Crisis and Opportunity

I heard an interview with the man who is part of the leadership in an area that is in the center of the Corona virus, and he reminded us that within the Chinese character for 'crisis' is also the character for 'opportunity.'

He reminds us of a brilliant insight: Within every crisis is an opportunity.

It looks like the Chinese leadership has responded pretty well to the virus, and the infection rate is declining. National leadership in the US and many other countries has not been as good, and the infection rate is growing, possibly even exponentially.

So, what is the opportunity here? There are several.

One opportunity is for our leaders on national, state, and local levels to really step up and respond to the crisis — to learn from China, other countries and other states the best steps to take to control the spread of the virus.

And there are great opportunities within this crisis for us to grow as individuals, to become stronger and wiser and more balanced emotionally... because it is in the times of our greatest challenges that we can find the greatest gifts within us.

In a life-threatening situation, there are very different kinds of responses we can choose:

This is an opportunity to realize what is really important in our lives, and even to improve our lives substantially as a result.

And what's important? Ask yourself that question.

I get one very simple answer: The only important thing is love, love, love.

Love and treasure yourself. You're a gift of divine creation.
Love and treasure those around you. They too are precious miracles of creation.
Love and treasure all of humanity.

We are all brothers and sisters in a huge global family. The family is dysfunctional and in crisis. So this is a great opportunity for us to become far more loving, more creative, more expansive beings who do what we can to help everyone around us to have better lives and to meet the challenges of any crisis — whatever it may be — with love for all, caring for all.

This crisis is a time when we can make a great leap forward in our human evolution. We can move from fear to love, from conflict with each other to working in partnership with each other. 

It starts with each one of us individually, finding inner peace and guidance within the crisis. 
It starts with us, and then our love and our intelligence in response to the crisis will spread around the world more quickly than any virus.

Be well, be in peace.