Wow. In my last conversation with you, I talked about diving deep and decompression when coming up. I had no idea exactly how deep I had gone.
Earlier this week, I came back to the surface, and found myself in China, not figuratively, literally. It was the moment in time when I came to the realization that I needed to write again, hopefully to be enjoyed by someone else, but if not, at least to help me keep my wits about me.
In the last few months, I have come to discover the strength that exists in my family and in the friends I have surrounded myself with. In a time when I was incredibly low on strength, they just kept filling me, pouring strength into me so I could continue. I will never know how to say thank you in an appropriate way, and I will never know how to pay them back.
I have learned how to behave with grace and strength by watching my daughter move through one of the toughest times that she will probably have in her life. It is my prayer that if ever faced with the same type of situation; I will be able to act in the manner that I have come to not only appreciate but expect from her.
Alright, enough about that. Those of you who know me are completely up to speed with what I am talking about and those of you that don't, keep reading and I am sure that over the next weeks or months, it will all come into place.
As I rose from the funk that had been my recent days and months, I found I was up against a trip to Shanghai that I had been ignoring for quite some time because I really did not want to go. The trip ended up being much better than expected for the business that I was going to handle, but way beyond that, I met someone I really should have met years ago. This is a person who can not only have fun, but make you think all at the same time. In the middle of getting to know a new friend, here is the mantra that I learned:
Creativity
Spontaneity
Positive cash flow.
Through all of our lifetimes, we have been told about "tripods" that will not survive if one of the legs is removed. Examples are our own government, or the fire triangle. This new tripod is that with three items: creativity, spontaneity, and positive cash flow, you really can have fun. With removal of one of the "legs," the tripod falls apart.
This really struck a nerve in me as I would be willing to say that in the last few months, at least two of these have been missing all of the time, and maybe even all three of them. That’s kind of shocking when you stop to examine this and find out what the truth is. So, in China, on business, I worked to embrace this new tripod, at least as much as possible. As a result, I had a great time, and I brought things home to my family they truly enjoyed. It also gave me something to think about and use as some type of guidance moving forward. As an added bonus, I made a new friend for which I am very thankful.
I am back, hopefully for a long time, working through the decompression sickness that has been several months of family medical crisis.
IN ADDITION, I need to get back to talking about shops and “man caves” If you know someone that has a cool workspace, let me know about it and we will share it. I have pictures coming up in the next week or so, as to what a shop in China looks like. Look forward to that.
