Lights OUT!

Last night, shortly after 3:00 am, it happened.? There were not any storms, nor were there high winds.? No sleet, no ice, no weather events, but yet it still happened. Something happened, or there was an occurrence with our electric provider that caused the power in our neighborhood to go OUT.? Lights OUT, not working!? I was asleep; however I did wake up.? Not because it was dark (it was early in the morning and it was dark), but because the sounds around me changed.? The fan in our room stopped working.? I got up to see if the lights on across the street were on, or the street behind me were on, but they were all OUT.? It did not cause any interruption to me other than waking up, however I think there is something we all can learn from it.? The lights may go OUT, but we must still go on.

Occurrence?????????????????????

Occurrences happen!? Often, they happen without any warning and in a flash.? Sometimes they impact you and sometimes they do not.? Regardless of if they impact us or our quality of life, we have to keep moving. An occurrence can be an actual event or a frequency of events.? How you respond to each one is up to you.? Look for ways to learn from them and not have a negative impact on you and your life.? WHEN they happen, be ready.? They will happen.? Know that you are ultimately in control of how you respond.? If the lights go OUT, get a flashlight (or cell phone) to light your path.? It will get light again, and if you are unprepared this time, be ready next time.? What is a recent occurrence that impacted you that caught you off guard?? What did you learn about the incident? ?What did you learn about yourself?

Understand??????????????????????

Understand that there are some things that we just can’t control.? This is harder for some of us than others.? You may be an individual that is more intentional or maybe your behavior style tends to be more direct and candid, possibly even controlling.? When my power went OUT, there was not anything I could do to turn it back on. Sure, I logged into my app and verified that there was an OUTage, but that did not help or hurt the occurrence.? Understanding that we can only control those things that we can control is very beneficial to how you grow.? Are you more of a controlling personality?? Are there some areas of your life that you wish you had more control of?? Any that you wish you were not so controlling?? Do you understand that you can not control everything??

Time????????????????????????????????????

Time takes time!? When I woke up this morning, there was not anything I could do about it.? Sure, it could have impacted how my Friday morning went, but I would have had to adapt.? Might not have had my coffee maker have power to make my coffee, but there is coffee when I get to the office.? I did not wait up to see if the power would come back on, because I trusted that the electricity provider would take care of what needs to be taken care of.? Sure, it might not have been fun if it did not come back on, but it did. The app said they anticipated it coming back on at 5:00am, and it did.? The time between it was OUT and the time it was on would not have changed if I did anything.? I had to wait it out and trust the process?? What are you impatient about waiting on right now in your personal or professional life?? Do you trust the process, or are you trying to influence and change the process to benefit you?? We all get the same amount of minutes and seconds in a day, the thing that we can influence is what we do with that time. Use it to your advantage and put in the work when you can, and trust the process when you can’t.

It was supposed to be dark, but I woke up, and so did my wife.? Things changed and our bodies reacted because it was not normal for the lights to be OUT and the power to be off.? When there is darkness, there will eventually be light.? When there are storms, it will be followed by sunshine.? There are season of life, and we can not control when they start or when they end.? That does not mean that there will not be seasons, just that we can not control them.? There will be occurrences in our lives that, like my power, may change in an instant with no warning.? We have to understand that there are things that we just can’t control, and that in time, it will take care of itself.? Trust the process and trust you to know the difference.? If the lights go OUT, you can still go on, you just might need a flashlight!!?

Stay safe and stay well!

O-Occurrences happen and may be without warning

U-Understand that there are some things we can not control

T-Time takes time