For as long as I can remember, I have always applied the rule of three when it comes to bad news. If something bad happened to me, I was always prepared for a couple of other things to go wrong. The pessimist part of me cannot get over the ripple effect of bad moments and their impact on other things that happen. I always try to keep a positive attitude, but there are times where I feel like I'm trapped in the Ghostbusters scene in the Mayor's office. I know I shouldn't think this way, but I've conditioned my mind over the years that this is the way things are supposed to transpire. I've written before about our emotional wakes as it relates to those around us, but sometimes we neglect to really think about how the ripple effect impacts us personally and what it does to our body and psyche. If we can become more cognizant of this, it might actually help us out in dealing with difficult things and also in modeling to others.
The past couple of weeks have been really hard for me. In addition to the ongoing pandemic, I've seen students dealing with a lot of anger and grief. I have seen a lot of adults struggling with the same things and I feel that everyone is looking to me for answers. The reality is that I don't have any and I am searching for ways to help everyone. There have been times that I feel like we have gotten back on course and then something else happens and another set of ripples begin to form. As someone who is a problem solver by nature, I seem to be focusing on the problems and not the solutions because they keep on coming. I know that I am not alone in this and people have been amazing to work with and quick to offer a helping hand. I am grateful for the amazing people who support me and have provided leadership in some pretty difficult times. Keeping this in mind, I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop and I am reminding myself of Tom Cruise's classic line in A Few Good Men.
The reality is that the ripple effect cannot be stopped, but we can have an impact on how it is spread. Rather than looking at it from the perspective of waiting for the next bad thing to happen, we can choose to look at it as an opportunity to get better. You only have to look so far as the introduction to TED Talks to know that a ripple effect can turn into something very positive if you approach it from the right mindset. For me, that means reconditioning my brain from always looking at the negative side of things and taking the difficulties and learning from them. Like Joyce Meyer once said, "Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may be given a cactus, but you don't have to sit on it." It's time to stand up and take control over what I have control over, and that is how I choose to look at things. The ripple effect is real, but I don't need to let it control every part of me. Things are tough right now, but if I commit to learning and growing from it, I can become a better person and a better leader.
#ONWARD #FORGE
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