In this solo episode of the "Pain, Passion, and Purpose" podcast, host Shakeela Torres opens with a brief introduction to the show’s mission—blending mental‑health education, biblical teaching, and purposeful healing. She promotes her Empowered Purpose Academy, detailing its Christian coaching certifications, mentorship tracks, and continuing‑education offerings, and urges listeners to subscribe to the paid podcast community for extra resources and discounts. The core of the episode centers on the metaphor of Erykah Badu’s song “Bag Lady.” Torres interprets the lyric “bag lady, you gonna hurt your back… you gonna miss your bus” as a vivid illustration of how unresolved trauma, unforgiveness, anxiety, and depression act as emotional baggage that hinders believers from catching the “bus” of ministry, purpose, or divine opportunities. She expands the metaphor with a dream‑dictionary reading of a missed bus, linking it to lack of planning, loss of control, and missed ministry callings. Torres then issues a passionate call to Christian leaders to prioritize healing, noting that unprocessed pain not only harms the individual but also “bleeds” onto their community. She shares a therapist’s anecdote about being triggered in sessions, using it as evidence that God‑centered counseling can reveal hidden wounds. Throughout, she emphasizes the role of faith‑based counselors and coaches in guiding believers toward wholeness, reclaiming spiritual authority, and ultimately fulfilling God‑given purpose. The episode concludes with a promise of a forthcoming book on spiritual warfare and a benediction.
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Welcome to Pain, Passion, and Purpose. I am your host, Shakeeta Torres, where I share mental health education, biblical teachings, and tips to help you to heal on purpose so you can walk boldly in your God-given purpose. This podcast is sponsored by Empowered Purpose Academy, a certified online Christian academy where where we provide services such as certification for Christian life coaches, mentorship for master's level aspiring and existing Christian therapists, mentorship for Christians, and continued education courses for the body of Christ. You can visit www.empoweredpurposeacademy.com to learn more and to download your free guide. If you like today's episode, please subscribe and leave us a raving review so that others can tap into the knowledge and wisdom that will be shared on this podcast. Thank you so much for being here.
Hey, so before I get started on today's episode, if you have not subscribed to the paid membership of my podcast community, please do. It is going to bless your life. Listen, my episodes are already like therapy slash coaching sessions where I give you strategy and insight and all that good stuff. But the community, you're going to get a lot more. You're going to get more resources, more tools, and be able to ask more questions where I can create episodes around your questions. And you will be able to get discounts on some of my, my products and my events. So what are you waiting for? The price is very affordable. This is for those who are not quite ready to invest in one-on-one coaching with me or into the Pain, Passion, and Purpose mentorship program, which is also low, by the way, but that one is a lot more in-depth. You get access to courses, you get access to the Facebook community, and all that good stuff. But this is for those who just need to just listen and just gain some tools along the way. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead, subscribe. You won't regret it. It'll bless your life. We'll have topics around mental health and faith, biblical teachings, prayer, um, boundaries, communication, anxiety, depression, purpose, and so much more. I have had experience in mental health since actually about 2008 when I first finished my bachelor's program, and then from that point all the way up today and moving forward, I have gained so much so much experience, so much wisdom, and I am anointed for it. So go ahead, hit that button, and I hope to see you in the community.
Hey, you guys, welcome back. So I am so inspired right now to share this with you guys. So I'm sitting over here and my congestion, you probably can hear me, and my allergies and all that good stuff. And I said I wasn't going to record anything until I cleared up, but I can't wait. I want to record it right now. And so I had a very good revelation. So I'm sitting here preparing content for Instagram, my reels and my posts and all that good stuff. And in one of my posts, I was posting about how, you know, don't you dare give up on your healing, don't you dare give up on, you know, the whole process, because it can be very difficult, you know, trying to heal and you working, and it can be overwhelming times trying to, you know, go through your healing and process, you know, your trauma. And the words that came to me is, bag lady, you gonna hurt your back carrying all them bags like that, cause bag lady, you gonna miss your bus. So many of you guys know that those lyrics comes from Erykah Badu's song that came out in 2000. Now I'm not a big fan of Erykah Badu's lifestyle But her lyrics in this song is fire, okay? I am a '90s person, meaning I love all the old school R&B, all the old school hip-hop, and all that stuff, because back then their words had so much meaning. Their words had so much revelation that we could relate to it and actually apply it to our life, right? Compared to what's out there today. Right? And so I sat here on my computer and I Googled her lyrics. And so it says, bag lady, you gonna hurt your back dragging all them bags like that. I guess nobody ever told you all you must hold on to is you. Is you. One day all them bags gonna get in your way and you gonna miss your bus. Okay, in the lyrics, you know, it goes on and talks about, you know, how you are going to turn people away from you. Meaning if you're dating and a guy see you, you know, carrying all those— that dead weight, they're not going to want to deal with you. But it could also be vice versa, okay? A man could have baggage too and carry a lot of stuff. And so that really just spoke to me. But I'm gonna see what really spoke to me is the word bus. Okay, so some of you who have dreams and visions, if you ever had a dream about a bus in any capacity, first of all, it has different meanings to it. Pay attention to that, right? Ask Holy Spirit to reveal to you what that bus means in your life at this particular time. But in this song, she's talking about missing your bus. And in my dream dictionary, um, a book that I have A missed bus means that you have not taken out the time to develop a clear plan for the future or gain control over your life. It also can mean a large ministry. It could also mean church. It could also mean a, you know, a prophetic teaching. Pretty much it's ministry. So whenever you carry like all that dead weight around, it does hinder you from where God wants to take you in your life and in your ministry, right? When you hold on to unforgiveness, when you hold on to unresolved trauma, when you hold on to, you know, unprocessed depression or unprocessed anxiety and not truly embrace the healing process, you're gonna miss your bus. And in the beginning of the year, the Lord spoke to me clearly about this. He said, this year I truly want my, my leaders to take out time to heal. Okay, now leaders mean those who are in ministry, period. Whether you at church, whether you are, you know, at home, at your job, wherever you are, wherever God has called you to, that's your ministry. And many of you have not taken out time to heal. Many of you have not taken out time to let God process you. And then on the flip side of that, some of that— some of you guys, God is calling you into ministry, but you have to go through that healing process. You have to go through the preparation. I promise you it's worth it. I promise you it's necessary. I promise you, under usaga, that is freedom. There's liberty. Like, God will be able to use you even the more if you are healed. And when I say healed, I'm not saying that you will never ever, you know, experience pain or hurt in your life ever again. But whenever you have unresolved stuff that you refuse to face, it affects those around you in your ministry, and you bleed on other people. Trust me, I've seen it. There have definitely been times as a therapist when I've been in session with someone and the things they're telling me, it triggers me. When it triggers me, it lets me know, Shakeeta Torres, you need to go back, okay? You need to sit down, you need to figure out why are you triggered, okay? And then I sit there and I said, God, all right, this is the area that I'm triggered in. Can you please help me to understand what happened? And he tells me every single time, every single time. There's never been a time that I have not asked God about a behavior I've, you know, you know, engaged in, or my thoughts, or something that keeps coming up, and I haven't asked him where has that came from. And if you don't know, if you're not sure, that's what God has raised up, you know, faith-based counselors and faith-based coaches like myself to help you to understand and help you to pinpoint those areas that's holding you back. So I really wanted to get up here and just share with that with you guys in the moment because I was just so inspired by this message. I was so inspired because I want y'all to get it. I want to see the body of Christ whole. I want to see the body of Christ take back their authority and take back what the enemy has stolen from you. You can take it back. You can. There's so many things the enemy has stolen from me, and I'm definitely gonna write a book about it, okay? It is so much to share, but also teach you how to take it back. And the first step is seeking help, seeking the Father, seeking wise counsel from people who are going to give you biblical knowledge, who's going to give you education about trauma, about mental health. Like, God wants you to heal and not to carry around that dead weight. So that's it. That's all I have for today. That's all I have for tonight. And so until next time, I'll talk to you soon. Thank you for listening. I hope you have a blessed week. Thank you so much for being here today.
If you like today's episode, please take out time to rate my podcast and subscribe and share with your family and your friends. Thanks again, and I will talk to you soon. Shakeeta Torres.
