Today we’d like to introduce you to Jose Salinas.
Hi Jose, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Growing up children are easily influenced and tend to have aspirations that lean more toward fantasy than reality. I was not the average adolescent. At a young age I was traumatized and neglected by my mother. This forced me to mature faster and to always seek self-improvement. My financial stability has never been perfect however it encouraged me to work harder to earn my earnings. Somehow my harsh reality inspired me to work harder towards my goals. I am thankful for every adversity I’ve faced because I learned these lessons, through my hardships and the pain that I was able to endure. I was born in Mexico and raised there until I turned seven years old. At the age of seven, I was brought to the United States to escape the violence and poverty there. Until this day the haunting feeling of losing everything and everyone that I knew, still comes back to haunt me. Once I arrived in Texas, I knew nothing, I had to learn English and mature faster than I expected.
My parents relied on me to translate for them, when I struggled my mother would belittle me and call me horrible names. In Elementary school I had encountered kids my age however, they were very different to me. Unlike them, I didn’t have the ability to speak English fluently so I struggled to communicate with other students and make friends. As the years passed by, I started growing and so did my problems.
I hated my life; my parents were not there for me when I needed them the most. They never attended my elementary school graduation. I remember walking the stage and hoping to see my parents in the crowd. However, no one appeared. I shed tears in the restroom as feelings of hopelessness and despair set in. Once I reached middle school, depression came by and stayed for a while. As I grew older, I realized that I lost my youthful innocence. Anxiety and insecurity replaced what was once happiness and joy. I was bullied and felt like everything that I had achieved wasn’t good enough. I felt like I was always reaching for success, but as I kept achieving more, I could never reach for the success that everyone thought I could.
There were times when I was home alone and all I could think was of killing myself. At the same time, I had also started to write my suicidal notes. I felt empty and lost, I didn’t know who I was. While others saw an extraordinary future in me and viewed me as a role model for many, I could only see in my own reflecting
a broken soul that longed for help lost and with no direction.
As an immigrant with limited English, my father had to accept low paying jobs. My father earned just enough money to pay our rent and put food on our table. I knew my parents couldn’t pay for my college so ever since my teenage years I’ve been proactive with my savings.
It’s been 12 years and I still miss my home, my grandparents, the smell of burning wood that kept us warm, and the morning coffee that my grandma would make in the mornings. I miss it all. Although my childhood became a nightmare in a blink of an eye, I’m beyond grateful for being able to overcome my adversities. Through the words of inspirational figures like Oprah Winfrey, Sadhuguru, and Les Brown I realized that there is more to life. I decided to transform myself. There were still times in my journey when I wanted to give up, but I had developed a self-discipline that allowed me to change my mindset, to keep going.
I kept going not because I wanted to -Trust me-This pain this feeling I felt I wanted it to stop. I kept going because I deserved to know what not giving up on myself felt like. I had gone through trauma and abuse as a child that I was hurt by those I loved most, but I learned to forgive not because what they did was right but because I knew that they’re more than their mistake, I realized that I can heal myself I don’t need anything from them, I know what it’s like to feel left out. I know what it’s like to feel wounded not just physically but also emotionally and mentally. I read countless self-help books and
I realized that my problem was not external, but actually internal. I’ve learned that the only limits we have are those we impose on ourselves.
Lastly, I’m still that boy who aspires to become a U.S. citizen. Immigrants are people too, people with goals, aspirations, sentiments, and loved ones. People like me who’ve accepted the American society and who yearn to make America great without any cages or prejudice. Although I May not be able to predict the future for us, I hope that with my story I’m able to bring light into your dark hole. If I was able to break every stereotype based on what I’m classified as undocumented, low income, first-generation, Mexican then so can you don’t let someone else’s opinion of you become your reality. There’s always going to be people judging us that think we should live our lives based on their ideas of who they think we are and who they think we should be, you have the ability to prove them wrong. And whenever you find yourself in a dark whole remember you have the ability to set yourself free. Forgiving set me free and it can do the same for you.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Life is a blessing filled with hardships, lessons, joys, headaches, heartaches, and special moments that would ultimately guide us to our purpose in life. My road hasn’t been smooth I’ve had many challenges along the way. These challenges have tested my courage, strengths, weaknesses, and faith. Growing up I was picked on, college seemed impossible since I’m first-generation and come from a low-income family. At a young age, I was depressed and felt hopeless, nevertheless, that’s the seasons in which I learned that things don’t always workout the way we want them to. Instead, we get two choices one is to focus on the negative, complain and grief because things seem to not go the way we want them to and the other is to have a positive mental attitude, to understand that we are capable of making the best out of the situation and find lessons that are to be learned. In whatever you chose to do give it you’re all there’s many people who believe in you, you’re a good one you’ve got this!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Health coaching is what I love to do. We live in a very busy world in which at times it can feel that we’re following others routine instead of our own. I didn’t have the best eating habits and neither did I felt great about my weight, I was able to go from 230 pounds to 143 pounds. I learned so much throughout my journey that I became very passionate about weakness and health. I am most proud of my weight transformation and my devotion to help other individuals better themselves. I am very different from many since I have gone through the struggle of weight loss and unsatisfaction with myself, I learned to pause and listen to myself. I understand What it’s like to feel hopeless and distress with so much on our plates, all of this taught me the skill of empathy, care, and love for others. As a health coach I pour my heart out into helping people to develop a healthy lifestyle, I want to see them succeed and every area of their life. Most importantly I love to empower people to feel confident in their day-to-day life!
Pricing:
- $110 per month (6 months)
Contact Info:
- Email: Salinasvigor@gmail.com
- Website: http://salinas-vigor.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arlo.joose/
