Today I don’t wish to focus on business. There’s something I can’t get out of my mind since reading the paper the other day. The front page was devoted to a young couple who attended the sentencing hearing of a teenage offender, who rammed their vehicle at an intersection while fleeing police. Also present at that hearing was the couple’s infant daughter. She too, was in the car at the time of the accident, supposedly safely ensconced in her pregnant mother’s womb. However, although her mother’s physical injuries seem to have healed, the emotional wounds are still very raw. You see, this precious little girl, due to the collision, was born prematurely with severe brain damage. Thirteen months later she still requires a respirator and feeding tube.

Opprobrious
So, in spite of the fact that I, like most, can usually quite easily dismiss tragic news articles, and go on with my day without missing a beat, why am I still uneasily dwelling on this one? Because this particular story hit closer to home. I know the young mother. I’m an old friend of her parents, and she was a childhood playmate of my oldest daughter. My heart goes out to the entire family.

Another reason I feel especially affected is because my other daughter is due to give birth in only a few weeks. We, of course, are hoping for a healthy grandchild. This is the way we expect things should be. How would we feel if the outcome was less than what we consider to be perfect? Should we feel guilty for wanting any less than this? Would I want my daughter and son-in-law to spend their lives dealing with the above scenario? The answer to the last two questions is ‘No’. And the response to ‘How would we feel?’ - well, the newspaper headline sums it up. “Why Us?” Why, indeed?

Omnipotent
I know very well I would be asking the same question. Heck, rephrase it to “Why me?”, and I’ll admit I’ve asked this question over and over pertaining to much lesser infractions against my comfort and security. For someone who has the propensity, more often than not, to turn mole hills into Mount Everest, I don’t imagine I’ve earned the right to comment on the rightness of a situation that’s clearly devastating to those affected. However, as usual, from the snug safety afforded by the luxury of my ringside seat, I do have something to say. I hope my words, if they are ever read by my friends, will provide solace rather than hurt or provoke anger - that is my intention. Perhaps when the time is right this will be the case. I also hope, if ever I’m required to take my own advice, I will be strong enough to do so.

Actually, it’s not so much advice I’m about to offer, but an explanation based on my beliefs. It’s really easy for me to believe this when I’m not the one having to deal with something so unfathomably hard. I can’t possibly begin to feel the pain of the young couple or their extended families. I do understand this, but just maybe I can say something inspiring and uplifting just the same.

Omniscience
Author, Louise L. Hay writes regarding birth defects, “Karmic. You selected to come that way. We choose our parents and our children.” Shocking, do you think? Well, this time I think I’ve earned the right to support this way of thinking, since I was born with a congenital defect myself - albeit minor by comparison. I believe there are no accidents in the universe. I also believe the soul of this baby girl, who sustained such horrific trauma in a senseless collision her family wishes had never happened, chose to experience life this way. Who’s to say there’s a right or wrong way to be born? I do believe she carefully chose her parents, and that on some metaphysical level they chose her. What if, instead of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, as they no doubt think now, they were actually in the right place at the right time? I know it was never their desire. I know they are having to do what is excruciatingly hard. I can’t possibly imagine their pain - I’m far too scared to even try.

My prayer for them is that they find the love, support, and strength they need to rise above the challenges, and discover the perfection that is their life, just the way it is. I pray that one day they will be able to shed the shroud of victimhood, and move beyond surviving to thriving. Most of all, I pray they’ll find inspiration, happiness, and joy in the face of tragedy, and that this will happen for them sooner rather than later.

Omnipresence
Recently, I heard something very powerful for me - We are in God. This made a greater impact on me than my previous notion that God is in me. Who am I to contain God? Perhaps I’m not quite ready to handle that responsibility. But the truth that I am in God reinforces my understanding that I am connected to everything and everything is connected to me. Ultimately, I believe both statements are true. In his latest book, “Power, Freedom, and Grace”, Deepak Chopra writes, “The inner self of every human waits patiently until we are ready; then it extends an invitation to enter the luminous mystery of existence in which all things are created, nurtured, and renewed. In the presence of this mystery, we not only heal ourselves, we heal the world.”

If you feel inspired to send some healing out, please join me and send your own prayers out to Christina, Chad, and Jaina. By joining our already connected hearts together with a common intention, I know they’ll feel the love and support. In God all things are possible.

Oscillate
While I don’t want to use someone’s misfortune as a platform to promote ourselves, business is part of the cycle of life. Perhaps now we can put things into perspective, and conduct our businesses and all aspects of our lives from the heart.

Do your business a favour: It’s important and it’s coming up soon, so mark your calendars for the International Sign Expo 2007 in Las Vegas, April 11th - 14th. For more info go to www.signexpo.org.

From our heart to your business,

Team Sign Equip

 

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