Don't Waste Your Coronavirus
Don’t waste your coronavirus. I don’t mean to say you have the virus (most of you reading this won’t be infected by the scary monster, named COVID-19, that’s prowling our globe), but all of us across the globe are having our coronavirus moment. Don’t waste your coronavirus moment.
“When life isn’t normal there’s an opportunity for new life. This is a time to create, to imagine, to lead, to start something that wasn’t there before, to make new connections, to blaze new trails of joy and influence and relationship and sacrificial service that you couldn’t see before the virus.”
Life doesn’t feel normal right now: school is canceled for 3 weeks here in Santa Clara County (and some hint that the entire school year will be canceled), large gatherings are prohibited (the size restriction where I live has steadily shrunk from 1,000 to 250 to 1oo, and now probably 50), supermarket lines are ridiculously long and shelves are ridiculously empty, every hour the media announces new bad news, the stock market fell off a cliff, companies are sending workers home or shutting down, professional sports seasons are suspended, we just watched a presidential debate with no audience, we’re washing our hands like crazy and keeping social distance (super difficult for us extroverts), we vacillate between thinking things are better than what’s being reported and worse than what’s being reported, people are dying and people are healing, but most of all a hazy fog of disorienting fear has swiftly crept in and settled over most of our neighborhoods. Life does not feel normal right now.
It will be tempting to waste your coronavirus moment (which is likely to be measured by months, not weeks). There are many ways to waste your coronavirus moment: obsessing over your fears, complaining, blindly copying what others are doing, watching Netflix and checking out (some of this is healthy, a lot of this is not), not heeding wise medical advice, focusing on what’s wrong, continuing the status quo with your bad habits, focusing on what you can’t control, focusing on your self, simply waiting for this to pass, quarantining your creativity and leadership, etc.
Don’t waste the coronavirus. This moment is an opportunity. When life isn’t normal there’s an opportunity for new life. This is a time to create, to imagine, to lead, to start something that wasn’t there before, to make new connections, to blaze new trails of joy and influence and relationship and sacrificial service that you couldn’t see before the virus. Instead of being contagious with the virus or fear or dread, you could increasingly become a person contagious with good news, hope, and creative possibilities. Perhaps these pandemic conditions are the conditions most ripe for the growth you really want to see happen in you, through you, and in your spheres of influence. For those of us who are followers of Jesus, we know that fear and graveyards are the perfect conditions for God to show up with resurrection power.
I’ll plan to write a series of regular posts, each with one simple idea, practical tip, or inspiring story for not wasting your coronavirus moment. For now, start by wrestling with this question and bringing its answer into existence: What can you create during this coronavirus moment?
This post originally appeared on Justin Buzzard’s blog.