Save the Shoes: An Inspiring Call to Ordinary Heroism

Posted on April 6, 2011 by zoeweil

In this 4-minute TED talk, volunteer firefighter Mark Bezos, offers a funny, inspiring, and simple call to action: don’t wait to make a difference:

After watching this video, before sharing it on Twitter or your Facebook page and moving on, consider pausing long enough to reflect on this simple, but powerful and important call to action. Really introspect. What talents, passions, and skills do you have that you could use to make this world or others’ lives better? What makes you come alive and how can you turn this into a gift to others? What service would make a real difference while utilizing all that you have to offer? How can you give best? Please consider sharing these reflections on your Facebook posts and Twitter feeds (along with Mark’s talk) and in your communities, because you can inspire your friends and neighbors too. I welcome your responses to Mark’s call to action.

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm
My TEDx talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

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Filed under: changemakers, citizen activism, community service, courage, heroes, MOGO (Most Good) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

To Bring About a Humane World, We Must Embrace & Celebrate Our Best Qualities

Posted on September 21, 2009 by zoeweil

We’re in the midst of a month-long MOGO Online course at the Institute for Humane Education. There are 40 wonderful people in the course inquiring, introspecting, and attempting to live their lives with greater integrity. We have an Online Commons where we share our experiences of each day’s exercise. During the first week, one of the exercises is to answer the question, “What are your best qualities?” After examining the issues we care most about the previous day, the “best qualities” exercise is designed to help participants hone in on their skills, talents, and virtues so that they can bring these best qualities to bear on the issues that concern them.

While many people wrote in the Online Commons about what they cared most about, fewer than half as many wrote about their best qualities. It’s hard for many of us to introspect on our best qualities, and harder still to share them without feeling like we’re bragging. But false modesty is not what the world needs, and it is actually empowering and delightful to read people’s reflections on their best qualities. It personally brings me great hope knowing that others can and do embrace, and then utilize, their talents and skills and virtues for good.

Humility is a great virtue, but so is compassion, resilience, perseverance, kindness, courage, honesty, and wisdom. Modesty is admirable, but so is passion, intelligence, humor, leadership, and a commitment to work hard for a better world.

I believe that we must each look within not only to examine our impacts, make kinder choices, be better people, and do all those things that a MOGO life demands, but also to examine our gifts and celebrate our unique and positive attributes. The world so desperately needs this from us.

~ Zoe

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Filed under: citizen activism, Inner Peace, MOGO (Most Good), values | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

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