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Several years ago, when I wrote Enjoy the Ride, I had no idea (who did?) that most of us would spend at least six months of 2020 in lock-down. As an eternal optimist, I am cautiously cheering on the many pharmaceutical companies (nearly 150 of them) who are racing to put their vaccines in a trial. I believe several companies will develop vaccines, and many others will develop medications to alleviate the severity of the disease. I pray that next year at this time, COVID-19 will be more a memory than a reality.

We can still enjoy this ride called life, and understand that sometimes this ride is bumpy, momentarily stopped or slowed, takes a detour or asks us to stop and help a neighbor. Occasionally, we get there when we get there.

For anyone who may be feeling slowed, stopped, or inconvenienced at the moment, here are some things to consider.

1. Give thanks for your health and healthcare. More than 150,000 families are grieving relatives who have passed or are one of the hundreds of thousands of patients who have been hospitalized. Be grateful for your health and health care.
2. Bend, don’t break. The other evening, I watched a Major League Baseball game that was broadcast from a stadium without fans. Primary care doctors are working with patients online. Symphonies are broadcasting virtual concerts. Restaurants have been figuring out ways to reconfigure to accommodate guests. Even I have shifted my presentations from in-person to virtual. We have all been forced to bend, but we are not broken. When we are pushed, we push back. It’s in our DNA.
3. Make good use of your time. In no particular order, I have friends who have studied foreign languages, built homes, written books, learned new sports, finished degrees online, babysat neighboring children, learned to bake, planted and landscaped, cleaned closets, and garages, and even started exercising daily. There is no better time to self-improve and push yourself than in the harshest of times.
4. Remain hopeful. I also believe that the world has more good than bad and that each of us can make the good bigger while shrinking the bad. No matter what you face each day, you must remain determined to find a way to bring joy and hope to people around you. You have to focus on having composure, compassion, and a positive attitude.

Your ride may be rough right now, and maybe we’re going a little slower than we like, but we’ll get there. Have faith. Hold on. There is an end to this, and the dawn of a new beginning. While we don’t know what challenges face the people we meet every day, we do have the power to bring someone hope, if only for a moment, and that hope can multiply a thousand times.

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For more information about Hall of Fame speaker and bestselling author Steve Gilliland and the Gilliland Foundation, please contact steve@stevegilliland.com / 724-540-5019 / www.stevegilliland.com.