You never lose by loving. You always lost by holding back.
~ Unknown
I recently posted a Facebook status update, “Hey Tina, Love’s got everything to do with it!” Truly, I believe it to be so and to be the crux of just about everything in life! I just finished my next book (to be released this fall), What is the Meaning of Life? After spending the last nine months writing this book and pondering the questions and meaning of life, I realized that it all boils down to love!
Love is so many things. Love is the way someone makes you smile or laugh, the feeling you get in anticipation of seeing them or talking to them. Love is also the way you feel about yourself, the peace inside of knowing who you are and getting that it starts and ends with loving yourself. Love is loving unconditionally, unabashedly, uncontrollably. Love is that flip in your stomach, the flutter in your heart, the tingle in your core, at the simplest thought of a person.
To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. ~ Unknown
I was recently reminded of what love is. My heart was opened in a way I had forgotten. I was also reminded that love is unconditional and it doesn’t always show up the way you want it to. When we try to label love, or put love into a box, we ruin the simplicity of what love is. Yet when we truly honor that feeling inside and the core of love, we see rainbows and feel fairies dancing inside reminding us that we are in love and that we are love, with no conditions or strings. When we love unconditionally, we love that person for all that they are, their life circumstances, their gifts, for everything they are and everything they are not. That is love in its purest form.
Let no one who loves be called unhappy. Even love unreturned has its rainbow.
~ James Matthew Barrie
When we love ourselves with all of our being, we attract others to reflect that back. When we love others without conditions, it is a reflection back at us of the love that we are, plain and simple. What a magical feeling to be in love and to be love!
You can find me at www.facebook.com/pilarstella and twitter @pilarstella.
Showing posts with label nobel peace prize. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nobel peace prize. Show all posts
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Happy New Year, New Decade & New YOU!
Can you believe it is already 2010? I myself am pretty amazed as I wonder to myself where did 2009 go? I have heard that many are glad 2009 is over for what it was not. But I hope that as we enter 2010, we may look back and be grateful for what 2009 brought and for what 2010 will bring.
For me 2009 was a clearing out year - clearing out the old, getting clear on ME - who I am and what I want, getting clear on my priorities for my personal and professional life, my goals for OneGiving™. For many, 2009 was a hard year financially, emotionally or whatever the case may be. But I also wonder on a greater level if it was really a year for us all to get clear, to be forced to get back to the basics to get clear about what we really want in our lives. That it was a year of transition, of rebuilding, of creating a foundation for us to move forward with. If we can see it for that and not for what it didn't bring, then maybe we can be grateful and also begin to get excited at what 2010 will hold since we have done our work and built that foundation.
I recently received a few links, videos and articles that provide some different perspectives of where we are headed in 2010. I wanted to share them with you now as I believe we are entering a new era - that some have called the "biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution"(@equalman on Twitter). While the pessimists and cynics may disagree, I consider it the next biggest movement following the women's rights and civil rights era, with a shift towards humanitarian solutions and global oneness. I believe in this upcoming decade we will begin to see a world we don't even recognize as different sectors transform before our eyes. Business will shift from a solely profit centered model to a triple bottom line (people, profit and the planet), media and merchandise will move from selling to listening, people will go from disconnecting to connecting and the world will move towards oneness.
Socialnomics™ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8
This is one of the most compelling videos I have seen about the rise of social media and its impacts on people, business and beyond. Some of the most incredible statistics include: - That while it took radio 38 years, Tv 13 years, the internet 4 years and the iPod 3 years to reach 50 million users, it has taken Facebook 9 months to reach 100 million users.- If Facebook were a country it would be the 4th largest behind China, India and the U.S.- By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers and 96% are on social networks. You get the picture - we are entering the Social Media Revolution - do you still think it is a FAD? Are you going to catch on or get left behind?
Starbucks LOVE Project http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh7D2g5v-Sg
While the Socialnomics video hit you more in the head with staggering statistics and data, this video will hit you straight into the heart. In December Starbucks launched the LOVE Project and this video shows all the people around the world who submitted videos singing Love is All You Need! Really it serves as a good reminder of what this year and decade should be all about, what is truly important in our lives and the foundation from which everything else should come. How are you going to give and receive LOVE this year and decade?
Start Ups - Looking Up http://bit.ly/4EDEgH
A recent Bloomberg article highlighted that acquisition prices for U.S. startups had climbed to a level not seen since 2007 - before the financial crisis hit. Given that I have our OneGiving™ start up going, I got excited to see that things are shifting and opportunities are opening up. So how are you going to take advantage of more opportunities? Now is the time to go for it, take a leap of faith and reach for bigger and better in 2010!
Has Drucker's Time Really Come? http://bit.ly/5Unvv5
A recent LA Times article wrote about Peter Drucker's revolutionary teachings on business management. The article talks about his belief that a corporation's role in society is to serve the customer by providing a good or service useful in terms of personal and social terms, not just profit. While he was born in Vienna in 1909, Drucker was a visionary who talked about corporate social responsibility long before it became a formal management principle. His views put him in conflict the classical economists including Milton Friedman who believed that maximization of profit was the end-all, be-all of corporations. Given the economic crisis and failings of the financial and business industries in the last few years and the rise of the ethical consumer and the responsibility revolution, I wonder if perhaps we have entered an era in which Drucker's revolutionary ideas time has truly come?
2010 Predictions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3zJm98UXzQ
This video makes some predictions about how rapidly our world will transform before us in 2010 - with transparency becoming the word of the year and in which trouble and strife will shift into growth, sharing, striving, believing and achieving. That it will be a year of great revelation of universal truths about energy and the interconnectedness of life. Are you ready for all that is to come? Prepare yourself and choose light, choose to enter the world from a heart centered space and from your true you and you will be more set up to succeed and thrive in 2010.
May you make this year the year of YOU and all that you want it to be! Because the reality is that it starts and ends with YOU! Only YOU can make the choice to shift your energy and set your dreams into motion. So set your intentions, hold true to your truths and watch the magic and mystery unfold before you! Happy New Year!
If you don't like how something is, you're the only one who as the ability to change YOU. ~ Unknown
For me 2009 was a clearing out year - clearing out the old, getting clear on ME - who I am and what I want, getting clear on my priorities for my personal and professional life, my goals for OneGiving™. For many, 2009 was a hard year financially, emotionally or whatever the case may be. But I also wonder on a greater level if it was really a year for us all to get clear, to be forced to get back to the basics to get clear about what we really want in our lives. That it was a year of transition, of rebuilding, of creating a foundation for us to move forward with. If we can see it for that and not for what it didn't bring, then maybe we can be grateful and also begin to get excited at what 2010 will hold since we have done our work and built that foundation.
I recently received a few links, videos and articles that provide some different perspectives of where we are headed in 2010. I wanted to share them with you now as I believe we are entering a new era - that some have called the "biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution"(@equalman on Twitter). While the pessimists and cynics may disagree, I consider it the next biggest movement following the women's rights and civil rights era, with a shift towards humanitarian solutions and global oneness. I believe in this upcoming decade we will begin to see a world we don't even recognize as different sectors transform before our eyes. Business will shift from a solely profit centered model to a triple bottom line (people, profit and the planet), media and merchandise will move from selling to listening, people will go from disconnecting to connecting and the world will move towards oneness.
Socialnomics™ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8
This is one of the most compelling videos I have seen about the rise of social media and its impacts on people, business and beyond. Some of the most incredible statistics include: - That while it took radio 38 years, Tv 13 years, the internet 4 years and the iPod 3 years to reach 50 million users, it has taken Facebook 9 months to reach 100 million users.- If Facebook were a country it would be the 4th largest behind China, India and the U.S.- By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers and 96% are on social networks. You get the picture - we are entering the Social Media Revolution - do you still think it is a FAD? Are you going to catch on or get left behind?
Starbucks LOVE Project http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh7D2g5v-Sg
While the Socialnomics video hit you more in the head with staggering statistics and data, this video will hit you straight into the heart. In December Starbucks launched the LOVE Project and this video shows all the people around the world who submitted videos singing Love is All You Need! Really it serves as a good reminder of what this year and decade should be all about, what is truly important in our lives and the foundation from which everything else should come. How are you going to give and receive LOVE this year and decade?
Start Ups - Looking Up http://bit.ly/4EDEgH
A recent Bloomberg article highlighted that acquisition prices for U.S. startups had climbed to a level not seen since 2007 - before the financial crisis hit. Given that I have our OneGiving™ start up going, I got excited to see that things are shifting and opportunities are opening up. So how are you going to take advantage of more opportunities? Now is the time to go for it, take a leap of faith and reach for bigger and better in 2010!
Has Drucker's Time Really Come? http://bit.ly/5Unvv5
A recent LA Times article wrote about Peter Drucker's revolutionary teachings on business management. The article talks about his belief that a corporation's role in society is to serve the customer by providing a good or service useful in terms of personal and social terms, not just profit. While he was born in Vienna in 1909, Drucker was a visionary who talked about corporate social responsibility long before it became a formal management principle. His views put him in conflict the classical economists including Milton Friedman who believed that maximization of profit was the end-all, be-all of corporations. Given the economic crisis and failings of the financial and business industries in the last few years and the rise of the ethical consumer and the responsibility revolution, I wonder if perhaps we have entered an era in which Drucker's revolutionary ideas time has truly come?
2010 Predictions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3zJm98UXzQ
This video makes some predictions about how rapidly our world will transform before us in 2010 - with transparency becoming the word of the year and in which trouble and strife will shift into growth, sharing, striving, believing and achieving. That it will be a year of great revelation of universal truths about energy and the interconnectedness of life. Are you ready for all that is to come? Prepare yourself and choose light, choose to enter the world from a heart centered space and from your true you and you will be more set up to succeed and thrive in 2010.
May you make this year the year of YOU and all that you want it to be! Because the reality is that it starts and ends with YOU! Only YOU can make the choice to shift your energy and set your dreams into motion. So set your intentions, hold true to your truths and watch the magic and mystery unfold before you! Happy New Year!
If you don't like how something is, you're the only one who as the ability to change YOU. ~ Unknown
Monday, November 30, 2009
The FUN Theory and JOY Conspiracy
Every day I am becoming more aware of how important it is for us to enJOY this journey called life, and not get so caught up in the drama, chaos and need to get to some unattainable destination. This is it! This is your life! So you might as well get busy living, or get busy dying - only you can make the choice.
In between goals is a thing called life
that has to be lived and enJOYed.
~ Sid Caesar
Many of you who know me, know that I am an eternal optimist. While I went through a very dark period in my own life, I woke up one day and realized I might as well get busy living. For me this journey has taken me to the place of not only living but living in JOY and FUN!
Despite the never ending bombardment of negativity in the media and world, I have recently been inspired by how people are putting a little dance in their step and a little song in their hearts to have more FUN and JOY in their lives and inspiring others to do the same around the world. So this month, I wanted to share with you a series of videos, blogs and more that have inspired me and are inspiring others to do the same. As I see videos, blogs and sites like these, I can't help but believe that truly indeed, we really are moving into new era of JOY, FUN, PEACE and HOPE. These are just a few examples below of how people like you and me are inspiring the change:
First and foremost is the site: http://www.thefuntheory.com/. This site and project is sponsored by Volkswagen as they have several videos on their site that show ways in which they replace normal every day activities like taking the stairs at a train station, throwing trash away at a park or recyclables away on the street with FUN activities. Their theory is that "FUN can obviously change behavior for the better." Check it out and see if there are ways that you too can be inspired to put a little more FUN in your every day routine.
Another blog, http://www.joyconspiracy.com/, is building the case about those who are conspiring to make this world a more JOYful place. This is the blog site of a friend of mine that recently launched in which he explains in his first blog (http://bit.ly/7ZfrjP) that the JOY conspiracy, much like the pessimist conspiracy that is now inundating our world, news, media and beyond with fear, doubt and negativity, took years for the programming to sink in and happened so gradually that we didn't see it coming. Much like that conspiracy, he believes there is a much more powerful, and may I dare add "stealthy"conspiracy going on, involving a massive group of people intent on creating a JOYful way of life that will refuse to be destroyed. Check it out, document and share your JOYful actions and be a part of the conspiracy and see how it makes you and others feel as you spread the JOY!
Another series of YouTube videos have extended beyond to spread the FUN and JOY to the masses. Each time I get a video like these, I am refreshed and renewed with a sense of hope for the world we are living in, the possibility and optimism, and potential for change by other "joy co-conspirators!" Put a little JOY in your own life and pass it on to others and have a little FUN:
• Grocery Store Musical: This video whether staged or not, definitely puts a smile on your face as these grocery store shoppers bust into a musical urging us to keep our fruit from being lonely by squishing our fruit together! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNemcRSO4yg.
• Wedding FUN: These two videos give a whole new perspective on walking down the aisle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMIcCY1mB3E.
and the first wedding dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqiw-Kqtlro. Doesn't that make you want to create and innovate for your big day?
• Train station dance: First came the DoReMi dance in an Antwerp train station as people bust-a-move and joined in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k, then in a train station in Liverpool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM and the clincher, though planned by ImprovEverywhere, is of a group of people who inundate the subways of New York with no pants: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9La40WwO-lU&NR=1. Imagine the giggles in your day and that of others! Doesn't it make you want to dance and spice up your life and that of others?
• Free JOY: In these two videos we get to see the power of giving away free hugs on the street http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4 and a guy dancing his way around the world spreading the JOY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY.
• Creative giggles: Two videos come to mind as creative types jump on the FUN band wagon to spread some laughs on a boat : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOvaCV6uQp8 and inspire some hope with stand by me for change:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM.
Are you inspired YET? Go have FUN! Push the envelope! Act outrageously, boldly, audaciously and authentically in your truth to live fully in JOY! During this holiday season, rather than getting caught up in all the gifts that you have to purchase, perhaps instead may you be inspired to spread your gifts of FUN and JOY!
JOY is not in things, it is in us.
~Richard Wagner
In between goals is a thing called life
that has to be lived and enJOYed.
~ Sid Caesar
Many of you who know me, know that I am an eternal optimist. While I went through a very dark period in my own life, I woke up one day and realized I might as well get busy living. For me this journey has taken me to the place of not only living but living in JOY and FUN!
Despite the never ending bombardment of negativity in the media and world, I have recently been inspired by how people are putting a little dance in their step and a little song in their hearts to have more FUN and JOY in their lives and inspiring others to do the same around the world. So this month, I wanted to share with you a series of videos, blogs and more that have inspired me and are inspiring others to do the same. As I see videos, blogs and sites like these, I can't help but believe that truly indeed, we really are moving into new era of JOY, FUN, PEACE and HOPE. These are just a few examples below of how people like you and me are inspiring the change:
First and foremost is the site: http://www.thefuntheory.com/. This site and project is sponsored by Volkswagen as they have several videos on their site that show ways in which they replace normal every day activities like taking the stairs at a train station, throwing trash away at a park or recyclables away on the street with FUN activities. Their theory is that "FUN can obviously change behavior for the better." Check it out and see if there are ways that you too can be inspired to put a little more FUN in your every day routine.
Another blog, http://www.joyconspiracy.com/, is building the case about those who are conspiring to make this world a more JOYful place. This is the blog site of a friend of mine that recently launched in which he explains in his first blog (http://bit.ly/7ZfrjP) that the JOY conspiracy, much like the pessimist conspiracy that is now inundating our world, news, media and beyond with fear, doubt and negativity, took years for the programming to sink in and happened so gradually that we didn't see it coming. Much like that conspiracy, he believes there is a much more powerful, and may I dare add "stealthy"conspiracy going on, involving a massive group of people intent on creating a JOYful way of life that will refuse to be destroyed. Check it out, document and share your JOYful actions and be a part of the conspiracy and see how it makes you and others feel as you spread the JOY!
Another series of YouTube videos have extended beyond to spread the FUN and JOY to the masses. Each time I get a video like these, I am refreshed and renewed with a sense of hope for the world we are living in, the possibility and optimism, and potential for change by other "joy co-conspirators!" Put a little JOY in your own life and pass it on to others and have a little FUN:
• Grocery Store Musical: This video whether staged or not, definitely puts a smile on your face as these grocery store shoppers bust into a musical urging us to keep our fruit from being lonely by squishing our fruit together! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNemcRSO4yg.
• Wedding FUN: These two videos give a whole new perspective on walking down the aisle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMIcCY1mB3E.
and the first wedding dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqiw-Kqtlro. Doesn't that make you want to create and innovate for your big day?
• Train station dance: First came the DoReMi dance in an Antwerp train station as people bust-a-move and joined in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k, then in a train station in Liverpool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM and the clincher, though planned by ImprovEverywhere, is of a group of people who inundate the subways of New York with no pants: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9La40WwO-lU&NR=1. Imagine the giggles in your day and that of others! Doesn't it make you want to dance and spice up your life and that of others?
• Free JOY: In these two videos we get to see the power of giving away free hugs on the street http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4 and a guy dancing his way around the world spreading the JOY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY.
• Creative giggles: Two videos come to mind as creative types jump on the FUN band wagon to spread some laughs on a boat : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOvaCV6uQp8 and inspire some hope with stand by me for change:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM.
Are you inspired YET? Go have FUN! Push the envelope! Act outrageously, boldly, audaciously and authentically in your truth to live fully in JOY! During this holiday season, rather than getting caught up in all the gifts that you have to purchase, perhaps instead may you be inspired to spread your gifts of FUN and JOY!
JOY is not in things, it is in us.
~Richard Wagner
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Peace - Yes We Can!
Peace worldwide, starts from inside. ~ The Luminaries
I have been watching the articles and the comments fly about the fact that President Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize. There are many people who are skeptical about it and think he was awarded it undeservedly so. What I think many of the critics don’t understand is that this is actually one of the trademarks of the Nobel Peace Prize. That is, if you look over the Nobel Peace Prize and who it has been awarded to – it has a long history of controversy that goes with it. In fact, I would dare to say that the uniqueness and beauty of the Nobel Peace Prize is that it stirs up controversy, raises awareness about an issue and most often also makes a very strong political statement. In fact, so often it has been used to not only award acts of peace and deeds accomplished or achieved, but to provide an incentive to take further steps and strides in creating peace.
Here are some examples of controversies and political statements made by the Nobel Peace Committee over time in awarding its Laureates:
· One of the most controversial awards was in 1973, when the Prize was awarded to Secretary of State Henry A Kissinger and North Vietnamese Leader Le Duc Tho even though there was clearly no peace agreement achieved. Further controversy ensued when Le Duc Tho declined the Prize (the only person to have ever done so) and Kissinger refused to go to Oslo to receive the prize and tried returning it, but wasn’t allowed.
· In 1976 with both the awards to Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan for the conflict in Northern Ireland and in 1987 to President Oscar Arias for the conflicts in Central America, there was significant controversy due to the fact that the conflicts had been far from resolved. The committee had awarded the Prize in the hopes of providing an impetus to move more quickly towards peace – something that still took many years to alleviate or resolve either of these conflicts.
· In 1989, the year of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the committee awarded the Prize to the 14th Dalai Lama in Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso. Clearly this was not a coincidence, but rather a strong political statement opposing the Chinese Government’s policies against Tibet and within for its hostile actions.
· In 1992, on the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s “discovery” of America, the committee awarded the Prize to Rigoberta Menchu Tum, who advocated for Indigenous Rights in Guatemala and Latin America. The ironic intention of the Nobel Peace Committee was unmistakable in this blatant example of controversy to raise awareness around an issue.
· In 1994, the Peace Prize was awarded to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. The prize was awarded despite the fact that negotiations were still far from establishing peace.
· In 1995, the committee awarded Joseph Rotblat, one of the creators of the atomic bomb, the Nobel Peace Committee for leaving the Manhattan Project and dedicating his life to nuclear disarmament. The irony was they did so on the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
· In 1996, at a time in which East Timor had nearly been forgotten internationally many years after the Indonesian invasion of 1975, the Nobel Committee awarded Jose Ramos-Horta and Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo the Prize. The Prize was a leading contributor in raising attention back to East Timor and helping them get on the road to independence.
While the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to those who have worked for humanitarian assistance and aid, arms control and disarmament and human rights, the Prize has also come to be used unmistakably “not only as a reward for achievements accomplished but as an incentive for the Laureates to achieve even more.”
My guess is that this is exactly the call to action the Nobel Committee intended by awarding President Obama the Peace Prize. Perhaps for some, or many, his election as the First African American President of the United States and his unwavering commitment to creating a renewed HOPE in our country and around the world and CHANGE, or a correction of course, are not enough to warrant the prestigious award of the Nobel Peace Prize. But the Nobel Peace Committee definitely did what it is known to do so well in its long history: create controversy, raise awareness and set a new high standard of achievement and accountability for President Obama to live up to.
For that I tip my hat to the committee for taking the leadership and lighting a fire to incite the President to truly stand up for HOPE, CHANGE and PEACE. It is encouraging to see the Committee raise the bar and hold a new high standard for President Obama to step into and live up to. May it inspire us all to raise the bar for ourselves to step up above the criticism and controversy and take a deep look within to ask ourselves, how are we contributing to peace, hope and being the change we wish to see in the world?
You can find me on Twitter @pilarstella and Facebook at www.facebook.com/pilarstella.
I have been watching the articles and the comments fly about the fact that President Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize. There are many people who are skeptical about it and think he was awarded it undeservedly so. What I think many of the critics don’t understand is that this is actually one of the trademarks of the Nobel Peace Prize. That is, if you look over the Nobel Peace Prize and who it has been awarded to – it has a long history of controversy that goes with it. In fact, I would dare to say that the uniqueness and beauty of the Nobel Peace Prize is that it stirs up controversy, raises awareness about an issue and most often also makes a very strong political statement. In fact, so often it has been used to not only award acts of peace and deeds accomplished or achieved, but to provide an incentive to take further steps and strides in creating peace.
Here are some examples of controversies and political statements made by the Nobel Peace Committee over time in awarding its Laureates:
· One of the most controversial awards was in 1973, when the Prize was awarded to Secretary of State Henry A Kissinger and North Vietnamese Leader Le Duc Tho even though there was clearly no peace agreement achieved. Further controversy ensued when Le Duc Tho declined the Prize (the only person to have ever done so) and Kissinger refused to go to Oslo to receive the prize and tried returning it, but wasn’t allowed.
· In 1976 with both the awards to Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan for the conflict in Northern Ireland and in 1987 to President Oscar Arias for the conflicts in Central America, there was significant controversy due to the fact that the conflicts had been far from resolved. The committee had awarded the Prize in the hopes of providing an impetus to move more quickly towards peace – something that still took many years to alleviate or resolve either of these conflicts.
· In 1989, the year of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the committee awarded the Prize to the 14th Dalai Lama in Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso. Clearly this was not a coincidence, but rather a strong political statement opposing the Chinese Government’s policies against Tibet and within for its hostile actions.
· In 1992, on the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s “discovery” of America, the committee awarded the Prize to Rigoberta Menchu Tum, who advocated for Indigenous Rights in Guatemala and Latin America. The ironic intention of the Nobel Peace Committee was unmistakable in this blatant example of controversy to raise awareness around an issue.
· In 1994, the Peace Prize was awarded to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. The prize was awarded despite the fact that negotiations were still far from establishing peace.
· In 1995, the committee awarded Joseph Rotblat, one of the creators of the atomic bomb, the Nobel Peace Committee for leaving the Manhattan Project and dedicating his life to nuclear disarmament. The irony was they did so on the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
· In 1996, at a time in which East Timor had nearly been forgotten internationally many years after the Indonesian invasion of 1975, the Nobel Committee awarded Jose Ramos-Horta and Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo the Prize. The Prize was a leading contributor in raising attention back to East Timor and helping them get on the road to independence.
While the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to those who have worked for humanitarian assistance and aid, arms control and disarmament and human rights, the Prize has also come to be used unmistakably “not only as a reward for achievements accomplished but as an incentive for the Laureates to achieve even more.”
My guess is that this is exactly the call to action the Nobel Committee intended by awarding President Obama the Peace Prize. Perhaps for some, or many, his election as the First African American President of the United States and his unwavering commitment to creating a renewed HOPE in our country and around the world and CHANGE, or a correction of course, are not enough to warrant the prestigious award of the Nobel Peace Prize. But the Nobel Peace Committee definitely did what it is known to do so well in its long history: create controversy, raise awareness and set a new high standard of achievement and accountability for President Obama to live up to.
For that I tip my hat to the committee for taking the leadership and lighting a fire to incite the President to truly stand up for HOPE, CHANGE and PEACE. It is encouraging to see the Committee raise the bar and hold a new high standard for President Obama to step into and live up to. May it inspire us all to raise the bar for ourselves to step up above the criticism and controversy and take a deep look within to ask ourselves, how are we contributing to peace, hope and being the change we wish to see in the world?
You can find me on Twitter @pilarstella and Facebook at www.facebook.com/pilarstella.
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