QUOTATION OF THE WEEK
Live your life so that your children can tell their children that
you not only stood for something wonderful – you acted on it.
--Dan Zandra, CEO, Creative Director, Compendium Inc.
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
It is very wonderful to stand for something. We feel strong when our beliefs are well thought out and we can stand without compromise in their light. However, just to stand suggests stagnation. The real power comes when we stop standing and begin moving in the direction of our beliefs. When we open up to the possibilities that lie within, we bring life to our beliefs. In this way we show others what we stand for rather than just telling them. In this way we become part of the solutions rather than part of the problem.
There was once a person who had a very strong belief about racial intolerance. He deeply felt that it was wrong to treat a person any less than another just because of his or her skin color. Separate rest rooms, separate drinking fountains, separate seats--this was all abhorrent to him. He could not understand how someone could feel and act the way they did. He really "stood" for equality. Yet when they made the racial jokes, he just smiled. When they made closed door workplace decisions, he just nodded his head. When they threw rocks, he just turned his glance away. When they burned the churches, he just shook his head. When they killed the people, he thought, "How could they?" His "stand" was firm but his actions did not follow. The actions came from a place of fear. They came from a place of hopelessness. They came from a place of embarrassment.
Real fear is not about those small percentage of truly evil persons who commit the unspeakable. The real fear is about the masses who have a very strong stand on an issue, but do not act upon it in everyday life. It is sometimes not an easy thing to do, to act upon our beliefs, but it is the only way change takes place. Just remember that for every "stand" that you have not acted upon, there are many, many people who are not acting either. They may just need a jump start and you may just be that jump start.
Spend time to decide your beliefs, but do not stop there. Take action! Live your beliefs. Be consistent inward and outward. Magic will happen and you will walk taller and many will join you. Be the leader you know you can be! Know you can be the leader you are! Do it! Do it now!
Blessings and Love,
Allen Schmeltz
Copyright © 2000 Allen F. Schmeltz. All rights reserved.
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