Nothing should be taken for granted

As this unexpected Corona virus struck most countries around the world, I found myself thinking that we are facing something bigger than a medical problem. It is a huge wake-up call to many of us.

On September 10th 2001 9:00AM, I was having breakfast at “Window to The World” (the restaurant on top of the World Trade Center). Our breakfast was originally planned for September 11th but my colleague needed to change it to the “inconvenient” time on the 10th. I flew from California quite upset about the change of plans and left for Israel on the last flight that day. September 11th came and by the end of the day there was no building, no restaurant and no people…

Every day he would end his 10km run in front of my house, an attractive, tall vibrant man of 52. I would run into him at 7:00AM, coming out to get my morning paper with eyes still puffy from sleep, looking at him with envy. Such energy, such love of life, such strength… He died on an early Thursday morning before actually heading for his beloved run. The doctors called it an unexpected heart murmur which was never previously detected…

 A mother begged her son not to travel to Sinai after the scary terror event in the Fall. He went to Thailand instead. Tsunami struck the continent and now his remains (which thank God were found) are buried in Israel…

 I am sure we all have similar stories, some of them harder to comprehend than others. One silver line connects them all, we cannot take anything for granted

 This game which all of us are living through, is basically too short. It goes by so fast that sometimes we forget to breath the truths of our lives. We let our fears and anxieties overcome our truths and our dreams, and we wake up (if we do….) too late. Just a few months ago, I delivered a TED presentation to CEO colleagues from YPO. The topic was "Nothing Is taken for granted". Because it was personal and emotional, it took me some time to gather courage (or Chutzpah as we call it here) and agree to do it. One thing which struck me as I was going through my preparations, that this was truly the story of my life. Ever since I was born, nothing was ever taken for granted. Being raised by Holocaust surviving parents who lost most of their families in the Concentration camps, this "Nothing is for Granted" was symbolically written on their foreheads. Eat everything on your plate because there may not be more later… Save money for rainy days… go to elite units and higher education, so you will have better chance later…

As I moved through life losing friends in the military and worrying about my beautiful three sons when they were going through their own adventures around the world, I realized that life was simply greater than us. Nothing should be taken for granted because no one assures us that whatever we planned for, prepared for and hoped for, is going to happen. Life is too short and truly, it goes by fast. Hugging The Moment, is a sentence which is placed right on my office wall. Anyone who asks me about it, I look straight into their eyes and I always say the same words: Dream in color (as opposed to black & white). Go for your dreams regardless of how difficult they are or how discouraging are the reactions of your surroundings. Nothing should be taken for granted - not even your life. Hug the moment my friends while being gentle and thoughtful about morals and sense of justice.

This terrible Corona virus which is devastating our lives as I write these words, comes, as terrible as it may sound, to teach us something. I happen to be optimistic. In the short and mid-range time, it is going to be difficult. Many people worldwide are going to suffer and some may die unfortunately. When all of this will be over (and it will like any other troubling event in our history), humanity will gain much from this wake-up call. I believe that many countries will understand better the urgent necessity of investments in a good medical system. More resources will be devoted to hospital beds and life-saving equipment and more funds will be assigned to biomedical scientific research. This huge crisis will serve as a reminder for a catastrophe which will make the Corona virus look like a picnic: The climate crisis. I believe that more of us will become aware that if we don't take some serious measures and treat our environment with more care and consideration while wasting less, the warning bells will ne much louder. As of last night, the whole plant earth, wherever measures are being taken, shows major reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

My heart aches for the exhausted medical teams around the world, the small business who will be going bankrupt, the many lonely people locked alone at home and the much suffering we are yet to experience. It seems that human kind wakes up when it really hurts. This plague is already creating excellent cooperation between countries, it pushes wars and conflicts aside (how surprising when Corona doesn't distinguish between color, race and nationality) and it is generating more awareness to the fact that NOTHING SHOULD BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED. Show compassion my friends, care for the other and live your dreams. This is too much of beautiful place we all live on, let's nourish and help it heal.