The power of words

Change your words, change your world!

What are you going to do today?



Many thanks to Ronni Bennett for the pointer to this

"you walk on only one leg"

Minutes passed. Finally Maha Ghosananda stood up slowly. I could see his advanced age then and was even more impressed that this man had withstood the evils of the Pol Pot regime.

"If you move through the world with only your intellect," he said in a direct and clear voice, "then you walk on only one leg." With his hands held in prayer, he lifted one leg and slowly and deliberately hopped three times. With the same deliberation and pace, he restored his foot to the floor. After a long breath he began again.

"If you move through the world with only your compassion," he said, lifting his other leg, "then you walk on only one leg." Again he hopped three times.

"But if you move through the world with both intellect and compassion, then you have wisdom." He walked slowly and gracefully, taking three long, slow strides. At the end he bowed his head again and then resumed his seat on the cushion in front of me.

"Thank you," I said to him bowing again.
He smiled gently. There was nothing left to say.

From The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz

Read more about Jacqueline at the AcumenFund Blog

"a sense of belonging and of accountability"

Our most frequent topic of conversation had to do with community, what it meant, how to foster and build it. John (Gardner) believed humans thrive in relationships to each other and that communities in which each individual feels a sense of belonging and of accountability are key to our individual and societal success.

From The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz

Read more about Jacqueline at the AcumenFund Blog

"I could have listened better"

I walked home alone from Nyamirambo that evening, covered in paint, feeling tired, elated, and also perplexed that I had tried so hard to listen and still ended up choosing the wrong color. On the one hand, I hadn't wanted to wait for months until the women made a decision. On the other, I began to understand that I could have listened better, for listening is not just having the patience to wait, it is also learning how to ask the questions themselves. People who've always been dependent on others for some kind of charity or goodwill often have a hard time saying what they really want because no one usually asks them. And if they are asked, the poor often think no one really wants to hear the truth.

From The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz

Read more about Jacqueline at the AcumenFund Blog

"we are not handing out gifts"

... Constance became a great storyteller for our new organization, helping wealthy and poor alike understand the power of giving each individual the tools of credit so she would have the potential to change her own life. "We are not giving out gifts," she would say, "but are bringing forth the gifts inside the people themselves."

From The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz

Read more about Jacqueline at the AcumenFund Blog