Sometimes you can travel through life living a relatively charmed existence. You can have days like that, weeks like that, sometimes even months like that. I feel fortunate and blessed that I feel that way most of the time. I work hard, but I work my dream job (lifestyle) and I have a beautiful loving family. With all those positive factors, how could this life not feel like a charmed existence? Most of the time it does.
But then there are THOSE weeks. Unfortunately, I had one of those weeks last week. Let me just list the Multitude of events that compiled to create a stressful and demoralizing week.
- Our lead employee Sharon is retiring. Sharon is a fantastic person inside and out. She has kept this place together when I was spread very thin. She always does everything that's expected and more. Sharon is basically family, we love her and hope she has a wonderful retirement. However, she will be hard to replace. I already had the task of replacing her weighing heavy on my mind last week.
- Our main farm hand is also moving on to different opportunities. He had grown a little negative for our culture, so I was okay with this move. I immediately started planning how I would improve a few things around the farm as I did more of the chores for a while. Things will be OK, I'm already stressed, but I can handle this...
- On Thursday, ironically while I was meeting with my insurance guy, I got the phone call that our brand-new delivery truck had been wrecked. First and foremost, everyone was physically ok. The truck however suffered pretty severe damage. Making this more of a challenge is that we were already down to only 2 trucks for 2 drivers. Our other 2 backup trucks are in the shop. We had to cancel home deliveries for part of Thursday and all of Friday. Disappointing customers increases my stress level more than anything. Currently, I am trying to rent a truck that we can use to operate home deliveries this week.
So that was my week, and I was thinking we were driving this thing off of a cliff. Now, with a little time as a filter that provides perspective, I think it's gonna be ok. Primarily because I have a wonderful wife that is my biggest supporter. She and the kids have rolled up their sleeves and made the last few days better by doing anything they can to help out around the farm. Insurance is going to repair the truck and hopefully that can be done quickly. We will all work hard around here to "right the ship" making sure customers get the service and quality that is expected. Ultimately, Julie and I will get to work closely together during this time, and our kids will become even more integral parts of this farm. We place a high value on that. The lesson I took from last week was a bit of a surprise. It had nothing to do with hiring, employee retention, or insurance/ risk management. My lesson from last week was how important it is for me to have Julie. Having someone that loves you, supports you, helps you, and encourages you is invaluable. She would do anything for me, and I would do anything for her. That's how you get through a tough week.
Also during that crazy week was our 17th anniversary, so happy anniversary Julie.
