Not Only For The Rich And Famous: You Can Too

Have you ever noticed how often life seems to be stitched together by the coincidence of synchronous events, where everything you read, every person you encounter, every indiscriminate thought you imagine all point to the obvious and often random conclusion? Please let me explain.

A few years ago, after hearing them talk, I decided that I would try to help Kerry and Carole Allison with their passion: young people who are left deserted and alone and living on the streets in Odessa, Ukraine. These kids have absolutely nothing: no parents to love them, no food to eat, no shelter from the snow and rain and no hope for the future except a life of absolute poverty, eating whatever they can find from the garbage and picking up a few dollars by performing sexual favours. Of course, being human, they’ll do whatever they must to survive.

According to Carole, when kids, who are in state custody, reach 16, they are released from government care and dumped on the streets. This is where those that traffic in the sex trade find many of their victims. The kids have nowhere to turn except accepting handouts from these people in trade for sex. Of course, not all kids turn out that way. Many of the others live in underground sewers by night and roam the streets and food kitchens by day, but just a few kids reach Kerry and Carole’s “First Step” home.

As I thought about what they told me, I couldn’t help but think about my own kids and how devastated I would be if anything like that happened to them. That’s probably why I connected so well to them and what they were trying to do. So, anyway, that was a few years ago that I thought I would do something.

And then life got in the way, and I dropped the ball.

Sound familiar?

Now, here’s where it gets coincidental and synchronous.

I met a person in Moncton recently who, right in the middle of a business conversation, started telling me about what he is planning on doing this coming year. He wants to take a team of people to Haiti to help the people who need help. He had been there on a trip a few years ago and he had seen the tremendous need for people like you and me to reach out and help in any way we could. Then, I met Matt in Halifax, and he randomly gave me a book about building leadership in people to build bigger visions and bigger results.

So now, I had people telling me that I needed to have a bigger vision that is global and I needed to get it into action, and I had people giving me books that pointed towards how to build that vision.

Next, I picked up a book for Judy for her birthday called “The Shack” that, I was told, was a good read and that she would like it, but I wasn’t ready for what emotions I went through as I read it after her. This book took all of what I had been thinking and all of the questions that I had been asking and answered them in a fictional story about finding purpose in life. Once I picked it up, I simply couldn’t put it down until I finished it.

Now I see it has been made into a major motion picture. I guess it had its impact on way more people than just me.

The message the book and all the events that have happened to me in the past little while conveyed to me was “everyone has a capacity to care for something that is bigger than themselves: They have just to move past the self-made barriers they have embedded in their way, and create a new way. They must clear out the limiting patterns that have misguided them and step out in faith and genuine love for our earthly co-passengers and do things for them instead of wanting something from them.”

Woah. Yeah, I know. Heady stuff.

Let’s face it. The economy is going south. Countries are going bankrupt. Corporations are cutting right to the bone and people are losing their jobs. With everyone trying to save their own skins many of us are losing ours.

We must start taking better care of and start caring for each other. (And I just don’t mean sending a card at Christmas) I mean becoming genuinely interested in and doing things that will make it easier for each person to live with dignity and joy.

I realize that we must do something to create hope in this world. If not, this slow decline will become much steeper. And hoping someone else will do something just doesn’t cut it anymore. Politicians don’t care about this topic. It won’t get them elected next time. It’s not shiny enough for them to turn any attention to it.

There are some people in the world who are doing great things, Bill and Melinda Gates, just to name one. But one doesn’t have to be a gazillionare to care and make a positive difference.

We care too. You and I. We can make as much of a difference as they can. It’ll just take more of us.

We must take action.

You and me.

Let’s start in our own back yard. If we simply open our eyes and look past our comforts, we will see much happening in every community, in every city and in every country.

What if we dared to have a vision that was bigger than ourselves? (My vision is something called “The MUST foundation”. An entity aimed at the premise that we MUST do something positive to help our world.) What if we shook off our self-imposed limiting beliefs and got off our behinds and actually did something instead of watching television or cruising the internet? Do you know that if everyone in the range of this article only gave $10 each (that’s 2 coffees and a muffin) we could take a very significant chunk out of poverty and we could feed millions of people who are right now, sitting and worrying about how they will feed their children their next meal? And yes, one person at a time CAN do this justice.

Many people say they want to make a difference, but talk is cheap.

You are different though, you take action.

Here is a wonderful opportunity for you to step out and give legs to the hopes you have for the world. You can help prove that not only can one voice make a difference, but many voices in unison can change the world.

What will you do now? Will you speak with your actions, or act with your speaking?

I’m committed to doing something great for my planet earth, will you help?

Let’s make this someone else’s best week ever.

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My vision is quite simple: to make an impact on the lives of the people who have been entrusted to me: You (for reading this article), my family and my clients.

I coach people. Direct, practical, innovative, meaningful. I coach for excellence.I love what I do… and so do my clients.

Over the years I’ve noticed that business coaching that was supposed to make us stronger actually took away our confidence and made us doubt ourselves. Confidence and people skills aren’t developed just by measuring and planning everything, they grow through doing and learning from experience and by taking risks. People want to make a difference. Build teams. Be better understood. Live more confidently.

I am committed to creating a world where business people communicate and act with confidence to create better worlds for themselves. Worlds where they feel powerful and free to express themselves. Worlds where something as simple as conversation creates energy, understanding and impact. Worlds so exquisite, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

If you found this article helpful, insightful or moving, please let me know, if you think it can help others, please share it with them.