Archive for the ‘Benevolence’ Category

Follow the right ANTS

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Destroy those automatic negative thoughts (ANTS) for good brain health, suggests Daniel Amen, a prominent psychiatrist who specializes in ADHD. ANTS have the power to keep good from happening. They can enslave you.

How many times have you had the urge to do something good, offer an idea toward improvement only to cringe back by the force of an ANT?

  • I should not bother trying, I won’t succeed.
  • That has never been done before, what makes me think I can be the one to do it now.
  • I don’t have what it takes to make a change.
  • Nobody will listen to me.
  • There is too much to do; what I do cannot make a difference.
  • Its going to be too hard to do it.
  • What I do does not matter.
  • I do not matter.

Ants, the small six-legged creatures that form large superorganisms, show us how big feats can be realized. These amazing creatures communicate constantly through ferimones. They can problem solve with an immediate capacity to adjust a plan. They fulfill their respective roles and are able to achieve amazing accomplishments by their collaborative efforts. Their tightly integrated colonies are rare in the scope of evolution according to Edward O. Wilson, Harvard biologist.

What if rather than give way to ANTS, we communicated our ideas to others and followed the way of ants? What might happen? What ANTS might dissolve so that our idea might find a next step to being realized?

For further study, read essays or view videos on Edward Wilson’s site.

The Call to Care is In Our Bones

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

I was struck by an interview with a Boston orthopedic surgeon who recently returned from Haiti. This surgeon conducted over 30 amputations in 11 days. He said the intensity was beyond description. Children had to lose limbs because untreated fractures brought on infection that deadened muscle.

This surgeon said he and a clinical “band of brothers” maintained perspective and energy by laughing and crying together. They bonded like family. They are one reason he would return to help more. The other reason is that the need is going to be great for a very long time.Girl with fractured nose

Another Boston surgeon shares about his experience in Haiti.

‘…being in an environment like that, experiencing just pure suffering — people with no food, no water, a broken leg — but also experiencing the amazing humanity of a child who is living in a refugee camp, maybe lost their mother and/or father, but yet has the gumption to take a plastic trash bag, make it into a kite and fly it over their camp, running along the edge of raw sewage.

You get the sense of how horrible things are, but then you get the sense that somehow it will turn out OK. That’s something that I hope to keep within me that I think will make me a richer person.” ‘

Will he go back? Yes, he said will probably go back.

Listen here or read for more

Turkey’s Changemakers

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

turkeys-changemakersA 32-part series on people bringing goodness to the four corners of Turkey. It is always inspiring to learn how people are rallying talent on behalf of others.

Turkey’s Changemakers Episode 1