What an interesting/difficult/fascinating/strange/unprecedented time we are experiencing. I’m talking about the lockdown in response to covid-19. This is serious. People are dying, people are losing their livelihoods, and no matter how big the stimulus bill is, there will be fallout. There will be loss. There will be “before the virus” and “after the virus.” When we “return to normal”, it will be different than normal used to be.
We get to have a say in how we respond. We get to have a say in what our lives look like from here. Obviously, this time is showing us that we are not quite as “in charge” as we thought we were. But we can reassess things. We can make some different decisions going forward. Here are some questions we can ask ourselves:
- When things start back up, how do I want my schedule to look? Do I want to be as busy as I used to be? If not, what am I willing to let go of in order to have some precious time to myself or to spend with the ones I love?
- How do I want my relationships to change going forward? What can I do to facilitate that? Do I need to forgive? Is there something in the past that needs to die? Do I need to take more responsibility for something? Do I need to have more self-care instead of looking to someone else to figure out what would make me feel better?
- What about my relationship with my house? I’ve spent a lot more time here lately! Do I need to change anything in my house so that I can feel more comfortable here? Do I need to get rid of some things, and/or rethink how I live in my house? Is there a way I can create private spaces and together spaces that work better for how I/we live here? How can I make my house a home?
- During this time apart, have I discovered anything that makes me feel better? How can I continue doing those things? Is there a way I can not be in such a hurry going forward? Is there a way I can take care of myself and let go of some stress going forward?
- How have my values/beliefs about life changed? How then will I live going forward?
There are so many things we can’t do right now. It’s really interesting to meditate on that. Your child may be sad that she can’t go to the birthday party. But because you can’t do anything about that, she can process through that discomfort in a different way, because it can’t be helped. We can’t travel. We can’t go to destination weddings. We can’t go to the big game. We can’t go to Church. We can’t get a haircut! We can’t, we can’t, we can’t. There are so many things we can’t do. Even though it’s temporary, it’s an interesting place to be. It lets us know we are limited. We would not choose this situation. But our limitations help us understand what we can and cannot do And that’s valuable information.
What CAN we do? We can wake up and get dressed and stick to a routine. We can cook. We can spend time with people in our household. We can check on people and ask them how they are getting along. We can read. We can meditate. We can go outside and soak up some sunbeams. We can appreciate the little things life has for us right now.