Since the start of the Pandemic in March of 2019, a lot of us have been compelled to look inward, since we couldn’t go outward. And if we did look out, we saw things we couldn’t believe were happening all over the world.
Some people became depressed, angry, and apathetic; maybe a lot of us did. But many of us grew in amazing ways, getting to know ourselves more deeply, developing a meditation or spiritual practice, strengthening our faith.
We created art, wrote books, played a new instrument, learned a new language, and began to appreciate the time we got to spend with our loved ones. We invented new businesses, started exercising and dreamed of what we would love to do next, or what we could do to help others.
We learned to focus on what we can do with what we have readily available to us, within the space of our homes and ourselves. We became grateful for a slower pace; the lesson of being in the moment.
Some lessons we might have avoided in the past became necessary for survival - like increasing our knowledge of technology and online services, including attending school, communicating with loved one, or ordering groceries. Things we thought were impossible to accomplish through a computer screen became a preference, such as in-home psychotherapy and life coaching.
Miracles occurred; babies were born, life happened in new and unusual ways.
As we were asked to stand still, we moved onward with courage, strength, and persistence we didn’t know we had. We decided to focus on growing the good and looking for inspiration. We expanded our ideas and invented things that did not exist to solve problems.
Looking for and finding the good in our world isn’t always the easiest thing to do for us all. Being predisposed to the horrors of our world via news channels and the internet has made it harder for our communities to be positive.
Making the decision to look for the good can be just as hard as listening to the bad – but it’s important to remember that good can be found anywhere. Through the systemic racism, homophobia, fuel prices and food shortages, prejudice, abuse, and unrest, there is and always will be a collective and united heart still beating within us. So today, I urge you to look for the good…
3. Say thank you to what appears to be bad, a misunderstanding, a disparity or what you perceive to be intolerable. Thank you for the opportunity to learn and grow and the contrast between what appears to be abhorrent and what is joyful and pleasant.
2. Be curious about what something negative is calling out for, without judgement, what is needed in a situation or relationship.
1. Just Say “Hi” with compassion to the thing you think is awful, disgusting, intolerable or bad, whatever it is right now. It doesn’t mean we have to accept it. But we don’t have to ignore it either.
And ask, “What can I do, with what I have, from where I am?”