“I’m afraid”, she said. “I’m afraid of everything right now. Will I make it through this? Will I come out on the other side and feel okay? Will I be fearful of my best friend that I haven’t hugged in 3 months? Does the guy walking into the store with his mask on have the virus? Did that door handle I just touched have the virus on it? Will my senior daughter that just graduated from High School be able to go to college in the fall? Will my job still be there when the ‘stay at home’ orders rescind? My friend is getting married in the fall, can all 100 guests be together in the church?” The uncertainty is mind-numbing. “Yes”, she says, “I’m afraid”.
While all this uncertainty is crazy making, if we step back and calm ourselves, we might find that we are all being given an opportunity to approach and live our lives - differently. This might be a dramatic call-to-action and a real paradigm shift in the way we think and operate, but is that so bad? We need to recognize that we only have this instant and that the future is unknown to us, the past is behind us; we only have right now. This moment.
We are being challenged to view and change the lens we have all been looking through. We do need to slow down, connect with our loved ones and remind ourselves of the simple pleasures in life, like sitting down to dinner with our families? Making sure to call grandpa, creating art and craft projects with our kids… this is a new pathway we are being shown.
This earthquake has shattered the lives we have come to know, but in the rubble can we find new and better ways to rebuild? Maybe we need to ask the tough question we have not had the courage to ask. Can you see the grace in this experience? Can we as a society lift our consciousness to a higher way of being and living, letting go of what was, what needs to be done now and, embrace this new future?
As human beings we are adaptable but, why do we go kicking and screaming into change? This a wakeup call for change. Can we accept change for the betterment of ourselves, the expansion and growth of our world? This global health crisis has been a shock to our systems, leaving us in disbelief and confusion. Frustration and anger rise and can be directed toward our governments or leaders, God, or yourself. You might be blaming others or feeling guilty for things that you have done or, not done. This disruption in our lives can leave us feeling vulnerable and emotional. Because, it is about change, it is the devastating painful eruption that we didn’t know was coming and how it would impact us. Now, how do we deal with our fear, our anger, our isolation, our re-entry, our rebuilding? What are you doing to allay your fears and regroup? Can you begin to accept your losses, evaluate and mourn for what was, awaken your consciousness to the possibilities of what can be?
We can change. We can do it with confidence. Take a deep breath, let’s just take it one step at a time. We are in for a new adventure. The future can be bright and it’s up to us to make it so.