Lead the ideas of your time and they will accompany and support you; fall behind them and they drag you along with them; oppose them and they will overwhelm you. – Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who led a life as accomplished as it was momentous. For a decade he was the primary influence on French and, indeed, European life, and he was both Emperor of France and King of Italy.
Napoleon led a life that was filled with both accomplishment and failure. At times he was in favor, connected with those in power and at other times he was in jail. Sometimes he himself was in power and sometimes he was in exile. Today’s Thought is also the Quotebook selection in today’s Daily Dose.
It’s trite to say change is the only constant, but it is no less true for the triteness. We can either fight change or we can embrace it. Leaders can either pace the great ideas of their time or they can stand on the sideline while they take root and bloom without them.
This is a lesson that will be well-heeded now. Tired of the carnage of mass shootings, America is on the cusp of a national conversation on the role of the Second Amendment. Whether or not you or I favor or oppose restrictions on the Second Amendment is beyond the scope of The Thought for the Day. The lessons Napoleon talks about are not.
They are going to happen and regardless of our position we must be prepared for them. If we ignore it, the conversation will happen anyway and we will always be catching up to it. Oppose the conversation, or only take part by chanting slogans, and it will overwhelm us like a wave.
We must be ready for change and we must be ready for the discussions that drive and enable change. Those in a position to lead must be ready to lead while everyone else must be ready and willing to take part. Otherwise, we will be overwhelmed and if enough citizens are overwhelmed, we will find our country overwhelmed, too.
The Thought for the Day runs regularly. Quotes are from Gaylon’s private stock.
