“Man’s inner strength may raise him above his outward fate.”
Viktor Frankl
I’m sure like me you’re hearing about and experiencing interesting moments during this ‘Corona Period’.
One I thought I’d share with you was from the weekend.
I went for a walk Saturday morning in my home village of Ashford, Co.Wicklow, Ireland. It was a lovely blue sky morning and as I passed the car-park of a local pub, I noticed several cars parking – which is unusual right now because of the social distancing ask from our government.
But each of the 6 to 7 cars were parked about 6 feet from each other.
And one car in particular stood out. It was a small grey one covered completely in colourful balloons.
And a grey haired elderly woman, on her own, was still attaching more balloons to the car.
I stopped and watched for a few minutes as something simple but beautiful and profound unfolded. It looked like it was the birthday of the grey-haired woman’s grandchild, and this was her amazing way of saying ‘I love you’.
A family had obviously come together to celebrate the child’s special day and everyone maintained a distance while they talked and celebrated.
I’m sure the children present couldn’t quite understand why they couldn’t hug Grandma or any of their cousins, but there was joy present. And certainly they created a special memory that will outlast this challenging time.
And for me that is the opportunity in front of us right now.
We can be victims to the time or we can choose to see it as a great opportunity to:
- Be more creative.
- Learn something new.
- Reach out to people we have lost touch with.
- Lead in a different way.
We can decide to use this time to emerge better because of what is going on around us.
We can choose to be bored and stagnant right now or we can get creative, and find ways to add ‘colourful balloons’ to our lives and the people around us.
What can you do this week to move towards better?
I’d like to wish you and yours a Happy Easter.
Best,
Shane
Useful Stuff For This Time: