This is a Test
This is a Test
It’s been an amazing, and in some ways scary, couple of weeks. A pandemic has been declared; the stoic market’s crashed; the oil price has tanked; borders are closed; sporting and community events halted; even Anzac Day effectively cancelled for the first time since the Second World War. Not to mention the chaos in the supermarket aisles as people panic about the future. The panic is understandable. As humans we’ve evolved to be pretty sensitive to threats. We didn’t want to hang around to find out whether the rustle in the bushes was really a hungry predator. Hopefully, however, most of us have moved on from those knuckle-dragging days.
Netflix has a good series on at the moment about the Australian cricket team called “The Test”. One bit of wisdom that came out of it is the way that the test players think about their craft. They immerse themselves in the present; they play one ball at a time; and they put everything into being the best they can in this moment.
Driving to work this morning the air was cool and clear, the sky was blue, the sun was shining and the birds were singing (apparently no-one has told them about the toilet paper crisis). It would be easy to miss such moments amid the worry about withering super balances and future health threats.
That’s not to say we shouldn’t take advice, plan, prepare and take sensible precautions to responsibly manage risks to purselves and to other people. But if we dwell on our fears, or let them dominate out thoughts, we miss the precious experiences that life offers us moment by moment. We can also stop us from being our best selves (as we’ve seen demonstrated in the supermarket aisles).
The Gladstone community is no stranger to hardship. We’ll get through our current challenges and whatever happens, let’s hope that in the years to come we can each look back, comforted in the knowledge that strength of character shone through when the situation demanded it.