3 Advantages of an Enemy
Nearly 50 inches of snow fell in Buffalo, New York, three days in December 2022. Axios reported it was the longest blizzard on record. It was so bad cars were banned. Bitter cold across the US made conditions worse.
The temperature dropped 47 degrees in two hours on December 22, 2022, in Denver, Colorado and quickly settled in at minus one Fahrenheit. In Alabama they had a hard freeze warning on Christmas Eve. The Alabama Emergency Management Agency posted the following image.
3 advantages of an enemy (doing battle with a blizzard)
#1. Meaning and a blizzard:
The weatherperson here in Pennsylvania said the cold could kill you. He wasn’t joking. I cranked up the stove in my office (our family room before we added on) to fight the blizzard.
My snowblower and I did battle with the blizzard. I was glad I changed the oil in my jousting machine. The mundane means more in life-threating skirmishes. Even hot coffee tastes better.
An enemy gives meaning to life.
#2. Urgency and a blizzard:
An enemy provides urgency.
When the temperature was cold enough to kill us, we got our wiggle on when we walked from the garage to the warmth of our entry room (over 120 feet). Snow is angry when it’s below zero Fahrenheit. Our snow was grumbling. You feel the urgency of life when you walk on angry snow.
#3. Vitality and a blizzard:
Cold weather brings me to life. Warm temperatures put me to sleep.
Life is sleepwalking until you look an enemy in the eye.
Fighting for is better than fighting against. But in my case fighting against will have to do.
What enemy is bringing meaning, urgency, and vitality to your leadership?
What are you fighting against? Fighting for?
Still curious:
The 5 Powers of a Good Enemy – Red Sox Fans Hate the Yankees
*Image source of Franklin Street in Buffalo, NY: the Twitter page of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul
Negativity is my enemy. When people complain or point out issues just to complain it doesn’t do anyone any good. It’s like standing out in the cold and complaining about it, but not putting on your coat. Come to me with solutions and be positive about it. You can’t do anything about the weather, so how can we make ourselves comfortable and safe? That’s what I want in the fight. Otherwise, the enemy wins!
Thank SB. I feel negative about negativity! Whiners are exhausting.
I like going over the top when I hear complaints from complainers. “I know. Life really sucks!”
When I’m more mature I ask, “What do you want to do about that?”
I love this post. I know it was a metaphor, but I love the cold. I live in south Texas where we don’t get much cold, but this post resonated with me. “Even hot coffee tastes better.” I feel the same about a beer after a hard day’s work. There is something so satisfying about devoting yourself to a cause and doing battle to realize it.
Thanks Lance. Well, you battle the heat! Like you, I enjoy when winter sets in. I don’t want to live in Alaska. The days are already getting longer here in PA. But, there’s nothing like carrying in fuel for the fire on a cold winter morning. Sometimes I wear shorts just so I can get a good chill on the short trek.
Love that! Sometimes I jump in the pool in January to get the same effect. It’s invigorating.
The cold was quite serious here in Pennsylvania. I’m a retired pastor and I had a funeral for a 43 year old truck driver who unloaded his truck in that weather a few weeks ago. He got so chilled that he had pneumonia by the next day and died a week later. It’s one thing when we fight back against an enemy–another thing when we overlook the danger!
So true. I had a note at the end of the post that I deleted. I wanted to acknowledge that some people died because of the blizzard. Ultimately, I decided that I was sharing my own experience, not everyone else’s. Having said that, your point is important to add and I’m glad you did.
I appreciated the reminder that our enemy isn’t always a person or a group of people. Sometimes, it is the situation we find ourselves in. As the saying goes, “cooperate with the inevitable” means “roll with the punch”, not “wait for the blow.”
Thanks for sharing your insights again, Jennifer. The contrast to rolling with the punches and waiting for the blow is wonderful. I share a distaste for playing dead. Do what you can, even if it’s just making the best of a situation you can’t change.
This illustration was intended for married couples, but it works for companies and teams. If you are in a room that’s on fire, and there are no exits, what do you do? You fight the fire together! Thanks for the post, Dan.
Thanks for the reminder. It was something I needed today to help focus on the enemy of complacency in an organization I am helping to lead. Be well.
Dan thinking that the “enemy” changes as we do. In grade school it was Jimmy Sloan in king of the hill. In business it was the people I negotiated against, many of which became close friends. Now, later in life, a new enemy to me and my friends, which is aging. This may be our toughest adversary of all! Great post, Brad
Fighting against the injustice made by the state institutions (North Macedonia). It`s hard because you have nobody in whom to rely. That`s the hardest thing I have to fight!