Into the Unknown We Go

This is a short blog post today. As much as I preach self care and run around like a rambunctious cheerleading energizer bunny, I didn’t take care of myself these past few weeks. The year of the rat and 2020 is starting off like a flaming dumpster fire. Kobe’s dead. The novel coronavirus is playing out like Plague Inc with it’s climbing infection rate and world wide economic ramifications ramping up. That commercial plane was shot down. Australia was burning down for a while there and now it’s started flooding with all the rain. I am super sick AGAIN and can barely sleep at night. My daughter had a bad allergic reaction to cashews, (yay a new allergy!) The list just keeps going.

I didn’t do a SINGLE THING for myself. But I did stuff my face with stress foods like a spicy chicken ramen noodle cup at 1030am, which made me feel like a grotzky dehydrated kitchen sponge. I’m a wood rat and my chinese horoscope said there was supposed to be good fortune coming my way!! WELL CHINESE RAT GODS, WHERE IS IT?!!! Do I need to sit outside with a middle schooler’s recorder playing “hot cross buns” until the rat gods oblige?

The one thing I’ve decided to talk about is the fact that MY COMPANY GOT BOUGHT. Well it isn’t MY company, but the company I work for. And people are very upset. Some more than others, BUT some people are telling stories of how end of times are coming for us all. I admit, when I first heard, a million confused thoughts were running through my head, but after sitting on it for a few hours I came to MANY realizations:

1) This is not the apocalypse.

2) The new owners aren’t going to execute us if we’re deemed unnecessary.

3) We really needed this change because change is the catalyst for potentially great things to happen.

In general, I’ve come to learn that people are extremely fearful of change and the unknown. Every time there is an org change, change of responsibilities, or the room temperature spikes, emotions start flying and people can get radical. (I am definitely one of them when it comes to room temperatures. I have zero shame in wearing a winter jacket indoors in the summer.)

And out of everything going on in my life, this change of ownership is literally the least of my concerns. Do I love my job? Absolutely. This is literally the best job I’ve had in my 14 working years and I would hate to lose it. BUT I DO NOT AND WILL NOT FEAR THE UNKNOWN. HAVEN’T YOU SEEN FROZEN 2 PEOPLE!?! INTO THE UNKNOWN IS WHERE WE NEED TO GO!!!!

I have absolutely no control over what our new owners are going to do. So at the end of the day, I am not going to worry. What I can control is me, my team, and our output. And you better be damn sure we’ll be going the extra mile to show everyone, including those pyrotechnic rat gods, how amazing we are. So into the unknown we shall go and we’re going to do it magnificently.

“Fear has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or ‘Face Everything And Rise.’ The choice is yours.”

— Zig Ziglar