Why do we do what we do?

George,

This IS of interest to us. All of WE.

You know I'm not about making money and living in luxury, and the high life and all that.

Like you, I want to make a difference.

Like you, I lost a young friend to the streets.

I went wild. And I found myself in crack houses at 2 in the morning trying to pull my clients, my consumers, and the people I was trying to help out. I took great responsibility, and DAMN, I was going to make a difference.

Let me tell you two things that helped me, and maybe will give you something to think about.

The first is a story, a metaphor...

A man walks by the river and hears screams for help. He sees a man drowning in the river.

He jumps in and drags the man to shore.

But as soon as he gets there, he turns and sees Two MORE people in the water, and he jumps in and pulls them both out.

Soon, there was a small crowd jumping in and trying to save all the people screaming, it seemed to be an endless stream by now.

The man, exhausted, staggered away from the scene, and one of the helpers, asked him

"Where are you going, are you QUITTING? What will happen to all these people drowning out there?"

The man replied, "All of us together can't possibly pull everyone from the river, we are losing that battle. As for me, I'm going up river to see who is throwing them in and put a stop to that."

That is why SQUARE ONE WORKSHOPS is so important to me. George, when you start teaching the concepts of personal possibility, that isn't faith based, the people, like the ones you work with will have a FOUNDATION on which to build.

If faith were the only answer, the gangs could be quickly defeated.

The second thing that was said to me, after a tough time, when someone I cared about and worked hard for, and impacted, didn't make it...

a very wise lady told me:

"Let GO and Let God."

She didn't mean for me to quit. Quite the opposite. She encouraged me to go upstream and try to stop the violence, the cruelty, the harsh reality of life.

Do all you can do, but know this, it may not, probably won't be, can't possibly be enough...

So you have to let go, once you've done all you can...and then let God.

It amazes me that people of faith, or more accurately people of religion, have this concept of "God's Will".

Is it God's will to have young kids murdered in the streets? Of course not, at least not my God's will.

You have people who will be prosperous in their health, and give great credit to their God, but these same people can't make a go of it in business? Does their God only have power over their health and NOT their business affairs?

George and others, I'm not starting a discourse on religion or God. What I'm saying is, you either believe in a higher power, and you define what that power can and cannot do.

Or there is no higer power and we are at the mercy of random evolution.

It is my personal belief, and this has yet to be tested, is that KNOWLEDGE and FAITH are what is needed to solve the world's problems.

The young person in the barrio needs to know how life works, IN GENERAL, how his/her thoughts effect their body, how their minds move them to better places, then how their spirit is what it is all about.

There are young men on the streets making thousands of dollars, driving huge cars, gold, diamonds dripping, from their drug deals.

We've had a 20 year WAR on drugs, and we're losing more now than ever before.

How do you compete with money, power, and "family" of a gang?

Only by revealing a higher possibility, and the MEANS to MAKE IT HAPPEN.

George, your last 5 years have been for YOU, just as much as it has been for them.

You KNOW more, you've experienced more, you've been in the fast, rushing, freezing waters.

YOU have made a difference. YOUR life is different. NOW, you are faced with more choices.

Choices only you can make. But as I teach, preach, and beseech, YOU are an individual, with unique gifts, talents, EXPERIENCES.

I suspect your future lies in sharing those experiences, and in teaching the principles of possibility upon a solid foundation of KNOWLEDGE against a backdrop of FAITH...

But, your future is exactly the same as what you have taught others for the last 5 years...it will be of your choosing.

Your young friend didn't choose to get a bullet in his head, no. And from the way you talk about it, he was on the right path. He had a chance. He had HOPE. Without you, without your hope, without your encouragement, his fate would have been more certain; no escape. Ever.

But he had started to see the possibility, the alternatives. Because of you. He perhaps was making the right choices.

Whatever you choose to do George is OK, it is the right thing for you at this time.

My best to you friend,

take some time and take a walk by a real river, where they aren't throwing people in, and get a different perspective, a different view, and let God's magnificent possibilities be your guide.

Gordon Alexander