Why I'm Celebrating Lucy's Third Birthday | Episode 499

Episode 500 is coming up fast, and I wanted to slow down for a minute and talk about what it really takes to keep a mission-driven show going. Voices for Voices exists because you share it, talk about it, and help other people find it. I explain where you can watch and listen across platforms, why word of mouth matters more than any algorithm, and how our nonprofit work stays sustainable through simple support that stacks over time.

Then we shift from big goals to a very personal milestone in our home: our dog Lucy turns three today. I’m 44 and this is my first real pet outside of fish, so I’m learning everything in real time, the routines, the surprises, and the moments that test your patience. I also share something I didn’t expect: having Lucy around feels like a form of pet therapy. It doesn’t erase stress, but it can take the edge off, give you something to look forward to, and pull your mind away from anxious loops for a few seconds at a time.

We also talk about why people celebrate pet birthdays, how kids learn to be gentle with a real animal, and what to consider if you’ve been thinking about getting a dog, including shelters, the Humane Society, and worries like allergies. If this mix of nonprofit purpose and real-life mental health support resonates with you, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find Voices for Voices.

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

Chapter Markers

• 0:01 Welcome And Episode Milestone
• 1:16 How To Support The Show
• 2:12 The Mission To Help Billions
• 6:38 Books Donations And The Tour
• 8:23 Meet Lucy On Her Birthday
• 10:30 Pet Therapy And Stress Relief
• 16:07 Learning Pet Care As Adults
• 21:24 Adoption Allergies And Final Ask

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Transcript

How To Support The Show

The Mission To Help Billions

Books Donations And The Tour

Meet Lucy On Her Birthday

Pet Therapy And Stress Relief

Learning Pet Care As Adults

Adoption Allergies And Final Ask

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices 0:01

Hi everyone, it's Justin here, Voices for Voices. Thank you so much for joining us today. Whether you're watching, whether you're listening, whether you're here in the United States or across the world, uh, we are sending our love and support to each and every one of you. Um, it's just uh an amazing feat that we are coming up uh against uh with the amount of episodes that we're we're coming to. So the big number 500 is uh so close and it's uh just amazing. It's amazing what an idea, a dream, uh perseverance through ups and downs, curveballs, everything to still be here sharing experiences and events of myself, our organization, and our guests. So thank you so much for making this a reality. Uh yeah. If you can give us a big thumbs up, like, follow, subscribe, share, repost, uh, follow us on our social media accounts, predominantly Instagram and Facebook is where you can find us the uh the most active, uh, as well as you if you're watching this episode, just know that you have the option to listen to episodes. So all episodes uh can be found uh YouTube, Rumble, and wherever you um find your podcast, you can find voices for voices, you can use your smart device, uh smart speaker, say play voices for voices, TV show and podcast, and it's that that easy. We have a huge goal to uh not only reach but help at least three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond, and because of you and so many groups and organizations, uh, we are headed that way. Very uh it's it's gonna happen, and I'm so excited uh for that uh to happen. Not for me, but for the individuals that we're helping, because as I mentioned a lot, I can't take anything with me when my time here on Earth is up, but individuals can take experiences, they can take um ideas, events that we've covered, uh guests that we've had on their stories, uh, their events, their uh their yeah, experiences, and that's what's gonna carry on one once I'm uh no longer here on Earth. Um no long I'm not predicting anything here, but I I just know that we were born, we live, and then we pass away. So uh that's what I'm here for. Uh I've could I could have been um taken from this world, this earthly world, so many times, and yeah, God decided decided to keep me here, at least until now, uh, because we don't know how long we're gonna be here on earth. So I have I have a a good feeling that voices for voices is the reason why God has kept me here. Uh doesn't mean that it's always gonna keep me here. It just means at the the current time where we're at, um I mean there could be time the time between us filming this and when it goes uh goes live and we drop it, that we might not make it. This m this episode might not make it to um to our platforms, but we don't know. So let's try to be a little more positive on things. But I just wanted to share that because it's a big deal. Um if you could reach out to 25 your contacts and your phone, let them know about the voices for voices, TV show and podcast, that would greatly help us. Word of mouth is how we have made a huge difference because when you if you hear something from a friend or family member, you're more likely to check it out, see what it's about. Uh and we've we've found again, we're on our way to helping three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond, uh throughout 300 countries, 3,000 cities across the world. And again, we only have you to thank. And so some people were like, You you take a long time at the beginning and and and talk and share a lot. Can you just get into the episodes? And my response to that is what we discussed up until this point is very the organization, what keeps the the TV show and podcast, uh, what keeps voices for voices running. And so we have to share that. We don't have the luxury of having you know some huge organization behind us. Um we we that we don't we we don't have we don't have that that luxury, so uh we have to share and we gotta let people know that they can find this itty bitty organization and all their episodes and where you can find our books and Amazon. You'll find them on voicesforvoices.org. You can purchase through there. You just go to voicesforvoices.org and then you start scrolling down. You'll see we're having a tour uh that's gonna be uh it's gonna be 2026 to 2028. Uh, and then you'll see books that you're able to purchase all of all of those uh donations because we are a 501c3 nonprofit charity, all of those here in the United States, you're able to write off on your taxes. Uh we are a again federally registered nonprofit charity organization. Uh, if you don't live in the United States, just check with your your tax preparer and they they'll let you know how how to uh how to handle that uh in in your uh home hometown, home city, home country. Uh because it varies from country to country, sometimes city to city. So just double check on that. Um so today is a so today's a milestone in in the in our family. Uh as as uh those of you who have seen other episodes, uh you'll know the we've we've never been uh we've never had a pet outside of a beta fish, um who is coming up, I think, on being a year old, which is just we've never had a beta fish that's lived this long, so it's it's incredible. But our uh our uh our pet Lucy uh dog, we're pet owners now, and uh and and so I wanted to just show everybody here, let's see here. Let's go none. Okay, let's take that off. So you'll see her behind me kinda uh resting. Uh but she's three years old today, and and and so we're celebrating her third birthday. And some of you might wonder, like, oh big deal. Well, it's a big deal because right, you have to take care of the pet, you know, feed, have water, take them out to do their business, uh go going to the potty, I guess. I can share that. Um also on the mental health side, I have I've noticed, even if just a little bit, having Lucy, our pet dog, with us as you know, they talk about pet therapy. You hear, you know, pet therapy where you know you can pet a horse, ride a pony, um have a dog, have a have a dog, have a have a cat, and it helps lower stress a little bit. Again, it's not the end all be all. But what I've noticed since we've we've had her is uh you know she's she's my pal, and so we do a lot of a lot of work here on the computer for our shows, for our voices for voices organization, and just having her around, even if she is you know sitting on my shoulders or um whatever she's she's up to. Uh and so I I'd I'd like to say that maybe you you've you've already known this. Um I'm 44 and this is the first uh pet again outside of a fish, small fish, beta fish, goldfish that I've ever had. Uh and there's just something about having having the pet. I don't know what it is. I can't explain it. I can't explain how much stress or how much anxiety or uh or what that gets lowered. I don't know if it's a lot, I don't know if it's a little. All I know is that it's something that Lucy is something to look forward to when I wake up. And so then uh you know, one of the the things of you know taking our child to school, she likes when Lucy comes. And so that's what so we have kind of that bond uh for that, those uh those moments. And it's just so neat as again, as somebody who has never had a a pet to have one. Uh yeah, she makes us laugh, she makes us upset a little bit sometimes when she's not listening when she eats grass, and we're trying to get her not to eat the grass, and we're trying to get her out of the flower beds, and you know, there's there's those things, but all in all, it's just so um it's just neat to have have a have a pet. Uh and I know it's helped my mental health, and I again I don't know how much, how little, but it's it's it's helped uh because instead of going for from maybe a bad a bad day, that bad day can be a little less bad. Because Lucy will combs will sit on my lap and she'll want her belly rubbed and and and and all that. Um and you know, she plays around, and I always say that I gotta watch out because she'll like fake like she's eating my fingers. And this I'm no joke. Feels like she's eating my fingers, like uh a lot of times when we're trying to get the leash on to take her, take her outside to to go potty, to go, you know, do her business. I'll I'll be trying to get her leash on, and and and she'll be uh have her mouth open and then she'll you know my finger will they go in her mouth and I'll feel her teeth, but she doesn't squeeze down, she doesn't chomp, at least not yet. Uh I'm like Lucy, like we we don't want to get in that habit because I don't I don't want one day for her to wake up and Lucy being the who um her yeah to uh wake up and like I'm gonna chomp this finger off or something. So it's anyways just little things that not having a pet I've noticed in me. Um obviously I know the the rest of my family uh you know likes and loves having her around, and so she she has her birthday today, so she's turning three, or she turned three today, is turning three. Um and so what do you do? You you to celebrate a birthday, and I guess I didn't understand before having a pet why people would celebrate a pet's birthday or that, but it's because I didn't know I didn't have a pet, so I didn't understand. I'm like, well, why are they you know celebrating? And you know, there's there's just a lot of stuff I just even to this day that I don't understand because I'm not perfect, nobody is. And so I was thinking like, why are people celebrating their pet's birthday and buying them clothes and uh and and and different things? And now I have a better understanding of that, of uh having a pet and wanting to wanted that to be special, especially when you have you know children in the house, because they they also look look at it, it's kind of like they're stuffies, you know, they're stuffed animals, but this is a real animal, this isn't a stuffed animal. Uh so we we we try to say, hey, you gotta just be a little more gentle. You know, we can't, you know, we want to squeeze and to give a big uh big hug. We still can do that, but uh we just have to be a little more careful. Um she's learning, we're all learning. Uh she'll follow us like so fast. We'll start up the steps, get halfway up, think we'll get to the top before her, and then ride up the steps right next to us, and and she blows right by us, and she's up there, and she's just waiting patiently most of the time. But like any pet, uh you know, she'll bark at usually it's other people, other other pets, uh, sometimes you know, people, people that ring the doorbell, or I mean, I I'm not I don't think I'm sharing too much that you might not already know. Um but for me, for us, for my family, these are things that we're just learning. And it's uh it's neat, but when she barked, it's like so loud, and it's like Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. And you can probably see her, she can't see her because I have we have the virtual uh background, but she's just so neat to have uh around, and and so she is. She's she's an extension, she's part of our family, and so that's why we're going to celebrate her birthday here a little bit later. Uh and so I I understand more now about pets than I did. Obviously, I I've I haven't had a cat, so I don't know what that experience is like. But again, bringing it back to the mental health, she takes my mind off things, even if it's just for a few minutes or a few seconds, here or there. And as I've talked about the pie of life, you know, if 100% of the time we're stressed, you take a couple percentage points and you reduce that and say, okay, now my life is 98% stress, but now it's 2% less stress, or whatever that number may be. And that's really where we're at, or where I'm at, I guess, when it when it comes to having having a dog, is I don't know how much the stress goes down, but it's going it's going down a little bit, even if it's just a teeny teeny teeny teeny tiny tiny amount it's still a little bit noticeable to me. And so I'd recommend if having a pet is something that you've you've wanted, uh maybe maybe see if you can make that happen. I d I don't know, it's taken a long time for us to get to this point. And and now we're here. There's a lot of people that they have pets growing up. I had one, an outside dog. I only remember for a basically like a nanosecond. But he got outside of his cage in doghouse. He dug his way out. Ended up getting hit by a car. Um and so I I don't have a whole lot. I didn't have a whole lot of experience with with that pet. A springer spaniel. And so now we have a Havanese dog. So if you're thinking about it, or thinking about getting a pet, go to the nearest shelter, Humane Society. Or if there's other other stores that other pet stores. See if you're able to find one and have a chance to play. And I was worried about my allergies too. That's the other part. I was worried about my allergies. And I'll say miraculously, I don't feel that I'm allergic to her. Like where you sneeze and then it get like real eyes are watering and all that. That was one of my big biggest concerns. Because every every dog's unique. Just like every one of us human beings are unique. So we're gonna celebrate Lucy's third birthday today. She's helping my mental health to some degree. I can feel it. But I'm away and I come come back. She's you know hopping on my leg. You know, like so happy, wagging her tail. So I just want to share a little bit of that little personal family event, events. Uh and maybe again, maybe you can find one. So until next time, this is Justin Allen Hayes, Voices for Voices. If you can give us the big thumbs up, like, follow, subscribe, share, repost, reach out to 25 or 50 contacts in your phone. Let them know about the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. You can find us everywhere. We greatly appreciate that. And follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Till next time, let's celebrate the voices of everybody in the world and let's be a voice for ourselves and somebody else in need. We'll see you later.