Seems odd starting off the new year without first acknowledging that it is one.

So.

Happy new year.  No exclamation mark, just a period, or a full-stop as the British say.  Not that I’m down on the prospects for 2011; it’s just that I’ve been in a bit of a “life is hard”, “business is tough” kind of funk.   Where does this funk come from?  Two realizations or reminders:

Your health is not guaranteed

My friends know that my step-dad, who I’m very close to, needs major surgery and we’re all very worried about him and his prognosis.  Knowing him as a healthy muscular bodybuilder for most of his life, and seeing how frail he’s become confronts me with the reality of my own mortality.

Not only will none of us get out of this world alive, but regardless of how well we take care of ourselves there is no guarantee that our twilight years will be free of pain, decreasing mobility and disease.

Being an entrepreneur is hard

Two key business initiatives have been seriously delayed and more importantly I’ve been experiencing a bit of writer’s block which has really been bothering me.

Being on your own, meaning not in the corporate world is not easy, because …

people really do fail!

A fellow entrepreneur recently confided in me that he’s running out of cash and he was really disappointed in his 2010 sales performance.  He was even more dejected because he felt that he was letting down people who believed in him.

Another fellow entrepreneur threw in the towel—I hope temporarily—and went back to the corporate world.

And yet another said he couldn’t wait to see the back of 2010, and his wife was beginning to express impatience at how long it was taking him to realize his dream.

Note: None of these constitute failure, at least not unless they give up. The point is that …

Reality can be sobering

I start 2011 with some very unpleasant realities.  Maybe you can relate.  It’s clear to me that these downs are part of the game and sometimes feeling dejected, or like you’re not going to make it is what makes success so sweet.  If it was easy it wouldn’t feel so magnificent when you do make it.  But until then you have to persevere, adapt and learn of course, but stay in the game even though …

sometimes it seems that “raindrops keep falling on my head”

I hope you know that song, otherwise you’ll think I should be on Prozac.  Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in 1969, it works better than Prozac as a depression antidote.  My favorite lines go ..

“I’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining”

and

“there’s one thing I know
The blues they send to meet me won’t defeat me
It won’t be long till happiness steps up to greet me”

So all the best for 2011.  I don’t have to be super-smiley and effusive to mean it.  Life comes with rain, that’s the only way stuff can grow.

The lyrics to Raindrops keep Falling on My Head

(source: LyricsFreak.com)

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed
Nothin’ seems to fit
Those raindrops are fallin’ on my head, they keep fallin’

So I just did me some talkin’ to the sun
And I said I didn’t like the way he got things done
Sleepin’ on the job
Those raindrops are fallin’ on my head, they keep fallin’

But there’s one thing I know
The blues they send to meet me won’t defeat me
It won’t be long till happiness steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head
But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turnin’ red
Cryin’s not for me
‘Cause I’m never gonna stop the rain by complainin’
Because I’m free
Nothin’s worryin’ me

It won’t be long till happiness steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head
But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turnin’ red
Cryin’s not for me
‘Cause I’m never gonna stop the rain by complainin’
Because I’m free
Nothin’s worryin’ me