When I was a kid, my mother used to warn me about \u201changing out with the wrong crowd\u201d (isn\u2019t that a universal mother-ism?). She needn\u2019t have worried \u2013 the \u201cwrong crowd\u201d wouldn\u2019t have anything to do with a geek like me. But her point \u2013 that we are influenced for good or for ill by those around us \u2013 was still valid.<\/p>\n
When he first ran for President in 2000, I thought George W. Bush was a good man with good intentions. Eight years later, I still think he\u2019s a good person. But he surrounded himself with a bunch of folks who were most definitely not good people: Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, etc. And because it\u2019s not his nature to question his own beliefs, when they told him what he wanted to hear he took that as confirmation and ignored anyone who told him differently (i.e. \u2013 Colin Powell). The results speak for themselves.<\/p>\n
There are two lessons in this story. The first is that I\u2019m anxious to see who Barack Obama selects for his cabinet and advisors. Like Bush, Obama is a good person\u2026 though he is far smarter and wiser. What I don\u2019t know yet is whether he\u2019s smart enough and wise enough to surround himself with people who are also good, smart and wise. And I don\u2019t know if he\u2019ll listen to people who tell him things he needs to know but doesn\u2019t want to hear.<\/p>\n
The second lesson is that all of us have our own advisors: friends, family, ministers, mentors\u2026 Do we surround ourselves with good people? Do we listen to them when they tell us something we find challenging or uncomfortable?<\/p>\n
Or do we do like George W. Bush and only listen to people who tell us what we want to hear???<\/p>\n
My hope and my prayer is that my friends \u2013 particularly those who share my spiritual path \u2013 will give me the feedback I need, both positive and negative.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I was a kid, my mother used to warn me about \u201changing out with the wrong crowd\u201d (isn\u2019t that a universal mother-ism?). She needn\u2019t have worried \u2013 the \u201cwrong crowd\u201d wouldn\u2019t have anything to do with a geek like me. But her point \u2013 that we are influenced for good or for ill by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n