The Starfish Story

adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley
1907 - 1977

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."

It was great to see another part of the world. Although Central America isn't halfway around the globe, it was enough to leave behind some of the trappings and culture of North America and see life through someone else's eyes.

One of the things we are trying to do in the Nepean Leadership Development Course is to form a benevolent and responsible worldview in our students. What this means specifically is:

1. World Without Borders - we have to learn to see people from other nations as essentially an extension of us. We must live in a borderless world, where National borders, languages, cultural differences are things to be explored, appreciated, and shared.

2. When One Part Hurts, We All Hurt - events like the Tsunami in Malasia or the Hurricanes in the Carribbean, or the war torn countries in Africa and the Middle East present themselves as opportunities to care for the global family in any way we can.

3. I Can Help - when we see a need, the temptation is to shift the responsibility to someone else; whether it's a humanitarian organization or charity, or to some "super-government". When we begin to realize that we can do something to help, we begin to take responsibility as a fellow human being.

4. Small Things With Great Love - as said by Mother Teresa, "Don't attempt to do great things. Instead do small things with great love". Whatever you can do, don't worry about how magnificent or large-scale it is - just do it as if it was the greatest thing.

Honduras opened my eyes to see not only the power of our dollar, but the power of a heart that is willing to care and get close enough to help. Sometimes you don't have to go around the world to begin to be helpful.  The true test of this "principle" will be how well I enact it while I am here at home.

Jon 

What's a loonie worth these days? In the ever-fluctuating economic market, some days a little, and some days a little more. Although we would never see our dollar as any spectacular, a group of Ottawa students and a couple of us teachers saw it as a very powerful thing indeed.

9 excited students from Nepean High School and a couple of even more excited teachers flew out of Ottawa International Airport on a quest to save the world; or at least to make a little dent in the small country of Honduras (for those who need a geography refresher, that's Central America). Armed with a few sports and medical supplies, $700.00 CDN and a whole lot of teenage-energy we landed in San Pedro Sula not sure of what we would encounter.

Needless to say, there was a slight culture shock as we stepped out of the airport to 85 degree weather and lush tropical carpet. Honduras is a spectacular country, whose latest claim to fame unfortunately dates back to Hurricanes Mitch and Andrew. The people are simple (in lifestyle), friendly, hard working and extremely resourceful. And many are poor.

In our first few days we spent a bit of time in a tour bus travelling to our orientation camp in the "cloud rainforests" and to the community in which we would spend a week. It was on the road we were able to observe the living conditions of the average Honduran. You would drive along watching banana and coconut trees whipping by, and then, somewhere in the shadows of these large trees, a small, thrown-together building of concrete blocks, wood chunks and pieces of scrap metal, with the tell-tale clothes line weighed down by the drying "rags" they would use as clothes.

We were all touched by what we saw and began to realize just how fortunate we are living in a great country like Canada (I think many of us knew this already, but sometimes it takes a wake-up call to remind us). The question was asked, "How much does it cost for a family to buy the most simplest of homes?" Our guides informed us that for a family to own a piece of property and a home with concrete walls and a sheet metal roof, it costs about $1000.00 CDN. You could smell smoke burning as people fervently calculated how many house we could of bought if we donated the money it took us to get there (about 26). I think I took a loonie out of my pocket and began to admire its power.

When we arrived in Taulabe (the community where we spent our time helping a local school), we witnessed first hand the life of a Honduran. The homes we stayed in were simple but complete. They had electricity and running water (but don't drink the water!) and were furnished much like ours (we were definately with the middle-upper class citizens!). However the community had its share of poor sections, and no one could escape the sound of the 4 O'clock wake up call by their roosters (one of the ways they provided for themselves). There were constant reminders everywhere of our wealth that we don't ever recognize (how was your hot shower this morning?). Most of our students had more spending money on them than families would earn in a month. In a country so impoverished, where do you begin to help? Where would we invest our $700.00?

We soon found our answer. On about day 4 of our time in Taulabe we were given a tour of a small Social Health Clinc along the main street. The clinic was a beacon of hope and life in the community, as well as to the 40 surrounding communities it served. Specifically geared to pregnant women and their babies, it was a hub of activity as line ups would form early in the morning and last most of the day. In Honduras (we were told), the death rate of infants at birth is 45% and of birthing mothers - 30%. That means almost half of the children born never make it home, and for 1/3 of the girls and women, pregnancy is a death wish. But because this clinic existed EVERY baby survived and EVERY mother was able to go home! 100% success! We sat in awe listening to this information with a sudden and deep respect for the builing we were in. And we knew instantly where our money would go.

I am glad to report that all of the money we brought with us bought life-saving machinery that was deparately lacking. On top of that, when the students realized that the clinic's wish list would cost more that $700.00, they were eager to donate their own money to guarantee that everything was purchased. It was a great testimony to their generousity and compassion. I am extremely proud of how they responded.

So what am I saying? Basically as I Canadian I am rich. Maybe not in Norway or Switzerland or the UK, but in wonderful countries like Honduras, I am a millionaire; and because of that fact I feel the weight of a global responsibility to do what I can to help. Taulabe was the start for us at Nepean High School and for me personally, but more important it permantly opened my eyes to see that there are opportunities everywhere, and that our loonie is powerful.

Jon

Attached is a succinct summary of the Nepean Leadership Development Course. As time goes on, I will update this document.

Jon

NLDC OVERVIEW.

There is so much out there about leadership and being a person of influence, but to balance the plethora of books, seminar and websites, I believe there needs to be a counter-balance of something called "followership"; the ability to be lead. One of the issues I can see emerging in business, in church life, and even in the home is the overpopulation of self-made leaders, without the ability to work together. Teachability, teamwork, and mutual submission to each other's giftings will allow a greater fluidity of role amongst a team, without elements of competition or division.

Followership means being able to step down when someone else has a better idea, and then you are able to help promote them. Followership means you allow other respected people to have their say in your life. Followership means you support someone else's vision, rather than having people serve yours. Followership means you are willing to let your resources be donated to the cause of another.

Followership also means you lead strongly knowing someone else will hold you accountable for your actions. It means you walk a tight balance of giving and receiving strength and correction and input and guidance.

As a team, all members must submit to each other's roles and responsibilities, as well as to the overriding mandate that the team carries. Once people are joined together in a meaningful way, and together under the authority of their purpose, they can begin to become unified in their endeavours. A team that exercises this kind of followership has a chance of being able to deal with differences of perspective, difficulties from external pressure and diversity of people. 

Jon

The following are taken from the Year 2's book reviews of The 21 Indispensible Qualities of Leadership. Enjoy!

"The meaning of earthly existing lies, not as we have grown used to thinking, in prospering, but in the development of the soul" Alexander Solzhenitsyn

"You give little when you give your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give." Kalil Gibran

"You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you." John Wooden

"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." David Brinkley

"The first and best victory is to conquer self." Plato

"Nothing I say today will teach me anything. So if I'm going to learn, I must do it by listening." Larry King

"All that is not given, is lost."  Rabindranath Tagore

"Show me a leader without vision and I will show you someone who isn't going anywhere. At best, he is travelling in circles." John Maxwell

"Your candle loses nothing when it lights another.' Unknown

 

There is a pervasive attitude amongst us in North America that to need someone else is weak. This coupled with the fact that people are generally only concerned with their own lives leads to a society that lacks a proper view of community. Am I my brother's keeper? Do I have a responsibility to look out for the well being of others?

There is an old Japanese fable that compares heaven and hell. In hell, it says, people walk around using chopsticks that are longer than their arms. Although food is abundant, people are in a constant state of starving. In heaven, people use the same chopsticks, but people are well fed and content. What's the difference between heaven and hell? In hell everyone tries to feed themselves. In heaven they feed each other. In the same way, society works best when we take care of each other.

Mentoring is a term that has become popular as a concept, but rare as a practice. True mentoring is the act of coming alongside someone else to give them the very best you have to offer. It is a relationship that allows someone to speak into the other's life. I have had many. many people who have thankfully spoken into my life; people who have deposited building blocks of truth, and as a result, have helped to guide me through life's challenges.

To be mentored by someone takes quite a bit of humility. We are trained from an early age (just watch Disney videos) that to get through life on your own is admirable. Society preaches independence and a life of success through sheer willpower and determination. While those are excellent qualities, we were built for a life vitally connected to others.

Who do you know that is able to speak openly and honestly into your life? Is there a person you can talk to about the real, pertinent issues of life? Are you allowing someone (or some people) to give you perspective, and possibly correct you? Being surrounded by these kind of people will ensure there are safeguards in your life. They will be the people who will help you to avoid lots of life's difficulties.

Being a mentor isn't hard, it just requires a desire to help others. Practically mentoring can be summed up in the acronym, B.U.S.

it starts with building a trusting relationship with someone else. Part of that is making yourself open and vulnerable to them (allowing them into your life).

Once you've established the friendship, you are able to listen to understand what they are going through, what they are saying.

After you hear them out and are able to see the issues clearly, then you are able to speak into their life the things they need to hear.

There are many people who desparately need someone to come alongside them in life. So many of us travel through life unassisted and alone. We must begin to take care of ourselves by finding true friends who will walk the same path as us, and in turn look to be that same friend to others.

Jon

 

Ola! For those heading off to Honduras in March 2006, here are some important documents you can download.

1. Preparation Itinerary

2. Participant Contract

3. Letter to be signed by physician

Hmmm.... what people do to get someone else's attention. But you have to admit that something like this would draw a crowd. Although drawing a crowd is the first part of gaining influence, it's not what keeps it. Trustworthiness does.

Why would somebody trust you? This morning in our NLDC class we were discussing character, and how important it is to be someone who personifies the qualities that make them trustworthy. Character is your essence - it's who you are when no one else is around. It defines what you do when no one else will find out.

There are many ways people can attract others to them (appearance, talent, money, popularity and sometimes stupidity), but people will continue to follow someone because of who they are as a person; their honesty, their integrity, their competence, their personal security and their self-discipline. Without these traits, people soon grow wary, lose trust and eventually walk away.

One of the challenges for us as people who wish to positively influence others is to be exactly what we seem. It's for the outside to match the inside. This is called integrity (a close relative of character). A good illustration of integrity is rock - a kind of candy famous in the UK. The candy are log-shaped sticks that have assorted colours on the outside, and usually some kind of design on the inside. The interesting thing about it, is that no matter how you slice it, each piece is identical. That's the same with someone who has integrity. No matter what aspect of their life you look at (public, private), they are the same.

The other challenge is building good character. We discussed that good character takes a life-time to build and one moment to destroy - and we all know of people who have done this. Character is made in the small battles of life. It's where you simply choose what is good, when there is the option to not do good.

Making the habit of choosing good everytime is tough, but it is the only way. There are no shortcuts: and there are lots of ways life tests what you built so far. Things like Power, Praise, Popularity, Pressure and Problems all reveal who you are. It's in those times that the true you steps out of the shadows. When it does, be ready to embrace it for what it is. Don't try to hide it or cover it up. Then you can deal with it properly. So many root issues in life remain intact because we fail to have the guts to expose issues for what they are.

As a good friend reminded me just now, "In life there are ups and downs. But through determination and willpower, individuals can strive to reach their potential". Thanks Mr. Mellor. If he doesn't mind, I will add one more thing. A person will ONLY realize their true potential IF they become a person of good character.

Saw this picture and was reminded of how important it is to be clear. I can't imagine what it must be like to be a driver reaching this intersection. I wonder if this is what it is like to live in a relativistic society...

Jon