Last week a friend pointed out the importance of celebrating progress.
Her comment came at a time when many people we care about are focused on “what is not” instead of on “what is”.
[Tweet “2 steps forward and 1 step back is still progress.”]
Her words were a waving caution flag reminding me that:
Focusing on the steps back, on the struggle, or on what is not… Fuels negativity and slows progress.
Do you know any person or organization that is in the midst of their most significant struggle – ever?
Would it help you get through the struggle if you knew that it was necessary to unleash your greatest strength?
There is a pattern throughout history that fills me with so much hope that it almost makes me wish for a big struggle…
So today I’m taking my own advice and pausing:
When we announced our decision I shared the following goals:
1. I was determined to Turn an Unwanted CHANGE into an Adventure.
We’re doctors, nurses, schoolteachers, writers, actresses, artists, musicians, hair-stylists, yoga teachers, economists, consultants…
We’re red, and yellow, black and white and every color you can imagine.
We’re in our 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and yes even in our 70’s!
Some of us are newlyweds, some are new mothers, some are raising teenagers, some have four-legged furry-children, and others have grandchildren.
We’re Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu…
Some of us have husbands home each night, while others navigate the new lands we live in while our spouses travel or are offshore for weeks at a time.
We’re not just “Trailing Spouses” – We’re real people that have been “Thrown In” and instead of being destroyed by the pressure of constant change and the unknown we’re transforming.
[Tweet “We’re The Real Housewives of Expat Men”]
Last week I announced a new blog series about Expat Wives in this post:
Uncommon and EXTRAordinary Agents of Change
This is the first story in the series.
On November 29th of last year I wrote a post-titled Comfort or Magic? Go? Stay? Stay? Go?
What I did not say in the post is that the days prior had been filled with that question as we tried to decide if we had the courage to make a move across the world to a land that sounded stressful, backward, emotionally challenging and dangerous.
A few weeks later we “came out of the closet” and shared what we were doing and why. And for the past year I’ve included lots of our expat stories in this blog.
Did you know that CHANGE was listed in three of the top 10 Human Capital Issues for 2013? And Numero Uno on the list was Managing and Coping with Change? (The truth of that statement was evidenced when we hosted a Lead Change Event In Tulsa Titled,” Leading in The Midst of Change” and we had our largest turnout.)
