Do you realize you have a 100% crisis survival rate?

Think about it. Every crisis you've lived through (and I know for some there've been a lot) had the same result - you survived. You're still here. You have what it takes.

Now that you know you can get through this, I have another question. How do you want to get through it? Do you REALLY want to go back to business as usual? Isn't part of that what got us in some of our predicaments? Hasn't this brave new world revealed some flaws, some gaps, some broken systems?

But we get to start fresh! Y'all this is fantastic news. Yes, it's going to be hard. Yes, it'll be slower than we want. Yes, change, even positive change, has pain points. And, yes, we're going to screw up - repeatedly.

Come on though. Why do we keep romanticizing the past (yep, even January 2020 is the past)? We lament, "I just want things to return to normal." But we have a choice. We choose our reactions. We have 100% total control of our response. I pray that individually and collectively we choose to be better and do better.

I pray we don't return to business as usual but are intentional about doing business - and relationships, healthcare, education, and everything - better, with more empathy, innovation and grace. May we continue to see the needs of the individual and the many and focus to meet them in new and more efficient and effective ways. May we live in an abundance mindset and lead with humility. I don't want the old normal; I want a stronger, better and kinder world.

I want to show up for life with you as a better version of myself. I'll fail time and again. And I'll keep getting back up. Because that's what we do. That's what nonprofits do. What parents do. What leaders do. What local businesses do. What teachers do. What social workers do. What artists do. What creative entrepreneurs do. What accountants do. What teens do. What friends do. What Oklahomans do.

A toast to life after the Covid-19 pandemic: Here’s to a cleaner, healthier, kinder, more noble world. Here's to thinking not less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less. Here's to living more fully in our mission and purpose. And here's to being better and doing better.