What if we all had some of Zuzu’s petals in our pocket? If only to remind us that our shared future is the outcome from billions of seemingly insignificant moments of connection with one another.
Nothing can hit us harder than life circumstances. We all have unrealized dreams, unmet expectations and unpaid bills. Everyone has a choice to make when life knocks them down. You either get up and help other’s get up or you stay down and try to bring others down with you. George Bailey is toasted as “the richest man in town” not because of his wealth or the money collected for him, but because his fortune is measured by the positive impacts he unknowingly had on others lives.
2020 has been a year filled with disappointment, desperation, and depression. Do we want the legacy of this year to also be deeper division? Mask or No-Masks, Liberal or Republican, Freedom or Safety, none of these things will really matter in the inevitable fate we all face. What builds our shared future is the connections we make with our fellow human beings, it is our relationships that make our lives rich. Do we want to add the death of friendships to the casualties of this years chaos, avoiding lockdowns but still live in isolation? We are all grieving lost loved ones, lost jobs, lost opportunities, and lost dreams, while doing our best to cope. ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself’ and‘If you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything at all’; these are the golden rules of making the most generous assumptions about those we share our moments with. Let’s bring in the new year with a cup of cheer, let’s build up those around us, because with every tweet, post, and conversation we could be building our community to be Bedford Falls or Pottersville.
