Staying Positive During Difficult Times
Opportunities are found in the darkest corners.
Sometimes we think things aren't going our way and we wonder why. Sometimes when things don't go the way we planned, it's because we need to shift our focus. Let me give you an example.
When the COVID thing started out, I was like, yipee! I have time so sew on some projects I've been putting off. I dragged out my sewing machine, wound some bobbins and started taking off. Well, my machine was being weird. I can't explain it other than to say I had large amounts of unpicking to do with a big frown on my face.
Then I heard about people making masks for hospital workers because there was a shortage. I looked at the very specific and complicated directions and said "I'll cut some for you." And I did a bazillion of those. But then I had this feeling: I should make masks not for the healthcare workers (there were more than plenty of more expert seamstresses working on those) but for the people in my neighborhood. I didn't want to make them for free, for fear that people would either 1) not want to take something for nothing 2) resell them. So I decided to make them for a donation for our local food bank. Win-win! People don't feel guilty for getting something for nothing, I could sew for a non-profit I believe in and the food bank won, too. So the first weekend of April, I posted a Facebook post on my neighborhood page and crazy happened! I got 100 requests right out of the door. The next 100 trickled in. Then people started reopening and people wanted masks to go back to work. The last 100 came helter skelter. I sewed about 10 masks a day for over a month. I ended up donating over $1100 to the local food bank. Now it wasn't much, not even a drop in the bucket, but I felt like I had purpose, could help other people and serve. And sewing got me through those darkest days.
I guess the message is: when things don't seem to being going just right, take a moment, step back and listen to your heart. Is there something else you're supposed to be doing to serve? Second message: opportunities to serve abound in a crisis. It took me two weeks to wrap my head around everything--my kids were also home-schooling, a task that fell largely to me and I was also trying to write. Third message: There is always something we can do to help. If we can learn to listen, watch and be aware, we can find opportunities to serve and help us to stop thinking about ourselves.
What ways has this pandemic changed your life? In what ways have you been able to serve or has someone served you? What advice would you give after living through several months of a pandemic?
Sometimes we think things aren't going our way and we wonder why. Sometimes when things don't go the way we planned, it's because we need to shift our focus. Let me give you an example.
When the COVID thing started out, I was like, yipee! I have time so sew on some projects I've been putting off. I dragged out my sewing machine, wound some bobbins and started taking off. Well, my machine was being weird. I can't explain it other than to say I had large amounts of unpicking to do with a big frown on my face.
Then I heard about people making masks for hospital workers because there was a shortage. I looked at the very specific and complicated directions and said "I'll cut some for you." And I did a bazillion of those. But then I had this feeling: I should make masks not for the healthcare workers (there were more than plenty of more expert seamstresses working on those) but for the people in my neighborhood. I didn't want to make them for free, for fear that people would either 1) not want to take something for nothing 2) resell them. So I decided to make them for a donation for our local food bank. Win-win! People don't feel guilty for getting something for nothing, I could sew for a non-profit I believe in and the food bank won, too. So the first weekend of April, I posted a Facebook post on my neighborhood page and crazy happened! I got 100 requests right out of the door. The next 100 trickled in. Then people started reopening and people wanted masks to go back to work. The last 100 came helter skelter. I sewed about 10 masks a day for over a month. I ended up donating over $1100 to the local food bank. Now it wasn't much, not even a drop in the bucket, but I felt like I had purpose, could help other people and serve. And sewing got me through those darkest days.
I guess the message is: when things don't seem to being going just right, take a moment, step back and listen to your heart. Is there something else you're supposed to be doing to serve? Second message: opportunities to serve abound in a crisis. It took me two weeks to wrap my head around everything--my kids were also home-schooling, a task that fell largely to me and I was also trying to write. Third message: There is always something we can do to help. If we can learn to listen, watch and be aware, we can find opportunities to serve and help us to stop thinking about ourselves.
What ways has this pandemic changed your life? In what ways have you been able to serve or has someone served you? What advice would you give after living through several months of a pandemic?
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