Hey, Wellness Warriors! There’s so much going on with the Coronavirus pandemic, and I wanted to check in to see how you’re doing. Not physically, but emotionally. Your mental well-being is important too and is frequently a key component to our physical well-being and having a strong immune system.
If you’re like many people, at some point in the past few months, you’ve experienced fear, and that’s ok. We’re all going through a time of fear and confusion. But during times like these, when something negative like this happens, it’s important to ask yourself, “What is the value of this in my life? What lessons have I learned and how am I going to grow from this?”
Today, I’d like to examine two things we might be “missing.”
Extra Clothes in Your Closet?
The first thing to do in times like these is to pause. Examine your life (or even take just a peek). What’s super important to you? What do you miss? You know I love great suits, but now I’m just as comfortable now in a great, white t-shirt. But then I think about what I really miss. I really miss hugging my grandchildren, kissing my kids on their on their face and giving them big hugs. I really miss going out to dinner with friends. I really miss that interaction of community with people I love.
Those are the things that I really, really miss in my life. And it’s good to acknowledge these, because I know I will appreciate them more when I am able to do these things again.
But there’s a huge opportunity here, which, if we’re not careful, we’re going to miss. I think we get so caught up in this all-consuming hunger of life and this hunger for an American lifestyle that we don’t stop to take a taste of what we have in the now. Sometimes it takes something like a crisis to cause us to stop and refocus.
So yes, there’s a pandemic, and yes there’s uncertainty and fear. But in the midst of all of this, you also have an amazing opportunity to reflect. Ask yourself, what do I really value in life? What do I really want in life? What’s really important to me? What do I miss? And what’s just “extra clothes in the closet?” For me, this pandemic will be known as “the great closet cleaning,” because I can look and see what has created noise and weight in my life that I don’t need. I hope you can as well. This pandemic has really made me appreciate what I have now: my health, my family, my community, a phenomenal company, incredible friends.
Eckhart Tolle makes a powerful statement in his book, A New Earth, that I think is so appropriate for this time and where we are in our history. He says, “Once you see and accept the transience of all things and the inevitability of change, you can enjoy the pleasures of the world while they last without fear of loss or anxiety about the future.”
In other words, once you give up the fear of things, the fear of loss, the fear of owning things, you’ll be really able to experience the now, and experience the great things you have in your life.
So stop for a moment and think: What things have I been taking for granted? What have I not fully appreciated before [the pandemic] that I more appreciate now? What good things have come from this time? Find some positive in the negative.
Don’t Get Stuck at Skipper’s on Tuesdays
So the 2nd thing I’d like you to ponder is this: What are you missing?
I remember when I played football in high school, a group of us guys used to go to a place called Skipper’s every Tuesday night because it was all you can eat fish for 99-cents. When the owners saw the six or eight of us come in the door, they would just moan because we would have a competition to see who could eat the most fish & fries. (I think the record was 33 baskets, and no, it wasn’t me that did that!)
The point of my story is this: we weren’t stopping to taste the food; we were just on this goal of consuming the next basket of fish & fries. At times in life, that’s what we do. We’re just trying to get to the next basket without stopping to taste the flavor of what we have right now.
So I’ll ask you again: What are you missing? What has this pandemic done to slow you down and made you see things that you have missed because you were too busy in life, because your work consumed you, because too many things were going on in your life that you just didn’t stop and see this?
I’ll give you an example. I have an outdoor shower at my house that I have probably used twice in the last six to seven years. I used it recently, and it brought me so much joy. I know that’s a simplistic example but think about it for a moment. What have you overlooked because you were moving too fast to notice it? What are you now able to see because the pandemic has slowed you down? Maybe, you’re getting to know your kids better. Maybe one of them has a special talent or special skill that you hadn’t seen because you’ve not been spending enough time with them. Have you overlooked the fact that maybe you’re a great cook or your spouse is a great cook?
So what have you missed because you’ve been too busy doing life and getting on with the American dream? Take the time to discover it, and you’ll find it’s a priceless jewel. And the feelings of appreciation and gratitude will fill you up, and you’ll find a bit of peace in this storm.
Did this resonate with you? Have you found some good coming from this trying time? If so, I’d love it if you’d share it below.
Until next time, Wellness Warriors, Live Well, Live Long!
~Dwayne