They say it's all or nothing. For the moment, it seems it's nothing.
Well, here we are. Lockdown. The speed at which life has been completely turned on it's head has been absolutely mind boggling. 2 weeks ago, my diary was full of upcoming shifts, but as a casual worker working in the cruise industry, that has quickly turned from being at the very peak of the season to being no season at all.
It honestly feels a bit like Thelma & Louise - everything building to a huge crescendo before speeding headlong over the cliff - not sure if you will land in the water or crash headlong in a burning heap at the bottom. And if I land in the water, what's to stop me from drowning anyway? Totally surreal.
There's certainly a heap to get depressed about if I really let it get to me. My colleagues in the cruise and travel industry in particular have been through absolute hell over the last couple of weeks. I don't think I could even paint the picture to capture the immediate and utter devastation that Covid-19 has had in this industry. First domino to fall, but quickly followed by many others as tighter restrictions and lockdowns become commonplace throughout the world.
The Only Way Is Up
Our family was practicing social distancing before social distancing was even a thing.
So, where do we go from here? How do we get through this and come out the other side? And what is life going to look like?
I honestly don't know the answers, and my crystal ball is unfortunately a little tarnished.
However, I do know that this "season" - this period of life that we are all going through - does present opportunity. It's an opportunity to re-evaluate and reconnect with the things that are important. An opportunity to rebuild new, solid foundations where the old ones have been ripped away. A chance to create something new and beautiful from the ground up.
Clichéd I know, but you can take that as literally or as figuratively as you like - it applies equally across all facets of your life.
Have you valued money, work, career over relationships? Have you wasted your time - or money - on trivial things that serve little purpose, maybe ignoring something - or someone - that's more important? Have you worked hard, but not smart? Has your life's balance been completely out of whack?
Make the Most Of It If You Can
Out of the grey of this season, new life will bloom!
As much as the events around us are real, are painful and stressful, there is opportunity if you look for it. An opportunity to grow. To change our life direction. To re-evaluate what is important in life, and to put processes in place to rebuild from new foundations and truly shine.
Change is painful. There's a forced opportunity here to use this time wisely to really evaluate your life as it has been, and tweak it for the better. Get rid of the stuff that has little value, and start building on a new foundation. Let's go through the tunnel, and come out the other side to a brand new vision of who we are meant to be.
If we are not refined by fire, then how are we know our true potential?
Thanks for reading.
🙂 Matt.
