As political bombshells are falling in Alberta I have been reflecting on the opportunities that are being presented to us as citizens that choose to engage and fulfill our role in the democratic process.
Yesterday, someone left a note on my desk and it inspired me, so I thought that I would share it with you. This captured, almost perfectly, my sense of purpose found within the Alberta Party.
An Excerpt from
By John Murphy
Light a match in a dark room and watch as the light instantly overcomes the darkness.
Observe the power and grace of that single, solitary flame dancing with life. Now light several candles or kindle a fire and experience the added warmth and comfort extending from that first, vulnerable flame through others. This is the heart and soul of leadership – the essence of inspiring others. It is about courageously casting off fear, doubt and limiting beliefs and giving people a sense of hope, optimism and accomplishment. It is about bringing light into a world of uncertainty and inspiring others to do the same. This is what we call passion, the fire within.
Passion is a heartfelt energy that flows through us, not from us. It fills our hearts when we allow it to and it inspires others when we share it. It is like sunlight flowing through a doorway that we have just opened. It was always there. It just needed to be accepted and embraced. Under the right conditions, this ''flow'' appears effortless, easy and graceful. It is doing what it is meant to do. It is reminding us that we are meant to be purposeful. We are meant to be positive. We are meant to be passionate. We feel this when we listen to and accept our calling in life. We feel it as inspiration when we open the door of resistance and let it in.
Inspiration springs forth when we allow ourselves to be "in-spirit," aligned with our true essence. Stop and think about it: When you feel truly passionate and inspired about someone or something, what frame of mind are you in? What are you willing to do? What kind of effort are you willing to put forth? How fearful are you? Chances are, you feel motivated to do whatever it takes, without fear or doubt, to turn your vision into reality. You grow in confidence. You believe you can do it. You are committed from the heart and soul.
It is time to put Alberta first again, rather than the internal party politics of power and control, fear and retribution. I believe that it is time for politicians to be purposeful, positive and passionate about Alberta again.
The Alberta Party is committed to doing politics differently in Alberta. We are committed to strengthening the relationship between our government and the citizens we serve. Unfortunately, too often in Alberta the voices of Alberta’s citizens fall on deaf ears in our legislature, I believe that it is time again for the elected representatives in Government to be our voice into government rather than their voice to us.
The resignation of Premier Stelmach along with the rise of the Alliance has opened up the door for new discussions to take place, let us not allow the governance of Alberta to be defined by the politics of division, the politics of power, the politics of the past. It shouldn’t be about the politics of the right and the left, or worse yet; the politics of the right or the far right. The discussion that we are about to engage in cannot be defined in that narrow context.
Albertans need to step up and re-assume our responsibilities as citizens. Albertans are yearning for Citizen Servant Leaders. As a friend of mine commented recently, governance is not just Of the People, By the People, For the People – it also needs to be WITH the People. That is the new Alberta that we can build together if we are willing to rise above the politics of the past.
It’s a new day, are we ready for a new way?
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