Making Positive Changes

It's Tuesday Morning and it's Public holiday here. It's Deepavali !!! Happy Deepavali to All... It's another new week, and I read another great weekly newsletter from Jon Gordon. Below is the content from the newsletter and hope you guys enjoy and "Feel Alive" !!! It's so great to be Alive and feeling excellent each morning when we get up.. ;)

*******************

First came the news that Rosa Parks had died and so we honor the life of a woman who changed the course of American history by simply saying, “No, I will no go to the back of the bus.” Then came a call from my Mom and Dad who live in a condo in south Florida that was devastated by hurricane Wilma. They got together with a few neighbors and gathered all the food from their freezers and barbequed all they could. Then they knocked on every door in their 9 story building offering food to all the elderly people who had no food, no water, and no physical capacity to walk down the stairs. Since the power was out and the elevators did not work many of these elderly folks were trapped, scared, hungry and depressed. When my Mom and her friends appeared with food and a smile, many of the elderly people just broke down with tears of joy. And a few hours a later, a few of the elderly folks who could walk, showed up with more frozen food to barbeque to feed even more people. Together, this group of neighbors fed the hungry stomachs, hearts and souls in more ways than one.

These events demonstrate that no act is too small or insignificant to make a positive change. In fact they confirm what I have always believed; that life is all about the little things. Moments that may seem insignificant at the time turn out to be major turning points when we look back. Football games are often decided by a few inches. Healthy marriages hinge on just having several positive interactions each day and minimizing negative interactions (more about this in a future newsletter). Life is the result of all our choices and actions we make and take each moment.

But here’s the key. We have to take action. If Rosa Parks didn’t say “No,” who knows when the civil rights movement would have started? Too many people think that their actions have to be big, profound, complicated, extensive, expensive and so they wait until the right conditions, the right temperature, the perfect moment and in waiting they don’t take any action at all. The right moment never comes, no action is taken, and no change is made. Life, nature, the universe, and our planet are always changing. Change is created through us. But we have to allow ourselves to be agents of change by taking action.

It seems that all the catastrophic events around the world are serving as a gigantic alarm clock that is definitely buzzing and telling us to WAKE UP and get going. And after each tragic event with images of suffering on the television sets, for a brief time period many of us do wake up but then it seems we hit the snooze button and go back into our slumber and fog. We get so caught up in credit card debt, bills, fear perpetuated on the news and our busy technology fueled world that we just want to go back to sleep or live in a trance in front of the television set.

I believe everyone wants to change the world but too many of us say, “Can we do it after “Extreme Home Makeovers.” I know this newsletter is deep but I feel called to say, “Listen to the alarm, WAKE UP and take action.” Instead of watching people makeover other peoples’ lives, become the person who does the making over. WAKE UP and just take one small, simple action today that will make you feel alive. WAKE UP and be the change you wish to see in the world as Gandhi suggests. Don’t hit life’s snooze button. WAKE UP and don’t forget the images you have seen on TV. Instead of letting them serve as a sleeping pill, making you want to sleep, allow them to become your energy drink and let them fuel you towards action. Where Rosa Parks said, “NO, I will not move,” You say “YES, I WILL MOVE TOWARDS ACTION, TOWARDS A POSITIVE CHANGE, TOWARDS A SOLUTION." All it takes is one simple step to change the world. Rosa Parks did it and so can we.

Action Steps

• Each morning when you wake up say, “Today I will take one positive action and no action is too small.”
• Do one thing for yourself each day that makes you feel ALIVE. This will fuel you.
• Do one thing for someone else that makes them come ALIVE. This will fuel them.
• Remember, no action and no change is too small.

***************