With all of the madness surrounding Lebron James and the steroid injected 24/7 media, it moves us to consider the winds of change and progress. How do we navigate change? With what lens do we see progress?
One thing is unequivocally clear; Change is one of the only things in life that remains the same, yet, in times of transition; communities, organizations, families, and individuals are predominately ill-prepared for it.
The saga surrounding the young, philanthropic, talented Lebron James has been going on for the past three years. The Cleveland community was in complete denial around the possibility of their young lion moving on to another port of call. Not only did they deny the possibility, they did not actively and intentionally engage in a process whereby change would be manageable.
This inattention to one of the most basic irrefutable laws of life causes otherwise sane individuals to act out in emotionally driven rants of stupidity. When we are not prepared for change in our homes, business, churches, and relationships we subconsciously invite the debilitation of ourselves and others. Much like many of the other ills in society, we diminish our humanity when we are unable transcend personal bias/feelings about change. We must decide to transcend our pain by preparation.
When things change, “hurt people, hurt people” even when we’ve invested our time attempting to help people. I am a witness, if we are not prepared for life’s shifts, the place in our hearts once filled with what Frankie Beverly and Maze would call “Happy Feelings” can easily and swiftly be filled by Tupac Shakur’s “Me Against the World” feeling.
I hope that we will use the public “Barnum and Bailey-Esque” experience of a modern-day sports icon to strengthen and provoke thoughtful action to preparing for the inevitable…Change.
For your reflection: