It’s almost impossible to sugar coat what is happening in the world today while this pandemic is affecting all of us, however, my perspective is trending towards optimism.
All you have to do is look at our financial markets dropping, our healthcare system over saturated and becoming less accessible to us, if we get sick, restricted social interaction, loss of jobs, government headed towards a financial disaster, and so forth and so on.
So where is the evidence for hopefulness?
Simply, disaster should teach us humility, and humility should guide the path towards our recovery.
Our need for humility now, should not be viewed as a sign of weakness but a wake-up call to everyone that each person’s level of importance is not greater than the overall population's needs. It’s call SACRIFICE!!! This is something we all should have learned from our elders considering they lived in times when sacrificing was considered a patriotic duty and just not an option.
For example, grabbing a total of 10 packages of toilet paper when there is a limit of two is unpatriotic. This is happening everywhere. When you have five people in one family, shopping together and purchasing separately at the checkout only denies four other families the right to this basic need. Frenzy is the beast, the white elephant in the room that is not encouraged by media attention but the conscious effort to get everything you need without personal inconvenience for yourself, even at the cost of others going without.
How can we change?
Disasters are usually a good time to re-examine what we've done so far, what mistakes we've made, and what improvements should come next. ----Dan Ariely
So how do we get everyone on board to sacrifice? This includes young people who have been living in a world, up to now, of instant self-gratification, total convenience, and by the example of some (aside from those achieving honorable success) who have taught that greed pays off.
Consider this exercise in testing your willingness to sacrifice. --- The scenario is hypothetical, our energy supply is affected now requiring each of us, as citizens, to restrict our usage of cell phones for 1-2 hours every day. This allows hospitals and first responders the necessary energy to operate efficiently and effectively, for all our safety.
Could you do it? Would you do it? Would you be willing to sacrifice?
I asked this of myself to consider this and my response was-
- Limiting my texts since most are unimportant and made from boredom while I prefer the sound of a human voice.
- Calling my family and closest friends and keeping our conversations to a minimum
- No more playing solitaire on my phone and using a deck of cards
- Getting out my CDs and records--- (Yes, I still have records so don’t judge me)
- And lastly, read books
I know this preposterous idea in giving up all things we have become accustomed to is painful and hopefully unlikely. We now should think about not only making sacrifices but how we go about it. We all have the time, and plenty of it now to think differently and shift away from me-me-me to us-us-us.
Like it or not, we’re all in it together, and I am optimistic we will prevail.
So, in conclusion, I will leave you with my final tips on how to get through this crisis.
- Positively use this downtime by being productive, creative and not wasteful
- Take this time to reflect on how we got here and make important changes in your personal life and what's good for your country
- Check on your neighbors, friends, and family members who might be lonely and vulnerable
- Limit your exposure to the news daily
- Don’t keep checking your 401k and financial accounts every minute
- Thank and appreciate those people who are working hard to keep you comfortable while you’re at home
- Be kind to everyone and generous to those, when and if you can
- And the next time you’re standing, in the toilet paper aisle and you witness a fight between people struggling for the last package, offer the wisdom of King Solomon,” Why don’t you reasonable folks just split it.”
Remember that in a crisis, recovery is on the horizon. When we stick together, we can make it happen.
Written by Jill Modell-Dion, Founder of Aging Creative
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what a great blog!