When belief meets persistence, doors open (Episode 333)

When belief meets persistence, doors open (Episode 333)

A front-row night of comedy opens a wider lesson on self-care, persistence, and the long road from unanswered messages to meaningful recognition. We share honoring Tyrus and Senator Ted Cruz, celebrating policy wins, and how belief paired with effort turns moments into momentum.

• gratitude for 330+ episodes and community
• presenting Voice of the Year to Tyrus and Cruz
• attending Tyrus Live and embracing laughter as self-care
• reflection on ghosting, no’s, and steady follow-up
• Take It Down Act’s journey to federal law
• family, mental health, and using energy for good
• practical push to name a goal and take one step
• closing affirmation to believe and keep going

Please be a voice for you or somebody in need

Chapter Markers

0:02 Gratitude And Milestones

2:50 Voice Of The Year For Tyrus

5:20 The Comedy Show Experience

9:05 Laughter As Self-Care

12:05 Recommendation And Reflection

13:48 Recognizing Cruz And Policy Wins

17:48 Don’t Stop Believing

20:20 Persistence Through No’s And Silence

24:09 Goals, Outreach, And Serendipity

#Belief #Persistence #Motivation #SuccessMindset #PersonalGrowth #OvercomingObstacles #InspirationDaily #GoalSetting #UnlockYourPotential #MindsetMatters #DreamChasers #EmpowermentJourney #ResilienceBuilding #PositiveThinking #AchieveGreatness #justiceforsurvivors #justice4survivors #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #factoverfictionmatters #transparency #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether #VoicesForVoices333

Chapters

• 0:02 Gratitude And Milestones
• 2:50 Voice Of The Year For Tyrus
• 5:20 The Comedy Show Experience
• 9:05 Laughter As Self-Care
• 12:05 Recommendation And Reflection
• 13:48 Recognizing Cruz And Policy Wins
• 17:48 Don’t Stop Believing
• 20:20 Persistence Through No’s And Silence
• 24:09 Goals, Outreach, And Serendipity

Transcript

JustinAlanHayesVoicesforVoices: 0:02

Hey everyone, its Justin. Thank you so much for joining us today on this episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. We are grateful to have you with us, whether you're near or far, whether you're watching or listening, whether this is your first show or you've been with us from the beginning. Thank you so much. If you can do us a big favor, get us a thumbs up, like, follow, share, subscribe. All those things are free. And we would greatly appreciate that to help us reach our goal of helping three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond. And uh, so we are just uh we are we're knocking these episodes out. It's incredible. Uh over 330 episodes. Uh it is very humbling uh to to think that uh there's still interest in us, our organization, uh the values, what we're doing, uh, how we're continuing to move forward, we're branching out, and it's uh it's an incredible feat for us. And we uh none of it gets uh lost on us. Uh we are thankful for you. Uh and he just uh yeah uh sometimes it's hard to put into words what what's uh what what's happening and and the feelings. Uh but today I feel I feel good. I feel like we're in a good good place. We are uh making things happen. We have exciting shows to come uh that I uh can't and don't want to uh give a heads up on uh who those guests may be, who those individuals may be. Uh it's uh it's just uh it's a blessing, it really is. Uh it's it's not something that we take lightly when we say, we mean what we say, and uh that's where we're at. Uh so a couple nights ago I I had the uh the distinct honor and privilege to actually uh do a little bit of uh self-care uh and went to a comedy show. Uh you may have heard of Tyrus. He is uh he's just a phenomenal person. Uh he uh well we presented Tyrus in 2023 with our Voices for Voices Voice of the Year award. Uh so we flew to New York, uh, went to the Gutfeld Show, was able to meet up with with Tyrus uh in the green room before the show, and after the show, it was incredible because uh they gave me the microphone, and in front of the studio audience, I was able to uh on behalf of Voices for Voices present him with that 2023 award. And it was uh it was just so surreal then as it was a couple of nights ago uh when I was able to attend in person one of uh one of his shows, and I was again humbled to be there. Number one. Number two, I was humbled because I was able to meet with him after the show at uh Meet and Greet. And you may have seen some of the some of the social media posts I I put out. Uh so the picture uh the selfie that I took in 2023 when I was in New York presenting Tyrus with the award, uh had that picture printed out uh so he could sign it and I can put in a frame. And and so I was able to shake his hand, uh, you know, just have you know small banter back and forth. Um, got a got a couple pictures, and he was just a nice guy, nice person, nice human. The show was absolutely the best I think I've ever been to. Uh, I haven't been to a ton of comedy shows, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But my introvertedness self was laughing so hard. His set, well, let's just say most sets. So that just means the amount of time you know, a band or a performer is out there performing usually is you know, an hour, hour and a half. And Tyrus went two hours. It was so refreshing, it was funny, it was uh well needed for for me, uh, given uh given life, right? So it's hard to find those moments of things to where you can just sit back, relax, just listen, take it in, not feel like you have to, you know, record everything, tape everything. Yeah, I took a couple of photos, but that was it. I wanted to be like everybody else in attendance, uh, and then an attendee. Um, and and so I was part of all the attendees. Um, I wasn't on stage, it wasn't about me. It wasn't about me. And so I was able just to relax. And the show was just so funny, so real, so up to date, talked about current events in the world, talked about personal life, and a lot of things that uh you know, some of us would could relate to to a T. Uh, and it was just amazing. Uh, and so I said it before, I'll say it again. Um, I'm gonna thank Tyrus, his entire team, uh, for making this possible uh to be able to not only go to the show, was able to get front row seats. Can't remember the last time I ever had front row seats uh to anything, and and then to be able to uh do the meet and greet was uh was a lot of fun. And I could just feel there's just so much as humans, there's so much of the day-to-day that is so serious and so stern, and you know, we have to we have to really just uh you know, we we we can't laugh, we can't giggle, we can't do anything but be serious and plan for the next thing and the next thing and the next thing. And so I include laughing as self-care. Because when you laugh, you actually utilize more uh, if not all, of the muscles in our face than when we give like a frown face or you know, like a sad face. And so that that was just another another benefit that we were able to to get. So thanks to Tyrus, Tyrus Laz whole team, it was a blast. Uh and I wish I wish you uh Tyrus and the whole team nothing but success. Uh in any anything you do, everything you do. Uh it's uh just refreshing to have somebody in a uh in a high profile individual. To he's just the normal person, just a regular person. And so we're able to relate to so many of the stories that he he told. Uh and I and I again value you know being able to shake his hand, say hi, uh, get a couple of pictures, and uh so I wanted to wanted to share that because you've probably seen it plastered all over our voices for voices, uh social media pages, you know, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook. Uh yeah, the list goes on. And so I'd recommend that if you're in an area where Tyrus Live uh is uh is coming to, uh this is a full recommendation uh to if you're able to to attend. Uh I promise you you'll you'll be laughing so hard. Uh yeah, there's there's language in there, you know, but there to laugh, there to just again, just sit back and relax, and and it was just such a good time, such a refreshing event to be able to to go to, especially in these difficult times that we find our ourselves in. So yeah, I I just can't get over it. It was just so cool, and I I still can't believe you know was able to kind of come full circle presenting the award in 2023, being able to sit front row on a show, being able to meet and greet, and to get that photo of uh the selfie that we took in 2023 when we presented Towers with that uh 2023 Voice of the Year Award, which uh since then uh last year in 2024, Elliston Barry uh who led the charge on the Take It Down Act, which is now the Take It Down Law, federal law. And then this year, uh, because of the help and support uh to get the Take It Down Act from the state of Texas to a federal law that can hold big tech accountable, as well as the individuals or individual who partakes in this just sick activity. Um, and so we were we were again grateful and blessed to have been able to present Senator Ted Cruz with with that 2025 voice of the year award. And when we when we do these awards, when we when we uh present the awards, for me, it's a big thank you. It's not just the fact that we're presenting, you know, a crystal award or a glass award, depending on which uh which award it is, and that we have picked out. Uh so we get we get nice awards because we do actually practice what we preach. And and so yeah, we could get a plastic one, but we decided long time ago that we want to be want it to be something to be remembered by whatever individual individuals uh earned that earned that. So again, on that front, I'm gonna thank Senator Ted Cruz. Um Senator Ted Cruz's team. There's so many of them that helped make that day possible. And I want to thank Miss Uh Anna uh McAdams, Ellis and Berry's mom, and Mark McAdams, uh, for making the making the connections possible for uh this to this to happen. It's just a small town organization living in a lonely world. So just taking a couple of the the words from that journey song, don't stop believing, and that is also interesting because we do, we get down from time to time. I do. Oh my goodness, when I get down, it's it it's hard, it's hard, so you gotta just do one thing at a time and keep on moving, and so right before Tyrus came on a couple nights ago, that's the song that they played was Journey, don't stop believing. And I don't think it was by coincidence, I think it was indirectly talking, speaking to me and others, that we shouldn't lose sight of who we are, what we want to do, that it's never too old to stop believing that we can make a difference, uh, not just with ourselves, our families, friends, others in the world. And so I think that's a big takeaway from from this show, for this show, is don't stop believing you never know what can happen. You have an open, open mind, open conscience. Gonna be told no a lot. Gonna get ghosted. I think people aren't interested. I think people don't care that they passed over your message or my message. You know, it took close to nine months to make that Senator Ted Cruz award presentation and interview possible. And so at any point along that way, I could have given up and said, you know what? It's not worth it. I'm not even gonna try. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna follow up. I'm gonna get the same old answer, or the same old no answer, which is uh, which is nothing, uh, which is no response, which is being ghosted or being ignored. But I kept on fighting. I kept on kept on keeping on and because of God, his plan that that was that was part of it. I mean, so it happened and the same thing with being able to meet up with Tyrus after the show and uh yeah, I could have given up on that, I could have not reached out to his team. Um but I did. And I did, and it did happen. And so it wouldn't have mattered if I was in the uh the the last row of the auditorium or the front row where where I was because we could hear, you know, through the microphone and speakers and all that, we could hear all hear everything and see everything, but it was just so much more special to have that opportunity to be where we were, and so I want to challenge you. What is it that you want to do? What is it that is a goal of yours that you want to do, that you maybe you want to interview, maybe you want to ask them some questions, maybe you want to go to a concert, and maybe you you want to reach out on social media to the individuals, and maybe you just might have that opportunity to meet them. And if you want to have taken that chance or chances, never would have never would have known. Doesn't mean it's always gonna work out. There's so many things in my life that just haven't worked out the way I I I've wanted them to. But there's nothing I can do about that. I can either sit back and mope and be like, oh Justin, it's not worth it, or can say, you know what, I'm gonna use that ADHD, that ad uh, that anxiety, that extra energy boost that I have, and I'm gonna use that towards good. And so I'm gonna I'm gonna reach out and I'm gonna talk to some people, and then they're gonna talk to some people, and eventually we're all gonna come together at some point, maybe in a day, maybe in a minute, maybe a year or 10 years, but something's gonna happen that's just gonna cause you to pause, and that's what these moments do for me, is when you see somebody that is you know bigger than life, and you're like, wow, like they're taking time out of their day to talk to me and talk to us at voices for voices, or they're gonna accept the war the award in person. And so, can you come to New York? Can you come to Washington, DC? It's really something. Our mind is a powerful place, and I'm just gonna close this episode out with, and actually I'm gonna pull it up on my phone because I don't wanna I don't wanna miss uh miss what it what how it reads entirely. So growing up, my parents are awesome. I I know my mom thinks that they her and my dad didn't do a good enough job because of my mental health and everything. They did it amazing. It's because of situations that I I went through that I experienced that make me who I am today. And so no, it I don't I don't blame anybody. I mean we can have thoughts and say, oh wow, you know, looking back, you know, I would have did this or I would have done that. But I'm here, I'm alive, 43 years old. And so I'm gonna read this. This uh I'm not sure who the author is, so this is we'll leave it author unknown, and it's a um probably I probably won't be able to see because the way I have the background set up. But to think about this, because I've had to think about this, and this is why when I wanted to take a picture when I saw it when I went and visited my mom and dad's house. The title is Believe in Yourself and Remember that anything is possible. So let that sink in. Believe in yourself and remember that anything is possible. Believe in what makes you feel good, voices for voices, believe in what makes you happy, Voices for Voices, believe in the dreams that help three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond, and in believing in the dreams, believe in those dreams you've always wanted to come true. And lastly, and give them every chance to. So I'm gonna recite this with one last time. Believe in yourself and remember that anything is possible, believe in what makes you feel good, believe in what makes you happy, believe in the dreams you've always wanted to come true, and give them every chance to. So closing it out with that journey song, don't stop believing. Until next time, I'm your host, Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices. Please be a voice for you or somebody in need. We'll see you next time, everybody. God bless you. God bless the United States of America, and God bless the entire world and in heaven.