I discovered something that I feel strongly I should share. An article written by Dieter F. Uchtdorf (who happens to be a particularly fine man, a former fighter pilot, a great speaker, oh, and an Apostle) is titled "Always in the Middle". That phrase has been kind of a negative for me in the past , but his take on it was far from negative and fascinating to me.
He started out with beginnings.....that is the time to make resolutions, create plans, have a burst of energy! Then he referred to endings.....winding down, and maybe feeling a bit of loss. Then he suggested that being in the "middle of it" was a way to help us understand life better and live a little more meaningfully.
Interesting isn't it?
This struck a chord with me because I am starting something new and I am terrified. My husband and I are starting a business....We are basically Abraham and Sarah....because we are inexplicably giving birth to a business much younger people should be doing. I did not want to do this, mostly because I have no idea what I am doing. Which by the way is a very good reason to not start something. It is roughly like getting up in the morning to perform brain surgery only to remember on the way to the hospital...THAT I AM NOT A DOCTOR!!!
So I am going to fool myself into thinking I am "in the middle' of it. I am not just starting out, I am in the middle of it. Here is my new thinking.....I have already learned a lot (I really have) I have a lot of support ( I really do) ....and our product is amazing. I know, I know new businesses fail all the time.....well guess what? McDonalds was once just one Golden Arch, Microsoft was in a garage, the Beatles sang in a saloon to four drunks and Paula Deen made sandwiches in her kitchen and sold them out of a wagon. It can be done.....so that means I can do it too.
When I went to taxation to get our business processed it was packed...you see there are NO jobs in Nevada, so the people who are left are starting their own businesses. Just like my husband and me. As I said our employable expiration date has come and gone....so if I were telling you this story a few weeks ago I would say we are starting over. But now with my new mind set I am "IN THE MIDDLE OF A GREAT ADVENTURE!"
To be sure it is worth a pout that life didn't turn out the way I thought it would. But I hear that from a lot of women. "I never thought my life would turn out this way." Both for the good and bad. I never thought I would be married for 33 years and have 4 great kids....that is not what I knew as a child. But it happened for me. I also never thought I would be starting at business when I should be investing in Dr. Scholls and Ben Gay. But I am. And we are going to be great!!
We are in the middle of a great adventure....my husband is a wonderful cook, and we are caterers. He makes amazing pizza and pasta, fun salads and pulled pork. We couldn't start a restaurant because that takes a bit more money than we have. So we are catering. And yes we are older, and it is very hard work....(thank you to the people who we practiced on) but what are our options? Give up? Never!!
Yes, some of my friends are retiring, and some are at the top of their careers. We are on a different path. And it is going to be OK.
President Uchtdorf ends his article with this, "Being always in the middle means that the game is never over, hope is never lost, defeat is never final. For no matter where we are or what our circumstances, an eternity of beginnings and endings stretch out before us. We are always in the middle.
So change your thinking. Be in the middle, not at the beginning scared to jump in, or at the end, to tired to care.
If you get discouraged for me, just remember my motto.....One plus God is enough.
From Always in the middle President Dieter F. Uchtdorf Ensign Magazine July 2012
