Hope Floats and a 10ex Rolodex
What do you get when you combine a roller coaster, a cliffhanger drama, and murder mystery? You get the month of March 2020. And you can begin to encapsulate the last few weeks for planet earth. The emotional spectrum ran full-bore through all of us with a pulse. The times are strange. It’s a frightening time.
To be fair, our first reactions were centered directly on self. How can we maintain economic health throughout these dark days? How much will this affect our business’ future? If this lasts for months, can we even bank on a future? These challenges to our business are more than we’ve ever seen. With candidness, I dare say we’ve all experienced similar and numerous angst-filled, fearful moments.
Luckily, after a bit of silence, some time spent in reflection, and plenty of plain ol’ walking, we began to hear the song of our nature’s better angels. While we’re still wandering through the unknown, that terra incognita, we aren’t alone out here. In fact, ‘alone’ is the last word we ought use to describe this situation. We, all of you reading this, are in this together and together, we’ll find our way through. It’s in the spirit of community and togetherness that we write.
With excitement, we present our idea to develop and maintain a 10ex Rolodex.
Why?
No matter what Dunkin Donuts says, America runs on small business. Whether you’re a small business owner or employed by a small business, the strain of COVID-19 lies unusually heavy upon your house. The 10ex Rolodex is a way for less-strained community members to offer their support directly to local businesses, restaurants, affected professionals and more. Afterwords, the 10ex Rolodex remains a way to ‘filter’ through all the unnecessary noise. Need to hire a trustworthy ______? Check the 10ex Rolodex. Looking for a medical professional, car insurance, banker, a mortgage, some HVAC repair, handyman, lawn service, etc? Check the ‘dex. We often speak about leverage when needing strength to move heavy loads or lifting weight. Is there a better way to leverage the strength of our own 10ex community? What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Who?
Small business owners. Doctors. Restauranteurs. Professionals. Journeymen. Craftsmen. Anyone providing a useful service to others.
When?
ASAP. Ideally this is crowd-sourced (like wikipedia). It will grow and evolve and hopefully be quite useful. Send email to info@10exlife.com. Write a quick sentence or two. Give us your name and explain what it is that you do, you offer, how you can provide support to the community.
What’s the gym’s plan for April?
Almost 10 years ago, we opened our doors with the mission to help others. To move our world one degree to the better…to improve the lives of others through the medium of fitness. ‘Inspiration through fitness.’ – reads our tagline. For us, it’s never been about maximizing profits or making a bunch of money. We believe that to be clear. And while the next few weeks will certainly put us under a strain like never before, we will endure the trial. Over-prepare and under-react, remember?
We will take care of our coaches. We will pay salaries first and bills second. We will continue to serve you, the invaluable members of our gym, in every way we can. Each of you are an important part of our life and we hope your membership, the gym and the community within it remain a shiny, bright spot in yours.
Next week on April 1st, memberships renew. Now, with any luck, the governor’s mandated gym closure ends for good on 4/6. But, in the case that it doesn’t, our plans to provide you with the best 10 Experience possible changes not. Nonetheless, we hope you’re satisfied with your investment in us. However, in the case that the coronavirus craze has any of you in a financial pinch or a position in which you don’t feel comfortable making your usual payment, we will take care of things until you’re on your feet again. We simply ask that you let us know within the next couple of days.
None of us can be certain that things will change for the better soon. But, it is Spring! The weather signals a change. It signals hope. We too are confident, hopeful and moving forward with the same budding spirit. Let us not give up on each other. Let us not give up on our fitness. Instead, together, let’s step boldly towards the future. Like C. Caine wrote, sometimes when you’re in a dark place you think you’ve been buried, but actually you’ve been planted.
G and J and Steve and Taryn