You’re staring at a plate of eggs and bacon for breakfast. Who gave more? The chicken made a contribution (eggs) but the pig made a commitment (bacon).
What does your commitment look like? Is it a mere contribution that doesn’t cost you much or are you fully committed?
A lot is said about the approach certain generations have toward jobs, goals, and life. You may have started a project and found out the process is more involved than originally thought. What do you do?
Mother Teresa.21st July 1965 Ref: B196_095069_0407 Date: 27.01.2000 Compulsory Credit: UPPA/Photoshot (Newscom TagID: ptsphotoshottwo844706.jpg) [Photo via Newscom]
Born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, Agnes (Anglican pronunciation) was better known as Mother Teresa. She began her ministry in India on this day in 1929.
When Eastern Europe began opening its borders and ideologies, Teresa expanded her efforts into Communist countries that once rejected her and the teachings she represented. Her Missionaries of Charity are now represented in all four corners of the globe.
She didn’t give up on her mission. Neither should you.
Today is the anniversary of the death of our 30th President, Calvin Coolidge.
President Coolidge was described as a champion of the middle class and was influenced by a college philosophy professor, Charles Edward Garman. He summed up his professor’s teaching by saying “The only hope of perfecting human relationships is in accordance with the law of service under which men are not so solicitous about what they shall get as they are about what they shall give.”
Today, and going forward, it is my hope that we all serve with a purpose that doesn’t focus on what we get in return but about giving with a humble heart.
Trivia: Although 3 presidents died on July 4 (John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe), Coolidge was the only president born on the anniversary of our independence.
Franklin Roosevelt’s Gubernatorial portrait via Wikimedia Commons
The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis was founded on this day in 1938. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (a victim of polio himself) established this non-profit organization to combat the epidemic mostly affecting infants and children, resulting in paralysis and death.
It is now better known by its name as the March of Dimes. On a joke, comedian Eddie Cantor suggested that people mail their dimes to the White House as a way to support their efforts. And the name has stuck ever since.
The foundation was charged to find the cause and develop a cure for polio, a feat it accomplished in 1955. Dr. Jonas Salk is now a household name associated with the successful polio vaccine.
So the next time you are asked to contribute to a cause that is legitimately trying to end a disease, give. Even if it’s only a dime.
King George II of Great Britain (Portrait by Thomas Hudson)
Today marks the anniversary of when Georgia ratified the US Constitution in 1788, becoming the 4th state to do so. Named as a tribute to King George II of Great Britain, Georgia was established as an agrarian society envisioned by its founder James Edward Oglethorpe.
Since then, Georgia has grown and developed into an economic and cultural powerhouse due in part to the climate. And I’m not just speaking of temperatures.
A quick internet search of Georgia’s climate shows a “humid subtropical climate with most of the state having short, mild winters and long, hot summers.” (Wikipedia)
While weather has been favorable, a lot of Georgia’s success can be attributed to Oglethorpe and his plan which included a vision of social equity and civic virtue. The layout of Savannah is heralded today almost 300 years later as one of the finest diagrams for city organization and growth.
How is the climate for your plans? Do you have a vision like that of Oglethorpe? You should be able to see your vision and keep that in perspective as you work toward making it a reality.
