The Roof
'The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.' John F. Kennedy
Yesterday I talked about the importance of watching our mental diets. It's true that filling our minds with too many empty, worrisome, and fear provoking thoughts produces a devastating effect over time, but what about doing the opposite- refusing to look at the difficult things that do need our attention?One look at the way the American medical system is bumbling its most recent crisis, and we are reminded of the dangers of being caught unprepared. Unfortunately, when it comes to the topic of the Ebola virus... the sun quit shining a few weeks ago, and now the roof is leaking. As individuals, what do we do? Do we sit in the corner and tremble? Point fingers at the powers that be? Or do we bury our heads in the sand and try no to think about it? Personally, when a large-scale event such as this puts me in a state of distress, the first thing that I do is bring the macro down to the micro.... I have always reasoned that I may not be able to change THE WORLD, but I can change my little world- and in quantum thought that does change the big picture.The Ebola crisis is a macro problem, but it gives all of us a chance to look into the micro of our own backyards... to look at the 'viruses' in our own lives that might be brewing under the surface. This could be that un-opened credit card statement on the desk, a check engine light on the dash-board that gets ignored, or that hard conversation with our boss that we keep avoiding. We all have some known thing that looms on the far horizon of our lives that has the potential, if left unchecked, to wreak havoc. When it comes to the tough stuff, our first inclination is often to avoid what is still off in the distance.... but if we do that, we end up having to repair the roof in a downpour- and this is never good.