Out of Control

This week’s newsletter can be found here.

I don’t have a cool story to share this week.

It didn’t feel appropriate.

If last week’s tragedy in Texas didn’t affect you, then you’re someone who has an emotional gear that I don’t have access to, nor do I want to.

Tragedy can generate a deep feeling of awareness and simultaneous loss of control.

Neither is sustainable.

We fight to have efficiency and effectiveness in our lives, but emotions and extrinsic events will always cause the sloppy water slide of life to slam us around.

I am sad and shocked and scared, while at the same time driven, absolute, and principled.

The challenges we’ve all endured over the past couple of years have caused us to ask questions of ourselves, our communities, and our leaders.

We have had to straddle lines, make concessions, and change our behaviors and curb our desires.

Last week was not that.

Once the shock and horror subsided, for a brief moment I achieved clarity.

Crystal clear thoughts on what I believe, how I feel, and what should be done.

When times like these come ripping through our lives, it’s like a tornado tearing our emotional homes from their foundations and heaving them thousands of feet in the air, only to have them come crashing down and exploding into splinters of what they once were.

What allows us to rebuild is the foundation that remains.

Our absolutes. Our core. Our soul.

I’m asking you to know what those are, what your fundamental core is.

Have it accessible like you would your talisman or lucky charm.

Know it. Use it. Speak it.

If I could wish something for my younger self to know, it would be that loss of control is inevitable, but knowing what you stand for will help you weather any storm.

I hope you all have a safe week.

~TJ