Rotarians and friends of Perth Rotary,
After covering the Coronavirus cycle “traveling” from Australia, to China and Italy, tonight we completed one more journey in the orbit of major external forces that affect our lives which are the world economy and the environment. We explored the world economy in its current state and the role of cryptocurrencies in live connection with New York University and Prof. David Yermack, while tonight we studied the connection of Climate Change to migration, poverty and war with Prof. Grammenos Mastrojeni in live connection with Barcelona Spain.
It’s only a few hours ago that we finished tonight’s great meeting and Prof. Grammenos presented a very unique approach to Climate Change and the role of the environment. He used a number of paradigms to demonstrate the connection between a natural disaster or a major environmental change to people’s welfare. He supported that all wars and migration waves were originally caused by similar major changes in the environment and consequently in people’s well-being.
I was delighted to see in both live connections with New York and Barcelona, a high number of participants ranging from 40 people and going above 50, while there was a representation of Rotarians and friends from many different countries in Europe, Asia and Middle East. Also, we had a number of Rotarians from WA Clubs and from the East Coast too.
I have been unexpectedly pleased by the impact of these unavoidable COVID-19 restrictions to our Club and although I was puzzled when we had to suspend our weekly Rotary meetings, immediately I realised that author Anne Marie Aguilar was right when she said that: “Life is not just about the good things or not just about the bad things. It is both. It all depends where you focus your attention.”
For us and for the rest of the world there are so many “gifts” of opportunity in this new reality. Opportunity to spend more time with the family, opportunity to keep more time for ourselves for self-improvement, opportunity to leave the car in the garage and start walking, opportunity to eat healthier, opportunity to restructure our business or to develop a new idea based on the current reality, opportunity to invest in one of the lowest markets we had for many years, opportunity to realign our goals, beliefs and habits and be super focused on the end result.
Who can deny that this unexpected and unwanted change in our lives consists also of all the above that would have never come to us in a different case.
For next week, we have organised a very different ZOOM IN! We will not “travel” overseas and we will not discuss the current world problems further. We will have a member of the Club who is highly respected for his mega-Rotary achievements to present one of our very important projects, from its conception till today. More information will come soon with the respective invite to attend.
Feel free to share the link to every ZOOM IN meeting with your networks and friends.
Stay safe these days and be the inspiration for those who need it.
Yours in Perth Rotary
Warm regards