Yes We Can (Change)!

Sitting on the cool grass, rain clouds the color of the RiverFork logo are forming, Matthew and I listen to Liz Barnez at Bohemian Nights at New West Fest, Downtown Fort Collins 2009. Off in the distance, I notice a gentleman – beer in hand wearing a t-shirt that reads, “Yes We Can.” Leaning on a stroller, the gentleman reaches down to check on his baby. The little one wore a tye-dyed onezie and bright pink shades. Happy, happy scene.  

The energy at this festival was incredible. Old hippies dancing, kids whirling, and others quietly tapping - all peaceful. A young gentleman in a wheel chair makes his way to the center of the dancing area. A stunning, college aged woman grabs both of this hands and dances with him. I don’t think she knew him – she was just extending a hand and a smile. I took a deep breath, kissed my husband, and enjoyed my New Belgium Sunshine Wheat beer. In that moment, I believed in, I had hope for, the slogan on the gentleman’s t-shirt, “Yes We Can.” There are certain moments in our lives that remind us that life is amazing, and fun, and hard, and challenging, and everything in between. Finding joy is a skill. Spreading hope is a talent. Each little scene I observed was a proclamation of “Yes We Can.” The woman extending her hand in joy, sharing her unbiased smile sent a message to the young man in the wheel chair – Yes We Can! The young man in the t-shirt, I can only imagine, wants and needs to believe for his child’s future – Yes We Can! Change is constant, whether it be in our organizations, our communities, our families, and our personal lives. Being quiet enough to notice the moments will make you a better leader, a better parent, a better friend, and better person. I write about change and focus my business on change management because I believe with my core that the more we can do to understand the process of change, find peace in change when it’s hard, find joy in change when it’s welcome, find lessons in change when we wonder why, the more we will believe ‘yes we can’, the more we will act and behave believing, ‘yes we can’!