45: Fishing The Good Fight with Jennings Hester
“Mental health is not a destination, it’s a journey. You know, it’s continuous work.”
Welcome everyone to the It Matters To Me Podcast, a show seeks out the passions in all of our lives and the motivations behind why we pursue them.
Today, my guest is Jennings Hester, founder of Fishing The Good Fight, a non-profit that helps Colorado men overcome depression, anxiety, and substance abuse through the simple act of fly-fishing.
After a promising athletic career on the University of Alabama’s football team was cut short, Jennings went through an all too familiar period of his life where he suddenly was forced to question who he was, or at least, who he thought he was.
And like most men his age, he thought he needed to keep that uncertainty and struggle to himself because of the stigmas around masculinity and mental health.
But after realizing just how damaging the effects were having on himself and those around him, he decided to seek help and part of that came after realizing just how positive of an impact being outdoors could have on him.
Out of that realization and coupled with a serendipitous birthday gift, Fishing The Good Fight was born.
When I met Jennings just a week or so ago, I could tell from the outset just how authentic he is and how sincerely personal the mission of Fishing The Good Fight is to him.
And as I become more and more comfortable talking about my own struggles with depression and loneliness, this conversation couldn’t have meant more to me personally.
What he and the rest of his board are doing is simply astounding and I can’t encourage you enough to check out their cause and help support their work.
Additional Links
Fishing The Good Fight (website):
https://www.fishingthegoodfight.org/
Charlie’s FlyBox:
https://charliesflybox.com/
It Matters To Me (Instagram):
https://www.instagram.com/adamcasey/
It Matters To Me (Website):
https://itmatterstomepodcast.com/
Revital Colorado:
https://www.revitalcolorado.org/
Man Uncivilized:
https://www.manuncivilized.com/
The Mask You Live In (Documentary):
https://therepproject.org/films/the-mask-you-live-in/
