These days I feel like I am walking on eggshells trying not to seem positive in a time where the world is facing such adversities. Many people think that I am out of my mind for considering the positive sides of this situation. I understand why they may think that. It seems to me like our society's bubbles of normalcy has just been popped, and we are left to face our demons. While before we could hide from the parts of ourselves that we didn't like by overworking, partying, going to the gym, gambling at the casino, etc. Now we are obliged to stay home with our hamster wheels, some alone, others with their immediate family. On top of that, we are social beings, which means this social distancing is not a natural phenomenon for human beings. Aside from being bombarded by negative news from social media, these are some reasons why I think so many of us are struggling to stay afloat.
I was affected by anxiety in the past, I understand how anxiety can become so overpowering that all we can see and feel is the fear, we absorb energy like a sponge, and we attract more of what we think. Based on my own experience, I believe that when we are only feeling fear, it can often lead us to missed opportunities for growth. Not only can fear can lead us to skip over some excellent open doors, but it can also invade us like a virus. Taking control over our lives and leading us in a confused intertwined path.
In my experience, I had let fear control most of my life, up until a few years ago, when I decided to face my demons. I still lose focus occasionally, and I think it will be something that I will need to overcome consistently. For example, when this whole COVID-19 pandemic started, I was always watching the news morning, afternoon, and evening. It overwhelmed me for a few days, thankful for my intuitive side. I noticed how toxic it made me feel. So, I decided not to let fear take over everything I have worked so hard to overcome these past few years. Other days are tougher emotionally than others, but here are some positive ways that I have decided to ride this wave.
Channeling my energy in positive light
I believe in the law of attraction, which states that our feelings are our guidance system when feel-good things, we will receive more of the good things in our life and vice versa. When we follow our good feelings, we automatically shift all our attention to good things, even if it's just for 5 minutes. The positive energies always outweigh the negative energy; however, it is easy for us to become trapped in the vicious cycle of fear.
A personal example that I can give you would be when I was always watching the news or reading about the new COVID-19 updates, and it just made me feel down. I couldn't focus on my daily tasks. I realized that either way, I was going to hear the news from my friends and family, so I decided to stop reading the news. I never liked the news anyway because I always had the impression their primary goal was to instill fear in our society. Instead of watching the news, I played with my kids, and I did some meditation, I did some yoga, I worked on my diploma, etc. I just focused on things that gave me good feelings, and it helped a lot.
I still feel the fear creeping back up occasionally, and when I do, I shift my focus to something positive. I focus on the things that I can control in my life. I understand how difficult it could be to remain positive when it feels like everything around us is crumbling down. Still, for my sanity, I think it's vital that I try my best to channel my energy into positive actions. At times, I even feel frustrated because I am working so hard to stay positive, but being a hypersensitive person, makes me feel things very intensely. There are days where I want to hide in my cocoon because I see many people in my surrounding suffering and losing hope. But I realized that in the end, I couldn't control how other people are feeling, and everyone has a different way of dealing with things. The best thing that I can do for them is to remain positive and to let them know that I am there for them.
On a similar note, I respect that everyone has a different point of view. My thoughts are that everyone has a difference in opinions and the freedom to choose how they want to act upon it; there is no right or wrong way. I have decided to view this as a gift.
These are the following reasons why I view it as a gift:
- It has given me the time to refocus my energy on my family. Before I was living a fast-paced life between being a daycare provider, a part-time student, writing articles, being a mom of two young preschoolers, this time has given me the chance to shift my focus on my children and my husband. My children are two happy and energetic preschoolers who are curious about the world around them. I just want to cherish our memories and create new ones, because they are only small once.
It has popped my materialistic world and allowed me to seek within myself for answers. During these times, I am relying on my intuition and my spirituality to ride the waves of this pandemic. How remarkable is it to realize that we have the power within ourselves to overcome such difficult times. I may not have control over the situation, but I do have control over how I perceive and react to it. It is also allowing me to reach spiritual growth as I am not only seeking guidance within my spirit. I am also releasing my fears and putting my faith into something higher than life itself.
On a more drastic note, I think that it's possibly allowing us to start a new chapter in this world. There have been other plagues, why would we be invincible to these kinds of natural disasters? I think that we were starting to live in a world where we took for granted what nature has to offer us. The planet Earth is damaged, not only by human pollution, but also by entitlement. It's okay to fight wars to see who is entitled to nature's gifts like fossil fuel or land. Many humans feel entitled to pollute our marine ecosystem creating a toxic environment for marine life. Some humans feel free to destroy rainforests and trees, which created an imbalance in other living creatures' ecosystems. Now, I like to think that this is bringing back balance, a chance to readjust our way of living. The universe is reaching a turning point, I believe in the good of humanity, and I hope that this will bring the world closer together instead of against each other when we are facing adversities. I hope that this will bring us back to the basic principle of what humanity is about, which to me, is all about love, compassion, and kindness towards every living being, including mother nature.
Living my life one day at a time
Learning to live my life one day at a time is something I have struggled with for most of my life. Since the beginning of my pandemic, it seems like this approach is one of the things that's helped me keep my sanity. To me, there's not much point to focus on my past because I feel the need to grieve my old "normal" life. Grieving my "normal" life is a decision that I am making, and to me, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It can be my time to become a better version of myself. I have the time NOW to do just that.
Now for the future, I think the thought of focusing on things which I have no control over only increases the negative feelings that came come out of such uncertainty. I believe that whatever actions I do and the feelings that I have now is something that I can control, and it's also something that will influence my future. This shifting of energy is truly helping me, and it brings me a sense of hope and direction. Let's not forget that I am human, which means I do get days where I am feeling more depressed or anxious, but I do my best not to let these feelings ruminate too long. Accepting all of my emotions without over dwelling on them allows my emotions to flow more freely hence giving more space positive emotions such as love and faith. I have the power to control my thoughts, feelings, and actions, and no pandemic can take that away from me. Living one day at a time has made me grateful for the things that I have in my life, like a healthy family, a roof over my head, my intuition, my spirituality, etc.
Key things that help me live in the present
- Meditation
- Spending time with my children
- Include self-care everyday like taking a bath with essential oils, reading, writing, and yoga
- I speak with loved ones every day through Facebook or Zoom
- I express everything that I am grateful to have in my life through prayer and positive affirmation. Also, releasing my fears and things that can't control to a higher power so that I can focus on the things that I can control like my thoughts and actions.
In conclusion, my goal when writing this article was not to undermine the pain and suffering that this pandemic is that it can lead to the death of a loved one, to mental distress, etc. I just felt the need to bring in some positive light in a dark situation. Sometimes we need to create our light in the tunnel so that the darkness doesn't just blind us. We don't need to see the light at the end of the tunnel to feel it, as we all have it within ourselves.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope that you all stay safe and healthy. Please feel free to follow me if you are interested in learning more about holistic approaches to becoming a better you.
Intuitive Health Nut
This write up was amazing a long read but definitely worth it :>)
There's so much that I recognize in here that I don't even know where to start.
I can't help but feel that this worldwide situation is a lesson for all of us to be learnt, a chance to level up. Some will get out of this stronger, others weaker. Staying positive under the circumstances and staying away from too much fear ( shutting off the news feed, for instance ) is key, as is living in the now.
A week or two ago, I found it hard to smile. It felt like I wasn't allowed, others didn't smile either, people looked away as if I were a lepper, now things have already turned towards the positive here. I felt bad because this wasn't the natural me.
Anyhow, I could write a book in response to this but will end it here by letting you know that I included this post in yesterday's Minnow Support Curation.
Much love and good vibes from another hypersensitive person who is doing pretty great under the circumstances,
Vincent
Thank you. I believe that we will be stronger at the end of this ❤️
No doubt about that. I believe the same :>)
❤️
I totally agree we have to choose light - it does'nt undermine suffering at all, it's just that we can't wallow or we'll go insane. This is a beautiful article - thanks for sharing this with us.
One of the things I've found awesome is that people HAVE had a pretty good sense of humour during these times - thank goodness!
We all have dark times, which are our feelings moving on through - we can choose whether we'll grip madly onto those or choose hope. xx