Living With A Purpose & Making A Plan

"Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies your calling."-Aristotle

Our country and world faces many unique challenges ranging from global warming to economic despair to the need for cleaner energy. However, there is still much hope and opportunity for those who are willing to live life with a purpose or calling. Many people see having a purpose as simply a business model, however it very much is a life model as well. The idea that everything that we do and engage in is driven by a core ideal and passion is one in which will lead to great and positive experiences and successes.

When you evaluate new opportunities and know what your core purpose in life is and what makes you truly happy it will be very easy for you to say yes or no--and forget about the maybe. For instance, I have many passions in life-education reform, inspiring young people, and challenging others to see life holistically as a means to bring true and lasting social change. Whenever I get involved with a new project or even when I'm making new friends or searching for a job, those are the things that stand out for me. Will that new job help me achieve those objectives? Will that new friend be a positive impact on my life and ideals?

It truly makes life easier and the decisions I make less daunting. I believe we all have a purpose on this Earth, although it may not always be apparent or come easy, it is always there within each of us waiting to be tapped, explored, and utilized to make the world a better place. We can all be idealistic visionaries for a better tomorrow--never losing sight of the present in our quest for greatness. You should always ask yourself what mark do you want to leave in the world? What is your point of existence? How you can bring about real and lasting social change? Take some time out of your busy day to write out your gifts, goals, passions, and what makes you happy to determine your purpose(s) in life.

I'm sure once you do that you will discover what truly inspires and drives you every single day. Living with a purpose relaxes you, makes life easier, more exciting, and meaningful. Go create something! Be your own inspiration and live doing what you love!

City Year

Ten months of crazy full time service, 85 amazing corps members, 1700 hours teaching, building, mentoring, planting, painting, and more, 24 amazing children, and 1 hilarious teacher=priceless. The people definitely made my experience in City Year memorable and fantastic. I learned to love more, give more, live more, and enjoy the greatness that many of us have, but are unable or unwilling to bear witness to. The power to serve is within each and everyone us, so therefore the only question that remains is how can we serve? Although City Year and many other AmeriCorps programs give you the opportunity to serve on a nationwide scale, there is still much to do in our towns and cities across the country. Anyone can pick up a book and read to elementary school students, or plant a garden at a local school, volunteer at a senior citizen home, or create something entirely on your own that fits your skills and desires to serve.

I am so thankful for the friends that I made during my service year and look forward to seeing them all again one day. I know that we went through so much together, the good, bad, and outright hideous. Never again will I get the opportunity to spend 10 months with a group of young idealists who share the same ideals, beliefs, and goals to change the world as I do. Life will continue to present new and grave challenges that will require our generation to rise up and fight for what is right. I truly hope that all of my fellow corps member find their meaning and purpose in this world. Once you do that, share it with the rest of us and get to work! There is so much we still must do. As we look back on our year of service I hope that we all have grown smarter, stronger, and more empathetic to the needs of the least of us.

With profound humility and love, I wish you all a great future and continued success in your search for greatness!

Peace,

JM

What will you shape?

A great book that I have been reading, the Alchemist, has truly inspired me to see the world as a means to success and positive change, not so much the end, but a new beginning. The notion that we all have a personal legend, or a purpose, is both challenging and uplifting. As we go about our daily lives--the people we meet, the paths we cross, the challenges we face--they are all connected to bringing us closer to our life's mission. The challenge for all of us to jump in somewhat blindfolded--trusting in our faith and beliefs to never leave us astray, but to bring us ever closer to our purpose in this life. The ability within all of us to shape the world in our own liking is quite amazing. The fact that we can create, write, mold, inspire, and drive the present as well as the future is a tool that we should not take for granted.

A society built on sound moral principles and innovative drive is not just a hope of radicals or fanatics, but a hope of all people who see a world that is free, open, and sound in its belief that when people come together, united for a common purpose, we can truly shape the world for the better. As Memorial day approaches lets not forget those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, so that we can continuous take up and pass on the mantle of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. That through our service to others in all facets of life, we can inspire a generation, lift up a hopeless people, and bring about a new zest for life and happiness to the world. America has always been a beacon of hope and justice to millions across the world, and there is no reason why we should turn our back on the world in times of strife and struggle, instead let our most challenging times be a new model for success, determination, and perseverance.

The world will forever be shaped by the will and hands of mankind. However, the question that always remains is what exactly will this world look like? How will we treat the least of us? How will we solve some of our most complex and challenging social and political ills? Our hands are the key to a great and prosperous future or one that fails to adhere to our core American values of liberty and freedom. We shall create a future that brings about a hopeful and idealistic generation that is ready to rise up to the challenges of today, tomorrow, and forever--creating, molding, building, and inspiring- to create a more just and free society. What is your purpose? What is your call to greatness and the legacy that you will leave? We all have one, but it is up to you to figure it out and to follow along so you too can shape the world for the better.

Planting A Seed & Changing The World

I have come to the full realization that life is one tough journey and it should be taken in nice, short steps setting the stage for the grand finale. Now, that doesn't mean it will be easy or fast, but to the contrary, there will be many ups and downs, confusion, and upsets--however, failure and learning from that failure will lead to greater success and prosperity in the future. There is such a gratitude and strength in believing in yourself--always reminding yourself that you really can do it, whatever that doing is. Giving up or scaling back should never be an option, but shooting for greatness and the top should be a mandate in everyone's life.

It is said that it takes 10,000 hours of work/practice to become an expert or great in life at a particular subject or talent. So if you begin working on something in your elementary school years and truly believing in yourself, by the time you are in your 20s you should be one of the best at it--practice truly makes perfect (or at least close to it). Think of your life as a garden--one in which that must be nurtured, pruned, watered, and taken care of. You need a nice mix of sunlight and nutrients to be successful or in normal terms you need a plan, a vision, and the will power to achieve full success. You must see everyday as a step in the right direction--never succumbing to self-doubt or any doubt.

You must believe, when no one else dares to believe, fight for success when others are turning their backs and live out the change and potential you wish to see from yourself and from others. My formula for success is fairly simple: everything you do, believe, think about, work for, and envision for your present and future life should be the motive in all that you do. It takes a long time to achieve ultimate success in life--which is defined by the goals you have set and reach that are not only based on success, but happiness. Doing anything that does not make you happy is never right and only leads to wasted time and an unhealthy lifestyle. Think about what makes you happy in life, that provides a comfortable & secure lifestyle for you and DO IT! Don't be afraid to cross new barriers, to knock on new doors, to dream big, and make it known how you plan to change the world!

Fishbowl=Education Reform!

Today in my class students participated in a feedback activity called the "Fishbowl". Essentially 8 students are placed in the center of the classroom, while the rest of the class sits around them on the outside. A topic is presented to the "Fishbowl" group and they discuss it out loud amongst themselves. After 5 or so minutes of discussion, the "Fishbowl" group is asked to not speak, while the outside group is asked to comment on the discussion that took place inside of the "Fishbowl". This continues to happen until the facilitator stops the discussion. There is also an open chair at all times that allows any member on the outside to come into the "Fishbowl" to either a.) make a point or b.) ask a question for the "Fishbowl" group to discuss then they must leave.

The topic that was first given in class today was how can teachers make school more educational and fun. I was quite excited to see my students intelligently and enthusiastically reply with some awesome answers. They wanted more hands-on activities, instead of just taking notes and hearing lectures. They wished there was more time for art and other extra-curricular activities. Most importantly they wanted to be able to express themselves without fear of being punished. My students understand there has to be a balance between fun and work, but they also felt that there needed to be a reward system, not just a punishment system. The "Fishbowl" activity provided a rare glimpse into the minds of my students and how they perceive education. I truly believe that students hold the key to reforming education and the thought process by which we teach and expect students to learn.

Students do not want to be standardized tested till their brains fall out-they want to experience real learning that is both educational and fun! Students expect to be challenged, however they also expect to know what their learning is actually good for their future and has a purpose. We really need to go back to the basics and begin to listen to the needs and wants of our students--who today are very much different than students of the past. As I continue to work with students and young people, I hope they learn just as much from me as I learn from them.

Creating A New Era of Educational Excellence

Recent studies have shown the No Child Left Behind Act has failed in its attempt to challenge students and close the achievement gap between minority and white students (1). Today in our country students are taught and trained to pass a test all year long--they are treated as cars on an assembly line or point blank as inanimate objects unable to discover, imagine, or create. However, not every school is a failure--there are many excellent public, private, and charter schools in America, but sadly not enough. Working in the DC school system, by far one of the worse in the nation, has truly shown me how much our nation and education system has failed at the simple task of preparing our young people for the challenges of the 21st Century.

Some blame the teachers and many blame school administrators for their inability to reorganize and retool our society for the challenges of the future. I believe that for far too long we have seen students as the problem, more so than the solution. We blame them when they fail, we force them to take standardized test to compete against other students nationwide, and we do not allow them to partake in self-discovery and tap into their intellectual curiosity. Education and learning is not a race, it's a journey. Something that I learned very quick in my classroom is that no matter how good or bad a student performs on a test, when you truly sit down with them in a small group or one-on-one meeting and talk with them, mentor them, and allow them to explore new thoughts and ideas, they always exceed expectations. Kids of today do not like when their forced to think alike, write alike, or do anything alike. Each child is special and has a unique talent or gift, favorite subject, and style of learning.

It simply then becomes the teachers job to allow and facilitate students to explore their hopes and dreams, goals, and educational standards. The classroom should be an incubator for educational exploration, acceptance, individuality, and creativity. When students are given meaningful assignments that match their intellectual talents and critically challenges them to think outside of the box, to create their own assignments under the guidance of their teachers, I think we would all be surprised at the results. These standards of individual exploration and critical thinking development must be known in the classroom and pursued everyday with every child. Students of all educational abilities should be intertwined with one another and there should be no tracking-obviously behavioral issues should be dealt with separately.

Teachers should be hired on the basis of intelligence, their love for learning and children, ability to motivate and inspire, and ability to reach their students in a meaningful and powerful way. There must be standards of success and continued development for teachers--but there must be an emphasis on recruiting and retaining the best and brightest minds for our young people--they deserve nothing less. In order for America to turn the page on its abhorrent failure to adequately educate and inspire every child that strives for excellence and success, we must begin anew, admit our mistakes, and start over. We cannot expect success teaching our students in schools that reign from the 1960's and curricula that ignore the challenges of our new global economy. I truly believe that it is not too late--we may not be able to save every child, but we must try and we must start now, our future depends on it.

If we start believing in our youth and we develop a new model for teaching and learning, standardized testing would be obsolete--we'd know when we have succeeded by increased graduation rates and college enrollment, economic output, and so forth. We know what must be done, we know how to teach children--we must remember that these changing times require new and innovative ways of teaching, learning, and inspiration. We must create a new mark of educational excellence that embraces students as the solution, as a new beginning of self-worth, self-discovery, and imagination.

(1)http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/education/29scores.html

Saving the Planet for the Future

I was surprised today to hear my pastor preach on the need for Christians and all citizens to stand up for the Earth and acknowledge that global warming is real and we are the main reason for the decline of our Earth. Too many Christians deny the fact that our addiction to oil, increased energy use, and inability to be uncomfortable to save our planet--leaves us with a moral obligation to save our planet from our own destructive addictions and behaviors.

Today on this Earth we have approximately 6.77 billion people and within 40 years that number will reach approximately 10 billion people. Our rapid population growth will create an increased demand for fresh water, energy, food, and other resources. Currently the United States is the biggest energy user in the world with China being a close 2nd. If we continue to depend on oil and coal as our main energy suppliers, greenhouse gases will continue to increase the warming of the Earth resulting in flooding in our coastal regions from melting polar ice caps, increased hurricanes, and drought, among other extreme weather conditions.

More countries will battle it out for resources and life today will be greatly different in the future. In order to reduce this crisis and its impact on our lives, we must begin to make the tough choices necessary. Many argue nuclear power is the answer--however the risk of a nuclear meltdown considering that man is not perfect and liable to mess up, i.e. financial crisis and exactly where the waste will be stored still plagues policy makers, and the cost of building & maintaining nuclear power plants is still of great concern. Secondly, ethanol from corn has been touted as a solution, however the use of corn diminishes our food supply and causes starvation of millions of citizens around the world that depend on corn. And even windmills hold hope of creating clean energy, however due to environmental concerns, there are still doubts there as well.

So the question then is, where do we go from here? Whatever decisions are made pertaining energy reform, there must not be a dependence on one solution. If we can truly create clean coal, invest in mass transit & battery powered vehicles, solar energy, and understand that increased energy costs in our homes should not be an excuse to not have a valid cap-and-trade policy, we can dramatically reduce our dependence on oil and other polluting habits. If the only argument against cap-and-trade is that Americans have to pay more for energy, that is a good thing! We as a people use energy as though there are no consequences to the Earth--the future survival of our Earth is more important than increased energy costs--in the end it will decrease our energy use and create a more responsible and energy efficient society.

Imagine if every American used 10% less energy then we currently use--driving the speed limit, using energy efficient light bulbs, investing in solar panels for our homes, more natural light, using a outside clothesline to dry clothes, etc. There could truly be a revolution in how energy is created and used--resulting in a better Earth today and for the future. The time has come for Americans to make sacrifices for the good of our country and for the Earth. We should always aim to leave the planet better off then we found it.


Check out the Center for America's Progress plan for creating a new green society:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/09/green_recovery.html