Sometimes change runs into the room, flips a table, leaves a little mess and runs back out. While shocking and unexpected, this is typically short-term change that we can quickly bounce back from. We reset the table, dust off our items and life appears normal again.
COVID is a whole different change category. COVID’s changes aren’t flipped tables, they’re flipped Universes – permanent. We will not go back to how things were, we can’t, that reality doesn’t exist anymore. And more than anything, I want you to know that it’s okay.
We’ve all been through a lot. And moving into this new place with acceptance and even excitement for what this new reality holds, will serve each one of us in big ways. Accepting the future as different is the only way forward.
If we’re being honest with ourselves, this has always been our reality. Change never stops and any amount of forward thinking shows us that. It’s what keeps us getting up each day – change. It’s what motivates us to do more than we did the day before – change. It’s what inspires us to be good to one another – change.
All of those good things don’t make change any less scary. And I would even bet on the fact that, if there was a crystal ball and we knew what was coming, we would still feel fear and hesitancy. It’s part of our human nature but something else is too, something much more powerful. Resilience is the thing that allows us to face down the change, and the more we evolve, to use the change as an accelerant for good. COVID flipped the switch and instead of trying to flip it back, what we have to do now is learn the wiring so we can use that energy and power to flip more switches, in our favor.
When I started writing Change Proof, I had no idea the journey we were all about to embark on together. By the time I finished the book, I knew the world was ready to hear the message of using change as a catalyst for good. As we all evolve and contribute to the new reality we’re building, it’s important to understand how resilience is the platform for the growth we want to see in the future.
I say this everyday and I will keep speaking on this and teaching this because building a platform of resilience is the single most important thing we can do for ourselves and for one another. The most resilient people are the ones who change the world. They’re the Maya Angelou’s and the Einsteins. They’re the peace chasers and love makers. And you all know how I feel about MORE LOVE.
This week and this weekend, as you go through each day, I hope you sit with these words and consider your own resilience and gifts – and how to use both as a catalyst for growth.
