I Refuse to Participate in This Recession

I was at a very inspiring meeting in Lake Placid this morning. At the meeting, Jim Williams, from radio station WSLP, gave me a button that said, “I refuse to participate in a recession.” I quickly put the badge on and wore it with pride!

Mr. Williams also sent me a link to a video by Dr. Ivan Misner, who is the founder and chairman of Business Networking International. Here is that same link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9266NvfUHrk

While I give my usual disclaimer that this is not an endorsement of any particular product or service, I will not hide my feeling that that Dr. Misner is a kindred spirit. His message resonated and clearly articulated so much that I have been trying to communicate in previous posts.

I hope you listen to his message, but if not, at least let me share this quote that came out of his inspiring monologue, “Don't let a bad economy be your excuse for failure; instead, make it your opportunity to succeed!”

I think back to that last article I referred to in my previous post. Some of those businesses interviewed claimed the economy was forcing them to close. Looking at some of the businesses and the reasons given for their difficulties, I just had a hard time accepting that the economy was the root cause of the problem. I obviously don't have access to all the details from these businesses and I don't want to diminish any of the challenges they have faced. Yet, I still refuse to believe all opportunities were exhausted.

Opportunity comes in many forms. Adding product or service lines, expanding markets and, the granddaddy of all opportunity, developing innovation -- finding new solutions to meet market demands.

As Dr. Misner said, this is not an attempt to ignore reality. There are real problems in so many areas of our economy. But we can't pull a magic blanket over heads and hide. Rather than dwelling on all the problems, we can choose to seize the opportunity to be a part of the solution.

I welcome you to join Dr. Misner, myself and all the others who refuse to participate in a recession. Choose instead to be a part of a recovery.

Since I was a young child, I have admired the writings of Shel Silverstein, author of the “The Giving Tree.” I share this poem of his:

Listen to the mustn'ts child.
Listen to the don'ts.
Listen to the shouldn't haves, the impossibles, the won'ts.
Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me.
Anything can happen child.
Anything can be.