
A system.

And if those didn’t work…
you were stuck.

But what if we missed something?

Science has already proven the brain can change the body.

This is called neuroplasticity.

👉 Meaning your thoughts, expectations, and beliefs
literally reshape your biology.

Not someday…
Right now.

And the Bible has been saying this long before science caught up:

👉 “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” — Book of Proverbs 23:7

So maybe the placebo effect isn’t fake medicine…

👉 Maybe it’s a built-in healing system
that we were never taught how to use.

Now hear me clearly…

This doesn’t mean ignore real problems.
It doesn’t mean “just think positive.”

But it does mean this:

👉 Your body is not passive.
👉 It responds to what you believe is possible.

Try this today (simple but powerful):

For the next 60 seconds…

Close your eyes
Take a slow breath
And say:

> “My body is designed to heal.
I am aligning with that design right now.”

But don’t just say it…

👉 Feel it.

Because your body doesn’t respond to words…

It responds to belief + emotion.

This is the shift.

Not chasing healing…

👉 But activating what’s already inside you.

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If this resonates with you, you’re going to love what I’m building with Empowered Sobriety and Fixed by Nature.

Follow for more.

And tell me below…

Have you ever experienced the placebo effect in your own life?

04/09/2026

Some mornings…

there’s nothing obvious to be grateful for.

Bills are still there.

The stress didn’t magically disappear overnight.

Your body feels tired.

Your mind feels heavy.

And if we’re honest…

“gratitude” can feel fake in those moments.

I know that feeling.

There were, and still are, seasons in my life where everything looks broken. Addiction. Shame. Survival mode.

Just trying to get through the day without falling apart. And, during these times gratitude doesn't come naturally. .

It is a decision.

When I understood this, the concept of gratitude hit me differently:

God never said be thankful FOR all circumstances.

He said be thankful IN all circumstances. (Not just good ones.)

That changes everything.

📖 “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Gratitude isn’t pretending life is perfect.

It’s choosing to see that something still is.

Science even backs this:
Studies in positive psychology show that practicing gratitude can lower stress, improve mood, and literally rewire how your brain processes challenges.

But here’s what I’ve learned personally…

Gratitude is not a feeling first.
It’s a focus.

And focus creates feeling.

👉 Try this today (simple, real, doable):

Right now—pause.
Find one thing that is still working in your life:

Breath in your lungs
A place to sit
A moment of quiet
A person who cares

Even the strength to keep going.

Now don’t just list it…

Feel it.

Sit with it for 10 seconds.

That’s where the shift begins.
You don’t need a perfect life to feel grateful.

You need a willing perspective.
And that perspective… can change everything.

If this hit you, drop a 🙏 or “GRATEFUL” below.

Let’s build this together.
Stay balanced by Nature.

04/07/2026

I really believed this.

Not as a joke.

Not as a phase.

As truth.

Life sucks…
and then you die.

Because when I looked around, that’s what I saw.

Not because I was negative,
Because when I looked at my life honestly…

that’s what it felt like.

Work all day.
Still behind.

Bills are always there.

Peace is always just out of reach.

Turn on the news?

War.
Division.
More pressure.

And no matter how hard you push…

it feels like the system is designed for you to stay just afloat enough not to drown… but never actually get ahead.

And then people come in with:

“Stay positive.”
“Trust the process.”
“Everything happens for a reason.”

Let me be clear…

that doesn’t land when you’re in it!

It didn’t for me either.

Here’s what I think now—after going through addiction, rebuilding my life, and actually paying attention to what’s real:

Some of what you’re feeling…

is completely justified.

This world can feel heavy.
Unfair.
Relentless.

And pretending it’s not?

Doesn’t make you stronger.
It just makes you quieter.

But here’s the part that changed things for me…

Not all at once.
Not in some big breakthrough moment.

Just slowly…

realizing this:

Even if I couldn’t control the system…

I didn’t have to let it define me.

I couldn’t fix everything.

But I could start paying attention to:

*what I was putting into my body

*what I was feeding my mind

*how I was responding instead of reacting

Not perfectly.

Some days I still felt like I was getting crushed. (I still have days today where I feel crushed.)

But I stopped adding to it.

And somewhere in that process…

something shifted.

Not my bank account.
Not the world.

Me.

I’m not here to tell you life is amazing.

I’m not here to tell you everything works out.

I’m here to tell you this:

If you’re feeling like this…

you’re not broken.

You’re responding to something real.

And if you’re willing…

just start here:

Do one thing today that reminds you you’re still alive and not just surviving.

Step outside.
Breathe.
Eat something real.
Turn off the noise for a few minutes.

Not to escape your life…

but to reconnect with yourself inside it.

I believed for years that life was just something to get through.

I don’t believe that anymore.

Not because everything got better…

but because I stopped waiting for it to.

If this feels like where you are…

just comment “I get it.”

No fixing. No pretending.

Just real.

04/06/2026

You’ve probably been told…

👉 “Take more vitamin C.”

👉 “Boost your immune system with supplements.”

But what if that’s only part of the story?

For years, we’ve been taught to isolate nutrients…

Pull one compound out of a plant…

Package it…

And call it “health.”

But your body wasn’t designed for fragments.

It was designed for wholeness.

An orange doesn’t just give you vitamin C. It gives you fiber, enzymes, bioflavonoids, minerals, and cofactors—
all working together in a way science is still trying to fully understand.

This is what’s called nutrient synergy.

And it’s not random.

It’s intentional.

God’s perfect design doesn’t separate what was created to work together.

When you eat the whole fruit,
you’re not just getting nutrients…
You’re getting a complete system of healing.

📖 “Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant… They will be yours for food.’” — Genesis 1:29

Science is now confirming what was written long ago:
Whole foods consistently outperform isolated supplements because of how nutrients interact, absorb, and activate together.

Try This Today (Simple Action Step):
Instead of asking,

👉 “What supplement do I need?”
Ask,
👉 “What whole food provides what my body needs?”

Start simple:

Eat an orange instead of just taking vitamin C
Choose whole foods over processed versions
Add one “God-made” food back into your day

You don’t need to reinvent health.
You need to return to it.

Follow for more ways to align your life with God’s perfect design.

04/02/2026

Most people don’t talk about this, and I have struggled with it many times…

But every morning, they wake up with feeling, it...

That tight feeling in your stomach.
A wave of anxiety before your feet even hit the floor. Your mind already racing about the day ahead.

And you tell yourself…

“Just push through it.”

---

I remember when this was my normal.

There was a season in my life where I woke up every morning feeling sick, anxious, and exhausted.

Not because something was wrong that day…

But because something was off in my life.

At one point, doctors had me taking over a thousand pills a month.

And somehow…

I still didn’t feel right.

---

Here’s what I didn’t understand back then:

Your body isn’t broken.

It’s responding.

It's reacting the way it was designed too. God's perfect design.
---

Science now shows that your nervous system is heavily influenced by things like:

• Light exposure
• Sleep cycles
• Stress hormones (like cortisol)
• Environment and thought patterns

When those are out of alignment…

Your body lets you know.

---

And long before science explained it…

Scripture pointed to it.

“His mercies are new every morning.”
— Lamentations 3:23

---

That verse hits different when you realize:

Morning isn’t meant to feel like dread.

It’s meant to feel like renewal.

---

What started shifting everything for me wasn’t complicated.

It wasn’t a new prescription.

It wasn’t a breakthrough moment.

It was small…

Simple…

Aligned decisions.

---

Tomorrow morning, try this:

Before you check your phone…
Before you step into stress…

Step outside.

Just 5 minutes.

Let the sunlight hit your eyes.
Take a few slow breaths.
Be still.

---

It sounds too simple.

That’s why most people ignore it.

But that’s where my healing began.

---

You don’t need to overhaul your life overnight.

You just need to start coming back…

To how you were designed to live.

---

If this hit you, follow

I share simple ways to realign your body, mind, and spirit with God’s perfect design.

---

04/01/2026

Most people in recovery don’t relapse because they don’t want sobriety…

They relapse because there’s no structure outside of meetings.

The meeting ends…
Life hits…
Stress builds…
And the old patterns slowly creep back in.

I know that feeling.

---

When I was coming out of a 12-year opioid addiction, I respected the 12 Steps deeply.

They help you get sober.
They save lives.

But I realized something…

👉 I didn’t just need to stay clean
👉 I needed to build a life where addiction no longer fit

That required structure—daily structure.

---

So over time, I created something I now call:

The 12 Pillars of a Strong, Sober Life

Not to replace the Steps…
But to help you live them out every single day.

---

1. Eat mostly natural foods

2. Reduce sugar & processed foods

3. Avoid unnecessary synthetic drugs

4. Use natural remedies when possible

5. Avoid alcohol—even socially

6. Spend time in nature

7. Learn something new daily

8. Don’t waste time or money

9. Find solutions—not excuses

10. Build unstoppable belief in yourself

11. Practice daily gratitude

12. Give/share something every day

---

Addiction feeds on chaos.
Sobriety thrives on structure.

When your days are built with intention…

You don’t just avoid relapse—

👉 You become someone addiction can’t live inside anymore.

---

Start simple:

Pick 3 pillars today.
Live them fully.

Then tomorrow… do it again.

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If this speaks to you, I’d love to hear which pillar hits you the hardest.

And if you’re in recovery—stay strong. You’re not alone. 💚

—Stephen T. Radentz

03/23/2026

“Swipe through this if you’ve ever struggled to forgive…”

For years, you’ve been told something that sounds good… but doesn’t feel true.

“Just forgive and move on.”

But what happens when you do forgive… …and the feeling is still there?

The memory. The tension. That tightness in your chest if you see them again.

So you start to wonder…

“Did I really forgive?”

Let me tell you something that changed everything for me.

Forgiveness is a decision.

Healing is a process.

And those two don’t move at the same speed.

There was a time in my life when someone took advantage of me financially.

At first, there was anger. Frustration. That feeling of being wronged.

But then something shifted.

I realized… I had been that person in someone else’s story during my addiction.

Not the same situation… …but I understood the brokenness.

So I made a decision.

I forgave him.

Not because it was easy. Not because it erased what happened. But because I refused to carry it forward.

And here’s the truth most people won’t say out loud…

If I saw him again today, I’d still feel something.

Not rage. But awareness.

And that doesn’t mean I didn’t forgive.

That means my body is working exactly how God designed it to.

Science now confirms something powerful:

It’s not the event that damages us most…

it’s the rumination.

The replaying. The mental arguments. The “I should’ve said this, or that” loop.

That’s what keeps cortisol elevated.
That’s what impacts your heart, your immune system, your sleep.

But when you forgive…

You stop the replay.

Your nervous system begins to settle.

Healing begins.

The Bible told us this long before science could measure it.

Romans 12:19
“Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath…”

That’s not a weakness.

That’s trust.

That’s alignment with God’s perfect design.

Here’s where most people get stuck…

They think forgiveness means:

❌ Forgetting
❌ Trusting again
❌ Feeling nothing

But forgiveness actually means:

✅ Releasing the debt
✅ Refusing to carry the weight
✅ Letting God handle what you cannot

And still…

You can have boundaries.

You can have wisdom.

You can remember… without reliving it.

—--------

If you’re struggling to forgive, try this simple step today:

Go somewhere quiet. Outside if possible.

Sit still for a few moments and observe God’s perfect design around you…

The trees.
The grass.
The birds moving through the sky.
The clouds drifting.
Even the smallest insects going about their purpose.

Let it remind you…

Everything has a process.
Nothing heals instantly.
But everything moves forward in alignment.

Then take a deep breath…

And say this out loud:

“I release this from my control.
I trust God with what I cannot carry.
I choose peace over replay.”

You may not feel different instantly.

That’s okay.

You just planted the seed.

And in God’s perfect design…

what you plant consistently, grows.

If this hit you today, you’re not broken.

You’re healing.

And maybe… just maybe…

Forgiveness isn’t about becoming someone else.

It’s about returning to who you were designed to be.

---

03/22/2026

Bypassing God's perfect design seldom benefits us!

Something changed in 2010… and it’s scary.For the first time, this generation may be less cognitively equipped than the one before — and the biggest shift is...

03/22/2026

Have you ever woken up feeling off…

Not sick.
Not exhausted.
Just… not right.

Your mind feels foggy.
Your patience is shorter.
Your body feels heavier than it should.

And you find yourself wondering:

“Why do I feel like this when nothing is actually wrong?”

So you push through.

More coffee.
More effort.
Stay busy.

For years, I thought that feeling was just part of life.

But looking back — especially during my addiction — my rhythms were completely broken.

Sleep was off.
Light exposure was off.
My body had no anchor.

What I didn’t realize at the time…

I wasn’t just struggling mentally.

I was completely out of sync with how I was designed to function.

---

And here’s what’s interesting…

Every year, we do this to ourselves on a national scale.

Daylight Saving Time.

Just a one-hour shift — yet the effects ripple through the entire body.

Studies have shown:

• ~24% increase in heart attacks the Monday after spring forward
• ~350 additional strokes in just two days
• 6–8% increase in fatal car crashes the following week
• Tens of thousands of additional workplace injuries
• Measurable increases in depression and anxiety

When you zoom out:

• 100–150 additional deaths each year
• Thousands of hospitalizations
• Billions in economic cost

All from a one-hour shift away from natural light.

To be fair — most people adjust within a few days.

But during that window?

Your body is running on one clock…
while the world forces another.

Researchers call it “social jet lag.”

And it affects everything:
Hormones. Heart. Brain. Sleep. Mood.

---

Here’s the part that hit me hardest:

We’ve created systems that override the very rhythms God designed to keep us healthy.

And then we wonder why we feel off.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”
— Ecclesiastes 3:1

There is a natural timing built into life.

Light. Dark. Rest. Wake.

When we align with it — things tend to work better.

When we fight it — there’s a cost.

---

Action Step:

Tomorrow morning, step outside within 30–60 minutes of waking.

No phone. No sunglasses.

Just 5–10 minutes in natural light.

Let your body reset.

---

If this resonates, reflect on this:

Have you noticed your sleep, mood, or energy shift after the time change?

You’re not imagining it.

You’re not broken.

You may just be out of rhythm.

— Stephen T. Radentz

03/16/2026

Your mind is being fed every day…
The question is: who or what is feeding it?

Why do the same negative thoughts keep showing up in your mind — even when you’re trying to change your life?

Many people believe their problem is lack of discipline, lack of faith, or lack of willpower.

But what if the real problem isn’t you?

What if you were simply never taught how thoughts actually work — and how to stop the ones that quietly shape your life in the wrong direction?

This morning while listening to the “Morning Fire” on the app with , the focus was on something simple but powerful:

Learn something new every day.

That immediately brought me back to my own recovery journey.

During the years I was climbing out of addiction, one habit became incredibly important. I committed to learning something every single day.

Sometimes it was about health.

Sometimes faith.

Sometimes the mind.

That habit slowly changed the direction of my thinking.

In my book Empowered Sobriety: Overcome Addiction, Build Strength, Reclaim Your Life, I talk about how understanding the mind became a critical part of my healing.

Early Christian teachers described the constant stream of thoughts moving through the mind as “ logismoi” — mental suggestions that appear throughout the day.

They noticed something important.
A destructive habit rarely begins with an action.

It usually begins with a thought.
Then the mind starts to entertain the thought…

agree with it…

and eventually act on it.

The pattern looks like this:

Thought → Attention → Agreement → Action → Habit

What’s fascinating is that modern psychology now describes almost the exact same process. Cognitive behavioral research shows that repeated thoughts shape emotions, decisions, and long-term behavior patterns in the brain.

In other words, the thoughts we repeatedly agree with slowly become the life we experience.

The Bible recognized this long before neuroscience existed.

In the Book of Proverbs we read:
“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)

This doesn’t mean we can control every thought that appears. The mind produces thoughts constantly.

But we can choose which thoughts we allow to grow.

And one powerful way to guide our thinking is to keep learning and feeding the mind something good every day.

When we combine learning with nature, gratitude, faith, and meaningful activity, we quiet the noise of the mind and strengthen our ability to choose better thoughts.

That’s part of what I call returning to God’s perfect design.

*************
Action Step

Try a simple habit today.
Spend just 10 minutes learning something that strengthens your mind or spirit.

Then step outside for a few minutes. (I will always advise this 😂)

Take a slow breath and notice the thoughts moving through your mind.

Don’t fight them.

Just observe them.

Then redirect your attention to something good — the sunlight, the breeze, a moment of gratitude, or a short prayer.

Small daily practices like this train the mind to notice thoughts before they become habits.

And over time, that awareness can change the direction of a life.

✌️💚😁

03/15/2026

For years during my struggle with prescription opioid addiction, I believed the only way out would come from experts, programs, or complicated systems.

But that’s not how my recovery actually began.

At the time, I didn’t have a plan or a framework. I was simply trying to survive and take the next step that felt healthier than the last.

Looking back now, I can see that those small steps slowly began guiding me in a different direction.

First came awareness — realizing the path I was on wasn’t sustainable.
Then small changes began to appear.

Simple things like nourishing my body differently and reconnecting with the natural rhythms that support healing.
Over time those small steps began pointing me back toward something deeper:

Faith.

Nature.

Gratitude.

Strength.

None of this was part of a master plan.

I didn’t even realize what was happening at the time.

Then recently, while talking with a customer about my recovery story, she said something that stopped me for a moment.

She said the steps that helped me heal were already happening before I even realized what I was doing.

And when I thought about it later… she was absolutely right.

What felt like small survival decisions at the time were actually guiding me back toward what I now believe is God’s perfect design for how we’re meant to live.

Years later, that journey became the foundation for the book Empowered Sobriety.

Because sometimes healing doesn’t begin with a complicated system.

Sometimes it begins quietly…

One small step at a time.

If this message resonates with you, I’ll place the ebook link in the comments. 👇

You are not broken.

Sometimes we simply need to reconnect with the design we were created to live within.

Simple Action Step

Step outside today for five minutes.

Feel the sun.

Take a slow breath.

Thank God for something in your life.

Sometimes the first step toward healing is simply slowing down long enough to notice what was always there.

03/14/2026

For years I thought happiness was something I had to chase.

More discipline.
More productivity.
More solutions.

Meanwhile, one of the most powerful mood-changing forces on earth was sitting right outside my door.

Sunlight.

This morning I stepped outside here in Florida and felt that warm sun on my face.

Blue sky.

Birds moving through the palms.

A quiet breeze through the trees.

For a moment everything slowed down.

And I had a thought I’ve had many times during my recovery:

Why do we search so hard for solutions that were already built into God’s perfect design?

Right now many people feel a quiet background stress.

War headlines.

Rising prices.

Economic uncertainty.

Even if our personal lives are okay, our nervous systems are absorbing it.
Science now confirms something surprisingly simple.

Morning sunlight helps regulate serotonin, dopamine, and circadian rhythms — which directly affect mood, sleep, and emotional stability.

In other words…

Our bodies were literally designed to respond to the natural world.

The Bible hinted at this long before modern science.

Ecclesiastes 11:7 "Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.”

After years of addiction — and a period of my life where doctors had me taking over 1,000 pills a month — one of the most surprising discoveries in my healing journey was this:

Real change didn’t begin with something complicated.

It began with reconnecting to simple things that align with God’s perfect design.

Sunlight.

Fresh air.

Movement.

Gratitude.

Faith.

Those ideas eventually became part of the foundation behind my books Empowered Sobriety and The Happiness Effect.

**************

Action Step

Before noon today, step outside for five minutes.

Leave the phone inside.

Look up at the sky.

Take a slow breath.

Sometimes the reset we’re searching for isn’t complicated.

Sometimes it’s simply remembering how we were designed to live.

Quick question:
Do you personally feel better indoors or outdoors?

Type INDOORS or OUTDOORS in the comments.