What are your intentions?

Remember January 1st 2020? Similar to most January’s – people were off living their best life- hitting the gym to cement those New Years resolutions, checking out Dave Ramsey’s content around financial freedom, napping, cooking good luck meals such as black eyed peas and removing the final Holiday decorations from doors, windows and fire places. I went for a run and relaxed most of the day.

Toward the end of February there were discussions in the media regarding a deadly virus sweeping China and 31 other countries. I remember thinking, “what in the world is happening.” At the time there were approximately 53 COVID-19 cases diagnosed in the US and roughly 77,000 in China- you couldn’t help but stay glued to the news. A guy I was dating at the time wanted to attend a comedy show and I declined. We didn’t know a lot about social distancing but there was no way sitting shoulder to shoulder with someone was a good idea.

Today there’s more than 31 million* coronavirus cases worldwide of which 6.8 million* are attributed to the US. Tragically, more than 200,000* people have died in the United States from COVID-19 and our lives are forever changed.

Many people struggle with how to function in the midst of a pandemic and hope our normal way of life resumes sooner rather than later. How are you coping? Do you even recall your 2020 resolutions? Are you productive? I’m not. Early on I welcomed the restful weekends but then came George Floyd’s horrible death. Then Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, Elijah McClain- 164 African Americans have been killed in 2020 by police. What.is.happening? There’s a sense of helplessness yet deep down I know individually we can contribute to a better tomorrow.

It’s time to dig deep and set/reset our intentions. With 92 days left I encourage you to:

1 Read about race relations and consider how you can build a bridge with others that don’t look like you. God knows we need to talk to each other, to empathize with other and to respect one another. Nicole Hannah-Jones has an excellent podcast titled 1619- commit to listening to it with a diverse group of people.

2. Read The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins. I promise this book will get you off the sofa and stop pressing the snooze button!

3. Contact a local organization and start volunteering for a cause that’s near and dear to you. Be the change you want to see!

Stay Hopeful, Monica

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