Earlier this year, due to some of the fallout from the drama of the coronavirus, my work life got crazy busy. Truly, probably quadruply busy than it usually is. Obviously I’m very thankful that I got very busy. I do digital marketing. I own a virtual agency and manage social media, do PR, content creation—all that kind of stuff. So, when the world went virtual, my clients really needed me more than ever. The irony is I was in the thick of creating some of the content that I’m sharing with you here on this website, Irenewilliams.com. And I was so excited about it. I was excited for the chance to concentrate on this new stuff. And then suddenly my world was rocked. I’m sure a lot of you can relate it. Yours might’ve been rocked in a very different way.

There was a day when some additional work was on me, but obviously during this time, a lot of folks don’t have additional budget. So it meant that I had to conquer a lot of tasks using only the resources I already had on hand. And—I’m being fully honest—I cried, I wept, I wept through it. I was kicking and screaming. But, please note, as I did so I also kept the center and the sanity by knowing in the back of my brain that I was getting reacquainted with important skills and would be learning and growing professionally in ways I had not anticipated. And so even as the moment pained me, I held to that deeper knowledge that I was going to come out on the other side with more understanding, more skills. So yeah, if you’re my friend and you were in my world at that time, you saw the contrast in action. It wasn’t easy but I trusted there would be purpose in the pain.

That’s just one example in my life where stuff happened—that kind of stuff that’s completely out of my control. Life just comes with stuff. Some would say it’s about 50/50 once you hit adulthood. There’s good and bad, and it balances out. Sometimes it doesn’t balance because it seems like the bad outweighs the good. I can say honestly, in a lot of those times, I held to the fact that the challenge was an indicator that I had something to learn. And a way I would get through that is to say: “Thank you God, for demanding more of me…rather than just letting me coast.

Younger in my life. I faced a very unexpected drama, it was related to being cheated on and going through a divorce. It was horrible. But if you got the full story, something I always include in the description of the full story is being face down on a bathmat, crying and sucking in carpet fibers, and yet, knowing beyond knowing in—I always point to the back of my head—it’s like deep in my brain, I knew God was with me and there was a purpose and there were bigger things for me on the other side of that very unexpected drama that I was going through. the brokenness was leading me somewhere.

I just wanted to share this today because I know a lot of us need those kind of reminders. I cling to these moments that I’m describing, I revisit them as needed to right the ship when I’m starting to feel like I’m wobbling and swaying and not trusting. That kind of perspective that I’m sharing has really helped me stay sane when those very out-of-nowhere moments have come upon me, I know I’ll face more. And I hope this helps you as it helps me, just even in talking about it now. It reminds me this is all leading somewhere. It’s a great and good adventure to be on, and I’d rather be growing than sitting stagnant with nothing happening.

Thanks for being here!