Realize Your Dreams

“When life gets back to normal …”

Normal? Whatever happens with the scourge of Covid-19, there will be a whole new way of life waiting for us as the impact of the virus diminishes. It is unlikely it will look like our old normal.

As we mourn and heal, we can decide how we will react to all the challenges that will surely be waiting as the next new normal rolls out. Everybody will have a unique set of circumstances, with no universal answers. It will be up to each of us to determine what will happen.

That future will depend on the choices we make, individually and collectively.

Currently, the virus is in control. As its effect on us subsides, the decisions will be made by politicians, officials, business owners, and employers to determine when we go back to work and school, when churches and restaurants open and how social situations resume. It is anybody’s guess where we will be financially as we work our way out of this.

Won’t it feel a little awkward to be in a crowd again? Will we ever feel comfortable hugging people who aren’t immediate family or close friends? Will we ever shake hands again? How about travel? There are so many things to hold on to or give up.

During the pandemic, we’ve had our eyes opened to some unexpected positive outcomes:

• Less daily commuting and industrial grinding opened a world of beauty that had been diminished. Discovering clear water in the Venice Canal and views of mountains and landscapes previously obscured by smog. Will this motivate us to vote in favor of the environment?
• Finding joy in the form of children placing hearts in windows or drawing pretty pictures and words of hope in chalk. I would love to see these kinds of traditions take hold.
• Cheering for our first responders and healthcare heroes. And gaining appreciation for the service people who helped us navigate getting groceries, prescriptions, making financial transactions, and so much more.
• Using electronics to make connections with other people in new ways – concerts on social media, remote gatherings with extended family and friends, and virtual learning opportunities, all of which will likely continue in some form.
• Learning about ourselves as we’ve allowed more time for creativity, reading, cooking, building something, finishing projects, and so on. Being pushed by circumstances to tamper the desire for immediate gratification or do without.
• Extending kindness and caring for others.

Resilience is the ability to be happy, successful, etc. again after something difficult or bad has happened, according to the Cambridge English Dictionary. We can ponder what resilience will look like for each of us personally.

We are now in a time when we can open up to what is possible. As we dream and plan, and educate and express ourselves, we can envision the future we want for ourselves and our families. We can consider what is worth supporting through our votes or actions in the future. We can incorporate what is good about our lives now, along with the changes we want to see and be, into our intentions for the future.

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