Courage Over Corona

Written by Cassandra Sales

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you can never see the shadow.” – Helen Keller

The Light Shines the Brightest

Courage is strength in the face of adversity. It is the ability to see everything going on in the world right now and not allowing it to affect your joy. While events might be cancelled, life is not. Life must go on despite the difficulty we face in this challenging time. If you turn a flashlight on at noon, you can barely see it. If you turn it on just as the sun goes down, it gets brighter. But, when it is absolute darkness the light shines the brightest. The same can be said for each of you. When life is wonderful and going along effortlessly, your positivity might not be as noticeable. When the world starts to struggle and our lives have limitations imposed upon them, that positivity and joy shines bright. How can you make that light that shines within you shine even brighter at this time in the world?

Here are some simple ways to choose joy and enjoy life despite the ever rising chaos that surrounds us:

1. Connect – social distancing does not mean isolation. You might not be able to have girl’s night any time soon, but you can certainly pick up the phone to talk about anything and everything going on in your life. Write a card to someone who has been on your mind. Have your clients draw pictures and send them. Embrace the Fish! Philosophy and make someone’s day from the comfort of your own home.
2. Creativity – Pablo Picasso once said “Everything you imagine is real.” Now is the time for art. It’s the time for building and creating. All the things you wish you had time to do, but have been too busy to complete them now is the time. Finish the scrapbook, color the picture, write the poem, whatever form of creativity you have – explore it.
3. Cook – The book, The Prophet, states “Cooking is love made visible.” Bake the cookies, make your mama’s famous tuna casserole recipe, nourish your body. We are what we eat and in a time like this it is important to still ensure we treat our bodies with love and respect.
4. Cultivate a Positive Environment –Constantly checking our phones and televisions is subjecting us to what others want us to know. Limit your time consuming negative media. It is absolutely important to be informed and educated, but you can do that once a day with the latest update. When you sit down for dinner, talk about the best part of your day. You are the artist of your life, paint something beautiful.
5. Courage – see below for a challenge on just how you can show your courage over corona.

The Challenge

This is what we do. We make beautiful mosaics of broken pieces. We take what we are handed and celebrate what we have. We choose joy. We don’t let our external environments dictate our internal happiness. Life looks a little different right now, but it’s still beautiful. We are one community working together towards one goal – keeping our clients and staff happy, healthy and safe.   They say it takes 21 days to make or break a habit, and to show your courage over corona my challenge for you is this.  For the next 21 days, every morning write 5 things you are grateful for.  Now, here’s the rule, it has to be something that has happened in the past 24 hours and needs to be specific.  The way your coffee tasted as the sun rose, some stranger letting you into traffic, the way your mauled by a lion pants feel delightful despite being over a decade old and still holding on by a thread…literally.

Looking For Blessings

Here’s the deal: When you know every morning you will need to write down 5 things you are grateful for you will start spending your day looking for blessings.  We know you are grateful for the air you breathe right now, but that is not what displays your courage over corona.  Your courage over corona is the walk you took in the sunshine for 20 minutes. It’s the way your daughter hugs you goodnight.  It’s your client laughing so hard they cry at a show they have seen 20 times already.  It’s the small stuff. If you want to participate in our Courage over Corona challenge, use the #courageovercorona, share your gratitude to our Compass facebook page or your own, send a picture to our Everyday Compass staff celebrating just what you are grateful for in this moment. We may have been handed a cactus, but we don’t have to sit on it.  Gratitude is us not sitting on it anymore.