As we continue living through the Covid-19 pivot in our lives Craig spends some time reflecting on the things that have made a difference to him during this time.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been reflecting on the whole lockdown experience and the little things that have happened to me (and continue to happen to me) that positively impact me and help me focus on a brighter tomorrow.
I remember during lockdown one of the neighbours placed a large sign on their front garden wall that simply read ‘We are all one day closer to normal and seeing our friends and family’. Now, I’m not sure there is such a thing as ‘normal’, but that message hit me in my heart. It made me smile, in fact, there were occasions when I’d see it and well up a bit. That sign helped me. It influenced me to look to the future and focus on what it will be, not what it is right now.
As we ended lockdown my neighbour removed the sign (which was now a little tatty and worn out) and I remember noticing it wasn’t there, which to be honest was a little upsetting. The sign though, made me think about what I could do to be a positive influence on how people are feeling and thinking each day.
• find one way each day to help someone else – this could be as simple as letting someone in front of you at the supermarket queue or buying the person behind you a coffee
• focus on smiling at as many people as you can when out and about or online – clearly observing current Covid-19 guidelines, and also not being seen as the ‘weirdo who smiles all the time’!
• ask people how they are and genuinely mean it – I love doing this in a supermarket to the person controlling the checkout! One person even said, “Thank you for asking!”
• write someone a letter – recently I received a five-page letter from a client. It was lovely, a beautiful thing to read. So different to a text, email or Teams chat
• pick up the phone and turn off Teams/Zoom – using the phone seems so ‘old-school’ now, but the volume of people who respond with ‘how lovely that you called me on the phone’ is amazing
• remind people of how resilient they really are – too often I hear people doubting their ability to cope with the current craziness in our lives. But, how amazing is everyone’s resilience that you come into contact with? Do they know how resilient they are? Remind them!
So, these are just my equivalent few little things of creating my neighbour’s sign. What do you do? I’d love to hear…
