So many responses to my last email. Literally flooded my in-box. I’m working through them one at a time, because they feel too precious and personal to respond to with a cut-and-paste. If I haven’t answered you yet, I will! I promise.
One email particularly got me thinking:
Hi Shann –
This is utterly inspiring – love the pic of you both.
I used to have a business with my husband making and selling/supplying bespoke items – it was successful and growing, but as our circumstances changed, little ones arrived, the income wasn’t really enough to maintain us.
Why am I telling you this – I don’t really know tbh! I guess we both (me and hubby) want to again be creative, make and sell our own designs and have a business – loving what we do and again bringing the many ideas to fruition.
Your piece just inspired me to remember it’s never too late, I haven’t missed my opportunity to try again, the time will come when I have a little more free time/opportunity! Thanks for your honesty and openness- it’s good to read and feel inspired X
You got it in one here my lovely: IT’S NEVER TOO LATE.
And also…
THE WORK NEVER STAYS DONE.
Funny, that!
I call it the Second Act. You do a thing, you make a choice, you get married, you start a business.
And THEN WHAT HAPPENS?
It’s called the Second Act. This idea is played out so beautifully in Steven Sondheim’s Into the Woods – omg have you seen it? You have to watch the movie with James Corden in it, it’s brilliant!
Anyhow, the idea is that Sondheim takes all the familiar fairytale characters and looks at WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
Sure, Cinderella marries the prince at the end of Act I. Great. Lovely. But then – they’re married. And they don’t have that much in common. And it gets complicated.
Of course it does. That’s life for you. It doesn’t fade out into a happy ending. The damn thing KEEPS GOING.
And you have to keep going with it.
My favourite sayings of all time comes from the military. I’ve never served myself, but I have the utmost respect for people who do. They don’t have time to faff around with fluffy ideas that don’t work. When you’re trying to survive, you cut straight to the chase. These concepts are stress-tested.
One military saying that I love is, “No plan survives the enemy.”
Right??? So good. You can plan all you like – but when the rubber meets the road, it’s all going to come unglued. Expect it. Make a plan, sure. But be ready to have it come apart underneath you. If you go in knowing that, you can recover faster.
And then it’s time for my other favourite saying:
Adapt. Improvise. Overcome.
My gorgeous housekeeper Vicky is a military wife. And she and I will pass each other, moving quickly, in the course of a busy day during which we are working together to keep this huge ship of family-farm-business afloat – and we’ll say that to each other, with a rueful smile — “Adapt and overcome!”
It’s great advice. It’s the ONLY advice. Life keeps changing. Everything changes. And all you can do is change with it – and change again – and change again.
You can’t nail it down. It doesn’t end. It just continues to adapt, and requires you to adapt along with it.
So – more power to you, my in-transition friend! It IS time for you and your husband to be creative, AGAIN! Because creativity never stops flowing through you. Your situation now is different than it was before. You know things you didn’t know before. Your combination of what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs and what you can get paid for will be slightly different now than it was the last time.
Change change change! Adapt and overcome! Lean into the slalom! You got this!
Get out there and do something new – and keep me posted! I can’t wait to hear what happens next.
So – what’s changing for you? What would you do – if it wasn’t too late? (Remember – my husband and I didn’t meet until I was 41 and didn’t start our business until I was 48 – it’s NEVER too late!!!) Hit reply and let me know!
Hugs,
Shann.x
Shann Jones MBE
Founder/Director Chuckling Goat
ps – If you have any concerns about your gut health now that we’re counting down to the holiday season – this is the time to sort it out, so you can properly enjoy your parties! Jump on live chat 8 am to 8 pm weekdays and ask my lovely Nutritional Therapists for some free, personal advice. They’re all experts, and they’re all friendly – no bots, just caring, well-trained human beings who love to chat. Give it a go! x
