Many times, we like to focus on the big, hairy audacious goals. But don’t forget that little things make a big impact!
Several years ago, the emerald ash borer made its way into Indiana and Ohio. At the time, the only evidence I saw that there could be a problem were signs warning us not to transport firewood across state lines.
I love it when an article has a positive spin on some of the challenges we’ve all faced in 2020.Â
Back in April, this story commented on what one organization is doing during the crisis. It states that The Indiana Historical Society is asking Hoosiers to contribute to telling the story of COVID-19.
This is important because right now, we are all just trying to endure during this ordeal. One day, this will be behind us, and it will be a distant memory, much like The 1918, Spanish Flu Pandemic is for us today. Nobody thought much about it until we had this new pandemic to deal with.
Collectively, our memory can be short, especially when it comes to unpleasant events. Processing what we are going through can help us to make the best of today and remind us in the future how we got through this. And yes, we will get through this! Keep the faith and have the wherewithal to notice and archive what is going on today. If you live in Indiana, you may want to contribute to the archive at the Indiana Historical Society.
Fifty-five years ago, it was a balmy Palm Sunday in Indiana. My mother was five months pregnant with me. It was evening and even though it was stormy, they were getting ready to go to church.
My grandparents lived about five miles southwest of my parents. My Uncle Preston was with them. As they were chatting, they suddenly felt things go deathly quiet. Uncle Preston rushed out to the mailbox. To the northwest, he saw the tornado. He ran back in and told everyone to get in the coal bin. He rushed to the phone to call my dad.
Double Tornado at Midway Trailer Park, between Elkhart and Goshen, Indiana-April 11, 1965: Paul Huffman for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration / Public domain
My parents had lived in their house for less than a year. My uncle says he had no idea what their phone number was and couldn’t recite it afterward. But by the grace of God, he remembered it and called Dad.
My parents were at the front door when the phone rang. Dad hesitated for a moment but decided to answer it anyway. After all, this was a time before voicemail and mobile phones. If you missed a call, you had no idea who was trying to reach you.
Dad answered the phone and Uncle Preston told them to take cover. Mom and Dad got into a closet. As they waited and prayed, they could hear the tornado approaching like a mighty freight train.
When it was over, they emerged from the house. There was devastation all around them. A neighboring house was gone.
Today, the tornado they were spared from would be considered an EF-4. That one tornado killed twenty-eight people and injured over 100. It was one of the forty-seven tornadoes that killed 267 people in six states on that Palm Sunday.
You can read about the event at these sites:
My parents lived to see another day. And four months later, I was born. I am thankful for the quick reaction of my uncle, for my parents’ wise choices and their faith as well as the grace God gave that day to my family. Three generations of the Spear family could have been snuffed out that day. I am grateful to be alive today.
This day reminds me it was less than a year ago when the community I now live experienced the Memorial Day Tornadoes. It was a series of tornadoes that affected Indiana as well as Ohio. This time, it was my wife and taking cover when an EF-4 tornado passed south of us. It was a miracle no one was killed in this series of tornadoes. Once again, it is another reason I am grateful to be alive today.
As we remain hunkered down in our houses during a stay-at-home order, I am reminded how precious and fragile life can be. It may get aggravating being in our homes. But we have faced crises before. We can expect COVID-19 to not be our last crisis. I am just thankful for the life I have gotten to live and for one more day to live.
Around this time of year, I remember my mom quoting from a poem. James Whitcomb Riley was a Hoosier poet. My classmates and siblings learned all about him in Indiana history class. Little Orphant Annie was one of his more famous poems.
You better mind yer parents, an’ yer teachers fond an’ dear,
“Little Orphant Annie” — James Whitcomb Riley
An’ churish them ‘at loves you, an’ dry the orphant’s tear,
An’ he’p the pore an’ needy ones ‘at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns’ll git you
Ef you
Don’t
Watch
Out!
When you read it through modern eyes, it’s a very colloquial and little quaint. Yet it is also a little disturbing to think of the underlying threat if you’re naughty. You better mind your P’s and Q’s! Or the monsters are just waiting to grab you! Yikes!
Fear motivation never works out in the long term. But as a parent, I can think of times when it was tempting to say something similar. After all, isn’t the threat that Santa won’t bring toys if you are naughty a similar ultimatum?
Even so, I’ve come to realize fear motivation may work in the short term, but it is a lousy long term strategy. Someone disciplined with threats will either grow up to be fearful or defiant. Either the child will grow up to fear authority or shake his fist at it. It’s not an inspiring message, is it?
About four years ago, I experienced the paralysis of fear motivation. My wife and I were called to Arizona for her ministry. We knew it was the right thing to do. I resigned from my job in Indiana and we made the trek to the Southwest. When we left our home, she had the job, but I was still looking for my next gig. I had a few leads, but nothing definite. I drove out with a mixture of fear and anxiety, tempered with hope.
I knew it was the right thing to do. Yet, I was also fearful. What if I didn’t find a job quickly? How would we survive? Sure enough, my prophecy of doom came true. I worked for a time as a deli clerk at a grocery store and did freelance illustration while I kept looking. It took eight months to find fulfilling work that would make use of my education and skills. Looking back, I wonder if it would have been a much shorter search if fear didn’t dominate my thinking.
I learned from that experience that fear motivation is not motivation. It is much more useful at paralyzing us than moving us to forward.
You can look toward the future with fear and dread. You probably won’t be motivated to do much. What’s the point if you’re convinced it will go badly? Or you can look toward the future with anticipation and enthusiasm. I learned from that experience four years ago that the latter is much better. It is more effective than watching for those mean, old goblins that will getcha if you don’t watch out!
Source: 3 Myths About Starting a Company in the Midwest
This Entrepreneur.com article proclaimed what Hoosiers and Buckeyes have known for quite some time. The Midwest is a great place to run and thrive in business.
While it’s true we don’t have the high office lease prices of the left and right coast, and we don’t have twenty-four-hour sushi bars, We do have quite a bit of business going on among amber waves of grain.
Most of my experience with the area has been in the Indianapolis area, but I am learning quite a bit about Dayton, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio these days.
Indianapolis has become a tech powerhouse thanks, in part, to Salesforce. Dayton has seen great growth in medicine and tech startup industries. In all these cities, I’ve witnessed hardworking, innovative leaders that are taking the best of technology and making their businesses sing. Truly, the Midwest, especially around Indiana and Ohio, is a great place to start a business.