Inaugural = Halfway

Inaugurals are always exciting. They represent something new. The “first of” something. A blank slate. A clean start.

But really we should think of them as marking the halfway point. Like zero on a number line. A ton of hard work happens before the inaugural event that often goes un-noticed. The political and “get out the vote” campaign. The pre-production of a film or play prior to opening night. Coming up with an idea, writing a plan, fundraising and hiring employees before you’re open for business.

Inaugurals are fun and a cause for celebration.

But then it’s time to get back to work. Back to the grind. You’re only halfway home to the goal.

P.S. – Transferred from the French inauguration, the word ultimately hails from the Latin verb, inaugurāre, “to take omens from the flight of birds,” a practice known as augury. Augurs were priests who advised governmental officials by divining the future based on the flying, singing, and feeding of birds, whose behaviors were clues to the will of gods. Before a new leader was installed into power, augurs observed the skies – or, in some cases, into the entrails of a sacrificial victim – for a sign from a bird, whose appearance meant the gods approved the accession.