Bytemarks

Catching up on some belated posts, I especially wanted to bring attention to this event brought to us by the Rotary International. The keynote speech was by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Among many other awards, she also won the highest civilian honor in the U.S., the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She is an amazing woman and I was fortunate to have the chance to hear her speech. The keynote was finally put online and it is well worth watching. There are many quotable moments but one that stood out for me was the following:

Compromise requires courage because compromise means letting go of your vanity. A lot of people do not compromise because they think it is a sign of weakness.  Compromise is a sign of strength… Compassion allows you to recognize that other people’s needs are as valid as your own.

We all need to find ways to work towards peace and compassion is a great place to start. The challenge is taking the words and turning them into action. We each need to find our own way. Ryan Ozawa and I had the honor and opportunity to share our thoughts on technology and peace at the Peace Forum earlier that day. I decided to share a meditation practice of mine in the hopes that others could find a way to discovery their own form of practice. It’s finding out what resonates with you and turning that into action. You can find my presentation here.

As an added bonus, here is Aung San Suu Kyi’s speech and QnA with students brought together by the Hawaii Community Foundation and Pillars of Peace. In it she explains quite simply:

You have to learn to be at peace with yourself. To be at peace with yourself you have to face your weaknesses and you have to have enough compassion for yourself not to condemn yourself for these weaknesses. You have the courage to work at your weaknesses, to try to change yourself. Peace requires change and change requires a lot of hard work. And hard work requires commitment and courage.