Life Examined Lose your ego and find your soul
Oct 10, 2026
A candid reflection on midlife, identity, and the seductive pull of external validation. From chasing bigger audiences and prestigious media roles to discovering a deeper calling in counseling psychology, this story explores career misalignment, grief, divorce, loneliness, and the transformation of hardship into empathy. It also considers the shift from reaching thousands to forming meaningful one-to-one connections and giving experience back through service.
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Midlife Is The Pause Between Inhaling And Exhaling
- A life’s first half resembles an inhale that builds identity, expertise, and ego.
- Midlife becomes the pause before exhaling ambition and redirecting accumulated gifts toward others.
The Audience Chase Never Filled The Bucket
- Jonathan Bastian chased happiness through increasingly larger media platforms, from a small Colorado town to Los Angeles.
- A layoff finally interrupted his belief that more listeners and status would fill him.
How Ratings Turned Colleagues Into Competitors
- While earning a counseling psychology degree, Jonathan Bastian recognized that work felt misaligned.
- He nevertheless returned to his dream radio show and watched rankings turn colleagues into competitors.