Life and Career Lessons from a Power Outage

A massive storm hit last week that resulted in a tornado touch down (several miles from us) and many downed trees and power lines which cut off our electricity for 3 days. Luckily, the damage to our home was mild with a large tree limb that broke our backyard fence and many fallen branches and debris that cluttered our yard and street. My family is safe, and sound and I am truly grateful.

Living without power for 3 days was difficult and there is no doubt that I would have made a crappy pioneer. This force of nature disruption taught me some incredible lessons and helped me put life and career into perspective.

Suck it Up!

 While being off the grid was easy to complain about with no electricity, no WIFI, and the loss of all the food in the fridge and freezer, it put into perspective how fortunate I am. Our home was unscathed, and we had a safe place, albeit dark and hot without air conditioning in 90+ degree heat to seek shelter from the storm.

It made me think of the people who have experienced far worse natural disasters that lasted weeks and months to return to normalcy. Not to mention, the homeless who struggle on a daily basis without the basics of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Forced Think Time

The storm arose quickly in the afternoon while I was on a Zoom call with a client. The power flickered and then everything went dark. My initial reaction was anger and frustration since the power outage halted my workday plan and productivity. My smart phone battery had charge left and I quickly called and texted clients with whom I was scheduled to meet the rest of that day.

In denial, I optimistically thought the power would come back in a few hours and I’d resume my work routine. That did not happen, and my frustration began to rise as I felt like a caged animal in my own home with a storm raging while I paced in the darkness listening to the wind and hail whipping against my windows become louder and more ominous.

What does a Type A personality and over-achiever do without electricity? It provided a forced opportunity to get quiet and reflect.

Being Still

Day-to-day life is loud and busy with meetings, appointments, events, and plenty of work to tackle. Without power and my waning cell phone battery, I had no other choice but to hunker down and be still.

Being still is hard for me. I’m a high energy, on-the-go person who loves to achieve, complete tasks, and plan. Being still was an opportunity for me to experience the storm and my life through the lens of discovery.

According to Nancy Perry, whose excellent blog I recently found:

“We all need to find moments of stillness and space in our day, especially the days we are the busiest. A moment of stillness, of settling, of getting present, can help you see something new. Stillness supports us in realizing how many choices we have. Sometimes we need an hour of stillness, and usually just a moment or so will do. Stillness taps us into the pulsing, transforming, fluid nature of life. Set your eyes, breathe deeply, feel your body, and see what you notice. Being still is a choice and helps us realize that we always have a choice. From and outsider’s perspective stillness may look like nothing, and it is sometimes the hardest thing to do.”

Being Off the Grid

We talk about limiting screen time for kids, but we tether ourselves to our devices as adults. Without electricity, none of my devices worked and it allowed me to pivot to no-tech tasks. I took the opportunity to write thank you donor notes (by the light of my battery powered lantern) for one of the non-profit Boards on which I serve. I enjoyed that simple, reflective, and tactile experience so much that I sent notes to several friends and colleagues and posted them via snail mail.

Creative Solutions

Our forced electricity sabbatical helped flex some creative muscles as well. My husband used our outdoor gas grill to boil a pot of water, so we could make morning coffee. It made me realize that in times of difficulty, we pivot, innovate, and design solutions out of necessity. What a great reminder that we can always adapt and pursue alternative options to reach a solution.

Patience and Gratitude

I’m still a work in progress when it comes to patience and the power outage reminded me that a “watched pot never boils” as I waited for the power to return. This provided an opportunity to surrender and let go of knowing exactly when the power would be restored – simply to trust that it would eventually come back on.

We have so much to be grateful for like the fact that we still had running water and a safe house to live in during the outage, when so many were impacted more adversely.

The women and men who work at Duke Energy and the tree removal services should also be applauded for their round-the-clock work to clean up the storm debris and restore power. I would not be writing this post if not for their excellent work.

Moral of the Story

Taking a 3-day electricity break was not in my plan but the benefits were positive and impactful. It forced me to be still and intentional.  Everything that we do and don’t do matters. Our choices can either recharge us or take us out. Consider how you can infuse stillness in your life from time-to-time even without a storm.

Caroline Dowd-Higgins  is passionate about unlocking the art-of-the-possible in her work with individuals and organizations as a certified executive coach, a best-selling author, a dynamic speaker, and sought-after talent development consultant. Her new best-selling book, “Your Career Advantage: Overcome Challenges to Achieve a Rewarding Work Life” is empowering people to enjoy their careers and love their lives. Caroline hosts the award winning podcast,  Your Working Life with listeners in 34 countries. She is proud to be a certified Minority Women’s Business Enterprise. Her celebrated TEDxWOMEN talk about reframing failure is available on YouTube. Follow her on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.