I had a lovely walk around Campus today…including a tour around Campus Lake.

When, I passed the Log in the Lake…and could not help but notice the Cooperation being enjoyed by the turtles and the geese that were occupying the shared space.

I read an engaging and enlightening essay by Maria Shriver, this morning.  In it she said the following: ‘Success.  I’ve made big misjudgments here.  I used to think that if I were the anchor of a network show that I would feel successful.  Same with publishing a best-selling book.  I was wrong.  Success, I’ve learned, is an inside job.  I didn’t grow up with that message, but I now know it to be true.  The people who I now think are the most successful are the ones who have beautiful loving families.  They are the ones who are loved and are loved.  Who toil quietly and patiently on the front lines of life.  Who recognize that a modest life is just as meaningful as one lived in the spotlight.’

I can remember thinking, early in my life, that I must endeavor to become someone of noteworthy accomplishments and high position, or station, in life…for my life to have true meaning.

However, it has been my experience that the greatest satisfaction in life comes in the quiet times…when no one is watching…and no one is taking notes.

Our life’s journey presents many and varied challenges.  Hidden among these challenges are tests or pop quizzes…if you will…that examine our ideas and our compass as the direction that we are traveling.

I stood up for my friend and former Chancellor, when she was terminated, and I feared for my job security…because it was threatened.

A campus leader told me that, I was in line for a promotion…and the subtext of the pronouncement was…to back off supporting Jo Ann.

I refused to turn my back on my friend…and I did not get the promotion.

I often told my supervisors and others…that I have to be able to look at the face that stares back at me in the mirror each morning…and…’to thy own self be true.’

I had a friend and fellow churchman, Dean B., who resigned a good position with a company, many years ago, rather than do something that they had asked him to do which he felt was unethical.

I walked out of a meeting, with men who were higher than me in rank and authority, when they began to speak disparagingly about individuals in my department.

They said that I had misunderstood them…I told them that I wish that I had.

Our lives are similar to a fine handcrafted clock.  There is a balance that is required…for them to work properly.

When a leader says demeaning and derogatory statements about; women and minorities and the disabled and media and we shut our eyes and say…yes but we are going to get tax cuts?

When the truth is laughed at in the streets…and lies are embraced…what is the conclusion of the matter?

Often,  I have been told to not rock the boat…just do my job…go along to get along…

I attempted to followed this advice when it affected no one but me…but when others are affected…it is time to open you mouth.

I have worked with some who benefited greatly by saying just what their boss or the person in power…wanted to hear.  Is that the real purpose of life?

Cooperation is essential to all facets of life.  Understanding others who are unlike us and working with them and appreciating them…is the oil that makes the clock of life work and run efficiently.

Cooperation is not the tamping down of your ethics and understanding of right and wrong…the submersion of your humanity…in order to obtain some additional money or fame or fortune or notoriety and acclaim.