Resiliency Report

It’s been quite a summer. A 3-week kick-off with a vacation to Alaska was followed by 10 days of Covid quarantine. That was quickly followed by a long-awaited sibling reunion that turned into another week of quarantine. I apparently had some kind of immunity from being recently sick and could be with my sister and brother. Then—another canceled trip due to the Covid infection of a dear friend in Michigan. 

As a result—I had two empty weeks to write and think.

These are difficult times: our democracy is threatened, Monkeypox complicates the varied forms of Covid, hate speech and name-calling spill across the media, and today’s poll says we are more divided than ever. Rather than building resilience, it seems we are even more fragile and fearful.

What can concerned and caring people do? Answer: practice kindness and gratitude.

I can hear you now: “What, Eileen! Are you nuts? That’s way too woo woo.”

Got it. But hear me out. Every time we encounter a neighbor, a client, a colleague or a family member and speak words of kindness, we actually have a brief moment of happiness. Every time we seek what we have to be grateful for, we realize the blessings around us.

Pass along a kind word that says to the person, “I see you”. When I told the grocery clerk she had gorgeous eyes, her smile lit up the store. The cake I took to the neighbor who just lost his only sibling not only fed his tummy but also his heart.

Today, we feel estranged from so many. Use kindness and gratitude to bridge the divide. Small steps but remember, an ant devours an elephant one bite at a time.

Thank you all for being my devoted readers. I treasure you all.