This email from last year seemed appropriate to send again this year. Either proving that I’m not good at coming up with new ideas or I need a lot of reminders….

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

In particular lately, I’ve been thinking about how this quote applies to our work.

At Mavidea and Maxlider, we are in the service business. We work for our customers.

And they break our hearts all the time.

By not taking the good advice.

By cancelling and switching to another provider.

The same with our coworkers and teammates.

But these relationships are what make our work so worthwhile.

Only when we make ourselves vulnerable and open to the relationships around us do we get to experience the joy of our work.

At the risk of being a little sappy and corny, I’m going to ask you all to do something.

Open your hearts. Step into the scary situations and be yourself.

Lean in to the special place reserved for you in this world.

With our customers, with your teammates, with your loved ones.

Make it a great day.

Jake