For the wealth of abundant food to fuel our dreams
For the wealth of prosperity to empower our dreams
For the wealth of good friends to shoulder our dreams
For the wealth of joy when we bring our dreams to pass.
Let us be thankful today.
© Shawn Bird 2011. Free use within Rotary.
Available for free use within Rotary; however, please indicate in the comment section below that you have used it at your club (date and name).When we remember that like love, gratitude is an action, we are reminded that our responsibility is to demonstrate thankfulness. An attitude of grateful appreciation is an act of loving kindness to those around us.
Take a moment to think about what you appreciate today and to be thankful for the loving kindnesses that you receive.
© Shawn Bird 2010. Free use within Rotary.
We are thankful for warm hearts
that echo with the call to serve.
We are thankful for strong hands
that do the work to serve.
We are thankful for wise heads
that consider how best to serve.
We are thankful that willing members
allow Rotary to serve the world.
© Shawn Bird 2010. Free use within Rotary.
It’s doggerel, but it works…
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For peace in a world where many know war
For health in a world where many are sore
For wealth in a world where many are poor
For friends in a world where friends are the core
These are precious gifts that we are thankful for.
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© Shawn Bird 2010. Free use within Rotary.
“I feel that luck is preparation meeting opportunity.”
Oprah Winfrey
On my fridge I have a magnet that says, “Luck is believing you are lucky.”
I’ve heard people say, “You make your own luck” and I guess that’s a combination of Oprah’s comment and my magnet. Make a plan, get started toward your goals and even if things don’t turn out quite as expected, at least you’re moving in the right direction to seize opportunities that come unexpectedly. One course at college you ended up in to make up a credit might end up changing your life direction. One vacation might change your career path. Being open to surprises and taking advantage of them brings us both good luck and bad luck. Our attitude determines which, not the circumstances.
Do you choose to be lucky?
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© Shawn Bird 2010. Free use within Rotary.
I noticed this news article today, about a guy in France who has caught a koi (aka carp aka goldfish) as big as a dog. While the photo in this case may or may not be authentic, it is a fact that koi grow to fit their surroundings.
If you keep your goldfish in a bowl, it will remain an inch or two long forever. If you put it in a pond it will grow to fit the pond. There are apparently documented specimens over 90 lbs. The one in the Yahoo story is given as 30 lbs, so you can imagine how gigantic a 90 lb carp would be!
How often do we grow to fit our situation?
If our circumstances require us to stretch and grow, do we remain bait for bigger fish, or do we fill our space?
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© Shawn Bird 2010. Free use within Rotary.
Every once in awhile I pop into http://www.polioeradication.org/casecount.asp to see how things are going with the global Polio Eradication effort. 
For those of you who don’t know, in the 1980s polio was maiming and paralyzing 1000 children a day around the world. In North America, it was almost unheard of after the Salk vaccine was developed in the 50s. Rotary decided that to celebrate their 100th Anniversary in 2005, they wanted to have done something huge. They wanted to eradicate polio the way small pox had been eradicated through global immunization. It was the largest service project in the world. When I was president in my club in 2008, the latest figures were that there had been only 1307 cases world wide in 2007. Polio was still endemic in a geographic corner of 3 Asian countries: India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and over in Africa, in northern Nigeria. That was exciting. The end was close. But then the virus escaped Nigeria, and neighbouring countries that had been polio free suddenly had new cases. The effort was redoubled. I am thrilled to see that while in 2009 Nigeria had 388 cases, so far in 2010 there have been only 6 cases. India had 741 cases in 2009, but so far only 32. Afghanistan had 38 in 2009, this year only 14.
However, with global travel polio can move around easily. Last year there were no cases of polio in Senegal or Russia; this year there have been 18 and 11 respectively. We can’t take a break from the immunization efforts because wherever there are people who haven’t been vaccinated, there is the danger of polio crossing borders.
Last year there were 1604 cases of polio globally, but so far this year there have only been 638. That’s exciting, but when I looked at the specifics I was alarmed. Only 95 of those cases were in endemic countries. 543 of them were in non-endemic countries; that is, countries where polio is rare or non-existant. I studied the statistics and was even more alarmed. 456 of those cases were in Tajikistan in June and July. I wanted to know why and I tracked down this news story: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Health/20100623/tajikistan-polio-outbreak-100623/ An infected person travelled from northern India, and 456 people were paralyzed. I had a birthday gift. By my birthday the outbreak was over.
Consider this. If Tajikistan had not been infected, the global polio cases in 2010 would be only 182. What a tragedy. A pocket of unvaccinated people gives polio a toe-hold, and when it gets a toe-hold then paralysis follows.
Now we are facing the floods in Pakistan, but Rotary and the WHO health teams are there, locating children and having massive drives to ensure water borne diseases like polio do not destroy the displaced people.
We’re so close, we can’t let up now. We can eliminate polio in our lifetimes! Instead of giving mugs or pens to our guest speakers, my club gives them a certificate that shows we have donated funds to vaccinate 20 children from polio in their honour. What can you do to help the fight?
If 20 years ago, optimistic Rotarians had not theorized that it would be possible to eliminate polio from the planet, a thousand children per DAY would still be stricken with polio, instead of the 618 people TOTAL who have been afflicted to date in 2010.*
Helen Keller said, “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
I am so proud to be part of an organization that has the hope and confidence to change the world. Participating in Rotary projects at home and abroad is optimism in action. Let us be thankful for the optimism that fuels our actions.
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* data current as of August 27, 2010. Check http://www.polioeradication.org/casecount.asp for today’s count!
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© Shawn Bird 2010. Free use within Rotary.
Today I had the pleasure of meeting a quite amazing couple, Huw and Carolyn Thomas of Cornwall, England. Of course, I wouldn’t have met them without Rotary. I went to volunteer some time today at a hot dog sale to promote Carolyn and Huw’s adventure to cycle 10,000 miles in order to promote the Shelter Box program.
If you haven’t heard about this program, it is another phenomenal way Rotary is making an impact in improving life amid horrible circumstances. Individual and/or organizations purchase a big green box (about the volume of a dishwasher). Inside this box is a huge tent, pots and pans, dishes, blankets, school supplies for a family of 10 to 12 to live for a year. The boxes cost $1000 to purchase. They are warehoused on several continents, ready for disaster. When a disaster strikes, like the earthquake in Haiti or the floods in Pakistan, Shelter Boxes are immediately dispatched from the closest warehouse, along with a team to ensure they are going where they are needed. Recently the three Rotary Clubs of Salmon Arm (Salmon Arm, Salmon Arm Daybreak, Salmon Arm Shuswap) purchased 22 Shelter Boxes.
Look closely the next time you see photos from a disaster zone: in the tent city that provides not only shelter, but hope and dignity, you may see a Rotary logo with the name Salmon Arm underneath it.
Shawn L. Bird 
The theory of invocation January 12, 2011
Some people suggest that because Rotary is an organization that does not discriminate by sex, race, business or faith, that invocations are not appropriate. I support the idea that an invocation to a particular deity is inappropriate, but that the concept of invoking thankfulness or thoughtfulness is always appropriate.
As such, within my blog you will find a wide variety of short prose pieces or poems that are meant to provoke a tone of contemplation in the members. Because my particular club is mainly Christian, I chose to completely avoid what is the norm for us, and therefore I provide options that are completely secular. Eventually I may be adding quotes from a variety of faiths as well.
I hope Rotarians find these neutral invocations useful and I make them freely available for use within Rotary. I know that they are one of the most popular reasons people come to my site. When you use one of my invocations, please acknowledge my authorship when you present it to your club. I’d also be delighted if you’d log into the comment beneath the invocation you share to tell me the name and location of your club and when you used it (or plan to). i.e. “Rotary Club of Salmon Arm (Shuswap) District 5060 BC Canada. January 5, 2011.”
With thanks.
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