Making a Living vs. Making a Difference: What being an Everyday Superhero Really Means

(l-r): Steven Samra and Tasha French Lemley, publishers of The Contributor newspaper.Of all the videos I’ve watched that highlight stories about disaster relief, the one where a Red Cross volunteer says she "worked in the corporate world for 30 years making a living,” and then retired, and now she wants to make a difference, stood out most. Her statement had me wondering how many of us choose one or the other, rather than overlapping them.

It concerns me that some men and women in communities across the nation feel like they aren't in a position to have a positive impact on other people while also being able to put food on the table. I don’t know about you, but when I picture what the right time to make a difference looks like, that image often doesn’t depict any one of us waiting until some abstract point in the future. After all, the future is uncertain and none of us can guarantee we’ll even be around to see it.

Of course, we all need to make a living to survive and have opportunities to enjoy our days here on this earth. Even in the midst of our daily hustle and bustle, there’s still room to make a difference at the same time, if each person puts forth effort in marrying the two. Prime examples of this can be seen in the tireless, underappreciated and often unglamorous work of everyday heroes who have a positive impact on other people or issues that matter to them upon noticing that something needs to be done.

Yoga training at Rachel Lloyd's GEMS are among the therapeutic and fitness services provided to young women.Thousands of teenagers, like those in the documentary film Very Young Girls would be in jail, dead, on drugs, or still exploited in sex trafficking rings across the U.S. if Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) CEO and founder Rachel Lloyd waited until retirement to provide counseling, legal assistance and housing to children and young women in the sex trade.

Several hundred homeless veterans like those in the documentary film Street Paper would still be lacking a place to sleep at night if The Contributor newspaper founders Tom Wills and Tasha French Lemley waited for thirty years or until they were done with their careers in fine arts and outreach work, respectively, to provide jobs for men and women – some of whom served in the military -- affected by homelessness and poverty. Heck, most of us would even be up the creek without a paddle today, if the great inventors, activists, philosophers, leaders, and artists of previous generations decided to wait a few more decades before making their mark on the world.

People like Lloyd, Wills and French embody the fact that there is no better time to make a difference than now. We need not put off doing good deeds until later on in the future when it’s more convenient for us. After all, if you’re already on your way to mastering the art of being your own superhero, just imagine how wonderful it would be to teach someone else how it’s done.

M is for Meaning

What was the last documentary YOU watched?

If YOU inherited six figures from a long lost relative, conditional upon your using half of the money to impact other people’s lives, how would YOU make a difference in the world?

Sunday Synopsis: A $100+ Gift of Hope Goes to the American Red Cross

It’s been seven months since my Red Cross fundraiser launched with the first stop on my Dinner-and-a-Movie tour. As the dust settles on this campaign, I am blogging today to thank the small businesses, military families and citizens from the southern and northeastern regions of the country who helped make it possible.

The tour raised over $100 to provide emergency shelter for men, women, children and pets who escape home fires. Did you know fires are the biggest disaster people experience in the United States? Just within the last few weeks, this organization assisted dozens of families who became displaced when fires destroyed their homes and belongings in a matter of minutes, leaving them with nowhere to go.

Individual donations enable the Red Cross to cover a night in a hotel, food, and clothing as well as provide emotional and spiritual support to these survivors, among other services including finding new homes. After the Red Cross provided aid to the U.S. Air Force Veteran I worked with who lost his home in a New Year’s Day fire, I am glad that I decided to use my short film “Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever” as a vehicle for hope – putting more people on the path to recovery following our nation’s most common disasters.

How often do YOU practice fire safety drills with your family (including children)?

'Prometheus' Actor Idris Elba on Popularity, Power and Prince's Trust

Idris Elba accepts the 2012 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV movie for his performance in "Luther"

“It’s important to know who you are as an actor or you’re bound for failure. In Hollywood, power is when someone does not have to green-light your projects. I have popularity but not so much power.” - Idris Elba

For all of the power Idris Elba says he lacks in Hollywood, this British actor surely makes up for it by having major influence -- which he uses for good, in underserved communities throughout England.

Elba is currently an anti-crime ambassador for Prince’s Trust, a U.K. based organization that provides career training, employment, mentoring and personal development skills to at-risk, disadvantaged and offending or ex-offending young people aged 14-30.

Idris Elba supports the programs at Prince’s Trust through various activities including round-table discussions, film events and fundraising efforts -- as a way to give back to the very people who believed in his potential as an actor; and to inspire young people to believe in themselves.

When Idris Elba was a teenager, he won a place in the National Youth Musical Theatre (NYMT) based in London. A $1,500 grant from Prince’s Trust helped him further develop his acting skills at NYMT. It is at the National Youth Musical Theatre that Elba began to take acting seriously with regards to a career pursuit.

After successfully landing acting roles in his hometown, Elba saved up some money from working at his other job -- as a wedding DJ -- and moved to the United States. He struggled to find work here in the U.S. for three years, particularly the kind of roles that he wanted to play. So, Elba supported himself financially by working nights as a DJ in New York.

Even now as he sports accolades for stellar acting performances in major primetime crime dramas such as HBO’s “The Wire” and BBC’s “Luther,” Idris Elba still maintains a love for music -- DJing celebrity parties and releasing R&B/Soul/Pop albums under the name Driis. He also co-produced and performed on the into to rapper Jay-Z’s “American Gangster” album.

All music and acting aside, Idris Elba changes lives by being someone who leads by example -- going after his dreams full-force rather than wondering what-could-have-been while botching Ford Fiestas during a night shift at an auto manufacturing plant. His confidence is powerful enough to show young people the possibilities of what happens when you believe in yourself, and no green light in Hollywood can make or break that -- it comes from within -- although, a little nudge from community-centered organizations like Prince’s Trust doesn’t hurt either!

Do YOU think Idris Elba would play a convincing James Bond?

What were YOUR favorite fields of study during your teenage years?