how to let go
Within one week, we all have had to make major life adjustments. Whether it’s learning how to work from home, homeschooling children, dealing with a loss of income or figuring out how to handle the increased togetherness, we can agree that our worlds are about to be different for quite some time. I am a bit of a control freak, so I’ve found these adjustments very difficult.
The first couple of days of social distancing, I felt an overwhelming sense of fear and panic from all avenues of my life. From a teacher’s standpoint, it was receiving an email that we would not be going back to our classrooms for school. As a blogger, I noticed a major decrease in analytics. As a freelance writer, my deadlines were being moved, and as a mom, the plans I had with my little one over spring break had to be cancelled.
I got asked a lot how I was doing with all of it, and my usual answers were “good” or “fine.” I didn’t mean to lie, but these are automatic responses we all have when people ask us how we’re doing. In our society, we don’t expect someone to reply with “not OK” when we say, “Hi, how are you?” We especially tend to hold it in during times of uncertainty. I realized after two days of feeling what I did that it’s perfectly OK not to be OK! It’s actually more than OK. In fact, in order for us to eventually be calm, we need to feel these feelings. It’s what makes us human.
But I knew if I continued in that spiral, it would be hard climbing back out. So I stopped right then, grabbed my journal and wrote down the 10 things I was thankful for at that moment, like:
› The ability to stock up on groceries
› Having a job to return to once things calm down
› My family’s health
› Time to be with Ainsley and not having to rush to the next thing … letting go of time
When do we ever have two weeks with nothing to do? Never. Where that could seem daunting, it has been so freeing to be able to let go and just be. If you are or were like me, I’m with you. If you have always been OK with this, I’m with you, too. Either way, pick up a pencil and write down the 10 things you are thankful for at this moment. Check on your mindset, gather your strength and make the best of this at-home time. Let’s let go together.