Wednesday Wisdom: Bittersweet

Inspiration, Motivation, Attitude for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners

Walking in the chilly November morning, I walked past a bitter-sweet plant whose orange seeds caught my eye. Some of my female relatives would collect and then decorate with them in their homes. Their color, the same color as autumn leaves and flames from a fire, made their presence warm and inviting, something I needed trying to shake out my legs from the weekend’s half marathon race.

Bittersweet the word, not plant, can refer to sentimental and nostalgic in the dictionary, words reflective of the upcoming American holiday of Thanksgiving. Gathering around a table with family and friends in the present day can often remind us of old familiar faces not at the table anymore. Certain recipes, songs, drinks, and even football-watching can create bittersweet memories as we remember good times and good people that have disappeared into the past.

Even my chilly walk was bittersweet remembering the thrill of the marathon race knowing it was done and over after four months of training for it.

As woman entrepreneurs, we can get bittersweet when we lose favorite customers or staff members who have to move on because they’ve outgrown us. We can also feel bittersweet about the mix of successes and defeats we’ve experienced doing business the past year. Bittersweet is akin to Yin and Yang, a Chinese philosophy describing opposite but interconnected, mutually perpetuating forces.

So, as you prepare for Thanksgiving this year or the end of another business year, I hope you realize that both the missing and the present, or the good and the bad, can be interlaced to give you a balanced, appreciative view of the whole picture of life and work.

This Wednesday Wisdom is to wish you a vibrant and bittersweet glow of appreciation, of who is around you, who can’t be there; what is good in your life, and what can be improved, and an overall sense of gratitude for all the pieces of it that make your life or career whole.

A mosaic window is most beautiful because of the shards of varying colors and patterns of the glass, much like our lives and companies.