Breaking through

April 20, 2012 at 11:00 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I have watched Drew Dudley’s talk about Leading with Lollipops on quite a few occasions, showed it to many friends, colleagues and students that I have worked with. It reminds me of those daily thoughts and actions that can have such an impact on ourselves or others, sometimes we may never even know what that impact may have been. This Drew Dudley talk though illustrates something even more powerful. It relates to something that is core to the human experience. Something that I believe is key to building an informed  connected and empowered global village, an important part of the Explore Discover Act vision.

Too often we as human beings suffer in silence. Like in Brene Brown’s talks from previous posts about vulnerability and shame, we as humans all experience feelings of perceived disconnection at various times because of something we don’t want others to find out about. A real courageous honesty is required to overcome these feelings, an awareness and empathy in the way we deal with ourselves and each other. Mental illness is one of those issues in our society that is still developing in the way that we communicate about it and between each other, our individual and collective awareness and appreciation.

As Drew talks about, stigma still exists, those feelings that if people are honest there will be an adverse reaction from others. Many experience isolating thoughts, beliefs and actions to save embarrassment on friends or family, and the perceived lack of opportunities if others in their networks found out. We need to change this storyline.

Reaching out, creating true interdependence where we support and celebrate the diversity that exists in our global village, the uniqueness and importance of each piece of the puzzle, should be our goal. Engaging in honest dialogue about who we are, our issues, hopes and dreams, opens pathways to each individuals potential. Seeking assistance is not a sign of weakness, rather a sign of strength, that understanding that we are all human, not needing to be perfect, just real.

We have all been inspired by others who have overcome adversity in their lives, whether that be illness, lack of opportunity or tragedy, standing tall as they achieve feats of true potential. This extraordinariness is within each of us and does not have to be world records or gold medals, those Superman feelings that Drew talks about, simply daily thoughts and actions that move us towards our own potential, through connection to self, others and the world around us.

“Our aspirations are our possibilities.” -Robert Browning