The Joy of a Pandemic. Huh?

Can you believe we’re at the end of July already? This has been the longest, fastest, weirdest, and most tumultuous year I can remember.

Who would’ve thought that not only would we be living inside a global pandemic, but that five months into it, we’d still be wearing masks and missing hugs.

I don’t know about you, but this world pause has invited me to stop and take some much-needed inventory of my priorities, my beliefs, and my goals. It has also forced my hand to look at some stuff I’d been avoiding or neglecting. It’s been both a blessing and a curse.

Oddly enough, in its own unique way, the pandemic has brought me closer to some BHAGs (big, hairy, audacious goals) than I ever was before. What seems like a curve ball can sometimes be a push in the right direction. Weird how that works.

If there’s one thing this year has driven home for me it’s the power of the “one-step-at-a-time” approach to life. You can have the best laid plans and then WHAM! Everything changes. As John Lennon wrote, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

While it’s important to have an idea of where you’re heading, if you focus only on the end goal and charge toward the finish line, you miss all the gems and surprise opportunities hanging out in the periphery. And you possibly sidestep an even cooler dream that the universe has lined up for you.

As frustrating as it is to not be able to plan as much as you would like (is school remote or in person??), it’s a great time to practice surrendering to what is and to simply see where this crazy ride takes you next.

Strengthening this muscle will only help you in the long run. When you can roll with the punches, turn on a dime, or any other idiom 🤣, you’ll be much less tentative of what’s around the corner. You’ll know you have what it takes to handle the unknown.

Because as much as we hate to face it, we can’t control everything even though our fears and anxieties wish we could. So we might as well accept it and find the joy in it.

Yes, joy.

In a pandemic.

You read that right.

Now go find some.