It's harder to do leg raises when you've tied a 2 lb weight to each ankle...
It's harder to walk when you're carrying a 10 lb bag of potatoes in your arms...
And it's harder to live when you're carrying a heavy weight on your back...
But that's what all of us are doing right now.
In the back of our minds, if not right in front, is a constant weight: an uncomfortable uncertainty that follows us everywhere in every moment: what will be? If we're well now, will we become ill in the future? How long will all this go on? What will happen with school, work, finances, relationships? What will the future look like? And on and on... whether we say it out loud, or think it to ourselves or don't even put words to this unformed blob of unknowns.
Because of this extra weight, everything we do is tinged with stress.
Of course we're not sleeping well. We're more irritable. We're tired of what's going on but even more tired from the burdensome weight of uncertainty. It's getting harder to walk as we continue day after day carrying this load.
One thing we can do for ourselves, is lighten the load.
Two important strategies can help:
RE-BALANCING
It is important to to attend to it, re-balancing it, as it were, so that it is more comfortable to carry.
This can be done in a 5 or 10 minute "bedtime routine." Just before you go to sleep, actually "go to" your worries and sort them out a bit by writing them all down. Don't do anything with them. Just move them from your inner mind to an external sheet of paper. Those who journal know the power of this technique for healing and relief.
Another re-balancing strategy is EFT. If you know how to do the tapping treatment (EFT), then for 5 or 10 minutes focus on all your thoughts, worries and concerns while tapping. When COVID-19 first came upon us, I created an IGTV clip on how to do that; you can check it out by clicking here.
BE IMMERSED IN THE "RIGHT NOW"
The second thing to do is allow your daytime focus to be immersed in the "right now," one hour at a time. Right now, we're having breakfast. Right now, we're doing school work. Right now, we're doing a puzzle - and so on. During the daytime, move your attention to the present whenever it tries to jump to the future. Tell it to wait: you'll listen to it in the evening when you have quiet time.
These two strategies can help lighten the load.
Even being aware that we're carrying this load, can lighten the load!
So let's go forward now, one day at a time, with compassion and understanding for ourselves and each other.