After announcing last week that my book, “AFRICA: Beginning A Journey”, was ready for pre-ordering, I am absolutely floored by the response(s) I have received to date. We have already sold over 10% of the available copies (without the advertising campaigns even starting!) – THANK YOU for your support and generosity!

I have been getting quite a bit of press coverage because of this… in the Mississauga News and also on the Gill Deacon Show on CBC (the photograph of myself and Gill is courtesy of David Newland of the CBC). It is fantastic that the media is helping me to get the word out about assisting African children impacted by AIDS and HIV.

When I was on Gill Deacon’s show, she asked me, “What motivated you to do this? You’re an ordinary Canadian reaching out to help children you have never met…” That was an excellent question.

The word “should” really needs to be taken out of the English language. Why might you ask? It implies inaction and not taking responsibility. I am very guilty of using the word “should“.

When I first heard about the innocent African children who were suffering, my first reaction was that someone should do something about it. Notice that I wanted someone else to take responsibility for what I wanted to have happen – that is, help out these kids.

Then one day out of the blue, I asked myself, “Do you have the courage to make a difference?“. Was I bold enough to take action in order to make a difference in the lives of these children?

Those were really hard questions to ask myself and by taking a hard look at myself and connecting with my heart, I knew the answer. I was not going to sit still and let nothing happen. I wanted to help. And I cannot tell how happy it makes me to be true to myself and my values.

So, next time you hear about a social injustice or about good cause that needs help, I encourage you to take a deep breath and say to yourself, “I have the courage to make a difference“.

We all have the courage to make a difference. What would the world be like if we used our courage to make the world a better place?

Maybe Mr. Webster might let me modify the dictionary one day…