What’s in your hand?

Is their anything worse than having a great idea, or several, and not having the resources to make it happen? When a good idea comes to light and we are not able to immediately put it into action we can often take what was a good idea and turn negative. I’m not talking about all idea’s here; I’m talking about the ones that require some vision and faith.

It’s not a secret that as the economy has contracted as have the budgets. Projects, both large and small, have all been impacted.

What has been extraordinarily refreshing is how many organizations have really stepped up and used resources (not money) that they’ve had all along. I’m talking about people.

Recently, I approached some people with some very basic ideas and before the first sentence could be completed the excuses about LACK came at me faster than anything that I’ve ever experienced in my life. “We don’t” was the focus of the conversation coming back to me. It was shocking to hear the defeatist attitude. Trust me money is valuable but there is more to success than just throwing money at things.

I have heard this on several occasions and it’s a classic, “We will always have more vision than resources”. Think about that for a minute…. this is very logical. Who wants to be so engrossed in the now that there is no room to grow and dream?

So my question is this…What’s in your hand? Are the resources you need already in front of you? Double check and you might just find that what you have been in need of, has already been provided.

Who, are you??

As we go thru life we find out alot about ourselves. We find our strengths, weaknesses, passions, likes, dislikes and the list goes on and on. Something that struck me as “misguided” was the show “Whale Wars". As you watch this show you realize just how passionate these volunteers are for a cause they deeply believe in, to end commercial whaling, to the point of risking their lives (on a seemly daily basis).
As we watch with fascination as to how the show unfolds and what tactic the “Sea Shepherds” will come up with next to deter the Japanese whaling fleet, it is evident they have a “whatever it takes” attitude. The Captain has stated in every episode I can recall, “we are willing to risk the lives of the crew to save whales”.
I totally support the “whatever it takes” attitude and love passionate people but we’re talking about risking human life for some over grown sushi. Now that may raise some eyebrows but it’s the truth. So naturally I asked myself, what would happen if we took the passion of the “Sea Shepherds” and used it for something that made a real difference.
I may be misinformed here but I am pretty confident that there are people in your neighborhood, town, city, county and state that need help. I am not sure why we are always looking at some big global way to help someone or for the next “cause” when the greatest cause we may be a part of is right in front of us.
Why is it that we always seem to be willing to go the extra mile AFTER something happens, why can’t we already be there WHEN something happens? (Katrina/Haiti/Nashville Floods).
So I ask…Who, are you? Are you a responder after something happens or are you already helping? Are you fighting for a cause that is going to make a difference long after your gone? Are you fighting for something that will have an impact on your children’s children? We need to focus on what really matters, so what matters to you and just exactly…Who, are you?