twin brother is groaning about her making too much noise while he is taking a nap, the eldest is chilling in his room, playing video games with friends or sleeping, I can’t tell. The husband is on his phone. And here I am, procrastinating on a project, perusing LinkedIn and taking video courses.
Meanwhile, people in America are getting sick, dying. And some of them are not understanding that their refusal to take this seriously is what is killing people. Not only that, it appears that the wild west that is PPE procurement is resulting in the federal government seizing supplies ordered by state governments. When I first read that, I thought I was seeing things. But I read it again. And other sources reported the exact same thing. What in the world??? I certainly hope that when this is over, the families of those people who perished will remember and shout to the rooftops the travesty committed by the current administration. Wait. I promised I would not be political after yesterday’s post, and so I must refrain.
Amid the unavoidable bad news, there are pockets of goodness and hope. The sun shone today. The flowers and the trees bloomed, birds sang and flitted to and fro between trees and bushes in the backyard. The kids had virtual hangouts with their friends. I hosted my usual virtual happy hour with friends – again, it is four or five of the same friends who appear and we tell stories and laugh at our silliness. We discuss what is happening in our worlds and how we are meeting the challenge. The people with small children force them on screen to say hello to adults they don’t know and will never meet. While I am still puzzled by why we only have four or five people each week, it is just enough variety of people that it is a lot of fun. I’m happy to see the people who are coming in from wherever they are to connect. It is satisfying and helps us all to survive this unprecedented time.
It is absolutely true that people are taking this pause to examine how they are living their lives, what they are prioritizing and why, what is taking precedence in their day-to-day lives. Some are understandably overwhelmed. But others are taking this time to reach out and help their neighbors as best they can – because, after all, when we help others we help ourselves. I believe this is the lesson in all of this: when you help someone else, ultimately, you help yourself.
I spent fifteen or so years in the non-profit sector and hope to return shortly. Before I was in that line of work, I would have professional success but never was satisfied. I could not figure it out. When I finally entered the non-profit world, it all came together: I was missing the mission. Once I was presented with the concept of working, expending energy on behalf of the greater good, it made so much sense. When you help others, you help yourself.
If this crisis teaches us nothing else, it must teach us that we are nothing if we aren’t together. That without one another, there is no real success. Hell, there is no survival.
When you help others, you help yourself.