Editor’s Message - Positive Mental Attitudes For A Great Rotary Year
A few years ago I had the pleasure of listening to Art Linkletter tell a story about when he was doing the television show "Kids Say the Darndest Things." He described how he had presented a problem to a group of children. They were to imagine being in an airplane high over the ocean. Suddenly, one of the four engines began to make an unusual noise, started to sputter and then abruptly stopped. A few minutes later a second engine made the same strange noise, sputtered and stopped. Fortunately, airplanes with four engines can fly with only two engines. You are still safe, but then the third engine repeated the now familiar routine. Now you are definitely concerned because it is very hard for a four engine plane to fly with only one engine. Then the last engine stopped. "What would you do?" asked Art Linkletter. A little boy quickly raised his hand and responded, "I'd unbuckle my seat belt and get a parachute." Art Linkletter responded "So you'd get a parachute and jump out?" The little boy quickly added, "Yes sir, but I'd get some gas and come back." Ah, if we could all have such a positive outlook in the face of our anxieties.
The most basic requirement for a successful Rotary year is a positive mental attitude. You have heard Rotarians talk about “service above self.” You have heard DG Lisa Faith discuss the exciting year ahead, Rotary’s quest for new members and service in the district, and RI President Gary Huang’s theme to “Light up Rotary.” These all remind me of a "can do" attitude that will allow you to believe that change can happen in a world desperately in need of what Rotary offers. Leo Tolstoy said, "The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity."
Please help our club president, Sofka Werkmeister, have a successful year, so that we all look back on the 2014-15 Rotary year and feel that the world is a better place because of the Rotary E-Club of Houston and what we have accomplished. If you are asked to help, find a way to say “yes.”
"Help thy brother's boat across and lo! thine own has reached the shore." - Hindu Proverb
I worked in a factory while going to college. We made cans and my job was to put sheets of metal into a machine and press out the ends of the cans. I guess I will always remember this job since it was the place where I was when I saw the live coverage of Neil Armstrong becoming the first man to step on the moon.
The shop foreman was a wrinkled man who had spent his life working in this factory. He had previously worked every job there, and would sometimes do so again if someone did not show up for work. He always seemed content with a positive attitude.
One day at lunch a new employee asked questions about what it was like to work for the factory. My foreman was at the same table and asked the new employee, "What was it like at your last job?" He replied, "It was terrible. The working conditions stunk, and the boss was unfair." My supervisor said, "Unfortunately, you'll find it is very similar here."
Another time I heard him talking to a different new employee and somehow my foreman worked the conversation around to ask "What was it like at your last job?" This new employee without hesitation said, "It was pretty good. The work was interesting, and there were good people working there. My boss was real fair." To this my supervisor responded, "You'll like it here. It's just like the last place you worked."
Our Rotary year will be what our vision of it will make it. Envision great things! I see the Rotary E-Club of Houston as the leader in the future of Rotary. Inclusive of all who want to serve others, from anywhere in the world, 24/7 anytime, we will make the world a better place.
PDG Edward Charlesworth
"Our life is what our thoughts make it" - Marcus Aurelius