Wednesday, August 31, 2011

lets try this again...a little more PC this time..but still with a few tears..


Sometimes I think my mind gets ahead of..I don't know..my rational thought (or maybe my little political correctness trigger). And then those thoughts manifest into written word with limited thought behind them. For that I am sorry. And although most of what I said in the last post (I have removed it from here)is true for me I think sometimes I share a little too much in this public form and it might give the impression that I am up on a soapbox and that's not where I want to be at all.


I am grateful for my life..for all that I have. I realize there are many in this world that have more then me and many that have less. I guess my wish is not to make people feel bad for what they have but maybe more a hope that people take a look every now and then at the world around them and the role they are playing in the bigger picture.



Tonight I was reminded of an African philosophy called Ubuntu, which in essence means



"I am what I am because of who we all are"...



Thus we are all interconnected..we are all responsible for humanity..we all have a role to play whether we think we do or not!




Archbishop Desmond Tutu further describes Ubuntu in this way:



" We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity."




And a man I admire for so many reasons Nelson Mandela puts into words (way more eloquently then I could ever hope too) what it is I was wanting to say to people...





Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?





Many people I have met over the past few years are doing exactly that and I wanted to share with you my thoughts on these people. In this journey I am finding myself becoming surrounded by people who for me exemplify Ubuntu... people who are working to help those who for whatever reason have been handed a smaller piece of the pie...



In my travels to Haiti over the past 18 months I have met people who, to me are doing extraordinary things...these are everyday people like you and me. They are not movie stars, they are not big execs they are "normal " human beings doing amazing things...



This year I have started teaching at a local university and my first class is a class on leadership and I have always felt (and the evidence backs it..I know I've read enough of it!) that to be a good leader you must model the way. "Be the change" as a wise man once said. The people I have met who are making the differences in this world do just that..they are living Ubuntu and proving you don't have to be extraordinary to make a difference...



I once saw this quote and I saved it...it is very real for me today...


This week some of those people made a difference in someones life and for that I am so grateful...

As I write this the tears are falling but they are tears of joy...

Joy because I have met such wonderful people as Beth and John; Tara and Troy; Jen

Joy because my eyes have been opened to the great people already in my life that love me and support me always...Sherri (and the whole Widynowski family),Jen,Barb (and the ladies!),Margie,my CCI ladies and many others I am forgetting..

Joy because I have realized whats important in life...and I will be able to leave it one day knowing that I did the best I could...

Joy because there really are those out there living Ubuntu and they have brought me into that way of life..and I hope that by living that way others will see (that haven't already) and they will join..making this world just a bit better...

Please check out Heartlines blog post about my little peanut and her family... http://johnmchoul.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/a-new-house-and-a-new-well-or-goodbye-leaky-stinky-muddy-tent/

"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love"








2 comments:

  1. Lise...

    Thank goodness for RSS feeds... which preserved your last post. It was honest... and that is a good thing right ?

    Since starting going to Haiti I feel the same way, and it has impacted my day to day interactions in lots of ways. It is almost like I feel I am taking a stand in a losing fight. But I think back to the little tiny wins I get every trip to Haiti, and I know that I am doing the right thing. Like what your quote says... I am making a positive change in somebody's life. And that makes me feel good. :)

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  2. Thank you Jason and yes it was honest which I do believe in being I just think that maybe a more personal form might be more effective? But I don't know!?
    And yes for me at times it also feels like a losing battle but in the case of Rose and her family its not one that I am willing to stop having!
    You are doing good for humanity and that's a good thing!
    Lise

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