Showing Up

Last night President Obama concluded his farewell address by reminding us, “Yes, we can!”
That’s the perspective of my project, My 1000 Small Steps. I invite you to read what motivated and inspired me to create this project. And then begin your 1000 steps to help create profound change by the next presidential election day, November 3, 2020.

Disbelief!        Despair!          Doom!

Those were my feelings on the morning of November 9, 2016 and they have continued to occupy my thoughts.
Since that morning, multiple sources of inspiration have helped shape an idea I want to share.
First – articles by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times and Jim Wallis of Sojourners on November 17, 2016 about 12 steps to take and 10 commitments to make to help survive this troubling time.
Then, driving home one evening after a client appointment where we’d discussed our post-election fears, I started thinking about a book titled 1000 Mitzvahs by Linda Cohen. The tagline of this book is “How Small Acts of Kindness Can Heal, Inspire, and Change Your Life.”
How could the idea of small acts, in this case small political actions individuals could take in response to the election of 2016, shift the feelings of hopelessness that so many of us in this country are experiencing ?
What if millions of us committed to take small actions?
I recalled the words of Tolstoy: history is the combined effort of the many small things that ordinary individuals do every day, “An infinitely large number of infinitesimally small actions.”
Margaret Mead’s word resonated. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
In an interview with Leonard Cohen, recorded shortly before his death, Cohen quoted Werner Herzog. “Keep on walking. Shape the future…”
And then there were the words of Edward Kennedy, quoted in The New York Times shortly after his death. “The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.”
“I’m not giving up and neither should you!” Kate McKinnon’s words as she finished playing and singing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” on the first post-election Saturday Night Live.
Let’s not give up! Let’s follow the words of John F. Kennedy, “One person can make a difference. Everyone should try.”
I invite you to join me in taking 1000 Small Steps to Profound Change between now and the next presidential election day on November 3, 2020.
Use the accompanying journal to capture your small steps. Invite others to do the same.  Download this journal by going to the Events page on this website or by following this link http://www.TimeforSuccess.net/events.
We can keep on walking and shape the future we want to see on November 3, 2020.
Nothing less than the future of our planet is at stake!

Yes, we can!