The New Reality
I don’t take it for granted for one minute.
Not one minute.
The reality that I am being asked to stay at home in a beautiful community with my wife due to the coronavirus does not escape me.
I understand full well that I am incredibly blessed. I also understand that my life will not be the same.
Being in a nice community does not make me immune from the effects of the virus. I may not be subjected to the germs, but I feel the impact of the world around me being affected.
My life has changed in ways I did not expect.
My wife tried to order some food from Amazon yesterday, because we didn’t want to go to a store. It wasn’t easy to do this. Found out this morning that the food wouldn’t be delivered until April 24.
I have never experienced not being able to order anything from Amazon that I wanted.
In this new reality, I am being taught to delay gratification. I am being taught patience. And, I am being reminded that nothing in this world is going to happen just because I want it to.
Before the virus hit, I had been lulled into a sense that I could have anything I wanted when I wanted it.
Of course, that was never true. On some level I knew that. But when you can go on the computer and order anything you want and one day later it shows up on your doorstep, you begin to think that this instant gratification thing is pretty good.
This has changed.
It has changed for all of us.
There are many on the planet right now who have it far worse than I do. And, I recognize that COVID-19 is not the only terrible thing people are dealing with. Think of Syria. Think of Venezuela. Think of Haiti. The list could go on and on.
And, it is a unique thing that this planet is involved in a crisis all at the same time the magnitude none of us have ever seen in our lifetime.
I really do wonder how we will get through this together.
What I’m curious about is how this awakening is going to change our attitudes towards each other. Is it going to help us become less racist? Will we become more compassionate towards the poor? Will we treat people from other nations with respect?
Here’s my theory.
My theory is that we are going to go through enough collective pain to finally wake up to the fact that we are all magnificent, and that we are all worthy of being loved.
I don’t know how much pain this will involve for that to happen.
I just pray that the pain is not so intense that we all give up on each other. I don’t think that will happen.
Here is a short story to illustrate why I feel hopeful.
My brother called me a few days ago to tell me about his wife who is a nurse and the challenges of working in a hospital right now. The compassion I felt for my brother was amazing. We haven’t had enough of that in my lifetime. I love my brother, and always have. But, to have that level of emotional intimacy between us was simply wonderful. And, I believe that his concern for his wife was enough to strengthen our bond with each other. So far, my brother’s wife is doing fine. And, that could change.
I am hopeful. I have written it many times over the years, but I will write it again here. I believe in the human spirit. I believe that we will overcome the challenges presented to us by the virus. It is not the first deadly virus that humans have been subjected to, and it probably will not be the last.
You have survived many difficult times in your own life. I believe that the part of you that will survive this the most will be the part that believes in the power of love. This part will indeed survive these trying times. And in fact, I believe that it will be strengthened by this trial.
We live in a new reality. It will be challenging for a while. Really challenging for many.
I pray for you that part of your new reality consists of being more compassionate and caring towards yourself and other people. I hope your new reality reminds you of how important you are to this world.
Most importantly, I hope that this new reality reminds you that we all need each other.
Not one minute.
The reality that I am being asked to stay at home in a beautiful community with my wife due to the coronavirus does not escape me.
I understand full well that I am incredibly blessed. I also understand that my life will not be the same.
Being in a nice community does not make me immune from the effects of the virus. I may not be subjected to the germs, but I feel the impact of the world around me being affected.
My life has changed in ways I did not expect.
My wife tried to order some food from Amazon yesterday, because we didn’t want to go to a store. It wasn’t easy to do this. Found out this morning that the food wouldn’t be delivered until April 24.
I have never experienced not being able to order anything from Amazon that I wanted.
In this new reality, I am being taught to delay gratification. I am being taught patience. And, I am being reminded that nothing in this world is going to happen just because I want it to.
Before the virus hit, I had been lulled into a sense that I could have anything I wanted when I wanted it.
Of course, that was never true. On some level I knew that. But when you can go on the computer and order anything you want and one day later it shows up on your doorstep, you begin to think that this instant gratification thing is pretty good.
This has changed.
It has changed for all of us.
There are many on the planet right now who have it far worse than I do. And, I recognize that COVID-19 is not the only terrible thing people are dealing with. Think of Syria. Think of Venezuela. Think of Haiti. The list could go on and on.
And, it is a unique thing that this planet is involved in a crisis all at the same time the magnitude none of us have ever seen in our lifetime.
I really do wonder how we will get through this together.
What I’m curious about is how this awakening is going to change our attitudes towards each other. Is it going to help us become less racist? Will we become more compassionate towards the poor? Will we treat people from other nations with respect?
Here’s my theory.
My theory is that we are going to go through enough collective pain to finally wake up to the fact that we are all magnificent, and that we are all worthy of being loved.
I don’t know how much pain this will involve for that to happen.
I just pray that the pain is not so intense that we all give up on each other. I don’t think that will happen.
Here is a short story to illustrate why I feel hopeful.
My brother called me a few days ago to tell me about his wife who is a nurse and the challenges of working in a hospital right now. The compassion I felt for my brother was amazing. We haven’t had enough of that in my lifetime. I love my brother, and always have. But, to have that level of emotional intimacy between us was simply wonderful. And, I believe that his concern for his wife was enough to strengthen our bond with each other. So far, my brother’s wife is doing fine. And, that could change.
I am hopeful. I have written it many times over the years, but I will write it again here. I believe in the human spirit. I believe that we will overcome the challenges presented to us by the virus. It is not the first deadly virus that humans have been subjected to, and it probably will not be the last.
You have survived many difficult times in your own life. I believe that the part of you that will survive this the most will be the part that believes in the power of love. This part will indeed survive these trying times. And in fact, I believe that it will be strengthened by this trial.
We live in a new reality. It will be challenging for a while. Really challenging for many.
I pray for you that part of your new reality consists of being more compassionate and caring towards yourself and other people. I hope your new reality reminds you of how important you are to this world.
Most importantly, I hope that this new reality reminds you that we all need each other.
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