Forced and Unforced Errors (129)

Covid-19 has forced us to do a lot of things. Closures, isolations, redirections. There have been global shifts in every aspect of our lives. With this remodel, mistakes have been made. Like in tennis when the player is put into a situation where they make an error because their opponent made a good shot. The difficult situation we find ourselves in, was caused by a virus. A microscopic organism that took aim and hit a bullseye, literally shutting down society.

We had time pressure, we were moving, during its shot execution. We are still moving, albeit in isolation. But we are trying desperately to raise our racket and hit the ball back over the net. Our forced errors are obvious. Slow reaction time. Miscommunication. Disinformation. Even, personal responsibility took some time to take hold. We were in a state of disbelief and shock.

Unforced errors, those not caused by the opponent’s good shot, are also in abundance. They have been in place for a long time. Long before the virus’ first serve-advantage. The blame game, lack of preparation, judgment, and fear. Things fell into a cycle and this forced error, has broken it. We need to prevent the cycle from reforming- focus on breaking it and fixing the previous mistakes, we allowed to infiltrate society.

There is no longer us and them. We are all in this together. We have to look after one another. Words will continue to be spoken that will try to disenfranchise, enrage, and divide us. We must listen to the voice of reason. Our own voice of decency and compassion. But we must be realistic and ease back into a life we have fought for. We need to go back to a functioning community of business, commerce, and education.

I sit on the sidelines, net in the center, and watch as the ball is hit back and forth. Disagreements, bias, prejudice, self-interest. Each formidable in their serves. Each with percentages rising and falling- aces, winners, loves. Games starting and ending. The spectator’s heads shifting left, shifting right. Trying to keep their eyes on the ball. I am one of them and my neck is getting sore.

We are going to make errors- forced and unforced. We are going to ignore some, gloss them over, hope they go away. While others we will attack head on, racket at the ready. It is not just the newsworthy stories we need to focus on. We have to pay attention to the little things too- before they pile up and we lose sight of how to correct them.