One Of Those Days
I was awakened this morning by the phone.
Big damn crisis in a project I’m involved in.
Before my first cup of coffee — another call, another emergency.
Then I spilled my energy drink on my desk — one way to get it clean in a hurry, but I did it while fielding my third “the joint’s on fire!” phone call of the morning.
Spread out to dry the forty or so pages of important notes now drenced in selected vitamins and minerals and blended yogurt. Another call. Another disaster. My ear’s going numb.
Finally, a call from a friend. Who is having serious health problems. Major bummer. I let two incoming calls go to voice mail while sympathizing with my pal, trying to find a bright spot to focus on.
Yeah, it was a day from Hell. (I’m pretty sure Satan left several voice messages for me I haven’t picked up yet.)
People were mad, upset, argumentative, full of bad advice and eager to toss more gasoline on the various fires licking at the the edges of my life.
But you know what?
I never got riled up. Didn’t get upset. Had not even a vague pain of anxiety.
Because it’s summer, man. The garden is a riot of color and activity. I saw a deer munching a neighbor’s tree during my afternoon walk. Gorgeous animal. Rabbits and jays and all sorts of furry critters were running around like they were auditioning for a Disney movie.
And, I’m over a ten-day bout with bronchitis. Carpet-bombed the lungs with natural and pharmeceutical antibiotics. I feel normal again.
Heck — the twists and dead-ends of business can be fixed. Or ignored. Or dealt with. Or not.
But really… it’s summer.
Quick self test: Can you take your laptop and cell phone outside, and do some work while enjoying the early summer breezes and cacophony of life in the bushes around you… without asking permission from someone?
If you can, congratulations. That’s a good place to be.
And if you can’t… well, summer, for me, has alwasy been a time of lazy contemplation. Just think about things, about where you are, where you want to be, why you think being there might be a good thing. Get some solid pictures into your head of the lifestyle you want to enjoy when you’re successful. And can finally call your own shots.
Fall is a great time to get changes implemented. But you need some dreamy time first, to get centered, and to air out your fantasies.
Sit outside more. No radio, no magazine, no distractions at all — just you and cool drink.
Think about stuff.
When you become truly successful, you get to have moments like that all the time. Even in the middle of a day from Hell.
Life is great. Not perfect, but great nonetheless.
It’s good to be alive and healthy and involved in projects you enjoy (regardless of the occasional disaster), isn’t it?
Yeah. It is.
Stay frosty.
John Carlton
www.marketingrebel.com
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Thanks John… I needed your post man. I had a day like that two days ago. You’d think the whole damn world was gonna explode the way some people were carrying on.
And me, well I’m getting better. Years ago, before I hit the big 40, I would have argued back.
But it’s winter here in the tropics, not too cold, and things look so damn fresh. But it did rattle me for awhile. I just gotta get better at letting it slip from my shoulders.
So thanks again John for that post… I appreciate it.
Cheers from a die-hard Rant subscriber from down under,
Pete
Sounds like that naked game of volleyball at Black’s Beach
that one of your callers mentioned might of been a great invitation.
Accompany that with a nice frosty beverage in hand and it’s paradise
out here in the La Jolla sun.
Things are never quite as hectic as they may seem. After a bit
of reflection and cooling out, all’s good in the hood.
One of the main things I’ve learned throughout the last year from
my main mentors is “Mellow Ass Marketing”. Keeping things chill
is about the only way to go.
Sure, there are moments when the blood gets pumping and temperatures
rise, but they can easily be remedied by a nice cool one.
Nice to see that you too can take all the negatives with a healthy attitude.
Cheers and Beers.
That’s how we’ve been rocking it all week throughout this crazy pandamonium
in the Cali Sun.
Peace
I have a poem for you. Of course, I didn’t write it. It’s the famous one from Rudyard Kipling. And it explains why you are who you are John. Enjoy.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with wornout tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run –
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!
-Rudyard Kipling
Here’s to withstanding it all, Andrew