I spent a week in San Diego staffing a leadership & character development course called: Heart of the Samurai.
The lessons taught in this course are based on a few key tools & principles:
- Continuously developing a growth mindset
- Practicing leadership development strategies
- Harnessing an abundant mindset
- Recognizing how compassion and contribution can motivate a person toward success.
- and creating a joyful, fulfilling and successful life.
There were SO many amazing moments throughout this week that I want to share but I’ve decided to focus on one of the highlights.
On day 5 our group participated in building homes for an organization called Project Mercy. Their mission is to construct solid and secure houses and improve the quality of life for impoverished families.
During the day, there were groups responsible for constructing walls, staircases, assembling care packages, toys and children’s books. I was originally placed on a team responsible for making sure the group was well hydrated and had applied plenty of sunblock… {since we were working in the desert environment!} In conjunction with the hydration, I started a recycling program to collect all of the plastic water bottles to ensure that they were being separated from the trash. {I was having so much fun telling people to drink up & allow me to take their recycling}
As the day progressed, we shifted our responsibilities to support the groups that were building and constructing the walls for the houses because this is where the most help was needed.
During lunchtime, we also set up a station and served lunch to the entire group. As I sat eating my lunch I realized that when people were done eating, they were throwing their entire lunch kit in a trash bag and the amount of trash was beginning to pile up… We were about a third of the way through serving the meals and we had almost 6 bags full of trash! It was at this moment that I sprang into action! {and I was SO excited to do so}… I immediately separated the trash into 3 sections:
1-Trash
2-Recycling
3: Compost
Because of that separation, we reduced the 6 bags down to 1 for trash, 1 for recycling and a small box of composting. Not only did it feel good to reduce the waste going into the landfill… I felt JOY in educating people on what was recyclable and what was considered compost!
I think my take away from that day was the action that I took and the opportunity to share with this group something that I was passionate about.