Surviving Addiction, Cancer, and HIV to Spiritual Teacher & Author with John Frederick

March 21, 2022

Do you know what it takes to live a fabulous life? According to John Frederick, you only need two things: eagerness and willingness. After years of addiction and illness, John hit rock bottom. His only choice – to get back up and fight for a better life. In today’s episode of Lift U Up: Inspiring Health Stories John shares his journey from hopelessness to finding his way through community, spirituality, and positive thinking.

Hitting Rock Bottom

Growing up in a middle-class family gave John Frederick everything he needed for a “normal” life, but internal pressures got in his way. By his thirties he was addicted to drugs and alcohol, had experienced the stress of coming out of the closet, was unemployed, broke, and at a point of rock bottom. He finally hit a turning point when, what he calls a “gift of desperation” hit, and he realized it was time to ask for help. Into his life came people and institutions who helped bring him back to a life worth living, and his eagerness and willingness to change made a huge difference in his success.

Overcoming Cancer and HIV

As a part of John’s path towards a better life, he was introduced to a spiritual belief that helped him see things more clearly than he could before. He started to believe that the universe was inherently good, and all it takes is learning how to understand and use that good to move our lives in the right direction. This belief made challenges that would have set John back prior to this, feel like experiences John was equipped for. He fought an HIV and cancer diagnosis with a positive mindset and a “what’s next” attitude until he saw his health improve.

Sharing Spirituality

John’s path through spirituality didn’t stop with his own growth, and instead he set out to find a way to help others live their fabulous lives as well. He shares that if you teach peace, you learn peace. John became a spiritual teacher and facilitated a course called “Course of Miracles”. In addition, he authored a book inspired by the 12 steps of recovery about understanding the greater forces at play, which he called Prosperity Now. Today, John continues to guide others towards living a fabulous life and is still taking “what’s next” one step at a time.

What else can you expect in this episode?

  • What an HIV diagnosis meant to John in the 90s, and the story of a doctor who led him towards greater spiritual healing.
  • What John means when he says we “talk ourselves into things”.
  • What it means to be a spiritual teacher.
  • The inspiration that led John to writing his book.
  • Why he thinks many people aren’t ready for a spiritual awakening.

Where to find John Frederick: