When I woke up yesterday, in my comfortable suburban home with a couple of cars in the garage, I was feeling a bit down. There were problems with some of the customers upon whom my multi-million dollar company depended, who were insisting that I lower some of the fees we were charging them. A few of my corporate office staff were asking for salary increases, and although I could afford it the expenses were growing too fast. So I felt troubled and, I must admit, a bit sorry for myself.
Then I picked up a newspaper my corporation produces called
One Step Away and read E. Michael Younge’s article about hunger in Philadelphia and its effect on the lives of children. Mr. Younge is homeless (One Step Away is the only street newspaper in the country in which the content is produced by homeless men, women and children) and there he is, promoting the needs of children and others.
I read about Robertus Duncan, a homeless man in our Ridge Center who attended and spoke at a rally in Harrisburg to protest a state budget that produces “a disaster for the most vulnerable and the needy.” Robertus helped to organize others to express their democratic outrage at who was getting the tax cuts and who was getting the proverbial “short end of the stick.”
I also thought of the outstanding effort put in daily by so many mothers I know who wake each day to take care of their children and eat less than they need so that their kids will have a bit more.
I stopped feeling sorry for myself and felt inspired by these people who have so little and still can think of others. I believe you, too, would be stimulated by just listening to these people. I felt inspired to be part of a corporation that wants to give the homeless a way to be heard, and I was deeply touched by their continued ability to care for others.
So I got dressed and went to work – inspired.