Cedric Brown

For those of you who actually take time out to read my blogs, I would like to apologize for being away so long.  Usually, you could expect to see a post from me every month.  However, I have to admit I’ve lacked the motivation for my 12th post.  There was a lot that I was unsure about, and I’m not in the business of doing something halfway, you know?  As much as I can, I try to give you all quality posts every time I write.  I understand that your time is valuable, so I try to make the best of my five minutes of fame every time you stop by.

What’s happened to me since my last post?  Well, where do you want me to begin?  How about some positive highlights!

• I became a citizen philanthropist for Citizen Effect’s Detroit4Detroit movement – I’m #35!
• Baseball is back!  And, I’m assistant coaching the 12 & under Indians on the city’s west side.
• I checked out two Tigers games in one weekend, courtesy of free tickets!
• I’ve been accepting into an online Integrated Marketing Communications graduate school program (but I have to figure out how I’ll afford it now without increasing my debt).
• I’m alive and in good health (as far as I know).

Sounds like I’m living the good life, right?  That’s because it always warms people’s hearts to hear good news.  But, in spite of all these blessings, these past two months have been the toughest experience of my 2012 so far.  And trust me, paying my taxes was hardly the half of it.

It all started on Thursday, March 22 at my job.  I get an e-mail late in the afternoon from my supervisor asking for me to meet with him privately.  Long story short, I apparently had not been performing up to my publishers’ standards.  So, as negative reinforcement, I entered a 30-day performance review period.  Man, were those some roller coaster days!  There were days where I felt like I would pull out of this.  After all, I’ve had my back against a wall seemingly all my life.  I never failed a grade after my pre-school teachers told my parents I needed to be held back.  I was honored as an Outstanding Senior Leader in college after an angry outburst with one of my RSOs my sophomore year – an organization that I eventually became president of, even with an advisor who secretly doubted me.  Surely I could make it through another trying time, right?

Or, at least that’s what I had hoped… First came Tuesday, April 24, where I clearly mistook a set of directions via e-mail.  Then came Wednesday, April 25, when I reported my incident to my supervisor, holding out a glimmer of hope for brownie points for acknowledging the situation before my publisher reported me.  And then, there was Tuesday, May 1, 3:12 p.m.: a call from the HR manager.  And a few minutes later, it happened – my supervisor gave me my death sentence – “we’ve gotta let you go.”  This was officially my last day of my first job out of college.

News that brings your world crashing, and I’m not talking about the crash that happens to your house of cards.  It happens to the best (and the worst) of us.  When it comes to your health, it’s your doctor diagnosing you with “the Big C.”  When it comes to your marriage, it’s your spouse calling for “the D-word.”  For me, it was that one statement that sent me home with my things halfway depressed, my head hanging with an anchor of failure wondering what would be next, not exactly looking forward to it.

Perhaps the worst part of feeling like your world has crashed is knowing that it actually hasn’t.  You find a friend named “Tomorrow” on your doorstep asking you to enjoy the day with them.  And as much as you keep turning Tomorrow down, it keeps knocking at your door the next day, and the next day, and the next day (reminds me of a SpongeBob episode).  Finally, you have no choice but to give in to Tomorrow just so it’ll leave you alone.  But once you and Tomorrow start to hang out, you start to realize how glad you are that your world hasn’t actually ended.  That’s because little by little, tomorrow gives you the strength to rise above your own ashes.

If you’re blessed enough to get a visit from Tomorrow, enjoy it the best way you can.  You could be a day removed from your worst day or even a few years, but the worst thing you could ever do is take Tomorrow for granted.  While you were wishing your world came to an end, someone else was enjoying theirs when Tomorrow suddenly stopped showing up.  So celebrate tomorrow as long as it comes, whether it’s by yourself or with a group of your friends and family.  Eventually, you’ll realize that you’re stronger than you thought you were.