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children cartoons medicine

When is contagious a good thing?

Cartoon of a mom and a sick child in a doctor’s office. The doctor, child and mother all have spots on their skin. The doctor says, “Well whateve he has, it’s contagious.”
Cartoon of a mom and a sick child in a doctor's office. The doctor, child and mother all have spots on their skin. The doctor says, "Well whateve he has, it's contagious."

Not long ago, social media influencers were looking for their next big viral video. It will be interesting to see if we will continue to use this term since we are all conscious of what a contagious virus can do.

None of us want to be infected by a contagion that can harm ourselves and our loved ones. Yet, when a parent or medical professional sees a sick child like in my former post, they are ready to spring into action and risk getting the infection as well. That selflessness and desire to help others heal is worthy of being contagious.

We have witnessed many selfless acts during the past couple of months. We have witnessed generosity, caring, and a willingness to stay in place while this virus took its course. Those are qualities that are worthy of being contagious.

We have witnessed selfish behavior through this pandemic too. We have seen hoarding and other unfortunate behaviors. Those are unfortunate side effects of the pandemic.

As we begin to venture out and rebuild our economies and lives, consider what behaviors you want to be contagious. Let’s spread something that we all want to be contagious.

Cartoon of a mom and a sick child in a doctor’s office. The doctor, child and mother all have spots on their skin. The doctor says, “Well whateve he has, it’s contagious.”
Cartoon of a mom and a sick child in a doctor’s office. The doctor, child and mother all have spots on their skin. The doctor says, “Well whateve he has, it’s contagious.”
Categories
motivation

Do training and preparing get any easier?

Quote from "Drive" by Daniel Pink "As anyone who’s trained for a marathon, learned a new language, or run a successful division can attest, you spend a lot more time grinding through tough tasks than you do basking in applause."

When I was reading Drive by Daniel Pink, I thought of how society tries to make things easy for us. Advertising is all about serving up an easy answer to wants or needs. I posted about the desire we all have to coast in October 2019. I found then that training doesn’t get any easier, but the results are worth it.

Training doesn’t get any easier. But if we are diligent, we can get more effective. Finding success in an endeavor may seem easy from the outside. But it’s the grind, as Daniel Pink wrote, that one has to do every day. It’s getting up early and putting in the miles.

Be patient and train

When I trained for a marathon, I searched for different solutions and different training methods. If there was a solution that would have made it easy to run a marathon without any training, I probably would have stumbled across it. If such a solution existed, I would have been both happy and disappointed. I would have been happy that I would not have had to put in the hours. But I would have been disappointed that the effort was taken away from me. What is the point of a marathon, after all, if it takes little sweat and effort?

Today, all of us have been thrust into a COVID-19 marathon. All of us wish that this crisis would end tomorrow. But it doesn’t look likely. All businesses and employees will have to adjust in some way. Like it or not, we are now all required to train for the next level.

Patience does not mean we simply wait this out. If I just waited for the day of the marathon without training for it, I would have never crossed the finish line. While we wait, we must train. We must prepare.

Turn a crisis into an opportunity

Since we have all been sidelined in some way, how are you using that time to train?

  • How are you training physically?
  • How are you training mentally?
  • How are you training spiritually?

We all have an opportunity to do the work and to make a difference today. Grind through the tasks. Learn from them and become better through them. Training doesn’t get any easier. But the results are worth it. You may not hear a stadium full of applause. But it will be worth it in the long run.

Categories
motivation

How do I know if something is too risky?

Cartoon of a boy and a shark. The shark says, "Hey, Buddy! Let me know when you're going to get in the water, okay?"

When we would take family trips to Florida in the summer, it seemed that no matter what week we took, The Discovery Channel was playing Shark Week. There was nothing like watching shark attacks the evening before, then going to the beach. I probably had those experiences in mind when I posted this cartoon.

Watching Shark Week didn’t prevent us from going to the beach. We laughed about the over-the-top stories. Sure, some of them were harrowing and we took what we could learn from them. We knew it was more dangerous to wade in the water at sunrise or sunset. We realized we needed to be aware of our surroundings in the water. But it didn’t prevent us from having a good time.

Leadership in Risky Times

Today, leaders are facing all kinds of decisions involving risk. COVID-19 is causing business, government, and institutional leaders to make some tough decisions.

  • When should we open businesses?
  • When and how should we open churches?
  • Where and when should we wear masks?
  • How do you enforce social distancing without being authoritarian?
  • What will be the best way to get kids back in school this fall?

It would be nice if the answers were as obvious as a shark enticing a bather with fake sincerity. There are a lot of unknowns. Our decisions will be complicated with the understanding there will be some risk that wasn’t there last year. Yet, all of us will have to take on some of that risk to move forward.

The odds of being attacked by a shark are 1 in 11.5 million even when you only include people who go to a beach. We are still trying to get a handle on how likely someone is likely to get the coronavirus. It will likely increase as time moves on. In any case, it will be best to continue practices such as social distancing, frequent handwashing, and sanitizing surfaces. We will need to learn how to live with this virus while maintaining safe practices and restarting our lives.

Cartoon of a boy and a shark. The shark says, "Hey, Buddy! Let me know when you're going to get in the water, okay?"
Categories
Parenting Cartoons

Should parents give up and let their kids watch TV?

Cartoon of a mom and a son. The mom says, "I don't care if all the TV moms would let you do it. I won't!"

When I drew this cartoon, I had a senior in high school and an eighth-grader. In recent weeks, I have thought about how I would have handled this crisis if it happened nine years ago. I ache for the seniors that have had their final year in high school or college flipped upside down.

Parents, I know you are facing challenges that are unprecedented. I can’t say I know exactly how it feels, because who has faced parenting under these circumstances? The closest thing I can relate to it is a midwestern winter that caused our kids to miss more than a week of school. Yes, I know it’s worse for this group of kids and parents!

Encouraging Words for Parents

It’s okay to let your kids watch some television. After all, this has been a tough time to be a parent. some of you have had to figure out how to work from home while homeschooling your kids. School districts realize this has been a challenge. Some have given up on remote learning for the rest of the year. Parents with more than one child have to be overwhelmed.

It’s okay to admit you are overwhelmed. You are not alone. Millions of families are going through the same struggle. We will all learn from it and be prepared for the fall. In the meantime, give yourself some grace. If school professionals are overwhelmed, you have permission to be as well.

Your kids may have spent a lot of time staring at screens. If they aren’t in front of it for learning, it may be the closest, most convenient entertainment. That’s okay. Give yourself some grace if you think they’ve had too much screen time. There will always be tomorrow. Acknowledge that today is done and you can plan for screen-free activities the next day.

Know that if you are frustrated and overwhelmed, your kids are too. Some are missing their friends. Others are mourning the abrupt end to the school year or their high school years. Give your kids the time and space to grieve. Yet also help them see they do have a future beyond this.

And if your child tries to compare you to a TV Mom or Dad, you can safely remind them that none of those one-dimensional parents had to deal with a pandemic. It’s apples and oranges my friends. Be encouraged. This crisis will one day end.

Cartoon of a mom and a son. The mom says, "I don't care if all the TV moms would let you do it. I won't!"

Categories
Attitude motivation

Does complaining do any good?

Cartoon of two women next to a wilted plant. One woman says, "It's a valuable plant. When I complain, it wilts."

When I drew this cartoon and posted my blog, Wilted Complaints, I was preaching to myself. Three years after this post, I got into a bad habit of complaining. I rendered myself ineffective at work because I let challenges overwhelm me. Instead of working on the problem, I would complain with colleagues about how insurmountable the odds were. Meetings weren’t effective. The planning seemed pointless. It was all because I was stuck in a complaining mode.

What about venting? Can I vent?

When tensions are high, or when we are in a situation alike a coronavirus lockdown, we all need to vent a little. If I don’t talk with my wife about what’s bugging me, it will simply build up.

The Web Economic Forum has an article on why it’s okay to vent about the coronavirus as long as it doesn’t become a habit. We are naturally going to be frustrated when things aren’t going the way we like. And very few people are excited about being in lockdown for several weeks (with the exceptions of some dogs and hermits).

The problem with a complaining habit is that it doesn’t solve anything.

  • It absolves me of responsibility
  • Instead of speaking life into a situation, it speaks death
  • It lets things fester like picking a scab
  • It doesn’t make for a pleasant companion (and who wants to isolate even further?)

I am starting to read a book entitled, The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal With Negativity at Work by Jon Gordon. I’ll let you know about the highlights. Complaining is a habit that is too easy to start. Let’s find ways to be positive today and keep our plants from wilting.

Cartoon of two women next to a wilted plant. One woman says, "It's a valuable plant. When I complain, it wilts."