“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”
-Napolean Hill
This social distancing is really difficult for a people person. I know how COVID19 is impacting my business, as well–thank God for ZOOM video conferencing. The fear of the unknown is huge and most people have many questions; Will I get the virus? How will I pay my bills? What exactly are the symptoms? Do I really need to stay home? How can I help my older friends and relatives without compromising their health?
I can’t answer those questions, but I have a mentor who offered a couple of thoughts and I wanted to share them with you:
1. Harvest the good. Like the quote above, I believe there is a silver lining to every cloud. When I drove to my gym on Monday to find the parking lot empty and the gym closed–well, I’m not going to write what I thought. Working out is my healthy addiction and stress reliever. The silver lining? Dennis couldn’t work out either. He’s been coming straight home from work and we’ve been heading out in the sunshine to do some amazing hikes together. I know some parents who were busily working and are now totally enjoying expanded family time at home. Elder shut-ins have been learning face time and ZOOM video conferencing to stay connected. Look for the good.
2. Watch your intake. You know the old saying, “Garbage in, garbage out.” What are you watching and listening to? In my humble opinion, if we watched the news just enough to stay informed, we wouldn’t have so much fear. Who knows what the real truth is anyway? There are so many great movies on Netflix, there are many free classes being offered. You can find them on Facebook. I know that Hillsdale college has some great ones on the history of our nation. https://online.hillsdale.edu/ AND you never know where your next great idea may come from when you learn something new. We have a choice–we can feed our faith or we can feed our fear.
3. Make a difference. What can each of us do to make this time easier? This might be a bit of a challenge, especially if we all end up hunkering down and sheltering in place. Our Life Group couldn’t gather anymore, so I taught them Zoom. We’ll continue meeting that way every Tuesday night. I know many restaurants that have had to shut down are offering curbside pickup. Support those local businesses that have been negatively impacted. Be kind and encouraging to those who continue to serve us, especially grocery clerks. Call elder shut-ins so they feel connected. I read that a college student gave flyers to her neighbors with her phone number so she could help them if needed. What can you do?
Our pastor preached by Facebook live last week. He said, “Issues can be obstacles, or we can view them as opportunities.” COVID19 is definitely an issue and I, too, have felt the fear that may accompany this. I hope we all make the choice to feed our faith and look for the opportunities. That alone will make a difference.
Lastly, thank you to all of you that are still out there serving the community. It can’t be easy. You are appreciated and I’m praying for you.
Jan
Jan McDonald
The John Maxwell Team
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