I mentioned in my April 2 blog, entitled 'Wake Up And See What's Real', that my father had made two comments which I'll never forget. In attending President Obama's Inauguration earlier this week, there was another one of my father's comments that came to mind. In this comment he said..."I might not always be right, but I'm never wrong." When first heard at the age of twelve or thirteen, I viewed it as boastful and pretentious; and for me that just wasn't 'right'. With time however, it has taken on new meaning; and now I see that same comment as one of confidence, truth and applicability to every man, woman, and child on the planet. As long as malice is not our intent, we are not 'wrong' for viewing things as we do, or for saying the things that we say. We might not be 'right' in the eyes of others, but we aren't 'wrong' as long as we desire to do the 'right' thing; and at the moment we're doing it, we feel that it's the 'right' thing to do.
President Obama's first inaugural address reflected the problems that we all face, and it was also comprised of hopes, dreams, and ideals that would better the condition of not only the American people, but would address the shared goals of prosperity and peace desired by folk across the globe. In his address he said the following, "...the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short period of time. But know this, America___they will be met." Now most of these challenges have not been met yet, but I can't help but believe that his intent was, and still is to do the best he can with what he has to work with. In my October 2 blog, entitled "Our Connection Is Not An Option...It's A Necessity", I said that "...once President Obama is re-elected he can start incorporating the thoughts of the people in his decision making..." It seems that the president is somehow connected with this concept because his second inaugural address was inundated with implications of what we the American people can do, rather than what he, the American president, plans to do or has already done. One example of this connection is a passage in his second inaugural address that reads as follows, "For now decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay... We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect." This is indicative of the fact that Mr. Obama has realized that despite possible failure and inadequacies, we must be willing to continually implement different means for achieving desired outcomes. He fully understands that he has not done the best that can possibly be done, and is again imploring us to help him better fulfill the objectives that we all share.
What we can learn from all of this is the fact that anytime we experience discontent with someone or some thing, anytime we feel that someone has said or done something 'wrong', it's the universe's way of telling us to check ourselves. You see it's not up to us to judge what's 'wrong' with what people think, say or do...it's up to us to respond in a way that is in the best interest of everyone involved. Focusing on 'so and so' did this, or 'so and so' didn't do what he said he would, is not the way to go. Instead it's about what should I do in response do what 'so and so' did or didn't do. What can I do to not look at what somebody said or did as wrong, but to look at what I can do to make it better. In speaking of Tavis Smiley, Cornell West, and Jesse Jackson, and the concept of 'all talk and no action' I said the following in my April 17 blog, entitled 'Seeing Me In You'. This is what I said... "So when I envisioned Tavis, Cornell, and Jesse as being lax in their actions, I was really seeing an expression of...my own shortcomings. I had looked at them and seen me." Now I wasn't 'wrong' in thinking as I did before I clearly saw what I was doing, but once I got clarity, it wouldn't have been 'right' if I hadn't at least tried to be different and to do better.
The universe is calling on all of us to better understand who we are and why we're here. Our purpose is not to judge or condemn others, it's to better understand ourselves because only then can we truly help one another...and ultimately; that's why we're here. It's about progress ya'll...not perfection. So let's give ourselves, and everybody else the chance to better understand who we are and where we're trying to go. Let's remember that we might not always be 'right'... but we're never 'wrong' as long as we have breath, and we're willing to do what's best. There's always an opportunity to do better than we did, and to be better than we were. Let's give ourselves and everybody else that chance.
I thank my Daddy again for giving me a part of him, so that I could share it with you.
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