The World Will Never Be the Same. Will You?
It seems hard to imagine it has been a year since the world changed from COVID. Like many of you I can remember exactly what I was doing, thinking, and feeling one year ago. I was anxious to get my family all in one place. My son flew in from D.C., having determined he did not want to spend the “lock down” in his fifth-floor studio apartment. He packed for two weeks. My daughter was arriving on a late-night flight from Havana, Cuba – her semester abroad abruptly cut short. I promised her we would go back at the end of the summer so she could finish her travels.
Everyone has a story like this. Where they were and what they were planning one year ago – when everything we took granted was suddenly turned upside down. It felt like a race against time. Getting everyone home, in one place, presumably safe. Planning meals ahead and stocking up on supplies to limit the times we needed to venture out to the grocery store. The pace of change that followed was daunting. The way we worked, exercised, ate, and most of all, the way we connected with the people who mattered most in our lives all taking an abrupt turn.
We Have Lost So Much. We Have Learned So Much.
At first it was difficult, uncomfortable, and scary. Things we took for granted, like toilet paper, suddenly became scarce. I recall balancing the omnipresent anxiety and fear with gratefulness that, for now, we had escaped the worst this hideous virus had to offer.
I am sure had we been told then that this change in the way we worked and socialized would last over a year, we would have considered it impossible. We would not have imagined we could cope and even in some cases flourish with that kind of seismic shift in our patterns of being. Yet through all the anguish, despair, and discomfort we pushed through. We adapted. We found ways to get it done. While it certainly wasn’t easy (it still isn’t easy), with light at the end of the tunnel take a moment to honor your own ability to cope, thrive, and persevere.
If nothing else the past year is an incredible reminder of how capable we are of changing, growing and adapting when forced to do so. The challenge is not our ability to overcome obstacles and move forward. The challenge is our willingness to recognize our ability to do so. It is in our willingness to sit in the discomfort and ambiguity change creates and have the courage to forge a new way of thinking, doing and being.
Lessons Learned in a Year of Lockdown
In a year where we have lost so much, take a moment to recognize what you have gained. Honor your capacity to take on a challenge, stay the course and bring yourself to the other side. We were all forced to make changes and as such discovered hidden gems in the process. The time and events offered from the forced pause of a year ago has led to fundamental shifts in the way we think about work, align our priorities and appreciate the things we had previously taken for granted.
Choosing To Change
On this anniversary of the day the world shut down, how has forced change helped you to grow? Are you simply appreciating the luxury of Charmin toilet paper like never before or are you taking the time to realize your own capacity to evolve? Now that you have been forced to change and done so successfully, what could you accomplish if you chose to change? What are the parts of you that could be even better a year from now?
