After 30-plus years of teaching, writing, and advising on matters of health and fitness, I’ve come to see the connections between them and sometimes share those with you. In a manner of speaking, you could call me a philosopher.

Compare me to Tom Morris, quite possibly the nation’s preeminent present-day philosopher, and you could call me something else.

Second-rate.

Morris has written nearly 30 books. A few became bestsellers.

I’ve published one so bad it makes me blush to this day.

According to Morris’s website, his twelfth book, True Success: A New Philosophy of Excellence,“launched him into a new adventure as a public thinker and advisor to the corporate world.” In that role, he’s advised some of the biggest bigwigs, VIPs at Toyota, General Motors, The Ford Motor Company, Mercedes Benz, Hewlett Packard, Merrill Lynch, Verizon, IBM, Coca Cola, The US Air Force, Prudential, Fidelity Investments, Price Waterhouse, Target Stores, Mattel, and NBC Sports “to name just a few.”

In my “role,” I have counseled members of the Lehighton branch of TOPS (Take Pounds Off Sensibly). Once. For nearly 90 minutes. About 12 years ago.

I’m comparing myself to Morris because I have a crazy thought in my head, one I’m afraid you’ll find laughable at best.

So my plan is to share it with you and - once you stop laughing - use Morris’s reputation and words as evidence that even though I often sport ski caps and baseball hats, I am not as mad as a hatter.

The crazy thought: If you can somehow maintain the proper perspective, the new normal necessitated by the pandemic will not only lead to a healthier you but also a better understanding of the Big Picture, my phrase for seeing how all the seemingly separate parts of your life (like my teaching, writing, and workouts) seamlessly come together.

Yes, I read newspapers. I know that as of Monday at 12:15 pm, CNN reported that 22,154 Americans have died and that 558,999 have been diagnosed with the coronavirus and those numbers could be tenfold or more before this ordeal is over.

Yes, I’m sensitive to your situation. I realize that being locked in your house might also mean you’re laid off, lacking medical coverage, and in such dire need of that economic stimulus check that you just might damn the torpedoes and social distancing and hug the mailman when he delivers it.

Yes, I understand economics. I’m aware that the crash of the stock market and the possibility of a recession bordering on the Great Depression could mean you’ll retire five years later than you’d like, with less money than you wanted, and a debt or two you never expected.

Despite all that, I will not waver. But I will repeat my premise.

You can become a better person because of this pandemic.

How can I write those words? It’s based in part on ones I first read about 15 years ago, in the Tom Morris book I like best: The Stoic Art of Living.

The book illustrates how you can apply the writings of three Stoic philosophers, Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, to understand and manage your emotions, see the Big Picture, and lead a more satisfying life. But what’s most insightful for me are the sections where Morris writes about himself.

I must’ve read the subsequent snippet 100 times. And every time I do, I feel peace of mind and strength of conviction.

“The worst things I’ve ever been through have always somehow paved the way for the best things I’ve ever experienced. It’s very strange. Yet it’s true.

So I try to keep this in mind whenever any situation coming my way looks bad. Things are not always what they seem ...

It is up to us how we interpret the situations that we face.”

So I’ll ask you now to read Morris’ words again and again and then challenge yourself. Reinterpret the problems created by the coronavirus.

Find pencil and paper, scribble the words “The Good That the Pandemic Could Do” on top, and create a five-item list. Your items can apply to the U.S. or the world, but it might be best to make them personal.

Before you dismiss my request as some rehashed online junior high school assignment, let me explain that Morris wrote what I quoted above in response to a question the Stoic philosopher Seneca asked a friend who felt totally undone by terrible circumstances.

“How often has what seemed to be terrible instead turned out to be the source and the beginning of happiness?”

So I urge you in this especially troubling time to do some deep thinking. To be resilient. To be resourceful.

To be the miner who sifts through two tons of dirt to find two ounces of gold.