Sometimes we think we're a little too gifted to show up, yo uknow. But none of us truly is...By avoiding risk we really risk what's most important in life---reaching toward growth, our potential, and a true contribution to a common good.

In most vital organizations, there is a common bond of interdependence, mutual interest, interlocking contributions, and simple joy.

No question about it: potential is wrapped in great mystery. Like rainbows, which are really circles-we see only the upper halves, the horizon hides the rest-potential never reveals its entirety.

A short term view will lead to a partial and perhaps twisted view of the whole picture. A crucial element may be missing. We may not be running the entire race. A friend of mine described a colleague as great at running the "ninety-five yard dash." That is a distinction I can do without. Lacking the last five yards makes the first ninety-five pointless. In fact, serious runners thing of it as a 110 yard dash so that no one will best them in the last few yards. You've got to think beyond the whole.

We can choose to see life as a series of trials and tribulations, or we can choose to see life as an accumulation of treasures.

Change without continuity is chaos. Continuity without change is sloth-and very risky.

Trust comes only with genuine effort, never with a lick and a promise.