Last Friday I went to the 4th GLBT Leader Forum in Rome, an event placing diversity, uniqueness and self-realization at the head of the table and calling its participants and supporters to be inspired in order to transform the society we are living in. And as one of the panelists said, "Take a deep breath, which is of course where inspiration starts".
As I was listening to the speakers, I was doodling in my notepad and I came up with three great examples of successful transformations, and looking at those, I realized that in order to change and to change your environment, be it your family, your organization, your friends, your society or your country, you need three things: patience, hard work and courage.
Everything starts with patience. Change can happen fast but mental frames take long to set in, so prepare to wait. Just like butterflies: caterpillars turn into chrysales, then into larvas and finally beautiful butterflies appear, but some time needs to pass before we can see the rainbow beauty of the butterfly's wings.
The next component for transformation is hard work, and who would be a better role model for that other than Cinderella? Scrubbing floors and separating beans from lentils all days long, suffering jabs and insults from the ugly stepsisters and her stepmother and harboring her love for her deceased parents and wishes for the beautiful prince... As the stepmother in Ever After
put it, "Child, you were made for hard labor".
Finally, no transformation will happen without courage. Through pain and suffering the ugly duckling is doomed to success. It takes guts not to give up. It takes all your strength to wake up every morning, dress up and face the world that is not welcoming you in - the world that hates you. When there is nowehere to seek help from, all that is left is you. That's courage.
Transformation always starts inside; the rest is facilitation. The Fairy Godmother was there to finish off what Cinderella has already created within herself - her inner beauty. Remember: if you want to transform, all you need to change is your thoughts...
As I was listening to the speakers, I was doodling in my notepad and I came up with three great examples of successful transformations, and looking at those, I realized that in order to change and to change your environment, be it your family, your organization, your friends, your society or your country, you need three things: patience, hard work and courage.
Everything starts with patience. Change can happen fast but mental frames take long to set in, so prepare to wait. Just like butterflies: caterpillars turn into chrysales, then into larvas and finally beautiful butterflies appear, but some time needs to pass before we can see the rainbow beauty of the butterfly's wings.
put it, "Child, you were made for hard labor".
Transformation always starts inside; the rest is facilitation. The Fairy Godmother was there to finish off what Cinderella has already created within herself - her inner beauty. Remember: if you want to transform, all you need to change is your thoughts...
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