What a week.
I think many people have found themselves saying that over the past couple of weeks as division seems to be ever growing in our country.
I sat down to write this week’s blog post and couldn’t seem to figure out exactly what I wanted to say. Some thoughts came through my mind about different mental skills I could address. I could continue to chat about recent sporting events that have been touched by the pandemic in some way whether there were less players available or scheduling changes or what not.
I just don’t think that is what is important right now. I am not here to get political by any means, but I do think it is important to chat about the division that we are seeing in our country. Now more than any other time in my lifetime there seems to be a division between people in our country on a variety of topics like politics, race, gender, sexual orientation, and the list seems to continue growing.
We can also relate this to division in teams. There can be a difference in opinion in how to handle a game or what play to run or the effort put forward from certain teammates. These differences are certainly on a much smaller scale, though, so how do you handle living in what seems to be a divisive world?
As with most things I say, let’s bring it back to what you can control. The truth is, we can’t control what other people do, how they react to certain things, what information they consume, etc. What we can do is control how we act, how we respond to different variables, and what we consume.
The truth is, each of us wake up everyday with a choice: we can treat others with anger and resentment based on divisions or we can treat others with kindness.
I choose to treat others with kindness.
This doesn’t have to be a huge act. It doesn’t have to be something that you go far out of your way to do for someone else. The simplest things could make a difference like smiling at someone as you pass them (or I guess smile with your eyes for right now), helping someone pick up something they dropped, asking a coworker who looks overwhelmed how you can help them, ask your spouse what you can do for them if they are feeling stressed, etc.
You choose what you perceive in the world. If you feel that the world is full of negativity, that is exactly what you will find. However, if you think there are positive things that you can find in your everyday life, you will certainly see those things before you. Being kind to others and filling others’ “buckets” can help fill your own and change your mindset about what you are perceiving in the world.
If you feel there is some division between you and another teammate, try treating them with kindness to open the door to figuring out how to come together to reach a common goal.
When you feel that there is nothing you can do to change the current events, think about what you can control. You can always be kind to others, and spark that chain reaction.