My friends and colleagues laugh when I tell them I’ve turned from a Boomer into a Zoomer, but life will never be the same for any of us.
For my business life Zoom sessions have become essential, but there’s another powerful tool my team at work has been using: inspirational quotes.
Investors Bank has an employee whose sole purpose is to keep employees’ morale high. One of the things he does is sending out “Morning Juice” — daily inspirational quotes. We are doing this on Zoom.
We begin all our sales meetings in the morning at 9:30 with an inspirational quote and then close our 4:30 p.m. meetings with another inspiring thought. There’s a lot of wisdom to take away from these words of wisdom, and I thought it would be a good week to share some of my favorites.
Words of wisdom
“Respect science, respect nature, respect each other.” — Joe Biden
“Every new day is an invitation to share your light with the world.” — Oprah Winfrey
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
“From every mountainside, let freedom ring.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.” — Mark Twain
“The essence of America-that which really unites us-is not ethnicity, or nationality, or religion. It is an idea-and what an idea it is; that you can come from humble circumstances and do great things. That it doesn’t matter where you came from, but where you are going.” — Condoleezza Rice
Together we stand
The Black Lives Matter movement has had a profound impact on everyone; maybe this is the time in our great country that finally we “get it” and understand that people are people, no matter their color, race or ethnicity. We all want to love and be loved, to provide for our families and have a roof over our heads.
I was stunned to learn that when one of my colleagues, who is Black, was waiting for the elevator in her lobby in Forest Hills, she was approached by a white woman who asked “are you the maid for the man on the fourth floor?”
When she shared the story with me, my heart broke. She went on to say that was only a minor indignity she had lived through, and that brought tears to my eyes.
Another Black friend said “Vicki, if I began to tell you the experiences of prejudice I’ve lived through, it would only hurt my heart more!”
How do we change that? As a writer, I’m hoping that sharing the life stories of people of color opens eyes the same way they opened mine and helps bring about a new sensitivity.
We are in a historic time; a time when we can truly make a difference.
Oscar Hammerstein said it best in South Pacific: “Children can be carefully taught to love and to hate.”
Will we succeed? It’s up to you and me.
