Be yourself, everyone else is taken
There are a lot of people who are anxious and afraid at the moment.
They are afraid for their jobs, their health and a future that doesn’t look very clear at the moment.
What do we do with that?
How do we influence our kids, our peers, our friends?
What do we do with this fear?
Sewing is a lost art and one that I have never learned.
Despite the enthusiastic efforts of my Year 9 Textiles teacher in High School, I haven’t quite mastered the needle and thread and whatever I did manage to learn I have long forgotten.
And now I find myself being taunted by that same needle as I attempt to mass produce home made face masks for a family of five before they become mandatory in our neck of the woods in just a couple of days.
Of course, everyone has an opinion.
Dusty, our much-loved golden retriever is a lazy, yet very clever dog.
She sleeps most of the day, but as I’ve been working from home over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed a peculiar habit that she has.
In the morning, she sleeps near the windows in the back of the house.
As mid-morning approaches, she trudges to the hall-way and slumps down next to another large window.
And then, when the sun moves, she makes her way into our bedroom, sneaking onto our bed to catch the afternoon rays.
Look around.
There’s someone who is feeling anxious and needs a kind, encouraging word.
There’s an opportunity to step up and lead.
There are lessons to learn.
We lost a great man this past week. An icon of the Civil Rights Movement, John Lewis passed away at the age of 80.
A contemporary of Dr Martin Luther King Jnr, from an early age, Lewis engaged in what he described as “good trouble, necessary trouble” to bring about change through non-violent means.
It’s been a long journey, and it’s obvious that there is still work to be done, but there is no doubt that he made a significant contribution to bringing equality and peace to his nation.
I’m sure that there were times when the change was too slow for his liking and it must have been tempting at times to give up, but for decades, he kept going.
Legendary American college football coach, Eddie Robinson once said,
“Coaching is a profession of love. You can’t coach people unless you love them.”
We forget that sometimes.
We identify a weakness or poor outcome and put our coaching hat on to get a different result.
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge once said,
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
You might think that you are missing something.
There’s an old African proverb that says,
“If you want to go fast, go alone,
If you want to go far, go together.”
Many of us are alone at the moment.
We are working at home, socially isolating, keeping our distance.
But we don’t want to go fast.
When you get up in the morning, are you looking forward to another fantastic day?
Do you smile when you think about the opportunities ahead?
Is there much to be thankful for?
Are you anticipating good things happening?
Is there a bounce in your step?
Sometimes, we live in the belief that we are too small for our calling.
Alternatively, we believe that our calling is too small.
But what if we believed that we were big enough?
And so was our calling?
