Ipsos Reid did a poll in Canada in the middle of December 2011, asking Canadians which professions they trusted the most. Top of the list? Well... pharmacists, doctors, Canadian soldiers, and airline pilots are all in the 70% range. Bottom of the list? Not suprisingly... car salespeople at 6%. Church leaders come in at a mediocre 33% having lost 5 points from last year. That is now below plumbers, chiropractors and financial advisors.
Which makes me wonder... what is trust? Does it matter what sort of trust we place in a person? Perhaps it does... We're entrusting pharmacists, doctors, and airline pilots with our lives, literally. But then police officers and soldiers would seem to be on a par, and yet they're not. Police at 57% and Canadian soldiers at 74%. Apparently news reports play a role in who trustworthy we perceive people/professions to be. Bad press about the RCMP means a drop in trustworthiness at the polls. Same with church leaders. Some bad press over the last year and all church leaders are viewed as being less trustworthy.
Which means... we are for more interconnected than we think. My trustworthiness can have implications for my entire profession. The behaviour of one person can have ripple effects far beyond them.
Bishop Raymond Lahey didn't really think through what it would mean to look at child pornography on his computer. He didn't think through what it would mean when he was caught... and charged... and convicted... and sentenced. His behaviour affects the whole Catholic Church in Canada and beyond.
Russell Williams, disgraced former commander of CFB Trenton and convicted serial killer didn't really think through his actions in stalking, raping and murdering women. He didn't really think it through... what it would mean to be stripped of his rank, to be disgraced with a dishonourable discharge, to have his medals confiscated... to be thrown in jail... to have all of his military kit burned in a roaring furnace. But does anyone really think through how their actions will affect themselves and the greater world?
When we toss a piece of trash on the ground... do we really think through how it might have bigger ramifications? Probably not... but maybe we could...
Trust starts in our private lives... trustworthiness starts with the little things that we do in secret... or that we think we do in secret. Nothing is every really a secret... it will come out eventually, and the questions for us really is... what sort of legacy do we want to leave in the world... for ourselves and for others?
The edge of Ideas. The edge of Connections. The edge of the Unknown. And... in 2020... reading my way (again) through a hefty list of World-Changing books.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Lost?
There was an interesting story in the news the other day. A Swedish woman lost her wedding ring 16 years ago while baking with her daughters. A few months ago, she was pulling up carrots in her garden and there was her wedding ring around a carrot! The best that they can figure is that it went down the sink, mixed with the compost, either went into the garden or the sheep and then the garden.... and came out the other end wrapped around a carrot.
There's a lesson for all of this somewhere in that. Nothing is every really lost. You never know what sort of a journey things will take. Imagine the adventure that the ring could tell if it could talk. Does the story tell us something deeper about our relationships? Perhaps some people leave our lives only to come back later in a different way. Sometimes we tend to hold onto things long beyond their "shelf life". Whether it's our youth... or our friends... or our possessions... or our pets... we try to extend things, relationships, experiencees long beyond what they were meant to carry.
We can't hold onto our youth. The ones who try... who colour their hair, inject botox, nip and tuck their wrinkles, etc... end up looking worse off than if they were to let go of their youth with grace and good humour. We can't hold onto our relationships. The ones who try end up regretting it eventually! Life is an ebb and flow of people, experiences, possessions, places, events... everything has a story to tell... everything has a lesson to communicate. We just need to listen and learn and take it with us.
The ring doesn't fit the Swedish woman... but she has plans to have the ring altered so it will fit. I wonder what impact the discovery of the ring is having on her relationship with her husband?
There's a lesson for all of this somewhere in that. Nothing is every really lost. You never know what sort of a journey things will take. Imagine the adventure that the ring could tell if it could talk. Does the story tell us something deeper about our relationships? Perhaps some people leave our lives only to come back later in a different way. Sometimes we tend to hold onto things long beyond their "shelf life". Whether it's our youth... or our friends... or our possessions... or our pets... we try to extend things, relationships, experiencees long beyond what they were meant to carry.
We can't hold onto our youth. The ones who try... who colour their hair, inject botox, nip and tuck their wrinkles, etc... end up looking worse off than if they were to let go of their youth with grace and good humour. We can't hold onto our relationships. The ones who try end up regretting it eventually! Life is an ebb and flow of people, experiences, possessions, places, events... everything has a story to tell... everything has a lesson to communicate. We just need to listen and learn and take it with us.
The ring doesn't fit the Swedish woman... but she has plans to have the ring altered so it will fit. I wonder what impact the discovery of the ring is having on her relationship with her husband?
Sunday, January 1, 2012
A New Year
A New Year is born. We look back on the old year and think of all that we have witnessed and seen and survived. Tsunamis, nuclear meltdowns, financial meltdowns, environmental disasters, Arab spring, etc. 2011 was a very full year. And as we move into 2012 with the Mayan calendar looming over us, I wonder what this year will bring. Will the world end on December 21 2012? Or will the Mayan Calendar just flip over another page, start a new calendar, like we do every year?
One thing this does do is make us look at our lives and wonder... if we do have only one year left to live - less than one year actually - what would we do in that year? There is a danger in that thinking - for we could decide that we want to go out with a bang and use up all of our resources, spend all of our money, eat all of our food, waste the environmental resources that we have left. It's like the patient who receives a cancer diagnosis that she has less than a year to live, and who decides to live it fully, spending all that she has - selling her house, traveling, enjoying and then... discovering that it was a diagnosis made in error. She doesn't just have a year left to live! Now what.
So, looking at this year as it were our last doesn't necessarily mean squandering our physical resources.. but it could mean something else. It could mean altering our attitude towards life and towards others. Perhaps we could spend our love extravagantly, be generous with our time, connect with others, contribute to others. Because the world might not end on December 21, 2012. Maybe, in fact, we need to alter the way we have been living our lives, the way we have been spending as if there is not tomorrow. Maybe December 21, 2012 represents a moment where we can make a choice as a species as to which sort of a world we want to create. All sorts of possibilities abound and we have the power to create that... or not.
One thing this does do is make us look at our lives and wonder... if we do have only one year left to live - less than one year actually - what would we do in that year? There is a danger in that thinking - for we could decide that we want to go out with a bang and use up all of our resources, spend all of our money, eat all of our food, waste the environmental resources that we have left. It's like the patient who receives a cancer diagnosis that she has less than a year to live, and who decides to live it fully, spending all that she has - selling her house, traveling, enjoying and then... discovering that it was a diagnosis made in error. She doesn't just have a year left to live! Now what.
So, looking at this year as it were our last doesn't necessarily mean squandering our physical resources.. but it could mean something else. It could mean altering our attitude towards life and towards others. Perhaps we could spend our love extravagantly, be generous with our time, connect with others, contribute to others. Because the world might not end on December 21, 2012. Maybe, in fact, we need to alter the way we have been living our lives, the way we have been spending as if there is not tomorrow. Maybe December 21, 2012 represents a moment where we can make a choice as a species as to which sort of a world we want to create. All sorts of possibilities abound and we have the power to create that... or not.
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