Really? This wasn't supposed to happen...Especially after believing I took the "wrong road" to find the right one faster...but here I am, back at Uber, different role, and UT based this time. I am a 'remote' employee for the first time in my career. I didn't know this was going to be part of my "New Chapter" given the many change this year has brought.
I re-read my first post after leaving UBER, it was short and somewhat nostalgic. Now I am back, all in and ready to figure out how to make this new gig work. New CEO, many new leaders, 7,000 new employees despite the chaos and internal deconstruction that has taken place. Time for a great turnaround story! Maybe one of the biggest ever.... I feel so grateful the opportunity came my way the way it did.
I am not sure what will happen, but I know it will be very different and very big. I hope I can stretch fast enough to keep up and contribute in a meaningful way. The cause is still so cool.... Transforming cities and they way people interact and move. Creating tons of new jobs for all kinds of people all over the world, opening doors where none could be opened, reducing pollution, eliminating congestion, saving lives everyday, creating new social experiences in transformative ways, innovating and paving the way for autonomous vehicles for the future.
I hope I can help.... wish me luck k?
A few weeks ago we received a hand written letter from McKenna from her mission in Uruguay. Can I just say how incredibly fun it is to get a pure handwritten letter these days, when email is so much easier and faster. In her letter she talked about her first two months... the ups the downs and the joy she is learning from both. She shared her journey of trying to navigate success in her chosen new way of life.......living 24x7 with someone who doesn't speak her language, who doesn't share all the same values, very different personality and who sometimes lets her insecurities rule how she treats others...
She encapsulated this journey by writing:
"I am trying to find my footing now, so that I can find my voice later...."
As soon as I read those words, they immediately stuck, like pinning a specific location on a google map. It was like pure intelligence flowing into my mind... somehow I knew this was important despite not knowing what it exactly meant for me in that moment, but I knew what it meant for her.....that right now, in her world, everything was about forming a firm foundation..... getting more comfortable with Spanish, connecting with her companion, building trust with local church members and leaders, becoming more accustomed to the people and their customs first.... so that a bit later, after these things were in place, she could literally launch herself into a new orbit, like this picture of her above, with all her energy and spirit.......into a place where she could totally express the deep feelings she has in her heart without constraint, yes...even with total abandon. That space......where she could explicitly share her testimony and the love she has for Heavenly Father and Christ to others in her own unique way.... with her very special individual "voice."
When I heard these words from her letter, my mind could instantly see that place, where she, with her radiant face and spirit, was able to share her personal experiences, beliefs and values to others who might be interested in learning what plan God might have for them. Where her heart could leap for joy as she could see how her efforts might lead any one to greater happiness by feeling God's love for them.
So, once I finished pretending to play this out for her in my minds eye...... I eventually turned those words inward where I found many questions looming.....Where is my footing? Where is my voice? Am I on solid ground? Am I sharing all that I should be authentically with all my energy?
In LDS scripture, there are 25 references to the phrase: "serve with all your might, mind and strength" One of my faves is:
"Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day." D&C 4:2
Aren't we all in the service of God? Maybe your God has a different name..... Maybe you don't go to Church, but I bet you serve others......probably very often, even daily....... A wise man named Mosiah said that when we serve each other, in essence we are only serving our God.
A horrific thing happened this week in Vegas. 59 people died and hundreds more were injured from a shooter who ended up taking his own life. Hard to even consider how this could happen, much less any motif...Truly soul shaking and evil at its core. What was amazing was the collective response of so many people that have come out to support the relief efforts. Many heroic stories that we don't even know about....too soon, but they will come out in time. In fact, so many people have volunteered so many things that relief command couldn't even handle it all. Talk about serving others...... What a huge support from the community....no religion, no politics, no race, no gender issues....they just came forward because they knew in their hearts that serving was the right thing to do.
Yes, America was certainly shaken with the news..... but within hours, I would say she found her footing......within 1 day, I would say she found her voice..... a collective voice that has united us all and enabled us to find our own.....
I think in life we all get shaken......it often isn't just tragic events, but small things that can trip us up. The wrong attitude, a bit of pride, a hurt feeling, feeling alone, feeling criticized, experiencing loss....are just a few. What I think I am learning from McKenna is that it isn't about whether we lose our footing, but that we constantly need to find it and secure it, so that then, and only then.... can we share all the contents of our hearts with others....with all our abandon.....yes! even with all our might, mind and strength and feel the confidence that Heaven is smiling down on our efforts.
I am not sure how blameless I will actually be as I stand before God on that last day...... but I would like to believe, that if I can help you and you can help me to get clear about where we are standing and then what we are standing for that when asked I will be happy to say: "Oh yes, here is a good and faithful servant, please may they enter into your rest....."
Go for it McKenna, I can't wait to hear what happens when your voice is found... and then heard, the music it will make, the joy it will create, the closeness people will feel towards Heaven as a result.... I gotta tell you, in my book, you came with it as a little girl. I have been listening to it your whole life, and it is so very sweet....
Have you ever found yourself in a great book, reading a really good chapter and you are so deep into it you don't want it to end?
And even though you know the chapter has to end you go through the inevitable angst anyway and keep reading cause you have to.
There have been some times when a particularly good chapter has managed to get me so deeply engrossed in the story that I have to actually pause at the end, put the book down, and just soak in what just happened. Like rewinding and recapturing the highlights and how I felt. Like soaking and trying to visually keep it altogether in my mind.....
Then, a few minutes later....you pick the book back up and guess what? There is a brand new chapter to throw yourself into all over again! Fantastic... who knows what is going to happen next.
As far as the chapters in my family's book of life go, our last chapter was pretty incredible. 12 years ago we rolled into Centerville, UT from Rochester, NY. We bought an old historic home with a secret garden and a big rock wall. It had mystery, character and whimsy. There were fun nooks, cranny's, places to explore, to play and to dream. Our kids grew up there and made the very most of it. While the fun house may have captured their imagination, it was the people that came into our lives that captured our hearts.
The neighborhood was friendly and the people we associated the most with were those that came regularly to church. They were amazing.........actually, they were magnificent. Deeply spiritual people willing to serve us at a moment's notice. It was a privilege to live amongst these people. These didn't wait to be told that someone needed a tree to be cut down, or a meal due to sickness. These people just knew these things as they occurred and they just took care of each other without waiting for an assignment, project or any organized activity. No recognition needed. On Sunday they taught our kids about Jesus and how he lived his life. During the week they practiced what they preached. They lived as He did, loving others, looking for ways to help, giving of their means and time as if they had big bank accounts of it to just spend at will. The influence of these good neighbors was immense on us and our kids. They modeled everything you read about in the Bible everyday. How could that not ultimately affect us?
As a result, our kids had frequent spiritual experiences during the course of those 12 years....watching these people first, pondering and wondering, then forming their own opinions of what they believed in, then copying them...practicing what they were seeing until it became very familiar to them, like singing the words to your favorite country song.
They grew up and formed their own chapters of their own books. They learned, loved and occasionally lost, but they will always remember what happened here in Centerville, and why.
Then they all left....well, almost all......One beautiful redhead is now curling her toes over the launchpad, the last one preparing to leap off of her perch of home..... thus ending this chapter.
I pause and put the book down for a minute.... I close my eyes and rewind and reminisce in the highlights of that wonderful chapter of our lives. Faces pop up with each memory... faces that will not be forgotten....I soak one last time before saying farewell to home, house and friends. I pick up the book and turn the page.....
.....I wonder what is in store for us now?
I can't wait to see.....
