In my business travels, I had the opportunity of opening a Free Enterprise business in Communist China in 1995.  While I was there, enjoying the people, and the culture, I learned something about words and definitions.

Our definition of Crisis is very stark and forboding.   But, in Chinese, the word Crisis means Opportunity Riding a Dangerous Wind.   What a wonderful way to define any crisis in our lives.   We can view a crisis as something that terrifies and paralyzes us, or we can view it as something–which if we handle it right–can become a great opportunity.

It was this abiding understanding of that that enabled me to pursue, and “see” what I saw in the White King series.  It is a matter of choice, my friends.   In any crisis in our lives, or in our country, we can choose to face the danger and see the opportunity in it for something brighter and better.

These Blogs are intended to help you see and seize the opportunity that the “dangerous winds” that are blowing in our county present to us.   We can either be overwhelmed by the danger, shrink, cower and hide from the circumstances or forces, OR we can face them, and seize the day.

I have been blessed with an optimist’s attitude toward life.   Whether my mother and father gave that to me, I do not know.   But I do know that I have always CHOSEN to see the glass as half full, not half empty.   And when hard times came to me–and believe me they have in my life–I chose to believe that there was an opportunity hidden in all the junk.

Today, as we watch and listen to the political machinations in our great country, know that they are just that–machinations.   Is there danger in each of the issues we face as a nation?  Of course. But there also is a choice that we can make individually and collectively that will embrace experiencing the danger and the fear, and cause us to create something greater and better and more “just” than what existed before.   To my mind, all human progress has been precipitated by a “crisis” where those alive and in the moment chose not to succumb, but to seize the opportunity.

In recent years, take for example the “crisis” in N. Korea.   Is there danger there?   For sure.   Is there opportunity there?   Yes.   It is possible that 50 years from now, we all will look back and note that in 2018 a new vision emerged, a seed was planted, and 50 years later a great people are free and prosperous.   All because men and women who preceded them, and whom they had never met, chose to find the opportunity in that dangerous wind.

Take for example the turmoil related to politics and the blood sport going on in Washington today.   None of us can afford to flinch now in the face of the danger this presents to the nation, and to our Republic.   Personally I believe the world your grand children will live in 20-30 years from now is being determined by the choices you and I make right now.   The United States will still be here in 20 years, but whether or not it is a Constitutional Republic is being determined by us now.   Will it be a fading Democracy destined to die on the ash heap of history along with all other attempts at self-government, or will the people of the United States recognize this as an opportunity to not only preserve the Republic, but to enhance it and take it to an even higher, fairer standard?

These are dangerous times.   The cold dangerous winds blow daily.  Yet, riding it, in the face of a daunting bitter wind, is an undying optimism and courage which characterized our ancestors–slave or free man–and which hopefully has survived in us.  Don’t be a cliché.   Don’t think like others think, just to fit in and not make waves.  Don’t remain silent in the face of injustice and unequal application of the law.   Don’t let ignorant or lazy journalists who may not even know the difference between a fact and an opinion, sway your opinion.   YOU KNOW MORE THAN THE JOURNALISTS TODAY.   YOU DO NOT NEED TO CONSULT THEIR CRYSTAL BALL OR WISDOM.   YOU ARE THE ONE WHO WILL RIDE THE DANGEROUS WIND.   THEY ARE DESTINED TO MERELY WRITE ABOUT AND REPORT ON WHAT YOU WILL DO.  THEY WILL REPORT ON THE OPPORTUNITIES YOU CREATE.

A business mentor long ago taught me something I have never forgotten.  I will expound upon this more in a later Blog.   But, remember this.   No one ever erected a statue to a critic!

We are approaching a new year.   It will be ushered in by dangerous winds.   Let’s ride that wind, and seize the day–seize the opportunity to help our country, and to preserve it, and freedom, for all future generations.   This is no small game.   It is not “small ball.”

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