If there was ever a time to look out for the mental wellness of everyone in the organization, it’s now. We’ve talked about Mental Wellness in the Workplace. We need to talk about it more—and do more.

I’ve come up with a revolutionary strategy for connecting in the workplace that can help improve everyone’s mental wellbeing… lunch and coffee breaks.

Lunch and Coffee Breaks

I know, it’s not actually revolutionary. But we need to create opportunities to talk with each other (outside of all the work duties), to eat and drink, and actually get to know the other people in our workplaces.

Typically, managers and administrators don’t take breaks in the same rooms that general employees do. Why not change that? Either ask your leaders to set aside some break times and lunchtimes to eat in the common areas or choose specific days where everyone’s encouraged to eat together.

Inclusive Activities Help New Hires

There’s a good chance you’ve had significant employee turnover recently. Or, your employees have all been distanced for so long because of COVID that you might not recognize them any more—and they might not recognize each other.

Eating together and taking coffee breaks together encourages conversation and introduces people from different departments to each other. I want to see your management doing the same thing. This sends a positive message to the entire organization.

The practice will also help new hires feel more welcome in the organization, learn who they’re working with and who their team leaders (and their bosses) are, and start to create the cohesive work environment that leads to better productivity and retention.

Ditch the Desk

If you’ve gotten into the habit of grabbing a quick sandwich to eat at your desk while you work, it’s time to do something different. Eating at your desk isn’t good for your body or your mental health. And it won’t help you create meaningful connections with others.

Get away from your desk. Eat where others eat. Try making eye contact with humans instead of looking at a screen. It might feel uncomfortable at first, but I’m confident you can make it a success!

We’re All in the Same Storm

We might not all be in the same boat, but we’re definitely all in the same storm right now. Everyone’s feeling hesitation and doubt. We’re all wondering what the future holds. We’re all concerned about the safety of our loved ones.

We need to connect with each other. Connecting makes surviving the storm possible. And that connection needs to start at the top, with managers/bosses/supervisors making the effort to sit down beside other employees, enjoy that sandwich, have a cup of coffee, and be helping through the struggle together.

As we begin to emerge from these very strange times, do you want to invigorate yourself? Do you want to feel life’s energy rushing through your
veins? Do you want to get on track, get going, finally make some real headway and cruise your way through life? Then let me tell you this: in order to get these juices flowing, you have to stop doing what does not work for you. Stop doing all those things that drain your energy and make
you feel empty.

Stop sitting around and start standing up for yourself! Get rid of relationships that do not help you grow. Get rid of food that does not feed you. Get rid of activities that do not build you up! Stop doing whatever it is that makes you tired, irritated and grumpy. Break with people who don’t support you and deplete your energy! Stop doing whatever it is that pulls
your energy level down, and start doing whatever it is that lifts your energy level up!

1) People – Break with people who ‘vampirize’ you – those who are constantly feeding off your precious energy. If you feel empty and muddled after meeting with certain people, then don’t meet with them anymore! When you feel your energy level is higher after meeting with certain
people, then they are okay for you. Be aware of your energy level and how people affect it, and then act accordingly!

2) Conversations – Stop participating in conversations that keep you down, that make you feel annoyed or angry. Try to express your ideas in a calm and clear fashion, but if the other is not paying attention, then leave the conversation and go on with your business!

3) Activities – Stop doing whatever it is that makes you feel exhausted. If you don’t like cleaning the house, then find somebody else to do it for you, EVEN if you would do a better job by yourself! The question is not, “Who does a better job?” The question is, “What does this activity do to my energy level?” Stop doing what brings you down. Instead, do what boosts your energy.

4) Food – Stop eating and drinking food that makes you drowsy or bad tempered. Food has a direct influence on your mood. If drinking too much coffee makes you irritable, then don’t drink too much coffee. If drinking one cup of coffee in the morning gives you the energy to get started, then drink one cup of coffee. If one glass of wine makes you euphoric, then drink one
glass of wine. If three glasses of wine make you feel dizzy, then don’t drink three glasses of wine.

5) Job – Appreciate and be appreciated. If your boss talks down to you, humiliates you, and doesn’t appreciate your work, then leave him. Find yourself a better boss! Find yourself a boss who DESERVES having YOU as an employee! Don’t stay around someone with such a low energy level. He will keep bringing you down. Find yourself a boss or a job that lifts up your
energy level. When you try to hold on to a job that drains all your energy, then before long you will surely develop some kind of disease. Nobody can withstand a climate of low energy without paying the high price of illness and depression.

6) Places – Don’t stay in places where you don’t feel good. Some restaurants and cafés are so noisy that it’s impossible to spend time there without severely attacking your energy vibrations. Too much noise, too many people, too much chaos will inevitably drag you down. Don’t stay in
a house that has a bad energy to it. If a place is good for you then you will feel an energy boost whenever you spend time there!

This advice seems so simple that you might think I’m treating you like a four-year old. Make no mistake! Four year-olds often have a healthier relationship with themselves than we do. They will not go on eating or drinking something they do not feel comfortable with, but many adults
do! Take their example!

What to do when you notice that your energy level has been dragged down by a person, a place, an activity, or anything else? No problem, you can fix it immediately! The best remedy to uplift your energy vibration is: Nature. Go for a walk in the forest, or the park. Breathe the oxygen. Observe a flower in close-up. Look how Mother Nature very carefully painted the nerves in the leaves, and your energy level will be skyrocketing. Watch some children play, listen to some birds sing. Take your time.

If you can’t go out yet, then put on some inspirational music and dance around the table. This will do you good. Go to a quiet room and meditate for a while. Imagine you have an energy channel starting at your spine and going into the heart of the earth. Send down all the bad and low energy vibrations. Mother earth knows how to transform them into high-level energy.

Imagine a channel from your spine into heaven, and feel how divine celestial energy is flowing into your body to replenish you with high-energy vibrations. See yourself surrounded by a magnificent white golden light. You can do this even at work, sitting in front of your computer, at a meeting, anywhere, anytime. You can also carry a gemstone with you, and “instruct” it to deviate low energy vibrations and permit only good vibrations to touch you.

You are the shepherd of your own energy. What vibration do you prefer: high or low? It’s up to you to flow around what feels bad and stick to what feels good. It’s up to you to clean up your energy field. Nothing too complex, just regular maintenance. Take an energy shower in the forest. Breathe!

• Reduces stress – Journaling has a proven benefit of reducing stress. Once you’ve journaled, you don’t carry as much of what you have written about within you. It is on the paper or in the computer. By journaling, you give yourself a powerful form of self-expression, and through that expression you can gain clarity, release, and relief.
• Setting goals and resolutions – You can actually see and better understand what you want, what is important to you, and how you feel, through journaling. Then you can create goals and resolutions to support what you are thinking and writing about.
• Organizes – Journaling your goals and what you want to accomplish for the day, the month, the year, or a lifetime, is an excellent tool to help you get those things done. You can create a personal checklist of “things to do.”
• Helps focus – Writing in a journal creates more personal awareness, and therefore more focus on the issues that are important to you.
• The routine and habit of journaling means making time for you – When you set aside time for yourself, you can feel the benefit and gain from doing something specifically for yourself. It can show up in other areas of your life as you carry that time you have spent on yourself within you, and everywhere you go.
• Start your journal on any day of the year – Journaling is something you can start today, stop tomorrow, and pick up again next year. You can start and stop as you want. You can skip a day. It is your journal.
• Journal entries record the day, tracking your life – When keeping a journal, you record your experiences, dreams, ideas, desires, thoughts and more, for reflecting on now, and in the future. You are telling your story to yourself.
• You can better understand and accept yourself and others – Whether you re-read your journal or not, you can gain benefits from writing down your story, and your thoughts. You are writing about how you see and experience life.
• You can compare and explore the times of your life – Awareness of the past can teach and support your future.
• Creates a good personal reminder – As you journal the times of your life, if you are still writing about the same things over and over, it can help support your idea of what is working in your life and what is not. You are creating a record, and with that record in hand it is easier to see patterns, changes, and shifts. You can always ask yourself, “What do I want to carry with me?”
• Provides personal growth and freedom – Journaling can be a wonderful tool to help better understand yourself and the world that surrounds you.
• Becomes a treasured keepsake, a written scrapbook – A journal is a catalog of your memories. Over time, your memories become an irreplaceable treasure that can be looked at years from now, by you, or, if you wish, by others.
• Records and tracks business, personal or financial information – There are many ways to benefit from journaling, because there are many ways to keep a journal. A business journal can track appointments, meetings, finances, or log data. A personal journal can be about dreams, family, health, diets, hobbies, travel, or any other topic you want to record and track.
• Journals are great gifts for friends, family or to give yourself – You can give the benefits of journaling to a friend, or to yourself. With the benefits of journaling in mind, and the insights and power it can give to someone else or to YOU, consider journaling. If you never journaled, consider starting. If you have journaled, but have quit, consider starting a journal again.

Remember – write it down, get it out. There is power in the expression of writing!

As we head into mental health week today, and year two of a global pandemic, it’s time to have some important conversations and make crucial decisions about how to support both our own mental health and that of all our employees. This year, organizations are realizing the toll that the pandemic is taking on people in the workplace.

I like this definition from the UK Mental Health Foundation:

Mental health is the way we think and feel and our ability to deal with ups and downs.

When it comes to workplaces, mental health has three components: take care of yourself, help colleagues, and create a workplace that promotes mental wellness.

Take Care of Your Mental Health

First off, let’s dispel with the myth that heroics require keeping to yourself and ‘dealing with’ your problems alone. That’s completely false. True heroics means speaking up when you need help; when you’re not OK.

Ask for help. It can feel like the hardest thing you’ve ever done. It’s also the bravest. And it’s the only way to get better. We need connections and support!

Another action is to practice mindfulness: choosing to focus on your present situation and immediate task (no falling into thoughts about past mistakes or potential future problems). Mindfulness can happen at our desk, in the car, while walking. Focus on the here and now. Ground yourself in what your senses are gathering right now in this moment.

Practice lots of self-care, whatever that looks like for you. Talking with a friend, enjoying a quiet moment at a park bench, sleeping in on days off, and doing yoga are all good examples of self-care.

Help Colleagues

Distress is when someone isn’t coping for any reason. It doesn’t matter whether the source is the workplace, the pandemic, or a mental illness. Distressed people need someone to reach out to them.

Talk to your colleagues. Ask sincerely, “How are you doing?”. And listen carefully to them without judgment or seeking solutions. We’re all going through something right now, so listen with an open mind. Don’t assume someone is OK, or that you know what they’re going through. Ask. Whether you can relate to what they’re experiencing or not, listening will make a difference.

If you’re concerned, it’s OK to ask, “Have you had thoughts about suicide?” Talking to someone about this reduces the risk, and opens up an opportunity to get help—just like you’d ask someone showing symptoms of a heart attack if they were having trouble, and you’d call 911 to save their life.

If you suspect someone is in immediate danger of harming themselves, get help right away. Here are some resources available in our area:

• Call 811 at any time to speak with a health services navigator and connect with supports
• Call 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433) if you are considering suicide, or are concerned for someone
• Call 310-6789 for specific mental health supports
• Deaf and hard of hearing people can call 711 (TTY) or sign up at Video Relay for access through your MAC or PC and give them the number 604-215-5101 to get connected using a sign-language interpreter
• List of BC mental health supports
• Learn about mental health information and read helpful stories at Here to Help

When a colleague is returning to work, especially after taking time off to care for their mental health, connect in advance, and ask if you can do anything for them. Welcome them back on their return and ask again how you can help.

Offering Real Support as an Employer

We must offer real, tangible mental health supports within our workplaces. Start with leading by example. If you’re having mental health challenges, reach out and get support. Remember, everyone is struggling, including the CEO.

Make it clear that you want team members to share when they’re having struggles, and to ask for help. Listen. It may be directly related to workplace issues you can address that will improve things for the whole workplace. Or it may be something very personal. All help starts with asking and listening.

Highlight your policies against bullying and harassment, and take time this month to specifically share what isn’t acceptable in relation to mental health issues.

Allow for different working hours that accommodate medications/schedules/needs, and create space for employees to attend appointments. Continue to support work-from-home for those who work better from home, or (when permitted and safe) work in-office, depending on what best meets the employee’s needs.

Make sure everyone knows about the extended health benefits offered through workplace plans. This is a great month to point out coverage for counselling, fitness memberships, and massages so your employees can really make the most of what’s available.

Pay attention to drops in performance, keep an open mind (is it mental health related?). Again, asking “Are you OK?” is so important.

When members are off work for mental health reasons, ask what they’d like their colleagues to be told. Facilitate returns to work with communication and support, and consider phased returns to make the transition back to work as smooth as you can. Ask, ask, ask. Ask your employees, ask your HR experts how you can support your employees.

Remember that all changes can be challenging at the best of times, and it’s so much more so now.

Finally, make sure your leadership team knows that it’s part of their job to advocate for their employee’s mental health—it’s not the job of the employee with mental health issues.

Take care of yourself, look out for your colleagues, and create a mentally healthy workplace. To quote one of BC’s most famous phrases (and one I truly believe in), we will get through this.

Or is it?

While chatting, my colleagues and I soon shifted to all our advantages and opportunities. We live here in one of the most beautiful places in the world. The sun is almost always shining. The scenery is stunning. The breeze is gentle. We have cars and legs that can still take us to hundreds of possible places right here in our area!

Folks, it’s picnic time!

Think about it: for less than $100, you can buy a beautiful picnic basket with cutlery, plates, wine glasses, napkins, and a tablecloth. I know, because I went out and purchased a few already! Then, all you need to do is invite a client, set up a place to meet up where you can relax outside (and still stay 6 feet apart), and call up your favourite restaurant to fill the basket for you.

I called a few of my local restaurants to ask about providing picnics, and they were delighted to accommodate me. Plus, it’s another great opportunity to support local businesses who definitely need it.

So, there you have it. A completely lovely way to touch base with clients, enjoy the beautiful Okanagan Valley, or wherever you are blessed to live, and you can leave them with the picnic basket so they can keep the good times rolling!

I can just picture it now… you grab your briefcase and the picnic basket, make sure you’ve got sunscreen and sunglasses, and when your kids ask where you’re off to, you answer, ‘I’m taking my client on a picnic!’ What a wonderful way to model how work can be fun for the next generation.

Now, I’m not the most creative person out there, but here are some possible variations on the picnic-with-clients theme:

• Grab some drinks and wander through a garden center for a walking meeting
• Book a spot for a picnic at a vineyard, winery, flower grower, or orchard
• Have a trunk-nic or a truck-nic with foods and drinks served from the trunk of your car or the back of your truck
• Visit one of the many parks in the area

We’re only limited by our imagination. It’s not about being childish, but taking a child-like approach to meetings. In fact, you could even include your client’s children in the invitation and meet at a playground. What a thoughtful way to accommodate parents who are juggling the demands of working from home while raising children! (And I’ve heard that many teens are more than happy to visit one of our local skateboard parks, volleyball courts, or basketball courts—where there’s often a picnic table or two nearby.)

What do you think? Ready to book a few picnic meetings? Do you have other creative ideas to safely keep connected with your clients, and have a little fun together at the same time?

Please share them here with our community!

We all do it. We all make mistakes. We’ve all done things we shouldn’t—or wish we hadn’t. Welcome to the human race. A race made up of making small and large mistakes.

I often see a sense of relief in people when they finally accept their humanity and give themselves permission to make mistakes and admit those mistakes. It’s really freeing to stop expecting perfection from ourselves!

Where to now?

Humor me for a moment and imagine your entire life so far as if it was a full bucket. Now, of everything in that bucket of life experiences, what percentage represents guilt and/or regrets.

We know—both from personal experience and from decades of research—that past experiences can, and do, affect our present reality. It’s quite possible that bad feelings about choices you’ve made in the past are creating problems for you today.

Talking about guilt and regrets is important at any time, and I feel it is especially crucial now as we advance into a second year of pandemic living. And then (you know what’s coming next) we must take action to deal with our past, so it doesn’t continue to mess with today’s life.

Here’s how:

There are No Time Machines

Whatever did or did not happen in the past is done. Permanent. Unchangeable. Sure, you can spend time every day going over all that happened, all that was wrong, all that could have been. At the end of the day, you will still have the same things in your past that you had at the start of the day.

There are some appropriate times and places to work through things in the past. But at a point, it’s time to stop, leave the past in the past, and choose to look forward. Remember, absolutely nothing will change the past. Not what you think, what you do, how you feel, or how you act.

Change Your Thought Loop

Many of us have had an exceptionally large amount of time in the past year to get lost in thought. And for those dealing with guilt and regret, those thoughts can be very damaging and harmful.

Our brain gets stuck in thought loops very easily—especially negative ones. It’s possible you weren’t even aware of your repetitive negative self-talk—until now!

Pay attention to the thoughts you have over and over. Perhaps write them down (journal) as you become aware of them. If they’re not positive and forward-focused, they are certainly bringing negativity to your entire self. They are not serving you.

Write down a new set of truths that have nothing to do with the past, and repeat them until they overwrite the old loop. While it’s harder to create a new thought loop, once it’s firmly in place you will notice a positive change (and your brain will begin to default to the good stuff all on its own). It will write new thought habits.

Forgive Yourself

This is a biggie. Whatever you did in the past, forgive yourself:

• State what you did/said/didn’t do
• List the feelings attached to this event
• Say “I forgive myself for…” (Yes, absolutely this must be said out loud!)
• Don’t worry if there isn’t a rush of positive feelings. It can take time for you to feel the release from the resentment/guilt you’ve held onto.
• The next time you’re tempted to slip back into the old thought loop, remind yourself (again, out loud is best) that you’ve forgiven yourself
  
  Activate the Learning Gained Out of Mistakes

How many times has a mistake led to new learning, new revelations, even entirely new ways of doing things? Mistakes are part of the human experience. And more importantly, so is learningfrom them.

Whatever mistakes you’ve made, forgive yourself for them. Then grab all the good learning you can from them—insist on gaining growth out of the deal!

What do you think?
Are these suggestions real and doable?
Can you use them?
Will you use them?

We’re in this together, so let’s work through things by sharing our stories and insights. Please share with me the tools and practices that work for you.

I appreciate you.

~peter~

Don’t Let Your Business Atrophy!

After talking about keeping our bodies away from atrophy in Part 1, and then our relationships from the same fate in Part 2, it’s time to talk about the shape of our businesses during this very strange time.

I know a lot of you took a virtual ‘kick to the business teeth’ when everything shut down last spring, and for some, you’re still trying to find your way back to profitability. For others, your business may be hanging in there, but you need to make changes that are appropriate considering this new world we’re living in.

A business can atrophy—or wither away—just like a physical body can atrophy. It’s my great hope that all of you will find ways in 2021 to grow and thrive in your businesses, but I want you to look at what’s atrophying—or at risk of atrophying—first, and take action.

What happened to your business in 2020? Where was it pre-pandemic, during the first lockdown, in the summer, and then into the fall?

Some businesses have shifted to digital, virtual, or contact-free and even expanded. If this was your business, is how you’re operating right now sustainable (something you can maintain at the same level) and scalable (something you can grow to meet new goals)? If not, take action and make changes. What doesn’t get used often dies.

Perhaps you’re still looking for how to shift your business to new norms. Even when we get back to ‘normal’, some things will never change back to how they once were. Which of these apply to your business? Or apply to how your employees work and will continue to work? Get real about these areas and address them.

What if nothing I’ve talked about so far fits your situation? Do you feel like you’ve lost too much to recover? This can be a good thing! Unlike our physical bodies and our relationships, shutting down your business instead of trying to save it might be OK. I’ve experienced business failure. It hurts, but it’s not fatal and it often leads to something much better.

The trick is to know when you’re temporarily exhausted and overwhelmed but will soon be ready to rebuild, and when you need to let go and move on. Only you can decide that, but getting some expert feedback on your situation may help make that decision.

Take this warning, and address those areas where your business is weak so 2021 will be an exciting year of growth for you! Don’t let the atrophy get any worse. Deal with it, and build up stronger than before!

Plus, I truly believe that out of this pandemic will come businesses that are agile, resilient, creative, and even better poised to do great things. Yes, that means your business if you do the work now!

So, figure out where things are weak or failing, and get going. Talk to your team members. Ask them where the business is vulnerable, and listen to their answers. Ask them how they’d make things better, and (you guessed it) listen to them. And then make things better.

I would love to hear about what you’re doing to build back yourself, your relationships, and your business better than ever! Shoot me a note and keep me updated!

My very best wishes to you.

I appreciate you.

~peter~

Are You Facing Relationship Atrophy?

I suspect at this point in the pandemic we’ve all spent more time in close quarters with our partners, children, roommates, and maybe even parents than we ever believed possible. With the exception of a few people who seemed to absolutely thrive in this new reality, it’s been hard on most relationships.

After writing in about physical atrophy in Part 1, I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up relationship atrophy—and in Part 3, I’ll talk about atrophy in our businesses.

Atrophy—wasting away—losing what we once had. Whether that’s muscle, a connection with someone, our motivation, or something else, I don’t want you to lose any more than you’ve already lost. And I want to encourage you to work hard at gaining back what you’ve lost.

So, what might atrophy in relationships look like?

Well, I suspect for most it was a very insidious process. Spending so much time together (and with ongoing pandemic restrictions) has meant that many people aren’t really planning in time for things like dates, little moments of connecting, or meaningful acts to show some love.

But just like with our physical body, the mantra of Use it or Lose it applies. We need to work on our relationships—even when we are seeing that person morning, noon, and night of every single day!

And just like exercising, when we’ve gone without for a while, the effort to get a relationship back to a good place after it’s atrophied is a lot more than the effort to keep things going in the first place. Folks, don’t let your relationships die.

If you’ve been doing the things that keep your relationship strong, keep doing them! Keep that connection going and growing!

But if a moment of thought reveals that your relationship is not as strong as it once was (or as strong as you want it to be), start to fix it now. Do it! Whatever good things exist in your world that build up your relationship, grab them with both hands and start doing them.

Wherever you’re at right now, the effort to repair and restore things if you start today is less than the effort needed if you delay. If that’s your motivation to get started, use it.

The pandemic reminds me every day of the frailty of life, and the uncertainty that those who we care about will always be with us. Today is the best day for investing in relationships!

I know that many of the things we used to do with our loved ones just aren’t possible right now. It might take some serious innovation to find something you can do. But oh, how worth it!

I mentioned Part 1 that it took me nine months to learn how to walk again after falling ill. Many of those days I barely saw progress. It just felt like the same struggle day after day. Now, I can look back and see how every day I was making my nervous system learn to send ‘walking’ messages to my muscles, and making my muscles respond to those messages.

It’s similar with an atrophied relationship. Some days (maybe even many days) it will feel like you’re not making any progress. Hang in there! The progress is happening. And it’s worth every struggling step to get there.

This was your warning if you were waiting for one. Today is the best day to fight atrophy in your relationships. COVID has taken so much from us, but the connections you have with the people you love are within your power to strengthen. Go for it!

As we continue to live through these current days that will affect our futures, I’ve been thinking back to one of the times in my recent past that still impacts me today.

I experienced a serious health crisis a couple of years ago that had me fighting for my life in the ICU for ten days. Surviving the surgery was just the beginning of my battle back to health. Being confined to bed for over a month, it astounded me just how fast our bodies can waste away when we are (literally) not doing anything physical.

Part of the illness’ impact meant I had to re-navigate how to walk. It was weeks on end of one struggling step at a time. It took me nine months to get fully to the point where I could walk independently.

Let me tell you, an experience like that can really change your outlook. Every morning when I can wake up, swing my legs over the side of the bed, stand up, and walk around, I’m grateful for my health and my mobility.

The doctors used the word “atrophy” to describe how my muscles became nearly useless. I suppose it’s the scientific term for the phrase: use it or lose it.

I know the pandemic is dragging on far longer than any of us could have imagined. Restrictions impacting us every day. We can’t even plan a little get together with friends to lift our spirits—never mind things like holidays that we once planned for with such excitement!

At this point, atrophy is a real risk for each of us: Atrophy of our physical bodies. Atrophy in our relationships and connections. And atrophy in our businesses.

Granted, I’m deeply aware that this isn’t quite the enthusiastic, cheerful type of subject I tend to post about. And I’ve thought carefully about whether to even write about it. In the end, I felt compelled.

You must take the risk of atrophy seriously. Don’t let our current state of living pull you back from working hard for yourself, your loved ones, and your businesses!

When it comes to your own self, if you are one of those who has been exercising and strengthening your body, keep it up! I can tell you absolutely that you’ll be glad you did. If you haven’t been, make today the day you start.

If you’re already experiencing atrophy—or it’s a risk—you must get up and do something that challenges your muscles! Does your body know how to walk unassisted? Congratulations! You already have an advantage over where I was just two years ago—use it.

Sure, there may not be the motivation to get in shape in advance of a vacation, or meeting up with someone you want to impress, or even something like a half marathon. You’ll have to decide on a different ‘why’ for getting stronger. Whatever you decide on, start today.

For some, even the distant hope of going places and doing things again is reason enough to be strong and healthy. It could also be the health benefits, the psychological benefits, or showing our children how good it is to focus on being the best version of ourselves.

Use it or lose it, folks. In a season where so many have experienced so much loss, we must take care of what we still have. Take care of your body today. Push it a little further. Find out what you’re capable of today, and tomorrow you’ll already be a better version of yourself.

Watch out for part 2 on this subject.

~peter~

One of the most meaningful quotes I have ever heard is from the late John Lewis. He was a civil rights activist in the United States, a politician that served 17 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, a key leader in the 1963 March on Washington, and one of many beaten by police in the 1965 March from Selma to Montgomery where he suffered a skull fracture.

John Lewis died on July 17, 2020, from pancreatic cancer. His life couldn’t possibly be contained in a few sentences, and I won’t even try. But one of the many things he left for me—for all of us—is this quote:

Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.  -John Lewis 1940-2020

If you and I were talking in person right now, we’d quietly sit with that quote for a bit.

The first two sentences are so very appropriate as we go into 2021. It’s so easy to look back on all we’ve lost, and to look forward without hope. In my life, I’ve lost my youngest son, had businesses fail, experienced divorce, seen too many lovely people die way before their time… I could go on. But I refuse to get lost in a sea of despair. I choose hope! I choose optimism!

Yes, there will be struggles for my entire life, although I don’t feel at all like my struggles compare to the struggles of the civil rights movement. John Lewis lived in those every day of his life, and he dedicated his life to fighting them. I can most certainly commit my life to the fights that I personally believe in.

But it’s that last line of John’s quote that absolutely inspires me as I look forward to a new year. I pray that it inspires you, too.

Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid to make some noise. Don’t be afraid to make some noise and get into good trouble.

What could ‘good trouble’ possibly mean for an old white guy like me, living in a safe, gorgeous area of a wonderful country surrounded by kind, good people?

What does ‘good trouble’ mean for any of us?

It means showing kindness in the face of unkindness.

It means stepping into someone else’s righteous fight and fighting with them.

It means making public, vocal statements to distance ourselves and our businesses from things that aren’t right, or aren’t fair, or things that could harm people or our planet.

It means insisting that our leaders make the right choices—and follow through with them. If you’re a leader, it means doing what is right.

It means sharing truth, dispelling misinformation, and applying self-control and intelligent thought when someone says, ‘I disagree’.

Folks, we’ve only got the time we have on this planet. We are not renewable resources! But we can get ourselves into enough good trouble that our legacy lives on past these old bodies. I couldn’t even begin to measure the impact John Lewis has had and will continue to have. It’s my honour to do what I can and get into some good trouble of my own.

Please join me in some good trouble making in 2021!