I'm the author of The Accidental Creative, Herding Tigers, Die Empty, Daily Creative, The Brave Habit. Subscribe to Brave Focused Brilliant for three quick tips every week.
BFB: I cried in a grocery store this week
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My family and I spent last week in Guatemala. I thought I'd break the format of the newsletter this week to tell you a quick story about my experience. I cried in the grocery store this week. My family has just returned from a service trip to Guatemala, where we had the chance to spend time in rural areas helping kids with projects to improve their school. (The kids led the projects, which was very cool.) We also had the chance to experience much of the beautiful country and learn about its culture. So back to the crying. The morning after we returned, I made a quick trip to the grocery to pick up a few items we needed. As I walked through the produce section, I was completely overwhelmed by how much abundance surrounded me, and how I could literally just choose anything I wanted to eat. I literally started to cry. Right there. In the grocery store. Now, I’ve had a lot of experiences where I’ve experienced tough situations and varying degrees of poverty, but for some reason this one really hit home in a new way. Let’s talk for a moment about level-setting. It’s easy to become numb to your surroundings, to the point that you forget just how abundant your resources are. You become frustrated by the slightest inconveniences. You take for granted that you can just access any information you want, whenever you want it. If you have running water, electricity, and ample food, you forget that you are likely among the top fraction of a percent of people who have ever lived in terms of standard of living. As leaders, we need to occasionally “level-set” to ensure that we aren’t growing entitled and complacent. We need to regularly take stock of all of the things we are grateful for, and to ensure that we aren’t becoming numb to the everyday gifts of abundance we experience. Have you ever had a level-setting experience like the one I had in Guatemala? If so, hit reply - I'd love to hear your story. Your turn to lead:Do you know someone who might find this email helpful? Please forward it to them. |
Todd Henry
I'm the author of The Accidental Creative, Herding Tigers, Die Empty, Daily Creative, The Brave Habit. Subscribe to Brave Focused Brilliant for three quick tips every week.
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