They Did It, And So Can We!

I've never seen anything like it. Within a couple short hours, I drove from some of the world's most scenic beaches (Kaikura in New Zealand) to the devastation left in the wakes of the numerous Christchurch earthquakes of 2011. Streets are cracked, historic monuments leaning, and buildings lay in complete ruin. Not just bits and pieces here and there, but entire blocks are abandoned. In fact, the entire city center for 6 blocks in either direction is blocked off from everybody but excavation crews.

It's easy to take once glance at the wreckage and walk away... To just give up. There's too much damage, the infrastructure is destroyed and there is not enough money to rebuild - nor is the leadership in place to to set the vision and inspire the rebuilding. It is easy to see that Christchurch is in a very tough position.

I walked around 'ground zero' for an entire day looking at the waist. I sat down at one of the few cafe's still in operation across the street from a tumbled building and posed myself a question "If I was in charge of leading the rebuild of this city, how would I do it?"

I thought back to some of my previous learnings from this trip. The importance of setting a vision, of instilling dignity, and then giving the gift of ownership to the people that live here.

Then I drew a smiley face in response to a young man skateboarding and jumping over the cracks in the pavement. At first, the smile felt very out of place...But then I caught I myself laughing when I stumbled upon some words taped onto the sidewalk. My laughter, like my earlier smile, also felt out of place... The humor was a little too literal - at first it didn't feel right to be laughing and smiling here. But as I visited more shops and met more people, I realized that there was as much laughter here as anywhere. And as I continued walking around the city wondering what it needed to recover, I came across a sign...

The sign was clearly made by a kid and it was beautiful, hanging above the emaciated concrete. It was so simple, yet it carried enormous gravitas - "San Francisco did it... So can we Christchurch".

The Star on the right: "San Francisco did it... So Can We Christchurch!!!

What this city needs is hope. It needs smiles and joy. It needs inspiration. It needs it from the government, businesses, residents and children. It needs to find it internally, and it needs the rest of the world to share some with it. But in truth, I think they have it already - it just needs to be unleashed. And if realizing that somebody else did it to is all they need to find the hope and inspiration, then maybe that is all we need, to.

Around the globe, people are improving the world we live in every day. They are pursuing meaningful careers, are volunteering with more organizations, and are starting and supporting social enterprises.

And if they can do it, so can we.

But you can do it, to. Whatever it is, just go for it. Terry Fox did - and if you don't think this is one of the most amazing and inspiring videos ever, then please let me know what is better: