Successful

This is just a quick exchange with a reader of one of my books ...

He wrote:
By the way, I'm amazed at the life you've lived. If I am your mentee, what's the best advice can you give me to "succeed" in life, and I mean not only financially.

I responded:
You are already successful… you can read, you have access to internet, you can type, you speak the language of opportunities: English.

If you think about how far you’ve come since you were a crying baby, you’ve realized how successful you already are. The main problem today is that we have an external locus of control. We compare ourselves to others, that way we loose the capacity to do amazing things. You don’t have to be better than anyone else, you just have to be better than yourself. If you do that you always win…

How is that for a start?

...
What do you think???

Oh... bummer

Political parties aside, the world saw a great come back in history with the election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the US. I did not vote on the American elections but I would have voted for either him or Hilary. It was time for unconventional wisdom. As a Hispanic woman having lived in the US three times, it is so refreshing to see the many colors of the American dream. Actually, nowadays, there are no geographic boundaries to dreams.

I find gender or discrimination issues boring. Only a person who has feel discriminated against can understand what it means. I was lucky to grow in a place where I felt who I was was more important that my circumstances over which I had no control. Thus, when I connect with a person, I am more interested in the essence than the race, age, gender, religion, political affiliation, nationality, sexual orientation... and I think most people are the same way or want to be that way. As I age and notice discrimination around me (or towards me), I have an increase admiration for people who stand up and shake it off. That is the beauty of Obama's triumph...

Last year, my daughter became a foster mother to four biracial children. In Venezuela, my home country, we say we are all coffee and milk... some people have more coffee, others have more milk. I noticed then with great sadness the ill effect of discrimination in these cappuccino children's self esteem. I can only imagine what Desire is thinking now, when being black is not an excuse... I am happy for these children, as I am happy for the milky ones that will grow in a world where we embrace diversity.

I am happy to be living a time where dreams come true... and I wanted to share this with you, wherever you are...

Across the globe, inspiration flows.... It was a triumph of the American people, simply because people moved to the center stage and took action... as Obama said on his election speech: "I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you."

and it is a reminder that yes, even when the economy is a mess, there is something we can do about it.

Now, the real work begins ... the attitude and the empowerment is there... it is time to go beyond the cappuccino to see the real stuff ... In the mean time, I'll celebrate the dream with immense joy... Oh bummer...

here is to your dreams,

Alicia