Happy Soul Food Friday!
This week:
- A Soul Filled Story: Open a Door and Your Heart
- The Power of Play: The Game That Can Give You 10 Extra Years of Life What is your Power Up to be SUPERBETTER in the game of life?
- Beauty Makes Everything Better
- If you are local:
- The SD Global Presence Leadership Forum: Thrive Thursday May 7
- Panoramic Photo Awards to “Round Out” you Mo’ Betta Experience:
A Soul Filled Story…
“Good morning” said a woman as she walked up to the man sitting on the ground.
The man slowly looked up.
This was a woman clearly accustomed to the finer things of life. Her coat was new.. She looked like she had never missed a meal in her life.
His first thought was that she wanted to make fun of him, like so many others had done before.. “Leave me alone,” he growled….
To his amazement, the woman continued standing. She was smiling — her even white teeth displayed in dazzling rows.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
“No,” he answered sarcastically. “I’ve just come from dining with the president. Now go away.”
The woman’s smile became even broader. Suddenly the man felt a gentle hand under his arm.
“What are you doing, lady?” the man asked angrily. “I said to leave me alone.
Just then a policeman came up. “Is there any problem, ma’am?” he asked.
“No problem here, officer,” the woman answered. “I’m just trying to get this man to his feet. Will you help me?”
The officer scratched his head. “That’s old Jack. He’s been a fixture around here for a couple of years. What do you want with him?”
“See that cafeteria over there?” she asked. “I’m going to get him something to eat and get him out of the cold for a while.”
“Are you crazy, lady?” the homeless man resisted. “I don’t want to go in there!” Then he felt strong hands grab his other arm and lift him up. “Let me go, officer. I didn’t do anything.”
“This is a good deal for you, Jack” the officer answered. “Don’t blow it..”
Finally, and with some difficulty, the woman and the police officer got Jack into the cafeteria and sat him at a table in a remote corner. It was the middle of the morning, so most of the breakfast crowd had already left and the lunch bunch had not yet arrived.
The manager strode across the cafeteria and stood by his table. “What’s going on here, officer?” he asked. “What is all this, is this man in trouble?”
“This lady brought this man in here to be fed,” the policeman answered.
“Not in here!” the manager replied angrily. “Having a person like that here is bad for business.”
Old Jack smiled a toothless grin. “See, lady. I told you so. Now if you’ll let me go. I didn’t want to come here in the first place.”
The woman turned to the cafeteria manager and smiled……. “Sir, are you familiar with Eddy and Associates, the banking firm down the street?”
“Of course I am,” the manager answered impatiently. “They hold their weekly meetings in one of my banquet rooms.”
“And do you make a goodly amount of money providing food at these weekly meetings?”
“What business is that of yours?”
I sir, am Penelope Eddy, President and CEO of the company.”
“Oh.”
The woman smiled again. “I thought that might make a difference.” She glanced at the cop who was busy stifling a giggle. “Would you like to join us in a
cup of coffee and a meal, officer?”
“No thanks, ma’am,” the officer replied. “I’m on duty.”
“Then, perhaps, a cup of coffee to go?”
“Yes, ma’am. That would be very nice.”
The cafeteria manager turned on his heel, “I’ll get your coffee for you right away, officer.”
The officer watched him walk away. “You certainly put him in his place,” he said.
“That was not my intent. Believe it or not, I have a reason for all this.”
She sat down at the table across from her amazed dinner guest. She stared at him intently.. “Jack, do you remember me?”
Old Jack searched her face with his old, rheumy eyes. “I think so — I mean you do look familiar.”
“I’m a little older perhaps,” she said. “Maybe I’ve even filled out more than in my younger days when you worked here, and I came through that very door, cold and hungry.”
“Ma’am?” the officer said questioningly. He couldn’t believe that such a magnificently turned out woman could ever have been hungry.
“I was just out of college,” the woman began. “I had come to the city looking for a job, but I couldn’t find anything. Finally I was down to my last few cents and had been kicked out of my apartment. I walked the streets for days. It was February and I was cold and nearly starving. I saw this place and walked in on the off chance that I could get something to eat.”
Jack lit up with a smile. “Now I remember,” he said.. “I was behind the serving counter. You came up and asked me if you could work for something to
eat. I said that it was against company policy.”
“I know,” the woman continued. “Then you made me the biggest roast beef sandwich that I had ever seen, gave me a cup of coffee, and told me to
go over to a corner table and enjoy it. I was afraid that you would get into trouble… Then, when I looked over and saw you put the price of my food in the cash register, I knew then that everything would be all right.”
“So you started your own business?” Old Jack said.
“I got a job that very afternoon. I worked my way up. Eventually I started my own business that, with the help of God, prospered.” She opened her
purse and pulled out a business card. “When you are finished here, I want you to pay a visit to a Mr. Lyons…He’s the personnel director of my company. I’ll go talk to him now and I’m certain he’ll find something for you to do around the office.” She smiled. “I think he might even find the funds to give you a little advance so that you can buy some clothes and get a place to live until you get on your feet… If you ever need anything, my door is always opened to you.”
There were tears in the old man’s eyes. “How can I ever thank you?” he said.
“Don’t thank me,” the woman answered. “To God goes the glory. Thank Jesus…… He led me to you.”
Outside the cafeteria, the officer and the woman paused at the entrance before going their separate ways…. “Thank you for all your help, officer,” she said.
“On the contrary, Ms. Eddy,” he answered. “Thank you. I saw a miracle today, something that I will never forget. And.. And thank you for the coffee.”
Can you open your door and your heart to someone today?
The Power of Play: The Game That Can Give You 10 Extra Years of Life through Game-Full Psychology
From the TED Radio Hour with Jane McGonigal
I was privileged to hear Jane speak a couple of years ago at the Atlantic meets the Pacific Conference and her novel approach allows us to unleash design thinking and game theory to create a better world for ourselves and others…
http://www.npr.org/2015/03/27/394918832/how-can-video-games-improve-our-real-lives
What is your ‘Power Up’ to be SUPERBETTER in the game of life?
Beauty Makes Everything Better
What great design can mean…
If you are Local
The SD Global Presence Leadership Forum: Thrive Thursday May 7
A Whole Person Education is About More Than Just Academics…
The San Diego Global Presence Leadership Forum provides front line professionals an opportunity to discuss creative options for elevating community appreciation for Life Skills and the benefits of all persons embracing proactive education.
Life Skills, as defined by Parenting 2.0, are “Mandatory skills every human being learns in some measure to thrive and commune with others.” They include but are not limited to interpersonal communication skills, conflict resolution skills, safety awareness & training and financial education.
Currently, parents are presumed to be the primary educators of these critical skills. Unfortunately, the majority of parents have never formally learned these themselves so low competencies are passed from generation to generation.
Today’s increasingly complex and demanding world -including dual parent full-time employment, single parent households and deep geographic separations from extended family members – has placed unprecedented stress on an already impoverished Life Skills educational process.
Media headlines – bullying, divorce, wars, skyrocketing rates in diabetes Type 2, bankruptcy etc. – provide painfully real report cards daily for humanity’s adherence to an antiquated paradigm for human development in the twenty-first century.
To effect a substantive paradigm shift, Ambassadors for Parenting 2.0’s community service arm, The Global Presence, are hosting Leadership Forums in cities around teh globe on Thursday May 7th, 2015. The Global Presence Leadership Forums are part of Parenting 2.0’s P20 Talks 2015 regional gatherings and annual Thrive Thursday celebrations.
At this time, we are both spreading the word to like-spirited people, as well as seeking support with the use of a venue that could serve as the convening hub for our May 7th evening gathering which would model our local communities commitment to and support for this important initiative of Life Skills.
Can you direct us to the best person to contact in your organization in this regard?
Sincerely,
The Global Presence
https://www.parenting2pt0.org/the-global-presence/the-global-presence-ambassadors/
The Global Presence Board of Directors
Marlaine Cover, MPA President
Samantha Madhosingh, Psy.D., Vice President
Julia Neiman, MSW Treasurer
Melissa Pazen, MSW Secretary
Panoramic Photo Awards:
Round out Seeing Better with these Magnificent Shots!
Thanks this week go to Larry H, Marlaine C, Starla L, Chris B, and those of you dedicated to making our world just a little bit better!
Pay it forward please…
Love,
Neville
“It’s not that you aimed your sights too high and failed,
it’s that you aimed your sights too low and succeeded!”
Happy Soul Food Friday! 