- November 20, 2018 -
If you have aging parents, you'll get this.
Both Cheryl and I have lost our dads this last year so the holidays this year will be a little raw.
But we've still got our moms and very grateful for them.
Moms in their '80's who have a mind of their own...and there's the rub 🙂
Last weekend, Cheryl's mom wanted to go see her three younger grandkids run in the annual Schoolboy Race...it's a small town thing.
Started in 1959...evidently the oldest youth roadrace in the nation.
Eastern PA had just gotten their first big snow of the season and she was late getting there.
Lateness runs in their family (the women)...but it was the darned snow, dammit that made her late.
So Gloria parked where she could find a spot and got out to trudge the half-mile to where she's to meet up with the kiddos' other grandmother.
She was walking carefully because her kids have lovingly warned her (often) that if she falls and breaks a hip, her busy social life is going to take quite the hit.
Everything was fine and dandy until her path was blocked by a good-sized mound of snow.
No way around it. No way over it without the risk of falling.
So Gloria did what 82-year-olds do...with a style all their own.
She carefully got to the top of the mound with the help of her cane so she could be seen by the crowd on the other side.
And called out in her sweet grandmotherly voice: "Hey!"
To make sure she was seen AND heard...she waved her arms and tried again in a voice that could wake the dead: "Hey! I need some help!"
Sure enough a young woman came right over and helped Gloria down over the other side.
Gloria generously thanked her and...
This grandma had no shame in asking (loudly) for help.
No frustration. No panic. No ranting. No whining. No anger...yet she clearly couldn't get to where she needed to go on her own.
So she just did what she could handle on her own.
And then she asked for help.
Meanwhile...we get all bent out of shape if Starbucks misspells our name on our Christmas cup.
The things you and I take for granted that are a "mound of slippery snow" for others are humbling.
I'm ashamed at the excuses I've made today, this week, this month, this year... this lifetime.
Excuses for moving the needle forward in business and in life.
You should be, too.
You and I have it good...even if we're going through a rough patch.
Maybe the rough patch has been more like the year from hell.
Mounds of snow blocking your way at every turn.
Pride, ego, stubbornness keeping you from putting your head down and plowing through to the other side....
Or from asking (loudly) for help.
With all the potential to turn things around with some help.
But only if you're tired of being ashamed of where you are.
And you're ready to get some expert guidance (the cost is reassuringly expensive) to walk along side you and help get you over those roadblocks.
Sure, you can keep your head down for another year and collect the scars as you figure it all out on your own...or you can invest in shortening the learning curve by 10 to 20 years.
Happy Thanksgiving! Cheryl and I are extremely thankful for you!!
Enjoy the long weekend, and I'll talk to ya on Monday.
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Photo by Let Ideas Compete on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND
