“Unbelievable” was all I could think as I watched the devastation in Japan on the day Gregg and I were preparing to depart to join many of our Japanese friends for their annual rally. Much like Gregg explained in the letter he wrote shortly after the event, my immediate thoughts went out to our people in Japan, many of whom I have known for decades. I wondered if they and their families were alright and what tremendous devastation this disaster would have on their lives.
As I write this letter I am pleased to announce that we have not lost any staff members or distributors. There has been tremendous property loss but that can be rebuilt. However, our thoughts and prayers go out to the thousands of families who have lost loved ones or who still may be searching for missing family members.
In the days following the disaster I spoke with Rjay about his and Annie’s experience there. Of all that Rjay explained, the one fact I was most impressed with was how incredibly well the Japanese people responded to the event. From all reports and from what Rjay witnessed, the people were calm, well organized, and orderly. So often we hear of the chaos that ensues in a disaster such as this, but I have not heard any reports of such behavior. In fact it has been quite the opposite. Let me share just a few stories I have read.
In an Associated Press article I read of the tsunami-struck city of Karakuwa. There may have been no water, no power and no cell phone reception, but in the school that serves as a shelter the people came together to support each other until the relief supplies started to trickle in.
“For a long time, in the countryside, even if you didn’t have enough for yourself, you shared with others,” said Noriko Sasaki, 63, as she sat on the ground outside a relief center in the town. “That is our culture. Even if they’re not relatives, we feel as if they’re sisters or brothers.”
In the flattened town of Shizugawa, Koji Sato, a carpenter who usually builds homes, is making coffins. He said he hasn’t had time to really think about the hardship he’s faced. “All I have been doing is making coffins.”
In another school kitchen, teachers, mothers of students and the newly homeless prepared three meals and two snacks a day. In the middle of one classroom, a group of boys sat around a table, the bowls of stew sending plumes of steam into the air. In unison, they bowed their heads.
“Thank you,” they said. “For everything.”
That is the message of hope I would like to leave each of you. In spite of whatever difficulties may come in our lives, we must find ways to be thankful for what we have and find ways to reach out to help others. I am reminded of the famous statement, “I complained because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet.”
We need to remember that the most effective medicine for the sickness of self-pity is to lose oneself in the service of others. Gregg has asked all of us to do what we can to help with the devastation in Japan. I whole-heartedly join my voice to that call.
Even after the long months of recovery by Japan, and after the marvelous people in this powerful nation have rebuilt their lives, there will be many people throughout the world who will need our help. We never have to look very far for people in need. They are all around us. And as I have said many times before, often the best way to help someone is to introduce them to the health and wealth benefits of Forever.
In closing this month, I again want to send my thoughts and prayers to the people of Japan. I know that through their selfless dedication to each other and their country they will rebuild from this devastation to be stronger than ever before. There truly are NO LIMITS to what people can accomplish when they selflessly work together in a great cause.