Choosing a Side
There’s an old saying that every story has two sides. I would take it a step further and say that every story has at least two sides. These sides are a product of our experiences and focus. Ultimately, it boils down to what we choose to focus on.
This week’s habit: shift your story.
In her book Reset, Debra Fileta provides two different perspectives of the same year. What year, you ask? None other than 2020.
We all went through that year together, yet we all have different views on the events and circumstances surrounding the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
Choosing a Side
Perspective 1
The year 2020 was a year filled with fear, uncertainty, and more unknowns than any of us can count. Phrases such as lockdown, quarantine, and social distancing became part of our normal, everyday language. Actions like hugs, face-to-face interaction, going to public places like school or church were no longer a safe option. The harsh reality of the pandemic meant that sickness and possibly death could be around every corner. Many of us said goodbye to friends and family members who were taken from us too soon.
Children growing up in this time came to know fear and uncertainty like few generations have ever known. Isolation became the norm. Death tolls became a statistic reported on the evening news. The world was divided like we had never seen before. It was without a doubt, one of the most challenging times in our World’s history.
Perspective 2
The year 2020 was a year filled with challenges that created more opportunities than our world has seen in recent history. New hurdles created opportunities for innovation around every corner. We learned to appreciate and see just how precious our time together really is. Things we took for granted only months before became things we longed for each and every day.
Restrictions on travel and interaction helped us to see just how important human relationships are to everyone. We learned to value the health and wellness of everyone around us. The challenges helped us see what we had been missing for years.
Children growing up in this time were given one of the greatest gifts that few generations have known. PERSPECTIVE. Relationships were put front and center as we learned how to use virtual meeting tools. The need for a vaccine catapulted medicine forward at hyper speeds never thought possible. This newfound perspective helped us see areas that were broken. We learned to value diversity and love our neighbor. Without a doubt, it was one of the most fascinating times in human history.
Choosing a Side – the Story of 2020
There are many different sides to the story of 2020. We all have our own take on the events and circumstances surrounding 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. We can choose to focus on the bad, fixating on everything that went wrong, or we can choose to see the good that came out of such trying times. We can fixate on everything that we don’t have or choose to be grateful for what God has blessed us with. The key word here is choose. We have a choice each and every day.
“How we tell ourselves the story has a huge effect on how we live it out.”
Debra Fileta
That does not mean that we ignore the hard times or suppress tough feelings. We must learn to acknowledge them, face them, and process them in a healthy way. Whatever we do, we can’t allow ourselves to get stuck. If we get stuck here, we allow these events and circumstances to define our story.
My question to you is, which version of the story will you choose to focus on today? When it comes to choosing a side, which version of the story will you pick?
Source
[1] Fileta, D. (2023). Reset. Harvest House Publishers.
