Friday Reflections For Teams
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Increasingly, Bill Gates says, he values "people who have the long-term commitment, who can deal with the ups and downs, with the unfair things that happen to them."
Story Line:
As a child, she enjoyed writing fantasy stories.
In 1990, her mother died, after her ten-year battle with multiple sclerosis. The loss affected her deeply.
In 1992, she moved to Portugal to teach English as a foreign language.
In 1993, she separated from her husband.
A single mother, she moved back to her home country with a one year old daughter.
In 1995, while unemployed and on welfare, she wrote a novel using an old manual typewriter.
The manuscript was submitted to twelve publishing houses; all of them rejected it.
A year later, editor of a small publishing house decided to publish a few copies because his eight year old daughter read the story and loved it.
Although he agreed to publish the book, he advised her to get a day job, since she had little chance of making money in books for children.
A few years later, Forbes named Joanne "Jo" Murray (aka JK Rowling) as the first person to become a U.S.-dollar billionaire by writing books, the second-richest female entertainer and the 1,062nd richest person in the world. She gives away millions in donations every year.
Reflection: "There is suffering in life, and there are defeats. No one can avoid them. But it’s better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you are fighting for" -Paulo Coelho
The idiom "jumping on the bandwagon" relates to the observation that people often do and believe things because many other people do and believe the same things. The effect is often called herd instinct.
The phrase "jump on the bandwagon" first appeared in American politics in the 1800s when horse drawn wagons carrying a musical band would lead parades for political rallies. It soon became obligatory for every candidate to ride the bandwagons, just for the sake of attracting a big crowd ... a crowd which would incidentally show up mostly out of curiosity about an event that draws a large crowd.
“In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.” - Michael Jackson
Story Line:
It was August 16th, 1977. Jerry, the production supervisor in the company I was employed by, seemed sad. I asked him if everything was ok. Jerry, tears in his eyes, told me, “The King has died.”
I asked Jerry, “Pardon my ignorance, but the king of which country? I did not realize you had a King in America?”
I still remember the scene: Jerry dragged me onto the production floor and proclaimed to everyone that I did not know who "The King of Rock" was.
With apologies to Elvis fans, that was then. Now, I know a lot about Elvis, and admire the man. I made a pledge never to be that ignorant about local culture again, and learned to appreciate many things beyond science and work.
Some time later, my friend invited me to watch a concert by five brothers, the Jackson 5. That was my first encounter with Michael Jackson. I loved Michael's unique singing style and started following his music, not anticipating that he would become the next King - the King of Pop - in the years ahead. His music and performances inspired millions, and he was a household name around the world.
Reflection:
No amount of words will suffice for tribute to one of the most "out of the box" (OBT) performers of our lifetime. But I will still take liberty to share something our 8th grade teacher told us in his farewell message on the last day of school. The words from that Hindi Poem are so appropriate for Michael Jackson’s life:
“When you came to this world, the world (people around you) was smiling and you were the one crying. Live such a life that when you leave, the world is crying and you are the one smiling.” He is gone but his music will live on forever.
