My great-grandfather died long before I was born, but my grandmother remembered him fondly.
He was a hard-working man. He worked with type setting for many years. It was honest, hard work and he developed a reputation for his excellent quality.
As time marched on, industrial innovation marched in: big machines that did all kinds of fancy new things faster and “more efficiently” than my highly-skilled great-grandfather. The machines were quite impressive – and not at all something that he understood.
My grandmother said he tried. He worked to try to understand these new machines at first. But he couldn’t adapt. He began working less and drinking more and – years later – became very ill and passed away well before his time.
My grandmother said she believed he really died of a broken heart.
She watched her father change from a big, joyful man who carried himself with pride and a twinkle in his eye – to a shell of a man who lost the will to live.
Why the heck am I sharing such a sad story?
I see this same dynamic play out in our modern world.
Technology is hurdling forward at an unfathomable pace. My children make me feel older every day as they navigate technology and try to explain it to me with words that I’m pretty sure they made up.
I’ve been feeling strangely akin to my great-grandfather these days.
I’ve built a successful “brick-and-mortar” business. Now I am expanding and building an online platform.
Some days, I look at this big machine called the internet and I think – “Wow, that’s impressive. But how do I make it work?”
And all at once, I understand my great-grandfather’s struggle.
We all face walls in our lives – changes to which we have trouble adapting.
Whether we like it or not, change (good and bad) happens.
How do YOU deal with it?
Do you keep moving forward, keep learning, keep hustling?
Or do you pull another seat up at the proverbial bar (for me, it’s always been overeating) and indulge in the sorrow of inaction?
Or maybe it’s some combination of the two? (“Hey, I’m learning this! Wait, no I’m not…time to eat 42 Oreos!”)
I think that if my great-grandfather were here, he would share some simple advice. Maybe that advice would go a little like this:
- Open your eyes to the possibilities. Even ones you thought you’d NEVER consider. Sometimes new seasons bring new courage and new grace, and things you “couldn’t do” before are now possible. Work hard at what’s working and let go of what’s not.
- You’re not alone. Don’t pull away from the people who are cheering for you! Reach out. Ask for help. Do whatever it takes. There might be a few people out there waiting for you to fail – but there are more people out there who want to see you succeed.
- Don’t lose hope. When you lose hope, you’ve lost the air your weary soul needs to breathe. No amount of man-made momentum or “hustle” will pull you out of hopelessness. Losing hope is the surest way to fail.
Whatever difficult change or circumstance you’re facing – you know that one that makes you want to lose hope? Please, remember:
You’re really not alone.
Let’s work together to find a better ending, shall we? How can I help you reach what matters?