I remember a time at work, where I was describing to a colleague the the difficult circumstances I was dealing with surrounding a new team organization. He said, "hold on a minute" and called our manager over and said to them, "I think you need to talk to Jake. He's in a really bad place"

My manager and I had a talk. I explained the details of recent interactions. He asked me if we could get the director involved. I agreed. He relayed the information to the director, while I sat feeling ashamed of my failure. My Director told me we were going to get HR involved. I said, "no, I don't think that's necessary."

The director looked me straight in the eye and said, "you have received a veiled threat. And because of the language used, I am bound by policy to take this issue to HR." Then they left the room.

This only made me feel worse. My manager, seeing my mood said something to me that I will never forget. "Jake, you have been suffering, and I can't bear to watch you suffer anymore."

I was on a new team that afternoon, and I could breathe again. Holding my breath is something I have done as a reaction to stress my whole life. I don't notice myself doing it, until I stop.

Today the Associated Press called the 2020 presidential election in favor of Joe Biden. People all over the world are celebrating. We have all had a pretty hard 2020, and some people have had a hard time longer than that. But today I feel like people all over the world are breathing deeply for the first time in a long time.