More than anything the last month has helped me to remember that we are one human race.  The actions of one country, the actions of one government official, the actions of one leader, the actions of one small community, the actions of one business, the actions of one family are interrelated in a way that I believe we as Americans have forgotten.

The world is a scary place right now.  This is something that none of us ever wanted to experience in our lifetimes or in the lifetimes of our loved ones.  We can think about how we are interlinked through the negative view, being mad that we are all quarantined at home in a state of fear, blaming people and countries for their choices, being mad at politicians.

OR, we can think about the silver linings that show up once we accept the facts at hand.

So, if you are watching too much news, or sucked too much into the fear of the situation, whether it be about the healthcare or the economic impact of this crazy time, I thought I would share 10 positive things that showed up to me this week.  My personal silver linings this week in a pandemic.

1. At my company, CHG Healthcare, we pulled out all of the stops and got all 3,200 of our employees working from home within 4 days of the decision.  Volunteers from everywhere in the organization pitched in to make it happen.
2. In Park City, Utah, a women started a Facebook ground called CoronaKindness to try to encourage our community to support each other. The comments and examples have been uplifting to read at a time when online time tends to be depressing.
3. Companies around the world opened up their educational tools to be free to all of us parents trying to teach our kids at home.  Not to mention the preparation the teachers at our Park City schools, and schools around the world.
4. Two organizations in Salt Lake City, Silicon Slopes and the Women’s Tech Council rallied the community to help get more testing happening in our state.  Entrepreneurs used their skills in innovative thinking to help bring support across business, political and community leaders.
5. Individuals all over the world donated money if they have the means to help local communities.  A great example of this was our local Park City Community Foundation created a COVID-19 Community Fund to help local non-profits and raised over $150K in a week.  This created the ability to grant to a few local charities that are helping to serve food to those in need.
6. Our family spent family time together – maybe more than we have in years.  We went on walks, we played games and did puzzles, we disagreed with each other, we hugged and we cried.  Not every minute was good, but we reconnected without the pressure of running to the next thing on our schedule.
7. In our house, Katharine taught Matthew french lessons so that he could keep on learning in these times at home.  She even dressed up for the lesson to help her be the teacher.
8. We called more people (versus just texting) and we remembered why our social interactions help us thrive as humans.
9. I personally saw leadership in action every single day.  From co-workers, from business members in the community, and from politicians that despite my disagreement with their politics.
10. I heard a business story about innovation in workforce planning where a company leadership team literally created a business model overnight in order to keep their workers employed.  Creativity and innovation will be the key to our future through these times. [cryptic as story confidential]

I know it is bad out there.  I understand, more than most, the challenge of our healthcare system in a time like this.  I worry about friends and family losing jobs.

But today, I choose to think about the silver linings and to think about how we are one human race.  I choose to think that maybe even writing this blog post may be the one thing that I can do to help some of you feel better for even a 3 minute read.

If you have silver linings to share, comment and let me hear yours too.