Jumpstart and Get Going
CPR. Heimlich maneuver. Jumper cables.
It is important to know how to use these. You never know when you might be called on to perform life-saving measures. I am certified and/or able to use any of these techniques. A stated life goal of mine, though, is to never have to use the first two. I know that I am technically able, but I don’t have the inner drive to want to. In fact, twice in my life, I have been in the area of someone collapsing and my first instinct was, embarrassingly, to run. A definite “flight” response to fear. I am assured by those who know these things that if someone’s life depended on my performance, I would indeed come through.
Jumper cables, though, are one of my more confident areas of tool use. Give me a dead lawn mower, and I can even check to be sure it is the right voltage before attaching the battery to the jumper cables. Starting cars in parking lots gives me a great sense of accomplishment (if my set of jumper cables is actually in my car). A successful jumpstart to a stranded auto owner produces a deep sense of reward for me. Especially, if I was able to instruct someone else in the art and skill of jumper cable use.
Often, needed change comes after some significant interaction or realization.
Jumpstarts happen in life, too. Knowing that something needs to change is often obvious. But identifying exactly what needs to change and then discovering the motivation that will produce the change can be difficult. Often, needed change comes after some significant interaction or realization. Jumpstarts in life are all about finding that spark to encourage a person to become willing to make necessary changes.
One of my coaching clients joined a local fitness program. She was jumpstarted by the reality of herself as the potential body-double of her mother. My husband became a runner when he changed professions and found himself sitting at a desk, challenged to keep emotionally motivated. A computer-geek friend of mine is being jumpstarted by the fact that he will be jobless in eight months. The company he works for was bought by another company whose Information Technology (IT) approach does not include a local IT department.
A new idea might be a jumpstart. New circumstances can be a jumpstart. The sort of crisis that can initially be viewed as a problem might end up producing one of the best opportunities in your life. Being required to think in new ways or to view things from a different perspective or to do without a person we have relied on is, at first, hard. But it often has good results that, eventually, will make themselves obvious.
Jumpstarts don’t have to be the result of crisis. They don’t have to come at the expense of a heart attack or lost contract or unemployment or broken marriage. They can come from some early-warning signals if we are alert and willing to see them. Then, a jumpstart can be manufactured while there is the luxury of time to research and discover options.
Often, what ends up being bad news moves us to a new place that is better than where we were once comfortable. Being jumpstarted is a good thing, especially if you are stalled and wondering how to get going again.
