Living through losing

This picture from years ago has more meaning hidden in it than is immediately obvious.

This morning I was tagged in this picture by a friend of mine. We had worked together that day to feed people down on their luck at the Shelter House. He’s a great guy, the Shelter House is a great organization and the pic is cute. I even used it for a post for Eat Local Pizza today to announce our birthday plans.

This picture however holds a deeper meaning to me.
When this picture was taken, I had just closed Eat Local 1, our first store. When I closed the doors, I lost everything except, ironically, that shirt. I was broken, defeated and utterly discouraged. I had lost, completely and with no excuses, justifications or blame to spread around to lessen the blow.

It took a lot of soul searching before I decided to double down on a lesson my father taught me as a kid:

👨‍🌾When you don’t know what to do and the door in front of you slams shut, put your head down and work. Do what you can, as hard as you can and be damn ready for when another door opens.

I had no resources and no business, but I still had me. I tripled down on anything I could work on for free. Volunteering, mentoring, building, cooking: anything where I could leverage my time and unique experience to help someone else. I worked and worked and made myself as ready as I could for when a door would invariably open in front of me.

That door eventually opening solidified my faith in the rest of mankind.

This resonated with me today as 3 of my mentees have been having similar challenges this week, to see each of them rise to the occasion makes me so proud of them and excited for their future.

Don’t

Give

Up