Anger doesn’t fix any problem; profanity is a waste of breath and blame is an exercise in self-righteousness that really has no place in the workplace. And I know because I’ve tried all three! So what is the answer to overcoming a large-scale let down in business? It’s the same as it would be in your personal life; and as a psychologist once told me, “disappointment is just disappointment…it’s reciprocal, when you disappoint someone else it doesn’t mean death for anyone, it’s just disappointment. Acknowledge the fact that you’re disappointed and move on.”
Yeah, right! It sounds very easy on paper but quite frankly, I need a little more time to process than that. I need a day or two of wallowing and self-talk that allows for some pondering, questioning and praying. I don’t think I’m that unique.
On Friday, I received an email that informed me that the single largest initiative I’ve been preparing for the 2009 fair has fallen apart. Like a house of cards in a windstorm it’s destroyed. Had it not been the very anchor I had based the entire “vibe” of the fair on, I would have just rolled…but it dropped me to the depths LIKE an anchor when I got the news.
Part miscommunication, part overzealousness on behalf of the manufacturer, whatever the case I am gravely disappointed and somewhat at a loss for a “plan b.” Sick to my stomach is a better description. I remind myself, it’s not world peace. Then I plead, “but it was MY world peace.”
My world peace is a greening initiative that I feel could change the face of fairs and recycling and energy use…it is a world-changing endeavor that I am still eager to find a solution for. The machine I was expecting is a rarity and its use was unique for our application. I was hoping this machine would change how people perceived the fair, change the demographic of who was interested, and possibly be the innovative new idea that crossed agriculture with technology and saved our fair! Big ideas I guess can result in big failures.
How much energy can one expend and how much heart can you have left after such a huge let down to forge ahead? The answer is: there is no limit to what you can expend and you can give it everything you’ve got. After Fred Astaire’s first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM read, “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.” He kept that memo over the fire place in his Beverly Hills home. Astaire once observed that “when you’re experimenting, you have to try so many things, that you may go days getting nothing but exhausted. And there is a reward for perseverance.”
Blah, blah, blah you might say…I did..I’ve tried every motivational quip and rah-rah antic I know…but the winner for me this weekend was silence and contemplation and a bit of perseverance. The quieter I got about the issue the more I came to realize that I can only do what I can do. I’m not (thankfully) single-handedly in charge of greening my world or my city or my fair so maybe there are people and resources that exist that I haven’t yet met. Maybe there are phone calls and pitches still to be made and there is hope that my efforts thus far have mattered. There is hope that even with a disappointing outcome, what I did mattered. I’m not rolling over to accept defeat; I’m rolling over and looking for a way–where there is no way. It’s painful and “uncomfortable” as one friend put it, ha, uncomfortable what a great word for “part humiliation, part disappointment, part exasperation.” I’m holding onto uncomfortable for today. But just for today…
A quote by Samuel Beckett, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Chrysty,
You, my sweet, will persevere. You have the tenacity to go on and reverse the negative response out there. You are smart enough to figure it out. Turn it around. Find another way. Keep looking. This cannot be the only action in town. Talk to other states. Talk to other agencies.
Look for support that you have not found at the St. Fair. Another government agency? Lots of folks are turning “green”. Another agency who does not have the St Fair Poop and other things to experiment with. A private entity to hook up with. Co-op with someone else. Think…….who is looking for the things you have to offer? Pray and think and ask for help and offer help.
You have vision and are not afraid to work and try things.
You Can Do It! Do it now! I love you, Mom
MY PRECIOUS GIRL,
I KNOW YOU HAVE THE MIND AND THE SOUL TO MOVE FORWARD….DO IT. SOMEONE OUT THERE IS LOOKING FOR A WAY TO DO WHAT YOU HAVE STARTED. FIND THEM! A HOSPITAL? A UNIVERSITY? STATE GOVERNMENT? THINK AND PRAY. I BELIEVE IN YOU AND SO WILL THE RIGHT GROUP.
MAY GOD BLESS YOU IN YOUR EFFORT TO HELP SAVE THIS BEAUTIFUL PLANET. HUGS, MOM