FOXHOLES

This is the first post that I have written that has nothing to do with music.
So much is swirling around in my head these days. 
What a time we are living in. 
In my lifetime, I have been down in a number of foxholes (metaphorically speaking).
In some cases, I was there due to situations of my own making. 
Others times it was circumstantial. 
I hated being there each and every time. 
It’s hard to problem solve and be solution oriented in the foxhole. 

Your vision is limited and there is such a lack of understanding of what is truly happening outside the foxhole. 
There is danger. 
There is uncertainty. 
Each and every time, I found it to be unsettling and surreal and draining. 
And all felt otherworldly.  


But I also knew that these were moments in time. 
Ultimately, I would get out of the foxholes (The benefit of being in metaphorical foxholes and not real ones). 
And with these moments, I would come to realize a more fulfilled life and pathway forward. 
Why?  
Because none of us are defined by what happens when times are good. 
We are defined by and do our greatest amounts of growth and development during times of challenge, disruption, and change….and in extreme situations….chaos and crisis. 
Adversity, and how we show up and how we respond to it, changes not only our lives but those around us. 
But this cannot and will not happen unless we show up fully and are truly present. 
And we must allow everything to be what it would not otherwise be. 
As David Brooks eloquently frames it in his book The Road To Character; 

You have to give to receive 
You have to surrender to something outside yourself to gain strength within yourself. 
You have to conquer your desire to get what you crave.
Success leads to the greatest failure, which is pride. 
Failure leads to the greatest success which is humility and learning. 
In order to fulfill yourself, you have to forget yourself. 
In order to find yourself, you have to lose yourself. 

For me, it is here where I have learned the greatest gift of being in the foxhole.
Humility and empathy. 
It is also here where I have witnessed and experienced the best in others and received the greatest gifts.
Bravery, gratitude, and kindness. 

As we deal with the realities of our current crisis, doing our very best to manage it from our current foxholes, let’s make the most of this significant moment in time.

Let’s step outside ourselves and lend a helping hand to others and ask for the help we need as well.

Let’s work to fight and create something that is greater than what we knew or experienced yesterday or today.

In doing so, we will ensure a better tomorrow for ourselves, our families, our friends, our community, our society, and future generations.