Sometimes I envy people who can plod through life, staying on a safe course their whole lives.
I’ve wished that I could just watch situations play out without having to get involved.
In the past, I’ve vowed to take on various responsibilities, promising to myself – and my family – that I would not get emotionally involved. That I could just do my time and move on.
But I can’t. I’m just not bent that way.
If I could, I probably would have a bigger retirement account, but I would never have experienced the richness in career choices I’ve enjoyed, including owning my own business. I would have avoided having to take extra college courses so that I could graduate on time, but I would have missed spending a year studying abroad. I could have protected my heart from breaking, but I would have missed a lot of love.
Over the past months, I’ve had a role that required me to make a judgment call that affected a lot of people’s lives. I could have sat on the sidelines and followed others’ lead. I could have waited to see which way the majority wind was blowing, and then set my sails.
Instead, I thought for myself. I considered the truth. I stood up for what was right. Actually, I didn’t just stand up for it, I fought for it.
But I lost, and the cost is very high.
Because of my stand, I have lost something very precious, and I am grieving. Right now, it doesn’t seem possible that it ever can be replaced.
But down deep, I know that it will be. Because every loss I’ve ever experienced has made room for something better – something I never would have believed could be as good, but always has exceeded anything I could have imagined before.
Over and over, I’ve experienced the filling up after the pouring out. Holding back – clinging to safety or the sidelines – only stifles the flow. It’s a spiritual truth.
So what does any of this have to do with business or marketing? Nothing and everything.
Being a business owner requires commitment and taking a risk with no promise of success. Marketers don’t passively wait for business to show up at their doorstep; they are passionate. They don’t hold back. They go for broke.
And win or lose, they win in the end.
Just like in life.
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