New Year Message

Happy New Year!

We all probably have hopes for the new year.  We want it to be better than the old one, healthy, and free from stresses and trials.  We probably think about losing weight, getting that raise, or improving our financial well-being.  All of these things are wonderful things.

I started 2017 with the optimism that every new year brings.  But like every year, nothing is predictable.  The first half went pretty smoothly right up until I went on vacation.  While visiting Disney World with my lovely wife, beautiful daughter, and amazing inlaws, I felt an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I even had a dream that I was fired from my job of 13 years.  Sure enough, the day I returned from vacation I received a call from the Vice President and the CEO of the company that they wanted me to move to the corporate office to assume a more substantial position.  I actually considered it until I tried to negotiate and realized I would not receive a single penny of additional compensation for relocating.  I immediately decided it was time to look out for the good of myself and my family.  

It was a fork in the road.  I absolutely felt as though I could fold up the tent and go home.  I gave myself excuses why I could give up and let everyone feel sorry for me.  After all, who could come back from so much adversity PLUS losing a job of well over a decade?

I decided to dig in and fight.  I wanted to believe that I was more valuable than my old company gave me credit for.  I needed to fight for my wife, my daughter, and my home.  Those 13 years could either be mourned, or I could fight for what they helped me build.  Fight I would.  I put my energy into looking out for what we needed as a family.  

My new company came along, and they seemed to need me as much as I needed them.  So I ended the year with a group who wants to invest in me as an employee and a person.  

The lesson I learned for 2017 is that no matter how much we want to control the course of our lives, we are fooling ourselves to believe that we can control everything.  2108 will bring the highs and lows that every other year brings.  We will have times of feeling incredibly blessed, and times that we wonder who we pissed off that we are being treated so badly.  BUT, that is NOT the point.  The lesson here is that everything hinges on HOW WE RESPOND!  Do we fight?  Do we take the lead stare down the adversity?

If you want to have a resolution....forget "that 2018 will be better" and all that stuff.  Make your resolution that you will stare adversity right in the face and refuse to back down.  Refuse to quit regardless of what comes your way.  Refuse to lose your sense of self and your sense of joy no matter what is thrown at you.  Remember that you have this life, and ONLY this life, and to allow nothing to steal your happiness away.

Be well and have a great 2018.   Tom