Balanced Response

There is a pace to life we all have that is comforting to our needs. Standard rest and busy cycles that fit the life we’ve built for ourselves. Days of rest and work… going and stopping… busy and slack…

When the pandemic rolled around, our world changed! Forced isolation! In my county there are only 92 reported to have contracted the virus. There are tens of thousands of us who have not.

It’s not even about safety. Or, we would ban guns, only allow driverless cars, and rid ourselves of all the products that are not healthy for anyone.

Every thing is going online! Or, it’s at least trying to. School. Work. Church. Even happy hour!

Perhaps one of the largest hit problem areas revolves around restaurants. They have closed by the thousands! Some could have adapted to “take out”, but for some reason decided it wasn’t for them. Will they bounce back? Many will not. The dining experience is a distant memory.

Life Has Changed

I was thinking about life that has changed from the olden days. Well, maybe mine are different than yours. Think about the recent changes, and then think further back to what life was once like.

From that snack shack, to how news is delivered. Old cars with no safety protection, and now we have cars that can drive themselves!

Growing up in the late ‘50s and the decade of the ‘60s, I realized life was normal a certain way.

• Our local weatherman drew out the weather report on a flip chart. Sid Lasher was his name.
• The most respected name in TV news was Walter Cronkite.
• Most news came via the daily newspaper delivered by a kid on a bicycle.
• Dinner routines, bath and bedtimes, and even dressing up for places that many simply wear their grungiest clothes today.

Yet, it’s all changed.

Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow is famous for giving us our hierarchy of needs. You know, the things we require to make our lives satisfied. I don’t want to expand these into a discourse that may take me hours to cover, however, essentially:

According to Maslow, we have five categories of needs:
physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization.

With these needs met, we then explore things away from our safety structure. It’s like we are now free to “branch out”… Our life expands and grows past our needs because we seemingly have secured them.

But let a pandemic change our perspective, well, Maslow also defines life like this.

“The great lesson is that the sacred is in the ordinary,
that is is to be found in one’s daily life.” 
~Abraham Maslow

Is this not what we are faced with today? Jesus states this truth (at least for me) in his discourse from the mount.

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.” 
 Matthew 6:33 (KJV)

Equally, at the ending of his own writing, concluding with some self-analysis, Solomon says it like this.

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”  
Ecclesiastes 12:13 (KJV)

Here’s My Thought Today

We may be facing some strained times, and I’ll be the first to agree that it’s stressful, worrisome, and a little bit kooky! Yet, I keep coming back to my foundation. This is what we are all doing, but for some, the foundation is not very strong, Or, it even exists only as a fragment of a memory.

It is being suggested that we may never shake hands again. Whoa!??! My handshake used to be as good as my word, oh, my, what will replace this?

I was at the counter doing some business and I needed to hand over my ID…and it went back into my wallet without first being santized. I threw the wallet away! Okay. It was about at the end of the life cycle anyway. But still. Is this the way we are going to think about everything?

How do we approach life with a balanced response?

We will each decide what the new normal will be for us. Still, we all need our basic needs met, and a strong foundation on which to move forward.

So. Here’s what I’m doing. Putting God first in all my thoughts, and these will lead to action. Documenting and establishing my hierarchy of needs. Not dwelling on what’s missing. Looking forward to what life could be like once this event is over.

I’m just waiting for the moment we feel comfortable hugging one another again.