First, I want to let you know, it’s okay if you’re angry! It’s okay if you’re frustrated. It’s okay if you’re feeling uncomfortable.
Wherever you are, whatever you’re feeling, it’s understandable and normal.
Just take a moment to reflect. Think back to where you were when you were welcoming in the New Year. You were saying good-bye to 2019 and looking forward to 2020 with great hopes and aspirations!
If someone would’ve told you that before the end of the first quarter, you wouldn’t be able to eat in a restaurant; you wouldn’t be able to go into a bar; all movie theaters would be closed; all clothing stores would be closed; you wouldn’t be able to go to work; your children wouldn’t be able to go to school; and you wouldn’t even be able to go to church…you would’ve said they were crazy!
All these things became reality in less than 90 days after we rang in the New Year. If that wasn’t enough instant change for you, in many places, masks became mandatory when you were in public. Certain locations require you to have your temperature taken before entering their establishments.
We have some people “pro-masks” and others “anti-masks.” We have some people living in total fear and others fearing what “normal” is going to be. We have political parties fighting over agendas instead of fighting for those they serve. We have unresolved racial disparities adding further divide among some people.
Unrest, uncertainty, unjust, and total upheaval, are all justifiable reasons for the emotion(s) you, your neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family are feeling.
Like with all things in life, we must remember, what happens to us is 10% of the equation. The other 90% is how we respond to it. All these things that have transpired, have happened to all of us. Life happens to all of us.
The difference between those of us that will transcend and rise above the circumstances and those of us that will continue to complain and fall victim to the circumstances lies in our ability to control our emotions.
While having feelings of anger, frustration, uncertainty, and uncomfortableness, we must be able to focus on what we do have that can help us. We must choose to focus on what we can do instead of focusing on what we cannot do.
If we look at leaders in industries that are choosing the path of “what we can do,” we see examples of our abilities to adapt almost overnight! It is our ability to adapt and change that separates humans from other species.
If you take a polar bear and put it in the desert, it will not survive. Take a lizard to the North Pole and you have the same result.
Almost overnight, classrooms and board rooms became Zoom rooms. Movie-goers can now stream new releases through Fandango. In-dining restaurants suddenly offered takeout. As you look around, you can see plenty of businesses that did not adapt, that did not change. Their doors have been closed permanently.
Regardless of which position(s) you take, where your anger lies, don’t choose to be a victim. Instead choose to be a victor!
All change begins with uncomfortableness! Until the clothes are so tight you are uncomfortable, it’s hard to give-up your eating habits. When money is so tight, you are uncomfortable, you begin to look for new ways to earn income.
Instead of trying to avoid the uncomfortableness, embrace it! Evaluate your uncomfortableness. What is it telling you? What do you need to change?
While I’m blessed to lead a wonderful organization, with great staff, and to have a coaching business with the option to select the clients I want to work with, I also see blessings in this Pandemic. (Remember, we see what we focus on!)
Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe we should have a choice on wearing a mask. I’ve never been angrier than I am right now over losing my freedom of choice. With that said, I feel more powerful and in control by choosing how I respond to the unwanted limitations put on me.
I’m using my uncomfortableness as motivation to build a team of influencers to help distribute virtual reality technology that will positively impact the e-learning industry, the entertainment industry, and the e-commerce industry.
Instead of watching news on increasing positive tests, listening to people complain about masks, and social injustice, I’m choosing to work with individuals looking for opportunities. I’m excited to be part of a company that has launched during a pandemic, not in one country, but three countries and has already generated over $9 million in revenues in three months!
Instead of trying to change people’s way of thinking, of ways of acting, I hope you’ll join me in changing the only thing we can change – ourselves. We can choose to focus on improving, adding revenue streams, and creating more choices for ourselves and those we care about.
“Being uncomfortable is the beginning of change.”
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I always look forward to your thoughts and replies.
Photo credit to www.pixabay.com/qimono
Published by Bryan M. Balch, Results Coach
Helping Individuals and Businesses Achieve Desired Results