I had a phone conversation with a very wise young lady a couple of days ago. I think she is 90 years-old or so. However, her outlook on life was fresh and revitalizing. During our conversation she began reflecting on the pandemic and the isolation of being quarantined.
Yes, she missed visiting with her daughters in her little apartment, wheeling down to the worship center for church service, and out to the various activities available in her assisted living center. She is what I call a people-person. (Whoever coined that phrase was gutsy. Just put the plural with the singular noun, and voila! A nifty phrase is born.)
You would expect her to be deeply depressed and lonely, aching for face-to-face conversation, dinner, a game, a sing-a-long, anything.
But, you know what she talked about? She talked about how fortunate we are to be in a pandemic with all the available technology that helps us stay in touch with those we love. Her memories of another era of being confined at home without technology to avoid polio helped her realize how fortunate we are today.
At one point in the conversation, she exclaimed “People today are spoiled! They’re used to getting what they want, when they want it, the way they want it. Our society has forgotten how to be grateful for all that we do have because we are consumed with always wanting something else.“
Would it help you understand the power of her attitude if I told you this precious woman needs a heart valve AND she has tested positive for Covid?
When I hung up from that phone call, but not before she had told me she loved me four or five times, I felt ashamed for all the time I had spent feeling sorry for myself about one thing or another.
What life lesson have you learned from someone else?
