Many of you were like me, saying to 2019, “good riddance, don’t let the door hit you on the way out! 2020 is my year!
And it was… until about Friday the 13th of March when 2020 went into a fatal tailspin, shot down by a bogie called Coronavirus.
COVID-19. Lockdown. Shutdown. Rationing. Stay-at-home orders. People being arrested for simply leaving their homes… in America!
And worst of all… no freakin’ toilet paper!
But it gets worse. 30 million people – 30 MILLION PEOPLE – are unemployed just months after three years of the lowest unemployment and the greatest economic expansion in our history.
Whew. That’s a lot.
And worst of all, our biggest loss and what should never be forgotten is the physical, personal and emotional pain and suffering of so many (I have lost three important people in my life to this virus).
We’ve lost a lot. This will wreak greater havoc than 9/11 by a long shot, and repercussions which will in many cases be irrevocable.
But I have this problem…
I am still smiling.
I’m sorry, I can’t help it.
You see, history is my secret passion. And history tells us that time and again, when tragedies of this proportion happen, we as a country, heck we as a species… step-up!
We rise!
We recover.
We dream.
We learn.
We plan.
We envision.
We work! (Boy, do we work!).
We pick ourselves up and from this virus sucker punch and “Succeed Anyway!”
We innovate, we reinvent and we launch!
Well, except for those who… don’t.
Yes. There are always those who’ll cry and piss and moan about all they’ve lost, and all they can’t do, and everything that’s been taken from them.
“It’s not fair!!!”
You know the type, they criticize everyone and everything, but rarely lift a hand to help themselves let alone others.
Worst of all they make the often fatal mistake of blaming. I mean, this wasn’t their fault, right?
The moment you blame your situation on anyone other than yourself, you take all of your power and you hand it to the very person or thing you don’t want to have it.
My question is, which one are you?
Are you mired in self pity, willing to be a victim of a virus from the other side of the world?
Or will you “succeed anyway?” Will you get busy projecting the changes to come, reimagining your life, business and career, reinventing yourself?
I am telling you, this isn’t a loss, it’s a launching pad!
And that’s my mild frustration: The only difference between loss and launching pad is a choice. And I can’t make it for you.
I understand that this is a difficult and confusing time.
I also understand that for you, for me, it’s time… Time to put the past behind us and rise; and I bet you know what that means for you.
And, if you are bold enough to make the choice – on faith because there are no guarantees – that this crazy earth transformation is ultimately good, that come hell or high water it will be your launching pad to unimagined heights… I can help you with that (see below). We are kindred spirits.
Thank you for making that choice.
Live truly, truly live,
Mike
