It’s time to be the hero in your own life
Guys aren’t supposed to sit and wait. Guys are supposed to take action, to get things done.
Yet we seldom get the chance. Most weeks, most months — shoot, most decades — we try to be kind and do what we can. Sully Sullenberger had been flying for domestic airlines for 29 years: dragging his flight case through terminals, sitting in a pilot’s seat that was still warm from the last guy, flying all over the country, all day long, just to end up in Cincinnati. Then on a cold January afternoon, about two minutes after he left LaGuardia for two-hour trip to Charlotte, he had a broken airplane over Manhattan.
This virus is our bird-strike. We’ve got a chance to contribute our talents and brains and energy to get through this. We can do it with courage and class, if we will.
Start today getting past the trash that has accumulated in the garage of your life. Find the place in your household or your neighborhood that needs what you’ve got but never been called to use.
We need blood donations to make up for the lack of regular blood drives. We need volunteers now or we are going to need them soon — everywhere. Learn the truth about the virus from reliable sources and pass on reliable information.
Organize a shopping team that can minimize the number of folks who have to be exposed by going to the store. Get up on the Zoom with friends you’ve missed lately.
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Download books for free on a Kindle from the public library. Then announce a reading hour over Zoom for the kids of a mom who needs a break at her house. Moms who need a break at your house: reach out, go outside, get some sunshine.
Keep supporting the local businesses that you love — figure out something, there’s suggestions everywhere.
Turn loose those nitwits on the Facebook — just blank ‘em out if they are passing on dumb ideas or hateful speech. You’ve got talent and some time and now we all need you.
It may seem like the government is taking the lead right now, organizing resources and positioning people for the coming storm. That’s the way it’s supposed to work because we’ve got our own lives to look after. But this virus is going to last for months. Find a mission and a rhythm that you can sustain for months, working for your family and for people you don’t even know.
When this war is over there won’t be any parades or medals. But, if you have contributed to the goodness in our world during this, then you will be your own hero. Get to it, today and tomorrow. Because some day this war will be over.
(Frank G. Queen lives in Waynesville and is the Haywood County Attorney. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
