Mortenson, Mycoskie, and me?

"In 1993 a mountaineer named Greg Mortenson drifted into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram mountains after a failed attempt to climb K2. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness, he promised to return and build a school. Three Cups of Tea is the story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome. Over the next decade Mortenson built not just one but fifty-five schools- especially for girls- in the forbidding terrain that gave birth to the Taliban. His story is at once a riveting adventure and a testament to the power of the humanitarian spirit."

I want to be a Greg Mortenson when I grow up. No, edit; I want to be a Greg Mortenson tomorrow, today, right now. There is too much suffering going on in our world to wait to become someone who has a positive impact, the time is now. However, no matter how hard my heart is tugged to go and help, the vision of making an impact on other peoples lives seems to grand for me.

I came across a copy of Three Cups of Tea rather flippantly at the new and used bookstore in town. I was in the store browsing to kill some time before my doctors appointment down the street. With no previous intentions of buying a book (especially one that cost $16.50) I picked up this soft covered book with a photo of three young Pakistani girls on the cover and took it to the till. I haven't been able to stop reading since then; even on the treadmill at the gym- which is actually a very difficult thing to do and resulted in two ripped pages. As melo-dramatic as it sounds, this book has changed my life. 

Equipped with a promise to a small village, extreme patience, perserverence, sacrifice and selflessness Greg Mortenson has offered countless villages in Northern Pakistan what their government was unable, education. It is an inspiring saga that started out so humbly, that it really proves how much can be done with such little material means. I doubt I will ever be awarded the Sitara-e-Pakistan, or build schools in such a remote and war torn area of the world, but there is something that I can do. I just don't know what yet. 

This week I have also learned a lot more about a shoe company that I have come to adore. Toms Shoes.

I don't need to iterate here what the website adequately explains, but I do want to give my praise and respect to the founder of this company Blake Mycoskie. His is another story about the change one person can make. Both Greg and Blake began their journey of service with such humility about their own abilities, and respect for the people who they wanted to help. I want to learn from them, and perhaps when I am able to humbly accept how little I have to offer, I will find the avenue that needs what little I have. 

This weeks virtue was respect- and from two strangers who I will never meet I have learned how respect for everyone that you meet, regardless of their condition and circumstances in life, leads to opportunities for service. I respect what they have done, but also the simple path that they followed to get there. With a strong rededication I am looking for that path of service in my life.