Resilience Abound

Not long ago, most of us had never worn a face covering other than when doing a “weekend warrior” project, working or walking on a job site, or perhaps while visiting the hospital room of a new baby. We wouldn’t have thought twice about extending our hand to shake another’s, grabbing a drink with colleagues after work, or passing someone - shoulder-to-shoulder - in a wide hallway.

Fast-forward to today, and here we are; some of us back to work, daily temperature check, office doors closed, masks on, hands to self, and six feet from everyone else. As humans, it is in our nature – engrained – to socialize and given that we spend near half our lives in our workplace, we socialize with many of those around us here at the office. This has now been stopped; like a light switch, just turned “OFF.”

This impacts many of us in a big way, and it may be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We all have differing circumstances; maybe you live alone and are starting to be impacted by isolation from others. Perhaps you’re married and your relationship is impacted by the isolation. Maybe you have school-age children and had to become a teacher overnight, worried about submitting school assignments, reading, or conducting science experiments in your kitchen. Okay, admittedly, that last example is a personal one…but I am guessing I’m not the only one dealing with this. When coming to work now, I see a different workplace. I used to think, “temporary differences,” but I’m starting to realize this may be more permanent; are you seeing this too from your [home] office?

But I’m also seeing something else.

I see people striving to be better. I see people working really hard to stay the course: maintain their six feet, wear their mask, wash for 20-seconds, and more. I see people, especially those around me, behaving in a way that seems more caring about one another, more kind. In the end, I think we come out of this situation more closely connected with those we care about and love the most. At home, I believe people/families are striving to spend more time together than on their devices. Families are doing more puzzles than watching Netflix. Cooking together more than ordering in. Bike rides and walks over Xbox. Sure, some are not, but I see many of us are.

So as we move into a new (ah-hem, temporary) reality of drive-by birthdays and graduation celebrations, no-touch food and package deliveries, one-way-only grocery store aisles, and all- virtual training courses, I believe we are all filled with resilience, and resilience is what gives us the capacity to bounce back from challenges and difficulty. It enables us to get up when we’ve been knocked down and try again after failing several times. It gives us the courage to see new possibilities in our work and out in the world, and it pushes us to build on old and make new connections to those around us. Our resilience, yours and mine, is what enables us to slowly turn that light switch back to the “ON” position. I see it coming and I hope you can too.

Written by Danny Howell, Director of Training & Development at Bergelectric