WHY HAS THE WORLD GONE CRAZY?

This pandemic situation has really done a number on us, not only in the business world but also in our personal lives, and not only here in the US but throughout the world. In these hard times, our patience seems to wear thin – we are so restricted in our activities (necessarily so) that it stresses us out. The uncertainty, the fear... Someone sneezes or coughs within a forty-foot radius, and we freak out! Of course, we forget that every sneeze is NOT the Covid… it is, after all, the beginning of allergy season also. But we, as a state, and as a nation, are frozen with fear and trepidation. Our social media is filled with lies constantly circulating about each other in our own communities, making us fear our own neighbors. We are so often so concerned about what our neighbors are doing that we forget to check our own behavior. We will never agree with everything. We all are different, and that is fine. However, we still must be decent with each other.

Unfortunately, we are seeing more of the bleak and destructive side of humanity. Again, social media is filled with hate and disrespect. When I was a child, I was taught to respect the office of the President, it didn’t matter who was sitting behind that desk. Not to agree with everything that they did, but the office, and whoever was sitting in it, were to be respected. We don’t teach respect anymore. We seem to have learned from somewhere that if you do not see things exactly like I see them, then you are wrong. Then, we even go a step further, we post it on social media. We start arguments and get ourselves involved in arguments that we will NEVER win. We waste an EXORBITANT amount of time doing this. We are TOTALLY disengaging from our real, day-to-day lives and the important people that are in them. Even I do not agree with everything our government has done with this current pandemic. But I do know that I would not want to be in their shoes right now. I cannot even begin to think about how I would handle it. We seem to have a plethora of armchair quarterbacks out there that think they can do better. They complain about everything, politicizing all of it, when the truth is, those people we put in office, NO MATTER THEIR PARTY AFFILIATION, are doing the best they can in an unprecedented, horrible situation. I am certainly no medical expert, nor am I in one of those high-ranking offices. I refuse to be arrogant enough to believe that I have a better answer than they do.

So, what can you do? How about showing a little respect for your fellow human beings. What can you do to help in the current situation? There are so many ways you can help; you just have to look deep inside yourself to figure it out. For me, I gave blood. I give words of encouragement. I try to treat others the way I want to be treated. I apologize when I am wrong, or when I have wronged somebody. My family tries to give back to the community where we live by helping people with outdoor work, shopping for people who can’t get out, etc. Don’t break the rules – stay 6 feet back. BUT – if you have to go out to a store for something, it’s not that difficult to call someone you know who may be compromised or unable to get out, or even someone who isn’t but who you could save a trip for. If you have grandkids, facetime and read them a story. Teach them to cook something. If you have kids at home, look up some online activities (Pinterest is full of them). We have a local art studio who is doing free painting classes online while they’re shut down, and a gym doing the same thing. It’s amazing how much these little things can mean while trying to keep calm during this storm.

Life will never be perfect, but we can make it better. Let’s boost each other up during these times of uncertainty. We will all weather the storm together and come out stronger in the end.