Robert Glazer recently wrote in his Friday Forward Blog.
In time, we’ll see many silver linings come from this crisis [the Covid- 19 Pandemic 2020]. One of the biggest is that this will compel us to reevaluate which relationships deserve our time and energy, and which obligations are not worth our time.
I hope this is true. I hope that the possibility of a better world will become our reality. It would be a tremendous blessing for all of us, but I wonder . . .
This is my 83rd year and twice before in my lifetime I believed things would be different going forward as the result of a specific life situation.
The first was in 1963. I was newly married and enjoying motherhood for the first time. My husband and I were living in Madrid, Spain – loving life, especially the slow pace of the Spanish culture. I remember thinking,
I will never get caught up in the constant hustle and bustle of life in the U.S. when we return. I will live my life in the same unhurried way that we enjoy here. There is no reason to live a harried lifestyle. It is important to savor the moment and appreciate life to its fullest regardless of where we live.
I believed with all my heart that the slow and lovely lifestyle would be possible. I promised myself it would be so.
Who was I kidding?
When we returned home, the delightfully relaxed life we enjoyed in Spain quickly changed, and the frenetic effort to ‘get ahead’ took over! Our life experience in that lovely country became no more than a sweet memory.
We joined the rat race once again and ultimately became a divorce statistic along with so many others of my generation . . . and life went on.
The second was September 11, 2001, the world as we had known it changed.
Over 3000 people died in the attack on America by Osama Ben Laden and his terrorist regime. The country came to a standstill as we mourned the loss of so many and realized the safety we had always taken for granted as Americans living in America was no longer our reality.
We came together as a country in a way that hadn’t happened since the end of WWII (1945). We vowed, as a nation, “to never forget.” We believed that we would stand united once again and be better because of the tragedy . . . but . . . we did forget, and far too quickly.
Today, in May of 2020, we find ourselves in the middle of a world-wide pandemic, a country so politically divided that a civil dialogue among our political leaders is impossible. There is so much hatred demonstrated, and vitriolic language used when speaking about our President that I continually wonder what happened to respect for the office and common decency to a fellow human being.
We are constantly bombarded with untruths and fake news on every subject through TV, online news, and social media to the extent that I trust nothing that I hear or read. I doubt I am alone in that.
What happened to us as a society? Where did our humanity go? How did we forget?
I want to believe that the silver lining of the pandemic will hold – that we will spend more time with our families and connect with our friends and not return to the busyness that has devoured our humanity over the past 19 years.
I want to believe that . . .
- people will care about and respect each other again.
- self-absorption and hatred of anyone who disagrees with an opinion will no longer be the norm.
- trust, acceptance of differences, interesting/pleasant conversations, and laughter will abound.
- honest, ethically driven leaders will rise to the top and bring our wonderful country back to the land of the free and the brave.
- united families and communities will become our reality.
Is it possible to create a better world?
The answer is yes, if we make it so. Let’s reach for the silver lining buried in this terrible crisis.
Every change begins with one step by one person, then another, and another.
Are you willing to take the first step and continue on the path to creating a different and better world? To realize the promise of the silver lining?
Am I?
Only time will tell.
I hope and pray with all my being that we can and that we will do it together.
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