Latest / Voices for Voices® / The Healing Journey: From Self-Doubt to Global Impact | Ep 287
Transcript
- 0:02Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast.
- 0:08Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I'm your host.
- 0:10Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Founder of Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes.
- 0:13Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Thank you so much for tuning in, whether you're watching, listening, whether you're here in the United States or anywhere else across the world.
- 0:24Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Here in the United States or anywhere else across the world, we thank you for spending, no matter how small or how large amount of time you spend with us.
- 0:35Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We greatly appreciate that and we are overall.
- 0:39Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: From a show perspective.
- 0:42Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We surpassed 285 total episodes, including in-studio episodes and out-of-studio episodes.
- 0:53Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We had a goal of 300 total episodes by the end of 2025.
- 0:59Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: And we have just exploded in a good way.
- 1:06Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: The last month and a half two months probably is a good thought process of when that really kicked into high gear.
- 1:16Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I can't tell you what caused that, but that's where we're at, and I think, anytime that any of us are an advocate or we're passionate about something or some things we want to share, we want to talk about it, we want to help others and somewhere in all that is Voices for Voices, and while we are a 501c3 charity, we operate just like a business does and it goes back to each and every one of you.
- 2:06Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: This is your first episode.
- 2:08Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Welcome if you've been with us for the whole ride.
- 2:12Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Thank you so much for being such a great supporter, follower, voices for voices.
- 2:20Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Gonna ask you for one thing if you can give us a thumbs up, a like, share, follow, comment on your favorite platform that you can consume podcasts, that would be very helpful.
- 2:38Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Again, it's free to do.
- 2:40Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We do it all the time.
- 2:42Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I think, subconsciously, we do it more than what we think.
- 2:45Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We do it all the time, uh, I think subconsciously, we do it, uh, more than we, what we think we do, uh, and so we would.
- 2:50Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We would just appreciate that if, uh, if you're able to to do that and share and all that fun stuff.
- 2:58Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Uh, we, we'd like to think that we are a again, we're a voice for ourselves and or a voice for others, and what we're going to talk about in this episode is being a voice for others for one reason or another, for one event or another, or one event or another.
- 3:30Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Each of us, at different times, probably have felt alone, secluded, people don't get you, don't get me.
- 3:44Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: They don't get you, don't get me.
- 3:46Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: They don't understand, they don't want to take time to understand or to really find out and learn what's going on, and then we might that we might need, we might need help and and that's really where this episode Takes a good foothold, because I can speak from experience I don't know, growing up Is the default, but for me, growing up very supportive family, very supportive parents and extended family, and trying to find myself like, oh, there's Justin, justin's in the mirror, but in all seriousness, I got to thinking what am I here on earth for?
- 4:59Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Why are the things that I love so much to do, like playing baseball and basketball, and why are these opportunities just dissipating, just gone with the wind?
- 5:23Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: And so it put me in a very dark place, put me in a place again questioning you know, what's this life for?
- 5:41Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: You know, if we've done something good, when we feel good, when we do it, and then that stops, for whatever reason.
- 5:55Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It just stops.
- 5:56Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We tend to do I don't want to use huge words or big words, but we do introspection, which basically is we look inside ourselves, our mind, our bodies, and we start thinking, well, do I really love doing this thing or things?
- 6:23Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Don't I and we can love doing this thing or things?
- 6:27Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Don't I and we can love doing something?
- 6:29Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We could love playing a sport or whatever your thing is, but that doesn't mean that everybody else feels that same way if that makes sense about us.
- 6:47Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: And so maybe a year or even a week ago, it feels like everybody was on our side Excuse me.
- 6:57Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: And then all of a sudden, that's all just like that floor mat or that carpet just taken right out under our feet without any prior warning that that's going to happen, any prior warning that that's going to happen.
- 7:27Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Or if you have a table set with plates and utensils and cups and all that and I'm like, wow, that looks great, take some pictures.
- 7:41Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: And then somebody comes out of nowhere and just pulls that tablecloth right off, plates go crashing, cups go crashing, breaking, and it's intense.
- 8:03Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: And those are, I guess, some of the analogies I would use and I'm using for me when I felt and there's still days where I feel this way, but much less than when I'm referring to here and again this is no fault of anybody.
- 8:27Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: What I'm referring to here and again, this is no fault of anybody in my family or anything.
- 8:34Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It's just something that I was going through, and I think a lot of us.
- 8:40Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We go through things and, especially early on, we don't know what to do when we're faced with a dilemma or faced with a.
- 8:53Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We're faced with a different thing happening to the thing we love or the thing we love doing, and so change is not something that I was very adaptive of.
- 9:15Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Now, let's say, now I'm, like you know, 40s, I'm a little bit better at change.
- 9:26Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Change doesn't make things easier.
- 9:30Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Being able to process and channel that energy which would be up front, is an energy that is very I don't say mean-spirited, but you know we're not happy and so we're like you know again, what the heck, what am I doing here?
- 10:01Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: What do I have to offer the heck?
- 10:04Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: What am I doing here?
- 10:04Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: What do I have to offer the world?
- 10:10Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: And so it's sometimes we're having to be reactive to a situation and others.
- 10:20Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We can be proactive and I know this sounds a little bit.
- 10:28Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It's intense, right?
- 10:32Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: You know we're talking about times in our lives where things aren't perfect, and we shouldn't think that we need to be perfect, because we can't be perfect.
- 10:46Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We're imperfect, we're human beings.
- 10:53Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Nonetheless, I could raise my hand.
- 10:57Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I was like I judge with the best of, not only judging others but judging myself.
- 11:06Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I was like I judge with the best of them, not only judging others, but judging myself.
- 11:10Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Oh my gosh, did I say the right thing?
- 11:12Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Did I wear the right outfit?
- 11:14Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Did I show up at the right time at the right place?
- 11:19Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: And on and on, and on and on, we go on, we go, and, as I sit here in my 40s, starting to process this and those instances, those experiences, doesn't make it any easier.
- 11:46Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: What it does, though, is I've had to learn, we have to learn the hard way.
- 11:57Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Sometimes, I'm most like well, there's not really a good option here, and so we're back in that dark place of well, I don't see a good option here, and I'm here to say that.
- 12:24Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: You know, getting close to halfway through this episode, it may take some time, it may take a long time, may take a short time, but there's going to be a period of time that's going to go on and go by, and then we start thinking about whoa, whoa, whoa.
- 12:57Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I'm in my 40s.
- 12:59Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Where did my, where did my perseverance, where did my drive for doing what I love to do at that time, and I mean I think we can think of it like this I mean, and again using my experience life just starts happening so quick, meaning.
- 13:57Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Different topics come up, different questions come up.
- 14:00Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We have to answer them on the fly.
- 14:02Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Sometimes we don't have all the information.
- 14:04Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We're in a relationship.
- 14:10Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Out of a relationship, there are just so many things that as we're growing up, we don't have to be terribly concerned about paying the bills and supporting a family, but then I don't want to say it's a snap of the finger, but it feels that way.
- 14:36Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It's like oh my gosh, I'm an adult, I gotta do adult things.
- 14:41Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: What happened to all the fun?
- 14:45Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: And so we still have fun, but we gotta spend time, sometimes a lot of time, just doing things that might not be super interesting, like paying the mortgage, paying the car insurance, paying loans, student loans, many loans.
- 15:25Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We just have to continue, and that's hard.
- 15:37Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: So when we reach that point where everything kind of comes together and crashes and we go to pick up the pieces, we have to do what we love.
- 15:58Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We have to do what we love.
- 15:59Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We have to do what we want.
- 16:02Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We have to think about our legacy, and it takes time.
- 16:15Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: My voice is for voices took 30, some plus years to come about, and it probably was manifesting in my mind, maybe under another term, another thing, and now it's term.
- 16:39Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Another thing, and now it's become this worldwide movement of helping others, bringing others' voices to the forefront, and people share and talk and vent.
- 16:58Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: And people share and talk, invent, tackle hard subjects, hard areas, dangerous areas at times, and so I'm in a I'm in a spot where I truly am grateful for where I'm at, or even those experiences excuse me years and years ago, because that's what made me who I am and, at the end of the day, that's what people are going to think about, and so I want to be known as a helper, not somebody like the Justin in the first half of my years where it was just all about me.
- 18:22Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: There's gonna be days where it is about me.
- 18:25Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We have to do self-care, we have to maintain, but then other days are gonna be a little bit more, more peaceful because we're if we haven't gotten there, we're starting to get to where we want to be and what we want to do.
- 18:57Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We've talked about this a long time.
- 19:09Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: A lot of businesses, people that started them, founded them.
- 19:15Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: They start small, in a garage, in a basement, work themselves up.
- 19:22Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It takes time.
- 19:28Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It takes a lot of time.
- 19:31Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It takes more time when you got your thing than when you're doing somebody else's thing than when you're doing somebody else's thing, because when you're doing somebody else's thing, you can go and do what you need to do and then you can leave.
- 19:49Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: But when it's your thing, it's got to be right here, it's got to be in the heart, it's where it has to be.
- 19:59Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It's Got to be in the heart.
- 20:00Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It's where it has to be, it's where it has to start, it's where it has to remain.
- 20:07Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Nobody's going to believe, nobody's going to be as passionate, nobody's going to persevere, nobody's going to try to be patient, which is so hard to do.
- 20:17Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Nobody's going to do those things for us.
- 20:20Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We have to be that cheerleader too.
- 20:25Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Unabashedly.
- 20:30Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Talk about our organization, talk about what we do.
- 20:33Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: If you don't have an organization, a company, that's fine.
- 20:37Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Talk about yourself.
- 20:37Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: What do If you don't have an organization, a company?
- 20:38Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: That's fine.
- 20:38Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Talk about yourself.
- 20:39Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: What do you do?
- 20:40Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Well, what are some examples?
- 20:43Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It's the same thing.
- 20:46Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It's branding, marketing.
- 20:49Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We all have a personal brand.
- 20:54Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Some of us have a brand of an organization too, and each and every minute, each and every second of every day shows others what that brand is, what that brand stands for.
- 21:15Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: So we are an organization of action.
- 21:22Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We do help others.
- 21:25Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We help a lot of people.
- 21:26Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We're global Can't believe it.
- 21:29Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We're 79 countries where Voices for Voices has been to.
- 21:34Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It's incredible.
- 21:39Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: So we don't take any of our time with you.
- 21:42Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We don't take it lightly.
- 21:43Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We have conversations that we have guests on.
- 21:47Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We talk about things.
- 21:48Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It's because it's important, it's important to share, it's important to talk, it's important to gather together to gather information, and so, as we start to wind down this particular episode, I want to talk about Native Americans.
- 22:16Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I want to talk about Native Americans.
- 22:26Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I don't know a lot about Native Americans, but what I do have an understanding, what I think I have an understanding about Native Americans.
- 22:35Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: What I think I have an understanding about Native Americans is, as we sit here in July of 2025, there's Native Americans that are being treated poorly, not treated nicely, and and that's something that we want to change Native Americans here in America I'll say they're here first.
- 23:18Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I'm not sure how many tribes are are left, but over over the years, they've been treated very poorly and, whether they're Native Americans or not, we don't think anybody should be treated poorly and, whether they're Native Americans or not, we don't think anybody should be treated poorly.
- 23:56Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: So we're going to start highlighting what it means to be a Native American Indigenous.
- 24:11Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: So I can learn and then you can learn too, and that's part of the population here in our United States and North America.
- 24:35Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It's an area that it seems to be a lot of people turned their back on, that they don't show their respect, kind of like we talk about our elders.
- 24:54Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: For me, my parents, there's a certain level of respect you give people Somebody's a little bit older than us.
- 25:05Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We don't have to agree with everything that they think or say, but there's probably a good chance they've been through something or some things that are more than what we have given.
- 25:23Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: You know, depending on how many years separate, say, somebody in their 60s versus me in my low 40s.
- 25:35Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: So, whether I agree with that person or not, they are going to have had experiences that I haven't had, and so I think it's important to just see that, to respect that, to treat kindly, to treat kindly.
- 26:04Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: And so when we talk about Native Americans, that's where my head's at, with our organization and me to show these individuals, to show these tribes, to show these Native Americans, these indigenous individuals, to show them respect, to give them like others, like all others, to give that opportunity to use the Voices for Voices platform to talk about you know history, current state, what's happening Because I sure as heck don't know everything, not even close to be sure that us as an organization, and me personally, we do as much research as we can, which is what we do with all the topics we talk about here on our show or on our videos or our shorts or TikTok.
- 27:43Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We use much research as can be done and then we share information.
- 27:52Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: So it's the same thing with Native Americans.
- 27:56Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We're going to gather information, we're going to talk to Native Americans and we're going to give them a voice as well.
- 28:11Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It's so many, so many others over the course of years and decades who haven't caused a lot of Native Americans to be frightened, to be scared, and it's good reason to always start to hear some of the actions and just awful.
- 28:46Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: When we start to hear some of the actions and just awful, awful conditions, awful treatment, inhumane is the word that keeps coming to my mind.
- 29:09Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: So, native Americans, indigenous individuals, you can turn to Voices for Voices as well.
- 29:17Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: This is for everybody.
- 29:22Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: This isn't just, not just for me, it's not just for one group.
- 29:26Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: This is for everybody.
- 29:27Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: This isn't just not just for me, it's not just for one group.
- 29:28Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: This is for everybody, it's for you, it's for me, for the entire world.
- 29:38Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: So, again, I'm going to do my best to do as much research as I can and talk to as many people as I can, that we bring them on the show, let them tell their stories, their experiences, and hopefully that leads to more Native Americans feeling comfortable.
- 30:09Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: More comfortable might not be 100%, might not be 100% comfortable, but it may make a person a little bit more comfortable knowing that they have an ally with Voices for Voices, make A person a little bit more comfortable Knowing that they have an ally With voices for voices.
- 30:36Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: And so I'm excited to learn more.
- 30:41Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I'm excited to research.
- 30:42Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I'm excited to Talk.
- 30:46Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I'm excited Not excited to talk.
- 30:47Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I'm excited not just to talk, but to listen.
- 30:55Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We all have to work on our listening skills.
- 30:57Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I'm one of them.
- 31:01Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It's easy for us to get into the me, me, me, me, me.
- 31:09Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I got to say what I'm doing, I'm doing this, I'm going to name drop this person and that person, and those are enticing enticements, but it's only when we truly learn.
- 31:28Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: When we truly learn, I have learned a lot of it's through listening, letting other people talk, letting other people share.
- 31:47Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: So if you're a Native American letting other people talk, letting other people share.
- 31:52Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: So if you're a Native American, part of a tribe, part of an indigenous group I'm sorry what you have had to endure.
- 32:07Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I'm sorry that more of more of your family, more people in your community, aren't with us on earth any longer.
- 32:25Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Me personally, I haven't.
- 32:32Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I haven't had anything to do with any of these negative actions.
- 32:38Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: The reason why I'm apologizing is because, as a human being, there's a lot of things people shouldn't have to go through, and so, for the as much as I can, I apologize where we haven't talked about and given you a bigger voice until now, over 285 episodes in, but I can assure you that's changing.
- 33:13Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: It has changed.
- 33:15Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I'm very excited to learn, learn about you, learn about your tribe, learn about your group, learn about your family, about your tribe, learn about your group, learn about your family, and I'm going to do that, try my best to do that through listening.
- 33:48Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: So we welcome all Native Americans, all Indigenous individuals, no matter where you're at in the world today or where you were yesterday or where you're going to be tomorrow.
- 33:53Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Thank you for your patience and you can call Voices for Voices an ally for you.
- 34:05Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Thank you for tuning in, thank you for watching, listening, thank you for being a voice for you or somebody in need and celebrating voices of all shapes and sizes.
- 34:25Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: In celebrating voices of all shapes and sizes, until next time.
- 34:29Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: I'm your host, Founder of Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes, and we'd like to end our show by saying please be a voice for you or somebody in need.
- 34:45Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: We'll see you next time.
- 34:46Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes: Thanks for joining us.