Last post of the term

I want to wish everyone luck and success in their future endeavors. I hope all of you find what you're looking for and never stop dreaming. Since this is my last post, I figure I'll leave everyone with one of my favorite quotes.

"Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible." (T.E. Lawrence)

New Idea....

So for the last four years, I've put together a clothes/food drive for the homeless during the holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas mainly). Every year it has gotten bigger. The first year was my first Christmas without my family so I thought I'd do something to help other people who might be alone for the holidays as well. I made 30 or 40 bag lunches and washed some of the older clothes I didn't wear anymore and drove to Santa Monica to hand them out to the fairly large homeless population there. I ended up staying there for hours. I would sit down and talk with some of them, some just wanted someone to listen, and I even got two guys playing some really good blues music on an old broken guitar and a badly dinged up harmonica. I went home that day feeling good about what I'd done and knowing that at least a few people were better off that day, even if it was only slightly.
The second year some friends who knew what I did the year before donated some of their clothes and two of them even came with me. The third year it grew again with donations and help. This last Christmas, I received over 1500 articles of clothing, I bought hundreds more, made 200 bag lunches, and had 14 people volunteer their Christmas day to do something good for other people. I had also arranged for us to go to a shelter and hand out somethings after they had their Christmas dinner. That went great. We literally pulled up to applause. I spoke with the director and she told me that she thought what we were doing was great, and if I ever wanted to do this legitimately as an organization, she would write a letter of recommendation to the state board for us. That is the main reason for my post.
After a lot of careful consideration I've decided I'm going to start a non-profit organization. I've done some of the work already and should have things ready to send out for approval in a few weeks. I'm actually VERY excited about this. I have a big group of friends who have all already volunteered their time and services without me ever asking a single one of them. I have friends who are social workers who said they wanted to help with mentally ill patients a few hours a week, a physical therapist, an ER nurse, a dentist, a psychologist, two teachers, a web designer, and many more people who just want to help people and now will have a trusted avenue to do it in.
Like I said, I'm really excited about this. I feel like I have a good group of people around me that will really benefit the organization once everything is up and running. I have two letters of recommendation from the directors at two state sponsored programs, a pre-approval from the chairman of the LA Food Bank to receive food donations as long as I registered as an NPO that could distribute food, and the help of a lot of good friends and good people. Now let's just hope I can get approved.....

Hoomanism #6

This one isn't mine, but it's one of my favorites:

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
-Martin Luther King Jr. (1963)

Hoomanism #5

Everything you need to take control of your life is just beyond your fingertips. But you have to have the courage to step forward to take control of it...even with a closed door in front of you. When you do, you will finally realize one of lifes truths...that the doors closed around you, have always been closed by your own hands......and therefore can always be opened by them.

Hoomanism #4

A fool will blindly fight against all criticism of his beliefs. The wise man will listen, question his own beliefs, and only then make a decision on where he stands. Ignorance is not bliss. It is the death of the mind, and the birth of a fool.

Hoomanism #3

To fully understand any human emotion one must know its polar opposite i.e. you cannot truly know joy if you've never felt pain. Therefore, in my opinion, the meaning of life can only be found through our understanding of our own mortality. Live a great life and give to others all while spoiling yourself. 50 yrs from now when you're laying on your death bed with no regrets you will understand the meaning of YOUR life.

Hoomanism #2

There will always be critics to your decisions. They will tell you every chance they get that you are wrong and that you will fail. Don't fall into the temptation of believing them. It takes a great deal of courage to follow through with your actions when you are not sure what the result will be. Dream big and you will win or lose big. Dream small and you always lose. The only true failure in life is that of never really trying.