day 963: Turnarounds

There has and will be a lot talk over the next two months in our political cycle about "turning around" America, our economy, policies, and situations. Every organization (and government is an organization0 and business, at some point in its life cycle will go through a turnaround. Yes, even the companies that we think have unlimited growth potential and we could never imagine stumbling will face a turnaround situation. Some are big turnarounds, others are less visible publicly but can certainly be felt internally. Look no further than the now darling Apple Computer for the cycle to be born out. It is hard to imagine now that they once were the Apple that was teetering on not making it and it is even harder to imagine that someday it will need another turnaround, but it will. The same happens in our careers. We hit points where we have to rethink where we are and what we are doing and we either make a significant shift, turnaround or we go through enough soul-searching that we double down on the path that we know is right and then we don't look back. These are hard times and I suspect that many of us have been through this range of feelings and actions over the past 48+ months. But take heart as turnarounds are good things because when done seriously and well, we end up where we are supposed to be and doing what we supposed to be doing.

We can see this example in the story of the Prodigal Son. The son of the loving father had to make a turnaround to come back to where he belonged. He hit rock bottom before he saw it but when he, repented made the 180-degree turn and headed home he was welcomed with loving and open arms. We all know that this is the story of God's love over our life. God watches over us in our lives and in the sometimes overwhelming part of our life called our jobs. If we are on a wrong path and we need to be turned around, He will be there for us to figure it out if we will just bring Him into the office with us. Rather than wait for the bottom to fall out, before the turnaround, receive the constant invitation that is given to us to look to Him for the guidance and direction that we need.

Reference: Luke 15:12-20 (New Living Testament)