#2: Soldiering On

The last three years have been weird. On February 1, 2020 there was much ballyhooing as we moved into our new and long-awaited offices. Everything was sparkling and bright with the smell of new carpet and fresh paint in the air. You could feel the excitement like an electrical charge from one person to the next. And then 6 weeks later we all went home for quarantine and the halls were empty. After three years, the offices for which there was a waiting list are finally almost all filled again. And people are going to meetings again. Like, in person. Speaking of normal things, I got sick for the first time in 3 years a couple of weeks ago too. I forgot how exhausting it is. Not getting sick for 3 years is a good thing! And I think there are other hidden blessings of the new weirdness.

I am in a class and the question was asked “What are some of the traits of someone that you admire from afar, someone you don’t know personally?” I thought about that one. Many of the qualities that came to mind (tenacity, compassion, vision, purposeful etc.) are not things we are born with but things that we develop in difficult times. Persistence is forged in the waiting room not in the microwave. Compassion is often a by-product of our own experience of pain. Appreciation follows a time of lack. As I ponder this question of traits I admire, I begin to take inventory of what character traits have I formed in quarantine and uncertainty over the last three weird years. What are the gifts and how can I use them to be a blessing? I am sure you have some that come to mind for yourself. Just like in the gym, where tension, resistance and increased weight forces our muscles to work hard and grow so too the last 3 weird years have shaken up our sense of normal and created opportunity to grow who we are as humans. As we adjust to the new normal, keep pushing to grow. Find things that make you uncomfortable, that increase the tension and weight on your life so you can keep getting stronger. Let’s become the people we admire.