Transforming a Pandemic into a Lifestyle Reset

One of our clients recently told us that since being on a mandatory quarantine due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, it’s as if she has cleaned out her closet – and is now trying to decide what to put back into it.

Many of us are now facing the same situation.  Our lives – as we knew them – have been so disrupted by COVID-19 – including being forced to stay at home, not go to work, and not engage in our usual recreational activities – that we have been looking for things to do to refill the empty spaces.  For some, cleaning out our closets or garages has become our past time.  For others, we have had the time to take stock of our personal lives and our careers and have decided to change direction in regards to these areas of our functioning.

The Chinese character for “crisis” is a combination of the characters for “danger” and “opportunity.”  We’ve all experienced our share of danger in the past several months – health dangers, financial dangers, and even mental health dangers.  As our nation prepares to “reopen” we all have the opportunity to take stock of our lives and determine exactly how we would like them to be different from this point on.  We have the opportunity to make “socially useful” changes that will contribute to a more loving family life, a more productive work environment, and a better world in general – or we can choose to make “socially useless” changes that will tear down our family structures, our work environments, and our communities.

Now we are facing a new crisis – the wave of unrest that has settled on our major cities from coast to coast.  Does this unrest fit into the category of “socially useful” or “socially useless” efforts?  Is this the type of “reset” we are all looking for and needing?  Or should we be taking a different direction?