For the past year, I’ve been planning a beautiful family trip to Europe for my upcoming birthday. My kids were excited about it, and I thought there could be no better way to celebrate a milestone birthday than to visit London, Paris, and Italy. Unfortunately, this beautiful dream came to an end as everything fell apart with Covid-19.
Life’s pivotal events these past two months have taken everyone by surprise. So many have lost their lives and their jobs, and we still don’t understand why all this is happening.
The silver lining of all these unfortunate events is that they have brought us closer and opened our eyes to the true meaning of what really matters. Our strength has been tested and luckily, we are more resilient, compassionate, and grateful. I have hope that everything will be alright soon.
“If you can’t change the situation, then instead change the outcome by changing your attitude towards it”. I am not sure who wrote this, but it allows me to reflect and get the most of our situation. I have learned to cherish my family and friends more. I took the time to call my friends and we had deep conversations. I have learned to appreciate and enjoy each moment I have come to the realization that I have everything that I need with me. I have discovered hidden skills that were dormant.
As we are still going through these uncertain times, I hope you let faith guide you and open your eyes to the true beauty of life. There are times where we make plans but things can easily turn left. Just know that there is always a way out. There is always light at the end of the tunnel.
Now that I cannot travel, I realize how precious life is and every single day with our loved ones is the best present I have ever wanted. I will continue to give my patients the best of me. I will continue to serve others with all that I have. I will let my faith guide me. Faith gives me the strength to move on when I can no longer feel. Hope tells me that any situation can be transformed and lead to the best outcomes. I have faith that tomorrow will be a brighter day!
Such a beautiful post and message! Thanks for sharing!
You know what? I needed to read this today. Thank you.
Love the strength in your convictions during this bizarre and challenging time in our lives. On top of dealing with the challenges of this pandemic, I also lost my mother suddenly a little over a month ago.
People keep asking me how I am doing it, and like you I manage by continuing to move forward with my faith & hope that life with improve…that this set of events comes with lessons for me to realize, ingest, & learn from.
I have been very blessed to be “forced” along with my wife, to quarantined with my maternal extended family and it has reminded me of how lucky I am and that with faith and hope, there is always a brighter light waiting for me.
I am so sorry for your loss, Eric. May your mother rest in eternal peace! I am sending prayers to you and your family.
Hi Marjie, I am so sorry your trip was cancelled. I believe everything in life happens for a reason which isn’t always clear at the time. Thank you for your lovely post.
Our dreams shouldn’t come to end because of this, we hope that we will still do what we planned…if not today, next time.
Thank you these words of hope.
I really enjoyed reading your post. I think there is always positivity in any situation. To us, the silver lining has been all around us. I’ve never felt that much love and compassion in my house. It makes us stronger as a family. Thank you for sharing your point of view. Today, I am going to stop for a sec and watch the beautiful flowers in my garden!
Beautiful post! These days have been difficult for all of us! Thank you for inspiring all of us to see the positive side of a stressful situation!
I really envy people of faith. I am incapable of believing in a greater being and sometimes life would be so much easier if I could!
Life is so unpredictable! I so agree with you but seriously you never know what’s going to happen next, no matter what you plan!
Thank you for writing this article. We live in uncertain times and the only thing I hold on tightly to now is my faith. We will survive this crisis with God by our side. It is sometimes difficult to look at things in a positive light right now, but I always make it a point to still be thankful for the blessings of a new day, a new hope, and a promise of healing from the Lord.
Thanks for sharing. My sister and I surprised my Mom with a trip to Italy for her birthday this year and very sadly had to cancel. I’ve been having a difficult time dealing, so thanks for the positive words!
So sorry about your trip being cancelled! But such a beautiful way to look at it! Thank you for sharing! ❤️
I love all your piccys and this is such a lovely and beautiful post. Both motivating and inspiring x
I’m sorry that your trip was canceled. But let’s stay positive coz maybe you will have many memorable trips to come in the future.
Sorry about the trip, but I’m glad you’re safe and sound.
Faith and Hope are all we have in these trying times. Thanks for your inspirational message.
I totally get the frustration – I had a sailing trip planned in early April that we had been looking forward to for months and had to cancel. I love your attitude and the way you’ve chosen to handle it. You’re a wonderful example to your loved ones.
I was planning g a big milestone birthday trip for this year, but it isn’t happening now. Health and wellbeing is definitely more important. Thanks for sharing your perspective
We are all in the same boat. Almost all of our plans for the month or two drastically halted. But as you said, with faith and hope, we can steer all these to our advantage.
Sorry, you missed your trip. But don’t worry those places will always be here. Whereas the quality time you are having now is something to cherish. I live in the UK when you decide to come let me know I can give you some tips on where to visit during your stay!
Amazing post. I was touched by your article. Thank you.
Very motivating post! I must agree! Treasure every moment and this current situation gave us the opportunity for us to be able to think about life. Perhaps, have a reset or reflection of ourselves for the betterment of humanity. 🙂
Hope is the only thing that keeps us moving forward. I love those pictures!
In these difficult times, this is something we need to reflect on. Faith in God is what keeps us going.
So much has changed these past couple of months! We’ve had my son’s 5th birthday party canceled, scout campouts canceled, my girls weekend trip to Florida to visit my family was canceled. Now my boys have been out of school and learning from home for 8 weeks. It’s been tough, but as you said, it makes us really appreciate what we have and I know the next time we get together with our friends will be even better than before!
THis is so beautifully written. This is such an uncertain time but so much good can come out of it
“If you can’t change the situation, then instead change the outcome by changing your attitude towards it”.
I love this quote so much. I think that the whole virus situation has changed our perspective of what is important and how we can react to situations we can’t control.
Faith and hope is what keeps people going. Willpower & perseverance makes us achieve what we want to in life.
We have really tried to just settle into the things that really matter. There are tons of things I miss about normalcy…but the biggest one has been normal church.
It can be very hard for many at the moment so having time to focus and let faith guide is a good thing x
Such a great time to focus on the essentials like guidance from within. Thank you for this beautiful piece.
I loved your message! I also had an important plan for this year that I had to cancel, not a trip, but having another baby. I undergo a very expensive medical treatment, and at the last phase of it I was announced I couldn’t finish it because the clinique was going to close for the lockdown. So we lost some hope and several thousand bucks… Nothing anyone can do about it. Just accept it.
I am so sorry you have to postpone such a special trip! My hope that is you get to take it relatively soon. My perspectives have certainly shifted with all that is going on. I am grateful for my health and my family so much more right now.
Of course we won’t let this Covid-19 bring us down. Love your message, it’s wonderful!
Your article reminded me of a quote from Viktor Frankl, the survivor of 4 concentration camps. “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Like you said, what happened was out of our control, but how strong we come out of it is completely our choice.
Thank you! Man’s search for meaning is one of my favorite books. I do believe, we can’t change what’s happening to us most of the times, we can only control how we react to them.