Spring has arrived officially, but here in Louisville where I live it has been more like summer. I finally relented and turned on our air conditioner. The trees and flowers are all abloom as are our allergies. This is a beautiful time here in the bluegrass state. I love spring because it is a reminder to me that there are cycles to life and that there are new beginnings.
It has been quite a busy winter, not only here in my home but across our industry as well. We have several things happen that have and continue to draw attention and discussion. The two main things have been a new name change and the continued shrinkage of MTSO’s across our industry.
As a member of the board, I want to assure you that the issue of the name change has not been one that has been taken lightly, and that is why you saw the topic revisited and voted on a second time. Do we need a name change? Should we have consulted the membership? Could things have been handled differently, and why was this revisited and voted on a second time? My question to each of you is, have you ever made a decision, and it just did not seem right once it was made, so you spent more time in the thought process and arrived at a different decision? I know I have many times throughout my life. These are all valid questions, and for every member in our association there is an opinion. Some opinions mesh well together and some do not. As I said, in my opening paragraph, spring reminds me of a time of new beginnings, but we do not always get to spring without the hazards of summer, fall, and winter. And so, that is part of what we are experiencing here. Spring comes every year and for those who want to embrace its newness and freshness there is a chance to enjoy the new beginning. For some, letting go of the summer, fall, and winter is more difficult and so they miss the new beginning of spring. Where are you in the course of seasons?
Another item of great interest, and one that none of us has control over is the reduction of MTSO’s across our industry. Wow, what a change has occurred! I know this is a source of great concern. I think for me, the biggest thing I struggle with is the feeling of helplessness. I, and most people I know, do not like to feel helpless, we do not like to be dependent on others, and what we see here is an industry that now leaves us with far fewer choices, and we are now dependent on a few major companies as our source of employment. Our choices have been cut drastically, and that makes us feel helpless, which causes anxiety. Having been a business owner in a different industry at one point in my life, and seeing that industry dwindle to a few major competitors, causing me to have to close the doors, I can say that I understand this. I have been there in the not to distant past. Did I like it? No. Could I change it? No. Could I change how I responded and reacted? Yes. And so I closed the business doors, mourned for a time, and then moved on. I noticed that life did not stop for me. I had to move on with life or be left behind. And so, I see that here we have the same thing happening. We have to look for ways to move on. For some that will mean new training and moving into a new role using my past experience, for others that may mean moving to a totally different arena of employment, for some that means staying with our skill set but adjusting within those boundaries. Once again, we see the cycle of the seasons. Is it fun? No. Does it hurt? Immensely. Are there new beginnings? Yes. Does AHDI care? YES!
As a part of your professional organization, we care immensely, and we are committed to doing what we can to help each and every one of you.
