Each time I return to India I remember a 2001 July trip. It was my first visit to meet the team as part of a new job. They did not know me or I them. Looking back, it seems odd we did not have anything in common except that we had dreams, big dreams.
I always like to say that my dream was bigger than their dream. If I weigh our dreams now, I am not sure. I think we both had dreams that went far beyond anything we could actually see or touch. When we first met, we listened to each others dreams. While I do not remember the words, my mind tells me that our dreams said we were going to do things in a way that had never been done before! We would right past wrongs but doing it it should and could be done.
It is hard to describe what we did without sounding boastful. There were stunning achievements for our clients. We delivered the unreachable for shareholders. We willingly reached out and helped those in the community that few saw and even fewer embraced.
As great as these accomplishments were and are, there is something there was one achievement that I did not anticipate. It went, in the larger story, beyond our dreams and the achievement of a lifetime; we changed ourselves. I see women and men who cared deeply for and with others. They still do. I see men and women who lived unselfishly, willingly sacrificing for noble and just causes. They still do. I see individuals that were open, accountable, and eager to learn. When I meet them, I recognizes individuals who are doing what they can to make this world a better place.
I see lives that are “a tribute to God when he comes, when he comes to set the earth right. He’ll straighten out the whole world, he’ll put the world right, and everyone in it.” (Psalm 98.9)
To each, thank-you. You took a dream and made it bigger and better than anything I ever imagined.
