be the change i want to see in the world

The world is a cruel place but if everyone would be a little bit friendlier, what a difference we could make! If I boiled water for tea or oatmeal and I have some left over, if another resident comes into the kitchen, I let them know that there is hot water there in case they want to use it. It may seem silly, but not having to wait around for the microwave to heat up your cup of water can make all the difference some days.

Right now, I am trying to model for other members of my community the importance of attending school board meetings, and speaking up about what I believe.

I had never attended a school board meeting before this January, even though I have always talked about the importance of public education. So I’m trying to “walk the talk”.

We found this great store over the weekend. It is called ten thousand villages and it is a store that sells only fair trade items made by people in countries that are socio-economically hurting. They sell amazing things. Women in Cambodia have gathered the shell casings from their civil war and made them into necklaces with peace signs. Women in Africa have made cloth dolls called twin dolls that when you buy one, the twin goes to a child affected with HIV/AIDS in Africa. Gorgeous hand made lamps from marble, jewelry boxes from abundant resouceful trees like a tea box made from the cinnamon tree. Gorgeous.
We bought rocks that say “strength”, “hope” and “wisdom” for my desk at work.
They have stores all over the country, but you can also find them online at www.tenthousandvillages.com

“Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.”
- John Maxwell

Need to make time to organise my resources and become familiar with the new tools. I am not so far ahead as to be a leader, but to motivate others in my work and in life, I need to be confident about the HOW.

NOW i need to take that out into the world – more mindfully.

“It’s only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
- The Little Prince

I started looking into what I would need to do to try to start my own soup kitchen. There really isnt a lot of information out there. Most places are through churches or centers which have an already pre-existing business and they can do the soup kitchen as part of that. I would need to do all the work. Find the place, pay the bills, look for vendors and donations, etc. Its seems tedious, but well worth it. I will continue to see what I can do. I guess first would be to see if I can register myself as a non profit? Or most importantly, see what I can do to get funding to start. Maybe I can call it the 43things soup kitchen and take donations or ask 43things to work with me on cheers and stuff…who knows. The imagination is a limitless thing. So is my will to help.
PS, everyone and everything will get to eat and get warm at my place. Even animals.

Americans waste a lot of food. In total, this waste amounts to a whopping 27 percent of the food available for consumption, in fact. Recovering a quarter of that wasted food would feed 20 million more people (!). A few new groups are working on innovative solutions to make this happen. Could this end hunger in America?

Got this in my weekly email update from Change.org. They also have a guy who spent 30 years in and out of homelessness talking about what its like for the homeless to try to get a job. Maybe the people who cant spare a quarter but have time to spew “get a job” can take time to read it while they drink their latte.

I’vw noticed that I always tell other people how the world could be a better people, what kind of people I like. But when I look at myself, I dont like the person I’ve become.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the fact that this cant be it. This cannot be what was meant for my life. God did not create me to run data and statistics at a Children’s Hospital for the rest of my life. I want so much change but dont know where to begin. I help at the soup kitchen and give to the local charities; collect coats and gloves, food in the winter time….but why is it in the winter time? People are hungry and homeless all year round. What would I have to do to do what I want? What do I want? And no matter what we say, we cannot fool ourselves into thinking that it DOES matter what we are paid. That being said, why is it that the jobs we would love and think we could do forever, are the ones that have you one sick day too many away from the soup kitchen you want to open?

check out the most amazing woman in the world…next to my girlfriend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3AOzj7mVNQ

I have this magnet at work. I look at it all the time. I have to admit I feel like I do more than the average person, but I don’t feel like its enough. Today I thought about opening my own soup kitchen. I actually have wanted to do that since I was a kid. Where would you begin? Certainly not with any government funding. But how do you depend on people to volunteer and donate in this day of everyone being 2 steps away from being at the soup kitchen?
Its something to think about. I’ve been thinking about it for over 20 years. Maybe its time to make it happen.
Everyone deserves a full belly, a warm place to sit (and sleep for that matter) and someone to greet them and ask they how they are doing.