Who Do We Choose to Be?: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity

by Margaret J. Wheatley

The Faith and Confidence of Warriors We have unshakable confidence that people can be kinder, gentler, and wiser than our current society tells us we are. We rely on human goodness and offer this faith as a gift to others. We offer ourselves not as activists to change the world, but as compassionate presences and trustworthy companions to those suffering in this world. We embody compassion without ambition. Our confidence, dignity, and wakefulness radiate out to others as a beacon of who we humans are. Our confidence is not conditioned by success or failure, by praise or blame. It arises naturally as we see clearly into the nature of things. We create an atmosphere of compassion, confidence, and upliftedness with our very presence. We create a good human society wherever we are, whenever we can, with the people and resources that are available to us now. We rely on joy arising, knowing it is never dependent on external circumstances but comes from working together as good human beings. We encounter life’s challenges with a sense of humor, knowing that lightness and play increase our capacity to deal with suffering.