Nancy Pelosi and Olga Murray, Two Women Making a Difference
I had the recent good fortune to attend an event that was an interview with Madame Speaker, Nancy Pelosi about her new book, Know Your Power.
As she spoke about her life, what struck me the most was that her life has been one of service from the time that she was young in Baltimore. When her father was the mayor, the children were all taught to know the numbers of the social service agencies so that they could pass along the information to those in need who would call their home. Her mother always was setting an extra plate at the table for those less fortunate.
This continued as she moved across the country with her husband to her adopted city, San Francisco when she went door-to-door campaigning with her children in tow in strollers.
What I am learning most through my interest in people's life stories and the work that I am doing on this website, is that we all have and share such different paths. In my experience hearing Madame Speaker and in my interview that you can listen to on this blog with Olga Murray who founded the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation (www.nyof.org), I am finding that a common ground that infuses lives with enthusiasm and energy is helping others.
Nancy Pelosi talks about the "one in five" in her book, that one in five children in America lives in poverty. She said, "what motivates me every day in my political and personal life is the fact that one in five children in America lives in poverty. I think of them every morning when I wake up, about how they may have gone to sleep hungry the night before. When my colleagues are having a frustrating day and they ask me, 'why should we do this?' I say, 'remember it's for the one in five.'"
In a response to whether she can share some inspiring words for others at the end of our interview, Olga Murray says that she has friends who say, my children don't need me any more and my grand children are all grown and they don't need me anymore either. And Olga tells them, go out and do something for someone else and see how it makes them feel. She said she feels more happiness in the last 20 years from the work that she has done helping Nepalese children, than she has felt at any other time.
She also says, you don't need to go all the way to Nepal to find a way to help others!
As she spoke about her life, what struck me the most was that her life has been one of service from the time that she was young in Baltimore. When her father was the mayor, the children were all taught to know the numbers of the social service agencies so that they could pass along the information to those in need who would call their home. Her mother always was setting an extra plate at the table for those less fortunate.
This continued as she moved across the country with her husband to her adopted city, San Francisco when she went door-to-door campaigning with her children in tow in strollers.
What I am learning most through my interest in people's life stories and the work that I am doing on this website, is that we all have and share such different paths. In my experience hearing Madame Speaker and in my interview that you can listen to on this blog with Olga Murray who founded the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation (www.nyof.org), I am finding that a common ground that infuses lives with enthusiasm and energy is helping others.
Nancy Pelosi talks about the "one in five" in her book, that one in five children in America lives in poverty. She said, "what motivates me every day in my political and personal life is the fact that one in five children in America lives in poverty. I think of them every morning when I wake up, about how they may have gone to sleep hungry the night before. When my colleagues are having a frustrating day and they ask me, 'why should we do this?' I say, 'remember it's for the one in five.'"
In a response to whether she can share some inspiring words for others at the end of our interview, Olga Murray says that she has friends who say, my children don't need me any more and my grand children are all grown and they don't need me anymore either. And Olga tells them, go out and do something for someone else and see how it makes them feel. She said she feels more happiness in the last 20 years from the work that she has done helping Nepalese children, than she has felt at any other time.
She also says, you don't need to go all the way to Nepal to find a way to help others!
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