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The stolen bike
Hello Corporate Rebels,
Sometimes bad things happen.
A project you love gets taken away. One of your work friends gets laid off. You lose all the data you spent the past 5 hours working on. It's discouraging when stuff like this happens.
Last week, my son's bike was stolen from our fenced yard. Thus ensued frustration, disappointment, and sadness that someone would do such a thing.
Then an amazing thing happened. I posted the above photo to a local Facebook page devoted to finding stolen bikes. Through this page, I discovered a whole team of folks who track stolen bikes, link them to bikes for sale online and uncover data to help the police catch the ring of thieves who ransacked our neighborhood (and many others) for bikes last weekend. Individuals have contacted me with tips. I have connected them to the investigating officer. These folks are doing incredible work simply because they have the skills, interest, and will.
It has been uplifting to meet the "Robin Hoods" as I have started calling them. They don't have to do this work and have no personal stake in my son's bike. Interacting with them reminds me to have faith in the goodness of human beings and our power to make a difference when we care and take action.
When you look around your workplace, where do you see the Robin Hoods? When things feel hard or discouraging, look for the folks who do what they do simply because they have the skills, they care, and they're willing to take action to change things. Then hang out with those folks a lot.
It makes the things that suck a whole lot better.
I hope this helps.
Christina
P.S. Do you have a friend or colleague who needs a little help to see the bright side today? Forward this newsletter to them. They can join us here.
P.P.S. My BFF, Anne Lippin and I are cooking up something fun to rev some momentum in the lazy month of August. Stay tuned!