Stories like this below we hear from time to time and get inspired by them. We are amazed by the human spirit and ways in which people get transformed. After we read story like this below, we feel emotions and are wanting to be part of events like this. Then we start doing things which support our lives and we forget about the story. We keep reading newspapers and watching the news which feed us with information about how dangerous is the world and how another criminal is on the lose. How we should rely more on police and government and how we should trust our elected leaders who will throw more money on security and build more jails.
Hey this is to the leaders.
How about inspiring people more and telling them about transforming stories like these one below? How about instead of building more jails, building facilities and staffing them with people who can teach leadership and cooperation? How about providing social education for disadvantaged children and challenging them with creativity and positive contribution instead of labeling them and leaving them to play on the streets. I could go on and on. But I hope you get the point. If you are real leaders then lead, don't sell your empty promises and don't spend our money on projects which are only to strengthen your position.
Broken Wing - Don't Judge a Book by Its
Cover
By Jim Hullihan
Some
people are just doomed to be failures. That's the way some adults look at
troubled kids. Maybe you've heard the saying, "A bird with a broken wing will
never fly as high." I'm sure that T. J. Ware was made to feel this way almost
every day in school.
By
high school, T. J. was the most celebrated troublemaker in his town. Teachers
literally cringed when they saw his name posted on their classroom lists for the
next semester. He wasn't very talkative, didn't answer questions and got into
lots of fights. He had flunked almost every class by the time he entered his
senior year, yet was being passed on each year to a higher grade level. Teachers
didn't want to have him again the following year. T. J. was moving on, but
definitely not moving up.
I
met T. J. for the first time at a weekend leadership retreat. All the students
at school had been invited to sign up for ACE training, a program designed to
have students become more involved in their communities. T. J. was one of 405
students who signed up.
When
I showed up to lead their first retreat, the community leaders gave me this
overview of the attending students: "We have a total spectrum
represented today, from the student body president to T. J. Ware, the boy with
the longest arrest record in the history of town." Somehow, I knew that I wasn't
the first to hear about T. J.'s darker side as the first words of
introduction.
At
the start of the retreat, T. J. was literally standing outside the circle of
students, against the back wall, with that "go ahead, impress me" look on his
face. He didn't readily join the discussion groups, didn't seem to have much to
say. But slowly, the interactive games drew him in.
The
ice really melted when the groups started building a list of positive and
negative things that had occurred at school that year. T. J. had some definite
thoughts on those situations. The other students in T. J.'s group welcomed his
comments. All of a sudden T. J. felt like a part of the group, and
before long he was being treated like a leader. He was saying things
that made a lot of sense, and everyone was listening. T. J. was a smart guy, and
he had some great ideas.
The
next day, T. J. was very active in all the sessions. By the end of the retreat,
he had joined the Homeless Project team. He knew something about poverty, hunger
and hopelessness. The other students on the team were impressed with his
passionate concern and ideas. They elected T. J. co-chairman of the team. The
student council president would be taking his instruction from T. J. Ware.
When
T. J. showed up at school on Monday morning, he arrived to a firestorm. A group
of teachers were protesting to the school principal about his being elected
co-chairman. The very first communitywide service project was to be a giant food
drive, organized by the Homeless Project team. These teachers couldn't believe
that the principal would allow this crucial beginning to a prestigious,
three-year action plan to stay in the incapable hands of T. J. Ware.
They
reminded the principal, "He has an arrest record as long as your arm. He'll
probably steal half the food." Mr. Coggshall reminded them that the purpose of
the ACE program was to uncover any positive passion that a student had and
reinforce its practice until true change can take place. The teachers left the
meeting shaking their heads in disgust, firmly convinced that failure was
imminent.
Two
weeks later, T. J. and his friends led a group of 70 students in a drive to
collect food. They collected a school record: 2,854 cans of food in just two
hours. It was enough to fill the empty shelves in two neighborhood centers, and
the food took care of needy families in the area for 75 days.
The
local newspaper covered the event with a full-page article the next day. That
newspaper story was posted on the main bulletin board at school, where everyone
could see it. T. J.'s picture was up there for doing something great, for
leading a record-setting food drive. Every day he was reminded about what he
did. He was being acknowledged as leadership material.
T.
J. started showing up at school every day and answered questions from teachers
for the first time. He led a second project, collecting 300 blankets and 1,000
pairs of shoes for the homeless shelter. The event he started now yields 9,000
cans of food in one day, taking care of 70 percent of the need for food for one
year.
T.
J. reminds us that a bird with a broken wing only needs mending. But once it has
healed, it can fly higher than the rest. T. J. got a job. He became productive.
He is flying quite nicely these days.
Note:
This story showing so well how it is best not to judge a book by its cover is
taken from the inspiring book series
Chicken Soup for the Soul. For other inspiring short stories
like this,
click here.
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