Don’t Waste a Good Crisis

I sit here in the wee hours of the morning after not being able to go back to sleep after my little munchkin got me up to get her some water.  I tried going back to sleep, but instead I laid there awake thinking about all that is going on in the world, as I often do these days.  I am sure I am not alone there. 

Our world seems to be frozen.  Time often feels like it is standing still, but somehow the days and weeks and months are whirling by anyway.  Where I am, there is no school, work is often done remotely, there are no gatherings with friends or seeing co-workers except through a screen.  Somehow, we have gotten into a rhythm with our kids distance learning while mom works.  Thank God for that as having three kids with varying grades in school (1^st, 5^th and 7^th grades), they are all learning vastly different topics.  I am eternally grateful for their teachers who are heroes in my book.

One thing my job at the number one real estate company in the world offers to me is constant learning, coaching and growing.   That is another thing I am grateful for.  Recently, one of our owners was discussing a topic that I really took to heart in a variety of ways.  He said, “Don’t waste a good crisis.” 

Now, that may sound harsh to some of you who have personally been affected by our COVID-19 pandemic, either by losing a job or business, or knowing loved ones or even yourselves who contracted the virus.  My heart goes out to each and every one of you as well as our front-line healthcare workers, grocery store employees, delivery services (my husband is a mail carrier, so I feel that fear as well), cleaners and janitors and so many more. 

Many of you are in survival mode and must remain there for now.  I do not want to minimize what you are going through or what you still have ahead of you.  However, his discussion to us about not wasting a good crisis really struck my heart.  You see, there are positives in every negative.  If you really look, you can always find good amongst the bad. 

So, what does that mean to not waste a good crisis.  Certainly, we are in a crisis right now.  Every single one of us is in the middle of this crisis.  Every human on this planet is “in this together” as we see in social media and the news almost daily.  That, in my opinion, is one of the greatest blessings God wants us to see.  It may have taken a horrible virus, but for once, our entire world is united.  We are all one and the same in this crisis.  There are no genders, no ages, no races, no religions; there are no prejudices, no immigration statuses, no walls, no political views, no wealth or status differences.  It has united the citizens of the planet as one big team. 

“Don’t waste a good crisis.”  In the context of the discussion our owner was having with us, he was referring mostly to our agents and our staff to work on running our businesses better.  This can apply to anyone out there who owns a business or works for a business.  The discussion included taking a deep look at expenses and cutting anything that did not produce a return right now in this new normal.

The conversation also included auditing your processes to ensure you are working on the most critical tasks that will keep your business either surviving or moving into thrive mode.  Are your processes the most efficient and stream-lined that they can be?  And third, he said to audit your capacity.  This could refer to the amount of space your business is renting from a landlord.  Can you get rid of some of it to help reduce expenses?  Also, the capacity of your skills or the skills and ability of those who work for you.  Are there any skills that are missing that could move your business forward?  Small staff means you need those at the top of their game and who care about your customers. 

While he was talking about businesses, I would like to challenge every one of us to take this task home as well.  It’s time to set budgets at home and get rid of anything in your personal life that is not serving you and your family at the highest level.  Should your tasks at home get more efficient or focused in certain areas, like helping your kids move from survive to thrive mode?   And how is the capacity in your household?  Are there any skills you may need to learn by watching YouTube videos, like how to fix your own toilet?  Is it time to teach your children some new chores?  Maybe it is time to learn some new dinner recipes or meal planning. 

I loved thinking about these business questions in relation to my household and my family. By asking great questions, you get some great answers.  These questions helped me improve some of the efficiency in my home.  However, the thought of not wasting a good crisis really hit home for me in many other ways. 

This pandemic has created the opportunity for my family to spend more quality time together.  Our pre-crisis life seemed more hectic, making sure to get my kids to a playdate or birthday party, going grocery shopping every weekend, getting everyone up early to get ready to go to work and school, etc.  Now, we don’t have the luxury of going places, and we don’t have the responsibility of having to rush around in the mornings making sure everyone is up and ready for school, lunches are made, kids are on the bus.  There are no gatherings with friends on weekends or after work to fill some of our time, causing me to often feel like there wasn’t enough time for everything. 

Now, our family is purposeful about spending time together.  We are going on walks together after I am done with work, the kids are riding their bikes together more and having nerf gun battles, we discovered the Libby app, which allows us to borrow e-books and audiobooks from our local library which we read together.  We get creative to find different things to do like mosaic chalk drawings on the sidewalks, driving around looking for bears in the windows of neighborhood homes, and learning to play new board games.  This new way of being with my family is such a precious blessing that has come out of this pandemic.  One way we are not wasting a good crisis. 

After speaking with friends and colleagues, I have discovered that a lot of you are taking this opportunity to ponder and really discover what you are after in this life.  Some have discovered that they have passions in a different career and are taking steps toward those passions.  Not wasting a good crisis could mean that you go deep inside and find out what you love and don’t love and start taking some steps toward creating that amazing life you have always wanted.  It doesn’t even have to be about a job.  I know some who have decided to start growing a garden or who have taken more interest in protecting our environment.  Some are simply choosing to slow down and enjoy the little things. 

Lastly, one of the biggest opportunities we have in not wasting this crisis, is to start paying more attention to the good things.  Developing gratitude can be a skill to work on until it becomes a habit and who you are.  I love the quote by Mr. Rogers, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.’” 

If you take the time to stop and look, you will find so many of them.  In addition to the essential employees I mentioned earlier, there have been an incredible number of stories in the media highlighting those who are working to help others.  There are people sewing masks (many I know personally), companies who have shifted to make PPE or sanitizer, others who are making lunches for the homeless or running food drives.  Many of my colleagues have delivered toilet paper and prescriptions to neighbors they did not even personally know.  The helpers are everywhere if you look. 

In addition to the helpers, there are other things to be grateful for during this pandemic.  I, personally, have had more meaningful conversations with my husband and kids, my best friend and my mom.  I have been shown gratitude by those I serve in my job.  My team has become smaller; however, we are more united and focused than ever before and more appreciative of each other.  A good crisis can help us to stop taking others for granted. 

So, my one plea to each of you is to not waste this good crisis.  This is our opportunity to reflect on our lives, get closer with our loved ones, make changes toward the life we want to live and to create a habit of gratitude.  Start noticing each day all the good in the world and start today to see how much more good you can add in our world.