What My Grandpa's WWII Survival Story Taught Me About Codependency and Resilience

Emotional Badass

Nikki Eisenhauer

Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Education

4.8 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 June 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

THE BOUNDARIES INTENSIVE:⁠⁠ https://EmotionalBadass.com/boundaries⁠⁠ If you’ve ever felt behind in life or overwhelmed by pressure to be further along, I hope this episode gives you space to pause and really honor how far you’ve come. I reflect on the unexpected gift of this podcast becoming a record of my own growth and share a deeply personal story about my grandfather’s survival during WWII. His decision to float alone in shark-infested waters, instead of clinging to others in panic, taught me everything about self-preservation. For us HSPs, especially those working through codependency and boundaries, that lesson runs deep. Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is let go—of people, habits, or expectations—and choose ourselves, even when it hurts. This is a reminder to stop, breathe, and give yourself credit for the emotional strength it’s taken just to be here. PATREON: 💖 https://Patreon.com/emotionalbadass WORK WITH NIKKI 1:1: 🧠 https://EmotionalBadass.com/coaching THE BI-WEEKLY WELLNESS NEWSLETTER 📰 https://www.EmotionalBadass.com/newsletter⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, welcome to the show. This is Emotional Badass, where Moxie Meets Mindful. I'm your host,
0:06.6	Nikki Eisenhower, life coach and psychotherapist. And on today's episode, we are throwing back
0:12.7	to one of my grandpa episodes. This is about self-preservation and codependency.
0:38.4	All right, y'all, welcome to the show. So we are starting a throwback series. We've been doing the show for so long. I can't believe how many years now.
0:44.5	And what I'm realizing is that many of you who are newer listeners aren't familiar with the stories that I shared about who I am, where I've come from, how I've gotten all the way to
0:50.4	hear on this microphone to share myself, to spend so much time with you,
0:57.3	trying to impart what I think of as really hard-earned wisdom.
1:01.7	You know, this life is not an easy one.
1:05.6	If we are alive, there is a certain amount of struggling.
1:10.4	I have a lot of stoicism in me, a lot of stoic principles
1:13.7	that I believe in and teach from. I think believing that humans are more delicate than they
1:20.1	really are is a detrimental message. I think giving someone too much safety in modern time
1:27.4	gives them the impression that life is supposed to be easy. And I think giving someone too much safety in modern time gives them the impression that life is
1:29.3	supposed to be easy. And I think that epically backfires. It creates a lot of apathy.
1:35.6	It creates a lot of giving up before you're started. I hope what this episode provides is,
1:42.4	A, I want to inspire you to do some reflecting. I had no idea when I
1:48.2	started emotional badass that part, let me say that better. I had no idea when I started
1:54.8	emotional badass that it would become like a record of me. I had this forward intention of,
2:01.6	I'm gonna put this out into the universe
2:03.6	and it's gonna connect with the people who need it and wanted
2:07.6	and are able and willing to receive it.
2:09.6	And it has all across the world
	...

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