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NEVER GIVE IN

So much has been written in recent months about the “New Normal”… whatever that means. TV is talking 24/7 about the pandemic, politics, the economy, racial tensions and violence. I have grown weary of the news, mostly because it can feel like there is nothing good happening. I want to focus on the positive and not get worried or bogged down by negative things that are beyond my control.

I can control my attitude and my behaviour. What I think, how I feel, and what I do is up to me. The lens I use to view the world around me is mine. I own it and can adjust it in order to see more clearly.

What I have seen in recent months amazes me.

My family is closer and spends more time together than we ever have. My wife has adapted to me spending more time in the home office. We have both enjoyed the change from me getting up every morning and leaving home until early evening every day. Our kids are adapting to having their kids not in school and have modified their work patterns accordingly, fitting in lots of quality family time while still maintaining a productive work schedule. Our grandkids are spending less time on their screens and are instead coming up with games and activities we can all take part in. And we are all having fun together doing simple things like going for walks, swimming, riding bikes, boating and water sports, and games.

I do not remember the last time I played the board game “Sorry”, but I must have played it 20 times this summer so far. And last week, after a long day when everybody might have wanted to flip on the TV, my 13-year-old granddaughter announced a game of “Minute to Win It”. All ages, teams of two, and ten separate events including balancing pencils, straws and skiddles, face the cookie, elastic band bowling, ping pong bounce, and the list goes on. You get the picture! The friendly competition totally energized the whole family and we laughed so hard we cried.

My message is simply to dare to adapt, embrace change, keep an open mind and a positive outlook, and never give in. Maybe Winston Churchill said it best when he said “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

The last several months have taught me that. Or maybe I just needed Sir Winston Churchill to remind me.

Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Doug Dougherty
CEO

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