The weather has been all over the place this winter. Last week, we had spring-like conditions, tomorrow is said to go to -12˚Celsius, and last night, the Maritimes had another big snowfall.
The snow started coming in at 3pm sharp, exactly as predicted. It had been ok to get there, but by the time I was on my way home from the gym at 8pm, driving was difficult. Visibility was almost nil, but the worst of it was the thick slush on the roads. It was manageable, but one had to be careful, for sure.
As I was drifting out of sleep in the early morning hours today, I was recalling driving through that thick slush, and a recent long drive through the previous big snowstorm. I contemplated how entrepreneurship, running my own business as an artist, is a lot like winter driving. See if you can follow my thoughts:
In business as in winter driving, conditions are at times treacherous; you have to be very alert, and pay constant attention to all conditions, including others around you. You can’t go too fast, or you’ll loose control, and you can’t go too slow, or you’ll loose momentum. At the same time, you can’t become too tense or worried, either, with a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel and nerves tight as bowstrings. Anything that tight is bound to snap. You have to be relaxed and alert, and go forward confidently and steadily. You have to know the terrain, and you have to know where you are going. On long highway stretches, sometimes you can’t see exactly where you are going. You hope that the road continues straight ahead. If you are lucky, you can follow tail lights in front of you. Most importantly, you can’t panic, and you can’t chicken out, even when it gets scary. Especially when it gets scary.
Confidence, alertness, steadfastness, and let’s not forget: you’ve got to enjoy the trip! You know the sun will break through again :)
