As a business owner, I, like many of you, have been worried about the economy for most of this year. The job market has gotten worse for most Americans and the economy is improving very slowly. How can we reflect on this with a bit more courage than fear? When I was in the high school, a teacher once told me that the things we consider to be stressful are nothing compared with the stress of thousands of years ago. The teacher said, “Imagine being on a farm and living in a small community of 100 or so people in the middle of Mexico, or a settlement of Native Americans outside of New York along the Hudson River.” The memory was tucked away somewhere in my head and it keeps coming back to me when I see myself overly worried. The teacher said, “When they lived in these communities a long time ago, they sowed seeds and counted on rain for the crop to grow, harvest and provide the essential food. Often, there were droughts for 2-3 years in a row, all of the farm animals died, the community was malnourished and they wondered among the few survivors who would die next.” She exclaimed, “That is stressful!”
This provides us with a perspective to allow all of us to accept everything that comes our way in life. Please don’t get me wrong, I enjoy luxuries, but when there are emotional challenges or stressful moments, I reflect on two main things… (1) That what I am facing is little compared to others and (2) That we as humans have tremendous capacity to handle stress. To conquer stress, we need to be aware of it, put it in perspective and find ways to de-stress. Doing yoga in 100 degree weather in India is of course a great way to de-stress. The other thing that gives us the ability to handle stress and challenge is a mindset to justify it as “God’s” way of sending me to the School of Emotional Growth”. We go to school and college to build intellectual growth, we go to the gym and run on the trail to get physically fit, we visit church or temple or a retreat to get religion or spiritual growth and we enjoy parties and events to build relational maturity. However, the two most important things we have with us are instincts and emotional strength. These are brought to us through generations and these are assets of much higher value then the economy. We know the economy will come back and hope it comes back soon for our community. Happy Thanksgiving and hope everyone finds lots of love peace and joy.
Money is as much of a commodity as one can imagine. A dollar is dollar, whether it is in your wallet, in your purse, on your desk, lying on the sidewalk or in a vault. Money is the same whether it is made of pennies or made of quarters or a mud laden one dollar bill. Money is the only part of a service or product that is a pure quantifiable transaction. As a veteran of the corporate world for over 20 years, I have a lot of experience with issues that can arise with handling money. One time, I made the mistake of not giving one of my employees the exact raise that I orally agreed to give him. I was a bit casual about the agreement because to me, money means only a small part the overall process of working that I receive so much satisfaction from. Unfortunately, not everyone else looks at work and money this way, and I received a huge mouthful from my boss about this. It turns out that the employee complained to my boss that he had not been paid on time. I will never forget that moment! It was embarrassing, and made me realize how important it is to keep the exact commitment you agree upon regarding any money issues in the work place.
One of the first major organizing projects we did was in Hartsdale, NY, at the home of an old, very active couple in their 90s. He had a twin brother and they recently celebrated their 100th birthday together, which brought all our memories back. The project started with their daughter, in her 50’s, calling us to help her parents. This is the home where she grew up and where the family also enjoyed raising their grand children. We asked her… as we always do, “Are your parents ready of this?” She said that she told her parents, “If you die with all this stuff in the house, I will just have to burn it!” Of course, everyone knows it was a joke, but the humor gave the project a great start. Our parents’ treasures can be our clutter. We put a team of an Organizer, a Cleaning crew and a Personal Assistant together, ordered a dumpster and took care of three generations of “stuff”. There were old fishing poles, skating shoes, a wooden sleigh and tools that could be sold as antiques. We de-cluttered the attic where boxes of books were kept (he was an attorney), cleaned out the basement and garage and filled a dumpster. The whole place was hosed down and scrubbed clean too. They were an amazing and warm family to work for with a baby (their great granddaughter) crawling around in the kitchen. How do people in their 90’s have the energy and passion to take on a project like this? Only when they can truly care for their children and grand children. Claudia, the daughter that made the first call and the leader of the project was the key to such grace and harmony, since she had an amazing bond with her parents. I hope all of us grow old this gracefully; with humor & health to share.