Honesty that touches the heart

If there is something I have never learned was how to read a newspaper. Yes, I know how to read, come on! But not a newspaper.

In a plane, the person sitting by my side was reading like a princess. After she finished, I noticed with certain envy as the newspaper looked like new. Mine... well, I prefer to not mention its situation. This is why I LOVE reading newspaper via INTERNET.

But, it paid off. I was extremely touched by an article by Mr. Michael Gove, pre current UK Education Minister (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2057850/Michael-Gove-describes-adoption-transformed-life.html). In it, he was counting his own tale of adoption. His own adoption.

Well, how many people acknowledge they were adopted? How many ministers you know would do that? But he did, I must confess I became a deep admirer of him. Not sure if he is a good minister or not, but as a person, he should receive some prize for being a hero. In times when everyone tries to deny and show a different face, his honesty is a fresh sign humankind has hope.

I won't bother you with details you yourself can read, but I just thought about a few points I think anyone should reflect upon and act on them:

• Am I ready to give support for someone who has nothing to do with me? His parents were able to do it. It is not a question of money - in fact, he admits that nowadays, his parents, or people like them, wouldn't be able to adopt anyone. It is more than money. You can call it courage or mercy, they adopt not only him, but also another girl, who became his sister and whose quasi deafness problems were quite serious. As leaders, that is what we do: we have to "adopt" people who, most of the time, don't have much to do with us.
• How can I help in empowering others? Mr. Gove's tale is on love. Not that cheesy romantic love. It is not about Prince Charming. It is about REAL love. It is love that cares and brings up. It is love that educates and respect. It is love that really works, enough to create a minister. Do I love others that much? Because it is that love that will give them power to overcome any situation.
• Will my honesty hurt myself or others I care? It is honesty. As he tells at the beginning, only a few people knew about his situation. He risked his position telling others he was not what he shows (even his name is different). But his honesty conquered me and I am sure, it conquered many others too. We use too many masks. However, more than the honesty, they way he chose to tell his story - he didn't "throw" it over the public, he touched their hearts. Leadership is about values. Vision and purpose, results and strategies can be accomplished by someone with a diploma. But that diploma needs the certificate of values, like honesty, true honesty, tolerance, calmness, love and peace that touch others' hearts.

It is quite possible I will never meet Mr. Gove, his sister or his wonderful parents. But they will live with me in my memories and they will always inspire my own leadership.

Thank you.

Out of the world

Last week, I had a meeting with a very old friend in a city I know a lot and I don't know anything: London. It does give most of the people that feeling, a kind of familiarity and distance at the same time.

Well, story runs like this: I went to a Hilton hotel and he was not there. I could not call as I did not have a mobile, neither I could access INTERNET easily. At last, I was able to find a café INTERNET in the back of a supermarket (true story!), and I could find out that the Hilton I should go was another one, about 5 minutes from where I was.

All of that gave me a very interesting experience on how dependent we have become on our gadgets or devices. In a world in crisis, devices won't help as much as our own resources.

In fact, it was interesting looking for things that other people had in their own pockets. It was interesting to talk to strangers, look with more accuracy the gray and yet beautiful streets of this old city, looking for things that other people had in their own pockets.

In fact, all of us have so many resources inside, but we don't use - after all, we can find all from things that we have in our own pockets. It is a pity that not many people have the luck I had to live that experience. But, you can still try it - try to find a place without googling, try to talk to someone face to face instead of just emailing him, try to live differently and come in touch with those resources which you have and are just waiting for you, their master, to use them.

Back or forth?

During years, since I started to get interested in the Nobel Prizes, there has been a very interesting fluctuation between politics and non-politics.

Well, to be sincere, most of the assigned prizes have been quite political. Perhaps the only exception I can really think of is Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

This year, 3 women have been chosen, which is by itself quite intriguing. Although all of the 3 have their actions embedded in politics, their choice goes beyond that. As it says in the statement, they have been chosen "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work".

First of all, STANDING OVATION to you three. I don't think there will any doubt or polemic as the former years. But it is the non-violent piece appeals to me. As I have said many times before, I really don't believe in peace as a result of the lack of violence or war. I live in Colombia, and I can see that even the war being eradicated, there is still so much violence. I have seen in countries where the biggest violence is a run-over, and still I see so much anger inside.

But I understand it is a process, perhaps longer than we would appreciate, to stop associating peace with war.

Is it possible? I think it is, and it will be real revolution, much more powerful than any other. When people - at least a critical mass of people - realise within that peace starts from the self, then the world will change dramatically.

Think what will happen with the economy when people are really satisfied, when marketing cannot attract others, but just inform. What will happen when people are not looking for show, but for being peaceful?

Probably, you would think it will be quite boring. I used to think like that. And, yes, in the present context it will be boring. But, contexts change. And really hope this way back to non-violence by the Nobel-prize granters can make people more aware of its importance.

The Sowing Paradox

There is a time for sowing and a time for harvesting. However, what happens during sowing times?

I am at present at that stage. Life has been quite exciting, too exciting for week-hearts people and, I must confess, even for my own taste.

But the paradox for me is that while sowing, well, there is no food available! Yes, I know my future will be bright, but I need to adjust my attitude and awareness for that. What am I doing to resist these times?

• Keeping busy. It is easy just to give up sowing and fall into a kind of laziness and just stopping doing things. It is easier to go and buy in a supermarket, instead of sowing. So, I learn that if I keep busy in meaningful works until the harvest comes, that helps my mind and spirit.
• Prioritizing. Someone told me once that when we are unemployed, that is the time where you can get lost so easily. Just yesterday I had to say NO for some course which was being offered to me. One of the wonders happened to me was to find my own prioritizing magic key, so I am using it. I am saying NO, or just saying I DON'T WANT TO THINK OF IT NOW. It is pretty important, because when harvesting comes, I will be very busy with that, too busy to sustain something I created and I did not want to.
• A good environment. Walking, listening to nice songs or reading positive books, going to a park or just staying in a very clean room. This is so important! The environment makes things to you that you are not even aware of, and you are its creator.
• Meditating can help me to keep a stable mind. Wasteful and negative thoughts are not useful at all, specially in these situations. The art of meditating keeps my humor OK, my thoughts flowing in a nice way and life looks beautiful.

Any more suggestions? Take care.

Another date for peace?

Tomorrow, September 21st, it will be the the 30th. time world thinks of peace. At least, that is the idea.

However, in a very fast pacing world, this is hardly news. After all, it is just a date, right?

For many years, I myself have been living with the war. Although it is not declared officially, the confluence of some guerrilla groups, paramilitarism and the Military has made Colombians live in a constant fear or at least apprehension in relation to the war. For me, the consequences of a war are very clear: economic problems and psychological problems are too normal to be comfortable.

But I have also learnt that peace is not the mere absence of war, and here I have had some proof of that. Even though the situation is like that for decades, still Colombia is one of the countries that grows more, people are quite nice and the quality of life is so good that I was surprise to hear about a Brazilian manager who feels safer in Bogota than in Brazil.

Perhaps it will be good if people think of peace not only in terms of absence of war, which is happening worldwide in numbers and facts - it is decreasing, slowly but firmly. Peace is more than that, it is that wonderful feeling in your heart that all is OK and there is nothing to worry about.

If that is done, peace won't be remembered one day a year by a few, but it will be lived by many the whole year.

Is it a dream? Yes. I hope you can also dream with me.

More than a date

In Doctor Who, the protagonist at some point says that there are some dates which have some kind of weight in it. Probably, September 11th is one of these dates. Before starting to speak, I must mention my admiration for those people who went there, fearlessly, some of them to not come back again. My admiration for that wonderful nation, United States of America, and the people.

Around July, 2001, I was invited to conduct a workshop in a program held by the United Nations. Unfortunately, it never happened, and the strange thing is that it seems my application was lost or something like that, so they never approved what was never supposed to happen. After all, my workshop would be on the 12th. September. 2001.

So, when things started to happen on September, 11th., I felt as I was there, a few miles away from the eye of that horrible storm. I follow all the events, seeing how the most powerful nation in the world was unable to prevent what was going on. I follow all the events, seeing how the most powerful media in the world was unable to broadcast effectively what was happened. I follow all the events, seeing how humanity got insane for a few hours that day.

It was possible one of the worst expressions of hate humans showed to their fellows. Yes, it does not compare with some of the old battles when about 40,000 people died, or the shame of the atomic bombs. But, still... it was too close home. It could happen anywhere in the world.

So, what do you do when something like that happens? Hate? Revenge? Closing borders? Among the many stories I have heard later, some touched me more than others.

There is this TV channel which brought together mothers whose children were born after 9/11, and whose fathers were in the twin towers. Among the women, many muslims showing the absurdity of blaming one side of the humanity against the other - their sadness was not different, perhaps in some levels even worse.

Another thing was a friend of mine who happened to be in New York that same day. When his friends and him saw what was happening, they all decided to go straight to Canada, their home. He narrates how he saw the towers from a hill, and the many hours of trip just to arrive to a very long line in the border; yes, the borders were closed. It was then one of the passengers of the car said she knew another border through which they go through. After entering into the town and many small roads, they reached this small border point where a very confident American allowed them to pass. Even in tragedies, some people keep their trust.

I did not lose anyone in that tragedy and it did not affect me directly. However, I feel in my heart the best way to avoid something like that to happen in the future is not fighting more or controlling more. We need a big change in our awareness, society and trust. We need to see everyone as one, share our lives together and understand each other even more. We need love, but not a simple love - we need a love that cannot be defeated, not by two planes, nor even by the most powerful armies.

And, you know what, we have it. Hope, on this day, people allow their hearts to open even more and to recognize, beyond the threats and rage, the wonderful opportunity of transformation for our whole world.

On hurricanes and hurried lives

To be true, I have never been in an area when a hurricane is hitting it, in fact, I have never seen a hurricane. The closest I have been to "hurricanes" (in fact, strong storms) were twice in my life. In the first, I was a child - totally unprotected, coming back by foot from school. I've learnt I cannot fight it, but the company of my schoolmates, my bag and the fun we all got, it made it worthwhile.

The second time was in Punducherry, in South India. They explained to me it was a depression and during about 10 minutes, it rained what it should rain for one day. I was in a wonderful hostel there, looking at the ocean, and the ocean just got merged in the darkness, vanishing before my eyes, and the storm would come.

I keep thinking positively of everyone being hit by this catastrophes. They need our respect and care.

However, I learn something else: there are also hurricanes in our lives, even though we don't have hurricanes in our weather channel.

Like living storms, we walk into the cities and into each others' lives. We destroy others' dreams and lives many times, their projects and their effort. We are in a hurry to do things, and we become like living hurricanes.

It is time for us to just make some time out of our pace. It is time to experience ourselves as people, and enjoy each others' lives, dreams, projects and effort, just for the sake of them being our fellow human beings, our companions on Earth.

Have a nice day!