He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
~Epictetus
It started out as one of the best days of my life, and certainly, of my career. My staff and I had been named the number one unit in our company, and I was taking them out for a celebratory lunch. I worked with a wonderful group of people and we were proud of what our hard work and team spirit had accomplished during the prior year.
Lunch was fun, the food excellent, and the camaraderie at the table made me smile. I was proud of this group, who laughed, cried, and loved each other, and I felt blessed to be their leader. The weather was crisp, cool, and sunny, and I thought to myself “it just doesn’t get any better than this.” It was a perfect day.
After lunch, we returned to work. As I checked my e-mail, an urgent message popped up for a mandatory teleconference later that afternoon. We had these types of teleconferences quite a bit to cut costs versus expensive management meetings, so I thought nothing of it and continued to catch up on work and phone calls I had missed during lunch.
Two o’clock came -- time for the teleconference. I put my phone on speaker so I could work and listen at the same time -- multi-tasking as usual. I heard our associate director’s voice, usually so friendly and upbeat, take on a somber tone. He stuttered and stumbled, which was not like him, and finally gave us the bad news.
“You are all being relocated to Ohio, if you are willing to move,” he told us with a tremble in his voice, “and if you cannot move, you will be given a severance package, and sixty days notice.”
