Peace And Goodwill To All Mankind

2001 has been a year that has truly shaken our definition of peace. I watched in horror as the events of September 11th unfolded before my eyes while I was consulting in a client office. Afterwards wondering, as I am sure many did, will the saying "peace and goodwill to all mankind" ever be spoken and truly meant.

One of the concepts that I teach is that in order to grow we need to receive experiences that "test" us to make sure we have learned the skills we are developing. If a team is working on developing a higher level of trust then experiences will happen in order to "test" them. As the team is learning new skills in order to become "trust worthy" and foster trust in their environment someone undoubtedly will do something that is perceived as not a trusting act. It is at that point I tell the team they have a choice; you can go back to old patterns of mistrust and seperation among the members, or you can use the experience to develop compassion, forgiveness, tolerance and acceptance the foundation of a trusting environment. The choice is always yours. It is easy to respect and trust others when there are no experiences of the contrary. It is easy to be at peace when there is harmony surrounding you.

Peace is truly learned when you can stand in the center of chaos and remain at peace. Events such as 9-11 test us on our ability to develop peace in our lives and in the world. The choice is ours to use these events to step into the chaos ourselves and add to the frenzy or reach out to a neighbor, a friend, a co-worker and extend a welcome arm of friendship and trust. Let us always remember that the power of one to cause change is the greatest force the world has known. I choose to use my voice for peace. Maybe your's is the one voice that is needed to bring peace to the workplace, peace to the family, peace to the community, and peace to the world.