Don't miss the Sunrise

One of my favorite spots on earth is the beach in Hilton Head, South Carolina. My family and I started visiting this island for a work/fun long weekend back in the early 90’s. Since then, we have made over 30 pilgrimages back. We love it for about a thousand reasons, but there is one that we seldom talk about it but is meaningful to me.

You see, I am a morning person. Almost to the extreme. I am semi-retired now and to the disgust of many of you reading this, I still get up extremely early each morning even though I do not have to any longer. Usually by 5am, you can find me in my little gym in my house watching a taped recording of Dateline and either walking on the treadmill, stretching, Pilates or lifting some weights. This is pretty much seven days per week, 52 weeks per year, rain, or shine.

However, my schedule is always a little off when we are in Hilton Head. No gym to work out at 5am. And the island is sound asleep until about 9am. Except I have one major benefit of waking up at such an ungodly hour. I get to watch the sunrise.

Now, you may be a sunset person as my daughter is in San Diego. She loves sunsets. Always has. And who would not? Especially if you lived near the beach in Southern California. But being on the east coast in Hilton Head, I get to delight in the sunrise.

Generally, it is a little chilly each morning. You can usually find me on our balcony or on the beach wearing a sweatshirt and wrapped in a blanket as I anxiously await the sun to rise.

I recently read something that perfectly describes why it fascinates me so much:

“For most of the day, there seems to be little change in the amount of light. But this magic hour of dawn is when we see a distinct change take place. Darkness is slowly invaded by light. It is slow, but it is also consistent. Once the light begins to appear, the darkness never overtakes it until the sun sets again at dusk.”

Wow! Once the light begins to appear, the darkness never overtakes it….

The sunrise sort of serves as a metaphor for my life. I grew up in rough and tough neighborhood. You cared for other people, but we absolutely let scarcity control your thoughts and actions. We had three hundred and twenty locks on our doors and slept with an arsenal of guns nearby just in case. Well, no, but it took a few minutes to unlock all the locks on the doors and my Dad taught us to always be on guard. At times, as a teenager, I did not like who I was. I could be short with people, I lacked trust and was guarded. I was not a bad kid, just always tried to stand up for myself, my family, and our belongings.

One day at the age of seventeen, I was driving on Federal Street in Camden when someone cut me off. I mean we came within inches of having an accident. I was so mad. I was boiling over. I rolled down my window (I actually rolled it down-it was a 1970 Chevy Nova) and cursed every word at this other driver as he just laughed at me and drove away.

I was so angry (as I had been before in my life), but this time it was different. I did not like who I was. I did not like what I had said or felt. Now, 46 years later, as if it happened yesterday, I remember turning into a bank, turning off the engine and putting my head in my hands.

I cried out loud that I did not want to live like this any longer and for the first time, I asked God to forgive me and to help me live more like He wanted me to. More like this Jesus I have heard about at Catechism class on Saturday mornings.

Now, I cannot tell you that my entire life changed forever at that moment. But certain things did seem to change. I noticed all the good people in my life, the beauty in the trees in bloom (even in the inner city), the joy that music brought to me and the little more peace I seemed to have in my life. And so many other things I had not focused on previously.

My turn to be more Christ-like was more like a big ocean-liner turning around in the ocean that a speedboat. It took a long time. There were starts and stops. But the key was that it was always turning in the right direction. Each day/week/month/year, my life showed a little more light. The light seemed to get stronger and warmer, just the like the sun!

Why do I reflect on this? Because in so many ways, my personal faith story seems to be like what I found works in leadership too.

I think successful companies at one point, or another become values-based rather than transactional only.

The leaders provide hope and point the team in a certain direction or forward to a place.

They provide hope and comfort.

They lead through example.

They do the right thing.

They overcome the starts and stops/obstacles.

They find success.

What are the results of trusting in Him personally and building a business unit that is values-based? I think in so many ways, they are the same things I feel when I watch that Hilton Head sunrise. The cold turns to warmth.

I have comfort, hope, peace, and light.

Bad things will still happen to you and your company.

But you will have hope for a better tomorrow whether on earth or in heaven.

And the sun will come again in all its incredible majesty.

Thanks for reading this.

If you can relate to something I wrote and want to know more about how to turn towards God or need someone to talk to, please reach out to me. I will do my best to help you as others have helped me or put you in touch with someone who is better equipped.

With a goal to “help the next one in line”, Glen Cavallo, a 30+ year healthcare executive has chosen to share the many lessons he has learned with others. Glen does this by serving as a coach/advisor to leaders at all levels of organizations, as a board member and as he presents inspirational speeches at regional, national, annual and awards meetings.