“Our neighborhood is on fire!”
It’s been a wild couple of weeks around our home. As many of you have heard, Southern California has been a blaze. We evacuated our home and three days later returned, thankfully, to find it standing. Two neighbors directly across the street were not so lucky, they lost everything. On our block four houses are down and just one block away, 27 families lost their home. In total, 350 homes were destroyed by the fire. At our local elementary school, seven teachers and 100 children are homeless.
The silver lining: The fire gave us an opportunity to focus on what’s REALLY important. At the end of the day it wasn’t about “the stuff.” What truly matters is people.
In business, the single key to success can also be summarized this way: “success is determined by our ability to take brilliant care of people; people both inside and outside the organization.”
This month’s topic is titled: “Lessons from the Ashes.” Several reminders and lessons we gleaned from the experience and neighbors.
If you’re interested, we found several photos taken from our neighborhood during the fire. To see more hit this link: www.wowcoaching.com/fire.html
Finally, a special thanks to the many people who called, emailed and sent their positive thoughts and prayers in our direction during this challenging ordeal.
We definitely made our guardian angels work overtime. You can bet this Thanksgiving will be special filled with an extra dose of “Thanks!”
PS: Please be sure to check out the many special offers and resources available on our site. You’ll find half off, 50% savings and even FREE stuff for you and your team!
High Five,
Mark Rosenberger, CSP
Featured Article
"Lessons from the Ashes"
by Mark Rosenberger, CSP
Let’s play a quick game: Imagine you have 20 minutes to evacuate from your home. A wall of fire is rapidly heading your direction and you must “grab & go.” What do you take? Where do you go?
At that critical moment of decision, the first priority is people. You become very clear that you’re surrounded by a bunch of “fluff and stuff.” You work hard to capture the memories: photos, family videos, and keepsakes.
Granted, it’d be good to grab important papers, the computer terminal with 15 years of work on it, medication and needed personal care supplies to weather the storm.
Your twenty minutes is now over and you’re heading out the driveway taking a mental snap shot of the place that has housed your museum of memories. You hate to think it, but you wonder if it’ll still be standing when you return.
Welcome to our world.
But for us, it wasn’t a game. On Sunday, October 26th, we had half an hour to “grab & go” as the wall of fire raced in our direction. We watched the news with vivid pictures of our neighbor’s home being consumed by fire. We also learned of other friends who lost everything. Three days later we returned home. Our house was spared and yet only 20 yards across the street two homes lay in ruin.
In our neighborhood, the toll has reached 350 houses damaged by the fire. As we drove around to check-up on friends, I kept repeating, “This place looks like a war zone.” I had no other words to describe the destruction.
It’s been said that in every adversity there lies an equivalent seed of positive benefit. I’m confident there is a silver lining to this event.
Here are some insights from the ashes:
- It’s Never about “The Stuff.”
We were reminded that “the stuff” is nice but at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter. Sunday morning we were officially evacuated from our home. We stood that evening in a friends living room holding hands as a family looking in one another’s eyes as we offered “Thanks.” We had what mattered most standing right in that room.
We resolved to invest more in relationships and less in “stuff.” Invest more time, effort, focus and energy.
We resolved to reach out and make a difference where we can. And in our neighborhood, there is a huge opportunity.
We were reminded that we shouldn’t take life and one another for granted. It can all disappear in a flash.
- Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff.
Richard Carlson’s book: “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” came to life during and following the fire. It’s amazing how much of what I focus on is rather small when it comes to the big picture of life. Far less has bugged me following the fire. It seems I’m taking a lot more things in stride.
A quick check-list and reminder reinforces major priorities for me:
· I have my health
· I have an awesome family and they have their health
· I’ll likely eat three solid meals today (with a few additional snacks as well)
· We have clothes for today and a roof over our head
· I can pay most of my bills
Life is pretty good. The rest is small stuff.
- It’s All Small Stuff.
People really sweat the small stuff. I was recently at the Hertz Gold counter in Chicago. My bus load of car renters arrived to a dysfunctional name board which is designed to point each of us to our vehicles. Instead, we were directed to step inside and pick-up our key packets.
One customer decided to get his underwear in a knot and started giving the counter person, Doris, the “what for.” She apologized and explained the computer system had died for a while and they were working quickly to catch up. Doris was pleasant and you could tell she was working diligently to get us all out the door.
Mr. Underwear-in-a-Knot continued his tirade and demanded he be compensated for the inconvenience. (Some customers can be REAL jerks.) I felt for poor Doris behind the counter.
After several moments of his mindless banter, I decided to add my two cents. I apologized for interrupting and mentioned, “With all due respect, Doris is working hard to get us out the door. We’re probably behind schedule by a solid 6 minutes. I think you’re sweating the small stuff…you’re up-tight that your name wasn’t on the board and my neighborhood just burned to the ground in San Diego. Really, it’s small stuff, why not cut Doris some slack.”
Eight people behind me actually applauded. I received a stare from "Mr. Knotted Underwear" that could thaw ice. Doris offered me a hearty “Thanks.” The point: in the big picture of life, we major on the minor, get distracted by stuff that doesn’t really matter and get taken out of the game by the trivial.
- An Opportunity to Re-Examine Life’s Priorities
Fires, death and major disasters offer the opportunity to re-examine one’s priorities and life direction. The fire experience offered our family time to evaluate the direction we’re headed and assess our major priorities.
The wisdom of the Cheshire Cat from “Alice-in-Wonderland” comes to mind: “If you don’t care where you’re headed, any road will take you there.”
We’re taking a closer look at our road--The major reinforcement: what matters most is faith, family and friends.
- Add Some Extra Squeeze To The Hugs That Count.
Our lessons from the Ashes offered another reminder: how we often forget to tell the people that matter most that they do indeed matter most. Stated differently, it’s time to add some extra squeeze to the hugs that matter most.
As we returned home, we elevated our level of Thankfulness—Our home was still standing.
We also added some extra squeeze to our hugs for friends who weren’t so fortunate. Many times the extra squeeze communicated what words could not.
The lessons from the Ashes offered timely reminders and prompted our family to closely examine priorities. We’re going to pause for an extra meaningful Thanksgiving. It’s the perfect time of year to put our learnings into action.
Have an awesome Thanksgiving season and may you be filled with Thankfulness for your many blessings.
Lessons of the Trapeze
Trapeze Buddy Success Characteristic:
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