The Life of Ted Kennedy: Two Lessons I Haven't Read Elsewhere

[The Straight Story]

The Life of Ted Kennedy: Two Lessons I Haven't Read Elsewhere

The first of these lessons is about resilience and personal redemption. The record of Ted Kennedy's life is a mix of significant legislative achievement and, for much of his adulthood, poor and sometimes tragic choices. As he himself acknowledged in a speech at Harvard in 1991, "I recognize my own shortcomings. I realize that I alone am responsible for them, and I am the one who must confront them." Given everything that had happened in Kennedy's life up to that point - some of his own making and some not - it wouldn't have been surprising if at age 59 he had continued on the path he was on. If that had turned out to be the case, it's unlikely that we would be seeing the level of tribute and remembrance that's taking place this week. From that speech forward, Kennedy began to reshape the way he lived his life. You could make an argument that his last 18 years were his most admirable and productive. It is because the man had the resilience not to quit and the courage to seek redemption that he finished his life as well as he did.

Which brings me to the second lesson which is about the power of giving and accepting unconditional love in our lives. Kennedy was fortunate and blessed in his life to marry his second wife, Vickie, in 1992. You can read more about her and what she did for him in this article in the Washington Post but the summary description is she loved him unconditionally and in doing so enabled him to find peace. We have an affection in the United States (and I'm as suspect to it as anyone else) for the myth of the heroic leader that is out there doing great things on his or her own. Often the leaders themselves become entrapped in that myth. The reality of our interdependence is ignored or overlooked.

If we're lucky in life, we find someone who loves us for who we are and we allow them to do that. And, in turn, we give that love back. The result is that we become not just more fully realized leaders but human beings.

...

Through the gift of unconditional love, Ted Kennedy was the only brother in his generation to move past the myth of the heroic leader standing alone. Rest in peace, Senator Kennedy. Thanks for what you accomplished and, in the last years of your life, what you taught us about the power of resilience, redemption and love.

http://blogs.govexec.com/executivecoach/2009/08/the_life_of_ted_kennedy_two_le.php

[graywarrior]

1. Thank you for posting this.

For some of us, Ted Kennedy is a power of example who changed dramatically right under our noses without us realizing it, but from whom we benefited all the same. Personally, I never realized how important he was in my life as a MA native or how much I truly loved the guy....because he was at first dysfunctional, fucked up and out of control....like I was.

But he turned it over and got help and in return gave help....like they tell you in AA. I don't know if he was in recovery or not, but his spiritual awakening at age 59 is profound and because it was so public and so dramatic. He is a powerful example that guides me now at the same age. I will never forget him.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Great reading

and anyone so gifted with a mate who loves unconditionally is, indeed, blessed. Glad to know Teddy had this in his life.