We are all tired of this.
We’re tired of the masks, not being able to hug each other, not being able to breathe with a mask on, no parties, no events, and having to rethink every part of our lives. We feel disconnected, sad, mad, and cranky about the whole thing.
At the same time, we have discovered a few valuable truths.
Slowing down has been a lovely surprise for many of us. We are no longer strangled by the social expectations that pressured us to give up the things that interfered with our actual values like family time, spiritual time, rest time, etc.
We are rediscovering how nice it is to spend time with our kids and playing with them instead of only chauffering them to lessons and games.
Change is hard on a good day, but so many changes are wreaking havoc with our sense of well-being.
We are in a battle with an invisible enemy about which whom no one seems to know enough.
There is one thing that we can do that will shift our attitudes, restore our spirits, and help us reconnect, and that is to SHARE OUR COURAGE – every single day at least once with someone else.
We know for a fact that each of us has suffered at different times during the last six months. If you multiply that by the population, it isn’t rocket science to know that it would make a massive difference if we all took part in lifting each other.
Leading a battle against this invisible enemy doesn’t require much more than your brain and possibly a phone or a pen and maybe a stamp.
Let someone who you haven’t talked to in a while know that you are thinking about them.
Get a joke ready to tell, if you’re so inclined- laughter is an excellent source of inspiring courage.
Connect with someone each day to make their day.
Doing will take a little thinking on your part.
My sister-in-law got terrible news last week about her cancer. The only way I can help her now is to be with her and to help her laugh, send her things that inspire, and pray for her and with her. She is a warrior facing her final battle.
I didn’t know what to say to her to make her laugh at first, so I started with one of the absurdities in my life, which happens to be the second round of downsizing. I have conspicuously lacked humor about this process, but as I thought about it, I got an idea.
I called her. After listening to how she was doing, I told her I needed her opinion about a vital subject: “ I’ve been wondering if I should sell the Oyster Forks.”
“The what?” she said.
We were off and running about something so silly and inconsequential, and we started to laugh. It was all we needed,
The tendency of many of us is to remove from such a difficult and emotional time, and that is the worst thing we can do. It’s that very time when we are needed more than ever.
In the future, write down the date of someone’s divorce. Make a note of the date of a friend’s husband’s death. Create a reminder of a child’s achievement. Remember an award at a much later date – or something someone did that was better than nice. Revisit these anniversaries when they arrive, and you will be amazed at the immense gratitude that will result.
I had a friend whose Great Aunt Jo was famous for saying: “I’d call you more often, but I never think of you.”
We laughed every time we thought of her silly misanthropy, never realizing how true that statement is for many people. Maybe it’s why so many feel lonely or disconnected.
So the gift of this time is to get out of our heads and start thinking about making it better for someone else.
By doing so, we will fill our lives, albeit differently, by sharing our courage through our laughter, our caring, and our connections- in short, by being our best selves.
Try it on and share your stories because those will inspire others to share theirs.
Join the community of encourages and learn more at theencouragementproject.com
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