BE A GIFT TO THE WORLD

PDG MARK ANTHONY ORTIZ

Inspirational Speaker, RC Metro Kalibo Induction of Officers and New Members

July 18, 2015

I congratulate the Rotary Club of Metro Kalibo for rising from its ashes. We were just standing by on the sideline, and it seems that as long as we allow the love for Rotary prevails n our hearts, solutions are not hard to come by. You still have a lot of catching up to do but we are all confident that you will be able to do this.

Rotary is such a wonderful world to belong to. One cannot help but be awed by the many, many wonderful things one can do and by the many, many wonderful things that can happen to one simply by being a Rotarian.

That must be what has kept many of you stay in its fold. And, that must be what has made many of you join it.

One thing comes to mind at an occasion such as this: one is the vocationality of Rotary. There is so much beauty in the coming together of people of different professions, different backgrounds and very different origins. This Club illustrates that confluence and it is just majestic to behold as I look around this gathering tonight!

The theme this Rotary year is a Gift to the World. Rotary Club of Metro Kalibo, are you going to be? RI President Ravi Ravinran presented this theme on his screen as a box wrapped in colorful paper and he slowly unraveled it in front of the DGEs one colorful sheet at a time. We can liken ourselves and our Clubs to such a box. The many colorful sheets are the events that we had experience in order to get to where are now. They may also be likened to the many facets of being a gift, of being a generous human being, of being a hard-working Club (according to empower-yourself-with-color-phsychology.com).

Gold – represents wealth, success and status, that which you can bring as your offering to our fellowship of service, like the wise men; Green – balance and growth, that which reminds one of the fairness and care for our strategic actions; Orange – adventure and social communication, that sense of alertness that brings with it the excitement to serve; Blue - trust and peace, that which one needs internally to be ready to serve; and Red - energy, passion and action, that which you are to give and focus on, such as one’s Club’s area or field of service.

A gift in this sense includes, and not excludes, its wrapper and all the colors of the wrappings are everything that one needs to do and to experience, in order to give the best of the gift and be the best gift of (your)self to others.

There is so much human being can do together, but when they become Rotarians and work together, the picture acquires an entirely more colorful dimension! And, factor into that this is a Club of Rotarians in and of Metro Kalibo, it acquires an even more exciting dimension.