Two years ago, my husband Matt and I took a five-month road trip in our RV, which we call Freedom. Shortly into the adventure, we started keeping a list of people and places we encountered that went above and beyond in some way, like serving melt-in-your-mouth pancakes, offering an extra-friendly smile, or sharing directions for a “locals-only” shortcut.

It’s a new year, so people all over the world have been busy making resolutions, promises, pledges, and solemn oaths so they can somehow do better—and be better—in 2021.

I’ve got nothing against the age-old tradition of making resolutions that start on January 1st (and, ahem, are usually forgotten around the 15th …). And I’m all for creating “guardrails” to keep us on track and help us reach our personal and professional goals. Yet I recently heard something that made me think there’s might be a simpler approach.

Recently, I was on the phone with my sister. She was feeling down because the pandemic is preventing her from seeing her new grandbaby who lives with his parents in Boulder. My heart aches for my sister during this holiday season. She’ll have to figure out a whole new way to celebrate the holidays on her own this year, as will my nephew and his growing family. The truth is, most of us are facing the same challenge.

Like many of us, this is typically the time of year when I get to reconnect with far-flung relatives during large, loud family gatherings. Since that’s impossible right now, I’ve been reconnecting with some of my favorite family stories and memories.

Here’s one that keeps resurfacing. When my nephew, Dwight, was about four-years-old, he and his pal Justin were in my sister’s backyard. The boys were dressed as Ninja Turtles, lunging at each other with pretend swords.

Not long ago, I got a voice message from one of my Live Bright Now clients, a female CEO named Joanne. “I need to put on my big girl pants,” she said. “Can we talk?” Turns out Joanne had an upcoming video conference with one of her male counterparts in Europe about running their global business team. Based on previous interactions with her colleague, Joanne knew he was stubborn and had a sizable ego. For his part, he felt like she had unrealistic expectations for the team. For Joanne, “big girl pants” was code for holding her ground and staying firm when asking for what her team needed.

For the past few weeks, one phrase keeps popping up in my brain: Life is a contact sport. I’ve been feeling a lot of “contact” from all directions lately. Since “normal” daily life now is pretty darn intense—and the political unrest is only heightening the intensity—I think we’re all feeling more sensitive and vulnerable than usual. I’m probably not the only one regularly nursing a few bumps and bruises. Question is, can we learn something from the injuries we’re sustaining?