In my country right now, there is a great lot of unrest. Much of it due to people being intolerant of difference. It saddens me greatly, because America is known around the world for its diversity. Its diversity of peoples, cultures & ideas has helped it to become a great nation on the planet. So it's very saddening to watch my country devolve into unrest because of that very diversity that has built it.
The reasons for this rage around diversity seems to be due to fear. When I was a young man, I read “Dune” by Frank Herbert. In it one of the tenants of the Fremen, warrior people of a desert planet, was “ Fear is the mind-killer.” This really resonated with me as a young man, because I realized that leading a life of fear stifles one’s ability to think. It limits one’s ability to come up with ideas by building a castle of fear around them which limits their ability to see all the possibilities. Fear also leads one to anger very easily, because what is anger, but fear of losing control.
In America now, that fear is threatening to tear apart the country. That fear of others, fear of losing one’s place and privileges, fear of a changing demographic, is clouding the minds of many people. It’s really sad to see.
This is why I am very happy to work at YTJ, where diversity is one of the company's main principles. It gives me hope that perhaps in the future of this world we may actually learn that we are all one human race, and stronger because of our diversity.
Think of all of the ideas that are lost to fear. All of the solutions. Think of what present we could create if all of humankind worked together. Men, women, non gender conforming individuals, we are all equally important, and we all have our strengths and weaknesses. By combining our abilities we can create a better society.
Fear is the Mind-killer, and I hope that we all manage to stave off those base fears, and continue to grow as a company. We can recognize dangers, and problems, and come up with great solutions by not allowing our fear to control us. YTJ has done an amazing job, through a very rough time filled with fear to still be standing and continuing to thrive. I would say this is because we didn’t give in to our fears, and instead listened to the many ideas, and came up with solutions to lead us to this point.
I am very grateful to everyone in the company for that.
So let's continue to push forward without fear, and teach others not to fear.
Failure is not simply losing, or making a mistake. Failure is losing or making a mistake and not learning. This is a lesson we can share with all of our members, and I believe if we do, then we have already made steps towards becoming a better society.
Society is much like a choir. Each voice individually can be beautiful. But combine them all and you can create music that inspires us to move mountains.
So let’s move mountains.
This may be a little “all over the place” but I hope it makes sense in the end.
I am grateful for you all!