Holy waves of emotion, Batman!
Anybody else feeling like a jellyfish getting thrashed around by the ocean – riding the wave, totally empowered and positive one minute, then crashing down hard the next? Feeling like we've totally got this, then crumbing into tears like there’s nothing but darkness at the end of the tunnel… up and down… over and over and over again… and again?
I’m right there with you. And it’s exhausting!
But as tough as it is to feel such a wide range of emotions, I think it’s the norm right now for most everyone. And it’s important for us to realize that it’s perfectly ok. It’s a completely normal, healthy response to an unprecedented situation like this one.
Fear, anxiety, loss, confusion, anger, heartbreak, uncertainty… these are all healthy emotions.
I remember experiencing similar waves after my dad died two years ago. Once the initial devastation subsided, I would find that I felt guilty if I was happy, and I would feel guilty if I was sad. The waves of feeling like I was healing one minute, then feeling completely broken the next, lasted for months. Even now they still blindside me sometimes.
But that’s how our minds and hearts work. It’s how we make sense of things that make no sense. And it’s ultimately how we heal… stronger as a result.
See that’s the thing. If we stop and look back at all the really challenging things we’ve gone through in our lives, one thing is totally clear - Every crisis we’ve encountered has helped us become the resilient, empathetic, strong, loving people we are today. And this crisis will be no different.
Yes, there will be moments when we aren’t sure if we’ll make it through. There will be days when we struggle to find the motivation to do anything besides sit on the couch playing solitaire on our phones for hours. (who me?) And you know what? That is PERFECTLY FINE! Do it! Give yourself permission to do whatever feels right!
Now is not the time to pressure ourselves to accomplish ten million things a day, simply because we finally have the time.
Our hearts and minds are doing important, exhausting work. So to add stress by thinking we need to do our taxes, paint the bedroom, lose five pounds, train the dog to roll over or whatever is on that never-ending to do list… just NO. NO!
Rest. Self-care. Self-LOVE. These are the priorities right now. It has never been more important that we take care of our emotional wellbeing than it is right now. And that begins with SLOWING DOWN. Letting ourselves off the hook. And allowing ourselves to ride the waves and feel ALL THE EMOTIONS.
And knowing that we WILL come out of this stronger in the end.
All my love,
Jen
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