Gifts

Your gifts cannot reach maturity until they are used to SERVE the greater good.

“If you bring forth what is within you, it will save you.”

I do not give lectures.  I do not give courses.  I do not give charity.  I give myself.
- adapted from Walt Whitman

When we give ourselves, when we share from our sense of purpose, we go beyond the physical into the spiritual.  This gift is enduring.  It is indestructible, it is immeasurable.  Weapons can not destroy it, fire can not burn it, water can not drown it.  It is timeless.

We must strive to serve the welfare of the world.  Our devotion to service will attain the goal of life.  Do your work with the welfare of others in mind.
- Adapted from Stephen Cope

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds.  Your mind transcends limitation, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world.  Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”

- Patanjali

“Whatever you can do

Or dream you can. 

Begin it. 

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. 

BEGIN IT NOW.”

- Goethe

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Our Role, Our Purpose, Our Selves

Every one of us has a vocation to be someone.  We must understand that in order to fulfill this vocation

We can only be ourselves.

- Adapted from Thomas Merton

“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you: if you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you”

- Gospel of Thomas

By being here you are bringing forth what is within you.  I can see it in your eyes – I can see it in your hearts.

Ask yourself these questions:

Am I living fully now?

Am I sharing everything I can share?

Am I giving all I can give?

Am I doing all I can do?

We feel happiest and most fulfilled when meeting the challenge of bringing our sense of purpose into the world.

Fulfillment happens not by retreating from the world but by full engagement.

Who are the people around you (family, school, neighborhood) who are living their purpose?

“Each one of us matters, has a role to play, and makes a difference.”

- Jane Goodall

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Survival Through Cooperation

There are many references to biology that justifies an animalistic struggle for life. We have been taught that nature is competitive and selfish. Survival of the fittest is part of many biology and philosophy curriculum.

The reality in many minds and much of nature is survival through competition. The family of humanity has a long lineage of survival through cooperation. Empathy and connection are part of our DNA.

Making a Difference

Our time and our life is precious.  What are you investing your time and life in? When we are on purpose we are connected to something larger than ourselves. We are one with life.

What we do for anyone we do for everyone.

“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together.  All things connect.” - Chief Seattle

“We see the universe as a solid fact. God sees it as liquid law.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

We are all connected. Everything we do, every act we take, ripples like a stone in a pond.

We are part of an interconnected universe. Like millions of educators before us, we may never know what impact we have had on others. I am always humbled when someone thanks me for something I did or said 20 or 30 years ago. When we are on purpose, we touch lives. Know that every action you take is a pebble causing ripples in a pond.

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