I am in my basement ‘office’ surrounded by Xbox’s, basketballs, old files, dog toys, old newspapers that I promised to read, yoga mats and foam rollers! My kids tell me, the basement belongs to them, my wife tells me the house is her “workspace” and we are in her way 24 x 7, my dog still doesn’t feel like she gets the attention she deserves and our sleep schedules feel like a constant jet lag! All of which is true, except the dog part 🙂
I started a new business a year ago with a lot of hope, plans and belief! The first 2 weeks of the pandemic “rocked” my world. My customers were struggling and an economy that had been ‘hot’ and full of promise yesterday had lost hope! Small irritations triggered emotional responses. Deep down, I felt helpless and anger towards governments and people. As a ‘social’ person who thrives on meeting people, I felt I had the right to feel angry and push the blame to others. Helplessness!
To deal with my emotions, I went through some old notes. I had written down ‘family, faith & future’ from a speech that was given to a group of us many years ago. The speaker has always been committed to his family’s success and helping people around him. The notes took me back to the moments of that speech, the room, the smell, the people around me, and the passion I felt for the speaker because of the Hope he gave me.
I, like all of you, feel very vulnerable and continue to struggle with what the future holds for my business and my family. But I also believe that we have ‘a shared belief in the ultimate triumph of human freedom & dignity…a conviction that we have a say in how this story ends…the challenges we face are great & the work will be hard. But, in the long years to come, people of the world will say do not despair, do not yield, March straight forward with courage and purpose, with humility and HOPE, with faith and promise of a better tomorrow!’
In conclusion, Dr. Brene Brown summarizes the current times and future for all of us; ‘I believe that you have to walk through vulnerability to get to courage, therefore embrace the suck. I try to be grateful every day and my motto right now is “Courage over comfort.” I do NOT believe that cussing and praying are mutually exclusive…’
