Your Strongest Self Emerges in the Light | Ep 441

Your Strongest Self Emerges in the Light | Ep 441

What if resilience lives in the ordinary moments we often overlook? We open up about the quiet work of recovery, from the unexpected boost that came with finishing a third round of braces to the steady confidence that follows. Along the way, we draw lessons from the global stage: the grit it takes for an athlete to compete after surgery, the crushing weight of millions watching, and the reminder that one result never defines a person. Performance pressure is universal, whether you’re on a mountain slope or speaking to a room. Naming that truth gives us more space to breathe, reset, and try again.

We also get practical about mental health. Therapy is not a one-and-done decision; it is an evolving toolkit. We talk about changing session frequency, finding a better provider fit, and treating your own experiences as data points. The aim is agency: build routines that center safety, rest, and purpose, and accept that plans will change. We champion culture over politics and encourage interviews and celebrations that honor training, craft, and the communities that lift us.

Amid the big themes, small joys matter. A rare stretch of winter sun. A brief pet-sitting adventure that brought kindness out in a child and softened the edges of a long week. Hospitals use therapy animals for a reason: presence calms. You do not need a perfect plan to feel better; you need a few repeatable moves that meet you where you are. If our mission resonates—supporting recovery, trauma care, and open conversation—help us spread the word and reach more cities, more countries, more people who could use a hand.

If this spoke to you, tap follow, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so others can find the show. Your support fuels the work and keeps the positive vibes moving.

*Donate Today:  lovevoices.org

**Find our book here:

Amazon: https://voices-for-voices.org/3ZhJ6AW

Publisher: https://voices-for-voices.org/3LKL1uN

***Website: https://voices-for-voices.org/4byLXgb

Instagram: @voicesforvoices

TikTok: @voices_for_voices

Facebook: Voices for Voices

*Voices for Voices is a 501c3 nonprofit charity. All donations are 100% tax deductible.

Chapter Markers

0:00 Welcome, Mission, And Global Goals

2:03 Mental Health Pillars And Nonprofit Support

3:20 Weather, Gratitude, And Faith

3:54 Braces Journey And Self-Confidence

6:36 Olympics Update And Risk

9:17 Resilience After Injury

11:35 Pressure, Performance, And Perspective

14:36 Fun Facts And Culture Over Politics

16:32 Practice, Sacrifice, And Long Careers

19:03 Therapy Changes And Personal Agency

22:02 Focus Interviews On Sport, Not Politics

24:30 Grounding In Simple Daily Joys

26:15 Pet Sitting, Connection, And Comfort

28:40 Uncertainty, Adaptation, And Growth 

32:16 Closing Thanks And Calls To Support

#StrongestSelf #PersonalGrowth #EmpowermentJourney #SelfDiscovery #InnerStrength #MindfulnessMatters #PositiveVibesOnly #MentalWellness #LightInTheDarkness #ResilienceBuilding #TransformYourLife #EmotionalStrength #FindYourPower #AwakenYourPotential #justiceforsurvivors #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #Jesusaire #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether #VoicesForVoices441

Transcript

Welcome, Mission, And Global Goals

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 0:02

Hi everyone, it's Justin here, Voices for Voices. Thank you so much for joining us on this episode. Uh, we are over 440 episodes in our uh in our vault, in our uh portfolio. So we are so grateful to have you along with us for this ride. Whether you've been with us from the beginning or whether this is your first episode, welcome. If you can give us a big thumbs up, like, follow, subscribe, share, all free things to do. And if you can reach out to 25-year contacts in your phone and let them know about the Voices for Voices, TV show and podcast, we're number three behind uh the Joe Rogan experience and the Dan Bongino show. Uh, so for a slim staff, big goals, big mission, uh, we are we're doing uh just fantastic work and we're taking the things day by day. Some days are better than others, as we all know that that happens, and and so that's what we're doing here at Voices for Voices, foundation on recovery, uh trauma, recovery, uh, or going through trauma uh uh around mental health. That's our main pillar, our main foundation. And we're just so grateful and thankful to have you with us, whether you're here in the United States or across the world. Help us reach 300 countries, territories, provinces, and help us reach 3,000 cities across the world and help us reach 3 billion people plus over the course of my lifetime and beyond. I've already reached a thousand cities and over 100 countries. So with your help, we can do it. And if you're able to, uh we are a 501c3 nonprofit charity. Uh, you can donate uh anytime on uh if you head over to lovevoices.org. That's lovevoices.org. Lovevoices.org. Thank you very much. Wow, what a whirlwind. We've had uh we've had uh uh a crazy winter, uh crazy, crazy weather, as we're we're kind of known for here where we live. Uh we go from snow to 40s to negative five, uh, and we have a awesome day today with the the the sun uh shining brightly, uh blue skies, and we want to thank our our our creator and I know that my dad uh and everybody who's passed is watching over us and uh helping in whatever way that they could they can do. That's that's my belief. Uh you don't have to have those beliefs, uh, but those are those are my my beliefs. And and so it's uh it's a good day to be alive. Uh it's a good day to be with you, to talk with you, to share, to talk about different uh different events that uh occur in our lives, that uh some of it's uh some of it's fun, some some of it's not. Uh I want to say first and foremost, so uh finished up, I've talked about in other shows, I've finished up my my third round of braces, and I've finished the payment uh uh of the braces for the third time. Uh growing up, you know, I obviously being a kid growing up. Um my parents just just heroes in my my my my book, in my opinion. Uh so this third time, it it was uh it was a lot. Uh you know, we talk about having a sh insurance and not, and so I did it, and I've talked about it on a previous episode, you know, going from crooked teeth to teeth that I'm they say happy with. Um, and then obviously there's the uh the portion of uh money that it does take with or without insurance. So uh very happy to be through with uh through with that. Um again, it's a commitment. And for me, it it definitely helps optically, like from the outside, like something you can see, uh, that I can see, and it and so that makes me feel uh have one less thing, you know, like no crooked teeth. So I I don't have that any any anymore. Um and I had had that, and it really bothered me mental health-wise, uh, because every conversation I would be in, I'd be afraid that you know somebody would notice my crooked teeth, and that might affect, you know, whether it's a job prospect or just you know, a uh a donor, a grant, and and now I feel a little bit more confident and and comfortable in in those situations. And uh, I want to think, you know, think thank God for putting uh the resources available to me, to my family, to my loved ones, uh, to make this a reality. Um so from moving on from that, the Olympics are still going on. We're entering our last week. Uh people are performing well. There's been some uh crashes and some different events. And uh I know Lindsay Vaughn, she just had surgery maybe a week or so prior to the Olympics kicking off, and uh she unfortunately crashed uh and had to be uh helicopter helicoptered off of the mountain. Uh and I'm not sure exactly what the extent of her injuries were, but I I think it was an emergency surgery that she uh had to undergo. And you know, you can't you can't really fault for somebody. I mean, our bodies are only meant to do so much, and she tried, she gave it her all, and things could have gone better, or it could have ended up how how things did, and and I think it's just a testament to people that are going through hardship that like there's no way somebody like I even I even was thinking about that. I'm like, there's no way she's gonna be able to uh to to compete after having a surgery uh a week or less than a week uh prior uh to the Olympics kicking off. And um, I was surprised I was wrong. It's okay if I'm wrong. I don't doesn't bother me. Uh I know I'm not perfect, so sometimes I'm gonna be wrong, sometimes I'm gonna maybe be right, just like uh all of us. Sometimes we're wrong, sometimes we're right. And she surprised me uh by suiting up after the surgery and uh went through some uh some qualifying round uh and did well. Uh and then the actual event itself was where she uh unfortunately had a had a crash and again had to be taken to the hospital for an emergency surgery. But it's that that kind of that kind of fortitude, that kind of it's hard to really cut come into words of what what that really does. Uh obviously it is her her competing, but from a higher level it it really shows that to me, shows to me that Lindsay was and is a believer in being able to overcome you know uncertainty, uh overcome events, surgeries, things that could take somebody and they'd be like, all right, I I'm out, I I I just can't do it, uh, I don't want to risk hurting myself any further. And we're not all like that. I know I'm I'm I'm a little bit like that, but when it comes to certain things where we have to kind of just pack it up and go, okay, I'm gonna move on to the next thing. Uh so for her to do what she did is just really amazing, and it should show us that, especially with the Olympics, and we've talked about this in the past, it's so hard to even make it to the Olympics, it's so hard to qualify. There's so many different races or matches or games or events that have to uh the people have to go through and qualify to even make it to the Olympics. Uh, and I think that might have been part of it with Lindsay of saying, you know, I had to go through all these qualification uh ski runs, and I don't know if I'll have another chance. Maybe I will, maybe I won't, but I'm gonna give it my best and and and see. And this time it turned out to be a crash, next time it might turn out to be a gold medal. Uh, not I'm not really sure. Uh, but when we talk about mentally and physically with that many people watching across the world, somewhere around 100 million, 200 million people watching. Um, so it's not just like, okay, I'm going through this event, I'm doing it. Uh, and there's just the people, you know, that we see at the for skiing, let's call it. We just see, you know, a a smaller group of people, uh, friends, family, you know, waiting at the bottom of the of the mountain for uh the you know for the completion of that particular event. That you know, there's a hundred two hundred million people like you and I that are watching, might watch highlights. Uh, and that's a lot of people. That's a lot of people. We have a goal, like I said, of wanting to reach and help at least three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond. I know we're well on we're well on that that uh that road. Uh you know, I've mentioned in the past some of the ways that have really propelled us. And and so I have a little bit of that every time that I come in front of you, whether you're you're watching and viewing one of our uh shows or whether you're listening, that I'm still in awe of how many people, how many staff members, how many dignitaries, uh, how many human beings are consuming the Voices for Voices podcast TV show. Really just really just remarkable. So I have a little bit of a little bit of understanding uh with uh with with these Olympic athletes. You know, we talked about figure skating, right? So they call them the program. So some of the programs, which is this the amount of time skating, some of it's two, three, four, five, six minutes. Uh and they do it to qualify, then they do it you know, for finals, to see who's gonna be on the podium for gold, silver, bronze medal, uh, which fun fact that the gold medal has more silver than has gold in it. Uh, we've talked about that on a previous show way back uh when uh the uh the Paris Olympics were were going on a couple years ago. So uh we we definitely dive into that topic. A little fun fact. Uh that if the full gold medal now, if the gold medal was all gold, it'd be worth I think 80 some thousand dollars for each gold medal. I think it was 1812 or it was a long time ago, which was the last time that the gold medal was a hundred percent gold, and now it as I just mentioned, is mostly silver with uh with gold uh in the as well. So that's just an interesting, fun, fun fact. Uh but yeah, every time we come come together, we're here to unite, we're not here to divide, we're here for culture, not politics. And we just like to share that. It's it's it's it's interesting to share because there's so many, so many shows out there, and to find your niche of okay, who am I targeting? Who who do I want to have my message, uh, my show, the topics. Uh some of them are like this, where we're reviewing parts of other shows, and then we're adding tidbits, you know, of more recent events uh in in there that that we that we're sharing. Uh but the reason why we're doing it is to really show somebody practices for months, years, for hours. Uh they're uh they're they're giving up depending on the ages of the individuals, they're giving up time with their family, their loved ones to do to do the practicing and what's what's required. And as someone who has had a long-term relationship long and a long uh long distance, it's very it's hard to do. It's very hard to do. Uh and so when you get individuals that may have a a bad event, that doesn't define them at all, uh, which is something that you know our society were like, oh, they're not that good because they didn't perform that well. And we can't, as Scott Hamilton says, you know, we we can't judge a person, which first of all, we shouldn't be judging anyone, anyways. That aside, we shouldn't be thinking, oh, well, that person, they're not that good because they didn't perform as well. We all have good days, we all have not so good days. Uh again, the you know, the pressure it is uh, I mean, I remember at many different times being at a speaking engagement, teaching, other things, different uh different media events, TV shows, uh, other podcasts, where I'm almost frozen. And when I mean frozen, I mean like if I wanted to move my arm, like the wave hi, thanks for joining. Like I could I I couldn't because I was literally frozen. And until you're there at that point, it's hard to understand that. Uh, not to say that I'm by no means, again, I'm no perfect person at all. At all. No way, none of us are. So there's gonna be some times where we're gonna freeze up and go, and then we're gonna go through the motions, even no matter how many hours, no matter what preparation we did, we're we're still gonna have you know a performance or an interview, uh a book, you name it, that's just not gonna be as good as others. And it's okay. I think that's the big takeaway. It's okay. I know it's hard to not worry about it. Like people are gonna think we're not I'm not that good, that they're not gonna buy my new book, they're not going to tune in to my show. Um well, be that as it may, maybe they don't. But there's gonna be those people. And I know firsthand, there's people that watch day in and day out the Voices for Voices, TV show and podcast. Even if it even if maybe the donations aren't coming from them, just the mere fact that they're watching and listening shows that there's some sort of some sort of reason why they're sh they're watching and listening. Uh I don't want to guess why they're watching and listening listening. Uh but they do. And so when you're talking 440 episodes, we're we're getting to that point, if we're not already there, of I mean, I don't say podcast and TV show royalty in in a way, but we are. There's so many people they'll have a show for like for the Olympics, okay? There's many people that'll have shows for the Olympics, and the shows will go maybe 20 episodes, 25, I don't I don't know. They'll just go to the length of the you know the particular thing that they're talking about or that's going on. But then to go 100 episodes, there's even less people, 200 less, 300 less, 400 less, 440, even less. And so when I sit here and you watch me, when you listen, you can hear and see the passion I have for what we do, for talking about my mental health, my mental illnesses. What I have to go through day in and day out. It's not fun. I don't enjoy a lot of the things as far as regimens and medications and you name it, therapy, all these things. And they're all wonderful. I'm the first to tell you now, like I have been, that these are wonderful things that are available. So if that's something that you want to do, you need to do, make it happen, do it. I just recently started a different regimen as far as how like how recent or how uh you know how how many days uh in between uh visits uh to for therapy and that. And I'm eight years into this, so there's gonna be ebbs and flows. Uh and I can say for that that I feel a lot a lot stronger because I did do this, made this change, but you gotta do what you need to do. Don't do what I'm doing. You know, maybe let me be a part of part of the research that you do. I can be a research point. You say, okay, I watch and listen to this Voices for Voices show, and their host does this. But you gotta find what you need. Maybe the therapist that you reach out to maybe maybe doesn't work out, maybe uh just don't get along. You know, maybe maybe they cut you off, they don't let you talk, or uh for whatever reason, it's not a bad thing. There's there's other therapists out there, there's other providers out there, and that's okay. That's called taking your life and your uh your specialties. Like I take my specialties and find, and then I'm you know, right now I found, but there's gonna be down the road where I'm probably gonna have to find another, and then find another and find another. It's just how much you want to put into you know the mental side of things. And I know we talked about how if somebody's being interviewed at the Olympics, that it should be all about the event and the country they're representing. Because that's what the Olympics is. They're representing your rep the athletes are representing a country, and they're they made it to the Olympics because of an event, not because of politics, not because of other things. And so while it's okay to talk about those things, there's a time and a place. Um we want more people to talk about it, want more people to say it's okay, we want people to be a little bit more understanding and not try to just downplay it. But when you're on when you're being interviewed at the Olympics for an event, after an event, after a game, after a match, talk about that. Talk about what it took, you know, the practice, the dedication, uh being happy that you know, able to represent a particular country. Um that's what it should all what it all should be about, because that's what it is. You know, we turn on the turn on the Olympics, and they have the medal counts of like whatever country you know has the most gold, silver, bronze. But there's so many other people that tried so hard, and they're gonna be interviewed too. And it's okay. It's okay if we we don't do our best every single day. Because we're human beings. We we we don't. So to have any expectation that we are would just not be very not be very helpful. Uh so that the reason I'm bringing this up and these topics up again, number one is because it's it's a bright sunshiny day where I'm where I live. And so there are things and topics that are what I want to share, what I want to talk about, because the sun's out, there's blue sky. We don't always get that with weather, we don't always get blue skies and sunny. Uh, you know, we have the groundhog, it does their thing, you know, whether they see the shadow or not. Uh that's mostly for theatrics. Uh so when we see when I see a uh a day like today, it helps me, helps me ground myself in what I'm what I'm doing from the mental side of not only that it's I'm safe, I'm okay, at this very instant, that's all I can do. At this very instant, it's a beautiful day outside. It's still a little chilly, but it's still beautiful just to look out a window and see and go, wow, it's this time of day, and there's blue sky, and I can you know see a trail from uh uh uh an airline jet flying overhead. Um and so talking about really what's current and relevant as we as we we we do from time to time. Some other times we you know we back up and we look at things in the past, and and other times we look at things in the future. Uh but I think it's it's just very important to just take stock in that. Um we from a family standpoint we uh we babysat a pet for a couple of days, and that was so so cool, so fun to see our child uh interact uh with the with the pet. And I I mean I'd be remiss not to say that it was it was nice, it was it was neat, neat to see, it was neat to be a part of. Uh you know, through my ears, we didn't we didn't have uh an indoor pet. I mean, unless you talk about like a goldfish or a beta fish and that's okay. We don't we don't have to have every all these things. Uh the uh what the word is the opportunity that came about, it just so happened it came about. Sometimes those opportunities don't come come about, and so we did. So it was it was mean. So maybe I maybe that's where some of my positiveness we're you know talking about the topics today on this show are coming from because there's all kinds of evidence that shows you having a you know a service animal or an animal in general uh that you know gets along, so they get along with the you know the the family, uh the family gets along with the pet and all that, it helps from a uh compassion standpoint, and so I think I I enjoy that. Uh I know with certain hospitals they have uh you know comfort and support animals that sometimes they visit, they visit patients uh just for a minute or two. Maybe they come up the maybe dependent, you know, depends on what the patient is in in hospital for. Uh they may not be as support, not supportive, might not be as uh mobile and able to pay pet the the dog. So some of it is just mental, like, oh there's there's a support animal. Uh so that was that was something that was also neat the last couple days. So a sunny day, and actually it was two days in a row, a sunny day, uh, and then being able to you know babysit a uh a pet for a couple days. It was kind of neat, I I have to say. It was it was fun, it was neat uh to see my child interact with it so kind and gentle and uh just so happy and wanting to help. And I get it. It was two days, wasn't two years, wasn't 20 years. But things like that are like what we call like the little things in life, and I enjoyed it. I know my wife did, I know our child did, and and so that that gives us another perspective on on that. Maybe we get a pet sometime, maybe we don't. I don't know. I don't know what that that's gonna turn out to be. But just from a person, person, a human standpoint, the more positive vibes, as I mentioned, usually at the end of our shows, the more positive vibes we can get is the best. We never can have too many, you know, people praying for us, people sending good vibes our way. Uh we can never have too many. I mean, uh it's just uh just an amazing thing to have people thinking about other other people, and you know, to have uh, you know, the babysit this this pet for a couple days, uh, you know, a living, breathing pet. Uh it was uh it was a lot of fun. It was it was neat, it was cool, whatever the words are, uh to do it. Because uh I wasn't crazy at first because I didn't know what to expect. And I think that's what we are, right? When we don't know what to expect, it it's a little bit, you know, things are a little bit more cause a little more anxiety or stress. At least that that's the way it is for me. I'm like, I don't know what to expect. I don't know, like I don't yeah, I just don't know what to expect. Like, what am I gonna be able to do? Am I gonna be able to work on certain things? Am I not? And and that doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, but those are things that I was thinking about uh uh you know before we actually had the pet inside of our where we live. But then once once the pet was in, it was like, oh, okay, I can do this, I can do that. I'm not gonna be able to do this one thing, not gonna be able to do this other thing, but it's okay, and it's changes and adaptations that makes us human too. Being able to, and we talk about it a lot on the show, being able to adapt from you know day to day, from warm weather, sunshine, to no sunshine, uh super cold weather, snow, ice, you name it, uh, you know, being able to adapt, uh, you know, having the clothing that we can wear given the uh you know the weather and all the other variables that get thrown at us uh each and every day. So that's why we say just living is extraordinary. And we've talked about this on a previous show, so won't uh won't belabor the point. So thank you for joining us on this episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. We love you, we're thinking about you, we're sending good vibes, praying for you. Uh, if you're able to uh give us the thumbs up, like, follow, subscribe, share, all free things to do. And if you can, reach out to 25 contacts in your phone and let them know about the voices for voices TV show and podcast over 440 episodes. I am I can almost guarantee that at least 40 or 50 of those, if not more, are going to uh really strike a chord and you're gonna want to watch and you're gonna want to listen to. So thank you so much. If you're able to, please please donate voices, lovevoices.org. Lovevoices.org. Lovevoices.org and spelled out lovevoic esorg. Thank you so much. Been Justin Alan Hayes with you here, voices for voices, and we will see you on our next show. So have a great day and uh be safe. And we're thinking about you, we're praying for you, we're sending good vibes your way. So have a great day, and we'll talk to you and and uh see you soon. Bye bye.