Equality, opportunity, & Prejudice - who do you look down upon?

Monday is the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., arguably one of the most important Americans born in the 20^th century.  But why is he important? What did he do that would justify such a lofty statement?  At Mass this morning our Pastor began his Homily with a simple statement, “Who do you look down upon?”  His point was that no matter who you are, or how enlightened or pious one may believe they are we all carry some prejudice against someone, or some group.  Where did this come from?  Are we born with it?  Or do we learn it? Who instills it? Who nurtures it? Who inflames it?  

I grew up in a northern suburb of Chicago and from my earliest childhood memories I remember my Uncle Willie who, usually after a Boiler Maker or two, would refer to African Americans using the most ugly and offensive epithets imaginable.  Unfortunately he wasn’t alone in his views.  Although my parents did not condone this sort of talk, they didn’t shut it down either. This was the mid to late 1960’s and it was a tumultuous time in our country where racial issues and tensions were divisive, explosive, misunderstood and very delicate. I don’t think that my parents believed what my Uncle Willie said, and I don’t think they consider themselves racist.  However, this is where the nurturing part comes in.  All you have to do is listen to someone discuss racial issues and you will learn what they really think.  Not necessarily by what they say, but how they say it; their body language, and most importantly – what they don’t say will give them away every time.  I know what I believe, but often there is this voice I hear in the back of my head (these aren’t the voices that medication silences J) where I hear my Uncle Willie and this infuriates me!  Why does this STILL come up?  Although I believe I have moved beyond racial and gender prejudices, I know I still prejudge certain groups of people. How about you? 

Each year at this time I make it a point to read what I feel is the greatest, most powerful, and potent speech ever given in my lifetime.  This is the speech that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on the Washington Mall on August 28^th, 1963 which has become known as the, “I Have a Dream Speech”.  Many believe this was the defining moment of the Civil Rights movement where he called for racial equality and the end of discrimination.  If you haven’t read this, or maybe not in awhile, please take a moment to read it:

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm     

Although the times have changed, we haven’t made as much progress here as you might think.  Yes, we have an African American in the White House, and that’s huge, however racial tensions and issues in this country are still front and center. Just look at the immigration debate taking place throughout this country.  As I look around, you can replace his use of the term, Negro with Latino, Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern, Eastern European, Immigrant, Homosexual, Woman, Man, Caucasian, Poor, Homeless, fill-in-the-blank.  Justice, opportunity, and happiness are not relegated to just skin color, gender, or sexual orientation.  The socio-economic status of each of us has much to do with this as well.  The whole Occupy Wall Street movement (which remains poorly defined) is a powerful indication of how the middle class is being diminished and the wealth/income disparity is widening at an alarming pace.  Paul Krugman wrote a thought provoking Op-ed piece in the New York Times on January 8 entitled, America’s Unlevel Field.  My point in bringing this up is NOT to embark on a political argument, but rather to get you thinking about what is actually taking place in this country of ours, and it’s not at all what our politicians would have us believe from their 30 second sound bites. 

I’ll leave you with two things.  First is a link to Mr. Krugman’s article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/opinion/krugman-americas-unlevel-field.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman

Secondly, an excerpt from Dr. King’s speech:


“…But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force…”


So, who do you look down upon?  

Sustainable Success in 2012 and Beyond

                    

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village.    

An American tourist, who was a

consultant, complimented the Mexican

fisherman on the quality of his

fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long," answered the Mexican.

"But then, why didn't you stay out longer and

catch more?" asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch

was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta

with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends,

have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs . . I have a

full life."

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help

you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell

the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger

boat."

And after that?" asked the Mexican.

With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second

one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of

trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then

negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your

own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, 
Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my Friend, That's when it gets really interesting,"

answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big,

you can start selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" said the Mexican.

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the

coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a

siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying

your friends."  - Anonymous


I love this story!  It's a great launch into today's chautauqua.  I'm calling it Sustainable Success in 2012 and Beyond.  Everyone strives for success, but just what exactly is success?  The achievement of a goal?  Sure, but who defines it?  
Can efforts that fail be successful?  
Who determines whether you succeed or fail?  
Why can this differ depending on who you ask?

I want to talk about how we determine success.  
More specifically, how we should determine success.   I've learned over the years that when I have allowed other people to create the rules of my success, I would fail just about every time.  It sounds so simple, but the trick is for you to create the rules of your success.  God has given all of us unique talents, skills, and attributes.  Just as it's possible to arrange a finite set of notes in infinite sequences to create music, the same is true with the way we use our God given talents to achieve our goals and dreams. The story of the Mexican Fisherman is a great example of this.  Both the Mexican and the American had the same goal, however each had very different ways of accomplishing it.  They also each share very different definitions of success.  


As a professional sales person one of the biggest, most important goals I strived for was being recognized as the Rep Of The Year.  Besides the plaque, money, and Rolex watch (which are ALL fabulous), the real prize is being recognized by your sales professional peers as being  #1. 
It's the equivalent of achieving an Olympic gold medal (in my opinion).  

The problem is that there are so many sales people who are better than I am at so many things and there is NO way I can beat them. After years of beating my head against the wall and intense disappointment, I decided to hell with this and just do what I do best. 


This is where the sustainable part comes in.  
I simply couldn't keep up the incredible and stressful sales effort, month after month, year after year, so I came up with ways to make the day to day grind more manageable and even enjoyable.  This allowed me to tolerate the long hours and mind numbing detail work.  It took me 11 years, and when I least expected it, I did finally achieve Rep Of The Year in 1996.  I am going on 28 years of working this crazy job with all it's unreasonable and often mind numbing travel and nonsense, but I've been able to sustain a level of performance that allows me to be a sales leader in my industry.  


When people ask me what my secret is, I tell them something no one wants to hear.  That being there is no secret.  Just sustaining a reasonable effort over a long period of time, making small and incremental changes regularly.  It's my opinion that greatness is not about winning the race every time. It's about finishing it - time after time, after time. Because what you'll find is that with each race, fewer and fewer people will finish. Excellence therefore is sustainable effort.  The simple test is to place this powerful adjective before any aspect of your life, and see if it is indeed true.

Just to put this into some perspective, I have been jogging since I was 16 and although I was never very fast, I was consistent.  As the years went on I got slower, covered fewer miles and skipped many days.  I conservatively estimate that I have been able to sustain a very modest record of jogging between 2 to 3 miles, 3 or 4 days a week over these 34 years. If you were to average this to say, 9 miles a week, x 52 weeks a year (468 miles a year).  Then multiply this by 34 years you get a total of 15,912 miles jogged.  That’s more than three quarters of the earth’s surface!  Think about it this way, it’s like running from Chicago to Beijing China, and back. Oh yea, then to Costa Rica for some beach time and rest.

Little changes sustained over a long period make a profound difference.   Who are you going to let define your success in 2012?   Let 2012 be the year that each of us introduces the power of sustainability to the important aspects of our lives. 

May you find sustainable peace, Love, friendship, good health, and prosperity in the new year.