Doers

I love a doer and I’m grateful for them. Someone who really knows how to get things done.  They suit up and show up day after day.  You can keep the dreamers and the strategists and the idea people–I’ll stick with those folks who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get it done. That’s probably because I think I’m one of those. 

Last night I heard another, Dr. Jane Goodall.  She’s a bit of a dreamer, too, come to think of it but anyone willing to go live in the jungle with chimpanzees earns the title of doer, in my book.  You’ve probably heard her iconic story. With little more than binoculars and a notebook, she traipsed to Africa sixty years ago with the goal of studying chimpanzees.  Today,  we have Jane Goodall to thank for our modern understanding of primate behavior and for completely changing our global perspective about how humans relate to animals. 

She turned 83 yesterday and she’s still doing it. These days she travels 300 days a years to talk about the serious threat that climate change poses to her beloved chimps, to the natural world and to humankind. In her travels, she encounters daily more evidence of this threat — from glaciers melting in Greenland to indigenous Panamanian tribes being moved from islands now inundated by the sea. 

Yet she has hope. She believes we can do better by acting better. She believes we can make small changes in our behavior and demand better stewardship from our leaders. She believes that children can lead that change. We must all do our small part to save the planet and change behavior. 

I end with gratitude for a doer who inspires me and I’ll leave you with one of her greatest quotes. 

Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved.