We laid my mother to rest recently. Given that it’s 2020, we weren’t able to have a proper funeral, and had a short outdoor service with extended family on Zoom.

It wasn’t the ideal. But you know what? It was plenty good, and respected everyone’s limitations.

That’s what this whole year has been about. Making the best of what we have. And if you think about it, this is nothing new. We’re always making tradeoffs.

It’s just that this year we’ve been given a whole bunch of new limitations, things that we can’t control.

Things that NOBODY controls.

Yes, it’s uncomfortable. It’s painful. It means changing things we really don’t like.

But that’s OK. And when you come to grips with that, you’re able to start seeing the gifts hidden beyond the initial pain.

I had the opportunity to produce a Zoom event recently which focused on bringing together a highly diverse set of participants. Normally, this would be limited to those who could travel to such an event – likely within the same city. Instead, they were able to pull in people from across the globe – a wide range of countries, backgrounds, and viewpoints.

What a wonderful asset! And with Zoom we’re able to do this every day, with all kinds of events. This gives me hope that 2020 will help us build the international relationships that governments struggle with.

Today’s bottom line: It’s OK to be uncomfortable and feel the pain of dealing with these limitations. But also look for the gifts which lay beyond.

It might take a little digging.