I am usually known as an encourager, although from time to time I have been known to really wallow in pessimism and have one absolutely *terrific* pity-party with anyone and everyone invited. But with the overwhelming, frequent soundbites each day of the “free-falling economy,” the “downward spiral on Wall Street” with “no end in sight, ” it’s sometimes difficult to keep a positive outlook.
I’ve thought a lot recently about something Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in his first inaugural address in 1933: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Fear is palpable in our country right now, especially in the media who feeds it to us daily on a frequent basis.
Yesterday, thankfully, I read something so encouraging about one CEO’s decision to not give in to the mindset espoused by the media that I wanted to share it here in hopes that this choice might spread rapidly across our nation like a virus. It already did there at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
All it takes is one person making a conscious decision to look for an alternative to layoffs, being willing to give up something in order to help out others in jeopardy of their livelihood, asking other workers to come alongside and share with the load of keeping everyone employed.
Read about President and CEO Paul Levy’s alternative to layoffs here and how his staff responded to his request for sacrifice.
Their response, in my opinion, is akin to the actions shown by my grandparents’ generation in the Great Depression when extended families and neighbors reached out to help each other when there was a need.
It reminds me of my parents’ generation – the so-called Greatest Generation – when they came together as “one nation” in World War II to fight to preserve the sanctity and safety of their families here at home.
It’s about time that my generation – the Boomers – gets off their collective blessed assurance and show that we are capable of carrying that same torch to keep our nation whole and healthy as our parents and grandparents before us. Our children and grandchildren deserve no less.
Memorable Moments from Masterworks Studio of Decatur, Georgia 