n=20 role models?

touche, Rebecca.

 

I took you seriously, and I thought about something musing instead of just coping out with an "I've got nothing to say" attitude.

 

I listen to podcasts in my car because my life is being sucked away by traffic, and at least I like to be entertained by distraction. I listen to several, I can go into that later, but one I really enjoy is the Slate magazine daily. Usually these are 7-10 minutes on some topic of interest, and they have an entertaining gabfest on Fridays about the week's political topics. Over the past weeks, they have been playing some of the taped sessions at a conference they hosted on philanthropy.

 

I just finished listening to the keynote speech given by President Clinton (see Nov 14). I had many thoughts while listening to this speech, which I can talk about later, but the thought I would like to share is this.

 

Being the President was not a job suited to him. He is too talented, too charismatic, too driven, too interested in making change. However, being the President has given him all the tools he needs to do what he is really made to do - as an ex-President. Even the Monica thing was a life experience that has given him character, and humility.

 

When you are the President, you are being controlled by politics and image and donors, I'm sure... but when you are not the President, you can have strong opinions, and pursue agendas, and be focused on a task. He is one of the best things that has happened to the world, I think. He worked very hard as a President to bring peace, and now, he is using his experience, relationships, and passion to make change in the world as a whole. It is very impressive.

 

I also watched a biography this weekend about Jamie Oliver. He was famous in his 20's as the Naked Chef on BBC, he became overexposed because of commercials for a UK shopping market and the public turned on him; what did he do? he took his own money to start a restaurant where he would train unemployed people to become chefs. These were people who were his age or older. That was a success. Did he stop there? no, he petitioned the UK government to use more of their budget to fund catering at the public schools, he challenged them to let him implement a program in all the schools to get the kids to eat healthy food. And it worked... Therefore, he has two successful programs that live on - Fifteen and the school lunches - and he only just turned 30; and this was all done on his own conscience and effort, started because he was turned on by the UK public. WOW!!!!!!

 

I know that I do not have the same drive as these people to A) think of these progressive world changing things, and B) have the drive to make it happen. But I do know that I have the skills to make what they think of happen .....

muse on that!