Last week, the CEO of a global top dental manufacturing company came under fire, mostly from my colleagues, for sharing his conscience.
So every morning, on walking through the office door, I check-in on what’s up with the Universe. And it’s cool because the Universe sends me emails…as in “Tut: A note from the Universe (www.tut.com).”
And what I’ve learned from Tut is the Universe is a lot like my mother; it’s good at making me feel guilty.
Having recently spent considerable time thinking about stuff I never thought I’d experience in a million dog years in the U.S., I knew I needed a good stiff 100-proof shot of the Universe to get me back on track. So I looked up what the Universe had told me on my birthday.
“Every burden bears a gift, Jack, every challenge brings a treasure, and every setback hides a blessing.
Is it just me, or does time and space sometimes seem far too good to be true?”
Hallelujah,
The Universe
And to make it worse, the Universe always signs off with, “Thoughts become things; choose the good ones.” Dang it!
Last week, the CEO of a top global dental manufacturing company came under fire, mostly from my colleagues, for sharing and speaking his conscience…through a full page ad in USA Today.
Dr. Dan Fischer founded Ultradent Products, Inc. 38-years ago in his garage with the help of his children. Today, the company lives up to its mission to “Improve oral health globally through science, creativity, and education” by being a world leader in developing high tech dental materials, devices and instruments. The company and its leader also have a long history of reaching out to help others. In fact, for the last several years, Ultradent has contributed its top whitening product, Opalescence, to our Smiles for Life campaign. And I wish appreciating a company with a conscience wasn’t so special these days.
The one page ad shortly followed the weekend of intolerance, hatred, violence, and racism in Charlottesville, Virginia. Dr. Fischer’s essay addressed the president’s response and expressed an incompatibility of his and the country’s core values with those of the chief executive. Fischer wrote of his respect for the presidency and love of country. But if Dr. Fischer met the president, he would simply turn his back and, ideally, face the flag.
Too many of my colleagues seem to either embrace the president’s behavior and approach or are not willing to rock the boat while Nazis and Klan members are identified as “some fine people” and racist sheriffs are pardoned. For me, it’s odd that someone can spend eight years in college and have more tolerance for someone like the current president than they can muster for Dr. Fischer. One of my cherished mentors taught me “You teach people how to treat you”; seems like tolerating bigotry teaches others bigotry is okay.
In a perfect pre-Tut Universe, I’d attack my Mr. Trump-supporting colleagues mercilessly. But then that’s where the “Thoughts become things, choose good ones” stuff always stops me…just like my mom.
So today I gave Dr. Fischer gratitude and 5-stars on Facebook and pledged my total loyalty to Ultradent and its leader (They already had it). I also shared “Every burden bears a gift, every challenge brings a treasure, and every setback hides a blessing…”
I hope so.
