Yesterday, on election day in the United States, I traveled across the country from Sarasota, Florida to Ojai, California. Sea to shining sea (almost). What a beautiful country I live in.
I woke up at 4:00 AM because I was still on Eastern time. I saw the election results. First, I was stunned. Then I went into shock.
I’m not usually one to talk about politics, but in this case I need to make an exception. It won’t cost me any clients because if you voted for him, you won’t be drawn to me or my teachings.
This November I am making a huge investment (for me) in my skills and my business. Last week I attended Michael and Amy Port’s Heroic Public Speaking Live event in Ft. Lauderdale. Now, I am in Ojai about to work with Max Simon of Big Vision Business on how to scale my business in a big way.
I am spending thousands of dollars on this. I found myself thinking that I would not have made that investment knowing what I know today. I feel that we are truly on the brink.
I can’t feel this way and do the type of work I do. Often, I have to help people out of the black pit of despair so that they can create clarity and confidence, find focus, and move forward. (That’s been my tag line for years.)
Therefore, I can’t be in the black pit of despair myself.
So, I started doing what I would do after any life disaster. I started looking for the lessons. And I started looking for a silver lining.
Lessons
One of the lessons is that, as a country, we haven’t come as far as many of us thought we had. All the progress we have made on women’s rights and gay rights and health care are at risk. We let our guard down too soon.
Also, America is a melting pot, and many people seem on the verge of a meltdown. They are angry and looking for someone or something to blame.
For the record, blaming never puts you in a position of power. I recommend not playing the blame game.
Silver Lining
Perhaps now that all of our dirty laundry and darker thoughts are out in the open, we can work on healing the root causes?
Hope
My hope is that this blanket of negativity won’t deter the brilliant and beautiful souls I know who are truly trying to create an inclusive and supportive world where people can do great and meaningful work.
Yes, it is absolutely tempting to give up and give in. We’ve lost (for now). Should we just throw in the towel? It’s easier in the short term – but devastating in the long run.
No, we shouldn’t do that. Dr. Brené Brown says that hope is not an emotion: It’s a learned response to having gone through struggle.
We’ve gotten through bad things before. We can have hope.
Belief
Step back for a moment and consider what you believe. What are your values? What are you absolutely NOT willing to do or accept. Tap into that power and hold your ground. There are many of us with you.
I am here to re-launch people. It is my gift and my joy. Point A to Point B Transitions will continue to grow so that we can serve even more people who are in career transition and career confusion.
Together
Here is what I believe in: possibility.
I also believe that it isn’t a zero-sum game and that, in fact, there is a very big pie and we can all have a slice.
My success doesn’t mean you will have less. Quite the opposite! We can support each other and raise each other up. Collaboration is the new black.
And that is exactly what I intend to continue doing – supporting you and helping you find your right next step so that you can do great things, and live the life you want to.
Who’s with me?
Collaborative action is the best action – and we can still can take it. We must still take it.
The real work begins in January. I am with you in slicing the pie more for all of us, so we can all be more successful.
The best things in life are never easy. There is more uncertainty than ever. What we have is each other, and we can find those who we count on to work together and be the change we want the world to be, one person, one step, at a time.
philgerb Thank you so much for your heart-felt response, Phil. You and @pamslim were two of the people I was thinking of who were creating a safe place for us to do valuable work.
Interesting post, Catherine. I’ve read it five times and been pondering it for two days. Now I’m going to ramble! The politics of division, which have dominated the public square for years, have succeeded in putting just about everyone in a state of high anxiety — everyone feels threatened in one way or another, for one reason or another. (That people on all sides of the political discussion feel they are under attack raises interesting questions, such as why people have such a hard time seeing this and why politicians are so eager to fan the flames.) Anyway, I really like your idea of collaboration. Building deep relationships with family, friends, and colleagues makes any challenge easier to get through. But I would take it a step further. What we also need to do is start concentrating on the many things that unite as as human beings, rather than dwelling on the very few things, and mostly superficial things, that divide us. If we retreat into fortified camps organized around certain narrow beliefs or personal characteristics, we will remain in a state of perpetual tension and division. Think dialog rather than argument, begin from the premise that we are all brothers and sisters rather then friends or enemies, and I believe the world starts to look a lot brighter. If we hold ourselves to that standard, we may be pleasantly surprised and one day find politicians doing the same.
BradShorr Oh my goodness, Brad! I could not agree more on the fact that we need to concentrate on what unites us. We all live on this planet. We all care about friends and family. We are so much more similar than we are different when we look at the important things.