Mother Teresa is quoted with saying “do small things with great love.”
She is also quoted with saying “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
Finally, one of my favorite passages of her’s is the following
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
This morning I was spending my time in my morning routine of exercise, prayer, reading and quiet contemplation and something occurred to me.
This woman and her actions left a tremendous impact on the world.
Her work was dedicated to serving the poor, the sick and the dying of India.
It was her mission to serve the poorest of the poor and to tend to those dying from AIDS, tuberculosis and Leprosy among many other conditions.
And here we are today living in a world where “social-distancing” is encouraged to stop the spread of the unseen enemy in the form of the Corona Virus.
Now, I have to ask a rather reflective question.
In every single picture I have ever seen of Mother Teresa, not ONE has a picture of her in a medical gown, wearing gloves, a face mask, and a respiratory shield to serve these people.
She lived her life without fear and she lived her mission in respecting the dignity of every single human being.
This lead me down a path of contemplation in which I began to reflect on a very specific grouping of questions that many of you will find “controversial and offensive.”
However, that doesn’t stop me from “casting a stone across the water to have a rippling effect.”
I started with the question: When did we suddenly become afraid to live?
When did, overnight, we suddenly become afraid of human interactions?
When did we suddenly question every single person and interaction we have wondering if we are going to get sick because we gave someone a hug, we shook someones hand or we didn’t wear a face mask to talk to someone?
Now – I know for a fact that this is going to definitely offend some of you but let me share where I am coming from – remember PERSPECTIVE is everything.
I help people get well, stay well and discover that their body is way more powerful than they have ever been lead to believe.
I do it day in and day out because it is my personal mission to help my community step out from the fear of disease and step into the confidence of health.
And I can’t help but pause and wonder what the hell happened to us?
Was it China?
Was it social media?
Was it fake news?
Are the numbers real?
Are the numbers inflated?
Is the economic collapse going to be worth it?
These are all incredibly polarizing questions that are driving a wedge between us as people.
We have one half of the coin that firmly believes that self isolation is the answer and that we will not come out of this until we have a magical vaccine to solve this problem.
But then I ask myself – what happens when the next round of virus’s comes through?
Are we going to shut the economy down again next year?
Is this a new precedent we are establishing with our systematic crisis planning?
I dont know….
We have the other half of the coin that believes this entire thing is a hoax and a giant cover up for a power struggle that is taking place between the world elite and Donald Trump.
Is this true?
I mean, I can do some digging and find some pretty convincing evidence for both sides of the coin.
However…for the vast majority of us, this is truthfully out of our control.
This then led me down the following thoughts:
If we don’t have as many people die as projected, the recommendations of “self-isolation” looks like a massive win and we “flatten the curve” – however, at what cost?
How many people will die from suicide as a result of isolation?
How many people will die from spousal abuse because of this isolation?
How many children will die from abuse?
How many small businesses will close their doors, never to re-open regardless of how much money the government pours into a stimulus package?
How much debt are we willing to go into to survive this crisis?
What is the social cost of cutting off human interactions for 3 months?
The impact of shutting down one of the strongest economies in the history of the world has the potential to have one of two outcomes – it can be a tidal wave or it can be a CAT 5 hurricane.
However, I can’t help but go back to Mother Teresa and the life she lived among this chaotic crisis all of us are working to navigate.
It all starts by doing small things with great love.
The victories that are coming from this unprecedented moment in history are seen in return to family by a vast majority of people. (I have seen it in my own life as I was 100% distracted by my business which is a secondary vocation – meaning my primary vocation is to my wife and my family and it was definitely on the back burner)
I have seen people find unique ways to unite together – whether it be through zoom happy hours or small gatherings of families over a take out meal to support the local small business they have been eating out for the last 20 years to ensure that they keep their doors open.
I have seen people bravely continue to go into work to ensure that their family is provided for regardless of the risk.
I have seen people step up to the challenge and virtually say “not today.”
Remember, each of these moments are a small thing, done with great love, that eventually casts a rock across the water to create a ripple that will forever change society.
Now, I may have made some of you rather angry with this blog, and I may have many of you nodding your head and agreeing with many of the statements I have made.
Maybe I made you step back and ask some questions that are rather difficult.
Or maybe I only affirmed your position on the side of the coin you sit on.
However, I want to end this blog the same way I began it.
Remember…It was never between you and me anyway.
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
