Morning thoughts

So it has happened. I woke up this morning with thoughts of selling my car. The $400/month I spend for the luxury and convenience of driving a brand new car could put 6 kids through high school.

It dawned on me this morning that this is not my first introduction to poverty. When I was 19, I went to the Dominican Republic. All but 2 or 3 days of that two week holiday were spent on the beach at the resort. When we did venture into town, the poverty was unavoidable. My mom reminded me that I had the same fearful response when the little kids of Sousa were crowding around and touching me then as I did to the lost boys here. In the Dominican I saw little kids working in amber factories, begging in the streets, living in ramshackle homes, wearing torn clothing and looking through sad eyes. I took pictures and thought how sad. And I couldn’t wait to get back behind the iron gates to the safety and luxury of the resort.

I wonder why I wasn’t moved then to do something about it? As I think back, I realize that it never crossed my mind that I could.

It takes so little to do so much. I am under no illusion that I can save the world, nor do I see it as my duty. But I understand now what I can do. I think of all the personal development work I have done on self esteem, personal empowerment and balance. I get what it has all been about now.

You make a difference.

I see the work that Susan Thompson and so many others are doing here. Susan is very ordinary. She is not particularly rich (she has a Monday to Friday government job), nor does she possess any remarkable skills (no more than the rest of us). And yet she has done so much. I won’t list here again all that she is doing to provide hope and a helping hand up.

So after all the workshops, books and therapy  I think enough of myself now to know that I can make a significant difference. And all of my “be all you can be” life coaching fluff really matters. Because when I was 19, I didn’t know what I was capable of. I didn’t think enough of myself to know that I could actually make a difference. Now I get it.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to sell everything I own… well, not yet anyway, we’ll see what happens after a couple more weeks here. And I won’t ask or expect you to either. I love the life that I have and I just want to do what I can to give others the chance at a life they can love for themselves, their children and their community. Or should I say, for myself, for my children and for my community. We are all one after all.