Live Inspired!
Inspirational Color Quote of the Week: Color Silver Coming In Silver “Finishing second in the Olympics gets you silver. Finishing second in politics gets you oblivion.” --Richard Nixon (U.S. President) What do you think? How do you feel about coming in second? About losing? Let’s admit it. There’s the good old American competitive spirit; it’s all around us, and it’s natural to want to come in first! A friend got a significant raise, a substantial scholarship or a great job offer. Someone down the street just won the lottery. More, sometimes we simply compete with ourselves, comparing ourselves to others or to what we thought we should have done—if I only had as much money as so and so; if I only was as good in relationships as my best friend. Boy, I should have handled this situation better. It’s so easy to manage to set out some kind of standard that we see ourselves as not quite living up to. Ok so maybe where you stand also depends on where you sit. You’re an expert marathon runner; you come in first every time; except this time you come in second. Then there’s the competition that comes with politics. By all accounts, President Nixon took his 1960 close loss to John F. Kennedy pretty personally. At a famous press conference, a couple of years later, he angrily let reporters know “You won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore.” But as a side note, resilience is a funny thing. As we all know, just a few short years later (1968),Nixon did indeed come back to win the presidency. He won a second term in 1972 by an even larger electoral margin only to be forced to resign in 1974 over the Watergate Scandal. And in some ways, Nixon’s absolutely right. Competition can serve some surprisingly great purposes: it can help you focus; it can take you out of your comfort zone, and it can help you feel good about some genuine accomplishments. But then where does coming in silver fit? Seems like the color gets a bad rap. It’s always just a little bit behind good old gold, which is the ultimate winner But what about changing the perspective? Silver is pretty darned good in its own right. It’s pretty beautiful; and it’s got some wonderful and overlooked scientific properties (as one of the best conductors of heat and electricity; and as a great reflector of light). If it’s your thing, you’d totally rather go for silver over the gold. Even in politics, coming in second (or even losing?) can make an important statement. You did better than expected? You got your concerns out there and served as a spokesperson for like-minded constituents? You showed you have enough support to have a chance at coming in first next time? There’s lots of ways where even in the competitive world of politics, coming in second can make a big difference. Even more, silver can take the pressure off. You don’t always have to get everything perfect, win the race or stand out from the crowd. Sometimes it’s great to simply be good enough, and sometimes you’re actually coming in a winner just by doing ok. President Nixon may have taken the American competitive spirit too far but his ideas about competition give us a lot to think about. As he argues, sometimes competition is great; sometimes “coming in” silverlets you know you’re absolutely ok. How do these ideas resonate with you, and what are one or two actions you might want to take in the next day or so on that basis?
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AuthorI am a Life Coach, a Color Wisdom Card Practitioner, and yes, even a Professor (political science, State University of New York at Albany). I use the Color Wisdom Cards to support clients in exploring priorities and taking concrete actions to stay on track with the goals they set. Because in my own life I have overcome a lot of self-doubt, I want to work with people towards more confidence and self-empowerment. You can do it! What is it you want to do? Categories
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June 2021
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