The Power of a Pivot
As I discussed in my previous blog, I’ve been addressing my council. During town council meetings, I’ve been talking about mental health crisis. Throughout my time, I received positive feedback that I’m thankful for. However, I felt like the 3-minute timeframe wasn’t enough to share the important information I have on this topic. So I requested to have a presentation.
Usually there isn’t presentations at town council meetings, but I felt like we needed it. After discussion and strong support from one of the council members, I was given the opportunity to do this. I was elated!
Technology is a great asset but it can also be a roadblock. Even though I consider myself pretty tech-savvy since I’m a millennial who works with it- I still don’t have all the answers. I decided to make sure it worked so it can be a seamless experience for all. When I went to test it, I decided I needed to buy a HDMI cable. After making this purchase, I went back and it worked and I was ready to present later on.
I came to the meeting all prepared to do this and share this message with my community. Since I practiced earlier, I knew it would be ok. Except when I went up there, it wasn’t.
The screen wasn’t projecting my slideshow, only my wallpaper. I had almost twenty slides with key information to show and of course with concern of time, the pressure was on. It was suggested that I do this at another time. However, I refused to give up. I was all ready and didn’t want this to linger on any longer. I continued on and just talked from the heart, but I wanted to show the information I had. But it just wasn’t working. I was nervous and disappointed inside but I strived to remain calm and determined. After some time passed, a very nice man from the audience came up and was able to resolve this issue. I was beyond thankful.
I was able to pick up with the slides and finished the presentation. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted but I was able to share this message with my council and community.
This is the power of a pivot. Instead of giving up or breaking in the face of adversity, sometimes you just have to keep going. I still don’t know why this happened since I practiced earlier in the day and it was fine. But it happened and created a roadblock that I worked around. I still accomplished what I wanted to do. I persevered. Perseverance was the word of the night. It’s hard but sometimes we just need to do it. It’s so helpful for our lives. As a mental health coach, I know how hard this can be especially when there’s pressure- but sometimes you just have to keep going. This is a lesson for life- show up, level up and never give up!
