The Best of Times or Worst of Times?
By Bob Moore, CMC, MCC, The Effectiveness Coach®

Word Count: 404 Words
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Charles Dickens, the 19th Century novelist, wrote in A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . ,"

Dickens went on to say, “. . .it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

Sound a lot like 2009? The media portrays it as the worst of times with the financial and auto industries in chaos and massive workforce reductions. However, most employed Americans (90 plus percent of the working population) are moving forward with their lives. Some have actually chosen to be unemployed, accepting generous severance packages to begin their next vocational adventure—one of my former executive clients is about to begin his “dream job” after an 18-year career with his former employer. Many companies are filling new positions and giving pay raises and promotions. Who do you know who has chosen to make it the best of times by starting a business, improving their skills or pursuing more education to prepare for their dream job?

Who decides if this is the best or worst of times? We each do! These are the "best of times" if we choose to make them so. Within each day, there are defining moments that provide us with a reason to change our minds, go in a different direction, and improve our lives and those whom we touch.
May I challenge you to an experiment? For the next seven days, note all you are grateful for and what went well each day. Change your meal-time environment by turning off the news, listening to music and having positive conversations. At least monthly, volunteer at a food bank, soup kitchen or rescue mission.

Enthusiastically,

Bob

Bob Moore, CMC®, President
Effectiveness, Inc/The Effectiveness Coach®
Aligning Human Capital with Strategic Objectives

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