Uphold your values: Stand up for your value system.
Make your own decisions: Listen to others, but make your own decisions.
Be fearless and deliberate: Once you have made your decision, hold on to it and own it.
It is unique to each person, but we all have the ability to influence our destiny in the universe. When done in kindness, karma tips in our favour. And the tool we have at our disposal, to exercise this beautiful and potentially transformative power, is our voice.
In 2009, when we were living in Hong Kong, Cherie Blair, wife of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, visited Hong Kong for events related to The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. I am a patron of her Foundation and consider her a dear friend. One morning, Cherie and Sue Geddes, her executive assistant, were headed to a breakfast meeting on Princess Street. The meeting was a big success and Cherie Blair’s speech was well received. My introduction was on point too, I might add.
We stepped downstairs, waiting for our car service to take us to the next appointment—a presentation-cum-meeting that was scheduled to begin at 11.30 a.m.—but our car and driver were nowhere to be found. These were still the days before Uber and the other options we have today! It was 11.25 a.m. and there was still no sign of the car service, all in spite of calls made to the booking office by Sue Geddes. Just then, we saw a taxi and Cherie put out her hand and immediately stopped the taxi.
Practical as ever, she said to me, ‘Well, Meera. This will have to be it if we are to reach on time. I hate to keep anyone waiting for me.’ I love how successful people have a simple and practical way of navigating the world. To them others’ needs often stand above personal safety and needs. I have learnt so much while watching them. Most of them are natural problem-solvers, and they know how to react positively to every new situation—positive or negative. In this instance, simple though the act was, Cherie Blair used her voice to decide not to wait for the car service and to keep her appointments on schedule. She refused to keep a thousand people waiting!
