I turned 44 yesterday and needless to say, it was a very different birthday. Very quiet. Very chill. Good workout, vitamin IV, food shopping, picked up some sushi from my favorite place (Uni’ko at the Elon btw….definitely the best sushi in SA) and then we sat and watched movies on Amazon. It was a very nice day…just different.
Right now, I feel like I am in a movie and I bet that you do too. Like we are in the beginning part of a I am Legend or Walking Dead type movie where some shit is about to go down but no one is quite understanding it yet.
Cacophony of chaos. That is what I am hearing. Feeling. Seeing.
People are scared. Worried. Unsure. They can no longer live the lives that they had become accustomed to. Anxiety. Worry. Depression. No one knows what is going to happen next or what to expect. Many people have begun to act badly, as I have seen many instances of the bad parts of humanity come roaring out of them…panic, looting, stealing, crime. This is only the beginning.
Soon, people are going to be laid off and companies, especially small businesses, will cease to exist. Depression in the financial sense as people see their life long work be snuffed out in a month.
Medical community workers have begun to brace themselves for having to make very difficult decisions. They too, are putting themselves in the front line having to deal with those that are ill and all of the in-flux of craziness that they are about to see and experience.
And this is only week 1 of everything shutting down.
Everything is going to be quite different once this is all over.
When we look back at these times….like in 10 years…what are we going to see? What is this time in history going to say about us? Our community? Our country? Our humanity?
We have the ability to control that, you know…
We all know that the after affects of this are going to be devastating. It is going to be up to us who can help to step up and make a difference. In the time of quarantine like now, you can still order food and go pick it up from your local restaurants. Leave a bigger tip. When you food shop, be understanding of those around you and follow the rules of how much stuff to buy. Stop hoarding. Be kind to those who are around you because most of them are scared. Be the light.
Help others. Support those that are hurting as much as you are able.
Spend that very precious time you have with your family and those that you love. Put the phones down and really take the time to get to know and love each other all over again. Cook together. Play games together. Netflix binge together. Be a FAMILY. Turn off the damn 24-7 news because it is going to make everything worse. Just tune in every once in a while instead of constantly having it on in the background.
Practice self-care too. Exercise. Pray. Sleep enough. Eat right. Meditate. Read. Relax.
You know all of those projects that you have always meant to do? Now is a perfect time.
Concentrate on the things that truly mean something. You are going to very quickly realize what is truly important and what doesn’t matter. You can discover God, kindness, tenderness, beauty, love, conversations, self-care. The good things that are within us.
Whenever you start to think about all of the volatility that is around you, know that we have the ability to endure any difficulty and to transform it into glory. I know that might sound crazy to you right now, but it is true. We HAVE to change our mindsets to one of positivity if we are going to move past the hard times that are about to come to us like a tsunami. It is GOING to be difficult…but we can overcome if we work together to do so.
Be grateful for what you have and thank God for your many blessings…even in the storm. Be still. Seek Him. Whisper His name. Slow down. Respond to negativity with trust and praying.
Worrying cannot add a single day to our lives and it is going to be important for all of us to take each day at a time. Like I said before, you have the ability to be the light. So BE it.
The world is going to need us lights in the future. Start practicing now. Get ready cause people are going to need our help and it will be our responsibility, our humanity….to give it. We are going to have to come together to help the hurting, the devastated.
Put your resting place in God and know that His arms are wrapped all around us. Seek Him and be still in Him. Approach each day in confidence knowing that He is there by your side, always.
Don’t let the cacophony of chaos that is all around us, take away the light that is within us. It is up to you. Laugh. Love. Have faith.
Jen
