I tell wonder-filled stories about hope and healing
We’ve got big problems in this world. Some of them are so big that they can make us feel small, but we have to fight that impulse. We are more powerful than we realize.
We are living in times when we can broadcast our message and our efforts cheaper and easier than ever before thanks to technology. Our ability to help others is now limitless and free. We can all do something, no matter where we are.
Take advantage of it. Be an advocate for the causes you care about. The world needs you now.
I’m doing a lot of thinking about Compass Yoga‘s direction these days. I’m proud of what we’ve built. I’m overjoyed that we help over 200 people every week thanks to a band of dedicated and loving teachers. However, I’m never satisfied. I always want to do more. I want to reach more people, provide more healing, and expand our capabilities.
I am deeply affected by the aftermath of the natural disasters our nation has faced in the past few years. I’ve daydreamed about a way for Compass Yoga to help. I’ve toyed with yoga fundraisers and donation-based classes to benefit victims, though that impact seems miniscule compared to the need that these disasters create. Additionally, there are so many other ways to give that are more efficient and have wider reach. The innovation to text a donation via our cell phones is brilliant, and I use it often.
When President Obama gave his remarks just after the Oklahoma tornado last week, a lightbulb went off. He said, “So the people of Moore should know that their country will remain on the ground, there for them, beside them as long as it takes. For there are homes and schools to rebuild, businesses and hospitals to reopen, there are parents to console, first responders to comfort, and, of course, frightened children who will need our continued love and attention.”
His words reignited an idea I had when a deadly tornado hit Joplin, Missouri in 2011. I didn’t want to provide yoga to people in Joplin. That’s not what they immediately needed. They needed the love, care, compassion, and concern that shines in the heart of every yogi everywhere. What we need is a way to harness that love, distill it, and provide it as comfort for people who have lost so much in these disasters. I know that feeling and it is terrifying and isolating.
We have a lot of wonderful organizations that provide basic needs – food, shelter, healthcare. In addition to that work, they also need to be the emotional support for the people they help. This latter responsibility could use assistance from other groups, providing the compassion for these people, giving them someone to talk to, someone whose sole role is to stand with them until they can stand on their own again. Who could do that work? Who could own that mission?
And there it was in President Obama’s quote. We need to do it, to provide comfort to first responders, love, attention, and consolation to those who are frightened. With technology, Compass Yoga could do it. We could live up to our name and guide people along their personal paths to recovery. Yogis are everywhere, in every community. They want to help. Let’s give them a way to put their hearts where the need is. Let’s solve this.
“So the people of Moore should know that their country will remain on the ground, there for them, beside them as long as it takes. For there are homes and schools to rebuild, businesses and hospitals to reopen, there are parents to console, first responders to comfort, and, of course, frightened children who will need our continued love and attention.” ~ President Obama speaking on the disaster in Oklahoma
It is painful to watch a tragedy from a distance. We don’t need to feel helpless nor hopeless watching the news coverage about the Oklahoma tornado that has leveled entire neighborhoods and claimed dozens of lives. CBS News has put together a list of resources that are on the ground offering much needed support, assistance, and guidance during this terrible time.
As the death toll rises for the massive tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma Monday afternoon, some well-known relief agencies are jumping into action. Here is a quick list of some of the agencies that are providing aid, and how you can help.
DonorsChoose.org
Here is the Donors Choose link to help teachers and students in Moore rebuild. Find them on Twitter: @DonorsChoose
http://www.donorschoose.org/okschools
The Salvation Army
Here is a link to donate for the Salvation Army’s tornado relief in Oklahoma
https://donate.salvationarmyusa.org/uss/eds/aok
The Red Cross
Here is a link to donate to the Red Cross’ tornado relief in Oklahoma
http://www.redcross.org/ok/oklahoma-city
Or use your cell phone to donate: Support #OKwx efforts – give online @SalvationArmyUSA.org or text “STORM” to 80888 2 make $10 donation #tornado
Let others know you’re okay! Very critical in search & rescue efforts. #ok #okwxhttps://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php
OU Sooners @UofOklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is opening up spaces in Housing for the displaced families! Call 405-325-2511
Google
Google Crisis Map
http://google.org/crisismap/2013-oklahoma-tornado
AmeriCares
Home page for AmeriCares organization
http://www.americares.org/emergency-response/#er-c
Oklahoma Disaster Relief
Home page for Baptist Church’s disaster relief
http://www.okdisasterhelp.com/2013/05/disaster-relief-how-to-help/
“Put your good where it will do the most.” ~ Wavy Gravy
There are all kinds of reasons we stay at a job we hate – benefits, paycheck, commitment, loyalty, guilt, fear. Every job has its ups and downs. But there is one big, fat reason why you just can’t maintain staying at a job that isn’t going to get better – you are wasting your time. You have to put your goodness in the place where it will do the most good for the world. When you look at it this way, staying at a job you hate is not only damaging to you, but to everyone.
We’ve got piles of problems in this world that need fixing and we are the only ones who can do that fixing. A magical fairy is not going to descend from the Heavens, wave her magic wand, and make it all better. It’s up to us.
A lot of people tell me they’re staying at jobs they hate until they come up with a good business idea. That should take them all of 5 minutes. If you want a good business idea, take yourself for a walk around your neighborhood, and find a pain point that people are experiencing. Fix that. That’s the only inspiration you need – put your goodness to good use and do work that rids the world of some amount of pain.
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” ~ Desmond Tutu
You’re a kind and generous person. You have empathy and compassion and you want to make it all better for everyone everywhere. It’s noble, but also a path to paralysis.
We can be overwhelmed by all of the people in the world who need what we have to offer and what we’re willing to give. We often feel like the problems we face as a society are so large that we can’t fix them. And so we wait. We stall. We hope that one day we’ll wake up with that one brilliant idea that will let us have the degree of impact we want to have.
Whenever I feel like this, and it’s more often than I’d like it to be, I remind myself of this quote by Mr. Tutu.
Today we will not fix the whole world. Tomorrow we probably won’t do that either. But today, right now, there is something we can do. Something small, right where we are. We have to remind ourselves of the ripple effect – that beautiful phenomenon that causes the kindness of one person to become contagious and inspire kind acts of others.
We also have to remember that one small good act is not any better than any other. What you do for one person right now is as valuable as what you do for 100, 1,000, or 1,000,000 people because to that one person it might just mean everything. It might just turn their day around, their life around, and there are so many people who will benefit from that, most of whom we will never know and never meet.
What you can do is enough. The important thing is that you do it. Let the Universe worry about how your goodness ripples through the world. You just make sure that the goodness exists.
In the midst of the anxiety and horror of last week, the light is beginning to shine through and the very best of human goodness is driving out the darkness.
Boston
Mary, a dear yogi friend and loyal reader of this blog, told me about The One Fund. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino announced the formation of The One Fund Boston, Inc. to help the people most affected by the tragic events that occurred in Boston on April 15, 2013. To learn more, click here. To donate, click here.
West Texas
The Waco / West Texas Fertilizer Plant explosion caused widespread destruction, loss of life, and severe injuries to many in this small town. There are many ways that you can help ease their pain. For a list of organizations that are offering support and assistance, click here.
And it goes without saying that your continued thoughts and prayers will be needed for a long time to come. Keep them going.
“I’ve seen and met angels wearing the disguise of ordinary people living ordinary lives.” ~ Tracy Chapman
When I think about what I really want to be, an angel is an accurate description. Whether it’s through my writing, teaching, art, or business work, I hope it’s all useful to someone. I hope that it makes someone’s life a bit easier, happier, and healthier. I hope that it helps me connect to others and helps them connect to me.
What good are angels up there somewhere? We need them down here, on this Earth, right now. I can’t imagine any work that would be more valuable or gratifying than to know that what I’ve done has in some way helped someone navigate this wild world with more grace.
Two years ago this week Compass Yoga began offering free classes through the New York Public Library. This is some of the best feel-good work around and it happens because a small group of people huddle together, committed to helping the people in our community live happier, healthier lives. We give what we have to people who need it. It’s really that simple. And that powerful.
Thanks to so many of you have shared this journey with us and cheered us on right from the start. We’ll keep going until every person has the ability to access the benefits of this beautiful practice.
A huge thank you to our friend and supporter, Rebecca Donsky, who two years ago saw the good we could do at the Bloomingdale Library. Then she helped us expand to new branches so that we could bring the healing of yoga and meditation to more people. In that time, we’ve grown to a dozen weekly classes at partner sites that help over 200 people every week. Our incredible teachers make it possible. Namaste to all of them!
Ten years go, John Wood embarked on a courageous journey. He left his job at Microsoft for one simple reason: so that “children everywhere have access to literacy and books in their mother tongue from a young age.” Sound audacious to you? It did to Charlie Rose as well. “Every child,” Charlie repeated in an interview with John. “Every one, without exception,” John said.
It is that kind of resolve, focus, and elegant vision that I find so exhilarating and inspiring. As a nonprofit founder, fundraiser, and a consultant who works with a number of nonprofits, I also know how hard it is to identify and maintain. John will not be deterred. It is his commitment to the children of this world that has allowed Room to Read, his nonprofit, to open 10,000 libraries around the world in 10 years. 10,000. It is astonishing.
In 2007, John wrote the book Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey to Educate the World’s Children. Today, his new book, Creating Room to Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy, goes on sale. It has valuable information for everyone who has ever cared about a cause or mission, for-profit, non-profit, or otherwise. It’s a story about the value of a dream and the determination to make it real. John talks about his all-star team, their site evaluation process, and what it truly means to work side-by-side with people you want to help in pursuit of a common goal. In equal parts, he gets down into the details about his fundraising and management philosophies and then shares his powerful emotions such as his misty-eyed moment when the 10,000th library opened in Nepal with his parents by his side.
John’s story is inspiring for all of the goodness he conveys though he is not shy about the hardships he, his staff, and the communities face. Global literacy is a battle in every sense. Moving into Africa was a particularly harrowing decision and an even more harrowing process. His team literally risked their lives to make it happen. In countries like Cambodia, 43% of grade-three students in his country could not read at an age-appropriate level. Statistics like this led Room to Read’s mission and activities to evolve. It wasn’t enough to build libraries and furnish them with books. First, they had to teach people to read. Without literacy programs, the libraries would be of zero value to half the population.
Once I cracked open this book, I couldn’t put it down. Nose pressed against the pages, I would look up and realize that hours had gone by. After a while, I stopped using my highlighter because I was highlighting every sentence. John Wood and Room to Read are paving the way toward a brighter future. Thank goodness he left Microsoft to change the world. With this book, I’m certain he will inspire many people to take up a cause that matters and make it their life’s work. And we will all be better off for it.
I know that many of you have been looking for ways to help in response to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. I’ve been searching high and low, and finally CBS This Morning ran a segment on how to help no matter where we live.
Below are links to efforts that are organizing volunteers, funds, and assistance. Lend a hand, lend your heart, lend some help. It’s the best holiday gift you could possibly give this season.
Christa Avampato 