It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.~ Charles Darwin

I have found myself in an incredible position recently and it dawned on me that I should have expected this to happen. My last year, actually three, but specifically the last year has been dedicated to motivating, encouraging, supporting and championing a team of professionals who do extraordinary things. This team is dispersed across the country and imbedded in a mission field dedicated to the lives and wellbeing of military families in various stages of deployment or activation. This is a mission field. This is a place of struggles and triumphs, of chaos and success, of friendships and families and work that will stand the test of time.
I've stood on the sidelines of this incredible team, encouraging, coaching, calling plays, wiping sweat, lifting spirits. It has been an awesome task that has taken all of my focus and energy and felt so very right at this stage of my life.
Most recently, we have incorporated a larger team together and I've been put in charge of this merged group. Change is necessary, and exciting, and has the potential to help everyone better their game. I've seen change play out so perfectly on sports teams when new players come in and really fill the holes of the existing team to make them complete. Change is also daunting and exhausting and unnerving. I've seen change cripple a team because the dynamics of the new group just never really gel.
This merged team, this change, now just barely a month old has been a huge undertaking. In an effort to learn the new players, incorporate the two groups, realign the plays and balance the group dynamic, I've worn myself out. I've loved every minute of it, but I've also internalized the stress and magnitude of the moment.
As the team takes shape and the kinks get worked out, we are hitting a fantastic groove. With this start of the next phase of the group, some of my original team have come to me, especially in the past few days, to remind me of the things I have always said from the sidelines. "Take care of yourself", "We are strong and mighty", "Change is good". It is as if they realized I'm waning a little. It is as if they sensed that I needed a  seat on the bench for a second, a splash of cold water and a wipe of a towel. It is as if they sensed that I needed my own pep talk. I am thankful for this team and for their intuition and dedication to not only caring for their families but also for me. With this encouragement I am humbled and honored and lifted up by the strength of the team.