These are fighting times when many people seem to be living just because they’re alive.
In my global community I’m watching as friends, allies, and partners are being decimated by financial crises, painful hunger, and overt pain. Dangerous tones of hopelessness and despair are taking hold among our leaders. Challenging perspectives about the future are setting into our own imagination. We are believing the myths we’re being sold.
Those myths? You’ve heard them from the news, from your neighbors, from our politicians: There aren’t enough jobs, there isn’t enough work to do, money is tapped, schools are falling apart, birds are falling from the skies, and there’s no hope.
But these are fighting times. These are times when we need to step up to the plate and take a swing at changing the world, or swing harder! The belief that we are too small or too incapable or too under-resourced does not suit us anymore; whether you are independently wealthy or completely broke, YOU MUST TAKE ACTION. We all must take action.
When it feels like our lives are loosing their meaning, we must make new meanings. We must define new purpose. The other day I was asked what my purpose is, and why I work so hard. I’ll admit this to you: I’m not doing it for the money! I work a lot, I volunteer all the time, and the paychecks have been few and far between at times. Sometimes I’m not sure if anyone is paying attention. But I believe in why I do what I do, and I’ll tell you what I told my questioner:
I’m doing it because I want my 7 year old to live in a better world that I do. I am doing it because the children and youth I meet all the time are desperate for change in their lives right now – and I’m not talking about changing the type of video game system they own. They want tangible, real, and practical change in their lives.
Join me in this movement, please. I am calling it The Engagement Movement, and I want you on board. Please read this page and let me know what you think.
Adam F.C. Fletcher 