Do I Walk the Walk?

While not intentional, I’ve not written anything on the blog for several weeks now as I’m watching events play out in my community, our country and the world. Like many of you, my mood can change pretty rapidly based on what’s going on around me and so it just hasn’t seemed right to sit down and write while my thoughts have been so jumbled.

Taking that pause has actually been good for me. I’ve had time for reflection and, more than once, I’ve challenged myself to ask if I am living the life I try to espouse in these posts. While I’d like to rush to answer “yes,” that seemed self-serving and potentially dishonest and so I wanted to wait and see.

It is often said that during times of stress, our true natures come out. That the veneer of civility can be ripped away and we stand revealed as who we truly are (put a little more politely, when we’re stressed, we tend to revert back to our innate behavior patterns).

So, how are we doing?

I actually did a quick post on LinkedIn near the start of all of this here in the United States. We were being bombarded with examples of people being foolish or selfish, of hoarding and even of fistfights breaking out at the grocery store. So my intent of that post was to remind people in my network that we were also seeing examples of the best in us. From chefs opening up their restaurants to serve those on the front lines to resorts donating tons of food to local food banks to a woman in NC who spent her lunch hour every day going to buy groceries for her elderly neighbors.

I quickly realized that that is what I wanted to focus on. That was the type of news that I was drawn to as it fed my soul and helped me brace for the other bad news that I knew was looming.

That said, we’re still in the thick of things as I write this and no one is quite sure which way things will break or how long this situation will continue. But there are also so many opportunities for us to rise up and be our best selves, even if it is in small ways. And I encourage us all to do that… and, most of all, I say this to myself.

I believe in the basic goodness of people. Not all people and not all the time, surely, but given the chance, I am confident that most people will rise to the occasion. Think about how we came together as a nation during tragedies like 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina. Think about the evil our country (and many others) helped face down in World War II. And, someday, I hope that we’ll look back on these days of the COVID-19 virus and recognize the good that was seen throughout.

There’s more to say but this seems like a good beginning. Have faith in yourself, have faith in each other, and remain confident that we will get through this… together.

Know that I’m pulling for you.