Rolling with the Punches
but they are NECESSARY. Humans might be the only animal who seek to find ways to avoid the natural process of growth because it is uncomfortable. You have heard how the caterpillar goes into the cocoon and comes out a beautiful butterfly? Well,
As we begin this new year, let us consider looking at the challenges and adversities not as something to avoid but as a gift that will speed up our ascent to the next level. In 1974, Quincy Jones and Bernard Ingher produced the classic “Everything Must Change.” The next line says, “. . .Nothing stays the same.” This is a principle of life. Many times, there are changes we need to make in order to grow but we are reluctant to change. So, life can and will throw you a little adversity and trouble, but these are sent to build you, not kill you. In 2020 we have all experienced some things we could have never imagined but as we crack the seal on 2021 let us celebrate the following: 1. We made it this far! Survival is a victory and a lesson all by itself. 2. We are wiser, better, more resilient than we were at the same time last year! 3. We learnedmore in 2020 than we can pinpoint. The challenges of the past only prepare you for what is coming. Embrace 2021 with all that you are and all that you have become.
Our memory REPLAYS your past but your imagination PRE-PLAYS your future! “
have you ever heard about how a lobster grows? If you have ever seen, touched, or eaten a lobster, you know that its outer shell is hard and unforgiving. Since they are not full size as adults, how do they grow? When a lobster’s shell is no longer sizably suitable, it hides under the rocks on the ocean floor to protect itself from predators. It then sheds its old shell and
produces a new shell by a process called “molting.” This process repeats itself 20-25 times in the crustacean’s first years of life. The lobster is growing but it is the friction of the shell and the adversity of the surroundings that compel the lobster to act. Instead of becoming complacent with the status quo, accepting this uncomfortable situation as normal or worse yet, waiting for an old normal to return, the lobster leverages its adversity to move onward and upward.
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ARTICLE RECAP Hear from Ervin himself on the topic of adversity - and how he found the greatest amount of growth during the times of greatest adversity. Join Marlon & Amanda in this short conversation and walk-away with a new perspective.
Interview Video
“Engaging,” “Informational” and “Insightful” are a few of the words used to describe Ervin’s presentation and training style. After his career as an Education and Training Specialist at the GA Dept. of Education he returned to his roots at the local level where he currently serves as School Nutrition Coordinator for Douglas County Schools in GA. Ervin is a recognized leader who frequently is invited to present at local, state and national conferences and has been selected multiple times as a Senator Richard B. Russell Leadership Series presenters at the School Nutrition Association’s Annual National Conference! His personal and business mission is to enable positive transformation through every exchange and he lives his mantra, “People are amazing, leading them should be amazing also.”
Ervin Watson, MBA
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