Hi Friend
My son went back to college two weeks ago. My daughter had her first day of school this past Friday. I signed a contract for an in-person event this fall. It seems as if the world is starting to function as it once did. But it’s not. All of Lincoln’s classes are virtual, even though he’s living in an apartment on campus. Lainey is going to the physical school two days a week, the rest at home.
We had to create a new deposit policy because the client wanted to know what happens if the world shuts down again between now and October. Life resembles its former self, but not really. Just below the surface a fragile anticipation that the numbers will spike and everyone will be sent back home again, feels way too certain.
This week has also included final preparations for the virtual conference we are producing. It starts on Monday in the DFW area. I’m heading down there tomorrow (Sunday). From the virtual platform, to the multiple cameras/switcher/audio, to scripting every minute of the three half-days agenda, to answering all the exhibitors and speakers questions, to preparing as the host – this venture is all consuming. I LOVE IT.
Fortunately, I have stellar people around me to manage many of the details. It’s been a wild ride and I hope very much to write good things about it next Saturday.
Life is not what it was.
Or is it? Haven’t our days always been filled with growth opportunities, challenges and change? It’s so ridiculously magnified at the moment and so bizarrely altered it seems otherworldly. Fundamentally though, we’ve always been conscious that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed for us.
Granted I’ve had 50 years of living that lulled me into expecting the world to spin a certain way. We all have. That’s why people use phrases like “new normal” or “get back to the way things were.” What if this is the way things were, only on a global scale?
Have you ever known someone whose life seemed to implode? Of course you have. There is a lot of heartbreak and sadness in the world because life didn’t turn out as an individual imagined it would. Honestly, I think that could be said for the majority of people, yet we never collectively grieve for them (or us). We do it one-at-a-time.
What if this monumental global reset reveals we were abnormal?
In all our hopes to “return” to some form of the reality we knew seven months ago, shouldn’t we be considering if that normalcy was fulfilling, meaningful and healthy? I suspect if it was, we’d be navigating these treacherous times with a strong sense of peace. I suspect if it wasn’t, we’re flailing about emotionally and relationally in unpredictable ways.
Why aspire to restore an existence that was detrimental? Obviously because it’s what we were used to! I’m not proposing abandoning the structure, relationships, beliefs and values pre-2020. I am proposing an examination of our commitments and methods.
My work keeps me connected to a variety of businesses across the U.S. The drastic attitude alteration towards remote work continually challenges me. There were so many beliefs about productivity, distraction, capabilities and value that going into the office was the required norm. All of that has been entirely blown up! Yet in certain industries, sectors, geographies and mindsets it’s still a necessity.
It’s a dramatic world-changing revelation!
Belief, Action, Determination (BAD)
Beliefs about our: Self, purpose, value, abilities, relationships, strengths, thinking, roles, suckage, body and future?
Act: courageously or cowardly, intentionally or spontaneously, generously or closed, out of hope or despair?
Determined to: Learn, grow, become, do, not, examine, attempt, establish and commit?
We’re well past the novelty of this tear in the timeline. We will not “return to the way things were”. Let go.
How can we be and become what we weren’t?
How can we exchange an office optics of life for a remote work lens?
How can we accept what was and decide what will be?
How can we be BAD?
Instigating Ideas
1. Find ways to refresh and rest or none of this will be appealing.
2. Let go of something, anything, that keeps you hoping for the past.
3. List a few revelations you’ve had in the last six months.
4. How can you be intentional about your BAD self?
Who we will become is not a fantasy. You and I will be different. Life imposes itself upon us requiring new thinking, new responses, new attitudes and new understanding. Let’s not fight for the old.
I dare you to articulate a way life didn’t go as you thought, how you contributed to that and what efforts you made to alter future outcomes? I would love to hear the revelation you experienced as you adapted to your unexpected reality. Please Share.