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This week I want to share 3 resources that I’ve found particularly helpful for dealing with the challenges surrounding the coronavirus pandemic – one psychological resource, one practical resource, and one spiritual resource.
But first, I want to ask you to do me a favour. Please don’t shame yourself (or others) for being scared, acting irrationally at times or feeling overwhelmed. It’s normal. We’re human. We’re all doing the best we can to come to terms with something that is quite huge and life changing. Be kind and gentle with yourself at this time.
My experience is that I’m trying my best, and yet it feels like it’s not enough. Because it isn’t. This thing is mostly outside my control. I have to accept what’s out of my control, and just focus on the things that I can directly influence.
That’s hard because I feel frustrated and somewhat powerless a lot of the time. There’s SO MUCH out of my control! Which is why I need to bring forward as much compassion as I can muster for myself and others.
I found myself wishing the other day that I might get coronavirus early so I can become immune and get out there and help. Yet I’m self-isolating and taking precautions not to get it. The cognitive dissonance of those conflicting notions is tiring.
I grieve the unknowable, the unthinkable. I feel bad for what I may have already done “wrong”, or may still yet. At the same time, I’m scaling a learning curve that feels pretty steep so that I can do and be my best in this situation.
My mind scrambles for solutions that may or may not exist. I rail against decisions being made that may or may not be the best ones. My heart feels a sense of impending doom, and to some degree it’s probably right. But on another level there are lessons and kindnesses and silver linings mixed in. For everything that’s going ‘wrong’ there are things that are going ‘right’ too, and I’m learning how to balance these in my mind.
My friend Michael Maidens (who worked on creating The Abundance Code film with me) talks about it like walking a tightrope suspended in the air. Okay, so you know you’re in danger and you could fall. But if you keep looking down and focusing on that danger too much, then you will fall. You need to just focus on your feet, and on keeping your balance. If you do that, then you can make it across the abyss one step at a time.
I’m touched by the generosity, humanity, ingenuity and sharing of wisdom that I’m seeing as a result of so many people rallying around a common cause. The heightened sense of our shared humanity, that transcends all borders and all imagined divisions, melts my heart. We’re all in this together. That’s more true now than ever.
So in that spirit, let me share the 3 resources that helped me the most this week.
The Psychological Resource
The following article from the Harvard Business Review is really good (even though it’s got nothing to do with business). It helped me to understand and name what I’m feeling. And somehow that made a big difference to my state of mind and brought me peace.
I hope it helps you too.
HBR Article: That Discomfort You’re Feeling is Grief
The Practical Resource
On a practical level the thing I was struggling with the most was how to make sure my home environment is safe for me and my family, while keeping us all comfortable and well fed. This video on how to deal with disinfecting my groceries before I put them away at home (taught by a doctor), is pretty simple but I actually had no idea how or what to do before watching it. It also covers what to do with takeaway food to make that safe too.
YouTube Video: PSA Safe Grocery Shopping in COVID-19 Pandemic
The Spiritual Resource
Someone posted the following excerpt in an online group I’m a member of, and I found it helped me to tap into my sense of being spiritually guided and held by a power greater than myself.
It’s from a book called The Language of Letting Go by Melodie Beatty…
Letting Go of Worry
What if we knew for certain that everything we’re worried about today will work out fine?
What if . . . we had a guarantee that the problem bothering us would be worked out in the most perfect way, and at the best possible time? Furthermore, what if we knew that three years from now we’d be grateful for that problem, and its solution?
What if . . . we knew that even our worst fear would work out for the best?
What if . . . we had a guarantee that everything that’s happening, and has happened, in our life was meant to be, planned just for us, and in our best interest?
What if . . . we had a guarantee that the people we love are experiencing exactly what they need in order to become who they’re intended to become? Further, what if we had a guarantee that others can be responsible for themselves, and we don’t have to control or take responsibility for them?
What if . . . we knew the future was going to be good, and we would have an abundance of resources and guidance to handle whatever comes our way?
What if . . . we knew everything was okay, and we didn’t have to worry about a thing? What would we do then?
We’d be free to let go and enjoy life.
Today, I will know that I don’t have to worry about anything. If I do worry, I will do it with the understanding that I am choosing to worry, and it is not necessary.
To a sceptical mind these ideas could seem like a spiritual bypass, but it reminded me of my belief that I am a spiritual being having human experiences, as well as a human being having spiritual experiences.
There’s more going on here than can be perceived just by focusing awareness in the realm of the material and physical. There’s a spiritual reality too. As well as an environmental reality, a cultural and social reality, an emotional reality… and interconnectedness across all of these levels.
This is a time of quickening; a time of rapid evolution across many levels. In that sense it’s also a time that’s pregnant with possibility for a new way of being. We’re collectively giving birth to a whole new world. A lot of things will never be the same.
The choices we make now matter, and so it’s important to stay aware and keep your balance! Walk that tightrope by focusing on what you actually have control over. Do your best and surrender the rest.
I pray that you will find a way to walk your path, one step at a time, in love and peace.
I’m sending you lots of love, and as always let me know in the comments if this post has helped you in any way.
To YOUR Abundance,
Julie Ann Cairns
