What Do We Value?

Based on my observations of this week I am left to wonder what do we value? 

I was in a technical train the trainer session where the instructor was using her own laptop to do the demonstrations.  When it came to showing everyone how to log all the way out effectively the big screen displayed her chosen home page which was Yahoo.  The headliner was a photo of a car buried in snow in Texas.  Everyone joked about how "lucky we are" to not have been hit by this snow blast.  I was the only one instantly concerned that a snow storm was bigger news than the loss of a legacy, Nelson Mandela.  Not only was his death not the headliner, he was not listed in the top 10 "trending now" articles.  Not just at that moment, but all day long he was absent from the landing page.

Snow, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and other nonsense was more interesting to us, by the count of searches on Yahoo, than the 95 year life of this anti-apartheid icon.  Even if we weren't alive to watch his release from prison, weren't we curious?  Who was this Nobel Peace Prize recipient?  Why is he on the news?

Seth Godin posted a tribute on the evening of Mandela's death and many people posted, liked, and shared quotes on social media; however, to most, we did not value his contribution enough to look further than the 30 second newscast.  Please take a moment to find out more about the first black president of South Africa who fought so diligently against racism.  Think about your values.  What do you do to show the world what you believe in? 

Quotable Mandela:

"A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of."

"Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people."

"It always seems impossible until it's done."

"Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do."

"Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end."
"If I had my time over I would do the same again. So would any man who dares call himself a man."

"I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles."

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

"Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies."

"Lead from the back — and let others believe they are in front."

"Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again."

"I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought it all during my life; I fight it now, and will do so until the end of my days."

"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination."

Contribute to one of Mandela's Foundations.