Where Are We?

If you are reading this blog, you are here. I saw a moving recently where the defining actor kept repeating this thought at strategic moments throughout the film, “We are here but where are we?” I love the reflection because, on one hand, it states the obvious. On the other, he asks a significant question. We have survived but where are we now?

There is so much to be said about the journey we have experienced over the past three years. The most significant one might be that we have shared it together. Much like 9/11, we have worked through a perilous period of time and, in many ways, our world has changed. Large companies have gone down as well as many smaller ones. Personal bankruptcies are at the highest point in history. The same is true for foreclosed homes and property. Few have dodged the bullet.
At the same time, we have all grown together through the same experience. Maturity might be a good word to describe what we have experienced. We have been forced to come to grips with our lack of discipline and irresponsibility with regard to our affluence. Debt has been exposed and is now being seen for the bondage it represents. Jobs can no longer be taken for granted. Entitlement is a vanishing spirit. Where there is a lack of performance changes have to be made no longer how long you have been on the job.

While we have matured in many ways, there are still some areas where our immaturity is being exposed. Our still young nation with its proud democracy is being challenged like never before. Some of our top governmental officials believe we need to morph into something else entirely. The “greener grass” syndrome comes to mind. Maybe we just need to work harder at restoring the spirit and substance of what we have been given.

The reality of the reigning tendency among us to “play the victim” is being made painfully obvious. Disengaged employees is now the greatest challenge we face in today’s marketplace. “Employees showing up” is not necessarily good news for employers. Blame is being cast widely and personal responsibility is being avoided.
So, “where are we?” We are alive. We have survived. My prayer is that we have learned and that we will continue to learn forward. We are in a new place. There is no return to “the good old days”. I am not really sure which ones we would choose anyway. Do you? Do well, my friends.