perspectives

POLITICS: Putting Our Faith in Lies?

I think I am writing out of sense of helplessness as a citizen of the United States. It is a long way until November, but I don't think there has been an election that was more critical and the process more scary. We are so beyond party politics. There is much at stake and the United States must get itself heading in a new direction with engaged citizens and a leader with a vision and imagination to mobilize our people to solve our pressing problems.

This morning's headline proclaims "McCain takes the lead over Obama: poll".

Do you ever wonder who they poll? Have you ever been called? What is most disturbing is also reading the article to discover what has resulted in this lead. It is not McCain's leadership or policies. "There is no doubt the campaign to discredit Obama is paying off for McCain right now," pollster John Zogby said. "This is a significant ebb for Obama."

Wow! What is wrong with the American people? Are we so addicted to negative spin and unethical people and campaign tactics that we are willing to be snookered again and sacrifice our future and the stability of the world for more of the last eight years?  Are we so risk averse and change resistant that we can't trust ourselves enough to follow a leader with a greater vision?

I used to think that McCain was truly an American Hero, but a hero that lies, tells-half truths, surrounds himself with the likes of "Karl Rove handlers" and works to dismantle his opponent one-lie-and-character assassination-at-a-time is not the American Hero we need for the leader of the free world and our country. He has already broken his promise to run a clean campaign with weeks of negative, proved untruthful propaganda and innuendo, as well as spewing out appeasing "buzz words," empty promises by the barrel full, and distortions of his own record and accomplishments. So what is a vote McCain mean?

With all due respect to his military service, I can't understand why no one has the courage to call him on his missteps and lying and pandering.

TWO QUESTIONS:
There is a two fundamental questions that I would like to ask Senator McCain:

1. LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS: If you are so experienced and influential in getting things done as you say you've been and are --- and handling our economy and "winning the war" as you claim, then why is our country in such a mess? Where have you been?  What results can you point to that demonstrates NOT YOUR EFFORTS, but your effectiveness as a leader in the last eight years?

2. CHARACTER and INTEGRITY: If you are so honorable and hold character and integrity as core values, why has your ambition to be president allowed you to slip into the slime of Karl Rove politics toward Obama? Why are you lying and distorting with such a constant drumbeat? With you holding the responsibility of an elder, it is shameful to watch you work to tear down the next generation of leadership we so badly need at this time in history.

My mother taught me to beware of people who proclaim their honesty and integrity too loudly. "What you do speaks so loud, I cannot hear what you say."  --- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I'm ready for a leader with character and change we can believe in and engage in.

How about you? (my private poll question for you)

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
author and founder, President and CEO
Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies

New Book! Putting Our Differences to Work (June 2008)
Learn more: www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com 
Berrett-Koehler - BK Business

BIG, BOLD LEADERS: Learning from our politics

There has been plenty of second-guessing, ridicule, and cynicism from political critics and media show hosts about Barack Obama's "results achieved" in Europe last week. It has been interesting to see so many (a large number of them men) wearing the "mask of envy" as they work to minimize and insult an achievement that is not one they personally carry in their portfolios. (Photo: Associated Press - JC Hong)

It's hard, regardless of your political preference, to overlook the facts that Barack Obama gave us images and diplomacy that reached around the world that we've not seen in many years. He took a risk and he delivered. The pictures brought hope and promise to the future when our minds and hearts have only been filled with hate, greed, war, violence, death, destruction, poor leadership, and the demolition of the United States reputation in every region of the world. Smiling hopeful faces. Waving of American flags (not burning flags). People showing up in the tens of thousands to take a look at one of our potential leaders of the free world, showing interest and respect for the new and different.

My question is... Shouldn't we all be so proud as Americans that one of our American family took a bold leadership step successfully --- a risky move perhaps --- but demonstrated his capacity for positive influence, on behalf of all of us, that America wants to regain our friends in the world?
His performance didn't even need to be perfect in every way to trump contemporary examples of leadership we've all seen in the last near decade. The talk of Obama being "presumptuous" is absurd. Why should we be afraid to watch one of our potential presidential candidates doing his best in this way-too-long job interview? Why should he shrink to the level of the norm in politics when he is putting his heart into being our best choice? When have you landed a job by acting like your competition?

It was even more shameful to see a senior statesman like John McCain, with a laughing smirk, thrash Obama every day with half-truths, put-downs, negative ads, and out-right lies from the "straight-talk express" in a concerted effort to diminish Obama's results...all for his political gain. I admit it, the United States of America deserves a leader with more generosity and self-assurance than we witnessed in John McCain's actions and behavior. Can you imagine McCain using these same techniques as a President, when we desperately need a leader of our nation who can get along with others, has a respectful manner not in words, but in his actions to skillfully negotiate and positively influence strategic outcomes that will impact all our lives?

What seems in short supply are BIG LEADERS --- ones that can find joy in other's achievements. The only one I witnessed was George H.W. Bush, Sr. (Reuters) who in a moment of BIG LEADERSHIP, spoke the truth in words about Obama European trip --- the truth that was written on many other faces of those too small to admit it.

When George H.W. Bush, Sr. was asked by the media whether, as a former head of state who has a sensitivity about protocol, had any thoughts about the appropriateness of Obama's events in Europe, the former 41st President replied with a genuine smiling face, "A little jealous, is all."

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts."
--- Abraham Lincoln

This is what I want to belief is possible...there is magic in believing we can create a better world than we know today...together. What do you think?

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
author and founder, President and CEO
Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies

New Book! Putting Our Differences to Work (June 2008)
Learn more: www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com
Berrett-Koehler - BK Business

If I were PRESIDENT...

If I were President of the United States, one of my priorities would be re-evaluate our policies, laws and practices for removing presidential incompetence in a timely manner. Our Founding Fathers obviously couldn't have imagined that we would have allowed our country to be disgraced by poor performance, greed, and disregard for the Constitution and the people of the United States in the way we have all experienced. In a company or corporation, the Bush Administration would have long ago been fired.

Today, I read an Editor's Letter in Vanity Fair by Graydon Carter. He summed up the issues at hand this way:

GRAYDON CARTER - Editor's Letter, Vanity Fair
"It can fairly y be said that politics brings out the worst in people. And at times simply the world people. ...In less than a year, the Bush administration will strut out of office, leaving the country in roughly the same condition a toddler leaves a diaper. The report card on this White House will be a series of F's.

• An optional war that has cost the country dearly
  in lives and resources? --- F
• Our reputation, military, and economy in tatters? --- F
• Wall Street an unregulated disaster? --- F
• Banks in crisis and airlines in bankruptcy? --- F
• A national debt that is through the roof? --- F
• Oil at more than $113 a barrel? --- F
• A tax system that favors the rich over the poor?
• A generation of environmental protections shot? --- F
• Five-year record low in consumer confidence and new lows in "Are we headed in the right direction? polls? --- F
• The loss of a great American city? --- F"

I would have to add to the list an --- F for the heartbreak of watching the disgrace of the Office of the Presidency in ways one could not foresee. The whole thing makes me sad. I would love to blame it solely on BUSH. This would be easy, but each of us seems to bear the responsibility in part for standing by paralyzed, helpless to change anything with a system unprepared for this kind of leadership failure.

If I were President, it would be a TOP priority to make sure this never happened again.

What would you do to change our policies, laws and practices?

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
author and founder, President and CEO
Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies

New Book! Putting Our Differences to Work (June 2008)
Learn more: www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com
Berrett-Koehler - BK Business

BEGINNER'S MIND: We need a new approach!

In every direction, it is clear we need a new approach in how we think and behave and interact with each other, our country, our world, and the planet. Some days I ache, don't you? The more you take-in and ponder, the more you see the mess we've created for ourselves by our biases, our inaction, our indifference, our busyness, our closed-minds to anything new and different.

When I watch the highest leaders in the land tearing down each other with violent tongues, lashing out, making fun, doing anything to divide and conquer to win vs. reaching for a new approach. I admit Hillary has been deeply disappointing to me. Not because I would love to see a woman in the White House some day, but because of her approach, her divisive rhetoric that violates all I thought she so whole-heartedly believed in at one time, has taken me by surprise. This is more of the same. More of what we don't need. Imagine what our children are taking in when they watch adult leaders have at it this way --- and we wonder why some are disrespectful, violent, and mean. They are watching us.

My hope is going with Obama. Not just the man and the message, but I'm hooked on gathering of people demonstrating their desire for change, to be part, to take back, to reach for more --- I am willing to work for it, are you? It seems to start here.

I learned one time that Shoshin in Japanese means "beginners mind."
It doesn't mean a closed mind.
But an empty and ready mind.
If one's mind is empty, it is always ready for anything.
It is open to new thinking, new questions, new points of view, new people.
In a beginners mind there are many possibilities.
In the expert's mind there are few.

May this be a day of renewal
A clearing out...an opening up
Each of us in our own right
Unique and different
Beginner's minds.
Hearts beating.
For a moment
All in One.

Hold that thought.

What will renewal mean to you today?
What will it mean to all of us in the months ahead?

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
author and founder, President and CEO
Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies

New Book! Putting Our Differences to Work (June 2008)
Learn more: www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com
Berrett-Koehler - BK Business

PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP via "Sticks and Stones"

It is not my intent to make any attempt to appear as a political pundit. :-) I am not. I imagine many would suggest, I keep my opinions to myself. However, I do occasionally feel a real calling to be brave enough to write about my own personal experience and observations, sometimes sharing a perspective I am still pondering myself. It is in some ways cathartic. Today, I am so moved.

This morning, I heard on the Sunday morning talk shows again that "Hillary Clinton was holding solidly to the mature white women's vote. Well, as much as I would love to witness a women winning a Presidential contest and moving into the White House --- and have dreamed, hoped, and worked toward women's advancement with this idea some day in mind, Hillary does not have my vote. My reasons have nothing to do with her being a woman. They do have a lot to do with her leadership example in this campaign. My disappointment has been drawn from watching her behavior and listening to her message.

I have never wanted to see a woman in the White House that used the same, tired, broken, mean-spirited methods that often put a candidate's integrity into question. Hillary had an opportunity of a lifetime to do something really unique and different --- she's worked hard for it --- with a measurable lead in the beginning. It has been sad to watch and listen to her squander the opportunity to win big as she chose to move in and out of employing the "victim" technique, the half-truth approach to make a point, the desperate injection of race in order to win --- violating the integrity of her espoused beliefs and work for years, and the full-out assault of "sticks and stones" disparagement against Barack Obama --- especially, when any minor mistake is seized with a gloating, self-righteous tone. These are not behaviors that are any more becoming to woman than they are in men.

What is also notable, if one has watched the campaign carefully, is that this kind of rhetoric was introduced by Hillary Clinton into the campaign and it has resulted in domino effect in distorting, diminishing, and detouring the significance of this election and the discussion of the real issues of the people for days and sometimes weeks at a time. I don't mean that Hillary carries the full responsibility, but her campaign struck the match for the firestorm that has followed. It has forced other candidates into pointless discussion of side issues. I do not believe these are the leadership qualities that I want in a president, man or woman. Such methods are unnecessary for accomplished individuals --- including an accomplished woman like Hillary.

I don't know about you, I would like to have a president I can respect; imperfect in their humanness, but big enough to admit it. I want a leader that is honest and direct above all --- one that carries a vision for a new direction and leadership example that will radiate across the world --- one that demonstrates the "content of their character" in this process.

Years ago, I sat in the 4th row, center, when Hillary spoke as First Lady in San Francisco at a woman's political event. She was captivating, optimistic, and stood there on her own merit. Excellence speaking for itself. When I watch this new cynical, sometimes nasty, finger-pointing person --- that avoids admission of mistakes as if it is a weakness, and chooses "the kitchen sink" instead of the authenticity of all she has been blessed to achieve and accomplish----- I ache at the contrast I see in what Hillary appears to have become in the process, needlessly.

When I hear the real pundits talk about this political battle like it has to be this way --- "fair game," it reminds me that if we accept this kind of "sticks and stones" strategy as the only way, we will be living by what I learned one time in a leadership class: Unless things change, they stay the same.

Can we afford more of the same?

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
author and founder, President and CEO
Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies

New Book! Putting Our Differences to Work (June 2008)
Learn more: www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com

Dr. MARTIN LUTHER KING's Wisdom for TIME OF WAR

IN COMMEMORATION of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Legacy
Young Martin
Original Oil Painting by Bay Area artist, Sally K. Green
www.sallykgreen.com, see leaders with a lasting impression

At this moment in our history, we have experienced a week where the realities of an escalating war are suddenly confronting our consciousness. Its truth is coming at us directly from governmental actions, in what appears an abuse of power, most likely covert plans and rumors of a deeper level of war, killing and destruction. It is as if Dr. Martin Luther King is speaking to us across time. He seems to be tapping us on the shoulder to remember for reasons that may be more important now than ever before in our lifetime.

Take in his wisdom...challenge yourself to step up to be part of creating that tipping point where all of us change our misdirected course, demanding that our country live up to its values. Peace doesn't come from war. War begets war. Hatred and violence multiplies hatred and violence. We must ask...
How can MORE KILLING hold the answers we seek?

CONSIDER DR. KING's WISDOM...

OUR ROLE IN PEACE
"When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love. Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice."

LESSONS FROM WAR
"...The only change came from America, as we increased our troops commitments in support of governments which were singularly corrupt, inept, and without popular support. All the while, the people read our leaflets and received regular promises of peace and democracy and land reform.  Now they languish under our bombs and consider us...not the real enemy. They move sadly and apathetically as we herd them off the land of their fathers into concentration camps where minimal social needs are rarely met. They know that they must move or be destroyed by our bombs, and they go, primarily women and children and the aged. They watch as we poison their water, as we kill a million acres of their crops, and they wander into the hospitals with at least twenty casualties from American fire power to one ["enemy-inflicted"] injury. They wander into the towns and see thousands of children homeless, without clothes, running in packs on the streets like animals. They see the children selling their sisters to our soldiers, soliciting for their mothers."

ISN'T WINNING MORE ABOUT RULE OF LOVE not War?
"The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows. One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means. How much longer must we play at deadly war games before we need the plaintive pleas of the unnumbered dead and maimed of past wars?''

"Our freedom was not won a century ago, it is not won today; but some small part of it is in our hands... If we assume that life is worth living and that man has a right to survival, then we must find an alternative to war. In a day when vehicles hurtle through outer space and guided ballistic missiles carve highways of death through the stratosphere, no nation can claim victory in war."

BOOK REFERENCES and ARCHIVAL VIDEO of Dr. King's Wisdom
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Words of Martin Luther King Jr. and The Trumpet of Conscience
Selected by Coretta Scott King

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Visit to Grace Cathedral in 1965
Story and video of his message

What difference will you make to move us to the rule of love?
How will history record our response?

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
author and founder, President and CEO
Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies

New Book! Putting Our Differences to Work (June 2008)
Learn more: www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com

Sometimes It Feels Good To Stand UP and Be Counted

Last night as I watched the people of South Carolina stand up for a new kind of politics and a new kind of leadership, I felt something deep inside. The faces, the energy, the possibilities, the new thinking, and Barack Obama's inspiring message to us all brought a new level of HOPE for America and the world. I admit it, I sobbed --- mostly it felt like eight years of grief for the blood, loss, corruption, and human tragedy we have experienced watching what happens when a president sees war as his unilateral vision and drills it into the fabric of our country.

I also think part of it was the feeling of being duped by the Clintons. Over the years, I've had my struggles with their style of leadership. I am grateful for the good that came and I have been willing to forgive them for the disgrace and detour we were forced to endure during their reign because of Bill Clinton poor judgment. This past few weeks, I have been so disillusioned by their very deliberate attempt to diminish this young, powerful leader with vision that is igniting people all over the nation. One would expect so much more from two political elders, who have had they day and professed their beliefs in equality for all people. Bill's intentional "code words" were not unnoticed. As far as Hillary --- I can say, I look forward to seeing a woman in the White House someday, but I do not want a woman to win that brings the same shoddy, dirty tricks politics that men use as sport. I do not want a woman that lies or feels called to diminish anyone for her own political advantage. We can do better than this. Instead I envision a leader that will inspire the greatness in all of us --- by their own greatness in who they are and what they bring to leadership, not just in experience, but in character and practice day-to-day.

Caroline Kennedy's Op-Ed in the New York Times endorsing Barack Obama said so much about how it feels to me and others I talk to that have experienced what Barack and Michele are bringing to this year's presidential campaign. There has never been another time since John F. Kennedy that this country felt such possibility and responsibility because of a leader with a clear vision. I share it here as it shouldn't be missed:

A President Like My Father
by Caroline Kennedy
January 27, 2008

OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.

My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.

Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.

We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.

Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.

Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.

I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.

Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.

I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.

I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.

Caroline Kennedy is the author of “A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love

It feels good to stand up and be counted.

How about you? What's you view?

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
author and founder, President and CEO
Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies

US: In and Out of Darkness

There are so many things in our government and society that are broken. Bill Moyer's Journal (an always beautifully produced show) this week put our failings on display in such telling ways. The profile with Countdown's Keith Obermann was moving. Then there was the "Massing of the Media" which is going on despite the outcry of the people of the United States --- soon all we will hear are far-right political talking points for news (we are not far off now on many days). It also focused in on how the Obama and Oprah factors were playing in a discussion with Dr. Ronald Walters on Race in the Race. Here we discover that African Americans seem timid and unknowing, just like the rest of us, about the power we hold in our hands if we stood up and took it.

What is deeply sad is most of us don't even care. Many us don't even know. This is what those in power count count on. We're so lost in our own miseries and the hype of celebrities and Dancing with the Stars to numb ourselves that we don't even see what's happening, what's eroding in front of our eyes. The greed for "power and money" seems to be winning on many fronts, but perhaps the "courageous and good" will triumph as it has before. This is my holiday wish.

My wish is that we could find our way out of darkness. I read a story  in an very old book about President Henry M. Wriston of Brown University: "... He might as well have been describing the convention which was called to frame the Constitution of the United States when he characterized the United Nations as 'a squalling, brawling brat of an infant with only about fifty-fifty change of survival. The only thing strong about it is its lungs.' For weeks the United States constitutional convention accomplished exactly nothing. Day after day the air was filled with bitter criticisms and accusations. Finally Benjamin Franklin stood up and addressed the chair which was occupied by George Washington and said:

We have been here, Mr. Speaker, for many weeks trying to act upon this important subject and have accomplished nothing. Only dark clouds of difficulty and embarrassment seem to be gathering before us. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, it is high time to call in the direction of a wisdom above our own. Because we have not, may be the reason why we have been so long in the dark. I therefore move, Mr. Speaker, that it be made a rule to open the business of this house every morning with prayer.

History records that moment as the beginning of the framing of the Constitution of the United States.

I think it is clear that we need courageous leaders to step up to with a new vision and the foresight to help us stop the madness of the seven years of war, greed, corruption, injustice and the ravaging of "we the people". We need an awakening of historic proportions that happens in each of us. Collectively --- in numbers, we have the power of our vote and our presence. It begins within each of us being willing to look at ourselves --- a solemn, serious, necessary, and sometimes frightening responsibility --- to recognize how our inattention and sense of helplessness is why we are in darkness; our awareness and action is how we get out.

What do you think?

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com
http://www.debbekennedy.com

Belief and Action Change the World

A few years ago, quite by chance, I happened upon a best-selling book written in 1947 by Claude Bristol called The Magic of Believing. In it he speaks of the power of belief---the kind of belief that can change a mindset, a community and the world. One analogy he uses demonstrates the connection between planting seeds and the power behind the action that follows:

"Once the soil is prepared and the tiny seeds are placed in it, it is but a short time when they put forth roots, and sprouts begin to appear. The moment they start upward through the soil in search of light, sunshine and moisture, obstacles mean nothing to them. They push aside small stones or bits of wood, and if they can't do it, they'll extend themselves and grow around them. They are determined to emerge from the ground."

We have planted the seeds of change throughout the world. Even with the most miserable things happening around the world, you can almost feel the seeds of change as they move upward, upward. The sprouts have made their way through the most rocky soil and there is a ways to go---and we can see them reaching up and bearing fruit in some places. Now, it is up to us to keep the momentum alive by cultivating all the good things we envision for this world of ours. Attending to its needs. Giving it the sunshine and water of our mindshare and actions. We are the force that give this world life.

"There is no better companion on this way than what you do.
Your actions will be your best friend."

---Jalau'ddin Rumi
Mystic Persian Poet
Hold this thought!

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com
http://www.debbekennedy.com

A Call to Action --- Change from within

Today, I woke up once again realizing my role is not to take on the world. It is to do my part, which always leads me to a kind of perpetual self-examination. The great sages, scholars and doers passed on knowledge of this great need:

• Plato proclaimed, "A life unexamined is not worth living."


• Lao Tzu also urged us to spend time in reflection. "Turn inward and digest what has happened."


• Gandhi told us that real education comes from continually "drawing the best out of yourself."

These insights have led me to believe that self-assessment is a perpetual call-to-action to be keenly aware----always listening, thinking, reviewing, evaluating, interpreting, discerning, deciding, being---reaching toward a stronger understanding of our own values and intended purpose---discovering a deeper sense of meaning in our lives each time.

Changing from within...
Start with questions.
Be grateful for the strengths you find.
And for the honesty in the weaknesses you identify.
Be truthful about what is standing in the way.
Re-set you direction.
Walk boldly!
Repeat these steps often.

How are you doing your part? I'd like to know.

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com
http://www.debbekennedy.com