Personally, I have peace and joy during this very trying time. I am continually sharing with my staff and my family that joy is an inside job and not dependent on, or slave to our circumstances.
If we take action through a lens of fear, it is bound to increase the feelings of anxiety. It is usually an act of defense if we act at all. Survival mode if you will. When we act out of faith, it is driven through hope and thanksgiving and most always proactive.
Our inner circle needs leadership, not pandemonium. Our communities, co-workers, family, and staff need leadership and vision, not more fuel to a wild fire.
Leadership is the ability to influence others. So in essence, we carry around two buckets at all times. In one hand, a bucket of water and the other a bucket of gasoline. Wisdom and leadership teaches us when to use each one. One puts a fire out and one makes even a small ember a huge flame. In a situation like what we are currently living in, leaders must asses the facts and lead from a position of strength. Those who are throwing fuel on a fire in a time of crisis are not leading at all. This is the time to use the bucket of water to calm the fears of those around us.
This does not mean that we need to like our circumstances or ignore them. In fact, we can down right hate our current circumstances. But rest assured this too shall pass. With the exception of death and taxes (and Tom Brady going to another Super Bowl with Tampa Bay), everything passes. So, use this time as a time of reflection; as a time of goal setting; for being more prepared when we go back to “normal”; for smelling the roses; for more quality time with those we love; to maybe facetime those whom we do not see or speak to often; as a time to reconnect with friends once close; an perhaps more important than all, a time to pour the bucket of gas on our spiritual life.
Last night my daughter made her very own home-made hibachi grill for our family. The fried rice was super! Her recipe included rice, and egg or two, salt, pepper, and stir fry sauce. The chicken was outstanding and so were the veggies. She even had a water bottle to squirt in everyone’s mouth and she tossed veggies into our mouths from her spatula. She is refusing to bow to the fear, because joy is an inside job.
EBTGains 