At about 3:20 a.m. on March 13, 1964, a 28-year-old manager in Queens, New York, returned to her quiet residential neighborhood, parked her car, and began to walk the 30 yards to her door. Noticing a man at the far end of the parking lot, she paused. When he started toward her, she turned the other way and tried to reach a police call box. The man caught and stabbed her. She started screaming that she’d been stabbed, and screaming for help.
Lights went on in the apartment building across the street. Windows opened. One man called out, “Let that girl alone!” The assailant shrugged and walked away. Windows closed and lights went out.
The assailant returned and attacked Genovese again. This time she screamed, “I’m dying! I’m dying!” This time lots more windows opened and lots more lights went on. The assailant walked to his car and drove away, leaving Ms. Genovese to crawl along the street to her apartment building. And somehow, she managed to drag herself inside.
The assailant returned a third time, found Genovese on the floor at the foot of her stairs, and finally succeeded in killing her.
During those three separate attacks over the course of 35 minutes, not one of Kitty Genovese’s neighbors tried to intervene. No burly neighbor dashed outside to save her life. Worse than that, of the more than 30 people who saw at least one of the attacks and heard Genovese’s screams and pleas for help, not one of them even called the police.
After much deliberation, and one phone call to a friend for advice, one man finally urged another neighbor to call authorities, which she did. Police arrived in two minutes, but by then, it was too late.
Interviewed afterward, the residents hesitantly admitted, “I didn’t want to get involved,” or “I didn’t want my husband to get involved.” One said he was too tired to call police and had gone back to bed. Several couldn’t say why they hadn’t helped. Many of them said they’d been afraid to call. They couldn’t say why within the safety of their own homes they had been afraid to call the police—even anonymously.
Albert Einstein said, “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”
I want to ask you a question today. Who can you reach out to in your world and show them that you care? What family member, student, or co-worker needs a kind or helping hand?
It cost one human life to wake up 30 families. How many destinies can be changed when you and I emerge from apathy to action? Consider it. It does not matter your sex, your age, or your culture—wherever you are today, you and I have power to initiate change! http://bit.ly/1TkC6bo
Today we continue with some steps to help you in Putting Your Dream to the Test.
- Regard the experts. John Maxwell, leadership expert and noted author of over 60 books says, “In 40 years I’ve realized that the payments required for reaching a dream never stop. The higher you want to go the more you must give up, and the greater price you pay the greater joy you feel when you finally reach your dream!”
- Keep the Dream alive whatever it takes. Ask these questions: How long before I succeed? What if I fail on my first attempt? Look for incremental progress, because it always takes longer than you expect! Don’t live in the desire for completion, live in the reality of incremental change. As long as you are moving forward you are making progress!
The Cost of your dream? Face the reality that you may need to raise the funds to acquire your dream, you may need a new education, you may need to find legal assistance to initiate your idea!
You might say, “I don’t have enough money to fulfill my vision!” Believe it or not, that’s not a new thought! Most dreams begin with very little. We have always taught young leaders that money follows vision.
Remember, it’s not the money in your pocket that counts, but the value of the idea in your mouth that will open the door to opportunity. It’s not what you have or what you know, but often it’s the Who that you will meet that will make a dream a reality! Ask yourself, “Who do I know?” “Who can I get to know?”
Go to my website and download your free “LIVE YOUR DREAM” worksheets! http://bit.ly/1gmsroFhttps://
Today and tomorrow in my Live Your Dream series I want to talk about Putting Your Dream to the Test. What measurements, standards or costs are associated with your dream?
Anything worth having has a price attached. As an athlete I learned early on: no pain, no gain. What do I mean? To improve our game, skills, and opportunity we had to practice, practice, practice! In the daily pursuit of our dream sometimes we didn’t feel like carrying on, but the sheer will of fortitude, the desire to win, and the constant challenge to press beyond our current capabilities kept us charging forward toward our destination.
Today, let’s begin refining our dream by discovering the facts. How do we do this? We begin by first researching what it takes. We ask questions such as, “what price is too high to pay?” You can count the cost of your dream by asking some more specific questions:
- What will my dream cost me personally—financially and emotionally?
- What will my dream cost my family, my marriage?
- What will my dream require from my current free time? Are you willing to give up your free time to learn a new skill, take a class, build a prototype, set a goal? Consider the price before you embark!
Go to my website and download your free “LIVE YOUR DREAM” worksheets! http://bit.ly/1gmsroFhttps://
As a young woman Mother Teresa, who was suffering from tuberculosis, heard the “Call within the call”. She knew she was to leave the convent in Calcutta and work with the poor living among them. With only 5 Rupees in her hand, she started a school in the slums to teach the children of the poor.
Mother Teresa, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and India’s highest Civilian Award, set up nearly 570 homes for the poor in 125 countries.
With only 5 Rupees and battling sickness in her own body, Mother Teresa rose above poverty and made a better life for millions of people. One idea, one thought from God can bring significant change, not only to your life, but to the lives of those you know in your community and in your nation! http://bit.ly/1E6nKV7
One night a man by the name of Victoricus appeared to his friend Patrick in a dream. Patrick had known Victoricus in Ireland when they were slaves. In Patrick’s dream, Victoricus held a letter with the heading “The Voice of the Irish,” and as Patrick read it, he heard the voice of a multitude of people crying and begging him to come back and walk among them once more.
You know, the ordinary person might be surprised and happy to have an old friend, or even a multitude, appear to them in a dream. But Patrick’s life was different. The Irish in the early 5th century were a barbaric collection of Celtic tribes, and they were regularly sending out raiding parties to capture slaves and riches. One day a great fleet of boats swept up the west coast of Britain and seized “many thousands” of young prisoners. Among these prisoners was a young man by the name of Patrick, who was taken to the slave markets in Ireland. Although he was educated and spoiled as a youth, he now found himself bound to slavery in the cold highlands of Ireland. Destitute with barely any clothing or food to eat, he would spend months with little to no contact with other humans. Yet in this barren place he developed a friendship with Victoricus, and a deep relationship with God.
Victoricus was a reminder to Patrick of Ireland’s need for help. He was an Irishmen trapped in the same slavery that Patrick had experienced. Perhaps you are like Victoricus and you need help? Or perhaps you’ve had a picture in your heart of someone you would like to help?
The dream appearing to Patrick to come and help the Irish was relentless, and finally he surrendered and trained for the ministry in France. A few years later he emerged from seminary as a young Bishop, eventually arriving on the shores of Ireland as the country’s first known missionary. By the time of Patrick’s death the Irish slave trade had ended, and murder and inter-tribal warfare had decreased significantly.
Today, you can be that friend, that caring voice of encouragement as Victoricus was to Patrick, and as Patrick was to an entire nation. You can help someone else find their destiny. So go ahead, take the risk, you won’t be disappointed!
I encourage you today to go to my website, www.LeslieMcNulty.com. We are here to help you, and have made tools available to you that will change your life!
Have you ever asked yourself, “How do I live my dream? Where do I begin?”
Abraham, a man of God in the bible, desired to have a family. He and his wife were very old, beyond the child bearing age. But God gave Abraham a dream and told him to, “Look up at the sky and count the stars, that’s how many descendants you will have!”
Maybe life’s struggles or hard economic times tell you to downsize your dream but ideas are meant to be SUPERSIZED! Dream big – live large with your ideas!
When capturing your dream, take off the limits. You are like a star in the sky, shining with potential. If each one of us dares to dream the impossible we can change our lives, our families and our communities!
Go to my website and download your free “LIVE YOUR DREAM” worksheets! http://bit.ly/1gmsroF
Scripture: Genesis 15:5
Persistently and weekly a bishop from Krivoy Rog, Ukraine phoned us requesting a visit and the opportunity to work together. Seeing their unwavering vision and determination, we consented to the appeal. The joy, hunger and sacrifice with which they received the Word of God made the effort and resources needed to reach them completely worth it.
Due to the military confilict, I was unable to fly directly as I normally would have but was required to route through Austria, entering Ukraine through a ‘back door.’ Thankfully, the most danger I faced was the white-knuckled trip from the airport dodging cars from all directions as we navigated countless immense potholes from 30 years of neglect.
Was it worth it? Absolutely! Lives were ignited and leaders established during nights of revelation and healing equal to Africa. The Lord has visited the Ukraine again! It continues to be a spiritual breadbasket to the world in the midst of its own great need.
In Luke 4 Jesus says, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, to declare freedom for the prisoners….” Mark 16 says that He sends us to do the same thing!
God always has a plan for you. He will never give up on you. He gave His very best for you, and He desires for you to experience all that He has for you!
The same Spirit, the same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead, also indwells us as believers. So what does that make us? That makes us restored back to the image of God!
