My Youngest Brothers Wedding.....

It´s been quite a while since I posted my last blog. Vacations, business trips and my youngest brothers wedding had me more than occupied with other duties, but I´m taking advantage of Back to School to get myself Back to Blogging as well!

As mentioned, we recently enjoyed my youngest brothers wedding which was a blast! He and his bride we very celebrated with many an event........asking of the hand, bachelor party, friends & family, civil wedding and finally the big one.......the religious wedding! So many events, so many loved ones and so many great people from all over the world (over 20+ nationalities attended) that all these "good times" passed in the blink of an eye.

This brings me to the topic of how those important and transcendental moments in our lives go by so very quickly and how very important it is to live the moment in order to live life to the fullest. Graduation, wedding, babies, MBA, promotions, new home, etc........all seem to be in the past and continue only on in our memories.

I am very happy that my brother and his bride enjoyed a wonderful set of events to celebrate such a joyous occasion, more so because it reminded me of the importance of being in the present and celebrating life´s most important moments...........the here and now!

Making Our Desires Happen........

It´s sad to say that over one month has gone by since my last post in my blog, and I´ve sincerely missed making the time to sit down and express my thoughts.......so I hope I didn´t get even rustier than I was before!

I´ve been thinking a lot about how I can make this happen, how I can make things change and create the new reality that I so desire. It´s obvious when we focus on those things we want, we kind of stop valuing what we have today, which in turn makes us usually "throw in the towel" before we should.

I mention this situation because when we "through in the towel" before the time is right, we unnecessarily affect our current circumstance in a negative way and this, in turn, creates addition complications for us. Complications that do not help us in any way whatsoever advance in achieving the objective or the change we so want. Why do we fall into this way of doing things???

I´ve come to the conclusion that if I want to change some type of circumstance in my life I should first accept that where I am today is where I most need to be and only if I do what I have to do in my current situation, and sincerely with the best of attitudes, will I ever be able to make things change to what I want them to be.

The truth of the matter, is that I often come back to this conclusion, but oddly, only when I truly put my mind to it and keep this consciousness present, do things really start to change or improve! When I forget about this, I usually end up quite frustrated in the near future.

I ask myself again...........why does this happen? My take on it...........we´re here to learn and surpass our shortcomings.........only when we truly "learn the lesson" is when we will be able to go on the the next step!

How do you make your desires and objectives happen..............?

Business & Family......

This weekend we conducted what I think was our 4th Family Assembly Meeting in Ixtapan de la Sal. Much of the focus of these events is to build and grow the emotional links and relationships among the grandchildren, while also creating a moment of reflection among parents/uncles and their children/cousins with regards to family and the business. Personally, I came back quite happy with the results, but I can´t help but to reflect on what lies ahead and how to best manage certain challenges we have, as so do most families that share a business as we do.

Family values are obviously a core foundation for any growing family that stays united.......how can we truly live these values in our daily lives? What to do when other´s might not "walk the talk"? This is an arduous path but it requires to be walked through with determination.

Empowering the next generation in the business, shifting control of the organization, and passing ownership are textbook steps in this process, but we require certain basics like......communication, clarity, empathy, tolerance, respect, inclusiveness, and nurturing not only our financial capital, but also our human and intelectual capital...........these are all needed for the family and the business to transcend, for the legacy to successfully live on. Only if we do this accordingly, will we build the much needed trust to carry on.

Are we doing enough for this to happen and move forward successfully..........???

Social Responsability........

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to organize and attend our last YPO Ed event of the year. This event revolved around the topic of social responsibility. We wanted to bring the members and our families up close to what is a very sad reality for so many people in Mexico.

In order to create more awareness in both members and children we brought them to a site close to Mexico City where, together with the help from other foundations, we built small low cost homes no bigger than 45 sq meters. All attendee families were directed to homes that were in different stages of construction so we could help as "construction workers" with the pending chores to finish them.

The reason I mention all this is for one very important reason...........coming from a family that has always been very philanthropic and having always accepted the importance of helping the less fortunate, I had never experienced something so powerful as I did during this day. Just imagine taking a day from your life, roll up your sleeves, get your hands "dirty" working shoulder-to-shoulder with real construction workers and afterwards having lunch together with the lucky families that will receive these homes!

Having these people, who are economically less fortunate, thank you over and over again, and seeing the joy these parents and their children expressed was a completely overwhelming experience for my family and myself.

This simple event made me understand that it was not only important to give of our money but to share one of our most scarce resources which is our time. Having had given of my time and that of my families, reminded me of how fortunate we are and how important it is to make social responsibility part of our family life.

Social responsibility should be something we do because we truly believe in helping others. This will contribute not only to keep us level-headed, but to create a culture of giving back, and will also help to transform our sometimes natural reaction to hoard wealth to that of becoming a channel that shares with community around us.

In closing, I want to express some questions I am challenging myself with.............have I dedicated of my time and resources with the most needy for the right reasons? Have I done this for the recognition I will receive from others or have I don this to truly share with the less fortunate? Who gained more during this event........the families receiving the home or the families that donated them? How can I do more to help my community in ways that will have a lasting impact? How can I develop in my kids a true sense of sharing and a proper philanthropic culture that lasts a life time?

I still don´t have these answers.........

Being Proactive......

Thinking back years ago to my childhood, I clearly remember occasionally feeling that life had dealt me a complicated "set of cards". In my memories there lingered a feeling of not having had the luck I perceived other peers of mine had........better homes, better vacations, etc, etc.

Why did I have to do 12 chores a day to get my school money? Why did I have to work during my "vacations" in order to have spending money? Why did I have to work after school to have money to go out and a car? And so on.....

Even though through time all that I remember achieving, in general terms, was continuous progression, I never stopped viewing my life as a victim of my circumstance and sadly only recently did I understand how this gravely affected my happiness as well as the happiness of the people closest to me.

The world around us as well as our lives are meant to share us in all the blessings, but everything we truly need has to come as a product of our effort. We need to learn to handle those things that bother us by restricting our reactive nature and taking control of our lives through the proactive engagement of life. This obviously is more easily said than done!

When difficult things present themselves to us, it is important we do not fall into a reactive nature, which finally only leads us to living our lives as victims of our surroundings, while loosing control of the opportunity to improve and develop our lives into what is our true potential..........this my friends, is where I hope I am today!

I have been working to transform my life from being a "victim" with a reactive nature, to restricting this nature, while proactively taking actions that are leading me to a happier and more prosperous life of true fulfillment for myself and for my family. This is not at all easy, but I can sincerely say that I and more than a few people have noticed this in me, which also motivates me to continue on!

Don´t answer me, but do ask yourself.........where am I today and what am I doing to achieve lasting fulfillment.........?

Friendship.......

This last week I attended my elementry school 25 year class reunion. When I first heard about this plan I can´t say that I was completely "on board", but as time elapsed, I started to change my mind.

This event was what finally motivated me to me start facebooking and twittering, but most importantly, led me to the great opportunity of meet up with long lost friends!

In all truth I was a bit nervous prior to arriving to our class reunion. I didn´t know who I was going to meet and if I was going to be "up to par", but I brought myself to maintain an up beat attitude, all the while reassuring myself that others felt the same!

Finally when the moment came, I could only feel how greatful I was to have been a part of this memorable event. So many forgotten memories came back while enjoying the company of a great group of people with which I lived with for over 7 years! These years were the most innocent and joyful years of my life....maybe that´s why they call them the "wonder years"! All my friends, school faculty, and classmates were an enormous part of who I am today.

When I think about the incredible experience I enjoyed with my elementry school friends, I was reminded of the relevance of our friendships......good or bad, they are a big influence in our lives, so they mold us, mark us and influence us in many a way. Personally, I was very fortunate and, in consequence, can only be so very greatful for what each and every one of them contributed, through my contact with each of them, to what I am today.

I certainly wasn´t the best of role models as a friend, but this remembrance made me confirm how important our friends are in each of our lives. In consequence, it becomes obvious to me how we need to be more giving, plus never forget to value them all for having been a part of our lives. Friends will never be "perfect", but neither are we, so.......let´s start accepting and value them for what they truly are, while never forgetting that, if true, we also need to invest more of ourselves in them as we hope they do with us.

The more we invest, the more we will reap!

See you next week.

Taking Risks....

Today is Sunday, a week after my first blog, and I can´t help mentioning how liberated I felt all during the week. Expressing ones thoughts through the internet to the whole world, even though the amount of people having read it was surely limited, made me feel different in a good way.

Touching on the topic of authenticity helped me continue in this journey of personal acceptance and led me to start taking a few important risks, especially by accepting to be vulnerable, imperfect, and having made mistakes. This is so easy and obvious when you read this, but so very difficult to think of one self and accept that this is "ok" or even more challenging to open and reflect this vulnerability to others.

In life we all find ourselves in certain moments when we need to take risks and these risks should be taken, but they should be taken for the right reasons. Opening up to be truly authentic is one of these risks. Goals achieved without being authentic, through time, will only contribute to building-up more and more frustration, but the risk one takes to be true to ourselves, our convictions and our goals is a big one.

I can´t help thinking how important it is to find ways and moments to express ourselves as well as to pursue our dreams. It is as important to do this for our own selves as well as to facilitate this opportunity to others. I frequently ask myself if I´m living my dream? Are these dreams and goals for the common good or are they purely egotistical? Did these goals come about proactively or as a reaction to my circumstances? How can I begin the journey towards creating my dreams without negatively affecting people who are close to me? Am I capable of achieving these dreams or are they beyond me?

Is there anyone out there that feels the same???

See you next week!