Who will remember you when you are gone?

Millions have come and gone in this world; most were normal people who are only remembered by a few but not for longer than their lifetime.

Many of them were not good people and are immortalized because of the terrible things they did.

Millions were doing good in the world and are memorialized because of the good or history-making things they did.

Millions did good in the world but were not memorialized; not because they were not doing good, but because they were just good people doing good things where they were.

Our life is short, and we should not worry about whether we will die or not, the answer seems pretty clear.

This life is about doing good NOW!

Helping while you can!

Being Kind now!

Once you are on your deathbed, is no time to apologize, it’s too late. You wasted your time if you have to ask for forgiveness.

In the end, the question is the same for all. 

• What did you do with the few years you had on the earth? 
• Did you chase the $$ and/or fame at the cost of doing good?
• Did you make money at others' expense, or at the expense of our planet?

Or did you choose to help those in need? Doesn’t have to be big things, it can be small things. A smile, a few $$ for a a charity that is doing good in the world or your community, taking care of those around you.

Who will remember you?  And what will they remember you for?

Your choice, choose wisely.

The UN came to town (not in black helicopters)

So often in my deployments I see poverty tied to the disaster I am responding to; this trip has been different I spent my whole time in the nation’s capital working. Poverty was everywhere, not just under employment but people who will probably spend their lives in the poverty they are in.  I wonder what the world would be like if the first world focused on helping people build wealth, so they were not trapped in poverty?   

Okay so I get our current administration is focused on USA first. So, let’s do that; let’s bring our population out of poverty.  Let’s take some pennies from our militarybudget which in 2015 was $5.98 Billion!  Supposedly our current president is MAKING our allies pay a larger share of protecting their country, so we should have a savings.

A recent investigation of the US poverty by the UN; yes, kind of embarrassing for us, but no one seems to care? What did they find in their investigation? 

·      They found the infant mortality is the highest in the developed world!

·      They found that most Americans can expect shorter lives than any other rich democracy.

·      They found tropical disease making a comeback in the US (Zika anyone)

·      They found that AMERICANS living in poverty in this country were infested with hookworms, a parasite that was eradicated in the US, and thought to be a developing world problem.

  In the article from NPR, they note that 19 of 55 people tested in Alabama had hookworms.  You might say that’s not too many! But it is for a parasite thought to be wiped out in the 1980’s.  It is passed by walking in sewage (defecation) of someone infected. What would it cost to make sure that people had safe bathroom facilities?  Less than 0.5 Billion? 

According to the US census the poverty level is 12%, not too bad, eh?  That’s 38 million AMERICANS.  Okay so not everyone is going to be a millionaire, but did everyone start off on an even playing field?  Have we focused on early childhood development, have we done everything we can? 

I know not everyone wants to be helped, many do not care, but is that due to decades of not being cared for?

What about our education system? How do we rank as one of the leaders of the world? How about 14^th?  We are turning out citizens without the knowledge or thinking skills to read and comprehend some of the most difficult problems facing us today.  We do have some top universities here in America, but we need to look at our national education as a whole, from the poorest kid in ________ (you pick the US city) all the way to Harvard.

How about our infrastructure (Roads, Ports, Etc.) The American Society of Engineers   (I think they would know) rate America a D+?  That’s horrible. I’m sorry are we talking about a developing country?  Well maybe so when you look at where we are and where things will continue to go without any measurable investment.  

There are a lot more questions that need to be read, thought about, dealt with in the full report which is here>> UN REPORT <<

So am I saying I have the answers?  No I do not, it will take people smarter and with more knowledge of Public Health, making laws and delivering care.  But I do see the problem and  can only hope that others with more power (than the vote) do, and do something with the knowledge...

DisasterDave

EVERYTHING CHANGES

 

    Recently I was on vacation in the Caribbean;  one evening at dinner they were playing dance music to attract people in to the restaurant; the song playing had a line “Everything changes” (except the lyrics to the song, I think that was all the only line repeated, over & over.) Anyway that thought connected with another from a Book I am reading A Paradise Built in Hell.  One of the lines in the book is a quote from another book “Man is not looking for a tensionless life, but for a call of potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled.”

Wow, does that sound like your job? Not mine.  Don’t get me wrong my last job at Public Health was eight years, the longest job I’ve had since 20 years in the military. (Which for those of you that have served know, it’s not one long 20-year gig. Its 20 years with the same company with different jobs and locations every 3-5 years).  At Public Health I worked with a great group of Emergency Managers and Planners, we did good work, life was good, but something was missing.  For me I found that as a response team member for ShelterBox.  This volunteer gig, allows me to help those in great need, which is what I have always striven to do in my employed life. This is just more direct and feeds that “potential waiting to be fulfilled”.

Having made the decision to slip the harness of the day to day work world, I am embarking on doing just that.

Which ties to the Kenny Chesney song this morning (Pandora snuck it into my Jimmy Buffet Playlist).  Simply called “Don’t Blink”. It’s really how the speed of life overtakes us.  I’m at the point in life where there are more days behind me than in front of me, so what do I want to do with those days? Those are the answers I am working on while on this island.

I have a pretty fulfilling life without a job; I have my relationship with my wife and partner, my Rotary Club and ShelterBox.

Each one of those fills a different part of my life.  Each is connected to some part of who I am and what I think is good and right in the world.

Together they seem to make me feel as if I am “Being all I can be.”  I guess the rest is just adventure and enjoyment of life, no riding the C Line to work, sitting in long meetings talking about things that should be easy to complete or worrying about things I don’t control. 

So here I go...