I’m putting a hold on my follow up blog to last weeks blog Getting Comfortable With Our Thoughts which will share suggestions of what to do with our journaled thoughts. Today, I believe it’s more important to address the rise of concern and helplessness that’s spreading throughout the world and hope to ease and diffuse some of the discomfort. The reality today is the life we’ve known has become unrecognizable and uncomfortable. What’s left in the void is fear, pain, anger, frustration and feeling lost in how to get through our days of limited choices with no certain end in sight.
Life as we know it has been turned upside down. We agreed to it willingly with the knowledge and compassion to help stop the spread of covid19. Without a doubt, it’s the right choice, but it comes at a personal price and we were unprepared for the impact on our personal world. The cost is not feeling like ourselves when our life has been suspended and we struggle to adapt to our new imposed circumstances.
Here is a startling and surreal thought to consider. Every single person on this planet is doing exactly-the-same thing at the same time! Think about it. When in history has the entire planet been afflicted with an identical adversity simultaneously? Never. That is until right now as the world unites in battling the coronavirus.
We are either practicing social distancing or, in my case, been issued a stay-at-home order by our governor. What has resulted for all non-essential workers is that our life has done a complete 180 from our normal. It’s our normal that gets us out of bed with a purpose for work or community or charity and helps us end the day feeling fulfilled.
Our normal is the expression of what makes us, “us”, and right now that expression has been put on pause. Understandably, the majority of people in the world are feeling very frustrated because losing our freedom to go about our usual day is not only uncomfortable, it can feel as restricting as a prison.
Why? For the reason that how we fill our days with things that give us purpose and makes us productive is no longer an option. Typically, we use our days to bring challenge, stimulation and growth that foster feelings of joy, satisfaction and contentment. We have so many things we do throughout our day that create our own special brand of normal and conveys our personal essence.
Our normal is done in many ways, such as expressing our unique personality by our appearance (i.e., our clothes, hair, nails) and showing our creativity with other natural gifts like acting, singing or dancing, and the many mediums of art.
Our normal is going to the gym to stay healthy or being social with friends and neighbors or visiting museums or being in school or playing on a sports team or enjoying a wide array of hobbies that bring us joy. I could go on endlessly with examples of how will fill our day with events and tasks and habits to design a custom-built life that makes our life feel normal.
Well, no one likes to be stuck in a place of discomfort and particularly when we’re uncertain how long this course of action will continue. The most shocking realization for me is that no one has ever or could have ever predicted a virus could cause a world-wide shut down and the world just wasn’t prepared.
I do find solace in the fact that the world will learn and grow from this global crisis and be better prepared with protocol and procedures that protect human life and at the same time will help avoid a global shut-down.
Right now, continue to journal so you can collect any wild and erratic thoughts or dark feelings that may be running through you. Because if left unchecked, they can grow into little mischievous fairies that could shatter what is bright and good in our life with toxic emotions like fear, anger, bitterness, or resentment that only compound the wreckage that may be caused by this pandemic.
Observe, claim and contain how we feel through this time of crisis by taking even just a few minutes each day to record them. Acknowledging and releasing what’s troubling us helps us get a solid grip on our new upside down world and takes us closer to diffusing it’s damaging power over us.
Keep it Simple,
Just Teri
jtjustteri.wordpress.com 