Have you ever had one of those experiences where you knew your life would be changed forever? Have you ever been at a point in your life where you had no hope; where it seemed like the world was on your back? Have you ever felt like you made a decision you would never recover from? Were any of those decisions in your youth? Is there someone that touched your life in a positive way and helped you to get past the mistakes and errs of the past? Has there been someone in your life who invested in you by building your self-esteem, loving you when you seemed unlovable and when the odds were against you?
Have you ever taken the time to help someone along the way; purchased a meal, provided clothes, gave a ride? Have you ever felt compassionate about a situation a friend or family member was in? Were you ever moved to give your last to help someone in need? Have you ever thought about using your experience to help others? Have you ever thought about the fact that YOU can make a difference in someone’s life?
Do you believe you were born to help others? Do you believe that you are gifted to reach a saddened or troubled soul? Do you believe that people just want to be loved and heard? They want an opportunity to do better or be better than they are?
I put it to you today, that our world is full of hurting people. Our world is full of people who feel unwanted, unloved and unworthy. Sadly, a lot of these people are innocent children who were born into bad situations and as a result, never experienced affirmations, love, support and proper guidance. Think about it. What is the probability of a child born into those circumstances exceeding? And if they do exceed, consider the reasons why? I am certain one of those reasons would be because someone poured into their lives. Someone took the time to teach them to love themselves. Someone helped them nurture their talents. Someone took the time to show them love. Someone believed in them.
Have you ever judged a child or teenager that was acting out or scorned a young teenage girl that seemed promiscuous? Have you ever bad mouth a young boy involved in gang activity? Have you ever wished you could make a difference in their lives? Do you consider yourself a leader?
Leadership is about developing others; it is a selfless act of meeting a person where they are and taking them where they want to go. Leadership is about people; valuing them, helping them, coaching them and developing them. Our societies need leaders who want to grow leaders. Our societies need leaders who care about people. Our societies need leaders who are willing to invest in others specifically invest in the next generation of leaders. Leadership is about succession and we have to work feverishly to build leaders capable of taking us to the next level. Our societies need leaders who are willing to do more than talk. Leaders who are willing to ACT!
Are you willing to act? Do you want to be a part of something greater than yourself? Will you take the challenge to mold, build, develop, coach and guide the youth and future leaders of our country? Are you willing to do more than talk the talk? Are you willing to invest your time, energy and resources in changing at least one life? Hopefully there are leaders everywhere willing to take up the challenge of improving the life of a child. Hopefully there are leaders everywhere willing to get involved in causes greater than themselves; greater than anything that only brings financial gain to them.
Think about it. Think about it seriously. Overcome your excuses and pledge to make a difference. This is a call to action………. We MUST and we SHOULD save the nation’s youth.
Tip of the week: The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow – invest in them, nurture and support them, build their self-worth and self-esteem.
To find out about The Transitions Mentoring Team, please email transitions@duquesadean.com. Ladies and gentlemen – The time to ACT is here!