I am a doctor, small business owner, leader of 12K women physicians, and mother of four. The coronarvirus pandemic has hit me personally in varying ways. As a physician, I’ve had to think about how to give the best care while utilizing the fewest resources. I’ve had to be flexible each day as what I knew to be true yesterday, may not be true today. I’ve had to be an information sieve, taking in new policies and protocols daily as life as we know it in the hospital changes frequently. Each time I walk into the hospital, I whisper a simple mantra to  myself: have open hands. 

As a small business owner, I’ve had to be resilient. Most of us who own businesses have had incredible loss of income. Granted, my job as a physician gives me financial privilege to support my family during COVID-19, but providing for people on my payroll has been incredibly stressful. I grieve for the loss of so many small businesses. It is one thing to figure out how to provide for your own family; but it is quite another when you have a responsibility to also employ others who depend on their job under your leadership to feed their own. I’ve had to learn to be innovative, creative, and open to change. In other words, have open hands. 

When your hands are open, you are open to learn. Open to both help and also receive. It is not a defensive, arrogant, or all-knowing position. There’s no ego with open hands. You are just open. Willing to learn, willing to take advice or different opportunities, but also willing to give. There’s a transparency that comes with open hands. 

As a leader of women physicians, watching them work during COVID-19 has been nothing short of inspirational. Sure, they have fears. Sure, they have rough days. But they are showing up and fighting the good fight. They are taking care of their patients and their own families. They are providing for the sick and also home schooling, cooking, teaching. Many of them as single parents. They are learning to do things they’ve never had to do before – with open hands.

As a mother of four, COVID-19 has proven difficult. My little people miss their friends, activities, and sports. They’ve lost high school seasons, regional championships & dance competitions they worked all year to earn. As we start to turn slowly turn on the dimmer switch and leave our homes for certain things, it’s a challenge to explain the new rules and safety measures we must take. Wearing masks. Standing 6 feet apart. Screening friends and temperatures. Not high-fiving their friends they haven’t seen in 12 weeks when they are beyond excited to see them. No large gatherings. Playing with your own ball, not sharing it with others. What “hanging out” means. Dancing on an X at the studio, with 10% of the normal kids in the room, and not moving from your spot. Encouraging them when they are down. The importance of open hands; not comparing now to what they knew, but finding ways to have fun today, in the here and now.

Amidst the harshness we read online, the judging one side vs. another in the media, the shaming one another, can we find grace? I propose a simple mantra: how about we model open hands? How about we embrace today, in whatever role we find ourselves in: business owner, healthcare worker, mother, father, leader, and stand with open hands? (Six feet apart, of course). How about we support one another for where we are today, and be open to learning and leading, simultaneously? How about we wear masks when going to the store, at the same time not judge our neighbor for opening up his/her business with new rules and ideas and innovation to keep us safe? 

Our world as we know it as changed. But we have an incredible opportunity to embrace this new normal – despite its grief and challenges – with open hands. 

I hope you will join me.