As the Ripple Effect grows........

With the permission of the author:

Mark Lee June 12 at 1:52pm Report

Hey Rich,

I wanted to take a moment to drop you a line. I have been meaning to write you for a few months but between my work and the family life, well, you know how that goes. So I have a quiet moment to myself before my toddlers kick my door in and tell me either "Daddy, I love you" or "I don't want to go to bed!"

So last year I had been reading some of what you wrote about wanting to take your life and organization beyond the self defence world to connect more with what has now become the "Do Some Shit" movement. I wanted to tell you that it was refreshing to see such an open and honesty approach to making a difference. For me, one of the best things that rang true from what you wrote was that you didn't have all the answers to all the world's ills and that you couldn't do it alone. You weren't selling an agenda other than to do some shit to improve the world around you, even in the smallest of ways. I grew up in a house with the idea that I needed to stop talking about what I was going to do and start showing. (If that makes sense.) Less conversation and more action. I like to think I have lived my life honorably with this bottom line in mind. I now instil the same values into my children. (It's all a work in progress.)

I wanted to thank you for passionately putting the message out there consistently. I have enjoyed reading and occasionally putting my two cents into your threads. I have made use of a lot of the info you share and post. It has often led to new discoveries that when pursued delivered some pretty usuable stuff in my day to day life.

I feel I have been at a new stage in my life in the way I publicly lead by example. As far as self defence goes, I have trained most of my life in violence and served in various combat zones so I have come to the same inevitable conclusion that our cave man predecessors came to ages ago. Rock and spear into flesh will save your life after taking another. My aim has and always will be to share, in that regard, the urgent need and means to trancend the violence and seek peaceful creativity in our lives. Reading that back it kinda sounds vague but if you add in the larger than life facial expressions I had when I said it things would make more sense. I get the impression you hate violence as much as I do but know that an understanding of it helps reduce the isolated shell shock that we can all go into when faced with it. I hope part of you always keeps the self defence end of your business going for many years to come.

Getting back to why I am writing. Along with yourself and a few other guys whose examples I appreciate I decided that no matter what I was doing in my life this year that I was going to get actively involved in a charity that is close to my heart. Orphans and children in general. I came across Fighting for Lives and volunteered to do what I can to help see it grow successful. I have also started to get my family involved in the local homeless shelter project near us. The particulars are less important than the fact that we here in West Cork are quietly doing some shit.

If you ever have a moment when you wonder if what you are doing makes a difference in the big picture of things be reminded that a number of orphans will indirectly have benefited from what you wrote over a year ago on a facebook page. Keep doing what you are doing and don't look back. I am always happy to throw support your way if you ever need it.

Mark