"Notes" #50

Well that's a couple of hundred "That's How I See It!" Newsletters, and now 50 "Notes" that have been sent. So where are we now after these 50 blogs have been read and discarded? Well, it seems we're in the middle of a Pandemic and some people have lost their minds.

It's April 18, 2021 and there are still  many remnants of a recent 25 cm snowfall on the ground in good old Manitoba; we are in a semi-lockdown COVID protocol and the province is considering further restrictions to keep us safe. If I read the media correctly, Manitobans are of two camps. One- their mandate is to play it safe: wear masks, sanitize, distance, stay-at-home, and get the vaccine. They don't want to get sick and they don't want to make others sick either. A second camp states loudly, "This is a free country and I can choose not to wear a mask", or they see this 'COVID thing' as not all that serious (even if reality is showing them that a lot of people, young and old, are dying from this virus). "I am tired of being housebound, I am COVID fatigued. (I read this word in the paper, so I suppose I should be it), and so I've had enough! I am going to get together with my friends, family, colleagues, complete strangers who, like me, can no longer sacrifice for the good of the many (the many being their grandparents, parents, neighbours--people they profess to love) and so to heck with all this COVID stuff. Call the gang, party's at my house but first let's meet at the Forks and remember, no masks allowed. To hell with all the people getting sick and dying. I absolutely need these "wings"/Sam's birthday party/large family gatherings (made up of the same people who will die because of the large gathering). Whatever happened to common sense? Whatever happened to self-preservation? Are people really that self-centered?

I know I'm going to sound like your mother saying, "If you don't want to eat your supper think about all those starving people over in Africa." Try to remember, in the past there were an awful lot of people who sacrificed their lives for your freedom! You mean to say that in this war with this Pandemic you can't sacrifice a few pleasures to save other people's lives? It must be tough living with only a 48 inch TV (2-300 channels), having to work out in your basement and Skip the Dishes twice a week.

The good news is summer is coming. Well I think it's coming, as I only have 5 cm of snow left on the table on my deck. We will soon be hiking, biking, playing tennis, golfing, gardening, maybe recreational baseball, and having friends on the patio (at a safe distance of course). I truly believe we will get there at some point. But first remember:

                         "Patience is a virtue".

I have heard this expressed many times but never have I felt it to be more necessary than now. Be patient, do what needs to be done, follow your conscience. You know what's right. Our fathers and grandfathers knew what needed to be done and they did it. We are at war with a virus. Do what needs to be done and stop complaining that you can't do "the usual". This is our war and we need to make the sacrifices just as previous generations made sacrifices in their wars for the good of many.

Will somebody please help me down off my apple box!

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Some folks have indicated that the "Notes" blog is showing up in their junk or spam box. If that is happening to you, please let me know so I can determine how big a problem this is. danrosin@drcounselling.com

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Barb's Book

Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you; to ignore what the world owes you and to think what you owe all the world; to put your rights in the background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground; to see that your fellow men are just as real as you are, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy; to own the probability the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give life; close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few good seeds of happiness--are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.    Henry Van Dyke, "Six Days of the Week"

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Reader Response (to #49)

400-500 new subscribers! Wow! How impressive - Perhaps people are finally catching on. (I have never even heard of Simplenews.)
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Although I have seen the article on the Importance of Friendship several times before, I agree that I still cannot get through it with dry eyes. It very much reminds me of the gift of that friendship through those difficult years growing up, and how wonderfully positive an impact those guys I was blessed to be friends with had on my, and each others lives.
Well done!

Now get ready for the next 50 "Notes".