3, 2, 1...Let the Countdown Begin

Three Unalterable Truths

The year came in peacefully enough.

The month of January gave no hints of what was to come. Sure, there was a report on New Year's Eve that there were a handful of cases of an unknown virus in Wuhan, China. Who knew that this was just a small brush fire ready to turn so many people's world to ashes? Just another story about a disease so far away that didn't seem cause for concern. Mistake number one...

The pandemic begins 

By February, travel was restricted, March brought a declaration of a national emergency for the U.S. and the beginning of the stay at home order for all of us. We now were living in a new world for which we had no map. What this new world did to so many was tragic in unimaginable ways…

2020's significant gift, lost dreams

So many lost jobs, lost savings and lost their hope for the future. I know the feeling of the wrath of 2020 personally. As uncertainty comes in waves, as the plans disintegrate, it's so easy to lose hope. The difference between having hope and being hopeless is summed up in four letters, less. When we find ourselves with less ability to provide, fewer prospects for tomorrow, and less self-confidence, the spark in life dims…

Two Things To Do About It

The way out is just that; it's out.

The key isn't within us; it's outside of our world. Hope doesn't come by "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps"; it comes when we realize there are so many out there that care. As I write this, I received a text from a fierce friend who is blessing my family this Christmas in ways unimaginable. We're not doomed to live a solitary life of abject gloom. Yes, so many work alone at home right now. We wear masks, and our smiles go unseen. But the world outside of our home, the smiles within our masks, that's where the future lies. Reach out to those who care, those you care about. Now. Smile, even if it's behind a mask. It matters.

Find Help

Most of us want to change; we try to change by doing the same thing. I saw a great message on LinkedIn this morning. It read, "You can't heal in the same environment that made you sick." I'll take that, mix it with Einstein's famous statement and come up with, "You're not going to see a change of you unless you change what you're doing, how you're doing it, and the environment you do it in." We all want to get better.\? Get help. No athlete of note hasn't had a coach that pushed, changed, and improved them. People as diverse as Oprah, Leonardo DiCaprio, Von Miller, Bill Clinton, and Metallica use life coaches to improve. Want to be successful? Do what those successful do. 

One Last Thing

Do something for someone else.

 Want to be happy for a month, buy a car. For a week? Get a tv. For a day, get some new clothes. Want to find a glow that lasts forever? Help someone. Today, reach out and help someone. Then, reach out and help yourself. 

Change the narrative of 2021. Why, because 2020 sucked.