Greetings Leaders!
I’m sitting here enjoying the beautiful weather this morning while I nurse a good cup of coffee. As I look out the window I see a lot of people sitting in lounge chairs talking and sharing. Some are working. Some just hanging out. The season is changing. The heat of the summer is gone and fall is here. As I ponder about that, I’m reminded that change is inevitable. I’m in my 50s now…. and times are different than even a few years ago. The economy is worse off than it was just 3 years ago. My kids are older. Our financial situation has changed. The political landscape is challenging. The world is struggling to deal with terrorism. So… in the midst of all these changes, how do we keep our sanity and some semblance of hope?
Before you read the rest of the post. Watch the following video from Napoleon Dynamite:
There are obviously a lot of ways to deal with change but I want to start with something very simple. You can’t deal with change, if you continue to fight the fact that change is inevitable. That doesn’t necessarily mean it is going to be bad. On the other hand, that doesn’t mean it is necessarily going to be good either. Before you deal with change, you have to accept that change is going to happen. It happens all the time.
To deal with change, stop fighting it. I cannot turn back the clock and be 25 again. I can’t put my head in the sand and pretend that 911 didn’t happen. Just as the seasons change, change will happen all the time.
Some of you are fighting the change, instead of looking to the future. Just as we may be facing some challenging times now, you have hope when you realize that this too shall pass. So to deal with change, stop complaining about it. Stop fighting it. Look for ways to move forward.
For those of you who have seen Napoleon Dynamite, do you remember Uncle Rico? He was in his 40s and still trying to get back to playing football in high school. He even tried to invent a time machine to go back.
If only we could undo some of the things that have changed over the years. Perhaps a divorce, a bad business or financial decision. Some of you may want to get your health back, or are missing a loved one who is no longer here. These are all tough things to deal with. But… before you can deal with them, you have to accept them.
Change is inevitable. It is part of life. It is not the change that we need to deal with, it is our reaction to it.
All the best!
All the time!
JT
