A CRISIS, LIKE A GOOD MIND AND A CARING HEART, IS NOT TO BE WASTED

This morning I went to one of my favorite internet sites, Ted Talks, http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_ and_passion.html, and listened to a talk by Benjamin Zander, conductor. He began his talk by telling the story of two salesmen sent to Africa in the 1900s to assess opportunities for selling shoes.  Each wrote a letter back to Manchester.  One said, "Situation hopeless.  They do not wear shoes." The other wrote, "Glorious opportunity.  They don't have any shoes yet."

Zander, who is committed to helping people discover their passion for classical music,   went on to say there are those who claim classical music is dying.  His preference?  "You ain't seen anything yet."  

I was reminded of the Abraham Lincoln quotation,  "We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses."

What do these examples suggest to me?  We choose how we want to see and we choose what we are going to believe.  If we can see thorn bushes having roses (not roses with thorns), we can just as surely realize/discover untapped love for new possibilities, new connections and/or new experiences.

I ask myself, "How do I see the possibilities for the new administration in Washington?"  I answer, "We have a glorious opportunity, a crisis we dare not waste."