Tomorrow happens to be World AIDS Day. A day of awareness on the health emergency that threatens to take the lives of millions around the world. It is interesting that the day receives so very little attention. Over at the ONE campaign they recently posted on their blog the up-to-date figures on the AIDS pandemic. According to the statistics 33.2 million people are living with HIV/AIDS globally; 2.5 million new infections occurred in 2007; and 2.1 million people died, or 5 700 people per day from HIV/AIDS in 2007. The sheer scale of these figures is enough to make a grown man cry.

I have now wrote a couple of posts on AIDS and a couple of books I have found that really create some perspective on this problem. In our increasingly interdependent state on one another it is entirely surprising that we don't have more dialogue and conversation going. Where are the news stories? Where are the public service announcements? It needs to be talked about, it needs to be HEARD. Our silence only increases the stigma placed upon the disease.

Just this past week an article in the Toronto Star broke the news that the Canadian government was diverting funds from community AIDS programs to help boost its AIDS medication program announced earlier in the year in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. How about they just increase funding altogether instead of shuffling it around? Of all the surplus that has been announced why can't we afford to spend a little extra on AIDS programs? As one of the G8, or wealthiest nations in the world, it is our responsibility to take this emergency seriously!

While it isn't all bad, and we have certainly made strides over the last few years, we have to realize this isn't going away. The current campaign circuit for the Democratic nominations down in the U.S. has yet to address where the candidates stand on AIDS research, poverty reduction, global debt relief. This requires a grassroots conversation. It requires that we force it onto the agenda. We need more than a few celebrities to take notice and create groundswell action. It requires that you and I participate. It starts with a few and the few bring with them many. Instead of waiting to join the fray how about we start the fray? Ask your teacher if you can start the conversation in your class, bring it up at the water cooler at work, send an email to your friends and family, not to ask for money but to ask for comments, to ask for actions.

We have the snowball rolling, but it needs to pick up speed. Give it a push.

Here is another great post by Brad Williamson over at Small Business Branding. Check it out here.

Passion’s Purpose

Listen to the Soul, let it guide you towards the highest vision you have for yourself, and live a Life you can Love. You know who you are and who you want to be, so let your spirit be shown through the progress of your purpose. This energy that drives your dream’s desires, to turn being-ness into experience, is called passion.

The Soul presents you with its purpose through feelings of passion. It is an energy that drives you to push aside that which does not reflect your being, in favor of pursuits that mirror your inner-motivations. The experience of passion is so profound that you Lovingly cry years of dedication into crafts that represent who you are; and when your creations consume you, know that the Soul is living its dream.

The pulse of passion feels like pure Peace. Pure Peace that provides unconditional comfort without corruption, because conflict cannot possibly cross the Love of your Life. Every breath is beautiful as your spirit shouts the energy of affectionate addiction. …Your Love is alive.

Passion has no expectations. Its desires are fulfilled with or without awards or accomplishment, and simply strives for the Soul to see them survive. Passion must be given creative freedom if it wants to truly experience itself; and the distractions expectations inflict can restrict the liberty that is needed to transform dreams into Life.

Passion is purpose; and without passion, Life has no purpose. Thanks to Love, your passions are made obvious to you in every moment. All you must do to find your guiding light is hear the sincere shouts of the Soul that serve to remind you of who you are. Every moment reveals reasons to pursue the progress of passion, so never push away its promises.

Your passion can fashion a Life of Love; so embrace your motivations, both modest and magnificent. Present every moment with your purpose and prepare to be amazed by the presents you persuade Life to shower upon you.

I came across this great post on a blog and I wanted to share it with all of you. The author is Sean M Kelly and the link to the post is here

Is living your dream only for a select few or can we all realise our dreams? Here’s six tips to help you live yours.

1. Create a Great Purpose - The greater the reason you have to live your dream the greater your motivation. Think of those who have achieved greatly in their lives. Their purpose wasn’t limited by a personal agenda but by a purpose which was far greater than themselves. A few years ago I had the honour to musically lead Sir Bob Geldof into a conference. During his keynote speech he spoke about how “Live Aid” began. He said, “…our goal was to raise $75,000 to help feed people in Africa. Now millions and millions of dollars later we’re still doing it.” Create a great purpose for your dream - world abundance, world peace, feed the world, make poverty history or whatever resonates deep within you, almost as if you were born for this purpose to be realised.

2. Explore Your Dreams - What are your talents and gifts? What are you deeply passionate about? What do you love? Everyone has talents and gifts. Everyone has unique contributions to make to our world. However if we just follow everyone elses lead hoping to be liked and approved of, we may miss our calling. Ask yourself - what do you truly love doing? Do you lose track of time when you’re doing this? Would you do it even if you never got paid?

3. Create a Vision - Get a blank sheet of paper and markers. Now imagine anything is possible. Then draw a vision for your ultimate dream, one that feels absolutely fantastic! It’s the feelings that will energise your vision into reality, so let them soar! Put the vision somewhere you will see it daily and reconnect with those feelings as if your dream is already true.

4. Take guided action - There is an intelligence within the universe that keeps the planets in their orbits, ensures the sun rises daily and can also manifest your dreams. What do you need to do? Let go of the need to figure “how” your dream will happen, trust the infinite intelligence of the universe and watch for opportunites that arise. These opportunities may come to you, or your intuition may urge you to take guided action. Whichever way they arise, gently seize these opportunies!

5. Give Thanks - A thirteenth century philosopher, Meister Eckhart once said - if the only prayer we ever said in our lives was “thankyou” it would be enough. Never cease to feel gratitude for the manifestion of your dreams. Your feelings of gratitude is the energy which fuels the magical manifestation of your dreams. No matter how slow or fast the progress, celebrate every step of the way!

6. Your Greatest Gift - Finally and most importantly remember even if your dream doesn’t come true, be forever grateful for the greatest gift of all - the gift of your precious and unique life. And know that this world is a better place because … You have dared to live your dream!

I received a book last year for Christmas and because I have let them stack up I have not had a chance to read it. The book sounded quite interesting but I have a book addiction and I think too many books sound good. The title for this particular book though was World Changing: A User's Guide For The 21st Century. Profound. Well lately as I have scoured the internet I keep linking back to this one particular website; World Changing. What is even more odd is that a friend of mine has been working with this new organization called REBEARTH and they just happened to be a headline article on the website today. Well my curiosity had me and so I started poking around the REBEARTH website. The tag line for the website "Growing a world 6.6 billion people would want to live in". It is exactly the kind of tag line I have been batting around in my head. It makes you day dream of the possibilities. So I ask this question: What would this world look like? What would the world look like if all 6.6 billion of us could be proud of it? What do you dream of? If REBEARTH can't make it happen then I want to try so please share.

What a weekend! After co-founding the Canadian Conference on Student Leadership last year I was extremely excited to be able to partake in the event again this year in a minor capacity. This time around I was able to take in the experience and absorb so much more because I was able to be in the moment. Last year I was always worried about what I was going to have to do next, what problem I was going to have to help solve, and especially when I was going to get my next wink of sleep. This year was the exact opposite. I was able to attend sessions and listen to both the speakers and the participants as they conversed on the gamut of ideas and information. I found myself lost in their words and being touched at my core. The reasons we had started the conference, namely to network with our fellow peers, to gain experience from professionals, and to learn from our peers, was exactly what was occurring on both a micro and a macro level here this year and I was able to witness it without clouded eyes.

This year saw about 175 delegates attend and last year saw 150. That is about 325 leaders that have walked into the conference with open eyes and minds and left with an abundance of new ideas, inspirations and friends. Watching participants who, before the first day had never met, were now able to hug and cry, share their dreams and aspirations, and laugh with complete strangers, was one of the most memorable experiences I could have hoped to experience.

The conference came from an experience that me and 4 other fellow students when we had the privilege, as leadership mentors at Wilfrid Laurier University, to be sent down to Florida to attend the American National Conference on Student Leadership. The last speaker at this conference was Troy Stende, with his wife Karen. It was a dream come true to have Troy come to our conference and present both a keynote and workshop this year. It was at his keynote to close the American conference that our delegation left so utterly inspired that I think that momentum was exactly why we were moved to create our version here in Canada. It is a truly remarkable character that is able to have people laughing, crying, and sharing and believing in complete strangers, and more importantly with themselves. Just an absolutely genuine person, and someone I am very proud to call a friend. 4 years ago I left a conference by telling Troy you made a difference for me. His vision is to send a ripple of difference throughout the world and I don’t know that he will ever understand just how much he has done to accomplish this goal. 325 amazing young leaders have his inspiration to thank for their individual experiences these past two years and he can feel comfortable knowing that the conference will continue on into the future to affect many more young adults.

I want to thank Pat Alain and Melissa Steadman for continuing Kathryn and my legacy and for stepping it up and making it even better. The two of them did a truly remarkable job with the conference and it is due to their diligence and hard work that the conference ran so smoothly and was such a success. Congratulations to the both of them on what they have achieved as I know that it is a long and difficult task to accomplish with many barriers to overcome, but you did it while making it look easy.

I would also like to thank Melanie Will, Leanne Holland-Brown and Drew Piticco for their continued help in making the conference happen. Without their strong passion for student involvement and hard work the conference simply would not be possible. They are remarkable people and I am constantly blown away by their kindness and sincerity. The world is a better place with them in it.

I am not sure I can even remotely describe how amazing the weekend really was. It is one of those experiences where you leave with this feeling in your stomach like things have changed but your not sure just how yet. I saw innumerable instances where students were obviously affected by what they were experiencing. The thanks that students passed along to me (as I happened to be around) for having started the conference was extremely moving. It made me feel proud that I had even an iota of reason for their learning and growing. I would like to say one thing about this, however. I had very little to do with any of their experience. The conference is what it is and participants take what they do because of the people they are and the character they possess. The conference is nothing if not for their passion and involvement. I am thankful for the praise but certainly not deserving of it.

The leaders of both tomorrow and today are people just like the students who attend conferences such as the CCSL. If we have any chance of seeing a significant positive change within this lifetime, it will come from people such as these, who gather to grow and learn from one another how best to make it happen. We need more people in the world to be leaders. We need more people to stand up for what they believe in and help to influence and pass along the leader disposition to other open minded people.