John Paul Strong

This Changes Everything

From the time of my last blog post on March 13, the world looked completely different. As we sit here today, the coronavirus has now killed more people than the Vietnam War. It has caused a worldwide crisis and hysteria like nothing in any of our lifetimes.

But what I have found out of this crisis is it has taken me back as a person. It has allowed me to redefine who I am and what I truly do. Without the ability to travel hundreds of miles every week, being in tons of different cities, it has made me really exam what I am – and more importantly, what I do.

The beauty of something like this is that when you can redefine yourself, it only makes you better. It makes you appreciate the people around you. It makes you see the difference you truly make in peoples lives, even though you’re not around them. But when you have time to stop and look, and understand all the decisions that you make, all the things that you can control, it can help you understand so much more of who you are and what your true purpose is.

I’ve never been a person who had much of a purpose statement other than I wanted to go out and do as much as I could, as fast as I could. But when that’s taken away from you, you have to sit down and reevaluate what you look at, what you focus on, and what you can do.

While the pandemic has affected the world, and more importantly our nation and many people in our nation, it has made a very positive impact on me to be better and appreciate more deeply everything that I can control.