Our Obligation

Here's a passage I just read in a book I'm reading (Tribes by Seth Godin). It puts things in perspective and helps us to remember our position in life in relation to the rest of the world:

"Not too far from us, a few blocks away, there are kids without enough to eat and without parents who care. A little farther way, hours by place, are people unable to reach their goals because they live in a community that just doesn't have the infrastructure to support them. A bit farther away are people being brutally persecuted by their government. And the world is filled with people who can't go to high school, never mind college, and who certainly can't spend their time focused on whether or not they got a good parking space at work.

And so, the obligation: don't settle.

To have all these advantages, all this momentum, all these opportunities and then settle for mediocre and then defend the status quo and then worry about corporate politics--what a waste.

Flynn Berry wrote that you should never use the word 'opportunity.' It's not an opportunity, it's an obligation.

I don't think we have any choice. I think we have an obligation to change the rules, to raise the bar, to play a different game,and to play it better than anyone has any right to believe is possible."

Motivating, no? Be grateful everyday. More importantly, do something!