CATCH UP & TIMES ARE CHANGING

CATCH UP

As I've been blogging more on my own websites I have missed attached anything to this site. And if truth be told had forgotten I still had it. Coming across it by accident I have decided to start adding those posts I have missed including over the last few months. I hope those that start reading this blog will enjoy my additions.

In the meantime, I am starting with what happened today. This is of course due to the current situation we are all experiencing and shows the desperation and upset that our trying to survive can cause.

TIMES ARE CHANGING

Having owned and been involved in a number of businesses for many years I today sat and listened to someone head up one of the hardest meetings anyone has ever had to give. Many business owners, especially in the unusual times that we are experiencing, will undoubtedly face an uncertain future. Whilst many are hoping, and want their livelihood to continue, they have to face the reality of reassessing what will happen in the coming months.

Over the years I spent in business and particularly whilst being involved in the accountancy world I met many such business owners. I saw the devastation that unforeseen events can throw at us, forcing owners to face the reality that life as they knew it was about to change forever. The hardest part was the heartbreak they knew they would lay on others who were directly involved with them. People such as their workers, suppliers, customers as well as those third parties indirectly connected.

Any decisions made are only done so after many sleepless nights. The worrying about how others will react. The thinking of what those people, as well as their own family, will do going forward. The loss of weight caused by lack of eating and the sick feeling as the inevitable moment draws closer when you have to say, “Things must change.”

Not only did I understand what the person making such an announcement today was going through I also had total empathy, having experienced that moment myself in the past. In my case I was fortunate as I had prepared for the inevitable and led my way into that moment of change.

What it made me realise is that it is often forgotten by others that those who take up the mantle of business, especially the smaller or unusual type of business, such as a small retail shop, printing services, dry cleaners or a small publishing house, are normally just one-man bands. They invest not just their money but a great deal of their time and effort in ensuring that their customers benefit to the best of their advantage. Often the amount of time they spend working outweighs the normal 40-hour week of employed people, with their week-ends being filled with those little jobs they perhaps didn’t have time to complete during the week.

This country is built on solid businesses and we will, unfortunately, see many such meetings as today, happening again and again during the coming months. However, with understanding and patience, I trust and hope that those in this situation, including the person who made the announcement today, will come through, battle-weary but stronger for it. While it may take longer than anticipated, with continued support we should see success. I know I for one will be fully supporting them all where I can.

THE RIGHT WORDS

This is Part Three of a series of blogs I should have been writing from 1st June.

Over the years I have learnt that sometimes finding the right words isn’t always easy. Even as a writer we often struggle to express that moment or feeling in the way we want our readers to feel or understand what is happening. And, it’s even harder when you want to explain to someone personally, knowing that you are doing so in order to help them. Especially when that someone is a young adult. But more so when it is someone you care about.
Throughout my life I have always tried to offer suggestions or ideas to my children rather than telling them what they should do when a situation has arisen or where advice is required. My mantra has usually been: If you come with a question or problem I won’t tell you what to do. What I’ll do is give you a variety of paths with possible solutions and consequences. I can only listen and make these suggestions on how I think things might work out if you take a certain type of action. The decision as to which path you choose well, that’s down to you.
Besides, I never wanted to be the one who would say I told you so or was told why didn’t you make me do this. The decisions we take in our life affect us first but also many others around us. And it’s not easy.
I suppose that is why I write. Choosing the right words is far easier when you can write it down and then rub it out if they don’t make sense or its doesn’t sound right. Haven’t we all often wished we could have done the same in real life?
Unfortunately, with today’s modern social media we no longer have the option to delete. Once its out there in cyber space you are stuck with it. So, the decisions you make and what you say does affect a multitude of people. The damage you cause cannot be undone.
It’s also harder to accept when it’s being done to you. People who don’t think carefully before saying, writing or doing things that hurt others are uncaring and often selfish. And the closer to home it comes the more spiteful and hurtful the the perpetrator is. At least in the victim’s mind.
And so, just as you would when writing a story, think before you speak. Stop and read out loud before you click the send button as unlike the word document you cannot delete once it’s gone. 
And remember you may have had a few seconds of satisfaction but the hurt lasts and in the long run you will be the one who will suffer. From loss of friendship, loss of love and loss of self-worth. If you can’t respect others then you don’t respect yourself.