World Wanting Peace

What If You Couldn't Get a Glass of Clean Water...Ever!

Thirsty? Walk over to your sink, turn on the faucet and imagine nothing but a stream of dark, gritty, river water running into your best crystal goblet...

You wouldn't drink that, right?

But millions do...daily. And thousands die from it.

I've been lucky enough to spend substantial time in Ethiopia, Kenya, Peru, Mexico and China. I know this water problem is real. I've seen it.

While driving to our small village in Ethiopia, I saw families bathing and filling water buckets in streams where cattle were also wading, bathing and defecating within a few feet of them.

My family, living in a tiny Ethiopian village, employed a 16-year old girl to bring two five-gallon jerry cans full of clean water on a donkey from the village well nearly a half mile away six times a day, every day, 7 days a week to fill their holding tank. A shower was a very precious - and fast - activity.

Clean water - or the lack of it - poses "a major threat to human health. Diarrhoeal disease alone amounts to an estimated 4.1 % of the total global burden of disease and is responsible for the deaths of 1.8 million people every year," according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Let's drag out everything dumb we said when we were 18"

I worried about this girl all last week...

You know who I'm talking about - South Carolina Miss Teen America. Why on earth would I worry about her?

Well, let's see...

She's 18 years old, and ridiculed all over America for a dumb answer she gave under pressure.

Clips on Youtube.com portraying the incident have been viewed more than 19,000,000 times. Tons of additional cruel clips have cropped up ridiculing her. Even Subway (the sandwich place) created a commercial that took a cheap shot.

That's the kind of thing that a fragile mind (like most of us possess) could obsess about to the point of paranoia, and really turn into a life defining moment.

You probably remember those moments...good or bad in your life that stayed with you. Often, they're moments we'd like to redo.

But, seldom are there redo's in real life.

So I was tickled to see an interview with her on The Today Show also on YouTube where her situation was handled fairly and with compassion. Click on the image above to start the video in a new window.

She's a smart girl with a great future...and a healthy perspective, I'm glad to say.

Good God! She's 18. I'd hate to be judged on what I did when I was 18...

Find Your Voice...

In 1998, you could not have drug me to an Opera. I was more of James Taylor-Santana-Steppenwolf kind of guy.

But then I married an opera singer.

I was really nervous going to my first opera (Andre Chenier) to watch my wife on stage, but I hadn't fallen in love with a beautiful woman with a beautiful voice.

At the end of Chenier, I had fallen in love with opera too.

Yesterday, Luciano Pavarotti died. A great voice, huge talent. He brought opera to the masses. Even if you don't like opera, you know Pavarotti.

Today, my friend Mark Hendricks (who spent several years in the music business as well) sent me a link to a scene from the British version of The American Idol.

A man - a cell phone salesman named by day Paul Potts - wows the audience with his version of a Pavarotti standard taking everyone by surprise.

As soon as he opened his mouth, I gasped...and tears started flowing.

It was the story that got me, not the music itself. Oh, he's good, but when I'm in Atlanta, I room with a tenor who practices every day and is a much better singer.

But this little guy is everyman, hiding in little job because he doesn't have great confidence in himself. He's the chubby guy in the lunchroom who sat by himself avoiding social interaction. He's the one who doesn't say much or smile much because he's got bad teeth.

And inside him, lay a spirit - his voice - that couldn't be contained.

We've all got that spirit. All we have to do is find our voice.

Click on the link - turn up your speakers. Watch and cry.

Then click to the bottom of the page and listen to his next-to-final performance.

And click here to see his final performance on Youtube.

Whew!

A Dog Lover's Prayer For Michael Vick...

Ninty-year old Sen. Robert Byrd stood on the senate floor shaking with anger, screaming an outrage felt by many Americans, as he choked with emotion, "Barbaric...Barbaric...Barbaric..."

Michael Vick, the celebrated Atlanta Falcon Quarterback and multi-millionaire sports celebrity, had been indicted for being involved in dogfighting.

Byrd's words about the incident were appropriate..."Barbaric..."

When I told my wife about the episode, she nearly cried. We're both dog lovers and don't understand how anyone can take pleasure from hurting these or any other animals.

As the news crews latched on to the outrage, the evidence against Vick grew.

Not only was he "involved", but he was breeding dozens of dogs on his property using "Rape Stands" - a contraption that immobilizes the female for mating because the best fighting females are so mean that they'll bite the males.

Cajun-style dog fight pits were found on his estate in Virginia.

Barbaric...

Later that day, an e-mail notice...

Not So Fast With the Father's Day Celebration Today?

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that being a better father is one of my goals - even though my kids are grown and gone.

I built my first online business around this niche concept and created a course on how to do it with The 60-Day Experiment.

I am committed to supporting fathers and children, and use my experience as a pretty terrible dad to help others...

What's Your Greatest Productivity Secret?

It's funny how the world works - giving you what you need instead of what you think you want.

First, you take a shot to the left jaw and you see stars. Then, in a flash, the second part of the 1-2 punch lands on the right jaw...and NOW we've got your attention.

Friday, I took the first hit.

A book arrived that my...

Phoebe and The Snake...a Story of Ultimate Victory

Charlsa came running into the kitchen, screaming, "David, it's a snake. Oh, David, it's a snake..."

We live in the woods. Snakes are not uncommon. Seldom is it more than a shock, and seldom does it cause us to get a little hysterical. Basically, we've learned to live together: Don't bother me, I won't bother you.

But this snake had brought a small tragedy into our lives.

Here's how it began...

Who Says We Can't We Have It All?

You can be anything you want to be...fireman, astronaut, professional baseball player, cowboy, or President...anything. Because, in America (substitute your country), you can have everything if you work hard for it.

Did someone tell you something similar to that when you were a child?

So, when did it change? When did you decide that...

Goodbye My Old Friend

We drove to Huntsville yesterday to say good bye to one of my best friends.

By the time, you read this Tommy probably will have passed away. The doctor said he wouldn't make it through the weekend.

Just in his early 70's, I watched him decline over the past five years from a terrible disease that robbed him of his breath -- COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.) You can read about it here.

COPD is the 4th leading killer in America killing more women than men. But 80-90 percent of all COPD sufferers are (or have been) smokers. Tommy smoked for 30 years. Even though he stopped 25 years ago, the damage was done.

After moving to Alabama, Tommy had become my friend, confidante and advisor...

Are You Just a Hollow Shell?

I took last Sunday off…and the world kept on going without me. Can you believe it?

This is a really sad confession. Last Sunday was probably the first day I've taken off - completely - in more than a year. I mean off. Didn't touch the computer (well, I did sneak a peak at e-mail first thing in the morning.)

I spent the day with my wife sitting on the deck in shorts and bare feet basking in the unseasonably warm weather.

Then we took a walk in the woods -- which we hadn't done in a long time - just to see what had changed. And after three years of living in the woods, not surprisingly...