I was down on the floor playing with Cody yesterday when I started seeing the world through his eyes. Dogs (like little children) live their lives close to the ground and see and discover things the rest of us never notice from 6 feet up. Not only does it explain his constant sniffing, but it is also difficult to see much above 2 or 3 feet high which leaves his focus on just a small part of the world.
In the same way, our world perspective has shrunk over the past 2 months. We’ve been homebound and even if we are starting to get out, we do so tentatively as if we are dipping our toes in some hot water. We’ve been living our lives differently; working from home, Zooming to communicate, and perhaps even slowing down and enjoying those afternoon walks where we wave at neighbors from 10 feet away.
I’ve been asking people recently about what the Pandemic has done for us rather than to us. I always do it respectfully as I recognize that if they or a loved one has been ill or if you’ve lost your job, there may be no sense of good that has come out of this crisis.
For many of us, however, the Pandemic has forced us to pay attention to the smaller things that may be right in front of us such as how we connect with our family members when we are with them 24/7 or how we ensure that our presence is noted and helpful in team meetings with our colleagues.
Crises are difficult. They challenge our world view and force us to look at things in a different way so that we can figure out how to overcome them. Some of those views may be small and right in front of us but others, such as how we protect ourselves and family members can be big.
That is what our resilience is all about. Gaining a new perspective helps us to rethink and reconsider how we want to live our lives.
We’re all getting pretty skilled at it but in case you forget how to do that, just come on over to my place (we can socially distant) and you can roll on the ground with Cody. He’s a great teacher.
Your challenge this week: What have you learned from this Pandemic that has changed your world view. Drop me a line and let me know how the world is looking different for you
Upcoming Events
- Thursday, May 21 at 8 AM: Join me and my co-author, Michael Couch as we conduct the second of our 3-part webinar series on Strategy-Driven sponsored by VACO Consulting. You can register here.
- Friday, May 22, at noon: I’ll be joining a panel of experts on helping new college grads navigate this challenging job market. Sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Human Resource Association. Registration Here.
- Friday, May 29 at 8 AM: I’ll be conducting another Resilient Mindfulness session from 8-8:40> we’ll have a mindful discussion and meditation about energy and energy management, which is a much better tool to use than trying to manage time. Register Here
