Sometimes I just want it to stop. Talk of COVID, looting, brutality. I lose my way. I become convinced that this ‘new normal’ is real life. Then I meet an 87-year-old who talks of living through polio, diphtheria, Vietnam protests and yet is still enchanted with life.
He seemed surprised when I said that 2020 must be especially challenging for him. “No,” he said, looking me straight in the eyes. “I learned a long time ago to not see the world through the printed headlines. I see the world through the people that surround me. I see the world with the realization that we love big. Therefore, I just choose to write my own headlines:
‘Husband loves wife today.’ ‘Family drops everything to come to Grandma’s bedside.’ ” He patted my hand. “ ‘Old man meets new friend.’ "
His words collide with my worries, freeing them from the tether I had been holding tight. They float away. I am left with a renewed spirit and a new way to write my own headline.
Andy Stanley, posted on Face Book by Coach Lisle
Lovely sentiments which we can all learn from,
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