Good morning Team, It’s Friday!

Have you ever noticed how things will be moving along so well then something happens to disrupt forward progress? Or at least it might seem that way.

I spoke to one of my sons last night and found out that our granddaughter has been seriously ill for the past 2 days with 105 degree fever, throwing up and mostly inconsolable. My heart breaks for the whole family as they navigate illness, health systems, work and lack of sleep.

Anne has worked with someone for a number of years who recently found out that they have stage 4 cancer. Everyone is still processing the news and wondering how to help while the coworker is dealing with doctor visits, work schedule, family matters, emotions and fatigue.

Two days ago I connected with a former coworker who unbeknownst to me lost his father a couple of weeks ago to a massive heart attack at age 72. His parents were traveling from their Midwest home to a warmer location for a respite and stopped at my colleagues home along the way. Gasping for air, compressions, EMT shows up and works for 35 minutes before accepting he was not coming back.

It’s easy to believe if we do things a certain way that we can avoid adversity. Clean living, don’t offend anyone, eat your Wheaties, exercise, etc. and you’ll be golden. Then you hear about someone you know, someone you care about, someone you love…dealing with issues like the aforementioned, and you quickly gain perspective.

If your day is stressful, your plane is delayed, your car won’t start, you slipped on some ice, your new software won’t work as intended or a plethora of other issues impacting forward movement, pause, take a breath and remember the sage words from an old friend, “If it can be solved with money, it’s not really a problem.”

We get caught up thinking we are in control. We wonder when things don’t go as we had planned what we could have done differently. We would all benefit from remembering we are not in control, there are many forces in this world that don’t consult with us how things will transpire, shit happens. Another good friend recently shared the quote, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react”.

Practicing gratitude for everything from another day with your loved ones to a hot shower, a brisk walk, the ability to laugh or to read and share thoughts … or, here is the tough part, expressing gratitude for hardships … is a great place to start.

Have a blessed weekend!