The purpose of the ChaosOver Program is not really about being organized! You see, unto itself, organization has no intrinsic value whatsoever. While many consider organization to be an ‘end’, truth be told, organization is solely a ‘means’, a vehicle, to take us where “we say” we want to arrive in our careers; in our family lives; in our personal lives.
The idea of living one’s life with, at our mortal ending, having no regrets…aha, that is a life fulfilled.
This particular Blog is geared to our personal life, however it is an example that equally relates to our careers and our families. While the following, recently published newspaper article, does have to do with my own life, please understand that it is to support the “I say” that we want to accomplish in this lifetime of ours in order to truly experience fulfillment and joy.
How the Big Brother Magic Cuts Both Ways
Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Opinion Columnist
LEN MERSON paused thoughtfully when I asked what made him decide over forty years ago to become a Big Brother to a boy in need. "I can tell you," piped up Allan Lewin, the self-described ‘Little Brother’. "A little kid is a great chick magnet." "Yeah, it was either him or a puppy," Merson laughingly agreed.
It's a funny routine, one of a thousand things they have done together in a relationship that has lasted over four decades and has had a profound effect on both of their lives.
"Allan and my daughter, Jessica, are the two people that I trust most in the world," Merson said.
"I remember writing a paper my first year in college about the people who influenced me," Lewin said. "Len was one of the three who mattered most".
"I remember writing a paper my first year in college about the people who influenced me," Lewin said. "Len was one of the three who mattered most".
Lewin and Merson are Exhibit A in the case Big Brothers/Big Sisters likes to make for mentoring. Lewin, who heads the Lee's Hoagie House chain throughout the Philadelphia and surrounding areas,, and Merson, who runs an information-management business, with offices in California and Hawaii, both agree that neither would be who he is today without the other.
"Allan is a significant investor in my business," Merson said.
“I go to him for business advice all the time," Lewin said.
It was more than anyone imagined way back in 1967 when Lewin's mother took him to Big Brothers/Big Sisters to see if they could find a man to hang out with him a couple of times a month.
"My parents were divorced," Lewin recalled. "My mother was wise enough to know that I needed a male role model. "I just figured I'd meet someone who would take me places".
That's about all any young person fortunate enough to meet a mentor through the program expects. If it were nothing more than that, it would still serve a purpose for kids like Allan from single-parent homes.
Big Brothers/Big Sisters released a study last month that reveals a much more tangible benefit of their mentorship matches. According to results of the cross-sectional study by Harris Interactive:
-Adults who were mentored as children were seventy-five percent more likely to have graduated from college.
-Thirty-nine percent more likely to earn at least $75,000 a year than peers who had similar backgrounds.
-More than half the former "littles" who took part in the study grew up in single-parent homes with less than average incomes.
-About two-thirds reported that they had achieved greater success than children they grew up with who had no mentors.
-The study simply lays out in statistical terms what we know intuitively:
A child who has the benefit of a relationship with a responsible adult
is far more likely to succeed than if he didn't have it.
Hundreds of children, particularly minority boys, can't find ‘Big Brothers’. Many chapters had to stop taking applications last year despite a growing need.
NOTE: The ‘Big Sisters’ organization is in need of mentoring skills for many ‘Little Sisters’ in our communities as well.
Matches were easier to make when Len met Allan. Len felt the need as much as Allan did. "I had terrific expectations." Len said. The results were even better. Allan was a great kid, mellow, insightful, interested in everything I showed him."
What really made it work, they agree, was a third party, Len's horse at the time, ‘Navajo’, an Appaloosa Quarter horse. "Allan got involved in everything. He cleaned the stables with me; we didn't just ride”, Len stated.
But Allan didn't realize how close they had become until he fell during a bicycle accident and broke his collar bone. "Len was at the hospital in minutes," Allan said. "That was surprising".
It all should have ended two years later when the company Len worked for transferred him to San Diego and then to Hawaii. But he and Allan spent summers together in San Diego and then Hawaii even after Len became a mentor to another Little Brother from the projects in Honolulu.
"I had this Jewish kid from an East Coast city and a Hawaiian boy from the projects," Len said. "They got along great each summer. Both were great kids and are friends to this day”.
The three of them still get together a few times a year and speak to each other at least once a week.
The magic does indeed cut both ways.
With great respect,
Len
Len Merson,
Founder, C.E.O.
Chaos Over, Inc.
1-88-VERY CALM (Toll Free line)
619.980.7372 (Direct line)
619.291.1709 (Facsimile line)
Lmerson@chaosover.com
"Allan is a significant investor in my business," Merson said.
“I go to him for business advice all the time," Lewin said.
It was more than anyone imagined way back in 1967 when Lewin's mother took him to Big Brothers/Big Sisters to see if they could find a man to hang out with him a couple of times a month.
"My parents were divorced," Lewin recalled. "My mother was wise enough to know that I needed a male role model. "I just figured I'd meet someone who would take me places".
That's about all any young person fortunate enough to meet a mentor through the program expects. If it were nothing more than that, it would still serve a purpose for kids like Allan from single-parent homes.
Big Brothers/Big Sisters released a study last month that reveals a much more tangible benefit of their mentorship matches. According to results of the cross-sectional study by Harris Interactive:
-Adults who were mentored as children were seventy-five percent more likely to have graduated from college.
-Thirty-nine percent more likely to earn at least $75,000 a year than peers who had similar backgrounds.
-More than half the former "littles" who took part in the study grew up in single-parent homes with less than average incomes.
-About two-thirds reported that they had achieved greater success than children they grew up with who had no mentors.
-The study simply lays out in statistical terms what we know intuitively:
A child who has the benefit of a relationship with a responsible adult
is far more likely to succeed than if he didn't have it.
Hundreds of children, particularly minority boys, can't find ‘Big Brothers’. Many chapters had to stop taking applications last year despite a growing need.
NOTE: The ‘Big Sisters’ organization is in need of mentoring skills for many ‘Little Sisters’ in our communities as well.
Matches were easier to make when Len met Allan. Len felt the need as much as Allan did. "I had terrific expectations." Len said. The results were even better. Allan was a great kid, mellow, insightful, interested in everything I showed him."
What really made it work, they agree, was a third party, Len's horse at the time, ‘Navajo’, an Appaloosa Quarter horse. "Allan got involved in everything. He cleaned the stables with me; we didn't just ride”, Len stated.
But Allan didn't realize how close they had become until he fell during a bicycle accident and broke his collar bone. "Len was at the hospital in minutes," Allan said. "That was surprising".
It all should have ended two years later when the company Len worked for transferred him to San Diego and then to Hawaii. But he and Allan spent summers together in San Diego and then Hawaii even after Len became a mentor to another Little Brother from the projects in Honolulu.
"I had this Jewish kid from an East Coast city and a Hawaiian boy from the projects," Len said. "They got along great each summer. Both were great kids and are friends to this day”.
The three of them still get together a few times a year and speak to each other at least once a week.
The magic does indeed cut both ways.
With great respect,
Len
Len Merson,
Founder, C.E.O.
Chaos Over, Inc.
1-88-VERY CALM (Toll Free line)
619.980.7372 (Direct line)
619.291.1709 (Facsimile line)
Lmerson@chaosover.com
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