We live in an age of miracles. In this episode, we continue with the theme in Season 11 focusing on more humanity aspects of human-centered leadership. Your life is the product of millions of decisions made by millions of people. Without interdependence, nothing could exist. And I don’t think that has ever been more true than now.
An Age of Miracles
There is no decency or sense in honoring one thing or a few things and then closing the list. The pine tree, the leopard, the plat river, and ourselves, are at risk together, or we are on our way to a sustainable world together. We are each other’s destiny.
Hey, it’s David and you’re listening to leadership without losing your soul, your source for practical leadership, inspiration tools, and strategies you can use to achieve transformational results without sacrificing your humanity or your mind in the process.
We are each other’s destiny. That opening quote is from Mary Oliver in her book, upstream and wanna talk today about miracles. This is one of those Tomorrow Together episodes, continuing with the theme in season 11 of focusing on more humanity aspects of human-centered leadership and talking about miracles. We live in an age of miracles.
One day I was having breakfast in a restaurant in a suburb of Denver and I had the most wonderful meal. It was this shredded beef short rib. It was seasoned, perfectly served under an egg, and covered with this excellent green chili. There was music playing overhead, it was a soulful bluesy piece by BB king. And while I savored the meal, I read a novel that I’d downloaded to my phone. I paused to arrange a holiday purchase for my mom, talked with my daughter in Guatemala, my sisters all over the country, and Karin who’s in Maryland. After breakfast, I popped into a drugstore, got an immunization to prevent the flu, and replenished my travel kit with a toothbrush and razor before taking a beautiful blustery walk in one of my favorite parks in Denver. Then I drove to the airport, got on a plane, and headed up to Minnesota and North Dakota, where I shared my expertise with people who needed it. And then I visited a friend from my childhood.
Miracles, every single part of my experiences on that day. That’s just one day where they excluded at one point, the exclusive experience of royalty, or would’ve even been viewed as devilish wizardry, not so long ago. A meal assembled from spices from around the world, world-class music played by one of the best, near-instant communication with loved ones, a quick shot to prevent an illness that killed millions before we learned the power of vaccinations, something that still seems even more miraculous these days. Two hours of travel for a trip that would’ve taken a week or two, weather permitting.
And it’s not just that all of these things exist. It’s the people who make them happen. How many people were involved in creating that one day? It has to be in the hundreds of thousands. There are the people who grew the food that I ate, who cooked it, who built the restaurant, who engineered and built the electrical and natural gas systems that powered the restaurant, who worked with BB king and recorded and distributed the music. Those who researched the immunizations and made the dose I received and brought it to that drugstore. Those who built the roads, the airplanes, and the airport. Who assembled my phone, who built and maintained the network that transmits my text, and who got the oil out of the ground that became my toothbrush and razor. Who manufactured them, who built and run the system that allowed me to insert a bank card and transfer value from my account to theirs? And it goes on and on.
Who is the web of people responsible for one single day? It’s just about unfathomable. That was one of my days. And you’ve got all your days and even more amazing is that nearly every one of those people responsible for that day had a choice. They didn’t have to do what they did. They could have chosen to do something else or nothing at all. No one had to invent the thousands of inventions that made that day or your day today.
Your life is the product of millions of decisions made by millions of people. Without interdependence, nothing could exist. And I don’t think that has ever been more true than now. Your future is our future. We’ll build it together, imperfectly, in fits and starts threatened always by our fears, our insecurities, and the question of whether we can truly grasp our universal condition. We’re all in the same boat, a boat called Earth.
And that is today’s quick thought from Tomorrow Together – essays of hope, healing, and humanity. Miracles are all around us. I hope you’re able to pick up a copy and leave a review. And as always, as you’re thinking about your leadership and your management, I would love to answer your questions. Feel free to send them to me at [email protected] or head over to Leadership Without Losing Your Soul. Find the big orange button, click record, and you can leave me a message.
Until next time, be the leader you’d want your boss to be.
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