Health & Fitness
I have a dream...
As we reflect on the lessons and inspirations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - let us remember every great leader is a sum of the effort and enthusiasm of those that are led.
Dr. Martin Luther King's speeches were founded in a deep belief in equality among races, spirituality in a society focused on materialism and achieveing success in spite of misfortune. Leaders are amazing people - they stand front and center in the face of their adversaries while tethering the faith of their supporters. The self-confidence required to maintain that position is amazing. Is it born through genetics? Is it inspired by ego - or is it learned through experience?
Dr. King was a scholar and shared his education through quotations as well as experience. Quoting Pliny the Elder, Dr. King identifies the measure of a man’s greatness: "True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written; in writing what deserves to be read; and in so living as to make the world happier for our living in it." I relish these virtues and offer the following quotations to highlight the remarkable wisdom and enlightenment of this amazing man:
“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. "
“That old law about an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.”
“Life’s most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”
“You don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.”
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
As we remember Dr. King’s moral courage and his relentless pursuit of freedom I encourage you to exemplify his attitude in your every day life. Sometimes, nationally recognized holidays stir the recollections and emotions necessary to keep a dream alive. Other times, personal investments evoke the same sense of responsibility to treat others as we hope they would treat us. Me, I look to nature to balance my scale. Weeds serve the produce, and the produce serves the farmer - but the best farmer is humblest of stewards - bending knee to weed as well as the fruit. Leadership is rewarded one farmer, one dreamer and one dream at a time.
