Happy Soul Food Friday!
This week:
Mission 2 Volunteer and the Vital Importance of Volunteerism
This past week I had the privilege to honor volunteerism in education at the Cardiff School District, where for the past three years we have shone the spotlight on volunteers that make a difference.
In addition to a plaque that is visible in the school with the names of each volunteer on it, we also provide them with a modest stipend that they can apply to an area in education that they are passionate about at the school. This year’s nominee from the Cardiff SEA was Michelle Martini-Brown, who joins Pam Sylvor and Allison Wylot the 2011 and 2010 Mission 2 Volunteer recipients. Each are great ambassadors for the power and impact of volunteering.
http://www.cardiffschools.com/page/828
Please consider doing this for your school…
Yesterday, chatting with my friends and associates, CJ and Dania at the United Way whose tag line not coincidentally is: GIVE. | ADVOCATE.| VOLUNTEER.| LIVE UNITED® we were discussing the magic of volunteerism.I shared that in my experience, a critical metric from a social mission standpoint is our investment of discretionary energy-as expressed in our time, and no one typifies this better than volunteers!
Isn’t it amazing that in our over-scheduled, over-achieving, time starved lives we find the discretionary energy to volunteer for those things that really matter?
When we give our time with purpose, we give our most precious asset- our energy, applying the law of concentrated attention, “That which we focus on manifests!”
It is true when they say, we are judged by the company we keep!
Hanging out with volunteers is a predictive variable in the quality of OUR life and that of those around you
Volunteers are:
- Intrinsically motivated people that are compelled by different things than basic reward and punishment, or the proverbial carrot and stick
- Powered by: autonomy, mastery and purpose
Volunteers see things differently and experience time differently. In other words, we have a different relationship to time. Most people consume or spend time, volunteers produce or invest time, and that investment becomes a legacy gift to the communities they serve.
Thanks Cardiff
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Amazing Paths:
My son Arman graduated 8th Grade in the last week, and with other graduations of various flavors transpiring, I hope everyone finds their amazing path in life.
Here are a few for you to meander on…
May the path your life takes in the next year lead you to fun and adventure, love and peace.
Thanks Larry
What a Drag it is Getting Old…
For those of us that are wondering where the years go, rest assured that you are only as old as you feel…watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq4NfHZkXtA
Thanks Chris
Childcare:
As Summer begins and the parents look for babysitting options in earnest, here are some alternatives…
Thanks again Larry
Be present, Be involved, Be the difference
On behalf of our extended community, thank you for your active engagement!
Our world is a better place because of YOU…
Pay it Forward.
Love,
Neville
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Bless you Robert Frost
Happy Soul Food Friday! 