My young adult daughter is a submariner in the United States Navy. While she’s not out to sea, she’s been busy working on base, and using her personal time to learn new things. As she described a new hobby (not ‘skate-boarding,’ but ‘long-boarding;’ there is a difference, you see?), she said, “Mostly, I’ve been skating in circles, trying to get my balance figured out.” I told her to look around. She’ll find that most of the world is right there with her. So much of life is finding balance as we develop and learn new things. We strive to balance family responsibilities with work, school, friendships, church or civic duties, and other interests, and just when it seems everything is going along pretty well; a microscopic virus comes along and throws us off. One dear friend confided, “It feels like the whole world is off balance and falling apart.” This is a good time to remember that feelings come from thoughts. Thoughts come from words. Wisely choosing the words to which you hearken is imperative to your mental health. In reverse order: Words you hear, words you speak and words you read all impact your thoughts, which directly affect your feelings, and imbalance is a feeling. We have seen a virus 1,000 times smaller than a grain of sand bring global populations and economies to their knees. Perhaps you’ve fallen to your knees. Falling is very humbling, but kneeling is a good learning posture… We’ve been afraid of falling; we’ve been ashamed at the thought of it; but falling is an inevitable part of learning and development. Faltering and stumbling have always been part of growing. This is the reason you’ve never heard of a parent telling a crawling baby, who’s just learning to walk: “You’ll never walk and run, because you’re falling at the beginning.” That’s just not said. Please don’t listen to those voices of discouragement. Instead of listening to negative reports, look around you. Although many of us feel insecure because of what we see on the news, in our own neighborhoods, there is mostly peace. Most people, even outside Blanco, Texas, are living in safety and harmony, notwithstanding the current pandemic. Most people are surviving and aren’t even ill with COVID-19. Most people still truly love their neighbors. Most are trying to find balance as things seem to be changing, and are finding it. Most human beings are NOT spending days and weeks actively engaged in intentionally destructive behavior. Since her first long-boarding attempts, my sailor has become skilled enough to move beyond circles. She’s confident in her stronger righting reflexes. We’re all developing stronger righting reflexes through all of this. Focus on that. Be well.

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