Tired but Can’t Sleep
September 25, 2008
When someone suggested I write a daily diary blog about my quest to change the world’s mind about the direction of our future, I thought it sounded a little weird. After all, we’re all on a quest and mine is no different in significance than yours. It’s just mine. I cannot escape it. It’s a calling that sometimes has me by the lapels and screams in my face to get moving and other times whispers in my ear not to give up. So here I am at 4:30 in the morning—can’t sleep. I just wrote a blog for the American Dream Project about what we might do to avoid an economic catastrophe (financial bailout) besides give the people who brought it to us a trillion dollars. Does the world seem insane or is it just me?
I am tired for sure, but cannot sleep. Yesterday my wife and I drove up to L. A. where I gave a 2.5 hour leadership workshop to an executive team that is hungry to do better. Helping people grow is always a jolt for me. Then we drove to Palm Springs where I gave a talk to a Society of Human Resource Management executives. HR executives can play a key role in engaging employees in genuine social responsibility. It was an interesting afternoon. It seemed to go over quite well, but I kept getting teared up. No audience likes to look at an ugly crying face, but I couldn’t help it. But I hate it when it happens. Whenever I asked, “Is this the best we can do?” or told a story of a successful single employee who changed the way a company does business by creating value through doing good, people got teary-eyed. And so as soon as I saw that mist form, I’m thinking, “No, don’t you dare lose it you old sentimental windbag.” So there I was trying to choke through another amazing story of personal purpose and trying to smile through my throat seizing up. Damn, it’s hard to be a 58 year-old Italian man when people are crying trying not to weep a little too. But I guess we’re all extra emotional. We live in rough and tough times. We’re all looking for more. Looking to fill the hole in our soul caused by neglecting the hero within. It seems we’re tired of selling out to chasing cheap success or just paying the bills. It seems that everywhere I speak people are hungry for more. Hungry to make their difference. It would be great if it didn’t make me cry.
Today’s my wedding anniversary. We’re going to lunch on the beach and then are going to watch the USC football game. My wife rocks.