Ever since I lost my umbrella, I’ve been singing in the rain …

This tempestuous business environment has rained on many of us … more like drenched for some. The umbrellas that jobs and careers provided have been lost, torn or broken for so many. Lots of pundits and economic prophets are more silent these days since forecasting and making economic bets have yielded poor returns. It’s happened … and maybe we’ll get wet some more. Is it good or bad news? … Yes, it is!

I’m not a graduate of the Pollyanna School of Perpetual Sunshine and this is not an “It will all be all right” discussion.  But, we may never get another opportunity like this one to challenge whether, what we’ve been doing up to the storm, should define or determine what we do now and tomorrow. My opinion is that our dreams of fulfilling our purpose in life are lost, very slowly in the daily business of business and living, such that they fade out of focus or convert into regrets. Good times breed comfort and confidence and it becomes harder to take on risks, particularly when so many others depend on us for their futures. Our enterprises, families, and extended communities are better off because we helped make them so.

Letting go of what we perceive to be a good thing for the uncertainty of something else becomes a tough call, a scary thought, one we hope never to make. Having that option removed places us in a unique position. There is no choice but to make a choice! Making that decision, choice, or call is unavoidable, and one option not available is a nostalgic recreation of the past. Yesterday isn’t coming back and time’s arrow points in only one direction, forward.

The uniqueness of each of our circumstances voids the credibility of generalizations. Yet, moving forward screams for a direction from us.

I chose to chase my dream, the one about independence and doing what I do the way I have endeavored to do it, but unconstrained and unburdened. I started my shop with a handshake with my business partner and longtime respected colleague … because we share values and purpose, and we have a foundation built upon years of execution, trust and mutual respect. Years of hard work behind us, we expect that the years ahead will be harder yet. Obstacles that were once mounds that demanded time and energy to surmount are now mountains requiring focus and the discipline of invested execution … but now with a clarity that I had long sought…

OK … Don’t worry. I won’t carry on with more tummy-warming stuff … or create a hug fest dialogue … Except that I am relishing the uncertainty of the future with the certainty that purpose matters much more that confidence and comfort. And new problems are exciting, energizing and fun … real fun.

In every storm there is opportunity. It could uncover treasure, allow us to help another in need, or force us to let go of baggage that is holding us up. I have long believed that a person cannot be truly defined without adversity and true friends are the ones who call when there is no profit to be gained. We may all get to do some defining, of who we are, without wanting to, or asking for it.

In the meantime, if you hear the song “Singing in the Rain,” you may recognize the voice as yours……