These are sobering times across the world.
My heart aches for the needless loss and anguish of so many.
A new and different path for mankind must be forged.
A new global consciousness among all people would be a big start. This is a time asking more of YOU and me.
Where do we begin?
How can we use our unique qualities as women to make a difference?
History can be a source of great courage for us all. Not just women's history, but looking at people who pioneered new ideas and also set an example that transcended gender and differences, truly pioneering new eras in time as we are left to do. People, who as Maureen suggested in her previous post, put the power of their minds to work on something they believed could make a difference.
I happened on an amazing read. It is a copy of the original story of the real Johnny Appleseed, an American pioneer hero, written in Harper's Magazine - November 1871.
I always thought Johnny Appleseed was just a funny man that planted apple trees and wore a funny tin hat. That's the story I remember being told when I was a little girl. After reading about his finest qualities, I'm sure you'll agree he was much more...
---- as a matter of conscience he never purchased a pair of shoes. When given a pair, he passed them off to a boy in a needy family moving westward who he felt needed them more.
---- he purchased animals that he saw were being abused and found them good homes.
---- he wore the tin pan he used to cook his meals as his hat, adding an innovative pasteboard visor to shield his eyes.
---- he was loved by moms, dads, grandma's, the Indians because of his kindness and interest in them.
---- he believed in eating only food from the ground and was a strenuous opponent to wasting it because it was a Gift.
---- he was well educated and took time to read to others in such a way that he created pictures for others to understand.
---- he respected all forms of life.
---- he was trusted by all...and courageously warned his neighbors of British and Indian attacks saving many lives with his prophetic message.
---- he gave his money away.
He lived a good life as a loving neighbor and friend.
When he was near death, it his recorded that his features were all aglow with a supernatural Light.
If we could just live our lives with a little more care for our neighbors and our world ---- a little more like a modern-day Johnny Appleseed, the world would be much different, don't you think?
The outcome of BIG INFLUENCING HAPPENINGS invariably hinges upon small, seemingly unimportant events and upon unassuming, perhaps little known people by the world's standards. Look around, it is not so much the little as the BIG things and so-called great people, who have driven our world into such a mess. Our future will be determined not so much by great events, as by the plain, everyday living of millions of people, whose names may not be lights. Women and men willing to be informed, stand-up, speak-up and live as if every action and behavior were a message and contribution to creating a better world than we know today.
With this in mind, as you move through your week, remember that the little things we do are significant, because frequently, it is the seemingly small things we do that make great things possible. With that realization, we then have to put the power of our minds together to believe we can make a difference.
Before we begin living to make the world better, each of us must first have faith in the possibility of a better world. What little things will you contribute?
Debbe
Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center
Visit Women in the Lead at the Global Dialogue Center
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