Every time a disaster strikes New Jersey, people look around them and take note of all of the things that they have lost. For example, the recent flooding took away many homes, destroyed personal artifacts that are beyond priceless, and in some cases even cost someone their life.
The sadness and the strife are difficult to bear. However, there is a way to get through these difficult times. It is in the hearts and souls of the people of New Jersey that will mend all and return the State to its former glory.
A man named Andrew Carnegie once said, “Take away my people, but leave my factories, and soon grass will grow on the factory floors. Take away my factories, but leave my people, and soon we will have a new and better factory.”
Basically, this holds true in the rebuilding of the cities and towns in the path of the flooding. Where the people have left the area for good, buildings stand empty and crumbling. In some places, the people are still there but the buildings (in some cases) are not. These are the areas that are already rebuilding, creating a new better place to live and thrive.
In those areas that are abandoned, the once useful and beautiful buildings and things are left to crumble. They are only things, with no people to care for them. It is the people, not the things that make a house a home or a factory a viable entity. It is the attitude of those people that return damaged buildings and things to useful items. It is their hard work and determination that brings them together toward a common goal: to return to life as usual. In combining their efforts, they quickly rebuild the damaged areas, but they don’t just rebuild. They make it even better.
Even though there are many things that are lost in times of disaster, it the resilience of the human spirit that allows our cities and towns to persevere and even improve on what we had before. It is not always in looking back on the past that gets us through the tough times, but in looking forward to the future with a positive attitude and an “I can and I will” resolution that gets things done. No matter where you are, or the disasters that befall the human race, it is the people and not the things that create a better life.
This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Central & Southern New Jersey. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @CarnegieJersey.
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