Here’s the deal: I usually take an incredible amount of time to write my blog posts. This morning, I got so fired up about something that I blasted this out for you ‘live.’ Raw. Sleepy. Barely caffeinated. It all started while I was reading a new post over at Jonathan Fields’ blog and it got me all fired up.
“Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” Mary Oliver
It’s been driving me insane that so many entrepreneurials out there, the ‘self help gurus’ aren’t meeting many of us head-on with a serious, scary challenge we are facing: the economy. I bet every single person reading this knows at least one person who has lost their job, or maybe one person who has lost or is about to lose their home. I know of (hold on, here…counting… counting…) at least six people who have lost their jobs, at least three people who have lost their homes in the last year. And I’m being really stringent here, only people whose faces I can conjure up. I’m not counting the hundreds who are about to walk away from our local Borders, for instance. I’m not counting the faces I don’t know personally behind the FOR SALE signs I see marring the streets of my Small Town USA (pop:1400), even though I’m sure many of them mingled right near me as we dropped our kids off at school.
Here’s the deal: I’m all about unshakable soul. I am all about being an instigator for BEAUTY + EXCELLENCE in your life, and here’s why: stark truth, IT MAKES LIFE WORTH LIVING, y’all.
If you can see the beauty and the power in any given situation, you can and you will rise above, my friend. Nothing will stop you. 
(Excellence in action = power; not self-serving, shallow power but TRUE POWER, the Giving Kind. The kind that changes social norms and inspires a woman to refuse to sit at the back of the bus kinda POWER = EXCELLENCE. If there ever was an example of Beauty + Excellence in action, it’s Rosa Parks. Awesome silly visual bonus: Rosa Parks was the Honey Badger on the Struggle Bus! What’s a Honey Badger? Why, only the ‘most fearless animal on Earth,’ says the Guinness Book of World Records.)
Here’s the deal: I hate watching people struggle.
I hate watching people – amazing, wonderful people – who can’t get outta their own way.
I’m sick and tired of people not knowing what to say, or what to do with those of us who are brilliant and filled with purpose, willing to work hard and make a difference, but can’t seem to get a leg up (and don’t want a handout).
I’m tired of being told to ‘not talk about negative things,’ or ‘just be positive’ or ‘you can find the money’ when you’re drowning in negative challenges, knocked down by the elephant in the room. (It’s not that that being positive isn’t a Truth, it’s that it can be Really Hard to make lemonade when you are being knocked over with thousands of lemons coming at you all at once. YES, thanks! We can all make lemonade, but first we need to get on our feet, get organized and gather our tools.)
I’m HEARTSICK watching people being crushed under the tides of change. I know how hard it is to see the silver lining when the storms are bearing down on you, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. (Did I mention my bankruptcy last Spring? Did I mention my home is in foreclosure? That’s only two challenges I face at the moment). I GET IT. I’M LIVING IT.
I’m tired of hearing “You need to find a way!” without any seriously constructive ideas or ACTIONS to take in order to do that.
I’m tired witnessing the unspoken shame (and even anger) that so many are needlessly carrying right now, because they fear they’ve let their family down…
Or even worse, their True Self. The You inside that knows what you are here for, that knows how wonderful You are, the True Self – your unshakable soul – that wants to see You take off like a rocket ship in your life, whatever that means for You. The True Self that knows where your beauty + excellence is tucked safely away, biding its time until YOU step out of the trenches.
So: what are you and I going to DO about it? Are we going to sit here in the trenches and whine? Are we going to lie down in the mud and hope the sun will come another day? Are we going to wait for our inner unshakable soul to finally give in and save us? (Hint: the unshakable soul in you is waiting for YOU to step up, my friend. You’re the crucial part of the equation.)
This is where you scream: NO WAY! (Do it now, or I’m sending the Honey Badger over to kick your arse!)
WHAT are you waiting for? WHO are you waiting for? WHY are you waiting?
The What: actions to take
The Who: your unshakable soul
The Why: clarity to create momentum
Stay tuned. We’re going to rock the heck out of Challenge + Change. Together. You are not alone, my friend. We’re going to get into every angle of how to be your own port in the storm.
You and me, we’re going to SOAR outta these trenches. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to show the world what I’m made of. You with me?
“BE the new economy” –Christine Kane
Read the rest of the continuing series here:
