How to weather a perfect storm…
If you caught my letter last week, you know we finished up ’22 in Parma and Bolzano, Italy. It was ten days of pasta, pizza, olive oil, cheese, cappuccino (best foam ever- sorry, Starbucks), and gelato (of course) – and through it all, we sprinkled museums, churches, hikes, and scaffolding into our gastronomic adventure.
Yes, scaffolding. I’ll explain.
I love America, but I do chuckle at our youthful hubris. At times, we’re like annoying teenagers compared to the wisdom found in old-world countries. The Duomo di Parma masterpiece I referenced last week is nearly 1,000 years old. As you can imagine, it, along with the other works of art, needs some foundational tender loving care to keep it from weathering away.
As we decided what to eat next during our vacay, Southwest Airlines was amid a kerfuffle back home. Remember when we put them up on the pedestal as an ideal company?
As the dust settled, investigators discovered that Southwest was “kicking the can down the road” to look attractive to investors. They failed to put up the necessary scaffolding to maintain their systems, and when the perfect storm, literally and figurately, came their way, it all crumbled.
As upsetting as it was to my friends and their fellow stranded passengers, there’s a lesson in it for us. When it comes to the work of art called life, are we more like the Italians or Southwest Airlines?
We’ve been in different boats
but in the same storm.
The last three years have been stormy, to say the least, and 2023 will not be the safe harbor we desire (which is tough to say as an optimist). The oceans will still heave to paraphrase The Little Duck by Donald Babcock.
I know the vortex is pulling us toward normal (whatever that is) and the type of “pretty-on-the-outside” behavior that Southwest enabled.
But you have a choice.
Acknowledging that you might need some repair doesn’t make you weak, broken, or less – it makes you human. Heck, even robots received routine maintenance.
But a mental health day, here or there, may not work well enough because weathering the storms of life and career requires action that protects your foundation as only mindfulness can.
This moment invites us to be mindful and think about how we want to show up for ourselves and each other.
You can be shocked by Southwest’s negligence and use it as a reminder to care for your work of art and help it last as long as possible.
Until next week, have fun storming the castle!
Michael
I invite you to join Pause Breathe Reflect, and discover the value of mindfulness one minute at a time. For a limited time, you can download our app for free and receive an annual membership for just $23 as we celebrate 2023.
