Today I am grateful for entrepreneurial
friends and family, TED talks, and Rivers and Revolutions.
One of my favorite activities in
creating my In the Gap
program is talking to different family, friends, colleagues, experts and
acquaintances about their ideas. My friend John Boynton
said, “Your mission is going to change a little bit each day.” Many friends, too numerous to count, have said, "Focus. Focus. Focus," and my friend Revell Horsey
wrote in response to my Teens and
Technology blog entry,
"Thank you for sharing the Michael Mulligan article and your response. I agree with much of what Michael says although I think the key question that young people (and old!) need to ask themselves is "Why?" Why am I doing what I am doing? The "Why" leads to the meaning of purpose in life. We are almost maniacally focused on What we do rather than Why we do. When I work with social entrepreneurs the point of departure for me is to ask them to describe the Purpose of their organization. Almost without fail they launch into a response that describes What they do, but not Why the do it. Simon Sinek gave a Ted talk a few years ago on the importance of Purpose which is one of the top 10 views Ted talks."
"Thank you for sharing the Michael Mulligan article and your response. I agree with much of what Michael says although I think the key question that young people (and old!) need to ask themselves is "Why?" Why am I doing what I am doing? The "Why" leads to the meaning of purpose in life. We are almost maniacally focused on What we do rather than Why we do. When I work with social entrepreneurs the point of departure for me is to ask them to describe the Purpose of their organization. Almost without fail they launch into a response that describes What they do, but not Why the do it. Simon Sinek gave a Ted talk a few years ago on the importance of Purpose which is one of the top 10 views Ted talks."
As I watched Simon speak again, for I’ve seen this talk with Paul Caliandro (another entrepreneurial friend) many times, I realized that I had not asked myself this question, “Susan, why are you doing what you’re doing?” In his talk, Simon says briefly, “Why do you get out of bed in the morning?” But then I think, “How do I get out of bed in the morning?” and what does this say about why I do what I do? Do I jump up, ready to greet the day, ready to engage in all that life has to offer? Or, do I lie in bed, hitting the snooze button and going back to sleep until the last moment possible, in avoidance of what’s to come? These seem like two extremes, which they are, and they are the two extremes I have seen in myself at different stages in my life, and it is what I’ve seen with my daughter.
Traditional school has not been easy for her, but she’s persevered through some difficult times, always staying the course. When she started Rivers and Revolutions this past September, I expected her to enjoy it, but I did not anticipate the manner in which she would greet the day. She gets up each morning, happy to get out of bed at 6:15 am, and engage in what I’ve termed, the Rivers Way. I’m sure Michael Goodwin has been asked why he does what he does, why he created the Rivers and Revolutions experience the way that he did. And like the title of the TED Talk, "How Great Leaders Inspire Action," Michael follows Simon's successful model from the Why to the How to the What, from the Inside Out.
Which leads me to my question, why do I do what I do? Why do I jump out of bed in the morning? Why do I want to help kids find their passions? Why do I want kids to think about why they do what they do? It circles back once again to the Howard Thurman quotation, "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." So, in thinking about coming alive, isn't that what happens when you wake up and jump out of bed in the morning to greet the day? Haven't you woken up to come alive?
Thus why do I do what I do? I do what I do because I want to inspire teens and 20s, the Millennials, to find their passions and come alive. From there everything else will follow (with some direction and discipline). They will find life worthwhile and meaningful, so much so that they anticipate what is to come in their future. But not only that, they want to make the world a better place. They want to make a difference. They dare to disturb their universe (TS Eliot). At least that is my intention, and I've studied quantum physics enough to know that our thoughts really do help create our reality. We can believe it to see it. I am so grateful for wanting to jump out of bed each morning (and life hasn't always been like this for me) because this Present moment Passionate Purpose makes me feel alive.
Thus why do I do what I do? I do what I do because I want to inspire teens and 20s, the Millennials, to find their passions and come alive. From there everything else will follow (with some direction and discipline). They will find life worthwhile and meaningful, so much so that they anticipate what is to come in their future. But not only that, they want to make the world a better place. They want to make a difference. They dare to disturb their universe (TS Eliot). At least that is my intention, and I've studied quantum physics enough to know that our thoughts really do help create our reality. We can believe it to see it. I am so grateful for wanting to jump out of bed each morning (and life hasn't always been like this for me) because this Present moment Passionate Purpose makes me feel alive.
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