How to Stop the Boomerang Between Despair and Hope

I’ll be honest, today I’m sputtering. Yesterday I felt positive, full of gratitude for the little things. What a difference a day makes. What’s changed? Everything and nothing at all. Right now it’s all about COVID-19.

I’m concerned about people I care about deeply who are suffering from the virus and so sad for the family of an elderly friend who couldn’t be with her at the end or even hold a communal funeral. I feel unfocused, a little fearful, and found myself sitting at my desk for what felt like hours in an attempt to offer you the same support I desperately need.

Not a moment later, I decided to take a dose of my own medicine, to offer myself the same grace I find much easier to bequeath on others. Guess what happened? I detached from the frustration of trying so hard and remembered that challenges also bring the gift of opportunities.

Our current crisis has brought the unwanted gift of calling into question just about everything in which we once had confidence. COVID-19 has forced every one of us to deconstruct and reconstruct our path forward, often from day to day and even hour by hour. And it all starts by showing up.

Brene Brown often shares this Teddy Roosevelt quote that is more appropriate now than ever:

“It’s not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes up short again and again, and who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, when he fails, at least does so daring greatly.”

“It’s not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes up short again and again, and who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, when he fails, at least does so daring greatly.”
TEDDY ROOSEVELT,
Shared by Brene Brown

One of the most fundamental rules of leadership, during good times and bad, is showing up. Because how you show up is what separates the wheat from the chaff in leadership. Courage, during this time, means showing up as your level best self whether depleted, sputtering or thriving. Showing up is courageous and an act of love, especially in the face of fear and uncertainty.

Know this: just one step every day creates a cumulative effect on your well-being and a ripple effect on the well-being of those in your real or virtual sphere.

I have committed myself to a daily morning practice of gratitude. Even amidst the current crisis, I have much to be grateful for, we all do. This helps shift my energy almost immediately. Have there been mornings when I woke up and found it difficult to feel gratitude? Yes. The goal is progress, one simple step daily, not perfection.

My wish for you is that when you find yourself boomeranging from despair to fear and back to hope again, you commit to simply showing up in that moment by choosing to take one small step forward. And in those times when showing up is overwhelming and feels impossible, be kind to yourself.

In gratitude,

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