September 7, 2006

We were fortunate today at Marqui to have an incredibly inspirational speaker in to talk with us.  His name is Peter Legge, and he's president and CEO of Canada Wide Magazines & Communications, which is the largest independently owned publishing company in Western Canada.  He is the author of many books, and was voted the "Top Speaker in North America."

He shared some of the things that have made him successful in business and in life with us.  And I thought this concept was especially timely as we all deal with the immense and constant change in each of our lives:

I need to take responsibility for my own life. 

What I read, what I think about, what I watch on television and listen to on the radio all have a tremendous effect on who I am.  I'm the only one who can control those things.

He quoted (I didn't write the attribution, sorry) someone who said, "You become what you think about most of the time."

We in North America live in a society of blame - it's my company's fault, my partner's fault, my kid's fault, the IT guy's fault... for how I feel today.  I'm have, in the past, been guilty of those feelings.

I'm reminded of a quote I got last week from my sweetheart, who got it from our friend Debbie (let's make this whole thought process viral, shall we?):

'Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children of God. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.'  - Marianne Williamson

(In a recent proliferation of an urban myth about this quote:  the movie Akeela and the Bee (the first movie Starbucks helped co-produce and promoted heavily in their stores) inaccurately attributed the quote to Nelson Mandela.)

Let's all go forth and take responsibility (and make wonderful opportunities) for our own lives... whatever we have left of them - whether it be four, forty or sixty more years. 

Posted by at September 7, 2006

Comments

Hazel email - www.softwarelabs.info/

I like how Peter thinks. Success begins from our mind. We need to combat our fears and think positive. It is a simple truth, but not many people follow this advice.

Elizabeth Wood Rodgers email -

Hey Tara,

Your first quote, " I need to take responsibility for my own life.

What I read, what I think about, what I watch on television and listen to on the radio all have a tremendous effect on who I am. I'm the only one who can control those things."

reminded me of what I think about. I can relate to this quote and I feel that many people think this way on a day to day basis. It puzzles me in a way. I started to think about things that we do and how it affects the way we act. This also can affect the way people around us react to us and can influence the way they act, whether it is positive or negative. I think we do take responsibility for our actions and we are to think before we speak and act. We should make wonderful opportunities for our lives for our future and for others around us. Let us be a light to shine.

Danielle W. email - www.loveliestvillage.org

This is an incredibly moving and motivating blog! The part of the first quote, "...I'm the only one who can control those things." truly hits close to home. So often we do blame others instead of looking at ourselves and our mistakes. Blaming yourself is often a very scary thing to do, but it's so beneficial to learn from our mistakes instead of passing them off on someone else. The quote from Marianne Williamson is very motivating. People constantly underestimate themselves. It's such a wonderful change to have someone state that we should be striving to excel and stand out.

Janet email - www.marqui.com/blog

I agree with you all (obviously) because I wrote the post... I think we're too quick to blame ourselves when things go wrong. Instead, let's learn the lessons of our mistakes, and turn them into assets as we move through our lives. You all have the right ideas, put them into actions!

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