Keep Laying Bricks — Girl Catch Fire

I’m lucky to have a smart, practical husband, who gives me good advice.

As a small business owner, I’m one tiny piece of the backbone of the American economy. A lot of us are staring down the Coronavirus right now, and worrying about revenue and payroll and the future of our businesses.

I was doing this in sort of a spastic way on our front porch yesterday morning. Sam sat in the rocking chair listening to me ramble. Then he said the following things:

Your job is helping people.

People need more help than ever.

You’ve been laying bricks, one by one for several years.

Keep laying bricks.

So that’s what I’m doing. I’m showing up to my life and my business every day and choosing to do the next right thing. Our world needs positive leadership now more than ever, you and I can be on that team. All we have to do is keep laying bricks.

Really it’s good advice for all of us, as we wake up every day and remember we don’t know how to do life anymore. This is a brand new experience and yet, though the struggle is real, you can see a shift happening for many people.

We’re slowing down.

We’re sharing with each other.

We’re talking to our neighbors.

We’re laying down new routines with our kids.

We’re recalibrating and reconsidering our priorities.

Plus, maybe we’re even giving the earth a little break. Fewer cars and less smog have to be good for the environment.

I’m not trying to blue-sky the Coronavirus, the suffering is tremendous, but perhaps those of us outside the immediate line of fire here should just keep laying bricks. Heads down and focused.

Keep showing up.

Keep doing what you know.

Keep getting that honey-do list done.

Keep building on the positive routines you’ve built with your kids.

Keep focusing your mind on what is true, noble, pure and lovely.

It’s not that we won’t have moments of breakdown, we all do, but by showing up and doing what we know works, even when the world is hard and scary, we’re likely to come out different, maybe even better on the other side.

ps. If you’re one of those people reconsidering your priorities and where your life is headed - particularly as a result of midlife - I have a new round of The Meaning of Midlife starting at the end of April. The program is designed to put you back in community with some like-minded people and develop the skills to build a happy second half.