We are at a Crossroads, and We all have a Decision to Make
What will yours be?
Life as we know it can change in an instant. It changed for me ten years ago when that nurse’s aid at my father’s long-term care facility coldly…thoughtlessly…nonchalantly responded to my request to speak with my dad by saying, “Richard Brooks…oh, he passed today.”
What? Had I heard her correctly?
I hung up the phone and immediately called my mom at her home, but all I got was a busy signal. Later I learned she had gotten wind of my father’s impending death and had neglected to hang up the receiver in her haste to make it to the nursing home before he took his last breath. She hadn’t made it in time.
Yes, in that instant, though I didn’t know it then, I would come to see my life, my existence, and my actions in a different way, under a haze of disappointment in myself, and in how I wasn’t fully living my life.
This was a crossroads for me. How would I choose to move forward with the rest of my life? I could take my disappointment and continue on the same path, in the same manner, I had been before my father’s death, or I could do something completely different. I knew I had a decision to make: Get busy living (and change myself and my life’s trajectory) or get busy dying (and live in fear, self-hate, regret, and grief).
I chose the former.
We all have recently experienced a change to life as we knew it only a few short weeks ago. We are at a crossroads, and we all have a decision to make. The decision might take more time for some of us to make than for others because the COVID-19 pandemic we are living through is something we must process individually and move through at our own pace. But when the time comes and you are ready, you must decide. Fear or Love? Self-hate or self-respect? Regret or Hope?
If you need help working through your decision, I’ve recorded dozens of interviews with people who have come to their crossroads and discovered their courage. You might find them helpful during this time. Check them out at www.discoveringcourage.com/ep . Additionally, feel free to contact me directly if you’d like.
