Presented by Online Education
The Facts About Bottled Water
In Educational, Environment on January 29, 2010 at 17:44What are you passionate about? Are you really?
In Educational, Personal Health, Tips on January 18, 2010 at 20:00
Every year I find myself writhe with conviction on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I’ll re-read excerpts from his books and sermons, listen to his speeches and watch his interviews all the while my heart burns, my spirit dances, and my stomach ties knots. The guy ruins me. His rhetoric, his passion and influence flood out from my computer and wash over me with revelatory waves of dreams, ambitions and courage. I feel stronger just listening to him, and yet I can also feel so small.
Have you ever been around someone with an all-consuming passion? A passion that they were willing to spend their entire life pursuing, perfecting and promoting? I’m not describing people who merely talk about what they “love” or spend a lot of time doing something they enjoy. I mean people who live from a passion that sweeps you off your feet and carries you into their dream and vision. There are tons of passionate people, but few who can actually influence and lead people into their passion. These are the people that are changing the world. These are the people we fall in love with.
I have to ask myself the question, “What am I passionate about?” And whatever my answer is, it’s followed by another question, “Are you really?” I believe that if I’m really passionate about something, then I should be leading people into an encounter with that passion. I should be influencing people into that passion. I’m reminded of a quote that has stirred my heart for two years now:
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up men that will just build it. Instead, teach them the desire of the sea.” – Antione de Saint-Exupery (French Pilot)
In other words, don’t just pay people to follow you, but infect them with your passion so that they desire to follow you. That’s true leadership and true passion.
So what are you passionate about? Are you really?
The World is Changing. What about you?
In Educational, Environment, Social Justice on January 12, 2010 at 15:20
The world is changing, which I know, is not news. What is news, however, is the speed at which it’s changing. Technologies are advancing, third world countries are industrializing, and cultures are shifting at unprecedented rates. Most of us are not even aware at how fast this change is occurring. It’s hard to see it in our day to day routine, but it’s there. Every time we use Google or log onto Facebook, the speed of change is staring right back at us. Don’t understand what I mean? Then take a couple minutes and watch the following video:
That video should make you think. Are you helping accelerate this change or are you still trying to figure what Facebook and Twitter are all about? Are you excited about the future or are you worried? If you’re like me, then your feelings are mixed. I love technology (just like Napoleon Dynamite’s brother Kip) and am optimistic about the future, but I am concerned that we’re losing something extremely valuable with every technological advancement. I think that valuable gem is called “community.” I don’t mean online community where I have the ability to post the “highlights” of my life and my “hottest” pictures. I mean physical community, where you get to see the good, bad and the ugly. When I’m sick, have snot coming down my face, and can only moan in pain, my wife gets to see that and live that, but my online community gets “I’m not feeling well.” See the difference?
Although I love twitter, facebook, linkedin, myspace, and every other online community out there, I am painfully aware of the loss in personal face-to-face relationship. Social media is great and connects us with billions of people from all around the world, but if we can’t do relationship with the person standing in the same room as us, then what’s the point?
The world is changing, but how much will it change you and how much will you change it? What does all this change mean for you?
More change:
