Hope

Once you choose hope, anything is possible. - Christopher Reeve.

As a retired credit union professional and now life coach, my phone is constantly buzzing with texts or calls from business owners and leaders, non-profit professionals, friends and family. The discussions range from struggles dealing with too much ‘spouse’ time, to people feeling an unusual ‘distance’ from their loved one, to people who are extremely lonely. For some it's about business being slow or non-existent and yet others, that business is too busy and staff are overwhelmed with helping too many customers. Some have fear about being too far in line for SBA loans and others don't understand how to complete an application. And most are feeling down right ticked off that folks just won’t follow the rules to keep us all safe!!

Though the conversation may start on a topic like one above, I am happy to say by the time we are finished, our sharing has turned the corner to an uplifting experience. You see, what I am finding is that we all just need someone to intently listen, acknowledge our feelings, empathize with our struggles and fear and provide an encouraging word. That is all we are looking for these days. By the time our call ends, I hear that the closet and garage are finally clean, the shrubs are trimmed, baby blankets are being knitted, books being read, new recipes being cooked, and grandchildren calling grandparents to check on them! My personal uplift the other day was when a friend of mine helped me rearrange my furniture via facetime!

We are saying hello to people we normally would walk by without acknowledging, greeting complete strangers with Stay Safe’, and offering to shop for one another. Churches are praying together, though virtually and businesses are offering free services and educational webinars to help us keep growing though we feel we are at a stand still. My thanks to these partners who have helped me in my professional growth. I am sure you have seen other incidents of people helping each other right now, and I ask you to share them in the comment below.

And so I encourage you, to have HOPE and FAITH that we will together get through this!

Let us focus on all of the good happening around us! Let us look to ways we can make a positive difference in others well being, even if we are struggling. Let's practice compassion and offer a listening ear to someone who needs to be heard and then be courageous to open up and share our own feelings right now. Let us do what we can do with this time to grow in character, virtue and in our professions. Let's cherish this chance to slow down and get closer to our families.

In Love and Service,

Lisa