World’s Healthiest Community – Finalizing the Business Plan
I’m stuck! Have you ever had that feeling? You’re on to something. You just know it’s something that you’re meant to do. You’re passionate about it, you wake up every day and take steps to move your dream forward. But it’s getting tougher. With each step forward, your shoes are getting stuck in the mud. You can’t see the forest for the trees. You know it’s not supposed to be this hard. You’ve already seen the outcome in your mind, and you know that it’s just a couple more steps away. But today it feels like you just can’t do it any more. You’ve given all that you have to give. And that last answer just isn’t coming to you.
Can you imagine if Walt Disney ever had this feeling? He was fired from a local newspaper for not being creative enough. How about JK Rowling? She lost her job because she was too busy daydreaming about a preteen wizard. Oprah? Told that she was “unfit for television news”. Seinfeld, Madonna, Robert Redford, Lee Iacocca, there are many of these stories. These people were not seen to be in the right positions at the time and a door closed on them. But these life changing events where one door closed became the turning point for doing something they really loved. Yes, these people became filthy rich, but in my humble opinion, that’s not the point. The point is that they decided to do something they really loved and in turn they lived a life they loved. For them, the money became secondary, or at least that’s how it seems to me.
Many other people that we don’t read about have similar stories, but with different endings. They never got the break, they gave up just before their dream may have materialized. For many of these people their passion almost surely still remained, but the “reality” of having to earn a living to support themselves and possibly their families became too much of a burden to bear and the dream took a backseat. Some were probably way closer than they realized, others may have pursued different dreams and had successes in other ways, maybe the door was meant to close on their original dream. Others may have simply put the dream on Pause for a while and came back to it after they were a bit more financially stable.
Yup, that need for money has a big impact on dreams. And it is real. If you can’t pay your rent, or are going to the food bank for groceries, it becomes much more difficult to pursue a dream if it does not have a clear financial exchange associated with it.
Here’s a crazy thought. What if some of the people in the second group had asked for help just one more time? Was there someone out there that might have listened to them, might have believed in them enough to give them a financial boost and/or a kick in the pants? Could their dreams have come true? For some we’ll never know. They didn’t ask for help. They didn’t think they could live their wildest dreams. They gave up.
Oh yeah, that opening two word sentence. “I’m stuck”. Today I’m one of these people. Doors have closed on me in the past, and other doors have opened. My life of good health was rocked with a dis-ease diagnosis, but that opened up a door to learn a lot about what really causes dis-ease, and that there’s more to health than treating the symptoms. I have developed a passion for educating people, “screaming from the mountain tops” if you will, trying to get people to wake up to realize that there’s always hope, that we can figure out what is causing dis-comfort and dis-ease. We actually already know a lot more than we might realize.
I can literally see the end result. It’s a few short years out in the future. I’m standing in conversation with people, and it goes something like this. “Remember those days when it seemed like everyone was getting sick. Remember when our health care system was a disaster, taking up well over 50% of tax dollars to try to support all the sick people? Those were the dark days. But a few people decided that it was time for change. They just knew there had to be a better way. And they persisted. They were a community and they made a real difference.”
I’m stuck. I can see the end result. I can see the empowered patients. I can see the healthier community. I can see the solutions to the problems in our current health care system. I can see the role of the doctors. I can see the role of the patients. I can see the role of the other caregivers. I see the changes in our education system. I can see all that, but I can’t see where the money is coming from. And without that, I can’t complete the business plan. And without a business plan, nothing can really happen.
I’m not giving up yet, but I am running out of gas. And here’s my ask for help. Where does the money come from for the World’s Healthiest Community? Can you see what I’m missing? Can you see what I need to add to complete the business plan? Will community members pay for services as part of this community? Should I be knocking on every business’s door to help them save money on their benefits costs? Should I be knocking on the government’s door to share some ideas with them? Should I be looking at sponsors? Does anyone have access to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?
I know many of you personally that may well be in the same boat. I hope this little “conversation” has helped you to think through things a bit differently. My humble opinion is that the answers are all within the following quotes:
“It will take a community.” ~ Unknown
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
~ Margaret Mead
If you missed the message that I’m “shouting from the mountain tops”, you can watch it here.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the Comments section below.
Namaste,
Ken
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Written by Ken
Ken Jaques describes himself as a Health Care Evolutionary, Community Builder, and Speaker. True healing begins when we treat root causes instead of just masking symptoms. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 2008, Ken has experienced many facets of the health care system. As “the only patient who ever lost their hair on this low of a dosage of chemotherapy” – as spoken by his rheumatologist – Ken has been on an amazing journal of self-discovery, a journey of true healing. In his blog, Ken shares stories of how his beliefs have changed over the past few years, and how they are still changing. Is it possible that our bodies can heal themselves? Do we really have to live without hope after we receive a chronic illness diagnosis? These are the types of questions that Ken encourages people to ask themselves as they embark on their own physical or emotional healing journey.
Ken is creating a platform to connect People, Patients, Practitioners, Partners and Promoters, enabling a collaborative effort to help shift the focus on health from I-llness to We-llness. Check out the pilot at www.myHealthyCommunity.ca.
“When ‘I’ is replaced with ‘we’, even I-llness becomes WE-llness” ~ Malcolm X
Thanks for this, Ken! Yes, this is exactly where I am. My dream also involves help with health, and in my caae mental health. I want to, like so many with a condition, raise awareness, education, an support for mental health. I want to create a mentoring system for the youth and young adults in regards to mental health, and I want to teach writing classes and organize writing retreats to help those trying to work through things with writing “therapy” (in quotes because I’m not a therapist. I currently own a travel planning company so want to merge the two skills in the sense of planning wellness and writing retreats. But the “how” is where I find difficulty. This inspired me to keep on asking and searching though. Thank you (and thanks for the link from twitter!)
Thanks for sharing Maya,
I love yor dream, it sounds so very similar to mine. The more I learn, the more I want to share. We really can make a big difference, simply by raising awareness, education and support. I will definitely be staying in touch as I move forward. It does feel like the answers are right around the corner, and they’re so desperately needed. Let’s simply put it out there that we are a community of Messengers, Educators, etc, that are striving to make a real difference in health care. And so it is :).
Namaste, Ken
Ken, what a great blog! We all need to be reminded that it is a sign of strength not weakness which pushes us to ask for help. Somewhere along the path between childhood and adulthood it was perceived to be a bad thing to ask for help. Weird, since all that we were taught as children is hold hands, help each other out, ask for help!
Perhaps I may shed some light on your particular quandary. I am re-reading and this time putting into practice some of the methods outlined in the book Psycho Cybernetics. Part of what Dr. Maxwell taught is the idea that we review all angles of a problem, carefully and then let it go. Often (and he describes this in the book) the answer comes when we are in the shower, or mowing the lawn or doing some other mundane task. Only b/c we have “let go” and the mind then works to find a solution. He even goes so far as to say that often we “tap into” a collective consciousness and that the answer comes from this mysterious place.
I too have a dream (not unlike Maya) for the world to change it’s perception and how it deals with mental illness. Making it ok to talk about it is the first step and that is what you/I and others are doing. Opening people’s eyes and talking about possibilities, that is HUGE in and of itself. You are on the right path and you don’t have to go it alone, perhaps there is one more person who needs to hear this message who has the answer that you seek or maybe it is in the place called collective consciousness.
You know you will ALWAYS have my support because I BELIEVE in what you are doing.
Thanks Jeanne,
I like your idea of letting it go. Early this morning I had the thought that it was time to “surrender”, I think that’s the thought that prompted me to write this blog today. I know of your dream as well, it really does feel like it’s time to start pulling us together. Our message will become so much stronger. Stay tuned for some community building ideas in the coming week or two. Also, thank you so much for your ongoing support. It means a lot to me, and you have my support as well. Continue making a difference, you really are!
Namaste, Ken
Ken,
Your vision is one I believe many desire and one day I can totally see us having that fantastic conversation of “the way we were” (insert music)…
The reality of today changes when we can continue to expand the vision of what is possible.
I believe every great leader peddled their vision until enough others began to also peddle the same vision.
Ken keep moving forward, allow the possibilities to come in whatever way they are meant to come.
Two of my new favourite questions I would like to share:
“What else is possible?” & “How can it get better than this?”
Allow the Universe to answer these Ken & they will.
Keep shining my friend,
Ken, I see you sitting before the Senate Committee with a health initiative that will cause an “awakening” amongst the leaders in our government, and begin the reform that will benefit society, and help to control and reduce our expanding health care budget. Money talks, so if you need a financial sponsor, talk to the pocketbook of our politicians. Your message of Hope and Healing has already stirred a movement amongst your followers, perhaps its now time to spread that message to our politicians. It all starts with just ONE person at a time. In my support of your world changing endeavor I would be honored to provide you with testimonials as to how “alternative” healing therapies have assisted me in my rehabilitation, and returned a quality of life that I have not enjoyed in years. I was once tossed around a never ending merry go round of medical professionals who did not HEAR me, and now, I enjoy a vital and productive life again. By the way….you are one of the most “unstuck” people I know….keep moving forward….we will follow. Namaste,
Carol,
I just realized I hadn’t taken the time to respond to your comment. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your support. I can feel alone at times and then you and others come along with a message of support. We really are all in this together, and you are playing a big part in helping me (and others) to move forward. Namaste, Ken