…And Restart

When the rain catches you off guard on the way to work and you arrive dripping wet without a spare change of clothes, you set down your bag, hang your jacket over your chair, and go to the bathroom. You take off your sweater, dry your face and hair as best as you can, and restart.

When you come out of the meeting and the project has been choked to death by some higher-up dialing the funding down to zero, you grab a coffee, open the window, and stare into the sky. You allow different priorities and ideas to drift in and out of your mind for a while, and eventually, you sit back in your chair, roll it towards your desk, and restart.

When the last beer happened to be one too many and you can’t get out of bed before 1 PM, you shuffle to the bathroom, down some water, and brush your teeth. You preheat the oven for a frozen pizza, take a shower, and restart.

When you know the date didn’t go well and they probably won’t call you back, you walk by your favorite bakery on the way home. You treat yourself to a vanilla tart, thank the smiling lady behind the counter, and remind yourself that kindness never expires. Then, you go home, put on a movie, and restart.

When the dashboard doesn’t show the numbers it’s supposed to show, you grit your teeth and watch your plan crumble right before your eyes. You close the laptop and take a walk. Then, you come back with a new idea, a better metric, or a different direction, and restart.

When your son returns from the game looking like he was the football instead of the player, you gasp, rush to your medicine cabinet, and pull out the disinfectant spray. You keep talking to him, put ice bags on his cheeks, and restart.

When your masterpiece launches to the sound of crickets instead of roaring applause, you crank up some Eminem and revel in your being misunderstood. You browse your drafts folder, laugh maniacally, and pick your next magnum opus. You turn your anger into new inspiration, and restart.

When life throws you off course, that doesn’t mean you were on the wrong one. Perhaps it’s just a test. How badly do you want it? Are you willing to get up, dust yourself off, and realign your vision with the target? A challenge is nothing more than a question, but the only answer we can give lies in what we choose to do. So whatever curveball hits you right in the gut at full speed, breathe. Calm down, recover, and collect yourself. Even if the entire world falls off its axis, you can always find your center. Summon new strength. And restart.

Grab a copy of Nik’s book, 2-Minute Pep Talks.

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This post was previously published on Niklas Göke’s blog

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You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:

White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism

Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box

The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer

What We Talk About When We Talk About Men

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