Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out. Vaclav Havel.

These are challenging times. There is a host of pressing issues that need addressing.

There are no simple answers. No easy, quick fixes: There is the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, economic disruption and the widening disparity, racial inequality, the advance of AI and globalization. Yikes!

In spite of it all, though, as we head into 2023, we must not succumb to the siren calls of fear, doubt and pessimism.

Pessimists, by nature, are destructive, unsure of their abilities, closed to the new ideas and disrespectful of others. They foster weakness and chaos.

Optimists, on the other hand, are builders. They are clear-eyed, confident of their own abilities, inclusive, creative, caring of others and unafraid of the future.

Above all, they always remain HOPEFUL.

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Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay engaged. Thank you for reading me.

3 QUESTIONS: Are you questioning your current life situation, wondering if you have it all right? Need help finding your purpose?

Need encouragement and someone with whom you could do some strategic exploring and refresh your spirit to help you get going (again)?

Read my approach to coaching. For A COMPLIMENTARY, CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION text/call me at 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

It has not been an easy year and 2023 promises only more changes, challenges and turbulent times. No one knows how it will all go. Only time will tell, but each day the sun is going to come up and set. It will be what it will be.

As always, we hope for the best knowing that hope is the oxygen of the human spirit.

However or wherever greetings and good wishes are expressed at this time of year, or in whatever language, as the old year winds down and the new year beckons, the message is as universal and timeless as the message in this medieval Celtic blessing:

May peace and plenty be the first to lift the latch on your door, and happiness be guided to your home by the candle of Christmas.

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship and never in want.

I hope to see you back here in January.

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Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay engaged. Thank you for reading me.

3 QUESTIONS: Are you questioning your current life situation, wondering if you have it all right? Need help finding your purpose?

Need encouragement and someone with whom you could do some strategic exploring and refresh your spirit to help you get going (again)?

Read my approach to coaching. For A COMPLIMENTARY, CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION text/call me at 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Steve Jobs.

Life is short. As soon as you can, find yourself and you’ll find your purpose – living and loving each and every day.

And when you find it, stay on your chosen path.

___________________________________________________________

Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay engaged.

 I hope to see you back here again.

As always, thank you for reading me.

3 QUESTIONS: Are you questioning your current life situation, wondering if you have it all right? Need help finding your purpose?

Need encouragement and someone with whom you could do some strategic exploring and refresh your spirit to help you get going (again)?

Read my approach to coaching. For A COMPLIMENTARY, CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION text/call me at 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

He who divides and shares is left with the best share. Mexican Proverb.

What is time if we don’t share it?

What is gratitude if we don’t share it?

What is experience if we don’t share it?

What is knowledge if we don’t share it?

What is love if we don’t share it?

What is compassion if we don’t share it?

When you share with others, you’ll be amazed at what comes back to you.

As we begin closing down another crazy busy year and look ahead to the next… something to reflect upon in these increasingly changing times.

___________________________________________________________

Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay engaged.

 I hope to see you back here again.

As always, thank you for reading me.

3 QUESTIONS: Are you questioning your current life situation, wondering if you have it all right? Are you searching for the right way to be the best version of yourself you can be?

Need encouragement and someone with whom you could do some strategic exploring and refresh your spirit to help you get going again?

Read my approach to coaching. For A COMPLIMENTARY, CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION text/call me at 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Maximize your unique strengths, start with what you have and do the work. Drew Simmie.

Perhaps you are familiar with it…the story about a farmer in Africa who had heard tales about many who made their fortunes by prospecting for diamonds in far off lands. Rumours abounded about the number of people staggering under the weight of the bags.

So the farmer, tired of tilling his sandy, stone strewn land for so many years, dissatisfied with the meagre results, decided one day to join them.

He sold off his unproductive farm and set out prospecting, seeking his fortune.

Meanwhile, the man who had bought his farm, as he walked his property one day, tripped over a small piece of rock. He didn’t know what it was but it looked interesting so he took it home and put it up on his fireplace mantel. A curiosity piece, he thought to himself.

Some months later, a friend of his came to visit. He spied the rock on the mantel.

“Do you know what this is,” he asked?

“No, I don’t,” replied the farmer. “I just saw it lying on the ground and liked it so I brought it home and put it up on the mantel.”

“Well,” responded his guest, with a smile,  “It’s not just a little piece of rock. It’s a diamond, in the rough.”

The idea of this story, of course, is that many of us, dissatisfied with our work, especially in our over-worked, hyper-connected world, occasionally can find ourselves in the middle of our own field of diamonds, frustrated with our performance, vainly eyeing what we think must be better ideas, searching ever farther afield for greater opportunities.

If only we would pause for awhile to explore who we are, what we’re doing and, more importantly why.

If we did, armed with patience, humility and courage, we would find, more often than not, that the riches we were seeking were right under our feet.

There for the picking.

_______________________________________________________________

Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay engaged.

I hope to see you back here again.

As always, thank you so much for reading me.

3 QUESTIONS: Are you questioning your current life situation, wondering if you have it all right? Are you searching for the right way to be the best version of yourself you can be?

Need encouragement and someone with whom you could do some strategic exploring and refresh your spirit to help you get going again?

Read my approach to coaching. For A COMPLIMENTARY, CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION text/call me at 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.