The term I use to describe the last decade is one of shock & awe as our sensibilities on so many fronts were shaken at their foundations.
I can personally testify to this experience as in one year of the last decade, I experienced shock & awe in marriage, health and employment . Around our recent Christmas dinner table , I had a tear-filled moment as I remembered being wheeled out of a hospital by my brother and his dear wife on New Year’s eve, 2000. I am forever in the debt of care and grace of them and many others who supported my restoration from my season of enormous struggle.
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I was able to land on my feet, and finished this decade with a growing hope of the future.
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Others have not been that fortunate. They have experienced shock & awe of greater magnitude and lack the support network to rebuild and restore. They suffered from menacing hurricanes in the Caribbean, Katrina, or are caught in the vortex of the global economic tsunami with the resulting loss of homes , jobs, and dignity.
Shock & awe also produces the menacing fog of fear.
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It is like a category five hurricane tearing through our spiritual and emotional lives, crippling our will and cowering our faith. A general of yester-years shared that fear kills more people than death. We fear poverty, dependence, illness, pain, being abandoned, and being ignored. The stress this produces is more crippling than arthritis!
How do we overcome this life stifling environment?
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- Realize that how we respond to circumstance does matter. Leverage hope and the freshness of a new beginning to flush the fear-filled attitude and drink deeply from your well of faith.
- Realize that keeping up with the Jones is so yesterday, and prepare for a new normal where internal treasures matter more than external show.
- Join an organization dedicated to rebuilding or restoring the social trust of an institution that has been overwhelmed in the past decade.
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Our material well-being is also very important.
We will need a new mind set to also turn the tools of technology from being job eliminating to job creating .
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The Internet’s omnipresence is menacing to so many, but we need to adapt our sails to take advantage of the new wind.
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Yes, the last decade was life disrupting. We however find ourselves at a critical life intersection. What will you do?
