Last week I wanted to write a blog about the speech Barak Obama gave after he learned he had been elected the 44th president of the United States. However, I got busy…In the meantime, I’ve been to two events that seemed quite different, but they both reinforced similar messages to the one I took away from that awe-inspiring and historic night of November 4th. So, I’m going to write today about all three messages…
Anything is possible, especially if you know what you want, set your mind to it, stay focused upon it, and believe you can achieve it. That’s the message I took away after watching Obama’s campaign over the last two years and his presidential win on television last Tuesday night. He represents to me the epitome of focus. He set his sights on a dream, on a vision he had for his future, and he kept that always before him as he took one step after the other to achieve that dream and make that vision a reality. Plus, he stuck to his convictions along the way. He knew in what he believed, and he allowed that belief to fuel his actions. He had hope. He had the audacity to hope. And his hope, belief, convictions, vision, and focus keep him moving ever forward, keep him moving forward towards success. (Audacity is a good thing. I think it helps us achieve success.)
Success can be achieved by having fun, helping others, and being willing to ask others to join you in your endeavors (and saying, “Yes,” when others ask you to join them). That’s the message I got from the ceremony I attended on Saturday night when Kathi Kamen Goldmark was given the 2008 WNBA Award by the National Women’s Book Association. She not only won this award, which has been given to other women notable womenlike Barbara Bush and Eleanor Roosevelt, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom declared November 9th Kathi Kamen Goldmark Day forever more. As I listened to the variety of speakers, including Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club, speak about Kathi’s career escorting authors around San Francisco and the money she has raised (more than $1.5 million) for literacy with the Rock Bottom Remainders, her rock band of best-selling authors, they all spoke of what fun she was and how much she helped others. Her motto or slogan, said Tan, was “Hey, do you wanna…?” If Kathi’s story provides a indicator of how to become successful, I’d say offer people a chance to have fun, show up in a big way, and help others while doing so. (And don’t forget to say, “Yes,” if someone like her says, “Hey, do you wanna….?”)
There are no limits save the ones we place upon ourselves (mostly with our own fear). Today I attended a memorial service for an acquaintance of mine. She was a lovely woman taken too early by cancer. She was quiet and rarely spoke about herself or let any but a few people into her life. I found out today that she had been a paramedic not only her in California but on the West Bank. She also had traveled to Lithuania to restore a Jewish cemetery. She was an artist and a musician. (She sang at my son’s bar mitzvah.) And despite her shy demeanor, it turns out that she liked to sky dive and have a friend fly her over the ocean in an airplane and then do daredevil stunts with the plane. She was smart and could never let an injustice go without trying to right it. One of her best friends called her a “no limits” person and mentioned that she was courageous until the end in everything she did. Judging by the number of people at the memorial, the words spoken about her, the people she touched, and the music she wrote, having no limits – and no fear – brought her success. So did her beautiful voice, lovely guitar playing and amazing lyrics. She may have looked like she was playing small, but in actuality she was playing big, so big that she had no restraints, especially in the amount she gave to others.
Without the limits we place upon ourselves, we come right back to the first message, anything is possible. If we take our dreams and pursue them with joy and passion and a desire to give to others people will want to join us, to help us achieve them. That’s how Barak Obama got elected. That’s how Kathi Kamen Goldmark raised $1.5 million dollars for literacy and ended up with an award and a day named after her, and that’s how Lisabeth Kaplan ended up with a life lived fully and honored by so many who loved her and her music.
(May Lisabeth Kaplan’s memory be for blessing and a blessing to all who knew her and hear music.)
