Rotary International Theme for 2015-16

Posted by Philip Weiss

on Jan 29, 2015

Rotary International President-elect K.R. “Ravi” Ravindran asked Rotary members to use their talents, expertise, and leadership to transform the lives of others when he announced his theme for the 2015-16 year, Be a Gift to the World, during the International Assembly in San Diego, California, USA.

Rotary is a way to bring out the best part of ourselves, and let it guide our lives. Too often, we spend our days in pursuit of the goals that should matter least. We focus our attention on our own achievements and our own gain; we devote endless energy to the accumulation of material things. Yet at the end of our lives, no one will remember us for the cars we drove, the clothes we wore, the titles we carried, or the offices we sat in. We will not be admired for the efforts we poured into making our own lives richer or our own status higher. In the end, our worth will be measured not by how much we acquired, but by how much we gave away. Will we avert our eyes from suffering, or will we alleviate it? Will we speak words of compassion, or will we act on them? Will we be content only to take from the world — or will we give to it?

In the 2015-16 Rotary year, our theme will be
Be a Gift to the World.