Hope but Prepare

There's the adage "Hope for the best but prepare for the worst". Or some people revise that saying to be "Pray for the best but prepare for the worst". This saying comes to mind for me when we don't know what we don't know.

Being prepared is most successful when we have all the facts. We make checklists, we create spreadsheets, we manage strategic plans, we start putting the wheels in motion to achieve the outcome we desire. In my family I'm the "trip to Disney planner". My obsessiveness, which on most days is a curse, turns out to be a blessing when it comes to Disney trip planning. My family makes fun of me until the trip is long over and they look back on the RESULTS!

During this pandemic, we've been left to figure things out as they have unfolded. Fear, stress, anxiety and now depression and grief are rampant, and fear of the unknown has been the driver, especially since we still don't know what we don't know. Will this pandemic get better or worse? How will I and my family be effected, or effected MORE than we already are?

There are so many lessons to be learned from this COVID-19 experience this article cannot capture them all, but there will be thousands of articles, blogs, even books in the days ahead relating to our experiences today. In my businesses, when an unexpected event occurs we complete a "Root Cause Analysis", a deep and detailed review of what we knew, when we knew it, what happened, what was missed, all in an effort to learn from the problem and do our best to prevent the problem from happening again. In virtually EVERY case, if we'd been paying attention to the right things the right ways, we COULD have prevented whatever incident occurred. I pray our leaders will do the same and take healthy actions.

With COVID-19, if you haven't watched the YouTube clip of President George W. Bush speaking to the National Institute of Health in 2005 (yes, 15 years ago!) about a pandemic still yet to come to our shores, and then later asking Congress for $8 billion dollars to prepare, you should. At the time there was not the political will to pay up for a crisis that hadn't yet happened. And President Obama had similar speeches and actions. Unfortunately for ALL of us, personally and professionally, life often takes a crisis, a tragedy to propel us into action.

The real tragedy of COVID-19 will be if we go back to "normal" and don't learn anything from this experience. If your family is like mine, we are considering what we can do to prepare now for the next pandemic, but even as I write this phrase there's a portion of my mind saying "REALLY?" Am I being paranoid or getting prepared?..... Pray for the best but prepare for the worst.

At work, will we go back to former routines, will temperature checks, masks, social distancing disappear over time?..... Pray for the best, prepare for the worst. Personally, I'm committing to Pray for the Best but Prepare for the Worst.

There are so many silver linings from this crisis. I've written before about Grief and Gratitude, how stepping into gratitude can help us shorten the length and depth of grieving. Time with our families, Zoom gatherings that have reached out to folks who were shut in or elderly who were in desperate need of connection, re-calibrating our priorities in life - all of these were right in front of us, but we needed a swift kick in the butt to see them.

At one of my businesses, where we continued to provide services out of bricks and mortar locations, we KNEW telehealth was necessary, needed, made good sense. But we continued to keep our heads down and do what was right in front of us. Gratefully, we pivoted quickly and successfully in the midst of this crisis, but we needed that swift kick in the butt to do so. Massive innovation will occur as a result of this crisis and there will be major life enhancements and improvements.

I pray and I hope. Regardless of your political leaning, I've found that praying about and for all of the things I cannot control, such as our President (whoever is in office at the time), Congress, other leaders, helps ME. When I do, I've done what I can to be supportive of our decision-makers, and I am able to leave the rest in God's hands. I pray for wisdom and discernment for them, for peace and grace for them. I'm not so arrogant to believe that God changes the fate of the country or the world at the whims of my measly prayers, but I do know that I feel better as a result of dropping any biases, resentments, fears or anger I may have whenever I do not agree with decisions or direction.

I prepare (most of the time). Preparing means TAKING ACTION. I vote. I voice my opinions respectfully. I pay attention to history which inevitably repeats itself. I seek credible news and I attempt to stay informed. I am trying, personally and professionally to learn from my mistakes, do rudimentary root cause analysis, and change. Just for today, what can I do? One day when I was feeling anxiety about a presentation, I was in typical fear about performance, whether or not I looked good or could make a "successful" presentation and achieve the outcome I wanted. A wise counselor told me "your only job today is to show up, be present and be motivated by love..." Oh... okay, I think I can do that. And my fear was gone!

Personally and professionally, I ask myself, what else should I/we be seeing that I am not? What else do I/we not currently have the will to change, but probably should? I have found that seeking wise counsel from others who have the courage to tell me what I do not want to hear or see, is one the most valuable tools for change. If what needs to change is larger than I alone can address, I ask for help. I gather with others who are seeing what I didn't see, but do now. Climate change, racism, sexism, a growing income gap, growing political divides, hate in general, things that are "off" big or small at home or at work. Are these real, or figments of my imagination? I must seek to understand, seek wise counsel, ask for help, pray, hope and prepare.

Hope and Pray for the Best and Prepare for the Worst.

Rob