Hitting the Restart Button for 2021

by Skip Cohen

I got up this morning, knowing exactly what I wanted to write about for Sunday Reflections. The challenge is how to sound like an encouraging post and not a rant. So, it's a read-at-your-own-risk kind of blog this morning.

I'm frustrated with so many people who haven't hit the reset button yet. While just the flip of a calendar page doesn't suddenly change anything, each of us has the power to change the recipe for 2021. I won't deny for a second that I'm tired of being hunkered down and even more tired of using those words. But as frustrated as I am, I realized over the holidays, I have so many choices.

You wanna fly, you got to give the shit up that weighs you down.
Toni Morrison

​I know it isn't easy. I'm just as frustrated as anyone else over the challenges in our lives these days. And just when things seem to be headed in the right direction, somebody out there seems to screw it up.  

It's hard not to sound like a rant, but it's a new year. The vaccine is slowly taking hold, and the need for people to capture memories hasn't disappeared. They're all still out there, scarred a little from the last year, but there's a clean slate for a start, with a greater sense of family. And while there is no button to push, each of us has a restart button buried in our hearts under all of last year's pain. 

On the business side, I kicked off the year with four "Building Blocks for a New Year" posts last week to help you focus on those areas everyone complains most about. Then I did something completely different, and Throwback Thursday was a video...it'll never win an Oscar, but it was fun to do and just might morph into something new in the year ahead. None of this is earth-shaking, but we're all in this together...and while this is a lousy time historically to be quoting Hilary Clinton, "It takes a village!"

And here's my point - as powerless as we've been over the events in the world, including the pandemic in our neighborhoods, all of us still control our own destiny. We don't have to do it alone, and we don't have to knock it out of the park each time we're at bat - just don't give up our time at-bat. It's called batting practice for a reason.

I'm not here to change the world, and neither are you - but we are to help each other and do our own little clean up in our own environments, starting with what's in our heads.

The sun gives us warmth, life and new days.
​It makes us think of new beginnings, of happy horizons,
and bright shit that sends butterflies fluttering and precious little bunnies frolicking.
It gives some us great f**king tans and other red-hot kisses of scorched flesh.
(Hey, it can't all be good, can it?)
​Think about the ways you can wake up, feel the sun shining
and shine your own rays all over the place to bring yourself and others a shit-ton of happiness.
Monica Sweeney

Wishing everybody a day with, as hokey as it sounds, a little sunshine. Relax and appreciate the power you have to start tomorrow and make life a bit better. Don't worry about biz today, because it'll all be there in the morning. Most important of all, let those people most special in your life know you love them! Oh yeah...and that love starts with you guys - I'm here to help you rebuild your business if you need me.

Happy Sunday!