Musings at Altitude

After finding peace this morning and getting my reservoirs filled once again, I’m now spending a few minutes catching up on news and some emails as I continue to seek inspiration from family and friends and get reinvigorated through my faith.  Church today was awesome…it always is…and I always walk away from the Sunday morning worship knowing that my God is an awesome God and all the blessings that I have are so undeserved.  Fortunately, He’s been patient with me, and the more I worship, the more I realize how patient He must be!

As I browse the newswires, I’m tempted to just stop paying attention anymore.  It’s so depressing right now as every news organization seems to want to sensationalize what’s happening with the economy and ultimately with our nation.  You have to search pretty dad gum hard to find something positive or anything that will make you smile.  I’m so thankful for cable.  At least with SportsCenter I can soak in the news without hearing constantly, “this is the worst it’s ever been”. 

I fully realize that a major downturn has occurred in the last few weeks – I just need to look at my account balances to realize that what I thought I had is now only a fraction of what I really have.  But what I have today is still more than what I had not to long ago.  And what I’ll have tomorrow, even if further setbacks occur, will still be more than what I started with a decade ago.

At times like these, I tend to focus on what I do have rather than what I’ve lost.  One of my favorite songs is Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”.  Do you remember this line?   “If tomorrow all the things were gone I’d worked for all my life, and I had to start again with just my children and my wife; I’d thank my lucky stars to be living here today, because that flag still stands for freedom and they can’t take that away.”  I remember so vividly back in the Spring of 2002 when my wife and I were sitting on our back deck seriously considering selling our house.  We hadn’t been paid for over 6 months as I worked for a Silicon Valley company and we waited so desperately for an investment to keep the company going.  Our credit card bills were staggering, and we had no more line of credit to draw on.  As I talked about how badly we were doing, she mentioned how little she had when she was growing up and how little we had when we first got married.  She reassured me that starting over again with nothing was ok, and she stressed how confident she was in me and in what I was doing.  A few weeks later, we got that investment in the door and we were able to pay back much of our debt.  But the fact that she reminded me of how blessed I was and how much she loved and trusted me still gives me smiles even today.

Today, in this latest economic downturn and during the great stress from change in our business environment, my family still gives me those hugs and kisses and smacks upside the head every now and then.  For some strange reason, they love me unconditionally, and I probably leverage that love every single day of my life.  And I also have great friends that give me a much needed ear for listening and some much needed wisdom in counsel and advice in return.  I’m fortunate to have faithful friends that pull me out of that business quicksand that I sink into every now and then.  I bet we all experience that quicksand where one thing goes wrong…then another…and another…and the more you struggle, the faster you sink.  The only way to get out of that quicksand is for someone to reach down and grab you or give you something to pull yourself out with.  My friends do just that, and through their encouragement, their support, their faithful listening, and their tremendous counsel, those funks I sink into are typically short and that optimism and confidence returns quickly.

In the midst of this incredible economic crisis and the dramatic changes going on in my business life, I’m seeing so many reasons to smile.  My optimism is returning right now, and I’m sensing some beautiful things happening in the days ahead.  I have no doubt that there will be lots of challenges…those are unavoidable…but amidst those challenges will be some special events that will broaden the smiles and bring back some laughs.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”  I’m in a season of change, and I hope I do my family, faith and friends proud in my actions throughout these challenging times ahead.