Good morning friends! What’s good today?

So, last Friday was my last day of training. I have to tell you, I’ve been through a lot of corporate training in my life, but this one was the best one I’ve had.

The instructor was engaging, funny, real, and yet even with all the information being shoved at us every minute of the day, she managed to get us all to retain it and learn something! It was great!

We all came in on Thursday morning, and she was really tired and explained to us why. She told us she has an immense love of karaoke and that she had been doing it the night before and stayed up later than normal. We all started asking her questions about it and come to find out that before she was a corporate trainer, she was a school teacher! No wonder why she knew how to make learning fun! But, not only was she a school teacher, she was a music teacher. Now the love of karaoke was making more sense.

After almost two weeks of intense training, we were all getting a little squirrely and tired of sitting in class, so she made us a deal. If we all did really well on our last test, she would sing us a song.

DEAL!

The test was handed out, and we all sighed (like a bunch of children) but got into it so we could get it done. It was a longer test than the prior ones we had earlier in the week, so it took some time. But, once the last person turned theirs in, we realized we still had to wait for them to be graded before she’d come through on her promise.

Oh, the waiting!

We passed the time discussing what kinds of music we liked, asked her what she liked to sing, and started to get to know each other on a little more personal level since we had nothing but free time.

Finally, near the end of the day, after everything was complete, she agreed to do a song, which also meant we all did great on our tests, BTW.

We made suggestions but ultimately let her pick what she felt like singing, and as she brought up the karaoke version on the overhead of what she was going to sing, the class chatter grew pretty quiet.

We saw who the artist was.

Adele.

And she wasn’t going to sing just any Adele song, but she was going to sing THAT song. You know the one.

The music starts, she opens her mouth, and we all gasp.

From this little, almost cherub looking, brilliant woman, with her long, messy hair clasped to the back of her head, came a voice that shut us all up quickly. And then it started…

“I heard that you’re settled down
That you found a girl and you’re married now

I heard that your dreams came true
I guess she gave you things
I didn’t give to you”.

And before you knew it, what I am going to refer to as “The Adele effect” took over. The lady next to me was casually trying to wipe away tears, some of the men were clearing their throats and finding the ceiling very interesting, and me? Oh, I was suddenly organizing the papers in front of me better than Marie Kondo.

For a moment, titles and positions didn’t exist because when it was over, almost everyone in that room looked like their heart was freshly broken. I came to find out for a few it really wasn’t that long ago. For others, it had been a while. But, it just goes to show that no matter how long it’s been, the painful scars within us may be less pronounced over time, but they never truly leave us.

Prestige doesn’t cushion it. Gender doesn’t shield it. Money can’t buy it away.

Not all our reasons were or are the same, but heartache is a common bond shared by all of humankind.

Who knew corporate training could be so personally enlightening?

Just another day in the odd life of me.

Have a blessed week friends, and remember to be kind and gentle with one another.

**I do not own the rights to this song**