The Wheel2Wheel expedition rolls on, with Morgan at present in Laos on his way to the opening of a rural school with our charity partners Child’s Dream.
Our focus is very much on our goal of raising the profile of our 10 charitable partners in the expedition, all doing important work to build communities and protect our environment for future generations across Asia and Australia.
But we have all been touched by the global events and natural disasters that have dominated the headlines this year. I want to take a few minutes to reflect on these terrible circumstances and acknowledge all those whose lives have been devastated.
Human tragedies like the one unfolding in Japan since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami touch all of us in a very profound way. Sometimes it is at a distance, but we can empathise with the suffering; sometimes it hits a little closer to home.
Japan was home to my family for the past 3 years – a wonderful 3 years where we learned a great deal about this fascinating country and its culture, and made many dear friends – and we still feel very connected to the community there. These past days have been dimmed by sharing a portion of the grief for the direct victims – through loss of life or way of life. We’ve felt the stress and worry of many friends whose lives have been changed irrevocably these past days, individually in smaller ways, but collectively a tragedy on the largest scale.
It is not only Japan, though. On the Wheel2Wheel team, we have friends in New Zealand that were affected by the recent quake there. And in the build up to the expedition, Morgan saw his home state in Australia, Queensland, ravaged by devastating floods.
So in part, I want to acknowledge these tragic events and express our thoughts and hopes for those affected. But in part I also want to reflect on what we can learn from such difficult times. And I sum up my reflections as follows:
(1) It’s a small world.
(2) Let’s appreciate what we have, and look after what’s important.
(3) Seek inspiration everyday.
(4) A little perspective can be a wonderful thing.
(5) If you aren’t already living your dream, now’s the time.
It’s a small world… after all
It is a small world and we are one global community. Just a glimpse of the messages of hope and unity blazing across Facebook, Twitter and the like – “we are with you”, “we are together”, “we are one” – and seeing rival nations suspend politics momentarily to send aid, refills one’s faith in the human spirit.
It is unfortunate that it takes disasters of epic magnitude to make us realise this, to put aside our differences, and recognise our community – but at least from time to time we do. We laugh, cry, bleed and hope the same way, regardless of geography, race or religion.
And when we truly recognise this, we begin to take responsibility for it.
Appreciation. Hard to spell, easy to do.
When the forces of nature strip away everything you have or think you care about, only the deepest and most import things reveal themselves. Family, friends, a community you are part of and you can call upon in your darkest hours. And if you have those, plus a little water, food and shelter, you have enough to smile.
Then for those of us fortunate enough not to suffer this fate, as we add back the layers of our modern lives and material possessions, we must both appreciate our good fortune but also question, critically, whether or not we are investing our efforts sufficiently into the most important things. Hug your family, greet your neighbour!
Inspiration. There’s always a half-full, silver lining…
No matter how difficult the circumstances, you can choose your response to it. Some give up while others remain positive, and stand defiant, inspiring us all. It begins with individuals. A friend in Japan posted the following on Facebook yesterday: “A pretty good day – just one little earthquake at lunch, but my family arrived to safety, no explosions at Fukushima, my favorite ramen shop was open and the Nikkei was up! “. No doubt there will be more profound stories to emerge, but it is around inspiring individual acts that communities rally and change happens.
I see parallels here in the leaders of the 10 organisations we are promoting at Wheel2Wheel. While all very different personalities and tackling diverse, seemingly insurmountable issues, all of these people are very positive individuals, who’ve found the courage to act against the odds, and inspired change – or planted the seeds of it. Truly inspirational.
Perspective. The Big Picture.
Disasters of such scale help put our day-to-day problems and challenges in perspective. In comparison to a true crisis, the mundane issues that we sometimes obsess or argue over fade to zero, while larger problems that seemed impassable a week ago begin to appear more accessible.
There is little we can do in the face of such awesome forces of nature, other than be prepared, endure and rebuild.
By comparison, even the largest, most intractable man-made problems suddenly seem solvable if we put our imagination, resources and collective will to doing so. From environmental crises like pollution and deforestation, to poverty and inequality, finding solutions to man-made issues should ultimately be achievable.
We’re proud to support some of those leading the way.
Life is short. Live your dreams.
Again, times like this make us realise that life is short and precious. We reflect on what if, and ask ourselves whether we are living true to our values and to our dreams.
Beyond a catchphrase, our “Live The Dream” philosophy is something that Morgan, Paige, myself, and all on the team who dedicate our efforts to this Wheel2Wheel project, fundamentally believe. Each of us have had our own journey of self-discovery. From Morgan reevaluating his life goals and deciding to create this endeavour, to the rest of us whose individual experiences have attracted us to try to lead a balanced and responsible life or do our best to be a good role model for our children, Wheel2Wheel is a manifestation of our best efforts.
We salute the many supporters of Wheel2Wheel. Undoubtedly through your own personal experiences (whether by deliberate evaluation, or reflection due to external events) we know that that you share similar values; we know that you are taking action by following the adventure, by donating, and by supporting or leading the causes that are important to you; we hope that you are enjoying living your own dreams also.
Peace.