Nanci Raphael's blog

Everything has changed.

Life as we knew it, is no longer.

Extreme times are upon us as we face one of our biggest adversaries in modern history, the Coronavirus/COVID-19.

Leading a business has never been a walk in the park. Challenges come at leaders on a daily, if not hourly basis. Your composure is repeatedly tested.  Today’s pit-in-your-stomach challenges bring even greater stress. People are working at home. Schools are closed. Layoffs mount. People are sick and dying. The stock market is plummeting. Uncertainty and fear prevail.

Have you ever done something you shouldn’t have done?

You walked across the street when the traffic light was red? You hurriedly strode through a door not holding it for the slow moving stranger behind you? 

If so, you’re in good company. 

We all can think of things we shouldn’t have done.  Some we may forget. Others remain with us.

There is one that remained with me. It took place a few years ago.  I learned greatly from what happened.  

I left for a Maine vacation, with a goal in mind. Now I KNOW what you’re thinking.  The purpose of a vacation is NOT to bring any goals along with you.  And I would be the first to tell you that!

However, this time I was going to break my own rule. 

Last summer, my then four-year old granddaughter, Hannah, was standing with me on the balcony of the condo where my parents live. The balcony was four stories high.  As she walked closer to the edge, the only thing separating her from the black asphalt below was a metal railing.  My stomach did flip-flops as I watched her get closer to the edge.