THE POWER OF SERVICE ABOVE SELF

 

When you hear the phrase, “Service Above Self”, what does it mean to you?  Maybe helping others, selflessness, doing your part for your community?  If you or someone close to you is a Rotarian then it is a motto you are very familiar with. Service Above Self was a motto that came out of a conversation between two Rotarians during the 1911 National Rotary Convention in Portland, Oregon.  With a slight modification it was officially adopted by Rotary in 1950 at the Rotary International Convention in Detroit, MI and it has brought together people from all ends of the earth in creating a better world each day, ever since.
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I was introduced to Rotary in 2010.  I went to a lunch meeting with my pastor as a favor, he had joined the chamber to help me qualify as Chamber Ambassador so I went to lunch with him.  The presentation that day was about a new international project the club was taking on with a club in El Salvador and an NGO call Bridges to Prosperity.   Bridges to Prosperity works together with communities in South and Central American and Africa to build footbridges.  Did you know there are villages where entire communities get cut off from the world during monsoon season? Could you imagine not being able to get to medial care, get your goods to market, or your child having to navigate an extremely dangerous river crossing just to get to school?  This is reality for many families and because of the work of Bridges to Prosperity and partners like Rotary, safe and efficient routes are being created in villages around the world.  After the presentation all I could think was, "I want to build bridges and change lives around the world!!!"  What an incredible opportunity!  Needless to say, I joined Rotary!  
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​Now 6+ years of perfect attendance later, 3 international service trips and on the cusp of becoming the president of the White Sands Rotary Club, my life has been changed forever.  It was a pretty great lunch don't you think!  Rotary has been a gift to my life.  I have met so many wonderful people in my local area, statewide, around the country and the world!  New friends that wouldn't exist in my life if it wasn't for that lunch and for this 100+ year old organization.  Serving others and making it part of your daily routine, is life changing.  We are greater when we look beyond ourselves and when we do for others, it is our purpose.  There are so many ways that we can live the life of Service Above Self, find a way to incorporate it into your life, I of course recommend joining a Rotary club!  Each day take some time to better yourself.  Do for others and change your world, you'd be surprised how a little simple thing can change your life and the lives of hundreds of others, for me it only took one lunch!  ​​

 

Rotarians can change a community! We can also change the world!  It's never too late to donate to Polio Plus to help END 

POLIO NOW!!