One year ago today, I was hoping things would "return to normal" as soon as possible. I felt out of control, uncertain and anxious as things happened beyond my control. That's what a crisis does, by definition. Then I recalled something my mentor said to me after my first battle with cancer:
"YOU don’t have to wait for anything to return to normal. You can take a detour. Or even make your own. Reroute your thoughts, learn new skills. Forge a new path. Only then will you return to a normal of your own making."
By the end of last summer, I'd changed so much. We built a broadcast studio. Wrote new content. Used virtual technology to connect with people and places I'd never reached before. First a few events, then dozens, finally a summer of sold-out moments. The first stops on a new course. Never giving up.
Just like YOU!
I must remember that what sometimes looks like the end of "normal" times may simply be the beginning of new "usual" times. By our very nature, that's how we live life. First, we crawl, then walk; Eventually, we learn to run or drive or even fly a plane. What seemed normal as a child ends - only to become the beginning of what's necessary for us to grow beyond.
Now, as we all rush to reconnect - to hug and dance and kiss and meet - the strengths developed last year will become the foundations of our NEW selves. Not everything the pandemic presented was a "Stop" sign. Some of it was a "Pass Go!"
Oh, how we'll do so much more than collect two hundred dollars!
It doesn't matter how different things are today than before.
Because YOU are different from who you were before, too.
And rightfully, thankfully so!