No. 18
January 2014


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Welcome to the monthly Fearless Conversations newsletter -- information and ideas to support and inspire us to create a world in which fearless conversations are common in our workplaces and communities, in our families and among friends. 

In the two brief articles below, please join me in welcoming 2014 and remembering Nelson Mandela. 
Also, I am very glad to share a poem written by a wonderful friend -- a new year gift to you. 

 

Shyrl

 


"And now we welcome
the new year, full of things that have never been."
-- Rainer Maria Rilke 

Happy 2014!  Happy Fresh Year!
Welcome to 2014 -- a new year -- a FRESH year!  For some reason I got into musing about a new year being a fresh year; in that light, I want to offer these wishes and blessings for us as we launch our journeys into 2014.

Each day, may we look for and find fresh ways to build on what is strong and good in us and in our world.

May our conversations energize and embolden us with fresh hope, confidence, trust, harmony and collaboration.

May we welcome and be intrigued by fresh outlooks, ideas and possibilities -- just because they are that -- fresh -- novel, untried, unused.

Seeing fresh slants on old problems, may we transform obstacles into opportunities.

May our listening to one another open us to fresh ways of hearing whatever matters most to our family members, friends and colleagues.

If we feel the impulse to speak or act out of judgment of others, may we stop to breathe deeply the fresh air of our own breath; breathing deeply restores us with fresh ease, calm and openness.

Just as we depend on one another to keep fresh our air, our water and our food, may we collaborate with one another to keep our relationships fresh -- all for our health and well-being,

In times of sorrow or when we are overwhelmed by the challenges of life, may we be refreshed with timely connections of empathy, tenderness, understanding, support, comfort.

At the time of this writing, our family is awaiting the imminent birth of a baby boy -- a son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, family member.  A new baby, new life -- fresh life -- fresh joy, love, excitement, care, delight, awe, gratitude -- fresh anticipation of what is yet to be -- fresh imagination about "things that have never been" (Rilke). 

May FRESH be a hallmark of our new year - 2014!

In Praise and Thanks for
Nelson Mandela
In one of the archival interviews with Nelson Mandela broadcast at the time of his death, he recalled: "Our hatred for the oppressor was so intense, we did not see the value of talking to him."  Of course, Mandela did choose to talk to his oppressors; as he said, he chose to free himself from the prison of "anger, hatred, and bitterness" on his "walk toward freedom". 

Nelson Mandela leaves us a model for engaging in fearless conversations -- the commitment to talk with one another, for the sake of our true freedom.  He reminds us that courage is "not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.  The brave [person] is not [the one] who does not feel afraid, but [the one] who conquers that fear."  He also reminds us about the importance of knowing another person's language  -- not just the language of where a person comes from geographically, but the language of what matters most to him or her.  "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head.  If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."

May the light of Nelson Mandela's legacy shine in our conversations -- with our families, friends, co-workers, colleagues. 
 
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