Susan Hough: Living Your Gifts – Episode 65

Susan Hough: Living Your Gifts - Episode 65Meet Susan Hough the woman and her work. Susan leads by example through vulnerable and courageous transparency by modeling the importance of honest communication, and awareness of self and others. You will see that she has an infectious generosity of spirit and is a very hard person not to like. She is the Executive Director of the nonprofit Wisdom Spring, a teen leadership humanitarian development program currently serving 7 high schools. Their fundraising efforts have thus far resulted in the construction of 45 water wells in Africa and India to serve marginalized communities. 

Robert and Susan explore how to find equilibrium. In their exchange, you can feel the depth of reverence they share for each other’s work. They investigate the range in how some people are choosing not to give or even looking at their potential to support others and the planet outside of friends and family circles. On the other end of the spectrum, some suffer because they are not supporting themselves enough. Join the exploration of what your tendencies are with yourself and your community. How can you take care of yourself, be a leader, and awaken your contribution to the world?  

Susan shows naturally how she loves young people and provides an atmosphere where they can drop in and see the value of working together and finding autonomy simultaneously by nurturing their individual talents.  She reveals a glimpse of how she sees everyone has something unique to offer. This is an ‘expose’ for teenagers, schools, and parents to see how they can be an instrument of healing for the world by finding and trusting themselves.

Mentioned in this episode
Wisdom Spring
Living Your Gifts
Sobonfu Somé
The Introspective Guides
The Global Bridge Foundation

Note: Below, you’ll find timecodes for specific sections of the podcast. To get the most value out of the podcast, I encourage you to listen to the complete episode. However, there are times when you want to skip ahead or repeat a particular section. By clicking on the timecode, you’ll be able to jump to that specific section of the podcast

Transcript
Announcer: (00:00)
The Missing Conversation, Episode 65.

Susan Hough: (00:03)
There was a young woman who was graduating on the east coast, and she got $300 for her graduation present and she gave it all. And I said, honey, don’t you need this? And she said, people need water more than I need this.

Announcer: (00:23)
On this podcast, we will propose critical new strategies to address world issues, including homelessness, immigration, amongst several others, and making a connection to how our individual psychology contributes and can help transform the dangers that we face. We will break from traditional thinking. As we look at our challenges from a freer and more independent point of view, your host Robert Strock has had 45 years of experience as a psychotherapist author and humanitarian, and has developed a unique approach to communication, contemplation and inquiry born from working on his own challenges.

Robert Strock: (01:01)
Very warm welcome again to The Missing Conversation where we do our very best to address the most pressing issues that the world’s facing today and where we look for the most practical, inspiring programs, innovative ideas, and especially people to support survival on our planet. Today we’re gonna do something that we’ve never done before on the show. My guest is Susan Hough, who is the woman of my life and my life partner. Her work is mentoring 175 teenagers at any given time with five high schools and guiding them to create projects and walks, which has led to drilling 45 wells in Africa and India. She also mentors them to find their unique gifts in ways that support the world. I wanna say that again, it’s not only finding unique gifts, but finding them in ways that actually support the world and guides and teaches them the importance of honest communication awareness of themselves and others.

Robert Strock: (02:21)
Most uniquely, she models this with a remarkable openness to lead by example. And I truly do mean lead by example in a very vulnerable and courageous transparency. And when I say this, at the risk of you believing, I feel this way because she’s my partner more than anybody I’ve known. She actually leads by her own openness frequently from what happened the day before. It is my joy, honor, and heartfelt loving fulfillment to have Susan on our show today. As I’ve said to virtually all my close friends, she’s a very hard person not to like. Susan Hough is the executive director of Wisdom Spring a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation, and been directing the Walking for Water teenage leadership humanitarian development program. Since 2003, she’s raised over $500,000 for the construction of 45 wells and also done educational work in developing countries to serve and really save many communities from having to walk for miles to get water.

Robert Strock: (03:52)
Probably many of you have the image of a woman having water on top of their head and 30, 40 pounds and walking for three miles, five miles, eight miles to bring water back to the village. But instead of that, Susan has seen to it that the construction experts drill the wells in locations that are right where the community is, or as close as possible, where they can find water. Susan is the founder of Living Your Gifts, a company that creates programs to support and build confidence in women and youth of all ages while encouraging them to be a part of the growing worldwide movement supporting our youth as one of the most powerful forces for change on the planet, currently. We saw this recently in Kansas with the youth outreaching and being able to actually help transform the vote in Roe versus Wade and not letting that be overturned in Kansas.

Robert Strock: (04:58)
She has more than 35 years of experience in supporting youth. And she partnered with renowned teacher Sobonfu Somé and authored Walking with Sobonfu. It Chronicles the power of community and a wide combination of guidance from the importance of healthy grief and learning how to welcome each other. Now, I wanna say that again, the welcoming each other. Because in America it’s a whole theme that we don’t even think about. You haven’t seen your partner for the day and do you open your heart and welcome the person. We have such a tendency to miss that moment and she’ll make it clear how in Burkina Faso where Sobonfu lived, how their community, not only the individuals, how they welcomed each other from the heart in a way that’s utterly transformational. So Susan welcome the show, it’s great to have you here.

Susan Hough: (06:06)
Wow, what a welcoming and, um, my heart’s full. And, um, it does feel a little bit like the village, you know, and, and perfect timing on really talking about the value of welcoming. And I’m so honored to be here and in the village, my first time going to Africa, I um—you know, Sobonfu talked about a welcoming ritual. She talked about the value of community and connection and everybody having a really unique gift in the village. And so we’re, we’re going to the village and it’s 120 and I’m sweating like a pig and, um, I’ve got chickens under my feet and I’m feeling, you know, pretty hot and disgusting. And these boys on these huge bikes, old fashioned bikes, um, say, you know, this is as far as you can go with the van. So we all get out and we walk up a hill and you kind of hear this drumming and this xlophone and this energy.

Susan Hough: (07:11)
And, and we get to the top of the hill and there’s about 600 people. And I look at Sobonfu and I say, is this happening because we’re bringing water? And she says, oh no, sweetheart, this happens when somebody leaves the village and comes home. People walk miles to welcome you back. And my heart blew open. I have never experienced this energy of truly being welcomed, just because I’m me. And, um, I feel that with you, it’s part of the gift you’ve given me, as you always make me feel welcome at home when I’m with you. And, and so I, I try to do that with the youth. How can you welcome our youth so that they, their heart’s open and they can feel their value?

Robert Strock: (08:09)
Well, maybe needful to say you make it so easy to welcome you because you bring yourself and yourself includes your relationship to all these kids and more. So, some people make it very easy to welcome. For those of you that are really listening closely, if you can imagine in your life translating the welcoming to your partner or to your friend and how much that allows you to just drop into your heart and how much impact that has in your relationship to yourself, your relationship to the other or others. And it doesn’t have to be a drum beating and a whole big ceremony like that. Although it’s astounding that that’s the case. But transferring that to America or transferring that to your home or your apartment, and being able to see that that’s a missing step, is something that is utterly giving meaning and purpose to every potential beginning of an interaction. Just that pause. Can I open my heart and say, hello? And it’s the sound of the hello?

Susan Hough: (09:29)
I mean Sonofu used to say, you know, here, when somebody would say, how are you? And she’d say, you know, people will just say fine, and they really didn’t want to hear how she was. And she said, she’d start to see em glaze over and she’d say, it’s fucked up, insecure, neurotic, and emotional. So anytime that I would say, I’m fine, she’d be, oh no, no, that’s not good enough. And it kind of parallels you because if I were to say, I’m fine with you, you’d be like, “what percentage are you fine?” And the work with the kids, I mean, what’s really been beautiful is Robert has joined me, um, with helping the kids really to see what is their biggest challenging emotion that gets in the way of them really stepping into the project. Really finding what blocks them from seeing their gift. And, um, you have that Introspective Guide, which we use with the kids. And the kids come on and, and they feel seen. And in that feeling seen, creates this opening for community where they actually are able to see that they have a value that’s unique.

Robert Strock: (10:37)
So for those of you that don’t know that maybe you just happen to tune into this show. First, the Introspective Guides are a list of 75 challenging emotions that we all have. And a list of 75 Essential Qualities, needs, actions, and thoughts that would support you when you’re in a challenging emotion—and then how to link those together. So when you’re in fear or sadness or grief or anger, how do you take care of it, so it’s gonna work out better. So that’s what Susan’s referring to. So I’d like to start off by giving a sense of what this whole theme is about in these series of podcasts, which the basic way it’s expressed is Psycho-Politics, which is kind of a double play for, uh, psychotic politics and the psychology of politics. And it’s really three very simple principles, but very important principles that the guests that are coming in this segment of the podcast are all examples of living this kind of life, which clearly Susan is.

Robert Strock: (11:49)
And the first step is recognizing that it’s perfectly natural to want to care for your family, love your family, have them be first and protect them energetically. But then your question is say, well, if I’m dominantly only protecting my family and so are the other 8 billion people on the planet, who’s protecting the planet? Who’s protecting the poor? And so, there’s an opening to the conversation of might there be a percentage that you want to expand to care for both the planet and the people that are least advantaged on the planet? The second principle is the same thing, except it relates to money. It’s natural to wanna use your money, if you have any, to wanna protect your family. But if everybody does that, that leaves hundreds of trillions of dollars that are not moving toward the planet or toward people that are most unfortunate. In almost all circumstances, having nothing to do with who they are, it has to do with where they were born, and the country, and the life circumstances of war-torn nation, et cetera.

Robert Strock: (13:06)
And the third principle of Psycho-Politics is for the rest of your life, asking the question and hopefully enjoying the question, “What is the balance between loving my family and loving the world and people that are most disenfranchised?” What is that balance? And recognizing that, that question is one that it’s not something that you should ask. So I’m not saying this or Psycho-Politics isn’t saying this as a “should” or a moral standard, it’s an appeal to you. Does this make sense to you that in the 21st century, when we’re facing global warming, dangers of nuclear war, we’ve just seen the invasion of Ukraine, we have terrorism. Does it make sense to you that if we all, or many of us thought of a percentage of us going toward caring for the world and the planet, that we might be living in a saner way.

Susan Hough: (14:10)
What opens me in this is that how do you teach that and how do you live that? You know? And as I, as you know, how you’ve been poking me is I have lived giving, it’s my heart’s calling, especially with youth and water. The value of women having to walk 6 to 12 hours, in some cases, for water. So finding that balance within myself, you can go to the extreme of not taking care of yourself as you’re giving, and that would be what you’ve really worked with me on, is how do I find that balance and not put out too much and then not take care of my own needs too. So it goes both cycles. You know, people aren’t giving that should be giving, you know, or that I think should be giving. Um, and then there are people that suffer because they’re giving so much.

Robert Strock: (15:09)
Right. What was really being said here is that in that contemplation of the balance, Susan is one of the rarer end of people, but there’s probably a 5% of the population that gives too much to the world and doesn’t look out for their own security. And so this is not a moral stance of give everything to the world. This is a question of balance. And Susan has, has felt that because she’s giving to these 175 teenagers in the ways that it’s a foundation, and that she doesn’t deserve to be paid, uh, more than a token amount, which isn’t enough to really look out for our own future security. So, as you are thinking about this, it’s so important that you recognize you are unique. What is your balance? Are you way on the end of having security and wanting to build more security to pass it down to your family, and is that dominant? Are you someone that’s on the rarer end where you give so much that you don’t take care of yourself? Are you in that rare middle? And there’s no set answer, because as we get older and older and older, the question continues. So we wanna keep that going. So, Susan, would you tell a little bit about your work with teenagers? What you do, how you feel about it, how long you’ve been doing it? Just give us a sense of that.

Susan Hough: (16:36)
Well, I mean, what I do is I really try to wake up these young people and really knowing that this is a life calling to be of service. How can I serve and how can I grow? How can I expand? How can I take care of myself and be a leader and awaken that quality that’s necessary needed out in the world. And an example would be, um, when Black Lives Matter happened, when um, it was so prevalent and so scary for our youth. And I spoke about my own childhood and my own relationship to really knowing the value of how it’s been a struggle for my friends who are black. Because I went to an all black school in the fourth grade and saw that they didn’t get as good of education as I did. And I was speaking about that to my youth about, hey, it’s not been that long ago that all this went down, you know, and I’m old, but still, it’s not that I’m not that old.

Susan Hough: (17:42)
And one of my kids was so touched that she called the police station, which is what you need to do to set up a protest around Black Lives Matter, you know, to support it. And I get a phone call and the phone rings I say hello, and this is a police officer, and I’m thinking, ah, where did I put my car that the police are calling me? I’m, I bet I got towed or something. And he said, um, uh, you’re the leader of the Black Lives Matter march, this week tomorrow on main beach, and we need to talk to you about the rules and regulations. I was like, what, I’m, I’m what? And come to find out my kid, one of my teenagers walking for—what I call them, my kids, because they feel like my own children—had arranged this. And the 400 people showed up because this kid was so touched and moved, that she got all her friends and her family members in Laguna Beach to show up and really make a stand. So, I mean, that’s just kind of what these kids learn from this.

Robert Strock: (18:43)
Yeah. And how, how does the program, uh, recruit itself?

Susan Hough: (18:48)
I mean, it’s word of mouth, it’s word of mouth. These kids in my schools, they, you know, they join and they kind of follow the older kids, right. And the older kids kind of bring it to the younger youth in the schools and they get motivated and they’re called. And last week I had my eight leaders from Laguna Beach on my back porch. And one of them said to me, it feels like family. And that’s what you wanna create to make change, is a place where people can be all that they are in a healthy way.

Robert Strock: (19:21)
Could you share a little bit about the difference between the kids in Virginia and the kids in Laguna and how you’ve navigated the difference in wealth? And it’s a very, very difficult thing to do to talk about the differences in wealth, without laying a guilt trip, and yet being supportive. How you’ve talked to them about it, because I know you’ve merged the communities, you’ve zoomed together, and it’s an artform.

Susan Hough: (19:53)
It is an artform and it’s beautiful. And I love both coasts. I’m so attached to my home in Leesburg, Virginia, and the youth there. And I have, that’s where Walking for Water started. So there’s this kind of breath that I feel when I’m there. And it’s very multicultural there. It’s extremely multicultural with some kids that, yeah, some kids have some money, but it’s not as wealthy as Laguna Beach. So let’s just talk about the last walk. There was a young woman who was graduating on the east coast and she got $300 for her graduation present and she gave it all. And I said, “Honey, you know, don’t you need this?” And she said, “People need water more than I need this.” And I was like, oh my gosh. So I went to, you know, my youth in Laguna and said, this $300 that she’s giving is like $5,000 in this community, you know?

Susan Hough: (20:55)
And they got it. They got it. It’s like, they were, they were like, wow, she, she gave that. And so it’s really sweet to see the bridge. And I think being outside of Washington DC does do something to you, uh, because you’re more aware of politically what’s going on in the world than maybe you are on the west coast. So it’s nice to see them bridge, and to talk about it on their radio show, which you’ve been on, you know, where you you’ve really, you know, they think about homelessness, they think about all this, because you’ve kind of inspired them to challenge themselves. And on the radio, that’s what they do they bring what is it to be challengeed as a youth in this time, and how can we step up and give voice? And so they do that on KX 93.5 Laguna Beach, that you can get on also, um, the web.

Robert Strock: (21:52)
Great. So I’m gonna put you on the spot a little bit.

Susan Hough: (21:55)
Put me on the spot.

Robert Strock: (21:56)
Yeah. And I wanna ask you, what do you think allows you to connect with the kids so deeply? And what do you think your greatest gift is in that regard?

Susan Hough: (22:10)
I love them. I love them and I do welcome them. I think I just am blessed to work with them. It, there’s something that just makes me feel more alive. And it always has. Like, I don’t remember a time that I didn’t wanna work with young people, even when I was young.

Robert Strock: (22:33)
Yeah. And what Susan’s saying in my experience is something that it can’t be expressed to the degree that it is. There’s a, there’s a joy, there’s an assumption of innocense, an assumption of goodwill, there’s a lovingness, there’s a tenderness, and a strength when needed to really maximize the potential. And a lack of laying guilt trips on, even when you’re talking about the $300 story to equal the $5,000. I have no doubt that you also included, I don’t want you guys to feel pressured to give all $5,000.

Susan Hough: (23:10)
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

Robert Strock: (23:12)
But, but the, the love, you know, as a therapist for 50 years, I truly believe that love is the healing ingredient as a therapist or in working with teenagers. It makes me think of, uh, the song called Only Love by Jordan Smith, which I really advocate because it’s really saying that “only love” is enough to save the planet and, you know, have we all forgotten that only love is enough? So I would encourage you to look up Only Love by Jordan Smith because it, it really conveys what I believe Susan conveys to the kids and the kids then convey it to their friends. And there’s a whole compounding effect.

Susan Hough: (24:05)
I think it even goes further. I think that with Sobonfu we partnered, when there was a partnership, and there was an opening where I did what I love, she’d do it. I think you and I do that too. There’s a partnership of how do you come together and support the different projects and in a, in a partnership and also support your independence. And I think for the youth, we’ve given them, uh, somewhere where they can drop in and see the value of working together in a partnership and yet finding your autonomy at the same time.

Robert Strock: (24:44)
Yeah, for sure. And one of the things I really wanna highlight. You know, I’ve been in other significant relationships in my life and they really, I’ve been very, very fortunate to be in what I would call great relationships, but always had one of two elements, either it was an incredible communication or there was a humanitarian involvement. But with Susan, we really share both. And I don’t say that to brag or to boast. I say that hopefully that you, as you’re listening to this, whether you’re in a relationship and you’re saying, what communication might be important that actually would allow us to love each other more, which maybe I’ve given up on. Or if you’re not in a relationship, in addition to looking at physical attraction, looking at can this person communicate? Can I communicate? Can I say what my needs are? Can I be interested in what their needs are?

Robert Strock: (25:45)
And in our Western world, as we watch movies and we see examples, it’s so often based on physical chemistry and money, and it’s so rarely is the criteria, how sensitive is this individual? How much do they communicate? How much are they interested in how I am and how they are and what Susan referred to earlier about Sobonfu, which is, you know, the answer is so frequently fine. And it doesn’t mean that we aren’t 50, 70, 80% fine, but what about those areas where you’re afraid of a medical report or you’re afraid you’re not gonna be able to get into a love relationship or you’re afraid your sexual relationship is empty. And what about the possibility of staying open to that instead of banishing it into the cellar, bringing it up and bringing it into your relationship to yourself, bringing it into the relationship with your partner, bringing it into your scanning

Robert Strock: (26:46)
if you’re in online dating, bringing it into that as being a quality that you want. Now, of course, again, I’m not trying to lay a trip on you, but what I can say is that if you aren’t looking at your own needs and your partner’s needs, there’s a very good chance that there’s gonna be an emptiness. And if you’re not able to communicate it sensitively, there’s a very good chance there’s gonna be an emptiness and an aloneness. And if you don’t broaden to be interested in something beyond just yourselves, there’s gonna be another level of emptiness. And it’s not that you should do it because the world needs you to do it. Even though at one level, that’s true. It’s more that you are missing out on something. You’re having a missing conversation with yourself. And so it’s so important to say, does this make sense to me?

Robert Strock: (27:43)
If it doesn’t make sense to you, just throw out what I’m saying, just forget it. Might as well turn the program off. But if it makes sense to you apply it personally, no matter what your situation is, and it doesn’t have to be grandiose, it could be one question. It could be one way of asking a question. It could be one hour of volunteer work. It could be voting. It could be so many small little things, no matter what situation you find yourself in life. So Susan, what, what do you feel is the most important message that you’d want to give to both high schoolers and parents of high schoolers? What would be the most important message that you would want to give that you feel would be beneficial that would maybe be touching to you and you believe would be touching to them or you believe would add a potential of something?

Susan Hough: (28:44)
Wow, that’s a, that’s a tough question. I mean, truly, um, because I was thinking about what you were saying and needs and what does your, what do you need to awaken this child that you so get to love their uniqueness, and how can you be authentic to them so that they can awaken their authenticity to you. And, um, I think that’s one of the biggest gifts, like needs, like when you say the “needs” thing. I remember you asking me, what do I need? And I was like, what? [laugh], you know, cause nobody’s ever asked me that, what do you need in a partnership? I think that’s also, what does a kid need? What do you need sweetheart, to step more fully into you?

Robert Strock: (29:37)
And I’ve, and I’ve heard you say that you would likely love, that you would feel turned on by, that wouldn’t be a trip that I’d be laying on you or that your parents would be laying on you, but that would be something that you uniquely feel is your best self. And just even thinking about that, you know, I so admire the automatic love. It’s like I have grandchildren, and there’s a feeling of being able to not only be tender but even if the kids have a difficult moment, it’s like, there’s so much space of caring that’s there, that you bring to your kids {Mm-hmm}. That you’re open if they have a tantrum or they, this or that, you’re just going to wait patiently, if that’s what’s gonna serve them. And then you’re gonna ask, well, what just happened? You know, what’s, what’s going on? What were your needs or that, that your, that your love for the teenagers is infectious, and the 175 teenagers—which is a mind blowing number—let alone the results of helping all the communities in India and Africa is truly moving. But I don’t want anybody to feel the pressure to have to duplicate what you are doing. But on the other hand, honoring that same question, cuz you answered really clearly what the parents could do. I think, you know, what would you say to the kids, it’s like, what would you . . .

Susan Hough: (31:19)
I mean, what do you love? What makes you feel alive? How do you, how can you bring that aliveness out? And you know, even with kids that are very quiet, like I had one beautiful young woman this year, who, her gift is art. She didn’t like to be in the group so much, but her art, she would just drop art off of at me, she made you an art piece. I mean she was called to bring her gift of being an artist to the forefront in order to raise money. And it was beautiful. Yeah. It was touching and even the kids were touched, like they were like, oh my gosh, she did all of that. And they had no idea that in the background this was happening until it started showing up.

Robert Strock: (32:04)
Yeah. And it was so interesting because this kid was someone that would paint on cans that I water with. And then she wanted to give so much that she erased it until she was completely happy with it. So I don’t even wanna think about how many hours that she spent.

Susan Hough: (32:24)
Well, hours and hours and hours.

Robert Strock: (32:27)
To want to please. And so the message to her, kind of like the message to you, is you’re already good enough. You don’t have to sacrifice money or you don’t have to erase the version. You don’t have to be perfect. This is not about perfection. This is about best realistic efforts to find what you love. There’s no sacrifice in this. This is all gained.

Susan Hough: (32:53)
I mean, in the village I mean, what really connected me with Sobonfu is reading her book, you know, and seeing that in this little village, when the women gather around a woman who’s pregnant, they name the child to be reminded of a gift that that child is bringing in. And to me it’s like everybody has something they’re bringing to the table. Everybody has something that’s needed to change the planet. And so how can we wake that up in ourselves and remember that, and also support our young people to know that they’re valued no matter what.

Robert Strock: (33:36)
And what that brings up for me is all the parents in the wealthier segments of our society, the overwhelming first motivation is get good grades, set yourself up to get to a good college, stretch yourself as far as possible. And the wholesomeness of the child is so often unwittingly, cuz I do assume the innocence of the parents that they don’t know better, unwittingly guiding the kids toward how can I make more money? How can I be more successful? How can I be more safe? And the safety is so overlooked because we’re only gonna be safe if we see that we’re interconnected, and there’s no chance that just thinking of ourselves a hundred percent or 98%, which is probably about the average of ourselves and our families, we’re not gonna survive. And so your work and your work with teenagers, and from my vantage point my hope would be is that you would be cloned throughout the United States and every high school would have a, either in school or out of school program that would be asking the questions you’re asking your kids, and would be devoted to not only loving them but loving the inquiry of what they love.

Susan Hough: (35:09)
Yeah. And I, and it touches me when you say that about the parents, because I do believe, uh, parents are just wanting their kids to get ahead, to be able to support themselves. And in that process, these kids get so much anxiety, um, that, you know, it’s, I help them to drop in and they need to drop into their being more, because I actually think they do better when they’re in the being part, and then they they’re able to find where they’re to go, you know? And I’ve noticed that with the kids like drop in, even my own daughter, I mean, she was like, I didn’t go to the best schools. I’m like, I think you’ve done pretty good. You know, you found what you really loved, so shut up, you know? Um, and I think that’s part of it. Let, the kid has to make mistakes. Let’s let them make the mistakes while they’re with you.

Robert Strock: (36:05)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Make the mistakes and also developing their own radar, whether it’s a radar toward what they would love to do or a radar of what they’d love to talk about or a radar of how they can be loved.

Susan Hough: (36:22)
Mm. Beautiful.

Robert Strock: (36:23)
Yeah. So is there any last message that you most wanna convey. Maybe it’s to your kids or maybe it’s to other kids. Actually, before you even answer that, I wanna mention briefly that there was such a rapport with us because in 2000 we did a conference. The Global Bridge Foundation did a conference called Being the Difference That Makes a Difference, and there were 250 kids from 50 high schools that were selected if they wanted to make a difference in the world. And they realized there was something insane about war, there was something insane about endlessly competing. There was something insane about defense departments. And if this resonates with you come to our program. And those kind of programs belong in every high school in the country. So, I’m wondering if there’s anything along those lines or otherwise that would be like a final message that you most want. I know you’ve probably already mostly covered it, but wondering if there’s anything else that you would wanna convey, even if it’s slightly repetitive.

Susan Hough: (37:28)
I mean, I think it’s trust. Trust that inside of you is something that’s needing to come out. Trust your wisdom and your heart more and hold that gently.

Robert Strock: (37:43)
Yeah. Yeah. And as Susan’s tearfully holding her hands open, which you can’t see, about holding the trust, is something unique is in you is such a offering to anyone that has really responded to inquired into in that way. And so on that note, I just wanna say, it’s been a great touching joy to have you on the show. And, but especially your work, your love of your kids. And I will call them your kids. So I thank you so much for enriching the show mm-hmm [affirmative] and it’s been really, really fun, touching, and inspirational to share it with you.

Susan Hough: (38:31)
My heart is so full. Thank you. Thank you for this opportunity, always to be, um, more deeply aligned and to be able to bring that out together.

Robert Strock PhoitoJoin The Conversation
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