Three Thoughts for Thursday
Quote or Passage I’m Pondering and Appreciating:
“Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.”
–George Herbert
Book I’m Reading:
I recently had the fabulous opportunity to hear Melinda Gates speak about her journey and the lessons she has learned along the way as she debuted her new book here in LA. I am excited to finish reading her story.
The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates
A debut from Melinda Gates, a timely and necessary call to action for women’s empowerment.
“How can we summon a moment of lift for human beings – and especially for women? Because when you lift up women, you lift up humanity.”
For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift a society up, you need to stop keeping women down.
In this moving and compelling book, Melinda shares lessons she’s learned from the inspiring people she’s met during her work and travels around the world. As she writes in the introduction, “That is why I had to write this book—to share the stories of people who have given focus and urgency to my life. I want all of us to see ways we can lift women up where we live.”
Melinda’s unforgettable narrative is backed by startling data as she presents the issues that most need our attention—from child marriage to lack of access to contraceptives to gender inequity in the workplace. And, for the first time, she writes about her personal life and the road to equality in her own marriage. Throughout, she shows how there has never been more opportunity to change the world—and ourselves.
Writing with emotion, candor, and grace, she introduces us to remarkable women and shows the power of connecting with one another.
When we lift others up, they lift us up, too.
Podcast I’m Listening To:
Tara Brach (Author or Radical Acceptance)
Taking Refuge from January 6, 2010
The Buddha taught three archetypal domains in which we awaken presence and realize freedom. In contrast to our habitual false refuges, these gateways of true refuge are dependable because they express the timeless truth of what we are. This talk shines a light on false refuges, guides us in exploring the meaning of each of the three Buddhist refuges and ends in a ritual of “taking refuge.”
Desiree Briel Rodi Consulting & Coaching 