This weekend I had every intention of publishing a post I had written weeks ago all about the new promises of Spring.
However, this morning I woke up with a completely different vision for the first day of Spring. With an ugly virus surrounding the Globe, I felt sad about my feeling of Spring promises.
I Woke up thinking I didn’t want to drag myself through another day of suppressed fear, anger, anxiety, negative news, and doubt.
So, while I was still in bed, I made a commitment to myself. I was going to deal with everything only with a positive slant.
Anything I did, anything I said, anything on TV or the Internet, anything at all it had to be POSITIVE.
I would only read stories about people or corporations that were trying to find ways of making positive decisions. People that would help all of us through this tremendous nightmare we were trying to wake up from and live through.
Not the people hoarding toilet paper, masks, gloves, and sanitizer. Not the people involved in price gouging, not the people involved in insider trading or selling of stock because of information they knew well before the rest of us, but choose to make a profit that would drastically hurt the market anyway.
Instead I would read all the good stuff I could find. I would read about;
- Christian Siriano and his team volunteering to make medical face masks.
- Ceo Tim Cook donating millions of masks to the health care workers
- Small Businesses making small sacrifices like feeding the most vulnerable among us.
- Shine Distillery in Portland making hand sanitizer
- Chef Jose Andres of LA transforming 8 of his New York and DC restaurants into community kitchens
- U-Haul giving 30 days free storage to college students impacted by schedule changes.
- Restaurant’s donating free food or setting up food kitchens.
- Companies continuing to pay employees that couldn’t work because of shut downs
- Companies paying indefinite sick leave for employees impacted by the virus.
- Small mon and pop shops finding ways to help their community.
The Daisy List Blog is so much about “giving back”, I thought “I need to come up with something to give back myself.
I’m by no means any kind of a care giver or health care worker. I faint, no I mean I REALLY faint. A few years back, after several occasions, I was actually asked by a blood bank not to donate blood anymore, because I kept fainting just watching others give blood. It would take them hours to stabilize me. (True story)
I also don’t have the kind of funds that I can donate any substantial money, but I felt I had to do something. Then I remembered an old AARP article I read some time ago about elderly shut ins.
Sometimes all they need is conversation with the outside world to pick up their day a little. And it hit me, I was going to make a list of all the elderly people I knew and give them a call.
I was only going to talk about positive things. Not the latest Breaking news, not the latest victim getting the virus, not the latest headcount for every city, state, and country. Not price gouging, and certainly not politics.
I have a serious reputation for talking a lot, so I figured I can do that. (smile) Just call people and let “THEM” talk. That was my best shot at giving back. Tell them stories and make them laugh.
I started with my own elderly family and relatives living alone, especially the ones I don’t talk to on a regular basis. But then it moved to anyone I thought might need a little light conversation.
After a few people said it was such a pleasant distraction and thanked me for calling, I couldn’t wait to get back on the phone. But by the 8th or 9th person I was losing my voice, so I had to take a break. Thank God I have 4 phones in my house, so I could rotate the charging.
However I do plan to continue through the week, just reaching out to people with voice to voice conversation. No text, no Facebook, and no Instagram, many of the elderly don’t have these things available to them anyway. What I have to remember is to give myself a break, and let “THEM” talk. Easier said than done. (smile)
I guess the message of this post, is to try to think of something positive to do in this time of crisis. All of us have something we can offer, it just takes a minute to figure out what it is. The surprising thing about what I’m doing, is how much better it made ME feel.
It has helped me focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. What I need to do when this is all behind us. Things I will do differently and how I can be a little more gracious with people under all circumstances.
