1e - Winning Choices - Inspiration
Winning Choices – Inspiration
“Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. …they become legend.” - Jim Harrison, Legends of theFalls
My greatest inspiration, my personal catalyst in creating “Winning Choices”, the Vision we aspire to and the example for much that is written and contained in our program, is my partner, companion and love of over twenty years, Jeanne. When ever I reach inside for my “hero within”, it is the image and substance of Jeanne I most often find as part of whom I am and who I strive to be. Jeanne is the reluctant, modest model for all that “Winning Choices” hopes to empower people to find within themselves; that is, the ability and commitment to lead a successful, yet connected life, planning and striving to achieve our dreams with integrity, honesty and true to our “authentic self”. She understands and embraces the obligation and opportunity to improve life on our earth by being a compassionate, involved world citizen, achieving success and happiness on its own merit, not at the expense or exploitation of people, animals or our environment, but by her dedication to support and sustain our earth and all of its species.
Everyday, as she strives and succeeds at being the best she can be professionally, she fights for the survival, dignity, protection and prosperity of all those without a voice, from our smallest creatures, to the whales in our oceans, to the struggling forgotten members of our society and our most vulnerable children. She’ll crawl under a car to rescue a kitten while heading for a court appearance to champion a vanishing species. She’ll pause to put a fifty dollar bill in the pocket of a homeless man, along with some conversation and comfort, even as she advocates for changing a society that ignores its poor and powerless. She’ll stop cars in traffic to remove a hit squirrel to the side of the road, so it may have dignity in death, while driving to honor first responders she never knew who sacrificed their lives serving the public. The antithesis of apathy, she’ll confront powerful bureaucracies, giant corporations or the man on the street, taking action to hold them accountable for the abuse and exploitation of the powerless and voiceless, even as she quietly mourns the passing of an old tree in our yard, or celebrates the emergence of a new flower with a toast and a glass of champagne.
Jeanne has nurtured and supported the best in me, our family, our friends and all whom she touches. She instills in us the belief and confidence that we are each very special and uniquely capable of a contribution that can change the world. In Jeanne’s eyes there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome, no challenge too daunting, no abuser or exploiter not accountable, no symbolic night so dark that will not soon see the brightness of morning sun. “Winning Choices” embraces and reflects her unique consciousness and shines with her love, her intellect, her character, her service and sacrifice, her professional expertise and her unwavering commitment to becoming the best being she can be , as she supports others in that noble, elusive pursuit. Owner of her authenticity and her “hero within”, and “one with” her spirit, her earth and all its species, Jeanne is the embodiment of all that “Winning Choices holds to be true and deems possible. Working with her has made me a better professional, knowing her has made me a better person, loving her has made me a better being. She has enhanced, in a very profound way, my consciousness and connection to this earth. Jeanne is my hero. Sharing life with her has been my most winning of choices. - GGR
“When we treat a man as he is, we can make him worse than he is; when we treat him as if he already were what he potentially could be, we make him what he should be”. - Goethe