At long last, our family is whole again! All of our BIA family members are finally eligible to open their doors. Though all restrictions haven’t been lifted yet, we are finally able to get back to doing what we were born to do, or at the very least, what puts food on our tables.
It’s time to celebrate and think about not what we’ve lost, but that we are regaining some of the normalcy of life that we craved. It’s also time to think of the positive things that we learned and how we can use them to enrich our lives beyond what they were pre-pandemic.
We learned that we are stronger working together as a community. Even during the most challenging days of the pandemic, we worked closely with North Grenville municipal staff, the North Grenville Chamber of Commerce and other groups to develop numerous business support programs. Together, we also strengthened our ability to share the type of critical information that is essential to the survival of all businesses across North Grenville. The fruits of these labours will continue to benefit our local business community for many years to come.
We learned that change, innovation and creativity can pay significant dividends. Moving part of your business online, embracing technology and learning to pivot under the most trying of conditions, can result in not only weathering the pandemic storm, but may ultimately lead to renewed prosperity and growth.
We learned that our true community leaders were leaders when we needed them most. Whether it was leading by example encouraging us to be physically active for our physical & mental health, by being adaptable & embracing unplanned opportunities or by shifting community resources to the places that needed them most, our real community leaders shone brightly during our darkest hours.
We learned that we may bend, but together, we will not break.
We learned that gratitude and kindness are all-powerful virtues that can both bring and bind people together in times of great struggle. A simple gesture of kindness can make an enormous difference in the life of a fellow human being. As well, focusing on the blessings that we have and not what we’ve lost or don’t have, can be what gets us through the day or simply gets us out of bed.
Thanks again to everyone who supported our BIA family throughout the pandemic and we look forward to helping you get back to doing the things you love to do and providing you with the things you need. Thank you also for your patience as we navigate these re-openings and learn to operate in this new world.
“Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see” – attributed to Mark Twain.
