2021 … A Time for Freedom
I choose Freedom. The Freedom to dream. The Freedom to contribute. The Freedom to create positive energy by showing love and caring for others. The Freedom to explore.
When I last spoke with you via the December issue of Serving With Caring Hearts, we were about to embark on another loss of the Freedom to enjoy the company of others, a meal in our favourite restaurants, a visit to our preferred destination and making turns on our favourite ski hills.
I wrote in that issue the Province-wide Shutdown would cause each of us new challenges. But, I also wrote I was confident that we would overcome the Shutdown just as we overcame those dark days in April last year.
Today is not a dark day. It is a beautiful winter day in Collingwood as we look forward to Family Day weekend. A chilly beginning but lots of glorious sunshine, more snow than at any time this winter with our cross country and hiking trails open to provide Freedom for fresh experiences.
Over the past six weeks, I have considered what lessons we can learn from this pandemic and what beliefs have sustained me and all of you during this challenging time.
We learned simple things.
How to celebrate New Year’s Eve during a pandemic. How to enjoy take-out food from your favourite restaurant, watch sports without fans in stadiums or arenas, shop by a curbside pickup. The list goes on. But each of you adapted to a new and very different world of Freedom.
We learned life lessons.
Once again we learned the difficult lesson that we do not have absolute control of our future in life. But we do have hope, faith, and positive energy. By striving to do good deeds each day and be kind to each other we will sleep well and live out our lives fully by God's grace.
We now know that facing the challenges of the pandemic in each of our lives is too big a burden for one person to overcome. But we’ve also learned that each of us can make a difference by contributing our humble capacities to helping others.
To master our lives, our minds and the mental challenges posed by this horrific pandemic, we need to intentionally balance our lives, physically and mentally. For many of us, this is a new learning.
We have learned - despite of our life’s limitations – that we can extend more love and build on positive people relationships that will lead us to a more rewarding life journey. We have learned to count our blessings like health and more family time that we may not have considered as blessings in normal times.
All of this to say, we have learned that we have the Freedom to choose how we face COVID: while we may have more worries and more mental stress, we can choose to be inspired to have a more positive mindset.
At Living Water Resorts, we continue serving inspiring experiences to our guests with a caring heart. This is a core belief that sustains us as we begin each day.
As a company, we believe that when we take care of our staff with love, the staff will naturally take care of our guests with love.
The pandemic challenged us to make good on that belief.
As you likely know, the Shutdown announcement resulted in the closing of some of our business resulting in the temporary layoff of many team members. We decided to show love and care to each of our laid off staff by connecting with them via Zoom to provide a needed human touch. We have a food basket program for each of the families each Friday containing steaks and nutritious items.
I believe that Freedom also means, “Let's dream and it will come true.”
My dream for Living Water Resorts comes true every day for each of the past 29 years that I have owned the resort.
Our new Phase IV will be ready for occupancy before the end of February increasing our accommodations to over 400 rooms/ suites. Phase IV has a private theatre for exclusive family use of our guests, more water view suites so you don't need to travel to the Islands
We’re also planning a transformed all-inclusive, carefree retreat vacation experience.
A destination vacation in which guests can experience Collingwood and Living Water's offerings: learn more of Collingwood's Awen Gathering Place, Collingwood's history called Chicago in the North, local artists, our company's culture that will inspire you in your life and your work, and open space for you and your loved ones to reconnect. Our unique condo suites with living, dining, and kitchen spaces will offer you a home away from home vacation.
In closing, I believe that God is sovereign and He will take care of us as we face this future of uncertainty and the absence of our Freedoms.
I know that faith and hope will endure us through the days. I pray for God's grace and learn more wisdom from Him so that we are more confident, courageous and compassionate.
Stay Safe, be well
Larry Law
CEO and Founder
Living Water Resorts
