unending love
for all who pass
to stop and smile
and then after awhile
embrace their grace within
 |
| Sunset by Beatrice |
This played out throughout America, with families choosing to not gather, and yet, there were many others who did choose to travel and gather. No judgment, just choices we all made. According to the latest numbers, nearly 50 people are dying each hour and the rate of infection is probably closer to 8 times higher.
A few weeks ago our youngest Bryce didn't feel well. We were worried, so my wife Amy called the doctor, who then said we should get Bryce tested for coronavirus. We had been practicing safety protocols ourselves and with our friend pod (wearing masks, social distancing, etc.), but then we ran a haunted garden with our pod, where more people than we thought came to walk through it. Plus, earlier that same day on Halloween, we went to the Beach Boardwalk, which I'm sure was grateful to be open, as was the families with kids who came, all masked up, even if it was only the food vendors giving away candy to the kids.
Thankfully Bryce was negative. We were grateful.
But, we would've been grateful even if she was positive, despite all the things we would've had to do after the fact, including getting sick ourselves. Because that's what we practice every day: gratitude. It was a long time coming for me; I had a hard time with happy even after Amy and I were together.
For years now, especially after we had our daughters, we've been practicing mindfulness and gratitude. And for the past two years we've had, and continue to have, weekly family meetings where we share our compliments, appreciation, things we notice about each other, and what we're grateful for. Plus, every night at dinner we share what we're grateful for. It's our way of saying grace.
Amy and I know that practicing gratitude can help improve health and emotional and spiritual well-being. We try to live that way every day. That was reinforced to us when we recently listened to a Hidden Brain podcast about the power of gratitude. Towards the end of the podcast, the psychologist who was being interviewed quote famed sociologist Georg Simmel.
"Gratitude is the moral memory of mankind."
And womenkind, of course. Without gratitude, as well as kindness and empathy, we are lost. We all have the capacity to overcome any kind of adversity and to thrive, even when we feel like we can't. It's up to the adults in the room to be mindful of this and teach our children in kind to be kind and to be grateful, because practicing gratitude often encourages others to do the same. That's a well-being worth practicing.
Other "Days of Coronavirus" posts:
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