Reflections...

You wont regret it!

I’ve just wasted a few of my precious study hours making up this graphic. I hope/pray/wish that it was worth it and I get a bunch of donations due to it!

I have a mission of making AT LEAST $250 by April 25th for Invisible Children’s Congo rehabilitation strategy. To donate and read more about it follow this link: http://ic.stayclassy.org/member/ic-fundraising?fcid=4025

I don’t want likes, but donations that are desperately needed to fund these projects.

Peace + much love,
Chad

This is a photo of a Ugandan baby named "Jerry" and myself discussing the "25" Event.

I'm shutting up on April 25th to raise much needed awareness and funds to build radio alert towers for the people of Congo who are continually attacked by the LRA.

Please help out kids like Jerry to live in a safe and peaceful community without the fear of being attacked by the LRA by donating on my fundraising page. Seriously doesn't matter how big or small the donation is it'll definitely help!

Learn more about where the money will be going and to donate follow this link: http://ic.stayclassy.org/member/ic-fundraising?fcid=4025#

Peace + much love

Read this
LET IT REALLY SINK IN.......
THEN CHOOSE .

John is the kind of guy you love to hate.
He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say.
When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply,
'If I were any better, I would be twins!'

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, 'I don't get it!'

'You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'
He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today.
You can choose to be in a good mood or...you can choose to be in a bad mood .

I choose to be in a good mood.'

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...
I can choose to learn from it.
I choose to learn from it..

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or...
I can point out the positive side of life.
I choose the positive side of life.

'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested.

'Yes, it is,' he said. 'Life is all about choices.
When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice.
You choose how you react to situations.
You choose how people affect your mood....

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.
The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life.'

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins ....
Wanna see my scars?'

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied. 'Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices:
I could choose to live or......I could choose to die.
I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked.

He continued, '...the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.
In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action.'

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said John.
'She asked if I was allergic to anything
'Yes, I replied.'
The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply.
I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity''

Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live.
Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude....
I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully..

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.' Matthew 6:34

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/poverty/blogs/23275-should-you-give-a-homeless-person-money

The question of whether or not to give money to a homeless person is something I continually struggle with when encountering someone on the streets. In the past few years I have committed to actually purchasing the item asked for by the person than give money as a means of preventing them from getting their hands on drugs or other harmful substances. It's actually surprising what some people ask for; I remember when in Vancouver a middle aged man asked for a few dollars and when asking him what he really wanted it turns out it was a 'Coke and a Mars bar'. However there was another occasion where someone else asked me for some money and the response to my usual "what do you need the money for?" was "In honesty I just want to buy a pack of smokes". My immediate response was "nah, sorry mate I can't help you" and walked away to catch my bus. I have been continually haunted by that particular moment in which I should have actually acknowledged and respected his honesty and given him a few bucks for his smokes. After all I guarantee not every single dollar of my own is spent wisely, so why should we treat other grown-ups regardless of their background with any less respect than those whom we do. A gift is a gift, it shouldn't be conditional.

I was absolutely blessed to have not paid a cent for any of my accommodation while in the USA for almost a year; this is the only possible way I could have stayed in that country for so long as I forked out my entire life savings on flights/visa/buying food while interning for non-profit Invisible Children. One of the places I stayed after my internship was Austin, Texas with some extremely hospitable young men of who I was incredibly blessed by. One of these guys in particular left a huge impression on me by his love for others, regardless of their socioeconomic status. Blake would regularly stop, serve and have conversations with anyone on the street, offer to buy them some food without them even asking and converse with them like they were an old friend. Additionally he volunteered a day and a half a week to supporting and serving with local food programs and on top of that make bags of food to hand out to those he would pass by while driving to university. I don't know about you but that is mega inspiring and has really challenged my initial reactions to others.

I think this rant will go on forever, I haven't proof read it and don't really know where I'm going with it so I'll leave it at that. Hopefully it provides some food for thought next time you pass someone by who is in need; regardless of your initial thoughts into their backgrounds or choice of spending's.

Check out this quote by the author of the article contained within the link at the top of the page that triggered this rant. Much thanks to Jonathan for initially posting it on his Tumblr.

Peace,
Chad

"I decided that whenever I give money to a homeless person or anybody who asks, it is a gift. So when I give it to them, it is no longer mine—it’s theirs. When I give a gift to my friends for Christmas or birthdays, I don’t tell them what to do with it or what to buy with it because it is no longer mine."

As I mentioned months ago I don't really blog here as I use my tumblr instead.

However I'm thinking I might start ranting again here, Tumblr's more for my 30 second attention span and love for cool pictures, rad quotes and YouTube videos.