The past 6 months have felt as though the anchors in our lives have been pulled up without notice. We have been collectively drifting while being pounded by waves, rain and wind. Our sails have been torn, our rudder damaged and our maps have been rendered useless by the saltwater. Yet, here you are today. You have not abandoned ship. You have not pulled the plug. You may have thought about waving the white flag, but you didn’t.

Today is a day that we take a deep breath and survey the vast seas around us. Today is a day we count our blessings rather than our curses. Today is the day we celebrate that we are healthy and strong. Today is the day we lift our heads, put on a clean shirt, and look for the shoreline.

The past 6 months have been the equivalent of dealing with a toddler throwing a never-ending temper tantrum. You have tried every trick in the book and the kid won’t stop. What’s left? 2020 is shaking all things we deemed certain. Here is what we can do.

Take control of what you can control and let go of what you can’t. Even that never-ending tantrum that is 2020 will wear itself out and fall asleep. We are on the precipice of reaching mercy’s shore. When we get there, we will look back at our tattered ship knowing we would never have been pushed to this new place without the storm.

Rahm Emanuel used this expression during a time we now call the great recession of 2008. Long before Emanuel said it, Sir Winston Churchill stated, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Churchill uttered these words in the mid-1940s as we were approaching the end of World War ll.

I want to highlight both men because they said these words before the crisis had passed. The quote does an amazing job of creating a juxtaposition on the effects of crisis. In simple terms, never wasting a good crisis means that we are given a choice to allow the events of today to bully us or we choose to engage so that we become a warrior for the promise of tomorrow.

Believe it or not, the crisis that is 2020 will be over before we know it. You still have the opportunity to not let it go to waste. Will you be a victim, or will you allow this year to act as a springboard for the rest of your life? Ironic how 2020 vision is considered perfect. We are all sitting in a chair called September and we are being asked is this better or is this better. Like a good optometrist, the year 2020 has clarified our lives in so many different ways.

Family, friends, health and unity have been moved to the top of the chart and life is coming back into focus. Don’t let a good crisis go to waste. There, I said it, now you can add my name alongside Rahm Emmanuel and Sir Winston Churchill.

Almost 2 years ago, we planted several Coast Live Oak trees in our yard. We live out in a rural area that has enough space to support these native giants. These Oaks are iconic in Southern California because of the shear mass they can achieve over the course of hundreds of years. It’s awe-inspiring to stand under a 100-year oak tree and dream about what it has been witness to.

The climate in SoCal has been extremely hot and humid the past several weeks. The other day, I was on our back patio and found myself staring at these newly planted Oaks as if my glaring would will them to grow faster. I want the shade and privacy now! The irony is that the reason Coast Live Oaks can live so long is in part because they grow at a slower pace to allow for deep roots and even harder wood. If you have ever thrown a piece of oak in a fire you understand how much longer it will burn as compared to that bundle of Pine you bought at the grocery store. Hardwood is developed during hard times.

Right then and there it dawned on me that you can’t rush the type of growth that will last generations. The type of growth we need is slow, deliberate, and often leads us wondering if we are growing at all. Are we prepared to plant for the next generation? Planting for the future means that we don’t get to enjoy the shade during our time. What we do get to enjoy is the process of feeding, watering, and looking after these young trees to ensure that they grow in an environment that is suitable for 100 years, not the next 100 days.

As your Chief Encouragement Officer, I want to encourage you that we are in a season of planting and pruning. The digging, the watering, and the cutting is not terribly enjoyable, but it is all the while a great privilege. Remember to look up and admire the canopy you sit under because a previous generation did the same for you!

I don’t describe myself as being overly handy. Don’t get me wrong, over the years I have hung pictures, shelves, put cribs and toys together but the experience is not a pleasant one for anyone in my vicinity. I become notably cranky and short-fused.  Most recently, my wife and I were hanging a picture in the house and I felt my patience diminish almost immediately. I started off with, “Who moved my stud finder?” 

The common denominator in my frustration always leads to blaming other people for things that are clearly my problem. Why is that? After some reflection, I’ve landed on the fact that I don’t put things away. It’s kind of like picking up a bag of salt and vinegar chips on one end of the grocery store and realizing you better not on the other side. Full disclosure, I look for a shelf within 5 feet of me and place those chips amongst the produce.

My point in all of this is that I think many of us have simply been misplaced. We have been picked and used by bosses, politicians, and relationships and never been put back where we belong. This disruption has not been all bad, in fact, looking back it was quite good for us. However, we are left with a sense that we don’t provide value or usefulness any longer.

Today, we have an opportunity to stand up and move in a direction that has long been pursuing us. We spend the majority of our lives taking bad advice from people that have an agenda. This agenda includes encouraging you to continue cramming yourself into a round hole when those who love and appreciate you see you as much more than a square peg. Right now, you have an opportunity to stop blaming others for your misplacement and realize you have enabled those lazy shoppers over the years.  

Here’s how:

1- Stop blaming others 

2- Listen to those that don’t benefit from your decisions

3- Ask the question, if I could have one prayer answered what would it be?

Over the years, this thought process has been quite helpful. When we own our station, clear the noise, and identify what is important, our windy road becomes purposeful, enjoyable, and straight.

When you look back at your life can you identify a time where anxiety helped your situation? If you’re like me the answer is never. Anxiety is like the comfort food of the human condition. We know it doesn’t help us in the long run, but the high carb sentimental indulgence makes us feel better in the now. 

What if we collectively decided to put aside the gravy and actually pursue something in the short term that will benefit us down the road? I’m not immune to anxiety or worry. In fact, nobody is. These emotions come from a place of yearning for security, safety, and success. Years ago, it became obvious to me that being optimistic about the future costs the same as being negative. Being an optimist doesn’t mean you believe everything will work out perfectly it simply means that it will work out like it supposed to work out. I’m ok with that. I’m not in control of anything other than the way in which I respond to a perceived good or bad experience. That’s just it, we don’t really know what is best for us until years have passed and we can appreciate the fact that the greatest disappointments of our life were actually get out of jail free cards. 

I don’t pretend to have a crystal ball that predicts what’s next. From experience, I can tell you that there will be many good and bad things in our future. The good will be great and the bad times will make us feel like the good times are never coming back. As human beings, we are hard-wired to hold on to the negative thoughts from our past and transpose those insecurities to our future. I for one reject that notion and proclaim that the best is yet to come. 

Today is a new day. Today has never existed before. All the negativity that is suffocating you from last week is knocking at your door hoping to ruin another one of your precious days on this planet. Don’t let it. If you are reading this, take a deep breath and shout at the top of your lungs – you are not the boss of me! You are an independent, unique, one of kind human being that has been gifted with the intellect to reject self-doubt and failure. Today is your day to turn the ship back into the storm and declare that you are a force to be reckoned with.