They came, they listened, they applauded, and applauded again and again, so loudly you couldn't hear past the thunder of 200 hands. The clapping exploded from an audience of accomplished women, members of the Corona Society, who had gathered for their annual meeting October 20 in a decorated banquet hall of the British Colonial Hilton, expecting light lunch and hearty camaraderie.

What they got was a whole lot more. They got a powerful woman delivering a powerful message, telling them to ignore the negative noise around them that could take them down with it, decide who they wanted to be, what they wanted to stand for and begin to shape the future that was in their hands. What was past was past, said Suzanne Black.

"The best is yet to come." "In these challenging times, we need to reflect on who we say we are, what we say we want and why we do what we do," said Black, who has held executive and leadership positions in banking, management, insurance and real estate and earned accolades, admiration, official and private sector recognition, including an honorary doctorate in letters and a medal during the country's Silver Jubilee. 

How, she asked the audience, "can I say the best is yet to come" when challenges seem greater than ever before? "Because so much of what we see, hear and read tends to reflect what is negative that we often tend to overlook what is positive...Getting to the better begins within each of us...The challenge is to choose what you wish to think about and what you say. In other words, do you think with words that will build and effect positive change or do you think with words that portray no light at the end of the tunnel?

Our choices are demonstrated through the words we say that reflect the thoughts in our minds." Choosing, she said, is not a one-shot deal. "It's a Monday to Sunday every day deal and it requires that we act with the courage of our words."

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