Life in perspective

Sara McKee on her journey to New York and how it’s reminded her to keep life in perspective, plus the power of joined-up thinking and teamwork.

I’ve had the belief for many years that there’s no point in worrying about things over which you have no control – you’ve got to keep things in perspective. This is just as well, as it’s felt like I’ve been playing a major role in a disaster movie since I set off for New York last Friday!

Despite JFK Airport being closed on Thursday night due to a ‘cyclone bomb’ (never heard of that one), we took off successfully from Manchester and landed at 4pm local-time after a bit of a bumpy flight.  This is when the disaster movie kicked in…

It took two-hours for the plane to taxi from the runway to the stand, which is an all-time record even for a Road Warrior like me. The Captain was a true Brit: keeping us informed and saying he’d volunteered to be his own ‘marshall’ to speed up parking!  Having been bundled onto buses, we lined up and made it through customs only for a 6-hour wait for baggage that was never going to arrive.

Stoically, at midnight, I fill in the lost-baggage form confident in my belief that a van would turn up with my bag the following morning.

Day three, waiting for news of my luggage, I discover that JFK’s terminals operate as “independent states”.  We parked at Terminal 2 and were taken to Terminal 4, which apparently meant that our bags couldn’t be offloaded – unless the plane was towed to T4.  Obviously, the People’s Republic of T2 has no trading relationship with the Democratic State of T4 so cannot find a solution that works for all parties…sound familiar?

We are at stalemate at JFK.

It got me thinking about the power of joined-up thinking and teamwork. As we enter our sixth year at Evermore, we are testament to that power. We’re a small company, with a big heart and a massive mission. Above all, it’s our belief in devising, developing and delivering our ideas together that makes us such a strong Tribe.

After all:

“No one can whistle a symphony, it takes a whole orchestra to play it.”

Halford E Luccock

2018 is going to be our big breakthrough year. We’re starting to build our very first Evermore Wellbeing community in the heart of Wigan, as well as working alongside care and health colleagues across Greater Manchester to bring ageing well to reality. That’s what makes us bounce out of bed in the morning!

It may have started like a disaster movie for me, but it’s our collective fearless spirit that pushes me through. And when you’ve got Evermore family in New York State that embrace and welcome you home, then what’s a bit of lost luggage in the scheme of things? After all, nobody died – we’ll keep the small stuff in perspective.

Road Warriors live life in FULL Colour. If you’ve got the spirit, you might just want to join in with our mission.

Sara

Sara McKee, Evermore Funder and Director of Market Innovation

Follow Sara on Twitter @SaraMcKeeFRSA