Wednesday Wisdom

Seed tomorrow with wise, honoring memory today!

With the approach of Halloween and an upcoming adventure in Mexico, I thought it respectful to pay tribute to the day of the dead, Dia De Los Muertos, one of the most important holidays in Mexican culture.

The day remembers, respects, and celebrates families’ dear loved ones and ancestors who have passed by creating an altar of their pictures and preparing offerings. Mourning is considered insulting for the dead, so the culture commemorates the deceased with music, food revelry, and prayer for their safe passing, comfort, and peace in the afterlife.

People from cultures across the world share the notion:

To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.   – Thomas Campbell

He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man.   – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.

•                                                         J.K. Rowling, ‘Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.

• Richard Puz

Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.  – George Eliot

As I bow my head on Dia De Los Muertos, I’ll remember cherished ancestors who came before me and continue to whisper in my soul.

Life is calling . . .  Today’s the day!

Visit http://www.The Success Studio.com . . . Learn Lavishly. Live Significantly. Leave a Legacy.

www.marilynnsemonick.com

To read archived Wednesday Wisdoms visit http://www.thesuccessstudio.wordpress.com

Marilynn Semonick, CEO (Chief Exploration Officer)

Educator, Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, Professional Speaker

Marilynn@marilynnsemonick.com                                                          

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Wednesday Wisdom

THIS IS LAST WEEK’S WW. A few people wrote to let me know they did not receive this post last week (October 19) so here it is, posted again:

Seed tomorrow with wise choices today!

A friend from the UK recently told me the passing of Queen Elizabeth felt like the passing of an era. And, went on to say:

The end of an era for sure . . .  the end of dignity.

Let those words settle in: the end of dignity.

I’ve never really understood the notion of a monarchy; however, I’m clear about the reach across the world this Queen had with decency, nobility, discipline, and honor. As a consultant who has worked with leaders around the globe to increase their effectiveness, she felt the subtle, yet obvious fact that behaviors of leaders seriously matter.

Anyone who follows leadership research knows the work of Peter Drucker, who wrote:

Culture eats strategy for breakfast. 

Culture – those shared attitudes, values, goals, and “agreed upon” behaviors. A leader’s behavior establishes the norm. So, when selecting upcoming candidates, we’re choosing the culture we, our children, and our communities will live in next (and perhaps longer than we’d like). 

What kind of culture is created by leader(s) who demean, degrade, ridicule, blame, berate, humiliate, disgrace, and take no responsibility? You choose the leader, you select the culture. No excuses. It’s not time to refuse to vote because “they’re all corrupt” or “there are no good choices.”  There are no benefits in feeling helpless in the face of our challenges.  Please choose wisely.  Our future depends on it.

Life is calling . . .  Today’s the day!

Visit http://www.The Success Studio.com . . . Learn Lavishly. Live Significantly. Leave a Legacy.

www.marilynnsemonick.com

To read archived Wednesday Wisdoms visit http://www.thesuccessstudio.wordpress.com

Marilynn Semonick, CEO (Chief Exploration Officer)

Educator, Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, Professional Speaker

Marilynn@marilynnsemonick.com

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Wednesday Wisdom

Seed tomorrow with wise citizenship today!

Still doing your election research? Or, even more involved in ensuring the promise of our American democracy? Let the words of Brendan Sullivan nudge you in the direction of more effort:

We are not potted plants.

First, we do our research (understanding it’s difficult with so much disinformation running rampant – know your sources). Then, vote. However, before November 8^th, please ask yourself if there’s a bit more you can do as a responsible citizen? 

I know people who canvass, knock on doors, send postcards, or make calls encouraging people to vote. Invest a bit of time or energy in assisting the candidate you believe will make a positive difference? Intelligently discuss the upcoming election issues with others? Work at the polls?

Deval Patrick, professor of practice and co-director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, and former governor of Massachusetts says it better than I can:

Citizenship is not an act. It’s something you do, not something you are.

What can we do to invest the time, imagination, and courage to act boldly to reclaim the promise of American democracy? 

Life is calling . . .  Today’s the day!

Visit http://www.The Success Studio.com . . . Learn Lavishly. Live Significantly. Leave a Legacy.

www.marilynnsemonick.com

To read archived Wednesday Wisdoms visit http://www.thesuccessstudio.wordpress.com

Marilynn Semonick, CEO (Chief Exploration Officer)

Educator, Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, Professional Speaker

Marilynn@marilynnsemonick.com

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Wednesday Wisdom

Seed tomorrow with wise intentional change today!

Doing our research for the approaching November elections, O ye of little faith keeps echoing in my head. Perhaps it’s because, at my age, more people are passing at what feels like an alarming rate. Death has strangely become less a concept and more of a reality. With this recognition, my frustration increases as we seem to be expanding our unwillingness and/or inability to progress with humanity as a base for our grandchildren before we leave Earth to them.

• Will big money and corruption that owns our government continue to be the norm and ensure our downfall?
• Will we make any strides in remembering that character, integrity, and compassion are stronger leadership qualities than power, money making, and profit shares?
• Will we raise our awareness that profits over people and greed over sincere service are destroying our nation?
• Will we grow up and make voting, a fundamental foundation of a democracy, accessible and fair for all rather than a manipulative process to create a pathway for a party to ensure votes in their favor?
• Will we take our children and education seriously enough to fund it as we do our military?
• We will actually do anything to care enough for our planet and address how we abuse it so that our grandbabies have a place to call home?
• We will take constitutional equality seriously enough to examine and change our systems and policies that create inequities?
• Will we ever look at responsibilities over rights and ensure our children do not have to worry about mass shootings as they attempt to simply be in school?
• Will we find ways to talk, with civility, respect, and intelligence, about where we need to collectively progress, or will we die, leaving our grandchildren a legacy we soulfully regret?

And, these are only a few questions that continue to roll in my head. Am I alone?

If I could only muster up the faith of a mustard seed for a more humane, equitable, compassionate future. 

Life is calling . . .  Today’s the day!

Visit http://www.The Success Studio.com . . . Learn Lavishly. Live Significantly. Leave a Legacy.

www.marilynnsemonick.com

To read archived Wednesday Wisdoms visit http://www.thesuccessstudio.wordpress.com

Marilynn Semonick, CEO (Chief Exploration Officer)

Educator, Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, Professional Speaker

Marilynn@marilynnsemonick.com                                                          

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