Unselfish: Love Thy Neighbor As Thy Selfie

INTRODUCTION

Loving our neighbors as ourselves (or as our selfies) is a subject that does not require a lengthy introduction. It’s self-explanatory. Loving our neighbors does not necessitate an eloquent sermon. It requires only action.

A lifelong friend of mine, who is also one of the most unselfish people I know, once told me, The one thing we can all control is how we treat each other. He’s right. We can all control the way we treat other people.

On the following pages, you will encounter 99 stories of people who loved their neighbors as themselves. You will be inspired. You will be uplifted. You will laugh. You will cry. You will read these stories, and then life will go on for you. But it’s my hope that life will go on with a renewed spirit of service and unselfishness. I believe that all people have within them the desire and ability to be unselfish.

The 99 stories in this book are illustrations for all of us, but they are not necessarily applications that any of us can do. Each person’s application will be different, just as each person’s situation in life is different. The way you choose to apply the principles of service and unselfishness will most likely be different from the ways presented in this book. The key is to act—to do something, just like the people in this book. It requires only action.

George Eliot was a famous English writer. However, he was actually a woman named Mary Ann Evans, but she used the pen name George, as she felt her work would be taken more seriously if it appeared to have come from a man. (Thank goodness, we’ve come a long way since that day—although as Malala Yousafzai’s and Mukhtar Mai’s stories in this book will show you, there’s still a long way to go). One of George Eliot’s most famous statements is this: What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?

Let us all live to make life less difficult for each other. I can’t think of anything over which we have greater control, and I know of nothing that would make a greater difference in the world.

Paul D. Parkinson

IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT ME

By Paul D. Parkinson

Scott Neeson had it all. The Hollywood executive lived in upscale Brentwood in a $3.5 million home. He drove a Porsche. He had a million-dollar salary as President of 20th Century Fox International. He flew on private jets with movie stars. In reality, he had all the material things anyone could ever ask for, including a 36-foot yacht.

In 2003, Neeson was in the process of leaving Fox to head Sony Pictures International marketing operations. He took a 5-week trip and travelled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was there that he saw hundreds of families living in a garbage dump, scavenging for things to sell. Most had no shoes. Many were at risk of abuse and vulnerable to human trafficking.

As he returned to his new high-paying job at Sony, he knew his heart just wasn’t in it anymore. He knew something had to be done.

In 2004, less than a year after his first visit to Cambodia, he found himself back at the dump in Phnom Penh. His cell phone rang. It was the agent of a well-known actor who was complaining about having the wrong amenities on the private jet he was about to board. That was all it took for Neeson. He’d had enough.

After a 26-year career in the film business, Neeson left his career, sold his possessions, and moved to Cambodia, where he established and now personally oversees the Cambodian Children’s Fund.

Neeson’s Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF) provides life-changing education, nourishment and healing to vulnerable children in some of Cambodia’s most destitute communities. Today, they care for more than 17,000 people annually. The majority of children receiving an education from Cambodian Children’s Fund are former garbage pickers who lived and worked on Phnom Penh’s municipal garbage dump. CCF relies on donations and children sponsorships to provide a pathway out of poverty for more than 2,500 students and their families.

Every child has the promise of a university education. Already 70 of our first students are studying, and their families and community are part of the journey, says Neeson. I believe that every individual has the power to bring about significant change, good or bad. Whether we choose to use that power—and for what purpose—defines our legacy, says Neeson.

Certainly Neeson’s legacy will be one never to be forgotten.

If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. I truly believe I have found where I am meant to be. Alter any part of that path that led me here, and I might never have reached this point.

CHY’S BOYS

By Liz Johnson and Chy Johnson

I’ll tell you a little bit about my daughter, Chy. When she was born, we were told she had CMV (cytomegalovirus), which would take her life within 2 weeks. She ended up testing negative. Then we were told she had a brain disease and would never walk or talk. When she was 9 months old, the doctors did have to reconstruct her skull, but Chy did end up both walking and talking. Many miracles took place in her life.

Chy’s neurosurgeon gave us the best advice anyone could ever give, and that was to never treat her any different than we treated our boys. So we have lived by that.

Unfortunately, not everyone treated her like we did. Chy was the victim of bullying.

During her sophomore year of high school, she was pushed, called names, and treated very cruelly. She would come home from school in tears. She had lost the gleam in her eye.

Not knowing where to turn, I finally went to the starting quarterback of the football team, Carson Jones. He had once escorted Chy to the Special Olympics. I prayed he could help.

And the rest is history.

Carson took Chy in as one of his group. And his teammates followed.

She ate lunch with them at the popular kids’ table. They made sure they walked with her to class. As you can imagine, with football players constantly surrounding her, Chy was no longer the victim of bullying!

These boys were angels in disguise. They changed Chy’s life forever. And ironically, she changed theirs too.

To make the story even better, these football players didn’t even tell anyone what they were doing. Carson’s mother did not find out about what he had done until she learned that the Arizona State Legislature was going to honor Carson and some of his teammates for their actions.

From Chy: My boys saved me and I didn’t get hurt again. I love my boys and they love me. They are not mean to me. And others are not mean to me because of them.

I cheered for them at all of their games, and they cheered for me in my Olympics.

They are my boys!

© Photo by Dave Knoer/K-Kamera.com

Photo by Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News © 2010

WHAT WILL YOUR STORY BE?

By Paul D. Parkinson

Liz Howell and her husband, Brady, were self-proclaimed doers and dreamers, with unbridled energy, ambitious hopes, and soaring dreams about their future together. Theirs was a storybook romance, destined for a happily-ever-after. Brady was fun, adventurous, and unstoppable. Liz was not one to be slowed down either. They were two farm kids from the west, now living in Washington D.C. and enjoying the adventure of their lives.

Then came the day the world will never forget: September 11, 2001. Brady was working for the Chief of Naval Operations at the Pentagon when passenger jet flight #77 slammed in to the building. Brady’s life was lost, along with the lives of 188 other people, and Liz and Brady’s life of dreams together went down with the burning ashes of the Pentagon.

What I didn’t realize, Liz says, is what these ashes (from the Pentagon) were teaching me . . . As I looked at those ashes, I saw greater meaning. It wasn’t just building my character, it was developing the next chapter of my life.

With the plot twist in her life story, Liz determined to stay true to her character. She initially struggled to find purpose in rebuilding her life, but she knew she must stay in character and true to her story. And thus began a life of unselfish service.

When tragedy struck the southern United States during hurricanes Rita and Katrina, Liz assisted the Red Cross medical emergency response teams in providing medical care to hurricane victims and evacuees.

When she turned 30, she put her nurse practitioner career on hold in order to serve as a missionary for her church in Portugal. As a result of her mission, she learned two new languages, Spanish and Portuguese.

Since that time, her life has been one completely focused on serving others. She has traveled extensively throughout the world, teaching self-reliance principles, educating doctors and nurses on life-saving medical procedures, and providing direct medical care to the poor and needy during times of natural disaster. Of serving others, Liz says, It empowers me. It brings me alive. And it also improves upon the life stories of others.

Photo by Donnell Wallace of The Umbrella Syndicate

NEVER LEAVE A FALLEN COMRADE

Compiled by Sarah Doheny

Jaspen Boothe is a disabled Army veteran, cancer survivor, and veteran advocate who gave 13 years of service to her country.

She deployed during the Operation Iraq Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom campaigns, and her military career was dedicated to working with and advocating for soldiers and their family members.

In 2005, Jaspen was a single parent in the Army Reserves living in New Orleans. That spring, she learned she would soon be deploying to Iraq. During her mobilization, Boothe’s life was torn apart by two significant events. In August, she lost everything she owned due to Hurricane Katrina. She tried to shift her focus to her platoon that was counting on her for leadership in a combat zone. The very next month, she received a devastating diagnosis of an aggressive head, neck, and throat cancer, and was now unable to deploy.

Jaspen’s options were limited and posed some very hard choices for her. Because of her illness, she had to discharge from the military. But she needed complex full-time medical care, employment, and a place to live with her young son. When searching for what assistance might be available, she was told there were no existing programs for women veterans with children and that she should explore welfare and social services as an option.

She found these options unacceptable for a woman who had honorably served her country. After extensive cancer treatment, including radiation therapy that left life-long side effects, she was allowed to stay in the Reserves, and she immediately began looking for full-time employment and a place for her and her son to live.

In 2006, Jaspen relocated to Missouri with her aunt, where she subsequently accepted a job offer from the Army National Guard. Later in the year, she received an opportunity to return to full-time duty in Washington, D.C.

Jaspen never forgot what she and her son had been through, and she was determined to ensure her fellow sister veterans had a resource in their time of need. She also wanted to ensure they were treated with the dignity and respect they had earned under extremely severe circumstances.

In November 2010, Jas Founded Final Salute, Inc. as part of her commitment to never leave a fallen comrade behind. She opened a 4,000 square foot transitional house in Fairfax, VA, that could support eight women and children at any given time.

Final Salute has assisted over 300 women veterans and children in over 15 states and territories. They now operate 3 transitional homes in Alexandria, VA, Martinsburg, WV, and Columbus, OH.

A FRIEND SHE WOULD NEVER FORGET

By Jenee Horne

My mom is the most generous person I know. It is not rare for her to give of her time and resources, but it is rare to hear her talk about it. She doesn’t like to boast when she does good deeds, and she prefers to keep them to herself.

The photograph below is of my mother, Colette, and her friend Dale. They met at a coffee shop in Pensacola . . . but not in the way most people do. Mom and her husband, Jeff, frequented this coffee shop on their days off from work.

One day as they were leaving, Mom noticed a man sitting outside. He had a big beard and looked disheveled. She had seen him sitting there before. She walked over to him and struck up a conversation. He was polite and soft-spoken, and he wouldn’t quite look her in the eye. His name was Dale, he told her. He used to be in the Park Service. Now he was on disability, fighting cancer, jobless, and homeless. Without hesitation, Mom invited him to her home. She and Jeff gave Dale food, a shower, clothing,