Drink Charitably!

Admittedly, I took a bit of time off from blogging over the Holidays – Gary Vaynerchuk would be so disappointed.  But I really needed to re-group.  2009 is upon us, and in light of the doom & gloom being preached in the media today, I needed to take a step back & see if I was ready for whatever might be thrown my way in ‘09.

Then it struck me — here I was waiting for something to happen to me.  It was as if I was admitting that I was simply a pawn in life with no control over my destiny.

And frankly, that pissed me off.

I’m not upset by the economy, politics, the bail out, or anything else…I’m upset at myself for being so fatalistic and inactive.  So, even though I try not to make resolutions, on January 1 I resolved to pick myself up, re-charge my batteries, and get a new outlook.  Or actually, just rediscover my old outlook.

See, the reason I started Humanitas Winery back in 2001 was to affect change.  It was to do something good.  It was to help others while also showing the wine industry that (the collective) ‘we’ could change the world through wine.  I remember being very inspired by the words of Gandhi:

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

As I listen to the media pundits proclaim that our economy is in despair, and as I listen to friends & others moan about our government and the impact of the bailout, I can’t help but think that now is the time to stop talking and start doing.  This recalls another wonderful quote by Gandhi:

“Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”

So what’s the point of this blog?  Well, hopefully to inspire you to do something!  I hear a lot of belly-aching about just about everything — maybe it is time to not be a part of the problem.  Maybe it is time to take action and be a positive influence on someone.  I don’t expect everyone to go out and create a winery that donates to charity, but I would like to see everyone pitch in a little to help one another.  And honestly, I’d like us to start talking a bit more postively about the world we live in.  The negative ‘talk’ — really what good can that possibly do?

In 2009, please, don’t sit around waiting for something to happen to you.  Make it happen yourself and help others around you do the same.  Drink charitably everyone!

Judd Wallenbrock - Humanitas Founder