View this post on Instagram

 

For those of us who believe that COVID-19 has never been a hoax, we wake up in the morning thinking:

Is the pandemic finally over? Almost over? Is it gone for good? What’s real and not real? If I get it, I won’t get that sick anyway. I might as well go to that party. Head back to the office. Accept that new job. Attend the large conference. Go to my nephew’s wedding. Or should I? What is the CDC saying and not saying? And how can one Judge try to override the CDC and the President of the United States? What is going on here?

No one knows what they’re doing, and no one knows definite rules on what they should do. Where is the clarity and guidance?

What about the new variants? How bad will they be? My friends are getting Covid two years later. Some are sick, and others have no symptoms. What’s with that? I thought things were getting better. Does anyone know anything for sure? What’s safe? Not safe?  

Should I wear a mask when I’m in stores these days? Other people aren’t. Why should I? Should I wear a mask when I visit my friend today? How do I know where she’s been? And what about my five-year-old grandchild? Should I let her eat in a restaurant with me? You know what? I confess. I did bring her to a busy restaurant, and I have been feeling guilty ever since. What am I doing eating inside restaurants again anyway?

What if I’m the only one wearing a mask somewhere? How do I deal with peer pressure? It’s an emotional trigger. I feel like “the other” again—like the high school girl who doesn’t get invited to the prom or the person who doesn’t belong to the same religion as everyone else in the neighborhood. I feel like Hermit the Frog who sang, “It’s not easy being green.”

Worst thought alert: What if it turns out that the anti-vaxxers are right? What if the vaccines are creating long-term harm to my body? How many shots am I willing to get into these two poor arms anyway? The last person who gave me a shot injected it near my shoulder and I’ve had a syndrome called “frozen shoulder” ever since! How’s that for a reward for doing the “right thing?” I’ve been suffering from it for over a year!

I just want life to be normal! I am so tired of all this.

I know, I sound as if I completely lost it. I don’t think about Covid as much as I did in the beginning, but it’s still hovering. As much as I try to push it away and get back to normal, part of me senses an undercurrent of Covid anxiety at all times.

If you are plagued with similar doubts and feelings, you’re not alone. As a perfectly imperfect human being, intuitive life coach, founder of the Facebook community, “Shift of Heart,” author of four motivational self-help books, motivational speaker, musician, sound healer, Earth lover, meditation believer, and a spirituality and peace educator, I am just like you. I have no idea what I’m doing.

What do I do to create more moments of energy, balance, and calm? I reach for my favorite transformational, personal growth, and spiritually healing tools. They helped me before the pandemic, and they are helping me now in a world that still feels overwhelmingly confusing.

Stop the world to simply breathe.

For several minutes during the day, clear your mind, stop everything you’re doing, place your feet firmly on the ground, uncross your arms, notice the present moment, close your eyes, put your hand on your heart, and inhale and exhale long, slow, and deep breaths. If tears surface, let them flow. If you want to scream, let it out. Just keep breathing. Breathe in rebirth, hope, and new beginnings.

Change the words you say to yourself.

When my husband suffered a heart attack, we designed a positive affirmation together.

“I have the strength and the will to get through this.”

During Covid, we have returned to this affirmation again. Power words reinforce that we can get through anything and everything. Write your affirmation down, think it, say it, sing it, and visualize yourself going through your life with more moments of strength, resilience, confidence, and courage.

Embody quiet activism.

I believe in quiet activism and am a grounded advocate for the healing power of “thought transference.” Send thoughts of healing, strength, and love telepathically to those who are under emotional, mental, physical, or spiritual stress.

The prayer I say every morning and every evening is a 2,500-year-old prayer called, “The Metta Meditation Prayer of Loving-Kindness”:

May I be happy. May I be well. May I be safe. May I be peaceful and at ease.

May you be happy. May you be well. May you be safe. May you be peaceful and at ease.

May we be happy. May we be well. May we be safe. May we be peaceful and at ease.

Journal write, keep moving, and create, create, create.

Write down all your thoughts and feelings in a journal. Stream of consciousness. Don’t worry about grammar and punctuation. Get the toxicity out of your cells. Dance, exercise, hike, and take slow sensory walks in nature. Create. Any form of creativity will help you release pent-up emotions. Distract your mind from any lingering unhealthy feelings of fear and anxiety, refocus your body, mind, and spirit, discover new layers of yourself, and guide yourself in exploring positive paths toward embodying more moments of inner peace and happiness.

What are your spiritual takeaways from living with this Covid nightmare?

Mary-Jane, one of the members of my Facebook community, “Shift of Heart,” answered this question by sharing, “Perhaps one of the biggest gifts of the pandemic has been the fact that my life has slowed down and I take time for the small things…savor the taste, consider the words, enjoy the aroma, reflect on the beauty, live with intention. After receiving the vaccines and boosters, I feel the rhythm of life slowly beginning to increase. It’s worth reminding myself of the beauty of stillness.”

We are in the meantime.

Covid. Sadly, and with great frustration, it doesn’t seem to be over, does it? We are in the meantime. During this ambiguous time, create positive visions for yourself and your life. I know it’s hard, but you can do it. Yes, people are driving crazy fast, moving crazy fast, and talking crazy loud. It’s understandable. We’re like wild horses finally let out of the stable. We’ve been held back from doing what we want to do.

Consider these introspective “look within” thoughts as new perspectives for living your one life.

Despite the urge to charge into the world full steam ahead, try to keep life even more simple than it was before the pandemic. Discern when to say no, and when to say yes; whom you want to be with, and whom you don’t; what errands are necessary, and when you need time out for simply “being” rather than doing. You’ve been through a trauma, and you are still in trauma. It seems like everyone has a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Give yourself compassion, kindness, humor, and love, and offer these same qualities to other people. Even the annoying ones.

We have been through the unimaginable, and it’s still not over. Use any healing tools you enjoy to regain certainty in a world of uncertainty. Breathe in a dose of patience when you want to burst out into the world with no filter. Remember that we can only control what we can control. Keep your heart open and your eyes up toward the light of hope. It is never too late to notice the positive aspects of difficult experiences. It is never too late to step into life with a new purpose, mission, and dream for yourself and for the world.

Little by little, we will get there. We are in the void between the two trapeze rings. Invite curiosity into your life. What adventures are ahead for you? Dream about it. Imagine it. Don’t give up, no matter what.

How have you grown from inside out, and how can you share your new insights with others? If you offer to help people with their “in the meantime” struggles, you will help yourself, too.