The Ripple Revolution (tm)

Posts in category Making a difference

Finding the difference you feel called to make

June 23, 2017 Written by Curt Rosengren

If you want to make a difference in the world, there’s no shortage of opportunities. The world is jam packed with things that need to be changed, fixed, and improved.

The question is, what do you feel called to? What do you find compelling? What kind of positive impact would it energize and inspire you to work towards?

It can be a challenge to pull that kind of clarity out of thin air. One way to start exploring what you’re most drawn to is to start broad and narrow it down.

As you go through the list below, try this step-by-step process to help you start narrowing things down. If it helps, you can print out this Word document of the list and start by highlighting the things that catch your eye.

  1. Scan through the categories. (Don’t get overwhelmed. There’s a lot there. If it feels like too much, just scan through it a bit at a time.)
  2. Jot down any of the categories that speak to you. Don’t worry about finding The One at this point. Your goal here is just to start zeroing in on the kinds of things that appeal to you.
  3. Go through that list and pick up to five. Keep in mind that this isn’t an intellectual assessment of “what’s most important.” It’s a look at what calls to you most, what feels most compelling.
  4. Go through the list below each of the categories you chose and, again, make a list of which areas of focus speak to you most. (e.g., if human rights and social justice is one of the broad categories, you might realize that environmental justice and ethnic equality are the two areas you find most compelling).
  5. Alternatively, you can take the categories you have selected and do an online search on each of them like, “How do make a difference with human rights?”
  6. Compile the areas of focus that have come up in this exploration. It’s likely to still be too big and unwieldy to guide your efforts, but you have started to narrow it down to a much more relevant scope.
  7. Explore, explore, explore. Research the opportunities. Keep asking yourself, “What speaks to me most? What do I feel called to?” Don’t expect the angels to sing and hand you the answer from on high (though that might happen – who knows?). Instead, think of it as an evolution of clarity.

You can use the resulting clarity to guide your volunteer focus, or even the focus of your career if that’s the direction you feel called.

[Note: This list, originally from Paul Hawken’s fantastic book, Blessed Unrest, was on a now-defunct website called Wiser Earth as a way to organize a massive list of links to organizations that were working to make the world a better place. They were gracious enough to give me permission to post the list here.]

Category overview

  • Agriculture and Farming
  • Air
  • Animalia
  • Arts
  • Biodiversity
  • Business and Economics
  • Children and Youth
  • Civil Society Organizations: Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Entrepreneurs
  • Coastal and Marine Ecosystems
  • Community Development
  • Conservation
  • Cultural Heritage
  • Democracy and Voting
  • Ecology
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Fisheries
  • Food and Nourishment
  • Forestry
  • Global Climate Change
  • Globalization
  • Governance
  • Greening of Industry
  • Health
  • Human Rights and Social Justice
  • Indigenous People and Rights
  • Inland Water Ecosystems
  • Law, Policy and Property Rights
  • Media
  • Men
  • Mining
  • Peace, War and Security
  • Plants
  • Pollution
  • Population
  • Poverty Eradication
  • Religion, Ecology, and Sustainability
  • Seniors
  • Sustainable Cities
  • Sustainable Design
  • Sustainable Development
  • Technology
  • Terrestrial Ecosystems
  • Water
  • Women
  • Work

Agriculture and Farming

Agricultural Policy
Agricultural Water Conservation and Management
Agroecology
Biological Control
Composting
Farm Ecosystem Management
Gardening
Global Beef Industry
Livestock in Developing Nations
Organic Farming
Permaculture
Precision Farming
Rural Farming Communities
Soil Conservation and Management
Sustainable Agriculture
Sustainable Livestock Husbandry

Air

Acid Rain
Air Quality and Pollution
Indoor Air Quality
Ozone Layer

Animalia

Amphibians
Animal and Plant Trafficking
Animal Welfare and Rights
Artiodactyls
Bats
Birds
Canids
Cetaceans
Elephants
Endangered Animal Species Protection
Endemic Animal Species Protection
Felids
Fish
Insects
Lagomorphs
Lepidoptera
Marsupials
Mollusks and Crustaceans
Mustelids and Viverrids
Perissodactyls
Pinnipeds
Primates
Raptors
Reptiles
Rodents
Sirenians
Ursids
Wildlife Ecology
Wildlife Habitat Conservation
Wildlife Law and Policy
Wildlife Management

Arts

Art and Sculpture
Arts Activism
Arts Education
Arts Therapy
Literature
Performing Arts

Biodiversity

Biocultural Diversity
Biodiversity Conservation
Domesticated Animal Diversity
Domesticated Plant Conservation
Seed Conservation

Business and Economics

Business Firm and Organization Sustainability
Corporate Ethics
Ecological Economics
Ecosystem Services
Ecotourism
Environmental Accounting
Finance Policies and Institutions
Fiscal Policies, Institutions and Taxation
Green Banking and Insurance
Microcredit
Microfinance
Natural Capitalism
Responsible Business Practices
Socially Responsible Investment

Children and Youth

Child and Youth Protection
Child Labor
Children in Armed Conflict
Children’s Health
Juvenile Justice
Rights of the Child
Youth Capacity Building
Youth Education and Empowerment
Youth Leadership
Youth Participation
Youth-led Organizations

Civil Society Organizations: Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Entrepreneurs

Communication Training
Nonprofit Law
Organizational Funding
Organizational Governance
Organizational Support and Management
Philanthropy
Social Entrepreneurship
Training for Nonprofits

Coastal and Marine Ecosystems

Coastal and Marine Human Impacts
Coastal and Marine Invasive Species
Coastal and Marine Law and Policy
Coastal and Marine Pollution
Coastal Ecology
Coral Reef Conservation
Marine Ecology and Conservation

Community Development

Community Enterprise
Community Participation
Community Resources
Community Service/Volunteerism
Community Training
Dialogue, Deliberation and Consensus-Building
Fundraising
Leadership Training

Conservation

Conservation and Recreation
Conservation and the Commons
Conservation Area Creation
Conservation Area Protection
Conservation Biology
Conservation Policy
Land Restoration
Land Stewardship
Natural Heritage Conservation
Natural Resource Conservation
Practical Conservation
Wilderness

Cultural Heritage

Cultural Diversity
Cultural Heritage Conservation
Culture and Sustainability
Language Revitalization
Traditional Culture

Democracy and Voting

Democracy and Civil Society
Democracy Education
Democratic Participation
Democratic Reform
Fair Electoral Process

Ecology

Evolutionary Ecology
Fire Ecology
Landscape Ecology
Microbial Ecology
Molecular Ecology
Mycology
Pollination Ecology
Restoration Ecology
Soil Ecology

Education

Access To Education
Education, Government and Sustainability
Environmental Education
Environmental Resource Center
Green Schools
Literacy
Natural Resource Education
Public and Government Education
Sustainability Education

Energy

Alternative Fuels
Electric Power
Energy Efficiency and Conservation
Energy Flow in Ecosystems
Energy Policy
Energy Security and Sustainability
Nuclear Power
Renewable Energy
Sustainable Energy Development

Fisheries

Aquaculture
Aquarium Trade
Sustainable Fishing
World Marine Fisheries

Food and Nourishment

Food Aid
Food Literacy
Food Supply
Global Food Supply and Sustainability
Hunger and Food Security
Local Food Systems
Malnutrition, Diet, Disease, and Education

Forestry

Agroforestry
Certified Timber Harvesting
Forestry Law and Policy
Global Wood Products Industry
Logging
Plantations
Sustainable Forestry
Urban Forestry

Global Climate Change

Climate Change
Emissions Trading
Greenhouse Gases

Globalization

Currency Exchange
Fair Trade
Globalization Impacts
International Debt
Trade Balance
Transnational Corporations

Governance

Global Governance
Good Governance
Government Oversight and Reform
Institutional Accountability

Greening of Industry

Consumption and Green Consumers
Ecolabeling and Certification
Ecological Footprint
Environmental Monitoring
Industrial Ecology
Life Cycle Assessment
Natural Resource Management
Recycling and Reuse
Sustainable Production

Health

Alternative Medicine
Asthma
Cancer
Ecological Change and Emerging Diseases
Endocrine Disruptors
Environmental Health
Environmental Toxicology
Green Hospital Movement
Health Care Access
Health Education
HIV/AIDS
Infectious Diseases
Malaria
Medical Biotechnology
Pesticides
Public Health
Sanitation
Tuberculosis

Human Rights and Social Justice

Climate Justice
Disability Equality
Distributive and Economic Justice
Environmental Justice
Ethnic Equality
Human Rights and Civil Liberties
Human Rights and Natural Law
Human Rights Education
Human Rights Monitoring
Human Rights Protection
Human Trafficking and Slavery
Rights and Equality of LGBT
Social Justice Education

Indigenous People and Rights

Indigenous Lands
Indigenous People and Culture
Indigenous Rights

Inland Water Ecosystems

Inland Aquatic Ecosystems
Lakes and Ponds
Riparian Ecology and Conservation
River-Lake Ecology and Biodiversity
Rivers and Creeks
Wetlands

Law, Policy and Property Rights

Biological Patents
Conservation Easements
Crime and Policing
Environmental Law and Policy
International Humanitarian Law and War Crimes
Land Reform
Land Tenure
Land Trusts and Land Conservation
Land Use Policy
Law and Policy Reform
Legal Services and Representation
Precautionary Principle
Prison Reform and Policy
Property Rights (
Restorative Justice

Media

Advertising
Film
Internet
Journalism and the Press
Media and Communication
Photography
Publishing
Radio and Audio
Television
Video

Men

Male Circumcision
Men and Violence
Men’s Health

Mining

Fossil Fuels
Minerals Law and Policy
Mining and Refining Ores
Mountaintop Removal
Sustainable Minerals Industry

Peace, War and Security

Arms Trading
Conflict Resolution
Land and Naval Mines
Militarism and Violence
Military Disarmament
Nuclear Disarmament
Peace and Peace Building
Protected Areas, Individuals, Objects and Property
Weapons

Plants

Endangered Plant Species Protection
Endemic Plant Species Protection
Ethnobotany
Plant Ecology

Pollution

Chemical Pollution
Energy Pollution
Global Pollution
Hazardous Solid Waste
Light and Noise Pollution
Petroleum in the Environment
Pollution Prevention and Reduction
Pollution Remediation
Toxic and Hazardous Substances
Water Pollution

Population

Demographics
Family Planning
Global Migration
Human Population Growth and Impacts
Refugees, Internally Displaced Persons, and Migrants

Poverty Eradication

Affordable Housing
Crises and Disaster Aid
Poverty Alleviation
Squatter Communities
Sustainable Livelihoods

Religion, Ecology, and Sustainability

Ecopsychology
Environmental Ethics
Religion and Ecology
Sustainability, Religious and Spiritual Issues
Sustainable Living

Seniors

Senior Volunteerism and Mentoring
Seniors’ Health
Seniors’ Rights and Participation

Sustainable Cities

EcoVillages
Infrastructure
Sustainable Communities
Sustainable Transportation
Sustainable Urban and Regional Planning
Sustainable Urban Environmental Services
Sustainable Urban Power
Urban Communications
Urban Ecology
Urban Revitalization
Waste Management

Sustainable Design

Biomimicry
Green Roofs
Sustainable Building
Sustainable Materials

Sustainable Development

Biological Development
Economic Development
Rural Development
Social Development

Technology

Appropriate Technology
Biotechnology
Information and Communication Technology
Sustainability and Technology
Technology Transfer

Terrestrial Ecosystems

Deserts and Semi-deserts
Forest Ecology and Conservation
Grasslands and Savannas
Shrublands
Sparse Trees and Parklands
Temperate and Boreal Needleleaf Forests
Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests
Tropical Dry Forests
Tropical Moist Forests
Tundra

Water

Dams
Groundwater
Hydrology and the Global Water Cycle
Water and Energy
Water and Sustainable Development
Water Law and Policy
Water Quality and Health
Water Rights
Water Supply and Conservation
Watershed Management

Women

Female Genital Cutting
Gender Equality
Trafficking of Women
Women and the Environment
Women’s Civic Participation
Women’s Economic Development
Women’s Education
Women’s Health
Women’s Leadership
Women’s Rights
Women’s Safety from Violence
Women’s Vocational Training

Work

Employment
Global Labor
Informal Economy
Living Wages
Vocational Training
Worker Centers
Worker Health and Safety
Worker Rights

 

Be the change. Live the change. Make the change.

March 10, 2015 Written by Curt Rosengren

be the change live the change make the change

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how our inner lives affect our ability to make the world a better place. It’s an idea that is at the heart of the Ripple Revolution.

Typically when we think about making a difference, we have an external focus. “What action can I take? What change can I make in the world out there.” But that’s only part of the story.

As I have been pondering how to tell the whole story, these are the words that have been running through my mind:

Be the change.

Live the change.

Make the change.

Here’s what I mean with each of those, and how each of the areas connects with the Ripple Legacy you create (your Ripple Legacy is the cumulative impact of the choices you make and actions you take in your entire life, both immediate and those that ripple out).

Be the change.

There’s a quote attributed to Gandhi that encourages us to “Be the change you want to see in the world.” If you want to make the world a better place, that’s where it all starts.

As I describe it here, being the change is a simple concept. What you set in motion in the world reflects what is going on inside. Want to see more love in the world? You can start by cultivating that love within you (both for yourself and for the world around you). Want to see more peace? Develop more inner peace.

This isn’t some abstract foofy idea. It’s pure common sense.

You have probably already experienced this numerous times in your life. Ever felt cranky and discovered that your mood has had an impact on your interactions with people around you? Or maybe you have felt deeply peaceful and grounded and were able to navigate a crisis in a way that helped those around you feel more calm (or at least less panicked) as well.

Both of those are examples of “being a change.” In each of them, your inner state of being impacted the external state of affairs. The key is being the change that nudges things in the right direction.

Not only does being the change have an impact on the world around you, it also gives you a more solid foundation to stand on. You’re more able to be effective and more able to direct your energy in a positive, productive way.

Live the change.

Your Ripple Legacy doesn’t just come from the big things you do. Much of it – possibly most of it – comes from the way you show up day in and day out as you live your life.

The choices you make and the actions you take day after day have an impact on the world around you. Sometimes that impact is positive, other times it’s negative. The more your inner world reflects the impact you want to have on the outer world (the more you can be the change), the more likely those choices and actions will have a positive impact (the more you will live the change).

Living the change doesn’t have to be big and dramatic. Often it’s the small things. For example:

  • Being deeply present for a conversation with a loved one.
  • Stopping and talking with a homeless guy, treating him like an equal.
  • Returning a lost wallet.
  • Giving another driver space to merge in front of you.
  • Paying a stranger a sincere compliment.
  • Telling someone you believe in them.
  • Letting the person with just a couple things to buy go ahead of you in the grocery store line, even though you were there first.
  • When you go shopping, asking, “What impact does this product have? Is that something I want to support?” and making choices accordingly.

There is no shortage of ways to live the change. And the more you look for opportunities, the more you’re like to find them.

Make the change.

This is what most people think of when they  talk about making a difference. It’s the proactive, results-focused aspect of your efforts to make the world a better place.

This is where the volunteer work happens. It’s where the clothing drive for the homeless that you instigate takes place, and where that project you have been noodling aimed at funding educational opportunities for women in poverty unfolds. It’s where social entrepreneurs leave their mark.

Here again, being the change looms large. The more you are coming from a place of inner peace, the more you are living an internal life of openness, love, and connection, the more that impacts the work you do. The more peace you feel inside, the more sustainable any work you do is for the long-term, and the easier it is to navigate the challenges without letting them weigh you down.

Try this: 

Sit down with a pen and paper and take stock of your life in each of these categories.

Be the change: How am I already being the change (e.g., treating yourself with compassion, or having a committed grounding practice like meditation)? What could I do to be the change more?

Live the change: How am I already living the change? What could I do to live the change more?

Make the change: How am I already making the change? What could I do to make the change more?

The goal is to get more clarity as a place to start, not to assess whether or not you’re doing enough in any of the areas. To the degree you can, approach it with a sense of curiosity, rather than judgment.

Pick one thing from each of those categories and start experimenting with it. See what impact it has, whether that is on your inner life or the world outside.

–

Join the Ripple Revolution TM

Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM

Time for a career change? Start with
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Heart-based living, Personal development, Taking action

Want to change the world? Watch what you feed your mind.

February 26, 2015 Written by Curt Rosengren

you are what you eat

Want to change the world? Start with what you choose to feed your mind! The input you give it shapes how you see the world. And how you see the world has a big impact on what you see as possible, and by extension the choices you make and the actions you take.

So if you want to change the world, it just makes good sense to feed your mind brainfood that leaves you feeling positive and inspired about the possibilities.

You are what you eat (and so is your mind!)

I just ran across an article that mentions research that supports the connection between what a person feeds their mind and their likeliness to take action to make the world a better place:

“In a study I carried out at the University of Pennsylvania, different versions of the same news story were tested on a sample of 710 people. It found that the classical negative news story left people feeling hopeless and passive.

In contrast, articles with a constructive peak midway and a hopeful ending was deemed good reporting and left readers feeling informed. The data overall suggested that readers of the more positive article were left with more energy to engage and take action.

A growing body of research points to the same finding. This year researchers at the University of Texas, Austin released a study in which a solution-based ending was applied to classic news articles reporting on homelessness in the US, mental struggles for US school children and living conditions for poor people in India. Across the board readers reported higher levels of inspiration, a desire to learn more about the issue and higher levels of engagement when it came to sharing, commenting and discussing the issue.”

So if you want to show up in a way that maximizes the impact you can make, it makes sense to ask, “How does what I’m pouring into my brain make me feel? What impact does it have on me? What effect does it have on my desire to and belief in my ability to make a change?”

Stop cultivating learned helplessness

There’s a psychological term called “learned helplessness.” The simplest way to describe it is a learned feeling of, “It doesn’t matter what I do. Nothing is going to change.”

An experiment done a few decades ago demonstrated the effect of learned helplessness. I won’t go into all the details (they’re not pretty), but it involved electrifying increasing portions of the floor of rats’ cages until there was no place they could retreat to. When they learned that couldn’t escape it, they gave up.

Reading about the research on how we respond to the news, it occurs to me that something similar (if less obviously horrific) can happen to us as we watch the news.

In general, the news is high on tragedy and turmoil, low on solutions. If that makes up most of what we’re exposed to, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to imagine what effect that has on our energy and inclination towards taking action.

If you want to change the world, change what you feed your mind. If you want to explore news alternatives to the standard toxic fare, check out this list of positive news sources to nourish your mind.

–

Join the Ripple Revolution TM

Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM

Time for a career change? Start with
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Energize your life, Taking action, Uncategorized

What is your gift to give?

February 24, 2015 Written by Curt Rosengren

gift box

As I write this, a friend of mine is in surgery receiving a new kidney. The kidney was donated by a friend of hers from high school.

On her friend’s Facebook page, I saw a post from a couple weeks ago that said, in part: “I’ve long embraced volunteer vacations…In this same spirit, in less than two weeks I am donating a kidney to [my friend from high school]. This is a personal challenge to test what I’m made of, and an opportunity to share my good fortune (health) with another.”

I’m feeling completely inspired by that (not to mention a little in awe).

One of the reasons I’m inspired is the obvious. Donating a kidney? Wow!

But another part – a big part – is simply the spirit in which she is doing it.

I look at her, and I see someone who regularly asks the question, “What is my gift to give?” I would be willing to bet that that approach filters down to the small everyday things as well.

I’m not writing this post because I think we should all jump up and be kidney donors. Making the energy this gift has the potential to inspire about doing something huge like donating an organ is a great way to minimize its impact.

But if that question is expanded to include not just the big and dramatic, but also our everyday living as well, the ripples it has the potential to create are legion.

“What is my gift to give?”

That one simple question has the potential to change our lives, and the world around us.

Maybe that gift is volunteering. Maybe the gift is giving our complete and undivided attention to a loved one. Maybe it looks like being a catalyst for neighborhood community-building. Maybe it looks like showing up with peace and equanimity when someone is frayed and frazzled. Maybe it’s simply a sincere compliment. Sometimes the best gift might even be stepping back and taking care of ourselves.

There is no shortage of gifts to give. Each moment, each interaction, each new situation brings with it an opportunity to ask that question. 

And the more you ask the question, the more potential gifts you’ll see.

Ripple Experiment: Try this. For the next week, as often as you can remember, ask, “What is my gift here? What can I contribute? How can I help?”

Then, when it’s possible and appropriate, give the gift. Explore what it’s like to give the gift just because that’s what you do, not because you’re looking for any kind of recognition or validation. See how it feels to live a week of your life looking for the gift. See what effect it has on how you experience your days.

My last post, How to recognize more daily-life opportunities to change the world, might be a good place to start priming the pump for recognizing opportunities.

If you decide to do the experiment, come back and share how it went. We would all love to know.

–

Join the Ripple Revolution TM

Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM

Time for a career change? Start with
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How to make your work more meaningful

October 2, 2014 Written by Curt Rosengren

One of the key ideas underlying the Ripple Revolution is that it’s not just about giving and giving until you burn out. It’s about creating an ecosystem in your life that feeds and energizes you as well.

Most of us spend a huge amount of our lives at work. Given that, it makes sense to take a specific look at how to make that a conscious part of the ecosystem we cultivate.

Over on my Wild About Work blog, I recently wrote a series on how to make your work more meaningful. The series starts by exploring the basic question, “What is meaning?” The answer to that is the foundation for exploring a variety of ways to experience a greater sense of meaning in your work.

Meaning is one of those squirrelly ideas that can have as many definitions as people you ask, so I came up with a simple, flexible definition that takes that into account:

Meaning = Work that matters (and YOU decide what matters!)

Really, it’s as simple as that. From there, the series explores a variety of ways that work might matter that you can explore to bring more meaning into the picture. Each of these areas has one or more blog posts diving deeper into the opportunities to experience more meaning.

  1. Know thyself: Practice the art of internal awareness
  2. Know thy world: Practice the art of external awareness
  3. Find the difference you’re making
  4. Find a difference to make
  5. Cultivate relationships and community
  6. Look for learning and growth
  7. Put it in the context of a big picture vision
  8. Shape your perspective
  9. Make your work a spiritual practice
  10. Make your work an authentic expression
  11. Find the meaning – all day, every day
  12. Recognize what your work facilitates

The key in unlocking the door to the fullest feeling of meaning your work has to offer is a shift from looking for meaningful work to looking for ways to experience meaning at work.

The first is an either/or affair. Either you have a job that feels obviously meaningful or you don’t. The second offers a bazillion opportunities to recognize and take hold of ways to experience meaning, regardless of your actual job.

–-

Join the Ripple Revolution TM

Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM

Time for a career change? Start with
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Energize your career, Heart-based living

22 inspiring acts of kindness

February 20, 2014 Written by Curt Rosengren

Part of living a Ripple Revolutionary life is consciously choosing what you put into your mind. The “mind food” you consume (what you read, what you watch, the conversations you have, etc.) all work to create the lens through which you see the world.

If you want a positive view of the world, it stands to reason that most of the mind food you consume should be positive. To give your mind a positive snack, check out this article on 22 Inspiring Acts of Kindness That No One Ever Talks About.

Next time you start to feel down on the human race (easy to do if you spend too much time consuming the news media), remind yourself that things like this, acts of kindness big and small, are going on all the time.

Better yet, make it a policy to look for opportunities every day to do your own acts of kindness. You might be surprised where it takes you, and how it makes you feel.

–

Join the Ripple Revolution TM

Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM

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Heart-based living
,

Inspiration Sunday: Street compliments

February 16, 2014 Written by Curt Rosengren

The aim of my Inspiration Sunday posts is to shine a light on the positive and inspiring people who are all around us if we take the time to look.

Typically, the videos are about people making the world a better place, overcoming great obstacles, or finding ways to live a more heart-based life. Today’s video is more about the change-the-world superpower we each have readily available to us – giving honest, genuine, heart-felt compliments.

Try this: Try a compliment experiment. Make a list of people in your life – friends, family, co-workers, etc. – you think would appreciate hearing what you really think of them.

Over the next 30 days, reach out to as many of them as possible, explain to them what you’re doing, and ask them to simply receive what you have to say.

How does it make you feel? If you like this one, you might also like the gratitude experiment idea I posted a couple weeks ago.

–

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Energize your life, Heart-based living, Inspiration Sunday
,

Inspiration Sunday: Sir Nicholas Winton’s children

February 9, 2014 Written by Curt Rosengren

Today’s Inspiration Sunday video isn’t new news, but it’s no less inspiring. Every time I see the first video below, my eyes start leaking.

In 1938 Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, Nicholas Winton set an effort in motion that resulted in the lives of 669 Jewish children saved.

The first video is from a 1988 TV show where he meets some of those children for the first time, fifty years on. The second video is a trailer from the 2011 documentary film Nicky’s Family.

I love his quote from the trailer: “I have a motto that if something isn’t blatantly impossible, there must be a way of doing it.”

–

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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM

Inspiration Sunday
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What would your Last-Days Legacy be?

February 3, 2014 Written by Curt Rosengren

On Friday my colleague, fellow blogger, and journalist Judy Martin died unexpectedly at age 49. I didn’t know her well, but had the pleasure of a few phone conversations with her over the years. I loved both her heart and her focus on helping people.

When I heard the news, I started thinking about the contribution she had made with her life. I looked through her recent blog posts at WorkLife Nation and her tweets. Her death gave them a whole new context. They created, in part, the positive legacy of her last days.

That got me thinking about the idea of a “last-days legacy.”

Put simply, if I died today, what would the legacy of the last week of my life be?

While it was Judy’s social media presence that prompted the idea, it really applies 360 degrees in life. The legacy could come from the love you expressed, or the random compliments you gave, or the patience and understanding you showed. It could come from a random act of kindness, or an insight shared.

Life unfolds in the here and now. Thinking about a last-days legacy is a way to keep an ongoing awareness of whether or not how we’re showing up is aligned with what’s truly important to us.

If you look back at the last week, what would your last-days legacy be? Is it a legacy you would feel satisfied leaving?

Thinking about a last-days legacy isn’t about the big impact you make. It’s about how you choose to show up, day in and day out.

Try this: For the next couple weeks, try checking in with this idea every day. At the end of the day, scan back through the day to see how the day unfolded. Think of it in terms of your last-days legacy. Was it aligned with the legacy you would want to leave?

Now, realistically I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect that you’ll really live full tilt as though this week is the last you have on the planet. But checking in like this and using the last-days legacy idea can help steer you in that direction.

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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM

Heart-based living
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Inspiration Sunday: Serving Life

February 2, 2014 Written by Curt Rosengren

It’s Sunday, and that means it’s time for another link to a video that shines a light on what’s good and inspiring in the world. Today’s link is a powerful documentary called Serving Life about a hospice program in Louisiana’s Angola prison. Here’s a snippet from a description of the film:

With prison sentences so long, 85 percent will never again live in the outside world.  Instead, they will grow old and die in Angola.  “Serving Life” documents an extraordinary hospice program where hardened criminals care for their dying fellow inmates.  In doing so, they embark on a journey that may end in personal rehabilitation. ” ‘Serving Life’ reveals the humanity that exists inside each and every one of us,” said Whitaker. “In the Angola prison’s hospice, we meet inmates who decide to take an opportunity for redemption, reminding us of the connection that exists between each and every human being.”

Three prominent themes that run through the Ripple Revolution idea are Love, Compassion & Service. This film shines a light on the power of bringing those more fully into our lives, whoever we are, whatever our situation.

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Join the Ripple Revolution TM

Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM

Inspiration Sunday
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