One Day of Silence

I am doing two things today in this post. First I am honoring the memory of all victims of violence where ever they are. I also honor the pain and suffering of all those families grieving for for the loss of someone held dear in their hearts. Senseless violence is just that; it makes no sense.

But remaining silent on the subject is just not right if we are going to find a solution to the problem. I don't have a solution to violence but we need our voices to be heard saying we have had enough and we want a start to actively finding workable solutions. We have somehow gotten desensitized to this problem. We read about it in the paper and watch it on TV and there is no longer any sense of outrage, anger or even a loud cry to do something about it.

It is time to end the silence.

I end this post today with a link to Carson Brackney who writes so much more eloquently about this than I do.

Technorati tags: Violence, Virginia Tech, perspective, one day of silence

Favorite Post 2007 Meme

Jeremy Jacobs on his blog Corporate Presenter tagged me with a meme about my favorite post for 2007. There were a lot of good ones but my sense of humour wins out and I choose Comedy Plus and I leave you withthis teaser for you to follow up. But I am going to cheat a little here and include one more from Bee from Muffin53 who always gets me chuckling.

In keeping with memes if tagged provide a link to Jeremy as the originator and one back to the person that tagged you.

I tag:

Ed from The Pisstakers

Camille from Now

Comedy Plus

Bee from Muffin53

Random Magus

Technorati tags: meme, thinking, perspective

Violence and Peace

Barely breathing with nerves on edge to hear the faintest sound and staring eyes trying to penetrate the darkness; my constant companion fear and I have but one goal, to be safe. Today I am 5 years old and my life was shattered when my parents were killed last week. I will do anything to feel safe again.

How did you feel after reading the last paragraph? Did you want to stop reading and change the dial? Did it reach you with a small glimpse of the impact violence has on our lives?

When fear is generated from a personal embrace with violence. It triggers our survival instincts at it's rawest. Then it truly becomes survival of the fittest; kill or be killed. Violence begets violence and it's biggest supporters are apathy and silence.

I wonder how the Law of Attraction handles this question. If we think about violence and truly understand its impact on everyone's lives are we going to attract it into our lives. I don't believe so. Action starts from seeing it and deciding to do something about it. The intention is everything.

I can hear it now. But I am only one person. What can I do?

I would tell you to say that to Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Buddha, and Albert Einstein to name but a few. One person can make a difference and mankind has a rich history of proof.

I am going to talk about two people that are trying to make a difference and are people just like you and I.

First I will talk about Steli whom I have become friends with through his Supercool School blog. Steli after the Virginia Tech shootings created a site to honor the victims by having bloggers posting a banner on their site on April 30, 2007. It was like he had waved the red flag at the bull. He got a lot of flak as well as support for the idea. I will on the 30th put the banner on my site and it is to honor all victims of violence where ever they may be. If I get a lot of flak for that then I welcome it. At least it is not silence and apathy.

The second person I will talk about has taken a different approach. Her name is Mimi Lenox and has set up a Blogblast for Peace to be triggered on June 6, 2007 where all bloggers who wish to participate create their own peace globe as I have done in my sidebar and post on June 6,2007. A post on peace is optional but I will be making a post that day in support of the idea. Globes and banners can be obtained from her site.

It is up to each of us to recognize the problem and take action.

At first it was a single voice singing into the silence. Then from the shadows another voice joined to be a duet. Slowly voices joined one by one until it was heard  around the world. Not realistic you might say. Maybe so but I want to be one of the voices singing out to pierce the darkness of fear and violence.

How about you?

Technorati tags: thinking skills, perspective, fear, violence, peace

Key Factor for Change

A group of us were discussing the well known guru's of change and amongst them was Tony Robbins and in particular his book Awaken the Giant Within. Several of the group had varying degrees of success in following the program he advocates in his book and we were telling each other what we got out of it and why we felt it had not worked.

Some had a large list of reasons and take always and some said they got nothing out of it, it was just a waste of time. When it came to my turn I said I had got two things from the book.

1. A great question: How can I use this?
2. That change depended on my willingness to do something differently.

As to why it didn't work for me; I said that I was not Tony Robbins.

We can sometimes forget when embarking on a program of change that no program can specifically address our issues on managing change. We are unique in that no one else has exactly the same physical, mental, emotional and spiritual mix as we do.

It's like playing the game follow the leader as they walk through high snow drifts. No matter how hard we try; we end up with snow filled socks. Yet we expect that it will be different when are making changes in our lives.

Reading or listening to self-help programs just ask the questions how can we use this and how willing are we to do what they tell us. If it doesn't make sense to us then the willingness to try will at best be luke warm.

Remember the how is up to us.

Technorati tags: personal growth, managing change, thinking skills, perspective