The Invitation to Expand

The Covid-19 pandemic may be the most powerfully positive worldwide event in my lifetime of 77 years.  There are at least three reasons.

First, its disruption affects virtually everyone on earth in ways that are painfully unforgettable.  At the very least there is the specter of insecurity over however our future unfolds––individually and collectively.

As such, this disruption may very well be motivating enough to inspire action that creates a worldwide capability to respond constructively to crises that affect the human family as a whole.

The response I speak of is one that transcends superficial identities such as nationality and any form of social status.   

Second, a healthful response cannot be achieved by causing others pain.   The brutality of 911 prompted the US to say, basically, let’s go to war.  Challenges like Covid-19, though arguably more dangerous than 911, are immune to such immaturity.  The only meaningful response is one rooted in collaboration.

We are blessed with a distinct, if not unique, opportunity.  One where only an authentic appreciation for our common humanity will result in an outcome favorable to all.

I’m in no position to speculate what such collaboration will need to look like or take to achieve.  I’m suggesting that honest action, infused with an acute and widespread sense of importance for creating a more functional global society, may have significant, even unprecedented, benefit.  Moreover, Covid-19 is just possibly intense enough to capture and sustain our attention, and consequently fuel that importance.

Meanwhile, the third reason I honor this demanding episode is that, in addition to its potential for stimulating a new paradigm of problem-solving, its value as a teacher for us personally here and now is considerable.

Other than the many inspiring folks with whom I have crossed paths, nothing in my life has been more rewarding than those occasions when the universe rips my heart out (or at least threatens to) and says, “What’s it going to be, pal, love or fear?”

In those moments, and there have been many (among the more recent the suicide of my beloved of 45 years), I must decide, or re-affirm, who I am committed to being or die trying.

This is the gift of adversity.  This is the gift of Covid-19.

A trap door has been sprung under our feet.  We free-fall into the void.  Should we choose to move through the immobilization, the denial, the anger, and the bargaining common to any change, we will find ourselves encouraged to ask that seminal question: “How can this serve me?”

Perhaps the greatest cause of misery, if my experience is any measure, is our addiction to the belief that things outside of us determine our sense of well-being.  We essentially say, “If this happens, I’ll be happy.  If that happens, I won’t.”

This is self-abusive.  It implies we’re puppets.  It denies our immeasurable capacity for growing resilience.  It ignores the principle that most determines the quality of our life: How we define our world actually creates our world.

Like every other point in time, Covid-19 is, more than anything else, a mirror  showing us ourselves.  In that mirror we may find the need to strengthen our proficiency in managing fear and pain.  We may see more clearly that our attachment to how things ought to be limits our ability to love.  We may view our concept of security through fresh eyes.  We may find that our compassion for strangers is greater than we ever imagined, and shows up in ways refreshingly useful.  There’s a reasonable chance we’ll find all these things, and more.

Amidst all the forms of heartbreak that Covid-19 instigates is the ever-present invitation to expand.