This is part of our Voices series with City of Lakeland Mayor Bill Mutz, where he breaks down his thoughts about what’s going on in the City – in just one minute. Want to join the conversation? We invite you to write for us. Learn how to share your voice here.

We are entering the final weeks of a year in which we have witnessed or experienced huge extremes.

There has been great pain from human relations and healthcare perspectives, yet some businesses, and individuals, have enjoyed record sales and incomes due to shifting buyer preferences. All these changes created some emotional pressures and wild fluctuations, as well.

Enter the Holidays. I encourage us to embrace this season with perhaps the most extraordinary sensitivity of our lives. We will see fear, joy, pain, celebration, callousness, caring, want, and plenty. It will be a spectrum.

Mayor Mutz’s Monthly Moment – Embracing both hurting + thriving | Photo by @mi.casita.verde

We can’t assume everyone’s experience has been like our own. We need finely tuned headsets for listening, compassion, loving and forgiving others. If they are hurting, we must attempt to understand the depth of why. If we are hurting, and they celebrate without noticing, they may miss our pain. Love them anyway, yet be sure to find someone who will hear and care about your story. They are there; please try to find them.

For us all, difficult times require even greater precision when handling relationships. This era is not a time for “whatever.” Instead, it is a time for “whatever it takes!” Choose to be the person who fills gaps this holiday season by enriching the hearts of others.

On behalf of the entire City Commission, we pray the weeks ahead will be filled with moments and relationships well spent.

Give someone the best gift of all this holiday season: the knowledge that you care about them. And then share this with someone you know who could use a little encouragement. 🎁