From Pandemic to Riots - Where is the Hope?

The stars are shining brightly on this cool evening. The neighborhood is quiet except for a few lit houses. I’m sitting on my front porch thinking about the world situation and wondering if there is anything that can get businesses back on a path to prosperity. As I think into the question, I keep coming back to the word faith.  

What do I have faith in already that I can use as a launching pad for business growth? I have faith that the sun will rise in the morning. There. That is one thing I have faith in. 

How do I know that the sun will rise in the morning?

I have faith based on understanding. Not a blind faith, but a faith that comes from a place of knowing. 

I know from past experience that it has risen every day before for thousands of years and I have faith that it will continue to rise again tomorrow. 

Like the rising sun, my faith in tomorrow brings with it a light into the dark places of my world. I believe we can build and rebuild and as entrepreneurs we can do it better and stronger than we did yesterday. But it takes faith to believe. 

Faith in the unseen. 

Beyond any religious belief, what the world needs right now is faith in something better. A faith in possibilities. A faith that leads to hope. Because I believe that with hope anything is possible. 

Many businesses have locked their doors, some to never open again. Where is the hope in that?

A business is not the place, it is not the building. A business is the spirit and soul of the entrepreneur who built it. The business started as a spark that led to a flame to create something from within.  An idea that became a reality. 

A recent wind came in the form of a pandemic and for some, now riots in cities across America. For some, this wind is enough to snuff the flame of their passion - their burning desire to build something meaningful. Some business owners are using this wind as an excuse to throw up their arms and give up and some have lost hope.

Yet for others this wind is fanning their flame into something new. They are using the wind of change as fuel to create a blaze in them that says I’m not quitting, not now. 

Personally, my business has lost thousands of dollars in revenue over the last few months. Events were cancelled and clients put themselves on hold...waiting. Many of my colleagues are feeling the void. Not being able to move forward. 

What do I do now? How do I cope with the crazy wind that is trying to snuff out my flame?

I do what I know to do. 

First, I get quiet...really quiet. I unplug from negative influences. News, people, everything that takes my thinking and my focus away from my purpose. 

Then I listen. What is that voice inside me saying I can do? What are the possibilities? Not the practicalities of how things used to be. I’m talking about a vision of a new future I want to create. 

Next, I stay connected. Who else is out there continuing to build their business? I’m fortifying my network of doers. Other business owners I can use on my team to share resources and inspiration. 

Finally, I’m taking steps daily to build. I am walking in faith. Taking small steps every day to move me down the road further and further from this place I find myself and closer to the vision I see of the end game. The end I choose. The business I was born to create so that I can help the people I was made to raise up.

I have hope that there is a bright shining future with my name on it. I wouldn’t have been given my dream if it wasn’t possible. For me. 

It’s easy to look at others and think success is only for the select few. 

The truth is, we entrepreneurs are a different breed. Success is still possible for you too, if you’re willing to take the steps to make it so. 

You don't have to do this alone. There are plenty of people waiting to cheer you on and help you succeed. Actually, you are reading the words of one of them now.   Let's link arms as entrepreneurs and work together to put the world back to work! Your success is my success.

Your Friend on the Journey,
Donna
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