It’s been over a year since we’ve been trying to adapt to a strong reality that has been enforced on us, the COVID-19 situation. So many things have changed. So many losses have changed the lives of people forever. Although we’ve been hearing a lot about “acceptance”, “new normal” and “adapting”; getting to the point of fully accepting the situation is not an easy pill to swallow. We have had it tough, some countries more than others, but we sure have gone through so much change and damage that significantly shock the ground under us and swept away most of our comfort and joy.
I am here to remind you that the storm always settles. I am here to tell you that the myriad haunting emotions that you have experienced for the last year are valid, normal and important. It feels like we’ve been running for a whole year, fighting the change, chasing health, normality and wellness. It’s been exhausting to say the least!
WHAT I NEED YOU TO DO is stop fighting the wrong battles and stop chasing what keeps constantly running in the opposite direction. Take one deep breath, collect your thoughts and think of the next thing you want to do and let that be your starting point.
We need to work on enhancing our self-awareness. We need to learn which questions to ask ourselves and how to take control of what’s within our reach.
Ask yourself the following
“Who can I reach out to?”
“What is it that I am feeling?”
“What triggered this thought?”
“Is it possible for me to talk about these feelings and thoughts?”
“Is my current behavior contributing to my current state of distress and negative emotions?”
“Is there anything I could do differently to perhaps feel more at ease, contained and calm?”
“Do any of my current relationships contribute to my feelings of distress?”
“What have I done to allow myself to grieve the losses that I have witnessed and experienced for the past year”
When we find ourselves stuck, it is only because we haven’t fully explored and processed what has been going on inside our minds. We cannot, as human beings, accept something so impactful and detrimental without understanding how it truly made us feel on all aspects and dimensions and how it has impacted our lives. Once we manage to do that and get to the acceptance, we become more willing to engage in proactive behavior. Acceptance becomes our weapon to discover what are the things that we can actually take control of. Once we let go of trying to control the world, the pandemic, the news or even our own future, we reach more internal peace and comfort through rewiring our brains to think of what is adaptive.
Take this moment to make a conscious decision to changing how your mind is perceiving your current situation and how it is apprehensively anticipating the future. All you have for now is the present and how you are reacting to it. Despair and helplessness come when we try to control the future and fail. But who has the future now? We only have today.
Remember, what you do with your “Today” is much more guaranteed to bring you the peace that you are after than how you plan your tomorrows.