Last week I had the honor and the privilege of working with some wonderful young adults in Toronto.
These youthful people were residents of a local at-risk homeless youth center and I was invited to speak at one of their “Life Skills” workshops.
It isn’t an easy world to be homeless and under 18 on the street. You grow up fast but not for the right reasons. Sometimes it is drugs, alcohol, trouble at school, abuse and thousands of other bad reasons, that kids end up on the street. They ran away, because they don’t have anywhere else to go, and the street for a night doesn’t seem bad for one night compared to whatever is happening at home. One night turns into days even years and tough decisions about things even us as adults don’t face in our daily lives.
These young people are overcoming their personal situations and being part of their own solution. These life skills vary from cooking, to balancing and budgeting, to college education, to learn laundry tricks, to interview skills, to having a fair fight and everything in-between.
I talked about having a grateful heart. Bad stuff happens even to terrific wonderful people, even to people that deserve it. But bad stuff doesn’t define you as a human being, it is an action, yes, it is a label on a human being, yes but it is not a human being.
In talking with these young people, I gave them an assignment, to be grateful forward. Yup. To thank ahead to people and places that they see everyday that is helping stop what happened to them. To write a simple email or note thanking someone for making a difference in someone’s else live so they don’t have to go thru bad stuff as bad. To thank with a full and grateful heart to someone that they didn’t know personally or at all.
There were a few complaints about how tough that was going to be. And grumbles about how they will not make them grateful to thank a stranger. Although that happened something else happened, these young people sat down and wrote very passionate letters to people that were making a difference in their community to stop the bad things that happened to them. Many of these young people received replies back thanking them for sending such a note, many asked these young people to come by and volunteer or have a cuppa with them. I too have received emails of updates from these young people since speaking with them. I am happy to say that all of them are working on some project or idea now to help make a difference. It is amazing to think what doors might open, if we are grateful in our hearts.
Being grateful is a muscle, a wise friend told me once, you have to use it or lose it.
With a very grateful and full heart, I thank you both now and forward for all of your efforts in this life to help make other lives happier.
In peace.
Moving Difference 