Safe Enough to Dream | Safe Enough to Build | Episode 487

Safe Enough to Dream | Safe Enough to Build | Episode 487

If you’ve ever felt torn between “do more” and “I’m running on empty,” this one is for you. I’m Justin Alan Hayes, and I’m sharing what it looks like to build Voices for Voices while protecting mental health, managing stress, and refusing to let burnout decide the pace. The goal is big, but the strategy stays human: community, consistency, and self-care that actually works.

We get real about the everyday stuff that shapes our nervous system more than we admit, from weather whiplash to a busy week to my dog Lucy’s surgery recovery. Then we move into the deeper questions: when is stepping back a smart boundary, and when do people misread it as “using a crutch”? I explain why that label misses the point, how capacity is not the same as motivation, and why sustainable productivity matters in trauma recovery, mental wellness, and mission-driven work.

I also tell the story from our gala that still makes my stomach flip: playing guitar and performing while up on a scissor lift, balancing fear of heights with safety protocols, lights, and a live audience. It wasn’t about showing off. It was about showing what courage can look like when you plan, stay safe, and choose to inspire someone else to try the thing they’ve been putting off.

If you take one idea with you, let it be this: dream bigger, but do it safely and with support. Subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find this mental health and trauma recovery community. What’s one dream you’re ready to take one small step toward?

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

Chapter Markers

• 0:00 Welcome And How To Support
• 2:45 Weather Whiplash And Daily Life
• 5:55 Reducing Stress By Stepping Back
• 8:40 When People Call It A Crutch
• 11:45 Breaks, Work Ethic, And Safety
• 13:10 The Gala That Raised The Bar
• 15:40 Facing Heights With A Scissor Lift
• 20:20 Dreaming Big While Staying Safe
• 33:45 You Can Do It Closing

#justiceforjustin #justiceforvoicesforvoicestiktok #VoicesforVoices #MentalHealthAwareness #FeelSafe #PersonalGrowth #EmotionalWellbeing #SelfDiscovery #EmpowermentJourney #SafetyFirst #CourageToChange #VulnerabilityStrength #MythicalCreaturesAroundtheWorld #MindfulnessMatters #LifeChoices #OvercomingFear #MentalWellnessTips #PositiveMindsetShift #InnerPeaceQuest #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #Jesusaire #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether #Episode487

Transcript

Welcome And How To Support

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 0:01

Hi everyone, it's Justin here, Voices for Voices. Thank you so much for joining us, watching, listening here in the United States or abroad. Thank you for joining us on this episode of the show. We are uh glad to have you here. Grateful for your time, your love, and your support uh all across uh the tenure of our uh organization, Voices for Voices. If you can do us a gigantic favor and uh give us a couple thumbs up, uh, like, follow, subscribe, share, repost, uh, that will help us uh reach uh an even bigger audience. If you're able to follow us on social media, uh Voices for Voices is everywhere. Come find us. Let's connect. And if you are able to uh reach out to 25, 50, maybe a hundred contacts in your uh in your phone and let them know about the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. We'd love to have some uh new faces, uh new new friends, and uh add to our uh community of helping others um with mental health challenges, without mental health challenges, uh trauma, uh just being a uh a human being is uh is turning out to be uh the best uh antidote for for our show. And it is hitting on those mental health trauma recovery pillars, uh, you know, that foundation uh of myself forming, uh founding the organization. So we're so thankful to have you with us. And again, tell a friend, tell five, tell a hundred friends about voices for voices. We have a huge goal. We want to not only reach, but we want to help at least three billion people with a B billion. We want to reach and help at least three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond, and we're well on our way to doing so because of you. Thank you very much. Uh, we've had a absolutely uh insane uh weather here in uh in the area where I reside. Yeah, one day we are at 17, and the next day we're at like 35. Uh and we're in this like wind tunnel, wind vortex area where the wind is hitting our dwelling, um and and just pounding it. It's uh I've known what wind can do, but until you see some things up close and personal, yeah, you don't really see it. You know what I mean? Like you understand like you know, wind can cause a lot of you know wind damage to a dwelling, uh, but to actually see it up close and personal. So uh we've we've had that. So we're waiting for spring to come to stay, and we will be absolutely grateful when it uh when it when it does. Uh we've also had crazy growth of grass um where I I can't remember. Usually, you know, the first first time you mow the grass, it's like, well, once you get started, you gotta keep you kind of have to keep going. And I I've just never seen not only uh where we're at, but others, I mean, grass that you you wouldn't you wouldn't think belong to a house. But so those are just a couple of the things that some people are mowing, uh using weed eaters and blowers. So you may hear a little bit of that in the the background. You also may hear uh a little bit of that wind. Uh we got some wind kicking up today. And last but not least, you may hear the jingle bell of our dog Lucy, who is recovering very amazingly from her uh surgery. And uh so she's uh she's day by day getting more and more uh ambitious, more energy, more healing, uh for which is the the the the main part is uh that she's healing. So um so we have that that that all kind of going on. We've had a little bit of a busy week that we've covered in uh several episodes uh for the previous week. Upcoming uh we have a little bit of a less busy week uh coming up now. I say that watch watch watch things kinda pick up steam. But we'll be we'll be ready. So it's uh again, it's a it's you know, you you you learn, you know, you educate as much as you can, try to create efficiencies where you can that cuts down the the amount of time it takes to to work on certain projects and and tasks uh and and and then you go from there. And one of uh one of the ways the I like to reduce my my stress is uh to stay away from the computer uh and not have to feel the not not to feel the need that we have to do uh a certain amount of shows a week or a certain amount of shows a day. Uh because we don't. Uh we are sharing as human beings do. Uh and and that's that's all we can do. We can only we can only do the work of the amount of people we we have. Uh anything more, uh we would uh definitely be at you know the the burnout phase or stage, uh not the burnout, like the uh the the rocket boosters of uh of Artemis, uh the that just circled the moon, uh, but uh burnout of the mind, uh the the body just feeling like so many things are going on that we can't can't keep track of uh and and it happens and I think it's a big issue for more people than one to like think about it. I know some some people be like, oh you know, you're using that as a crutch. Well, I don't think so. And here's why. Why if I had the opportunity to do more than less, I would. So why would I use a crutch, a supposed crutch, mentally, just so I can do not do as as much. It just doesn't make sense, at least to me. Because I'm I'm about maximum efficiency, maximum output. Um and so that that that's where it lands. That's where it lands with me. Now, maybe some people do use it as a crutch. Certain challenges, I I don't know. I'm not one of those people, so I'm not going to I'm not gonna put words in nobody's mouth. I I'm just gonna share mine. I mean, if I had it my way, which we know God's in charge, the higher power's in charge, you know. If we're a believer, if we're not, then we feel that we're in charge. Um if that was the case, then we wouldn't be approaching 500 total episodes. We would be approaching like 5,000 episodes. See what I mean? Uh well, it sounds better. Going on 5,000 or going on 500? Usually the higher number sound sounds sounds the best. Uh so no people that want to talk to others, talk down on each other, saying we're just using this particular challenge, this particular illness as a crutch. Oh, okay. That's one of those things where you let people talk, you let them share, and then you kind of move on. Like, okay, you said your piece, so I've got to go. I am busy. I will talk to you later. And then we hang up the phone and we continue on doing what we're doing, or what's what's next? Maybe taking a self-care break. We're allowed to do that. I mean, I I see all the time living where I live, there's a lot of a certain profession that we see on the roadways during a certain part of the year who it looks like there's ten people standing there and one person doing a job. That that that that would not fly um in my organization and the voices for voices organization. There's gonna be no standing around. Yeah, we might take breaks, but we're not gonna have ten people take who knows how long breaks to watch one person do the work. If that's the case, then we don't need eleven, we don't need the ten plus the one doing the work. We just need the one doing the work. And maybe a spotter, you know, making sure they're following safety protocols. Um following safety protocols is is very important. I know so many of you tuned in to uh our a brand new day gala, our second annual, I believe it was heavily music. We had lots of music, we had awesome speakers across the board. It was it was truly an amazing event. And when I think about safety features, if anybody knows what a scissor lift is, you can go ahead and do a search and uh see what comes up. Uh and so you have me, let's say, like a novice guitar player, uh maybe novice singer, reciting words, more in a conversation tone. And what what what do you have as far as safety protocol? Why do we need safety protocol? Oh, because I wanted a I think it was a 25 or 30 foot uh uh scissor lift. So basically, it's usually meant for uh I think a lot of different lot of different things. Uh one of which can be music, where you know, to be a higher ground uh to catch people's attention better. Going, oh my gosh. So the scissor lift, you know, climb on, and then it goes up like this up to like it was like 30 feet, but we uh given the camera angles that we we had available, I think we made it to 20 feet high. And so who was on that scissor lift? Yours truly. And I especially since I you know hit rock bottom and you know coming back mentally and and that I've been so terrified, but scared, I guess, fearful of heights. And I used to not be. I don't know if it's a getting older thing or what it is. Um I wanted to do what I did for a lot of reasons. Number one, you have you know the playing guitar of like, hey, this person is not a you know, a trained guitarist, or you know what I mean, and here he is playing the guitar. Secondly, you have here's this person that's not really a singer, just winging it, not only in front of the people in person, but so many of you that tuned in live stream on that night or morning, depending on where where you were at in the world, and so many downloads uh since then. Oh my gosh, it was uh it was a scary thing because uh oh, and then on top of that the lights were out, there's a spotlight on me, and so I got to feel how warm you know that fe felt and feels. Uh we have so yeah, we have the fear of heights I was tackling, the fear of playing music on the guitar in front of people, a lot of people I don't know, again, watching in person, listening in person, and again, live stream and since then it's available, it's part of our uh live uh section of our uh YouTube uh profile. So you go to our you know YouTube Voices for Voices, YouTube profile, you go to live, and then you'll want to pick, I think, the second annual gala. Uh so we have you know the Freida Heights, not just like going up, but it's remaining there. So you want to talk about balance? I was like, I had you know, so I had like kind of like the a little bit of like the a little bit of the squatting, you know, feet wide a little wider, because uh otherwise the scissor lift would go back and forth. And so that was scary. So I I I I felt that I was felt that I was inspiring people to do something like that. Not that they have to do what I did when it comes to the scissor lift, but I wanted to inspire others to do something that they've wanted to do that's safe. Um and that maybe they haven't done in a while, maybe they've never done, they've dreamed about doing it, and if they've they've been given an opportunity to do it, I wanted to have that be a moment of inspiration. Uh because I was up there, I think a total of like 15-20 minutes between the songs and then the talking, and and then of course you have electronics involved. Uh I had uh you know the teleprompter with the lyrics uh facing me, and had of course a little issue with that. So I was working through that and trying to not be scared while also holding on a conversation with so many people in person and and watching uh again that night or morning, depending on where you live. And um and then the singing and playing guitar. I mean, those are those are three big areas that I mean it I want to inspire people, I want people to dream, I want them to I want you, I want others, I want everybody to feel feel like they can do something that they haven't. Maybe they've done it, and maybe it's been you know many years ago, or maybe a friend or somebody they know is doing something and they're like, well, I can't do that. You know, that's what you know so and so does. Um, I'll tell you this the last time, so as we were doing the setup for the show, the uh the tech team, which I think there's like 10 people, because we uh uh they built the stage. Um had the scissorlet, we had the bat black background, we had the uh we had some flags for the the the country, and we uh had just just done a mission trip, um, and just got back. And man, I just wanted to inspire people. And I think that's what got me through it. I get asked a lot about that. How did you get through it? How do you how do you get through these times? You say you're an introvert, but here you are on camera all these all these times. And I and I think, and it's playing out to be true, from what I can see, is how bad I want to inspire people and want people to do the best that they can. I don't want them to do anything dangerous that that's that doesn't have safety protocols and and and all those things. Um I want them to be safe when they do it. If there's something that they want to do, if they've I don't know what that could be. There's a the thousands and thousands and thousands and probably millions of different things somebody maybe learning to ride roller blades or I don't know. Um I know growing up, I think I had a pair, or maybe I rented a pair at at the uh roller rink, and I didn't I didn't fare too well, and so I I know I don't have the the best balance, so that's what made the the scissor lift performance even more because I'm like I don't have the balance and there was nobody there that really was gonna be able to help me. I mean it like if I would have lost my if I would have lost my balance so much and I had it and I had a guitar on, so the guitar didn't weigh a whole lot, but if I was I was focusing on keeping my balance like side to side instead of front to back because let's say if you know for an Olympic dive for it, and you know, they go up to the diving board and they get to the end, and then they you know at some point lean forward or start there, or they do the jump and then they start doing all the all the twists and turns. Uh that wouldn't have worked very well for the scissor lift. Uh it would have been dangerous. Uh luckily that didn't happen and came out. Uh but the tech team they they said the last time they saw a musician, and again, I'm I'm not a I I guess I'm a musician. I guess we're all musicians. We're just at our own level, we're at our own speed. Um, and they said the last time they saw that was at a uh a KISS concert, you know, the legendary rock band KISS. And so I'm like, oh wow. Like uh and so then I think about the whole dreaming aspect. I the longer I have between where I'm at at a given time and then an event that I'm gonna be taking place with or being a part of, the more time I have, the more my mind works. And that's kind of how that came about. So that event came about. We're having special needs band playing, and I was like, well, maybe I can play a song with uh with them, a song or two, or had no intention of trying to sing, trying to just recite the words, the songs, but then my mind was like, oh my gosh, I wonder if I could get it, I could, because I didn't know what it was called. I was like, maybe I can get a lift there, and it can go up, you know, a certain to a certain height, and then I can play a song with the band. And then I was like, well, that's taking you know, that's take taking the uh you know people's attention away from the band and making it about me. So I was like, well, the really only other way to do it is to either go out solo on stage or to do what I did. Um so the days went on. I started looking into it, I came to conclusion, it it and and and it happened, and it it being the decision to do it and for it to happen is literally like a dream. Because I don't think I don't think I'll ever do that again. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I don't know. I guess if I'm given the opportunity and the time presents itself, uh maybe. But it's something where I'm like, I don't think that's gonna happen again. And I've and I've been to a lot of co concerts and and that um and I I I think I've seen a couple, I think maybe I did see kiss when they did the the scissor lift, but I did I just I was thinking like how can I do something not that it's never ever been done before, how can I do something that's kind of just over the top? That if people don't remember anything, they remember the speakers, they remember what they're talking about, their mental health journey. We had parents, we had a parent of a child, unfortunately took took his own life. We had we had incredible speakers showing an incredible just so brave to get up and talk about the topics and experiences. And so it's so when I talk about dreaming, I don't talk about it as like me telling you to do something that I wouldn't do myself. Not not the actual not the not the actual action or experience. But I'm I wanted to give you and everyone out there worked for me, how my mind worked, and you can do what you want to do, right? Everything being equal, like being able to pay for, have safety precautions and what have you, you know, if we take all that, if we take all those things out and we say, what if money was not money and safety and that wasn't an issue or a topic, what would there be something that I would want to do or try? And then that's how the mind starts. May start with nothing for a while, or it may start with one thing and then evolve to another, to another, to another. So I can think of a a couple songs, you know, you have that Madge and Dragon song talking about you know being in a classroom and people going, you know, what are you doing? And saying, you know, I'm scheming for the masses. And now here you are in the nosebleed, watching me on stage. So Dan Reynolds, lead singer of Imagine Dragons, he had a dream, he had a thought, an idea, he had a song, he put it down, he did it. Just incredible. I mean, it really, it really is. I'm trying to think of the the second one because I I lost thought of the the second one as I was going over the first one. Uh I mean you have the one, you know, you have that Nelly song, you know, where people have looked down on him at some point, and then they're asking the next thing you know, they're asking him for tickets, and he's like, Are you for real? And then he's like, blank, no. Um and again, handling things handle things differently. But the thing is, when you put when you're the one putting in the hard work and you're doing things and you're doing it, people might be like, well, it wasn't that I didn't believe you. I just it just seemed, you know, bigger than bigger than life. Well, that's what it is, that's what dreaming is. What it feels like. And it can look like from the outside. But that's what makes when it happens, when and if it happens, it makes it so much sweeter. Yeah, you see Lucy, she had some surgery last week, so yeah, you see I see her with her cone. Oh poor doggie. As soon as we can, we are gonna take that cone off. It's for her her safety and for her healing. So hopefully it's been a little bit of a show about dreaming, about some days being busier than others. Yeah. I keep thinking about Rob Schneider and the Water Boy long movie long, long time ago. He's like, you can do it. And I just want to leave it with that because you can do it. You can. You can do it. You can do it. Thank you for joining us. Thank you so much. We'll see you on the next episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. We're sending love and support your way. And thank you again for being a part of our uh Voices for Voices community. Take care. Bye bye for now.