The Influences

Three Cups of Tea
by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Authors and ideas can provide motivation for change. Read this excerpt from Sam Cook's 2/15/08 column in the Duluth News-Tribune from Minnesota. Do you agree or disagree with Mr. Cook's observations?

"The crazy thing is, it doesn't much matter what [your] passion is. Fishing? Sure. Painting athletic shoes? It's happening. Doing medical work in Third-World settings? Certainly.

It isn't all fun and games. Following your passion sometimes means making a lot less money than you're worth. It might mean living more simply than others want to live. It might mean hitting several dead-ends before things come together.

But that's almost inevitably what happens. Things do come together, often in ways impossible to predict. Hard work pays off. Perhaps you find a niche that no one else has discovered. Sometimes, a benefactor appears through serendipity, ready to help you over a hump.

I'm not sure why I've been thinking this way lately. But it might be because I've just finished reading "Three Cups of Tea," the story of American climber Greg Mortenson who builds schools for girls in the high country of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

All because he got lost on his way back to civilization after failing to summit a mountain.

Lost, you might say, pursuing his passion. Sometimes, the first passion is just a road to the one that really matters." Read more ... (From ProQuest Online, requires password if accessing from off campus)

    Comments from you about the book - blog your thoughts and see what others have had to say.

Some more ideas - taken from pages 337-338 of the book:

• Encourage others to read "Three Cups of Tea"
• Donate a (clean) copy to your local library
• Write a review of the book, and post it on your blog, at Amazon.com, or at Barnes & Noble. Get your review published in the Captain's Log or in your local newspaper.
• Visit the book's web site, or Pennies for Peace site, or the Central Asia Institute site to support these efforts.
• Other ideas? Share them on the CNU blog.