I Give Up!
Three words that most people have never heard me say. I GIVE UP! But right now, right here, I am ready to concede.
The leader of my own life and the leader of inspiration to others, I have decided to quit.
I am stopping. I am dropping the ball. I am resigning.
I invite you to join me in this defeat.
So, what exactly are we doing in this new movement calling me to cease?
I give up my need to think that I can control or change others.
I resign any belief that I have the right answer.
I concede any temptation to blame someone else, or some circumstance for where I am today, or where I am not.
I quit focusing on why something won’t work, and find a way that it can.
I am dropping the ball on holding other people’s opinions of my and how I “should” be as more important than my own opinion and love for myself.
I now stop any idea of “perfection” if it means that I am somehow not good enough to be what I want to be – because I most certainly am. Not tomorrow, not after my next accomplishment, my next pound lost, my next haircut, my next degree earned, my next promotion. I am good enough right now. AND SO ARE YOU.
The defeated voice of fear is now defeated.
It feels amazing to be a quitter!
Women change the world when they accept who and what they are and refuse to be anything less!
Forever In My Heart
The words they sang were translated from Mandarin to English on a scrap piece of paper delivered to me as I left campus to come back to the United States:
“I fear I won’t have the opportunity to say goodbye to you because maybe we can not meet each other again. Tomorrow you will leave this place and me. When I think of this, the tears come down again.
I will keep your face in my heart firmly forever. I will value the gifts of you that you gave me forever. These days we had together will never be forgotten in my heart.
You can not promise whether you will come back, maybe I will just keep walking forward.”
This was the meaning behind the beautiful sound of 75 Chinese college student women singing to me by candlelight on the spiral staircase as I finished my time of leadership facilitation in China. They sang and cried and I wondered how I could go back to my room, pack my suitcase and go home without them. They sang of the gifts I gave them, but I truly believe they gave me even more.
We spent six weeks together on their campus; shivering in the cold winter air in unheated classrooms as they eagerly devoured anything I could share with them about what it is like to be a free woman; a woman from the United States; a business owner; a decision maker; a dreamer. Their hearts were open and their own sense of possibility was waking up and taking form.
I didn’t leave them empty handed. I helped integrate the next team of amazing women facilitators who followed me to continue our work and lend assistance to these amazing young women who were ready to change their world. A bittersweet goodbye and new heartfelt hello.
That was over two years ago and their voices continue to sing in my heart. Their emails continue to grace my inbox and light up my world. The scrap piece of paper with their words remains in a special place on my desk where I see it every day.
As I prepare for a weekend of bringing in new facilitators to be trained for the World Academy For the Future of Women, I am reminded that while our journey has not been perfect (understatement of the year), the impact we continue to have on both our students and our facilitators is worth more than words can express. I know that I am changed and continue to be.
There are young women all over the world who long for connection, for guidance, for attention, for permission to dream and be their best. They are changing their world, with the help of a few big dreamers and dedicated facilitators who step past their own self-doubts and give a gift of time, talent and love that gets returned 100 times over.
Thank you, my Chinese daughters, for profoundly changing my life for the better (and I already thought it was good before). You taught me much about myself and about the beauty and resiliency of the human spirit…and the lessons for all of us have just begun.
You are always in my heart.
Women Change the World when they embrace who and what they are and refuse to be anything less.
A Chance to Change the World
Do you dream of making a difference in the world?
Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be born somewhere else where the opportunities we enjoy simply do not yet exist?
Do you believe that people are valuable no matter which country they were born in, no matter what language they speak, no matter what governmental system rules the land they were born to?
I do.
If you are like me in your passion about being a positive force in the world and helping women from every corner of our planet to have opportunities, safety, health, and respect equally to men, then I invite you to come with me and be part of this chance to change the world.
I am a proud and passionate facilitator with Global Interactions and the World Academy for the Future of Women (www.globalinteractions.org) . We are getting geared up to take our work to the next level and expand it around the globe. We have been working in China for the last few years at the university level with amazing college aged women who are ready to change their world. We are now preparing to expand to another univeristy in Cambodia and to a Buddhist monastery in Thailand. We work with both young men and young women on identifying their strengths and passions, listening to them as they develop ideas and dreams about projects that would positively impact their villages, and then help them develop those projects in a sustainable way and change their world.
We currently do this work with volunteers from across the United States. Brave, passionate men and women who want to be part of this global initiative to help others by supporting them in growing their belief in themselves, teaching project development, management and team building skills that will be handed down through future generations.
I strongly believe that if you want a better world, then the change has to start with us…from the inside out. We can’t lift someone else into possibility: but we can help them lift themselves and stand beside them to cheer them on as they learn and grow and create a better reality.
February 8, 9, and 10th I will be assisting with training more amazing people in Phoenix, Arizona who are considering being an international leader of change. If you would like to know more or would like to jump in to the training to see if this is for you, email me today: lkbishop@cox.net
You can learn more here as well: https://globalbusinessprotocol.com/the-world-academy-for-the-future-of-women/
Women Change the World by Helping Other Women Change the World!
Bursting with Change!
It has been far too long since my last post. Life has been so full and so much is happening that once I got behind, it was a challenge just to decide what to talk about. Regardless of my excuse (because it really isn’t relevant now), I apologize for the delay. I have thought of sharing with you each day, even if my fingers didn’t make it to the keyboard.
I am sure you have noticed by now, but the world didn’t officially end on 12/21/12. Well, not officially anyway. I didn’t end, but it did change…and the change continues. Truth be told, it has been changing all along and well before the end of the Mayan calendar.
Do you notice it? Do you feel it? I wasn’t sure during 2012 that I could really see it – the year was full of changes, but many of them were more akin to challenges to overcome and endings to accept. Many more were exercises in letting go and opening up to new ideas. Then as the end of the year approached, I felt a something stirring; a shift occurring. Most life changes are gradual and this one was that way for me, but now that it has begun, it seems to be picking up speed.
There are big plans emerging from the big dreams of 2012 and the ideas are not just taking shape, they are entering the realm of doing; the space of creating REALITY.
How do you feel about change?
Personally, change is the fuel for my fire. I want a better world. I want a world where men and women are equal in opportunity, in legal protection, in social stature, in honor and respect. I want a world where people are empowered and can make decisions based on love, instead of fear. I want a world where everyone is able to live their lives fully expressed – with passion, purpose and peace.
We aren’t going to get there without change and change always starts from within.
What are you willing to change within yourself to create the world you most want to live in?
2013 is firmly here and the shift is underway. It isn’t out there in the future somewhere, it is right here, right now and I am standing in the flow of it and am helping it expand.
You are invited to jump in with me! Email me if you would like to explore how to be involved more! There are plans being made right now for women’s leadership expansion in China, Cambodia, Thailand and more. You don’t have to just read about courageous women changing the world, you can come with us and be a part of the experience.
Sending you love and welcome to the new world!
Women Change the World by Understanding That They Already Are and Then Making It a Conscious Choice to Decide HOW and WHAT the Changes Will Be!
A True Hero: Razia Jan
By now you must know that what I am most passionate about is Women Changing the World, right? You can’t be on this site very long and not get that clue.
I am priviledged to know many amazing, incredibly intelligent, and personally powerful women through the many networks, organizations and friendships that I hold dear. There is a profound beauty and limitlessness in the women I know – the amazing women who are changing the world.
Here is the story of one that I have not (yet) had the pleasure of meeting, but who has inspired me to reach further and expand again into greater possibilities:
Please meet Razia Jan. She is one of the top 10 CNN Heroes for 2012. I hope to see her awarded as the top Hero so that she can further expand her work.
Razia Jan was born in Afghanistan but came to the United States for college. She became a United States citizen in 1990 and lived in Massachusetts where she owned a dress shop, raised her son, and became involved in supporting her community. Then the 9-1-1 attacks hit and she was forever changed.
Razia Jan reached out to those in pain and organized meaningful efforts of support to rescue workers at ground zero and US Troops in Afghanistan. The Taliban had taken a terrible toll on people alBy l over the world, and after a visit back to Afghanistan, she realized what a horrific change they had created against the women and girls of her birth country. The Taliban had outlawed edcuation for girls and turned them into nothing more than property; a generation of illiterate slaves.
Razia Jan, against the odds and the threats and the fear, set out to make a difference. She opened an all-girls school; the Zabuli Education Center. It wasn’t easy and there are challenges to be faced every day, but she is doing it. Right now (as you are reading this!), her school is providing safety, supplies, food, clothing, LOVE and EDUCATION to 250 girls. If she wins the CNN Heroes award, that number will jump to 500 girls.
This is how to change the world. How do you bring peace and change to a war torn society? Support and educate the women of that society and change will come from the inside out. That is the only sustainable change there is.
Please vote today – up to 10 times per email address and Facebook – and vote every day until the contest ends. Together we can help Razia Jan with her mission to educate girls in Afghanistan and bring change and peace to our world.
Vote here: https://heroes.cnn.com/
Learn more here:
Also here is Razia’s facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/#!/RaziasRayofHope?fref=ts
Twitter Handle
https://twitter.com/RaziasRayofHope
Razia’s Website
https://www.raziasrayofhope.org/
Sending love, gratitude and admiration to my heroe, Razia Jan!
