A friend at work  was telling me who he had finally gotten around to viewing the “Daily Show” that ran the day after the Charleston shootings. He was so taken with Jon Stewart’s guest  Malala Yousafzai. He said how he wished he had a passion for a cause like she does. He was envious. that at such a young age, she had found her passion. While we work at a non-profit, we don’t interact with the youth involved.  I did volunteer for a program on Monday where I have to play the role of someone who denies youth health care as part of a bigger exercise on healthy living. Seems like they could have selected a Republican to take that role. Just kidding. Sort of.

After lunch, I remembered that the link was finally posted from the TEDxStormontWomen event in Belfast from late May. My friend, the fabulous Heather McCormick, was one of the speakers at the event. As I started listening to her talk on selfless leadership, I was taken by something she said “Serve selflessly in the things that make your heart sing.” Immediately I was brought back to my conversation earlier in the day. No denying that educating women makes Yousafzai’s heart sing. Heather serves on a few charities that empower women in different ways. Those charities make her heart sing.

As I was driving home, I was asking myself whats make my heart sing. What inspires me? I’ve been involved in a lot of volunteer endeavors. Some truly voluntary and some, well, not so much. Maybe my heart sang for those causes at the time. .A few years ago, I took a break from pretty much all my volunteer roles. It was a great time of re-charging and then coming back to those that really meant something to me.  As I eased back into the volunteer world,I helped with a Lenten fundraiser for our sister parish in Haiti. And after leaving my paying role at Washington Ireland Program, I’ve stayed on one of the fundraising event committees.

I think the idea of helping young people be all they can be is at the core of my charitable song. Whether it is giving kids in Haiti books or uniforms for school so they can get an education or bringing together college age youth to change the face of their future and perhaps their countries’ future, this is what makes my heart sing. There’s nothing greater to seeing people flourish personally and professionally.

Heather talks about empowering women to lead where they are. We can all lead from where we are. We just need our song. I challenge you to “Serve selflessly in the things that make your heart sing.” Maybe you need to sort through what you are doing now or maybe you just need to step up and do something for a cause or charity you are passionate about. You will know it when your heart sings.

While cliche, I’ve picked “I am Woman” by Helen Reddy as a nod to Heather and Malala’s passion for empowering women.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUBnxqEVKlk

I’ve also posted a link to Heather’s talk  –