Social Innovations

Disciple Leadership  "No one has learned the meaning of living until he has surrendered his ego to the service of his fellow man. Service to others is akin to duty, the fulfillment of which brings true joy." - President Thomas S. Monson How do we serve others best? Is it by listening to someone who is hurting? Is it by donating money or time to food shelters? Is it by being engaged in our family and invested in our relationships? Is community involvement the key? Visiting senior homes? Running businesses with fair wages and benefits? Caring for the environment? Investing in socially responsible businesses? Participating in microfinancing small business loans in developing companies? For me the answer to all the questions is YES. We have a responsibility to one another. We have a responsibility to help each other where and when we can. We are supposed to help each other in this life and if we are in a position to be giving, then we give. Jeffrey R Holland gave a great talk cal...

 Self-Sufficiency We hear about self-sufficiency often. When we are students, our education is meant to be a door to future self-sufficiency. When we are adults, paying our own bills and managing our finances is an assumed benchmark of our demonstration of self-sufficiency. We become independent as we leave home, and are responsible for maintaining our spiritual, social, and economic self-sufficiency. Sometimes we do better than others. Most of us rely on friends, family, organizations, or even governments when we are weak or experience a period of lack. Does that mean that we are not self-sufficient? By definition, yes. Dependence on someone or something else for something we cannot supply for ourselves is a lack of self-sufficiency. But, is that something that is a goal that we should be working toward, and helps along the way lead to that accomplishment in the end? If that is the case, should we be investing in one another to help develop mutual self-sufficiency as we progress t...