A Cancelled Event = An Unqualified Success?

Yesterday’s article featured the video presentation that I had prepared for a summit which was cancelled one week before its scheduled start.

Although disappointed with the cancellation, the realist element of my personality recognizes that s*** happens—or to be poetic: into each life some rain must fall.

On the other hand, as an alumnus of the school of hard knocks, I also recognize events that don’t work out as expected can represent ideal learning opportunities. Happily, the cancelled summit represents an ideal learning opportunity.

By way of background, the purpose of the summit was to provide support for neurodivergent entrepreneurs. I was vaguely aware of the term neurodivergent, primarily because my wife spent her career working as a school psychologist.? In my mind, any psychological diagnoses that included the term neurodivergent were in some way problematic:? autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) dyslexia down syndrome and similar terms.

Many years ago, I recognized that I was probably a highly sensitive person.? Since that characteristic didn’t seem to interfere with a normal life, it never occurred to me that it could or would be considered neurodivergent.

Very early in my research into the concept of neurodivergent entrepreneurs, I learned that being a highly sensitive person (HSP) is in fact considered neurodivergent because our brains process information differently from others.? In effect, those of us who are HSP (20-30% of the population) are more sensitive to physical, emotional, or social stimuli.

Whoops. Blissfully ignorant of psychological criteria, I decided that as an HSP, I was not neurodivergent,? probably because of whatever negative connotations were associated with that term.

Lesson learned: Don’t make decisions without having all the facts.

My research into having a brain that works different was truly a joyful journey of discovery.?

The more that I learned about typical HSP behavior, the more I understood why I had done some of the things that I had.? Not only did my HSP attributes align with the best practices of doing one thing or another, in many cases, it was the focused application of these very characteristics that led to successful outcomes.

Echoing the rainfall reference from above, the rain on my HSP parade took the form of those challenges and issues triggered more problematic issues.

Without going into detail, I have now identified a couple of areas in my life that require focused proactive attention in order to make a positive difference in my life. ?Happily, I can apply other HSP attributes to help overcome these problematic challenges and issues.

All things considered, it seems to me that notwithstanding the cancellation of the summit, my participation was an unqualified success.

If you haven’t yet checked out my presentation, have a look.?

Hope you find it helpful.