Journey of Resilience: Matthew Headden's Path from Combat to Coaching, Addiction Recovery, and Spiritual Wellness

Definitely one of THE most powerful and vulnerable episodes to date! Be prepared as the conversation goes deep into the emotional story, the transformation and the triumph of the human spirit as Matthew Headden shares his many struggles which ultimately and miraculously led to triumph and his story of hope, surrender and a moment that literally saved his life! As a health and fitness coach, US Army combat veteran, and former addict, Matthew doesn't just scratch the surface; he reaches down deep  and boldly shares the truth of his journey from the battlefields of Iraq to a personal war with addiction, and ultimately, to his hard-won sobriety. Experience the profound impact of his story as he so openly extends a hand to anyone who may be struggling with their own inner demons and he offers not just words of advice and encouragement, but a roadmap to resilience.

The interconnectedness of spirituality and physical vitality take center stage as Matthew and Shelly discuss how the Christian faith interlaces with overall wellness and the call to honor one's body. The often-misunderstood relationship between nutrition, psychological well-being, and spiritual nourishment is shared as they bring clarity to the confusion surrounding failed diets and self-help fads. We dive deep into the psyche, revealing how self-love empowers us to extend love to others, how personal transformation breathes new life into professional endeavors, and how releasing  self-criticism leads to a higher level of self-worth and ultimately a life full of joy.

This episode is more than just a collection of inspiring anecdotes; it's a call for action in each person's pursuit of wellness. Ultimately, it is a heartfelt reminder of the absolute power that we all hold to enact change in our lives. For those who may be struggling and can resonate with Matthew's story, as you listen, you will immediately know that he has a heart to serve and genuinely offers to help anyone, especially those who might feel alone or maybe encountering the same struggles that he once did and was able to overcome. Listen in for an emotional journey filled with many profound insights that will surely inspire you to take the essential steps needed to commit to your well-being, not just today, but every day. Matthew is an absolute blessing to the world and his alignment with the mission of Words of Wellness cannot be emphasized enough; and that mission is to spread health, happiness, and blessings to everyone who comes in his path!

CONNECT WITH MATTHEW:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MatthewHeadden
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MatthewHeadden
Website: http://matthewheaddencoaching.com

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShellyNeumannJefferis

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Thank you for listening to the Words of Wellness podcast with Shelly Jefferis. I am honored and so grateful to have you here and it would mean the world to me if you could take a minute to follow, leave a 5-star review and share the podcast with anyone you love and anyone you feel could benefit from the message.

Thank you and God Bless!
And remember to do something for yourself, for your wellness on this day!

In Health,
Shelly Jefferis

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

And you are not alone. So many people feel that way. I felt that way for most of my life and you're not, I promise, and if you feel that way and you shoot me a message, I'll message you back. I promise.

Speaker 2: 0:15

Do you get confused by all of the information that bombard us every day on ways to improve our overall health and our overall wellness? Do you often feel stuck, unmotivated or struggle to reach your wellness goals? Do you have questions as to what exercises you should be doing, what foods you should or should not be eating, how to improve your overall emotional and mental well-being? Hello everyone, I am so excited to welcome you to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly Jeffries and I will be your host. My goal is to answer these questions and so much more to share tips, education and inspiration around all of the components of wellness through solo and guest episodes.

Speaker 2: 0:56

With 35 plus years as a health and wellness professional, a retired college professor, a speaker and a multi-passionate entrepreneur, I certainly have lots to share. However, my biggest goal and inspiration in doing this podcast is to share the wellness stories of others with you, to bring in guests who can share their journeys so that we can all learn together while making an impact on the health, the wellness and lives of all of you, our listeners. The ultimate hope is that you leave today with even just one nugget that can enhance the quality of your life, and that you will. We all will, now and into the future, live our best quality of lives, full of energy, happiness and joy. Now let's dive into our message for today.

Speaker 2: 1:45

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly and I will be your host today, and I am very excited to bring you my guest and special friend today. He is a health and fitness coach, a US Army combat veteran and a recovered addict, and just a person who has a huge, huge heart for service and helping others, and I had the pleasure of meeting this man a couple years ago and immediately felt like he was a special friend and felt like we'd been friends for years. So, matthew Hedden, thank you for being here today.

Speaker 1: 2:26

Well, that's a heck of an intro, and thank you for having me. Seriously, it's very humbling anytime anybody wants to hear me run my mouth a little bit.

Speaker 2: 2:35

Well, you always have amazing words of inspiration and advice, so I would love for you I guess I know we have a lot to cover and we probably won't get to all of it today but sharing a little bit of your wellness journey, because you have quite the journey and I know that there are many people who can probably relate to your story and what you have experienced through the years to bring you where you are today and what you have experienced through the years to bring you where you are today.

Speaker 1: 3:07

Yeah, it's a very, very long journey, so I will try to snapshot it, to compile everything into a tight little ball. I have struggled with a lot of things for a lot of my life. I am very blessed. I was blessed with at least average intelligence and just an amazing family. But with that set of, pretty much for most of growing up, struggled with fitting in. I never really fit in anywhere. I was like am I the nerd? Am I the jock? What am I? And I didn't really fit in either. One of them Struggle with my weight and self-worth for most of my life.

Speaker 1: 3:47

Um, because of a lot of those things, um, and then you know, enlisted in the military after a year of college, um, and that was for the initial invasion of iraq and you know, consecutive a couple tours there and know, with the loss of a lot of friends, some personal injuries, a lot of friends, you know, ending their own lives, things of that nature. I will not go into all that for the purposes of time constraints, but I am an open book there. If anyone is struggling that reinforced a lot of my, I don't matter. And then if we add into. You know just the things that I did, that I was a monster, basically. And so you combine not really fitting in, combine struggling with weight, which is going to be self-worth, and then feeling like you're only a number, and then combine that with personal actions, things you've seen I ended up becoming an absolute wreck.

Speaker 1: 4:48

I was an alcoholic drug addict. I mean, from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed was alcohol. I was still fairly successful in business. Some people call it a functioning alcoholic, I call it a um, pathological liar and um, or professional hypocrite, whichever one you'd like. And with that said, um it was. It was pretty bad and it got to the point you know I was using a lot of drugs, a lot of alcohol and, to be fair, women to fill a lot of holes in my life. And it culminated several different times with being inpatient for suicide at the VA with a gun in my mouth and pulling the trigger and the gun not going off. That actually was not enough.

Speaker 1: 5:48

I mean I had multiple DUI pulls a lot of just really scary stuff where I would just go missing and nobody could find me. It was pretty ugly. It was really bad Passing out at work, passing out on the floor in the bathroom where the CFO of my company had to unlock the door and pull me out. It was very, very ugly and June 9th of this year will be two years clean and sober.

Speaker 2: 6:21

Wow, wow, congratulations to you. Wow, wow, congratulations to you. Thank you truly. How long I mean? First of all, you know you're here by the grace of god. So blessing that you are here. How many years did you function, or not really function, but function like that that you're describing?

Speaker 1: 6:41

20, 20 years? No way. So basically my entire adult life, um, my last year of alcohol and drugs, uh, my accountant told me I spent right around eighty four thousand nine hundred dollars on alcohol and cocaine. Um, and that's a lot of money. Anywhere but in Columbia, South Carolina, where it is not expensive, that's, that's a lot of money, a lot of money. And honestly, though, you know I'll follow that up with you know the whole time. Most of that time I was in the health and fitness space, which is what allows me now to have so much empathy for people and understanding. And you know a word that Jake, our mutual friend, Jake Havron, uses all the time. I understand incongruence as well as anyone on this planet.

Speaker 2: 7:38

Right, we're sure you do, absolutely. I'm curious, matthew, going back to when you joined the army. Was that, at that point in time, out of just a feeling lost, or was that? Was there more to that when you decided to join the army?

Speaker 1: 7:58

It was a feeling of lost and it was also a sense of duty. I mean, let's be real, like I mean, I'm a brother, you're raised, you love America, you love Jesus, you love all those things.

Speaker 2: 8:09

Yes.

Speaker 1: 8:10

So it's just, it's part of my culture. But then, you know, I had a full ride to college for academics. Everybody's like what sport I'm like. Yeah, right man. So I actually was fairly intelligent at one point, and it was actually 10 days before. 9-11 is when I enlisted.

Speaker 2: 8:31

Wow. So, good timing. Yeah, and you were again. How many years in the Army? Six, Okay.

Speaker 1: 8:39

Yeah, six, yep.

Speaker 2: 8:41

Wow. And then when you talk about losing friends and loss, a lot of that had to do with your friends from the army, I'm assuming.

Speaker 1: 8:51

Yeah, I lost as many outside though um to suicide as I did, probably, in combat. Um, if not, pretty dad come close. And and then you know, know, during my alcohol drug party years, um, if that's what we want to call that right um, I lost many to ODs as well so can you give the listeners an idea of what what happened?

Speaker 2: 9:19

or I'm sure you know vividly what was the moment that you made, or started to make the switch? I kind of know, but experiencing that lifestyle, that kind of a life, for 20 years is a long time. So what was that defining moment for you?

Speaker 1: 9:41

There were so many, and like so many of us, that say you know, this is the last time, this is the last time, I'm never doing that again. And then we do it again and again, and I don't care what it is Right For me it was alcohol, for me it was drugs, for me it was, you know, any of those things. For so many other people it could be porn or infidelity, or, you know, losing weight, it could be any of those things right. So for so many people it's something different. But I do want to say this very clearly like, those things were symptoms, and I kept trying to treat a symptom, and we have to treat sources, and so there were so many, and it was a culmination of a couple weeks. Finally, I mean, even the gun not going off in my mouth was not enough. Um, I am incredibly stubborn. And so what it was? Um, several things transpired that were pretty ugly and I said, okay, this is the last time.

Speaker 1: 10:38

And I was up in a town called matthews, north carolina, and I was meeting a friend, somebody I was seeing at the time, and she met me and it was just a beautiful day and so I'm having a glass of Chardonnay. Yeah, I didn't see that one come in, did you? And she's like I thought you were drinking. I was like, yeah, but it's a pretty day, like it's. This day goes with booze, right like cue, craving, response, reward. That's behavioral psychology, like one-on-one. And so I had about eight and she's like hey, it's time to go home. And I was like no, there's a band coming. She's like yeah, in three hours. And finally she managed to convince me to go and sitting on the couch and I said if we just stayed, I'd have shut that bar down, wouldn't I? And she said yeah. And I was like I'd have missed my clients in the morning, wouldn't I? And she said yeah.

Speaker 1: 11:31

So I went to bed and I got up and took off I don't know, 3.30 in the morning, four o'clock in the morning to drive back and I just started crying and I don't care how many times I tell this story. And, um, I don't care how many times I tell this story, I tear up and uh, I was listening to the offering by third day and was just weeping and I just started praying and I said, god, you know, I know I've needed to quit. I've known for so long, but if you could give me a sign. That would be really rad, verbatim what I said. That would be really rad, right.

Speaker 1: 12:05

And then I went back and I was just weeping because I knew, but, like so many of us, we know, we know we just don't right and that there's layers there with it we don't have time for. But with that, you're worth it, right? I do want to add this, like so many people well, you're worth it. Well, I didn't think I was worth it. Why should I right, if I I didn't fit in? I, I thought I was a monster, I thought I was just a number like. What evidence did I have that I was worth changing? Well, there was a lot of evidence to the contrary, but it's what I was focusing on, right? Um. So anybody out there, I do want to say that right, like, like, as we segue, if you feel like you're not worth changing, you struggle with that. You are, and I'll get to why.

Speaker 1: 12:52

But so, anyway, I prayed for this sign. Nine o'clock, my nine o'clock client doesn't show up and my phone rings and it's my attorney and I have a court date. This is a Thursday. I have a court date Monday for a DUI from three years prior and he goes through the whole spiel and he's very old school, southern, you know Well, matthew. Anyway, the point is, the whole case is dismissed Four hours after I prayed for a sign. Dismissed Four hours after I prayed for a sign and I hit my knees right there and I looked up and I'm weeping in an alleyway outside of my gym and I said never again. Never again, I'm yours, I surrender, never again.

Speaker 1: 13:46

And of course my client walks up and I'm sobbing and he's like what's wrong with you? I was like I don't want to drink, he goes OK. And I was like, not really, I don't drink. He goes for how long? A day, Two days, and I haven't ever again. No meetings, no AA, no nothing. And people say all the time how are you strong enough? I wasn't. That's the point. God was, God was I was trying to fill God-sized holes with earthly things. And that's what surrender looks like, right, there's freedom in it. And so people often ask me why I'm so on fire for God. He saved my life over and, over and over again.

Speaker 2: 14:37

On everything you experienced and that he did he absolutely did and all of those experiences that you've shared, where you shouldn't actually be here right now, right. So I you just catch a breath for a minute, but that's just um, what a story and what you know lives. You're touching and impacting, by sharing it, so many people. So you kind of the timeline because, like you say, you've been in health and fitness and that's sort of how we connected, I think. But you got involved in that profession once you got out of the army. Was that how that happened?

Speaker 1: 15:25

Yeah, it was that balance job to job and then this one found me. I bounced job to job and then this one found me Again. A whole nother story that would take up the whole time, but yeah, it was about. It was a couple of years after I got out of the army, probably about two and a half years after I got out of the army. So I've been in this industry now since 2009.

Speaker 2: 15:46

Okay, well, it sounds like another gift that you received. Right, the industry found you.

Speaker 1: 15:53

It actually did. It actually did. This was never in my plans.

Speaker 2: 15:56

Wow, that's amazing. So share with us a little bit about what you do now. I know you're coaching and you're working with others and just with all of the gifts you have to offer. I know you're very busy, so what exactly are you doing nowadays?

Speaker 1: 16:15

I'm never too busy to help, and I'm never too busy to serve, right. So, again, I appreciate you having me here. So I am a glorified personal trainer, right, like I am a health coach. Yes, I do the nutrition, right, we do nutrition, we. We do the workout programs. A big component that a lot of people miss is, though, we work through the daily habits, right, we work through the deeper things. Um, and it's so, many people try diet after diet after diet after diet, and if you have tried diet after diet after diet and it hasn't worked.

Speaker 1: 16:49

Then there's something deeper and my calling is to help Christians. I will help anyone, but my calling is to help the body of Christ with their body, because most Christians don't understand that it is a biblical commandment to care for it. We do understand, you know First Corinthians. Everybody can quote it. Your body is the temple for the Holy Spirit. But if you keep reading it gets pretty heavy and it says for don't you know that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, of the Lord? Anyone who destroys his temple, I will destroy you. And that's pretty harsh. Now, I'm not very big on being harsh, right, tough love sometimes. But we do have a biblical commandment to care for this and we don't understand.

Speaker 1: 17:34

So it is a pleasure to be able to help Christians really honor and edify God through all of our actions. Because let's focus on the good verses, right, like worship the Lord in all you do. Right, with your heart, mind, body, soul, all of it. Right? So when we are eating non-nourishing foods, let's be real. Right, we don't think. Clearly, we don't move properly. So how can you hear him clearly? Right, so when we're not exercising, we're not moving, we break before our time.

Speaker 1: 18:06

So we can't fulfill our calling, because we are put here to serve and to love right even if we look at the biblical commandment of love your neighbor as yourself, you have to inherently love yourself first. And to me, what does that look like? Honoring god, our creator, because he created and he is love and moving well right, eating well, no guilt, no shame, right.

Speaker 2: 18:37

I love your reels that you put out about that, because I'm a big proponent of that too.

Speaker 2: 18:42

And just sharing the fact that you know your life is meant to be enjoyed within reason, right, not to beat yourself up over the things that you might do. You know we've had that happen a few different times, but I'll never forget I had one friend this was years ago and she had started on her nutrition journey and it was a Monday and I went in and I checked on her and we were working at a school together at the time and she was beating herself up because she went wine tasting over the weekend with her friends and I said, did you have fun? And she says yeah. I said then let it go. You know you had a fun weekend with your friends. Stop beating yourself up. And so it's so interesting to see. It seems like it's such a challenge to find that balance in that middle ground, but I love what you've been sharing, cause it just you keep emphasizing the fact like it's okay, like let some of that stuff go, you know we have to, and I don't care what the question is.

Speaker 1: 19:37

The answer is love, right, and yes, I do have a formal education, nutrition, studied psychology and nutrition. Right, but when you combine those with the biblical principles, they're very, very powerful. Right, because the body, the Bible, does, tell us to find joy in your food and drink. However, if there's guilt or shame, that's no longer joy. Right, if you eat until you feel sick or you don't feel well, that's no longer joy, it's gluttony.

Speaker 2: 20:07

Right.

Speaker 1: 20:08

So it's what is the answer right? And love is the answer right. So many people, so many women, especially that I work with they, body shame themselves so many. Yeah, and it's you. Have the Holy spirit inside of you. You don't get to talk crap to him, not if you're a Christian. And even non-believers like nobody ever shamed themselves into a positive action long-term ever. So that's a lot of what I do. Do I take a scientific approach from habits and goal setting and things of that nature? Yes, do I. Does it also tie in perfectly with the Bible? Yes, it does. Yes, it does.

Speaker 2: 20:53

So you've been doing this now since well, you've been doing it actually before you became sober, right? So are you? Did you find your clientele switched a little bit, or a lot of it maybe, once you, you changed your habit?

Speaker 1: 21:09

Yeah, it's actually funny because at first my income went down. I was doing very well, but my income went down. But I think, truly, it's just because God needed me to focus, needed me to learn, needed me to go back to school, needed me to stop edifying how much money and idolizing how much money I was making, because I was doing very well.

Speaker 2: 21:29

And what were you?

Speaker 1: 21:30

doing at the time Were you still coaching?

Speaker 2: 21:30

You you doing at the time? Were you still coaching you had clients at the time? I was, yeah, I mean, I was doing very, very well.

Speaker 1: 21:35

I think it was like four times the state average for income for a trainer. But he needed me to prepare me for some things, you know. But now I'm really finding fulfillment in helping people. I've really I've fought for a long time, like so many of us, god's will. I thought people were going to judge me. I was like, oh man, I'm like accepted by some of the best coaches in the country right now and now I'm going to like be that Jesus freak dude when it's like you know, this is who I am and it's so fulfilling to be able to help others. But yeah, the clientele has shifted drastically. But I would rather have 20 people that I am in alignment with than a hundred people that I'm not.

Speaker 2: 22:24

A hundred percent, yeah, yeah, and you probably going back also to I wanted to kind of like circle back when you're talking about when you get into those, those habits and and you see it a lot in our industry where we're not like finding the the issue at hand why people are, like you know, overeating or overweight, or like you're talking about drinking, or there's always something it's the symptom of something else. And I'm guessing, I would guess, that you in this position now have even more of an effective way to kind of do that, to get to those underlying reasons why someone is not taking care of their health or not exercising. You exercising, you're not eating well.

Speaker 1: 23:10

Yeah, I do, and I created a little course for my clients and I can send it to you for creating rocks out of the foundation, like some of the things I'll tell people. Number one is you have to find your why and that's so cliche, but it's so true Like I want to be healthy. What does that mean? And if anybody listening like ask why, like you're an overgrown five-year-old, right? Like I want to be healthy? Why, well, I want to be healthy for my kids. Why, well, because I want to see them grow up. Why, well, because they matter to me. Why Because I love them with all my heart. Okay, why does it matter to you to watch them grow up? Well, my parents actually got sick and couldn't play with me. Now we're getting there. Now we're getting there, right? So those deep intrinsic whys keep us going when motivation fleets.

Speaker 1: 23:56

And then the other missing component often is identity, and I really don't hear people talk about this one, but so often I hear people identify as being fat, right, like, well, then all your actions are going to align with being fat. Like I have abs. That doesn't make me abs. You have fat. That doesn't make you fat, it's something you have. So then, shifting that identity and then aligning your actions with that. And one tool I use is write down five people you admire, then write down the traits about them that you admire, combine those into the list of the person that you want to become and then align your actions with that identity. For instance, like my identity is a beloved child of God who is a strong, happy, healthy Christian man who leaves everybody he meets better than he found them. If something doesn't line up with that, I just simply don't do it.

Speaker 2: 24:53

I think that I want to stop for a minute because that is so important to reinforce, because you see that, you know, I read that and you come across that sometimes where it's like if it's not a you know 100% yes, then it's a no, right, exactly what you're saying. Whatever is in alignment or not in alignment with what your values are and your beliefs are, it's huge with what your values are and your beliefs are.

Speaker 1: 25:19

it's huge, it really is. Those tools are very helpful and so often, like the the. The thing is it's like, at the end of the day, let's, let's speak to ladies here, right, I understand why so many of my female clients go to food at the end of the day, it's comfort. Women are more naturally caregivers than us, right, right, and so your whole day was taking care of your kids, working, taking care of your husband, taking care of everybody, but you. So, at the end of the day, when you have a moment, that bowl of ice cream is so comforting and what a gift to yourself. But but, if there's guilt or shame accompanied with it, that's not a very good gift, it's like.

Speaker 1: 25:59

So what can you do to actually nurture yourself? So we have to dig there, right, like, why are we going to these foods? Well, when I was a kid, you know I had a very hard time and my parents would reward me with the food. So it's your coping mechanism that takes you back to your childhood that you've had since then. What if you, instead of going to the food, then called a relative that you love to get that same connection Right. So, and there is from the spiritual component. Anytime we use things for comfort other than Christ, we're robbing him of his job. So we are creating a space between us and him.

Speaker 2: 26:39

It also, don't you feel like it's been a direction that we've been going kind of, in society too, is just to be so, so busy and so disconnected a lot of times, and that, I think, leads to a lot of what you're referring to.

Speaker 1: 26:55

I think that, and in our society, nothing's our fault. So it's well, let's go blame big food. No, you bought it. No, you bought it. I understand it, but you bought it. The hyper palatable foods are very, very, very hard to resist. But foresight is one of the fruits of the spirit. So if you know you can't resist it, don't buy it. And if you can't go to the store without impulse buying, order your groceries online right Like. Use these tools. These are a lot of the things that I do with my clients to find out people go. How do you coach? It depends on what you need.

Speaker 2: 27:28

Right.

Speaker 1: 27:29

So there are things we can do, and the problem, one of the big problems, is well, that's not my fault. Well, maybe not, but it is your now, your responsibility to him.

Speaker 2: 27:41

Yeah, and that's that's where the tough part comes in. But it's necessary, right? You've maybe heard this as well, but I've come across a couple moms through the years who, years later after they've had their babies, are still this pregnancy way I can't get out. You know, it's like years and years later after they've had their babies, are still this pregnancy weight. I can't get up. You know, it's like years and years later and I'm thinking, Hmm, I don't think, like when you're talking about blaming, I often that's just what triggered my thought to a couple of people that I know that have done that through the years, and I think I think there's something more here than just that, you know.

Speaker 1: 28:17

There often is, and then you know there often is, and then you know, with moms, with the identity piece, so often, like the moms that I work with, they'll say something like oh, it's mom time, what's your name, what's your name Like? Your identity should not be a role you play. In my opinion, it should not be your job, it should not be mom. Because what happens, ladies, when your child graduates and leaves? Now who are you, and do you want to teach your children that their entire life should revolve around someone else and be a servant? Yeah, I don't think so. I've never seen that work very well.

Speaker 2: 28:54

Right. Right, and that's so interesting because that's part of the program that I have for moms, for their overall wellness is is helping them along those lines of putting their self care and putting their health as a priority and targeting all the different aspects of wellness right. So the mindset obviously is huge and being able to help them see that they're worthy but also help them fit those different components into their day-to-day lives so they can feel better, so they can have that life of energy and vitality. And you're right, I hear so many of them say they're the last ones to fill up their cup. Right, but we need to fill up our cups before we can fill up others, right? It's kind of similar to as you're talking, I'm thinking of athletes and you understand this, when your whole life, I mean I think about this with my boys. I mean we've done other things as a family. Big part of our life is baseball and our older son had his last and final college game we're coming up on a year now, a year ago and thankfully he has done well.

Speaker 2: 29:54

But you hear so many stories. That's, that was their identity and it makes so much sense. It's not faulting them, but when that's all that they've done or that's been such a huge part of their lives and you know it's. It's not that it's bad, because for many people, when they're very talented, that's a big part of their lives and it's an amazing thing.

Speaker 2: 30:15

But, like when you're saying, when that, when you're so associated with one, one thing or one identity, it can really obviously, like you're saying, it can really take over and I don't know, I feel like I could just sit and and talk with you all day. Matthew, you're so calming and I've always admired this about you how you express yourself and express things. It's very clear, it's very comforting and I know that you are helping so many and truly. That's really like you're saying. You know that's our mission to help and to serve, whatever that looks like. And, um, I just want to commend you for what you're doing and I so appreciate you being a friend and joining me here today. I really, really do. I feel like we could have definitely some other episodes that we could dive in, you know, even deeper into some of these topics, but I thank you and I appreciate you so much.

Speaker 1: 31:15

I thank you too, and that's again, it's very, very humbling, you and I appreciate you so much. Thank you too, and that's again, it's very, very humbling, and it really is just an honor to call you a friend, and I just I pray that this resonates with at least one person, and then it's all worth it.

Speaker 2: 31:29

A hundred percent. Where can people find you, matthew, I'm going to add all of your contact info in the show notes, but where's the best way for people to reach out to you?

Speaker 1: 31:40

So one of the premises of my coaching is how would this look if it was simple with a world of noise? It's how would this look if it was simple? So on Instagram, it's Matthew Hedden. On Facebook, it's Matthew Hedden. On my website, it's Matthew Hedden coaching. So I'm very Matthew Hedden coaching on YouTube. There's a lot of resources there. So anybody that hears this, if you message me, I will respond, unless you're trying to pick a fight, in which case I'm just going to kindly block you. I've done that multiple times recently. But if you reach out and you have a question or you need something, I'm here. Book a call, we can DM back and forth. I'm here. Book a call, we can DM back and forth. I'm here.

Speaker 2: 32:18

You're the best, any last words of advice, inspiration you want to leave with our listeners today.

Speaker 1: 32:27

I'm going to go counterculture. I'm going to say you're enough because you have the Holy Spirit inside you. But whether somebody believes the same thing I do or not, you are worth it. You are worth being the best version of yourself and you are not alone. So many people feel that way. I felt that way for most of my life and you're not promised. And if you feel that way and you shoot me a message, I'll message you back. I promise.

Speaker 2: 32:54

So wonderful. Well, anybody can relate. You can and you are there. I know that you're there for people, so I appreciate you so much and thank you for taking the time today and thank you for being there for people. You're you're such a true blessing, matthew, and thank you, thank you for being here today and thank you for all of my listeners today. All the listeners out there.

Speaker 2: 33:16

Please reach out to Matthew. You heard him. He will absolutely respond to any messages that you sent him and if you are struggling in any way, shape or form and you relate to what he has shared today or his story, please reach out to him. As you can hear, he's such a kind, good, huge hearted person. So please reach out to Matthew and, as always, do something for yourself and your wellness on this day and have a beautiful, blessed rest of your week. Everyone. See you next time.

Speaker 2: 33:56

Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. I hope you gained value and enjoyed our time together as much as I did, and if you know someone who could benefit from today's episode, I would love and appreciate it if you could share with a friend or rate and review words of wellness so that more can hear this message. I love and appreciate you all. Thank you for listening and if you have any questions or topics you would like me to share in future episodes, please don't hesitate to reach out to me through my contact information that is shared in the show notes below. Again, thank you for tuning in to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly Jeffries and I encourage you to do something for you, for your wellness, on this day. Until next time, I hope you all have a healthy, happy and blessed week. Thank you you.