My gorgeous friend, Cam Fink, was running a webcast last week and he shared a story that really landed for me.
He was doing a last minute ‘panic’ shop in NZ. He was in the queue to pay and it was long and slow. 20 people in front and 20 behind. He was feeling a bit nervous and a bit panicked. He self-confessed to having some ‘dark thoughts’ and confessed he entertained the thought of just walking out of the shop there and then with his stuff. After all, he had more shopping to do and lock down was about to happen.
Then he looked around. He got outside of himself. One of the reasons the queue was taking so long was the person serving the customers was being soft and kind – with everyone. As soon as he saw that happening he knew there was no way he could break that link. He needed to keep the chain going.
In a time when we need kindness and softness – how are we going to do that? To make this really simple it’s just being kind. It’s not yelling at someone when they do the wrong thing. It’s a quiet and kind word. It’s not buying more than you need for now. It’s offering something in your trolley to another. It’s not becoming a social media troll. It’s understanding that people are scared.
As Brene Brown puts it; ‘Try to be scared without being scary’.
We are all in this together. Let’s be clear though. Feeling weak is ok. Asking for help and support is good. As a single Mum, running my own business, with a team I don’t want to stand down, I have had to do this regularly at the moment. It’s as much of a health issue as it is a head game. Keeping your mind in love not fear oscillates.
Choose well peeps and when you feel yourself about to react that doesn’t serve you or others. Reach out for help. We all need to play our part at the moment. Be the strong link not the weak one.
