Barack Obama.  To most Americans, that one name has so much power, honor, hope, and significance invested in it.  The persistence of ONE person has changed life as we know it today.  Today, some people may be celebrating with tears in their eyes as they recall the night when America chose an African American for the highest position in the country.  Today, a few may be frustrated or angry.  Today, others might feel apprehensive about the work there is to be done.  Today, we may feel hopeful.  Whatever we feel today is okay, because today we feel what we feel because of change.

The simple act of having our first African American president is an event marked by change. To see our nation consisting of people from all cultures vote for an African American president is evidence that America, as we have known it, is changing in some way.  This is fine with us because we are indeed craving change.  The point is for Americans to prepare themselves for change.  We’ve requested and demanded for change, but with change comes adjustment and acceptance.  There are mixed emotions with any change, and this is perfectly natural.

As I watched the election, there were many people gathered in various parts of the country. One such place was in Times Square, New York City.  The feeling I had in my gut gave me a New Years Eve, ball-about-to-drop sensation.  Rightfully so, we were a short distance away from a changing moment of our time.  What I have realized is that I was relating a presidential election to one of the biggest celebration nights of the year.  This made me think of how wonderful it is that people have caught the Obama-fever or perhaps the fever for change.  It is wonderful because we aren’t drinking and watching a ball drop.  We are advocating for our beliefs, fulfilling our duties of citizenship, and genuinely caring about the direction that America is heading.  Politics to many people now isnt an estranged and abstract topic and I believe that this is ever so important.

This is change; not in just through the face of Obama, but rather through what this BarACkTION means.  What do I mean?  I mean that our first graders and high school students are going to lay their bright eyes on the face of a man who persisted in making history and who fought the odds that were stacked against him.  They can lay their eyes on their own bright future and the “i wish”s could become “I can”s.  The I CAN can be put back in AmerICAN.  I also mean that perhaps racists will open their eyes.  They can realize that a man with a different skin tone can lead a country.  They can realize that a man with a different skin tone can be ELECTED by the American people to carry us in his hands.  In this election, for some, race had to be put aside.

Due to the history of our country, the ability for Americans to choose an African American president is in itself a milestone.  I don’t think many people can deny this.  Much was overcome to get here.  In my opinion, there is something ironic about the crave for change in America and the change that had to take place within Americans to take the step in making this milestone attainable.  If we can put aside race for the betterment of our country, then why can’t we do this all the time?  It speaks a lot to what we are capable of doing.  However, if we can take a moment to absorb what happened on November 4th, we will be amazed.  We saw formerly Republican states turn to be in favor of Obama.  There was change and this was the result of internal change in the American people.

This is what gives me hope.  There is hope that we can make a movement towards change in OURSELVES.  It can mean altering our own views and biases.  There is hope today in America that we can overcome the past.  There is hope today in the men and women who stand up for what they believe in.  There is hope today for those who are opening their eyes.  There is hope for a better world.

I remember driving on election day and looking around at the rest of the cars on the highway.  There were different state license plates and there were varying kinds of cars.  I thought, today we are all one in the same, we are all American. I thought how the differences shouldn’t mean as much since our main objective is to vote.  There is something quite unifying in voting and it involves putting America first.  This is what America was able to do despite the past and despite personal opinions on race.  This is the way it should be.

So, my readers, I encourage you to be inspired by Barack Obama and I encourage you to be inspired by your fellow American people.  He has made history, but so have we.  Now it is up to us as a nation to take this milestone and do something with it.  We can say, “yes we did,” but let us NOT FORGET we said we did.

Rosa sat, so Martin could walk…
Martin walked, so Obama could run…
Obama ran so our children can FLY!

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?  Actually, who are we not to be?…Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.  There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so other people won’t feel insecure around you… And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Nelson Mandela

In reflecting on the last couple of posts, we can see that many people all over the world participate in their own movements.  They may contribute to a cause or they might even be considered heros and heroines in their own community.  To each his or her her own, we can say. However, if I had to ask you; what is your movement?  What would you say?  Do you have a movement?  Is your movement to spread truth?  Is your movement to teach kids?  Is your movement to train elephants?  What is the movement you call your own?

A word can be said here about mission statements.  A mission statement you can find in various organizations and institutions.  One word can sum up what a mission statement means: PURPOSE.  It is always beneficial for any type of organization, institution, or business to have a mission statement because it presents clarity.  When the organization is looking to change something or advise employees, the mission statement can serve as a reminder or guideline.  It is a reference.  It is a foundation.

If we were to write a mission statement for yourself, what would you write?  This could help define YOUR movement.  Your mission statement can include how to treat people, or what you involve yourself in.  Don’t just grab a napkin, envelope, and a pen.  Sit down and actually take a moment to think.  “What is my mission?” “What is my movement?”  “What can sum me up?”  Then start writing…and maybe come back here to report on how you did! Just think, mission = vision.

Last night was marked historic as 3 broadcast stations featured the STAND UP TO CANCER telethon.  It was truly an event to remember. Over 60 celebrities, as well as presidential nominees, John McCain and Barack Obama voiced their support for the fight against cancer.  It was a beautiful thing to see so many in support of eradicating a war that adults, children, and families of the world have been battling for decades.  This war is not one that we can ignore, for it is happening within the walls of not only our own homes, but also in the homes of our neighbors, relatives and friends.

The presentation was supported with statistics, personal stories, and research.  Cancer kills 550,000 Americans each year, and six million people worldwide each year.  Cancer survivor, Lance Armstrong, put it strikingly into perspective; ”That’s the equivalent of 9/11 every two days.”  Tales of real life stories were read through the expressions of celebrities including Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner, and images of beautiful, bald, beaming children were featured on the screen.  It was hard to not be moved.

Further enhancing the cause was the JUST STAND UP song which featured over 10 female artists including Beyonce, Sheryl Crow, and Carrie Underwood.  The lyrics are powerful and as you hear this collaboration, I would imagine any cancer patient could be empowered to indeed stand up and fight instead of giving up.

Donate now, as the lines will be open for the next couple of weeks.  But, more importantly, there are also other ways to stop cancer and to stand up to it.  Some mentioned are: quit smoking or don’t start in the first place, manage your STRESS, write to Congress and demand that cancer be made a national priority, tell women you know - your wife or your mom - to get a mammogram, get a colonoscopy … now, push the men in your life to get a prostrate exam, get an annual skin exam, join an advocacy group, cut back consumming red meat, exercise, avoid refined sugar and trans fat, add anti-cancer food to your diet such as cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli, and lastly, take your loved ones in treatment and support them in the fight.

The STAND UP TO CANCER telethon could be perhaps the beginning of a movement and progress to reach the goal of finding a cure.  Be a part of this movement and make it a part of your own movement.  Learn from the courage and strength of the survivors.  Read the statistics and the facts.  Support the research.  Alongside our relatives and friends, in memory of our deceased loved ones; if we could all just stand up.  Will you?

So, what are your stories? In my eyes, cancer patients and survivors are heroes. What can we learn from each other about our own personal heroes? You can leave a comment here or visit our forum.  Voice your opinions and support the fight.

Chris Daughtry, renowned artist and American Idol Finalist has a song out called “What About Now.”  The music video is so touching and if I had to choose something to represent what the You movement can be about, it would be this.

It can not be embedded so you can see it here.

The Words in the Video:

Today, in a corner of the world

someone is hungry, homeless, hurting.

That someone could be you.

People live without light, out of sight… is that right?

I’m an average Joe just trying to make ends meet; can I make a difference?

One day, in a corner of the world, a light went on. An idea was born.

I am the difference between Justice and injustice; between right and wrong.

The voice lives on when someone take a stand and says “I am the end of poverty. I am a different path.”

It’s never too late.

I am belief in your humanity.

I am saving the world one island at a time.

I am a wave of compassion.

I am the end of ignorance.

I am the call for human rights.

LOVE can change the world.

I am jobs not jails.

I am the hands that heal all mankind.

I am light and the gift of vision.

I am the heart that keeps a child alive…

before its too late.

I am the dream that becomes reality.

I am greening our industry.

What about now?

I believe the message of this is that we all bring special gifts and talents to the table.  We can touch people’s lives each day if we simply just be ourselves and share what we are good at.  We can start now, in our own corners of the world.

Comments or Opinions?  Let us try and ask ourselves … what about NOW?

In this day and age, we tend to want what we want WHEN we want it.  We have the internet that produces information, needs, and “gotta have’s” in an instant.  We have fast cars.  We have televisions in practically every room of the house, and cellphones make no one unreachable.  Everything seems to be so accessible and instant that it’s simply wonderful!  However, what if you didn’t know how to use the computer or the internet?  What if all this high tech, new jazz isn’t the way you’re used to?  What if you can’t even keep up with the instant demands and fast pace of today’s world?  Would you be lost?  What I am asking is, what about the elderly?

Those that are well over 65 have had difficulty keeping up both physically and mentally with the changing world.  All three of my own grandparents (80+ years old) do not know hardly a thing about the internet or computers.  It is a shame because technology is such an immense resource for everything you can think of.  It is a shame because it feels as though our society has forgotten the simple ‘ol way to do things and ran with the advanced way.  The older generation didn’t even get a proper introduction to the new way when we erased their old way of doing things.  We are pushing by them to get ahead, and zooming past them sometimes for the hell of it.

If we stop and pause for a moment we can realize that we don’t have everything and we can’t know everything.  I most certainly can’t tell you what it was like to live through the depression.  I can not tell you that I traveled to the United States of America and worked to the bone to provide a life for the members of my family.  I do not know what it is like to not have a television.  Today, we work hard - there is no question about that.  But, we do have technology which makes things that much easier.  Could you imagine if we didn’t?  I just can’t comprehend how much harder things would be, and THAT is when you start thinking about the differences between generations.  This is when you can value the hard work of the older generation.  This is when you can understand their set ways, conserving nature, and “slow” pace.

We better start learning to respect the elderly more.  The Baby Boomers, 78 million of them, are reaching 65.  Our elderly population is going to increase by 75-80%.  There are going to be more elderly people around whether you like it or not.  They will be living longer too.  Although they may be more educated in technology by this time, it won’t stop them from being labeled and excused as “elderly.”  People that age will still face diseases, and their pace will naturally slow.  The question is whether we will come together and give these 78 million, who provided for us, the patience and support that they need in their aging.

In other cultures, the oldest members of communities are held with the utmost respect and are considered the most wise.  We can all learn something from our parents or grandparents.  Their knees are blown because they worked on their feet all day and night in factories to provide for future generations.  Their eyes and wrinkled hands have seen historic days and times we only read about in history books.  Their shoes took them down paths that we would never have survived.  Ask them how it was different “back then” and truly listen.  Talk with them and use their wisdom and advice.  They all have something to pass on and they will be glad you asked.

So next time when you’re speeding in the fast lane or running to catch that train, remember who you’re passing by.  See the beauty in every wrinkle, in every story (no matter how many bleeping times you have heard it), and in every strand of grey.  What if that older person was your grandparent or parent?  You would want them to be treated with respect.  In fact, treat every elderly person you meet as if it was your own grandparent or parent.  After all, how great are we…when we look at where they have been …

It is absolutely remarkable and striking how unifying both feelings and emotions can be. We can come from different countries, from different backgrounds, from different experiences, and from different standpoints. We can speak different languages and interpret behaviors differently. However, one emotion, one action, can erase all apparent boundaries and barriers and can create an opportunity for connection. Passion, love, hope, faith, support, pride, frustration, and despair are just some of the universal expressions that we recognize in any other being of the human race. These expressions can serve as a reminder that we all have the same equal capabilities to love and to be loved, to despair, to comfort, and to share in hope. Recall the Olympics and how feelings of accomplishment, determination, and pride in one’s country knows no borders.  Suddenly, when we see our expressions in another, every other senseless difference slowly disintegrates.

We recognize the unifying power of emotions today. Forty-five years ago on August 28th 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ever so powerfully and ever so eloquently delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. It was a great demonstration of freedom and an exaltation of hope. You must be ignorant or blind to NOT see the passion, emotions, and significance of this great event in history. If you watch the video of King’s speech, you will witness a great movement and effort in history. Dr. King and those present at his speech displayed the same expressions we all share when we are standing up or fighting for what we believe in. It is and was a truly beautiful thing in history. We can see the frustration, the hope, and the “soul force” from the voice and eyes of Dr. King as his speech climaxes into a proclamation of his dreams.

August 28th, 1963 embodies what the You movement can be about. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one person who made his own movement. His movement was one that reverberates throughout history. He stood up for justice, for others, for the betterment of our world. The point is that if we can recognize the emotions and passion of that day, we can put aside differences and recognize what unites each of us. Once we realize how similar we are, and have a sense of understanding, then we can be more accepting of that which is different from us.

Little did Martin Luther King Jr. know that forty-five years later on this very day, the first African American will accept a presidential nomination. Whether you are a fan of Obama or the opposite, it is impossible to ignore the profound meaning that this has. It speaks for our development as a nation. Dr. King spoke of how 100 years later from the Emancipation Proclamation, there were still injustices and discrimination. Today and perhaps always, we can not say that discrimination has totally disappeared. Although it is unfortunate that it has taken this long to happen, we can say that there has been some progress on the dream King had of living ” in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” The journey from 1963 to now might have been a struggle or full of fight and persistence, but we can now see that King was not speaking of a “dream world” but rather, 2008.

Although a person may not come from an African American descent, we can understand, value, and celebrate the meaning of today. We can recognize the significance of the fact that today changes history just as King dreamt it. Why? We can recognize this because we have the ability to feel the emotions and the passion. We can feel the hard work, faith, hope, and struggle it took to overcome discrimination and criticism of differences. Sure, not everything in our world and country may be perfect right now, but we can recognize the movement. Tonight, as Obama officially accepts the Democratic presidential nomination, we can envision Dr. King smiling bright and we can celebrate a victory for justice.

Tonight is truly a beautiful moment in our nation’s history. Tonight is a truly an inspiration and a testimony for anyone with a dream and a passion. Tonight is about the difference that one person can make.

I apologize for the recent lack of posts to The You Movement.  As this has been only the beginning of the you movement as well as only the beginning of my own movement in understanding and managing websites; I have had some technical difficulties.

I would like to thank you for your continued support and for taking part in the You Movement.  After all, it is only beginning.

Barbara

Please feel free to visit the newest feature to our website, The You Movement Forum.

I am unsure if you are familiar with the concept of “modeling,”  but it is a term used in psychology that has to do with describing where a child gets his or her behavior from.  This is the classic picture, for example, of a young toddler talking on their play phone in their own, cute way because that is what mommy or daddy does.  In the same way, it is how a child yells or bickers at his or her sibling, because it is the way mommy or daddy deals with anger or frustration.

In an experiment done by Alfred Bandura on aggression of children, he showed kindergartners a video of a woman beating up a bobo doll.  He then let the kindergartners go play with the doll.  He found similar behavior to what the adults did in the video.  Some children even took a step further; aiming their fingers like a gun for between the doll’s eyes and so on.  Modeling is a process and a real thing that happens from an early age.  It is no wonder why children pick up things from movies and video games, and bad words from older children and adults!

Dr. Uzelac, one of my former professors, showed us this video in our Senior Psychology Seminar class.  It is a very inspirational video, a commercial from Australia, that touched me.  I can’t even imagine the way it would hit me if I were a parent (as my professor was).  This is why I am sharing it.  This will show the power that educators and parents have on their children.  This will show the value of how good of a parent you are or can be.  Enjoy!

There are six billion of us.

We all come from unique places with unique ways of looking at the world.

We don’t always agree,

but for a few shining weeks…
we set it all aside.

We come together to stand, and cheer, and celebrate

AS ONE.

We forget all the things that make us different,

and remember all the things that make us the same

-VISA Olympics Commercial

If only everything could be solved with the Olympics.  Think about it.  War as we know it wouldn’t exist, the only discrimination would be based on physical ability in the context of a sport, and perhaps there will be a new sense of American pride.  The reality is, that the Olympics brings the world together.

Watch the opening of the Olympics and you’ll see that you are not the only one who has pride in your own country.  Watch the opening of the Olympics as people from all over the world proudly march for their country, and you’ll realize how big the world is.  Look at the faces and emotions of each team, they’re the same as yours.  Sure they might speak a different language and have different customs but persistence, strength, passion, excitement, and dedication have no boundaries or barriers.  Sports and athletics are a universal language.

When a person watches the Olympics, it forces the mind to think globally.  You’re coming into contact with athletes you are probably unfamiliar with, and with sports that you are unfamiliar with.  You’re no longer cheering on for your favorite local team, you are cheering on your country.  Before you know it, these male and female athletes represent our country and the competition between countries turn into sportsmanship.  It really is a beautiful thing that countries that can be so different, yet be able to connect within the walls and rules of an international athletic competition.  Citizens of different countries participate side by side in the competitions, and citizens of different countries cheer side by side as fans.

Moreover, it brings a country together.  America, as diverse as we might be, is one team.  Americans east and west, south and north, can all be united as they gather around the television for these weeks.  Somehow differences are put aside and similarities surface.

Watch the Olympic games as much as you can, and perhaps it will give you a different perspective on life.  It will take your thoughts out of your daily routine and out of your local world and draw it to the greater spectrum.  All of a sudden, we are linked and connected.  “Estranged” countries and differing customs are not so foreign to us anymore because they exist vested in the lane next to us, or in the opposing corner.  We see characteristics of ourselves in the expressions our opponents.  We see characteristics of ourselves in the expressions of the fans of our opponents.

At the end of the day, the Olympics are a celebration of being human and of what we can do as humans.  We can compete, we can have pride in our abilities and our nation, we can learn from the mistakes, and celebrate and be thankful for the medals.  Rooted in history, the Olympics is an ancient celebration of our humanity.  Are you watching?