A Personal Revolution

Last week I blogged about Independence Day and, specifically, the Declaration of Independence which was ratified on July 4th, 1776 by the Continental Congress of the United State of America. I was writing about how a decision of that nature sets all sorts of changes into action. I consequently had the opportunity to watch a wonderful multi-hour series on The History Channel over the July 4th weekend that went into some detail about the birth of America and the War of Independence. It's been many, many years since I took American History and I believe we all tend to look back at that period and make note of certain historical figures and battles. What I have forgotten in all these years is the long period of time not only leading up to the ratification of the declaration but the long, long war following and then the long span of time before an actual treaty was signed and our country was recognized by other nations. And we rarely remember or consider those citizens who identified or fought with the British, including slaves! It was in many places a civil war, neighbor against neighbor.

Besides those obvious leadership lessons we can draw from the examples of Washington, Jefferson, Adams and the many other patriots that founded this country my thoughts go to the sheer stretch of time that was required for this great upheaval to unfold. Certainly it was not an era of cell phones, text messages and all manner of instant communication so the expectation of how things should happen allowed for more time. Even so, I think we can benefit from taking a more leisurely view of change and change management.  We should remember that there is a time to push and agitate and then there is a time to allow things to unfold and come to us.

How prepared are you to put in the necessary effort and, yes, necessary time to make a big change in your life? And can you stay the course knowing that it may look or feel like nothing much is happening? Our forefathers (and mothers) knew so much about delayed gratification and the benefit of putting in the necessary time and effort for a worthwhile cause. What worthwhile cause in your life is calling you to make that kind of effort? Maybe it's something truly revolutionary!

Celebrate Your Independence!

This weekend we celebrate our declaration of independence made in 1776 and what that day meant at the time and into the future for the newly declared United States of America. It's incredible what our forefathers accomplished by speaking (or writing) this declaration. They set forth something new into consciousness. An ideal that has captured the world's imagination and continues to do so.

We can all declare our own independence, every day, no matter what outer circumstance may appear to be. One declaration that I will make this year is to remember that I have a choice about what I feel about or how to interpret everything in my life. I can choose to call it "bad or wrong" or I can decide to call it "different or challenging". How I interpret and name my experience is what creates the next experience. I can choose to be grateful for my life and call it all GOOD!