When we are past this, looking back, we will recognize we learned some things and changed some things which may have been needing to change for a long time. One thing I've been watching is how we are interacting with each other. Sure, I miss going out for dinner or meeting friends as much as the next person, but what I am talking about is bigger. When I drive out to the Toybox, I see more people walking with their family. I see families taking bike rides together and I know we are figuring out ways to connect like never before. One friend talked about playing Yahtzee with his wife, and for the first time, I've had a couple of conference calls with my grand-kids in the last month. These are all different from the way we behaved only a few months ago. Some of this will go away over time, but I think some of it will stick for years, maybe decades to come.
I believe in small ways this is taking us back to a time of smaller towns. Not in actual square footage, but in the way we behave with each other. When I grew up, I was like many of us. Looking back, we did not have an excess of much. In fact, there were many ways we were really challenged. But in the middle of the situation, the communities we lived in took care of us, and we took care of others.
Let me provide a couple of examples. The house I grew up in had chain-link fence around half the yard, and picket fence around the rest. Why? Because mom and dad knew someone in need of work and he couldn't do chain-link fencing. So, the half he did was wooden picket. The same thing happened when they got the ceiling of the shop/garage finished. They had no intention of finishing it, but someone needed work, so they created a job. In the same way, our local grocer took care of my family. He was willing to carry what we owed for almost a year until mom hit tax season and she could catch up. The other thing he did was he gave mom credit for every coupon she brought into the store, whether she bought the item or not. So, even through college, I took our local newspaper and clipped every single ad and sent them home to Mom. I didn't think about how wonderful this was of them to do for us until years later. Finally, my friends in college LOVED the cheese I brought from home. It was great for burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. I never really considered it was "government" cheese and what it really meant that we were receiving it. Part of what I see us doing now is moving to a new time where people are more engaged and more helpful to each other. We have to have each other's backs.
What I really want you to take away from this is that half or more of where we are in any situation is in our head. Makes me think of the following story.
ABOUT ATTITUDE (author unknown)
It all depends on the way you look at things. One day a father and his rich family took his son to a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night at the farm of a very poor family.
When they got back from their trip the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"Very good Dad!"
"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.
"Yeah!"
"And what did you learn?"
The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden, and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden, and they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard, and they have a whole horizon."
When the little boy was finishing, his father was speechless. His son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are!"
Isn't it true that it all depends on the way you look at things? If you have love, friends, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude toward life -- you've got everything! You can't buy any of these things, but still you can have all the material possessions you can imagine, provisions for the future, etc., but if you are poor of spirit, you have nothing.
We need to look at this time from the perspective of the son in this story. I remember a dear friend who talked about a period of time he and his family had to live in the hayloft on an uncle's farm. He talked about it as being the best time of his life. I know I need to look at all this odd event in 2020 with a different attitude. When I look back at my childhood, I would tell you without question I had the fullest, most wonderful of years, with family, friends, and community. We didn't have much, but we had that.
Keep looking for the wonderful stories and opportunities in the midst of what we are going through. The good/wonderful is there, you just have to be on the lookout for it.
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