Even in a Pandemic, “Look for the good”

How do we get through this?  Zelda* believed in the healing power of laughter. But I’m also sure she would have told us: Look for the good. 

“It’s always there, honey — something.” She reminded me often and had lots of examples: 

“When I spoke to my son-in-law after his stroke, and he said, ‘Mom, at least I can still speak,’ I knew he was going to be alright.  He found the good.”  

Zelda wasn’t a psychologist, and she didn’t need studies on the benefits of gratitude.  As a child, living through hard times and with a father that gave more to others than to his own, her mother’s mantra was, “It could be worse.”  They had food on the table; others were starving. 

Zelda flipped her mother’s homily to one that reflected her own positivity: Look for the good. 

The question is, how?  Like everyone in the world, my life has been upended, and I face an “unanticipatable” [sic] future.  Don’t you just hate that? 

I have moments of boredom, worry, fear, exasperation, and anger. Every day is Ground Hog Day.  I can do nothing about any of this, but I can — thank you, Zelda — look for the good. 

I try to remind myself that I have everything I need.  I am healthy and not totally alone.  I live with a 7-pound bundle of energy that I have to feed, groom, and walk four times a day.  I also have work that I have always done at home. 

Even better, because technology has zoomed beyond Dick Tracy’s two-way wrist radio, I can still hear and even see my loved ones.  Friends and I coordinate walks and talks via cell phone.  My partner and I have been having cocktails via FaceTime.  Our extended family might do Passover on Zoom!  

And I can “talk” to you, dear reader, via this blog.

I can’t always keep the good in mind.  I grumble when I have to take the dog out…again.  But I try to remind myself that the exercise is a blessing.  I don’t like washing dishes.  But I appreciate that I know my way around a kitchen. And oh! do I hate housework (except laundry). But at least I’m capable of doing it.

That’s a lot of good. 

So let me know:  What’s on your gratitude list?  

* Note: Zelda lived to almost 105.  In the video above, she is around 100.