Engage And Reach Out Rather Than Judge And Quit...
Allow me to share with you a beautiful story. A dear friend of mine was invited to a graduation ceremony, a very special ceremony. . Five years ago The American School in Alexandria started a summer school program, a unique program. The school is in Schutz, a neighborhood that is regarded as a "ghetto"by a lot of Alexandrians.
Many wondered why this prestigious school was still operating from Schutz? When the head master was asked this question, he replied that they feel loved, safe and welcomed, so why move just because the area badly deteriorated?
Now back to the summer school program: the school decided to create this program for the under privileged kids of this neighbourhood. They reached out to the public schools in Schutz, chose the best 10 students from each school and found sponsors for the program. For the last five years, these kids attended the summer school at the American school. This year, the first class graduated, and the program is on going. My friend was super impressed at the levels of their newly acquired skills.
This is a great example of the power of our thoughts. Here we have the situation: the school and its location.
A Thought: based on mere judgment, this is an under previliged area, Emotion is formed based on this thought, feeling not comfortable in this location, next is Action; relocate and quit. Result: Create more separation!
Lets take a moment and look into what the American School did.
A different Thought: based on awareness and a sense of responsibility, how can we help? Emotion: compassion, Action; create the program, Result: inclusion, connection and embrace the community .
Judgment leads to separation. Compassion leads to maintaining the universal law of connection.
This is an invitation to pause and question your thoughts.
If you want to change the world, start with one soul at a time, start with your own soul. To change our selves we simply need to change our mindset.
We need to follow mother Teresa’s advice on drawing bigger circles, “the problem with our world is that we draw the circles of our family too small”. We need to change our mindset toward the boundaries of our family; we need to stretch these boundaries. Start by the ones we exiled from our own circle, the ones we disagreed with, the ones we judged, the ones we threw out of our circle. Question your thoughts, engage and include.
THANK YOU AMERICAN SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA
Looking forward for more inclusion from other entities to help create a safer, a more loving and welcoming enviroment!
P.S. I am super excited to be going to Alexandria on July 27 to give a talk at the Rotary Club entitled "The Power Of Our Thoughts”