<p>Friday night I was feeling kind of down.&nbsp; It had been a week of highs and lows.&nbsp; The highs were a mix of positive discussions with friends about new business starts, watching a community come together to support one of their own, and work on an exciting business proposal.&nbsp; The lows&nbsp; included some personal challenges that were soon grossly over-shadowed by two separate tragedies that touched the lives of my friends.</p> <p><a href="http://new.corepurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/jkw-looking-up.jpg"><img style="border-width:0;margin:5px;" height="184" alt="Joan Koerber-Walker, Phoenix, AZ" src="http://new.corepurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/jkw-looking-up_thumb.jpg" width="244" align="right" border="0"></a>As I sat at my laptop, sending #FollowFriday thank you notes on Twitter and posting articles and other tidbits to friends, I pulled a quote from my quote file (a mix of things that I have collected over the years)and shot it out on <a href="http://twitter.com/JKWgrowth" target="_blank">@JKWGrowth</a>.&nbsp; The post read...</p> <p>"<em>The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations</em>. " ~ Adam Smith </p> <p>It was meaningful to me.&nbsp; I had seen examples repeatedly in over 30 years of volunteer work.&nbsp; True poverty often breeds despair and with it the death of peoples' aspirations.&nbsp; </p> <p>Can you imagine living in circumstances where you lost the desire or the belief that you could achieve something high or great?&nbsp; Is that not a tragedy? </p> <p>When logging in Saturday morning, I gained a different perspective from two readers who saw it quite differently.&nbsp; There was yet another reader who, having read their tweets in response to mine, 'respectfully' asked if I could prove that Adam Smith had said that with a citation.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>So, I stopped what I was doing, went upstairs to my office, pulled out my copies of Adam Smith's books and other historical economics texts and started looking.&nbsp; Two hours later I had no citation to quote.&nbsp; Just numerous websites and references to the quote but no citation of where it had originated from.&nbsp; Maybe he said it.&nbsp; Maybe he did not.&nbsp; (Unfortunately, much of what Smith once said and wrote is lost.&nbsp; He lived well before the age of recordings and instructed that many of his private notes and writings be destroyed shortly before his death.)&nbsp; Time for a <a href="http://www.twitlonger.com/show/6c35f7083600c0cb3fcae16408d2332a" target="_blank">retraction</a> and, in one case, <a href="http://www.twitlonger.com/show/52e08b5816945990ef990d8429f885df" target="_blank">an apology</a>.</p> <p>You may be wondering, why bother with an apology.&nbsp; Well, one of the people upset by this quote took what I wrote very personally.&nbsp; Here is some of what she wrote to me in a string of tweets on Twitter after reading this quote. "Having been homeless, in foster care for poverty, lost hearing due 2 untreated infection..."&nbsp; "Then earning my PhD w/ expertise in poverty... In other words, actually getting it, I know how to spot a derogatory quote." (These notes still appeared in her public twitter stream at the time of this writing. ) </p> <p>Her short story (via tweets) was inspirational. Not only did she rise above her own challenges to pursue her PhD, but she did so in a field where she can make a difference for others in a similar circumstance.&nbsp; Case in point, her story is a testament to both her strength and her aspirations. </p> <p>I&nbsp; responded to her tweet as a direct message with an apology. It failed. She was not following me; perhaps because of the tweet or perhaps she never was.&nbsp; So I tried again later, and then when that too failed, sent it as an @Reply.&nbsp; Maybe she'll read it - and maybe she won't.</p> <p>So, what have I learned:</p> <ol> <li>Read what you tweet carefully and think before you send.&nbsp; What makes sense in 140c to you, may be read very differently by others.  <li>Check credible sources - the quote or fact you have heard for years may not be entirely accurate or supportable.  <li>As a courtesy - if you engage in a conversation with someone on Twitter, be sure you are following them so that they can respond to you privately if appropriate.</li></ol> <p>But most of all, I was reminded, that no matter what your circumstance, holding on to your aspirations, continuously looking up to a higher goal, and having the strength to make that goal a reality is what success is all about.</p> <p>Thanks for stopping by...Stay tuned. </p> <blockquote> <p>- Joan Koerber-Walker<br></p></blockquote> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:436d83ee-a5ae-4130-8bfa-3a20a8964159" style="display:inline;margin:0;padding:0;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Joan%20Koerber-Walker" rel="tag">Joan Koerber-Walker</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/CorePurpose" rel="tag">CorePurpose</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Adam%20Smith" rel="tag">Adam Smith</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Twitter" rel="tag">Twitter</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Aspirations" rel="tag">Aspirations</a></div>