How Will People Respond?

I have a prediction about this so called “new normal” that everyone says is going to happen thanks to the virus and the shutdown.  You want to know what it is?

It isn’t a future of social distancing.

It isn’t people so afraid to do anything they stay in their houses.

It isn’t a society that longs for more government control.

Nope.  In fact, the opposite.

Life function as pendulum – the more we get forced one direction, the more swin back in the other.  It’s just that we got caught up in the hysteria of the moment and forgot the nature of people through and through.

I know we are here for the purpose of talking about Patients and Dentistry, but we do that by talking about you and life in general – because that is what it is really all about.

We get to people’s health through their hearts and through their heads first.

Of course, there is going to be some concerned patients and team members.  Quite frankly, everyone will have to make up their own mind and develop their own comfort levels depending on their personal experiences.

But long term (and perhaps even short term), you will see people want connection, relationships, to be listened to, cared about, guided, and led more than ever before.

We are a society of relationships but on social interaction not of social distancing.  We are a people of togetherness not isolationist.  We are a society of hope not fear, of pride not pity, of acceptance not scorn.

People will rally.

Patients will come.

And that new normal will be one of gratitude for freedoms, appreciation for people, desire for opportunity, and excitement for the future.  The lessons learned from this most challenging time will provide a new perspective for everyone to care for their neighbor more, to care for their family more, and to care for themselves more.

In the science of human behavior, when something happens very fast and very dramatically, the response is very sharp and fast in return, it is not gradual.

I’ll save you the examples, but I can tell you people will rebound quickly and bring with them will be a stronger sense of presence, of living in the moment, of making the most of today, because they’ve had a lot of time – you’ve had a lot of time – to think about your life and reflect on it.

People tend to get comfortable very quickly in taking just about everything and everyone for granted because of the hustle and bustle of the daily grind.  When all that goes away you think deeply about what you miss and what you don’t.  When you get it back, you do a better job of taking care of it.

It’s a powerful thing to be able to work, to create, to connect, and to do something meaningful with your life.  It’s one way you we get to express yourself in society by who you are and how you contribute.

My amazing team and I talk to a lot of people.  I can tell you unequivocally people can’t wait to get back to doing what they do, to helping people, to earning their living, and to creating their lives.  If it is a new normal, it is going to be filled with gratitude, aspiration, ambition, responsibility, and compassion.

Best of all, you get the opportunity once again to be an integral part of it, to lead by example, and to help your patients in all ways – there is certainly nothing new about that.