Watching the horrific fires in Los Angeles highlights the conversations that have come up recently… A number of clients have been talking about anxiety they have about the uncertainty of the future, and some of the scary stuff potentially: politically, financially, climate, etc…
So the conversation turned to prepping.
Yes, prepping, meaning preparing yourself for what might happen in the future, has sometimes come to mean some loner in a bunker, with canned food and guns. Sigh…
Part of the work we do is to make sure that when we have strong, challenging emotions, like anxiety or fear, that we are *trusting* them. I describe in more detail how to work with trust in Chapter 3 of my book and the bottom line is, that anything that arises within us has truth at the heart of it.
Now, that truth might be distorted, or twisted in some way to look almost like the opposite of what our hearts truly want us to know. But the awareness is so important.
So when anxiety about the future came up for my clients, I wanted to stop and take time with it, which we did. And one of the things we did, is work with a reframe, a new understanding about something.
One of the reframes here is about “prepping,” to let go of the image of a loner in a bunker, and instead talk about being human.
However, the reframe I want to offer, away from “doom prepping,” is about what’s normal.
For all humans, and perhaps most especially those of us whose people come from places far from the equator, preserving food has been something that is just normal for humans.
Before there were grocery stores, there were all kinds of ways of preserving food. It’s just a normal, natural thing for humans.
So, whether you do it yourself, or you buy it and store, having a few weeks (or months) of food saved in your house against difficult times is just a very grounded, human, loving thing to do.
We don’t have to catastrophize about end times. We don’t have to imagine apocalyptic landscapes.
You can just make a very human, loving, caring choice to have preserved food in your house.
Those who know me, know that I will get on a street corner with a megaphone about canning and food preservation… so I will try to rein myself in at least a little.
I will make one small suggestion, if it resonates with you, and it won’t for everyone. You can get an electric pressure canner that does four quarts or five pints at a time, for around US$100. Next time you make soup, or something else, make a double portion, and can the extra.
(Side note: We recently bought an electric pressure canner to go with our stove top pressure canner. It’s so easy to use, especially to preserve leftovers. If you follow that link it is NOT an affiliate link. And, that canner can often be found for 30% off that price.
A few months, or weeks, of doing this, and you could have a significant amount of shelf-stable, ready-to-eat, delicious food for yourself and your loved ones.
And it doesn’t have to wait for a disaster to be used. You could simply be tired, or have unexpected guests, and boom, in 5 minutes, you’re serving up a quart or two of delicious soup.
I get not everyone has much storage space, but using some of your space to store some food is useful, even if it’s in the back of a closet, or it’s a bookshelf in the living room.
What does this have to do with business?
There are two things. One is the very literal understanding that having food in your house means a different level of safety and security. Having a few weeks of food, not just “survival” food, but delicious food you want to eat, can be incredibly comforting.
But, the other thing has to do with honoring anxiety that comes up around your business. You may have anxiety about how your business is doing.
Toxic positivity says to totally avoid that anxiety and just “think good thoughts.” Well, that’s… toxic.
However, the other extreme, catastrophizing about how miserable it all is, can be just as painful and toxic.
A third option is to honor the concern, and listen to it. Your business is needing attention… what kind of attention is it needing? By honoring the anxiety, and then slowing down and listening *beneath* it, asking what is needing attention, you may be surprised by the answer.
Maybe your business is asking you to be courageous in trying out some new marketing. Or it’s asking you to stop putting off a project you’ve been avoiding because the emotions are charged… but it’s an important element of what’s needed. Or maybe the business is asking you to get some help and support, to learn thing you don’t know already.
Whatever the message your business has for you, the key is to slow down and listen. And if it take ten or twenty minutes to soothe your nervous system, to let your heart know you are willing to listen, that’s okay. It’s still better than not.
If you have concern about the future for your business, if you take time right now to soothe your nervous system, to catch your breath, and to listen, what is your business offering to you? What do you notice?
Specifically, how can you start to care for the future of your business in very human, loving, practical ways?
With love,
Mark Silver, M.Div.
Heart of Business, Inc.
Every act of business can be an act of love.
