When one is given a second chance at life, one must not squander the knowledge and wisdom gained from all the misgivings experienced in the initial attempt at life.

- Jim Mandelin

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim Mandelin, CPC

Something of Courage;

To have been raised by conscientious caring parents is an unfathomable asset. To be loved, valued and cherished; to be held close and to feel hope, joy and faith; to have the praise and encouragement of extended family; to have shared excitement in learning new things about your world and had challenges quenched with exuberant satisfaction; to have your basic needs met and your sweetest dreams and desires nurtured at least in part; your strengths lauded and your weaknesses regarded with understanding and faith in undiscovered potential. All these are beautiful gifts.

To have been shown the richness of the world with a sense of passionate wonder; to have been given patience and tolerance in your worst moments and tears of joy in your best; to have been given the luxury of exploring ones interests and aptitudes; to have been given the gift of opportunity and the privilege of an prolonged education; to have been given choices and the confidence to act on what you believe to be right… and these are wonderful gifts indeed.

These gifts instill deep within us a sense of empowerment and security and the desire, eventually, to give back some of what we have been given. The desire to give back to humanity, to our children, our families and our communities with a spirit of kindness and generosity, is a very good thing.

However, to have been given very little, if any of these gifts, to grow up in pain, suffering and complete despair, and then be able to change and grow into a place of enormous compassion, Now this is truly an act of courage.

This is courage which is not glamorous nor polished, but rooted firmly in knowing what it is to live with inordinate fear and insecurity. It is a courage born of wishing all one’s life for just one thing with all one’s heart: that one could be part of a world where people just simply loved one another. Since I have this love and it is growing daily, my journey is to share this love with anyone who needs it. My Philosophy lies in the fact that if one survives their own hell, one must share the answers they have found with everyone, it becomes not only a compassionate choice; it becomes ones duty, ones life purpose, ones destiny. This has become all that and more for me. I pledge to continue this purposeful duty until it becomes my turn to fly with the eagles again.