Jon Bon Jovi has a new song out that speaks directly to these most difficult times. The new song is called “Do What You Can.” The entire hook is … when you can’t do what you do, you do what you can.
To me this is a brilliant concept and statement. All of our lives have been changed. Many people, rightly so, are afraid and nervous. But I truly think that Jon Bon Jovi is spot on. So many of us have been stopped from doing our normal work along with family jobs and routines. Now there do not appear to be any normal routines, from going to the grocery store to going to work. What Jon is saying, so smartly in this perfectly crafted song is, if you can’t do what you want to do or what you used to do, “Do What You Can.” I truly think this is the right thought process for right now.
Try to find safe ways to help one another in the battle against this Draconian Virus. My wife, Karen, says many incredibly bright things to me every week. I always seek out her thoughts and opinions. We were just chatting about how difficult and stressful these current days can be. She then said something that, to me, was very poignant. She said we may have to find a way to reimagine America.

No country in the world can do what we do. We put a man on the moon when JFK said we would do it, even though we were so very far behind in the race to the moon. He inspired the nation. We reimagined what we could be. The world was changed instantly because we were able to put a small computer into a very small space capsule. This had never been done before. Computers before the Moon Shot were wall size. Now we all walk around with tiny computers in our pockets via our phones.
When NASA was trying to figure out how they could make a very flexible light weight suit for the astronauts to wear and walk on the moon, they were having trouble. The moon’s surface was very dangerous, very rocky and one slight tear in the suit and an astronaut would be dead instantly. The president of Playtex called NASA and said they could do it. Of course everyone knows that Playtex makes women’s undergarments but NASA said go ahead and give it a try. Four women from Playtex hand sewed all the astronauts suits and they were safely worn on the surface of the moon.
We may not be able to do things the way we used to do them for a long time but we can always do what we can to help others in these most difficult days. And lastly, we might just be in a situation where we have to reimagine America. Maybe we work differently, travel differently, socialize and celebrate differently.
Think about … “Do What You Can” and try to reimagine America.
We can do it.

Tom Cole is the Community Outreach Coordinator for the Taylor Automotive Family and teaches broadcasting at St. John’s Jesuit and Adrian College.