How Proud I am of You

Hi Everyone,

One year ago, today, the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic. It has been a year for the record books. Mostly people write about how quickly time goes by, this past year seems to have been the slowest year on record. Isolated and lonely, punctuated with moments of epic significance and consequence. It’s taken its toll on you.
 
I want to make sure you know how proud I am of you. You’ve managed to keep it together, take care of yourself and those around you. You’ve been a good teammate to your peers and participated in keeping the spirits high throughout the company. This last year has been some of your best work, innovative and often under difficult circumstances. All the while you’ve been setting an example for others to follow. Truly you have been tested and strengthened through the crucible of a year to remember.
 
You should take some time to inventory yourself. You have changed, how? What is more precious to you now? What are the things you have decided to let go? If you are holding any self-doubt about how you handled the last year, I want to disavow you of this. You are amazing and you have reached down deep and persevered. We all grow at our own rate, we all fall short, and we all rise to the occasion. You are just like everyone else in that respect. So, give yourself some grace and celebrate, if I told you one year ago today how truly difficult this year would be, you would not have believed it. Yet here you are, stronger, clearer minded, and more in touch with what really matters in your life.
 
We are all going to Spring Forward this weekend, Daylight saves on Sunday, set your clocks ahead. The weather is getting better and there is a lot of reasons to be hopeful and optimistic. If you haven’t received your vaccine yet, I am sure you’re on a list to get one soon. With this renewal and return of hopefulness, what are you going to do next? How are you planning to take what you have learned and move your life forward in meaningful ways? I’m asking you to write a few things down about what you’ve learned and how you’d like your life to be different now, because we are all going to get back to normal soon and I don’t want the clarity of this moment to slip from your consciousness.
 
I recently found a bunch of journals from my teenage years and it’s been a remarkable journey to remember where I thought I was headed, where I wanted to go and where I am now. I suspect that what you write down today will provide a similar moment of introspection for you at some later date.
 
I am gratified to be able to work with you and call you my teammate. Let’s not let this last year together go unacknowledged or undiscussed, we’ve been through a lot. We’re not quite done yet, but you’ve stuck by me and given me hope when I’ve been down, I want to do the same for you. I know we can do anything, accomplish everything if we stick together. It’s been great getting to know you under pressure and you’ve proven to me that I can count on you when the going gets tough. 

Let’s go be great!

Brad