The Illusion of ONE-day
Submitted by Johnnie on Fri, 2007-05-11 11:14.
I have just come off the road from a two week speaking tour that has taken me to the Nations Capitol, (Washington, DC) to the Big Apple, (New York City) and onto the most Diverse City in the World (Toronto, ON).
I, along with my brother Jerome have just spoken to, shook hands with, hugged and high fived more than 2,000 young people within and outside of those cities. We encouraged high school seniors to "Chase Your Dream" (financial literacy), we lectured on the topic of "Student Success" and most importantly, we got 1,000 + kids to scream out with confidence and conviction, "I"..."Can Change the World".
Let me tell you, for a youth activist that is a wonderful sound!
Kids of different shades, gender, height and sizes were all in agreement that the world needs changing. So we (Jerome and I) asked these young people during our classroom visits what they could do or would do to change the world. Many of their answers were things we commonly hear like saving the animals, picking up litter, helping the homeless, feeding the hungry etc.
But, Jerome and I both noticed a common theme...
Many of the children started their statements with the word ONEDAY!
ONEDAY I will do this, ONEDAY I will do that...
This statement sounds great, but when I look at my weekly calender, I see Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday; no ONEDAY, not even a SOMEDAY. So when our kids put off their plans to giveback for a day and date that doesn't exist, what are the chances the world will change today? (or tomorrow...)
My message is simple:
- Yesterday is gone forever!
- Tomorrow does not exist yet!
TODAY is all we have to work with if we hope to create a tomorrow worth waiting for; a tommorow that brings hope and equal opportunity for all of us whom share it.
Know that activists, volunteers, religious leaders, teachers, mentors, coaches and even some political officials are working very hard TODAY to build upon a tomorrow that todays deeds will create. A tomorrow ( not ONE-DAY ) that will fall on a week day that is familiar to us all, on a date that has become common to us all.
My question to you is what will you do today to change the world?
Until next time, be safe, be couragious and "become the change in the world that you desire to see".
Special thanks go out to SPEEK LYFE Entertainment Group, Cable Visions Power to Learn program and the New York Knicks community relations department for all their assistance with our New York City youth tour.
