As we enter "mid week" here throughout #Outsiders, our team was reflecting upon a "View of the Week". Part of what we've noted has been something simple yet crucial: Anything is possible and a sense of hope must be with us always and to paraphrase the Dalai Lama, to be Happy. Our team decided to "call up" one of the periodic updates we received from the team at +Give More that underscores a need to be hopeful ever more. This is ever so evident in South County in many ways as we leave you all with this:
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| For me ... until her passing yesterday ... she was just a poet that had an opportunity to share her words at Bill Clinton's presidential inauguration in 1993... Her parents divorced when she was 3. She was raped by her mother's boyfriend at age 7. At 17, she was a single mother. In her 20's, she was a shake dancer in a nightclub, a prostitute, a cook, and ran a brothel. Had I met her at that point, I'm guessing I'd have felt sorry for her and maybe a little judgmental at the same time. I'm pretty certain I'd never have bet on her as someone who would go on to have such an incredibly positive influence on so many people during her life ... and following her life. She went on to be a singer, an actor, a civil rights activist (worked with Malcolm X and Martin Luther King), a college professor, a writer, a speaker, and ... a poet. She also won the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian honor in the United States). Next time I'm feeling judgmental (at work or in life) or a little down about something or feeling some past action (something I've done or something someone else has done) will make it difficult to keep moving forward ... contributing something positive to the world ... making good things happen ... next time ... I've got a new hero. Rest in peace, Maya Angelou. Nice work! Sam (the guy behind this stuff) |
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