Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

“Actually, I’m sick and tired.” - Alan Shore, Boston Legal “Stick It”
Today’s my birthday and I’m outing myself. Yes, I’m a liberal progressive tree hugger, bunny lover. Why am I telling you this on my business blog? Well, as I’ve noted before, it’s impossible to separate business from politics or religion. Regardless of the company, job, religion or political party, we’re all human, with emotions and perceptions which drive our decisions and actions in every area of our lives. Further, I believe we must all stand up and speak out, or it’ll do us little good to have a business (rather like having the life jacket concession on the Titanic.)

So, it’s my birthday. The clock is ticking. I’m tired and I’m going to do something about it!

I’m tired of the incessant yammering and yelling (on all sides of any issue, in television, print, blogging) that never allows anybody to complete a sentence, much less a thought. It ends up so much noise to the audience which means nobody’s message really gets heard. Intelligent, spirited debate is one thing; yelling at the top of our lungs just to get attention is quite another.

I’m tired of hubris and PR spin being mistaken for leadership. True leadership is a whole lot more than swagger and words. It’s deeds and it ain’t easy. Winston Churchill. Dwight Eisenhower. Theodore Roosevelt. FDR. Eleanor Roosevelt. Rosa Parks. LBJ. Golda Meir. Susan B. Anthony. JFK. Abraham Lincoln. George Washington. These people - warts and all - accepted responsibility, spoke up, and took unpopular, even dangerous, positions (And, sometimes conflicting with their own past behavior and self interests. LBJ and civil rights - go figure.) Like ‘em or not - they got things done, inspired people, and made a difference.

“It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not to deserve them.” - Mark Twain

I’m tired of “business” and “the environment” being an either/or proposition. We simply can’t save every last tree, bug, or bear (as much as I would like to). But, it also won’t do us much good to have a business if we can’t breath the air or we’re up to our eyeballs from melted artic ice. Global warming has never been a matter of “if” - it’s a matter of “when.” Regardless if we humans sped up the process or not - we need to address it, dropping the political palavering and “oh yeah, yo’ mamma” shoving contests.

I’m tired of liberal being a bad thing (ditto conservative). Both can be good. It’s a matter of context and knowing the true meaning of both. I’m (usually) fiscally conservative yet liberal when it comes to things like freedom of speech. I’d defend to the death - I hope - Bill O’Reilly’s right to say what he thinks, even when it’s silly and/or repugnant to me. “Compassionate Conservative” doesn’t have to be an oxymoron.

I’m tired of our victim culture.These days, everything seems to be somebody else’s fault. My mother didn’t love me. My father was never home. My boss is a jerk. “They” didn’t tell me. The company/political party/organization won’t allow it. Enough already! As grown-ups, we can decide to pull up our socks and get on with it. Drop the baggage, stop the “if onlys” and get busy. There are many real victims that need our help, if we can pull our heads out of our - um - navels.

I’m tired of the “us versus them” mentality. We Americans can no longer rely on oceans and distance for environmental, economic or personal safety (Actually, we never really could; we were just lulled into complacency by luck of the draw.) Terrorism isn’t a country and it’s not confined to any one race, region or religion. (Does anybody on the far right remember Oklahoma City?)

Everything we do impacts somebody (or something) else on the planet - from carbon emissions to tariffs to military chest-beating. What’s good for Americans must also be good for the world as what goes around, comes around (sometimes quite literally).

I’m tired of people making God so small and petty. Seems to me that any force or entity that is capable of creating the universe (in billions of years or days) is far above our limited interpretations and narrow-minded views of who and what is deserving of mercy, consideration and respect.
“You can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” - Anne Lamott

So, here’s my action list:

1. Complain less, act more. I’m going to bang some pots.
2. Consistently practice the Paradoxical Commandments.
3. Do at least one small good thing a day. This can be as simple as letting a harried Mom ahead of me the market check-out line. Pay a compliment to the check-out clerk. Mentor a fellow NAWBO member; we all need somebody to talk us in off a ledge now and then.
4. Start saving money now to fund a Habitat home. If I keep waiting until my ship comes in, I may never do it.

Of course, there will still be days that I’m the queen of snark & snarl; want to run amok with an Uzi; or feel low enough to guzzle warm gin out of the cat’s dish*. But I’m going to at least give it a go. What about you? Got a birthday coming up?

*“I thought such awful thoughts that I cannot even say them out loud because they would make Jesus want to drink gin straight out of the cat dish.” Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies

Read More:
LBJ & MLK Collaboration on Civil Rights
33 Facts about Global Warming
The Global Warming Information Center
The Untied States of America : Polarization, Fracturing, and Our Future
Network of Spiritual Progressives

Related Post: The Fossil Perspective
Tags: business, politics, religion, global warming, leadership, progressive