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Do not be afraid to be human

Like you, I have been watching our beautiful country burn for the past couple of days. And it’s devastating. It doesn’t feel real.

Like you, I feel completely overwhelmed. I feel helpless and lost; I am angry and sad at the same time. It is heartbreaking to see destruction and loss on such a massive scale. I am upset that our longstanding battle with Covid has been placed on hold to make space for yet another struggle. The struggle for peace, for dignity, integrity, redemption and grace.

As a nation – as people, we are overwhelmed all over again. We are not only worried about our health and safety because of Covid; we are terrified for ourselves, people we love and people we don’t even know. We are fearful of what the future holds. We feel overpowered physically and emotionally.

I’ve had to still my mind and find a quiet to gather my thoughts – and I’ve had to compartmentalise my emotions to make sense of it all. Part of me feels angry; I want to join the fight for freedom, I want to protect the people and businesses I love. The other part of me wants to remain graceful. I want to be a good leader; I want to act with integrity, and I want to be proud of myself and how I behaved when this is all over. I continuously fluctuate between feeling terrified and needing to connect with the love and peace in my soul.

When we feel overwhelmed with emotion, it’s easy to lose ourselves in the process. The danger is when your emotions turn into anger – or worse – when it turns into hate, and you lose yourself in the process.

I have mentioned this before, but in times of stress and chaos, I do find guidance and peace in the Serenity Prayer. It reminds me of the bigger journey of life and helps me to let go of the things that I cannot control.

The Serenity Prayer:
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

We all have a choice. We have choices when it comes to every aspect of our lives. And it’s how you react, it’s what you do with what you know, that separates you from being average or stand tall as a great leader.

Think of yourself as a leader. And you are a leader: in your role as husband, wife, mother, friend and citizen. We need good leaders right now. We need leaders who can guide their families, friends and loved ones through this crisis with integrity. We need leaders who can live true to their values, who can separate between what they can, and cannot control, who can lead with grace and dignity, and above all else, leaders who remind us to be human.

Brené Brown’s words come to mind:
“We desperately need more leaders who are committed to courageous, wholehearted leadership, and who are self-aware enough to lead from their hearts, rather than unevolved leaders who lead from hurt and fear.”

While I pray for decisive action from our government, I want to remind you, no, I want to urge you to lead with loving hearts, dignity, and compassion. Reach out to your loved ones, stay connected and remind one another that we are so much more than anger and hate. We are human. And being human means being the ones to make someone smile, to reach out with a helping hand, to be the ones that rise above all the anger, and to stand in our truth with worthiness.

Please reach out if you need a helping hand. We are here to support you every step of the way.

Warm regards,
Kim