How does a pallet with $20,000 worth of products go missing?

We’ve been asking that question a lot lately.

The freight carrier picked up the pallet from the factory and we considered it to be on its way. After all, it was just an overnight shipment from Vancouver to Nelson.

But the pallet never arrived. Then we realized the freight carrier who picked it up wasn’t even the freight company we contracted for the shipment. $20,000 of products were stacked on a pallet in a truck or warehouse somewhere. We just didn’t know where.

Had we been robbed? 

How do we find the driver who picked it up?

Are we going to have to swallow this loss and reproduce all of these hats for the customer?

These are the questions that initially flooded my brain when I discovered it was missing. 

Welcome aboard the entrepreneurial rollercoaster. My default mode in the past was to rise and fall from hope to anger based on every twist and turn of that rollercoaster.

My business partner (who happens to be my wife) and I have been ending our conversations about this situation with a reminder to each other that we don’t need to ride the rollercoaster. 

We don’t focus on what could’ve been different or who is to blame.
We focus our actions on what we can do to resolve the situation. 
We communicate kindly to everyone involved in resolving it.
We hope for the best but without expectations.

We opted out of riding the rollercoaster and, instead, enjoyed good nights of sleep without being anxious.

Yesterday I received the message that the pallet had been found and all was well. They’d have it here in Nelson in two days. Five weeks after it was picked up from the factory.

I’m not writing this as some type of stoic flex. Instead, it’s a public acknowledgement that we can change our default modes of thinking and acting. Honestly, I had doubts about whether I could change patterns in my life that felt like second nature.

I started this process in 2016. Through a series of events, it became clear that my default mode of thinking and acting wasn’t serving me well. I wasn’t acting like the husband, father, friend or business partner that I wanted to be.

A lot of time and energy has gone into learning how to change my patterns of thinking and reacting. 7 years later I have clear evidence that change is being made thanks to this missing pallet.  It’s a sign of progress that I’m grateful for.