Wildfires in Maui. Hurricanes on the east coast. Flooding everywhere. People dying from multiple diseases. It is easy to look at the condition of our world and throw your hands up, give up and quit. What good would that do? We forget that in our moments of distress there are other people depending on us to stay steady. People look to us for guidance and direction in the worst times. It is during those times leaders must deliver calm.
I get dozens of calls in a month, not just for leadership advice, but for life advice. People call me to talk about their children, their marriages, their employers, their purpose. Do I stay or do I go? I have heard a lot of it and I try to be the voice of calm and reason when people bang my line. Listening to these matters also helps me give perspective to my life and understand things could be worse, much worse. I gain another level of gratitude knowing what people go through on a daily basis. I have nothing to complain about and I don't.
It's easy to be so distracted by the events of this life that we are only concerned with ourselves. We know what it means to be empathetic and sympathetic; however, we don't understand the depth of these until something irreversible happens to us. I never understood death until my parents died. I did not understand sickness until my good friends lost loved ones through terminal illness. I did not understand the pain of material loss until I lost valuable possessions when my home flooded in 2021, then drove around my community and saw hundreds of houses with piles of discarded belongings placed on their curbsides.
I have learned throughout my life not to focus on pettiness. It does not matter if toilet tissue is over or under when some people cannot afford toilet tissue it does not matter if I forget to turn off a lamp when homeless people have no electricity. I don't waste leftovers because some families would consider my leftovers a gourmet meal. I won't complain because I have nothing in my life to regret or be ashamed of. I did it. I owned it. i can't change it. I learned from it. I moved on. I will not allow my past to be my prison.
Things in this world will not get better, but we get through whatever comes our way. I remember when fuel was .35 cents a gallon. I paid it then and now that it is over $4.00 I am thankful I am still able to pay it. I am thankful I can pay for a $6.00 box of cereal. I am thankful I can pay $7.00 for a movie ticket. I am thankful I can pay $9.00 for a greeting card. I am thankful I can go to a restaurant and pay $50.00 for a meal that lacks flavor. I am thankful for eyes that see, ears that hear, and hand that touch and feel.
Life may not be what you hoped, but no matter what happens next, it is going to be alright.
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