Shifting Perspectives for a New World

Driving to the grocery store, prepared with my protective gloves and mask, I suddenly remembered a science fiction movie that depicts exactly what we are going through right now — a virus impacting humanity, forcing us to stop the automatic behaviors that probably got us into the mess to begin with.  

It is eerie to not see the hustle and bustle of people and traffic, or hear the planes flying overhead or children playing in the schoolyard. To see businesses and churches closed down, and not be sure when they will be reopened. Forced to stay home and to social distance from neighbors and colleagues, this is forcing us all to totally stop our typical DOING and relearn how to BE without FEAR leading the charge.

I say relearn how to BE, because I will bet that you remember yourself as a child — wild with an active imagination. Maybe you, like me, had your mind filled with nature’s magical creatures offering fun and new possibilities for play. It was a time when we were just in the moment — not worried about the future or overly concerned about the past.

Being at home with your family may seem overwhelming at first, and it may be exactly what is needed right now beyond the spread of a virus. What if this is an excellent opportunity to create magical moments for yourself and with each other in your home?

First, consider the possibility of new rhythms for the day. 

Are there some new habits you had been thinking about before, but you just couldn’t find the time? Maybe a meditation and or journaling practice, or both? Maybe there is a new recipe you wanted to try, and maybe it’s a time to create a fun approach to sharing a meal with a side dish made by each person. Instead of binge-watching on Netflix or other networks, how about choosing a theme for show watching and then have a discussion afterwards to get your partner’s or youth’s perspective?

Secondly, there are so many ways to learn from each other, especially if you have a household with a youth who is really into video games. Why not enter their world, and see what they are developing in terms of strategic thinking and focusing on a specific aim? One of my friends I get to learn with via a zoom platform has a son who has introduced me to some programs I had never heard of before. I posted his article last week on our blog. If you haven’t already, check it out HERE. 

Third, consider taking on “learning for life” as a proactive approach for shifting from fear to possibility. Consider the possibility that we are all collaborators in generating a RESET for the human race and we each hold a piece of the puzzle, but we are not yet sure what the big picture looks like. What can we do in order to tap into that emerging future? Well, at Living The Potential Network, we are using the power of good questions, we start with the question of: What if WE have the answers, which can only emerge if we play with the questions in designing our new normal? 

And here are some of those questions:

• What did you NOT like about the way life was unfolding before this global pandemic?
• What were you WISHING you had more room for in your life?
• If you could DREAM up a better world overnight, what would it look like? 
• What would it have LESS/MORE of?
• What ROLE would you like to play in that story that is unfolding?
• What if everyone within a family, school, business, or organization felt that they could be the inspiration for finding sustainable solutions to the dilemmas we all face? 
• What if we, as a family, could learn to weave our skills and talents in a manner that could create a passionate mobilization for inspiring positive change? 

It will require trust among us, and I know it’s available if we each make good use of this time to answer these questions honestly and share with others the possibilities. It is so important for us to bring our contributions forward, for we are truly all stakeholders in generating our new global ecology. 

I have a sense that this new world that is emerging will look a whole lot different than the one that existed before COVID-19.

We are all learning together a new way to BE and allow that to guide our DOING so we can HAVE a more peaceful approach to taking one day at a time.

Let’s choose to shift from the negative to the positive as we each take ownership of our self-care, our creative mind, and our loving heart. We may be physically distancing, but I am feeling there is more emotional heart-felt connecting than ever before and what do you know — technology is making it all possible!  

How we handle these changing times will reveal ourselves to ourselves, so let’s generate hope and love and spread that first within ourselves and families, and we will see the ripple effect in due time.