When 2020 started out, you probably had some secret ambitions in your head that you didn’t want to share with anyone else. These quiet goals stayed hidden because if we said things out loud, people would have expectations. Expectations bring pressure. Pressure brings stress. Stress stops progress. What an ugly circle.
Now that you are partially invisible, you can revisit some of those thoughts. Now you have time to really consider them from a different perspective. Now we are all changing, reinventing ourselves as virtual warriors or worse, find ourselves suddenly unwanted in a prior world that screamed necessity. Now is the time to create a more authentic self, starting inside.
The first weeks of self-imprisonment are done. There really isn’t any “new normal” coming. Reality is what is going on. We are adapting, somewhat clumsily, to a changed world. But the world is always changing and we have adapted many times before, successfully even. This is just the newest adjustment. Maybe we needed a big timeout, and if we are really smart, we will treat this as a teaching lesson. Think about who you were before the world stopped. You are not that person anymore. Now it’s time to ponder who you are and who you really want to be. It might not be time to do anything with these thoughts, but don’t fight them. You may have cut your consumption level and your dependence on the structure of a life that gave you some purpose to focus on the day to day basicness of just living. Simplicity in the face of an invisible monster. You have my permission to look away from it from time to time.
The biggest urge to fight is the one that tells you to not to think about yourself. Part of your brain tells you that there is always tomorrow. But you have today. Your thoughts are flexible and you can think anything you want. This may be the time to clean house on some old thoughts and develop a relationship with the who you are in your own head. It’s actually quite interesting to remember that since everything is math or science, your changes reorganize what you think. It’s pretty clear that you have moxie. You have made it through the wind tunnel far enough to see that there is a speck of light at the end. Heck, you probably noticed all kinds of new things looking out of your windows, talking to your friends and closely observing those family members around you that you didn’t know before. Well, you are new too. Don’t succumb to the pressure of just “getting through this” and onto the next part. Learning from your life requires examination.
So, who are you becoming? How do you want to change? You have come face to face with an irresistible force and stayed upright. You must be an immovable object. Congratulations!
