Day 9 – “DIFFERENT”
During the month of April, I’m writing 30 Words for 30 Days: Thoughts from Six Feet Away, one topic per day. Find out why here.
“DIFFERENT”
If there is one word that can sum up a lot of what we see today, it is the word “different”.
Life is different.
Our schedules are different.
Family time is different.
Greetings are different.
Our calendars are different.
Entertainment is different.
School is different.
Examples of Different
Normally, in the past, on a Wednesday night, my sons would be at church meeting with their small groups.
It’s one of the highlights of their week and a vital time to meet together and be led in discussion about what’s really going on in their lives.
Now… it’s different.
Last night, instead, one of my sons was on his hoverboard in our driveway, tied in with his small group via zoom on his phone and earbuds, zooming around with his Bible in one hand as he made figure 8’s on the cement.
Other things are different too.
Out of necessity, businesses are shifting the way they sell and deliver their products.
Schools are learning how to teach online.
Employees who had never worked from home before are experiencing that for the first time.
Different can be good
I think our natural reaction when things get switched up on us is to not like it.
We like what we’re used to, what’s comfortable, maybe even what we don’t have to think about.
When we have to do things differently, it can be uncomfortable.
And there’s certainly a lot of “different” right now that isn’t ideal and will hopefully be able to go back to “normal”.
Such as restaurants and small businesses that have had to close and are feeling the enormous weight of each week that passes while we’re under lock down.
But when we come out of this, when we unlock the doors and are able to get things going again, a lot of the “different” will become the new normal.
That’s because it’s times like this that force us to innovate, to reach deeper, to see what’s possible.
A year from now, we’re going to look back and be thankful for a lot of “new” that came from “different”.
We’ll wonder why we didn’t try that before and realize it’s because we didn’t have to.
How does different look in your life?
Have you taken advantage of the opportunity to innovate?
Let’s embrace different… together.