Everything feels weird. Maybe you know the feeling.
I live in Cleveland, Ohio, and we are all under “shelter in place” orders to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Of course, you are dealing with this as well…literally wherever you are at.
What’s going on is tragic. People are dying, and will continue to die for quite some time.
In addition, many of you aren’t allowed at work. Others have been let go because this situation is killing small businesses. And…so many of us are teaching our kids at home, or some form of online school and home schooling.
Okay, okay…you know all this.
But we can either get down about it…or squint to see the opportunity.
I look at it like this…90% of the world will be starting over again in a few months.
We will work differently. Eat differently. Socialize differently. Learn differently. The education system in the United States will change forever. I don’t know what it will look like, but it’s not going back to the way it was. People will adapt to this.
Also, I was watching a movie the other day and a group of friends were out at a bar, hugging each other, touching everything, touching strangers, not wiping off door knobs. It was crazy. 😉
Seriously, I couldn’t get past that form of social interaction, which will be quite paralyzed for some time.
The point is, in some ways, we are all starting from square one. We’ve been pulled from our past routines, and we now have the freedom (I know, odd word) to choose a new lifestyle.
I scroll through Facebook a couple times a day. Many (not most…yet) talk about boredom. They are discussing all the movies and television they are consuming. They are “waiting” for things to go back to normal, and have decided to “kill time.”
Things will never go back to normal again. All of us will be doing things differently.
So each of us can make a decision. Do we “wait it out” or do we “seize the day”?
I previously set a goal to finish my next novel manuscript by the end of the year. I’ve moved that goal up to May 31st.
What about you? What new skills are you learning?
How about your job? Will it be there in three, six or nine months? What if it’s not?
Maybe you should look at new revenue streams?
My challenge for you is to challenge yourself.
Look at this time as a gift. What are you going to do with that gift? Wait it out…or seize the day?
Other Things on My Mind this Morning
I fear we’ve seen the end of the bro-hug for quite some time.
The stock market is going to get a whole lot worse (I’m not a financial expert, I just follow the market).
When we come out of this, I think “jazz hands” will be more prevalent than the elbow greeting.
There is a resurgence of smartphones being used for an actual phone call. This trend will continue.
There won’t be a lot of new shows on Netflix or Prime in six to nine months.
Waffle House just closed 365 stores, 1600 remain open. Almost all the closures are in the North.
A few of my speaker friends are anticipating zero gigs the rest of the year. Not sure if that’s right or not, but it’s interesting that there is a feeling most physical events will not happen in 2020. That could mean no concerts or musicals in the US in 2020. I wonder what will happen with sports.
No one will be physically going to church on Easter this year.
The following was an excerpt from Joe’s newsletter. Only subscribers receive the full version.