“Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty”. John Ruskin

Horizon Consulting Incorporated will be entering into its 20^th year in business on July 23, 2013!  When reflecting on those years, the three words that come to mind are courage, patience and endurance.  Maya Angelou says that without courage, you cannot practice any other virtue successfully.  Two of those “other virtues” is indeed patience and endurance.  Undergirding all of its successes, awards, accolades, victories and defeats, Horizon and its team have practiced these virtues consistently, both individually and collectively.  We’ve weathered government shutdowns and threats of government shutdowns, UPS strikes, 911, lack of funding for contracts, reduced lines of credit, loss of contracts and team members, recessions, reductions in force, years of reducing revenues and negative cash results, new contracts and clients, births, marriages, graduations, illnesses and recoveries, in-sourcing, outsourcing, down-sizing, mergers and acquisitions, awards and accolades along with cure notices and not always (but often) garnering “excellent” reviews from our team members and our clients. The beginning of 2013 has again asked us to exercise patience and endure the discussions and anxieties around “sequestration” along with delayed access for on boarding new employees.  Through it all we’ve committed, individually and collectively, to stand on our strong foundation of honesty, integrity, hard work and professionalism (which anchors) and to hold on to the belief that “the Range of Vision has no limits.” Because Horizon is an organization with a strong belief that we add value wherever we are privileged to work as well as in the communities where we work and live, we’ve added a tag line that says simply, “We don’t just process paperwork, we impact lives.”  And may I add, we continue to do it all with courage, patience and endurance.  Can I quote my ancestors here by saying…..”Let’s just run on…see what the end will be.”

There is a quote by Robert Tew that sits on the board in my office next to my desk and it reads “Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you or makes you happy.”  What I have come to realize is that it takes insight and courage to honor this directive.

It takes insight into who you really are.  Not your titles, position, bank account, affiliations, degrees, geography, etc., but who you really are at your core.  Making jokes when hearing others say “I have to find myself,” I would retort, “you are right here where else do you need to go?” I’ve come to learn that the statement “I need or want to find myself” says so much more than the words.  It indicates that one is feeling disconnected, controlled, manipulated, making decisions outside of themselves and asking “how did I get here?”  Most recently I found myself compromising one of my foundational principles in life of not drinking and then getting behind the wheel of my car.  This principle has been a personal choice of mine since I was a teenager and lost one of my dearest friends in a car accident involving a drunk driver.  This was before MADD was founded and America became more conscious about the impact of being impaired by drinking and then driving, so it’s been part of my foundation for quite some time.  Although I was not, in my estimation, drunk while driving home that evening, I was uncomfortable and questioning the decision to compromise my foundational principles. To answer that question required me to go deeper.  Asking the question indicated that I had come out of the F.O.G. (Fear, Obligation and Guilt) long enough to BE in the present moment and acknowledge what I was doing, but more importantly, what I was feeling.  It is important that I share with you this was not the first time I had compromised this principle in recent history, but the first time I was present enough to ask the hard questions. In that moment, I connected with the core of who I am and promised her—I will not do it again because it does not serve me.

It takes courage to walk away from people or things (friends, family, acquaintances, jobs, social clubs, drugs of choice (and this is not limited to illegal drugs or alcohol, some drugs are food, praises from others, shoes, clothes, gossip, etc. etc. etc.). It takes courage to walk away from the things and also from the people who use those things (drugs of choice) to manipulate and control you, especially when you love them.  And get this…when I mean people…I also mean you.  What are you not addressing that allows you to continue to abuse your drug of choice?  What are you ompromising?  How can you answer that question if you don’t take the time to dig deeper.  And once you have the answers, TRUST ME, it will be difficult to walk away.  But be of good courage, your walking away is also walking into some of the greatest moments of your life…and you’ll be doing it as the authentic YOU!  Can we say FREE boys and girls??

Walking into the best that is yet to come!  How about you?

I am a huge believer in not allowing anyone or anything to disturb your peace. I also believe that ALL things will work together for my good. These beliefs have been extremely challenged for the past five days and I am writing this blog right now to help “keep my peace.” As I listen to the Operations Manager in the server room speaking with our IT Consultant, I focus on gratitude for her and for the IT Consultant. This helps keep my peace during two days without access to emails or the company’s server (think critical documents) and knowing that every email sent since yesterday has not reached its intended recipients. Just breathe Wanda. With each deep inhale, I smell the residue of the fumes that required office evacuation four days ago! One of the two HVAC systems in our new space (here a little over three months) had stopped working. Both times I tripped the breaker the system would turn on and once the fan would kick in, the breaker would trip again! Once the technician arrived and tripped the breaker the third time, the system again turned on and he began programming the thermostat, which resides in my office, and all seemed well. The fan kicked in and the breaker did not trip again! Looked like true progress–until we inhaled. The smell, thick, intrusive, burning, toxic! Eyes watering, nose and throat burning, coughing — and it just got thicker. The technician yelled for me to get out as he raced to trip the breaker and I was yelling for our Operations Manager to make certain she was alright. As the smell started to move into the rest of the space and we were making our way out, it became clear that the fire department needed to be called. Their conclusion…the compressor in the HVAC system exploded and resulting liquids caused fumes. Do not return to the office until tomorrow. What a blessing that the breakers tripped off when the HVAC fan kicked in on the first two attempts! Did I share that during that time I was alone in the office?! Also, earlier that morning, a young man I had never seen before held open the front door of the office building for me when he saw me walking across the parking lot. We enjoyed a great conversation riding up on the elevator together that included joy and laughter. We parted ways that morning, only to see one another again, later in the day, when he entered my office space as the HVAC Technician! No coincidences. He just happened to be there that day working on the building’s HVAC coiling system and the building’s project manager asked him to visit our office suite after reading an email about our situation. Furthermore, there had been unseasonably warm weather for several days and we did not focus on the HVAC system being out until that day….because the temperature had dropped and it was chilly in the office. No coincidences. As I reflected on all of this that day after being evacuated, there was such unspeakable joy and thanksgiving that rose up from the inside of me and spilled out to overflowing! Even now…here it comes again! No emails and access to the server right now only means time to address other tasks until the IT Technician can get it resolved—even this is working together for good and I am grateful! There’s my peace, joy and happiness in the midst of these challenges!! Can you feel me?

LET NEITHER ENEMY OR FRIEND DISTURB YOUR PEACE, DESTROY YOUR HAPPINESS, PREVENT YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS. FIX YOUR SOUL UPON GOD…LET NOTHING DEFEAT YOU. GOD IS YOUR HELPER. BE FIRM IN THE HEAVENLY COVENANT. PRAY FOR STRENGTH. IT WILL BE GIVEN YOU, NO MATTER HOW DIFFICULT THE CONDITION–ABDUL BAHA “From the book “Sheltering Branch” page 99