“My greatest problem,” according to Ray Anderson, special assistant to Mayor Summey in North Charleston,”is dealing with people who are inflexible – people who resist change.”
Hours after that conversation, I met Christy, a young woman in her late 20s who has lived in San Francisco for the last six years. “I love it,” she said. “I have the perfect job, the perfect apartment, an excellent salary and wonderful bosses, but if I am ever to have a husband, home and children I must leave. It is such a hard thing to do that I have already had the movers come and move my furniture back to Maryland. Now I have to leave. I am subletting an apartment for the next four months.”
Robert Guillaume, Benson to most of us, spoke at the opening session of the American Speech Language and Hearing Association in San Francisco. He was there to discuss his recovery from stroke. He said that the best advice he was given during his recovery process came from a woman he didn’t know. “Forget what you use to do. Forget how you use to move. Forget who you use to be. Deal with life as it is today.”
Like Ray Anderson, Christy and Guillaume, we must all deal with change. Christy was able to choose. Guillaume was not, but both of them had to decide how to handle change.
For thirty four years I was President/CEO of the Charleston Speech and Hearing Center, a wonderful organization. I lived and breathes speech and hearing. It was as much a part of me as life itself, but the clock kept on ticking. It was time for me to retire. How would I adjust? I made a decision that when I left I would be gone. I would be as helpful to the new CEO as possible, but only when asked. Was it hard? Of course, but it was the best course of action for the center, the new CEO and for me.
Jimmy Carter says in his book, The Virtues of Aging, that he was out of work four years before he had anticipated. Not only did he have to adjust to radical change in his life, but he had to do it while suffering the agony of being involuntarily retired by the American public. The story of how he and Rosalyn made those adjustments is sometimes painful to read, but it provides inspiration for us all.
The inspiring story of how FDR adjusted to polio was brought to life for me recently as my daughter and I toured Hyde Park, his family estate. Such courage, determination and sheer willpower seems to be sorely lacking in today’s leaders.
The direction of all life is growth. Growth brings change. Not to change is death. The year 2000 beckons us with open arms. When I ponder all that has occurred in the past one hundred years, I feel as enthusiastic as my three-year-old grandson, Colin. Anything worth going to is worth running to.
