We are All Heroes.

Recently people have given me compliments that genuinely make me feel uncomfortable. I am not doing anything that anyone else cannot do. I am no genius, I am not a doctor, nor a teacher, nor a mother. I'm just a girl trying to figure out the balance between passion, human capacity, and the needs that define our society. I typically spend my days concerned that I'm not doing x, y, or z correctly and that I'll fail. And I'm broke. Can anyone really be an inspiration when they're worried every week that they can't pay rent and buy dog food?

While I appreciate these comments, (as they usually keep me going), I think they're inaccurate. I think our society forgets to celebrate what really is "social change".

So, I want to take the time to celebrate everyone.

I want to first call out my mother, who has given everything in her life to teach me true compassion and the value of hard work. I have never met another individual who has a bigger heart or cares more about humanity. I also want to highlight all of my friends and family who are teachers, who dedicate their lives to teaching our somewhat impossible next-gen students about English, math, aeronautical engineering, and speech, but most importantly what it takes to be a good citizen in our society. And to my lawyers, who fight for human justice, and I don't mean in an international court of law. I mean everyday they go to work and use their knowledge and skills to ensure moral practice and positive outcomes are made for the greater good.

These are just a few examples. There are business executives, accountants, marketers, scientists, artists, farmers, stay-at-home mothers, and of course, all of our brave military men and women. Everyday each of us give ourselves to the greater society in someway, and our efforts do not go unnoticed. It is literally in our hands to create the world we want to live in.

And yes, new ideas, sustainable nonprofits, and inventive for-profit approaches to alleviating social issues are all wonderful. We need much more of them. But real social change is about everyone around the world, making moral decisions, standing up for what they believe in, teaching their youth and acting out of respect and understanding. It is about working hard and doing a good job, in whatever it is that you do. Imagine what our world would look like if everyone did this, everyday?

Our world is beautiful because people are good. People do good things for and to other people and we should celebrate that, and honor one another for being our own heroes.

Lessons on the Journey.

I've had several questions come through the inbox regarding how I got started... how did I know what the right path was... essentially asking, how do you take the jump and where do you jump?

I thought I would take the time to share a few of the key lessons I have learned in this journey in social entrepreneurship. Some might think they're obvious, but for me, and probably similarly for most Type "A", driven individuals, we find a goal and just GO. We see the end of the light at the tunnel and we just don't stop to collect the $200. When we finally get there, we realize we misstepped, or could have done things differently. 

There were steps and situations where I had to teach myself each of the things below... hoping that by understanding these lessons more people can find their own path or at least encourage people to act! 

So here's my top 6 lessons. Would love to hear your thoughts!

1. Stop talking. So many people are convinced they want to do good; that they want to provide value to the world and to their communities. And guess what -- they keep talking about it!! This does nothing for themselves, their communities, or the world. Stop talking so much! The world needs a bit fewer positive words, and much more positive action.

2. Align your heart with your life. If you really truly believe in something - enough to do something about it, take a SERIOUS look at your calendar and your bank statement. Where are you spending your money? What are you doing with your time? Time is precious, more so than our money and if you are wasting it away on nights out drinking and watching reality TV shows - how can you fit in your life what it truly is you want to do? There's no harm in vegging out - but make sure it actually aligns with what YOU really want out of life. 

[Side story] After finally leaving my job full-time to become "full-time" at Cheti, I feel for the first time in my life that all of my being is aligned. What I think about, what I care about, what I want to do, what I do do, and where I spend my time and my money are all aligned with the same goals. You will never find true peace until you're able to commit for and to yourself and your vision.

3. Getting "off track" is the best, and most defining part of your life journey. Travel. Quit your job and study something you love. Join a group you never felt like you belonged. Volunteer regularly. Pretend like you're doing a documentary (or really create one?) and interview people you never understood - ask them questions. All of these activities take you out of your bubble and enable you to see things differently. It is when we are finally able to step aside, that we are able to see ourselves from a higher view-point. From up there, you can see what you want to change and where you want to go. 

4. Just ask. I never realized how willing people would be to give, donate, help, support, guide until one day I just quit being so prideful and just ASKED for it. Now I ask for something every day. I don't get everything, (wouldn't that be a nice world?), but I certainly get more than if I never asked at all! 

5. We are all in it together. I mean this in a couple of different ways. So I'll make sure I'm clear. 

- All of us social do-gooders are in it together - fighting poverty, alleviating hunger, and saving the globe from environmental disasters. We need to stop the fighting, competing, and trying to one-up each other and learn to partner better; grow together, accomplish more, and witness real change. 

- All of us in the world are in it together - the globe isn't getting bigger, there's just more and more of us people populating, absorbing resources, and populating more. Sounds a bit like a people problem --- therefore, there's got to be a people solution to all of our issues. We created them all. If you're a person - take accountability and do something about it. We're in it together. 

6. Be not afraid of your weaknesses. This is one of the hardest lessons for me, and continually is. To acknowledge a weakness takes personal character to begin with. Then to recognize that it's okay I'm not great at "x", how can I work around it, or ASK to still reach my goal? Example: I went to Tanzania at first to teach English. What did I learn 1.5 weeks in? I can't really teach. So what did I do? Tried to find another way I could apply my strengths to still accomplish the same goal - help these children I loved. By understanding our weaknesses, we can find ways learn, work-around, or partner. 

Questions and Answers

My last post seems so depressing. On a positive note, much has changed since that time and life has seemingly picked up. The negative side of course is that the struggles of attempted hero-ship still exist, every day.

Managing a startup nonprofit has been the biggest, never-ending lesson life has offered me. One of my coworkers suggested I share my strifes, challenges, and learnings on a blog to connect those that have answers with those that have questions.

In an effort not to write novels on a daily basis full of my "challenges"... I figured I could start with an opportunity and a challenge each week. This also serves as self-reminder why I work every night from 5-9 and every weekend, trying to make a difference, despite the reoccurring feeling that the difference is unachievable.

Please comment with suggestions, contacts, solutions, or general pep talks - all are welcome. This is, after all, the purpose of digital media - finding solutions and resources so one does not re-write the wheel.

Week of 1/29- 2/4

Opportunities:

1. There's a little girl that lives around Jue School. She's 8. She lost her father and mother within two months of each other due to HIV/AIDs. Her sister, who she now lives with in a rented room, has resorted to prostituting herself at the age of 12 to feed the two of them. Thankfully, this week, my good friend Natalie felt a calling to sponsor her. Anna is now living in Jue's attending school. She is still in need of a second sponsor to make sure she can move into the orphanage.

2. Feeling very frustrated with the logistics of our book drive with the Rotary Club, I was connected by the Annapolis Rotary Club to a wonderful man that runs a transportation company dedicated to shipping humanitarian goods. He provided me the advice and answers that I was looking for regarding filing for duty-free tax forms in Tanzania and land transport companies that were trustworthy. I seem to now be back on track to deliver 20,000 books to Arusha. Never. give. up.

Challenge:

1. As we have not had the opportunity to hire a local coordinator yet, we prioritize annual trips back to the schools. In order to do this, we need miles. We have been researching ways to donate miles online and it is appearing a bit of a bigger challenge than initially thought. Does anyone have experience with this? Any contacts or thoughts?