How are you hanging in there?
Today, you, me, and everyone in this world is seeking a sense of hope. We’re all searching for ways to fortify ourselves with the will to carry onward in spite of all the continued uncertainty.
We’re searching for a sign to remind us that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Living with so much uncertainty is unquestionably hard. It can leave us feeling stressed, anxious, and powerless and can quickly trap us in an endless downward spiral.
So how can we best maneuver through a world of uncertainty?
We must stay hopeful about the future, even when the present seems woefully negative.
We must work through our negative emotions (not ignoring them) to better understand what they are trying to tell us.
We must acknowledge the troubles of today, while also giving ourselves permission to hope, even if we feel extremely anxious, restless, or fearful.
It’s not about ignoring our negative feelings about the crisis at hand, but about finding a way to keep those feelings from overwhelming us.
It’s not about suppressing, it’s about rising above.
Don’t resist
Resisting this current reality won’t help us recover, learn, grow, or feel any better. Ironically, resistance prolongs our pain by magnifying the challenging emotions we are feeling. There is real truth to this pearl of wisdom ‘what we resist persists’.
So what do we do instead? We can learn to accept the things we cannot change. Acceptance is about meeting life where it is, accepting whatever is actually happening at the moment, and moving forward from there.
Ask yourself:
How can I turn the current situation to my advantage?
What resources can support me to overcome the obstacles I am facing?
Do invest in yourself
The best resource that you have right now for making a contribution to the world is YOU. When that resource is depleted, your most valuable asset is damaged. In other words: When we underinvest in our bodies, minds, or spirits, we destroy our most essential tools for leading our best lives.
Ask yourself:
How am I caring for my body?
How am I fueling my mind?
What do I need to show up as my best self?
Don’t believe everything you think
Perhaps the most essential stress-reduction tactic is not to believe everything you think. In uncertain times, it’s particularly important not to believe thoughts that argue for the worst-case scenario.
It can be helpful for us to consider worst-case scenarios so that we can weigh risks and actively prevent disaster. But when we believe these stressful thoughts, we tend to react emotionally as though the worst case is already happening in real life, rather than just in our heads.
Instead of buying into every stressful thought, we can actively imagine the best possible scenario. This counters our natural tendency to overestimate risks and negative consequences.
Ask yourself:
Is it true?
Can I absolutely know that it is true?
How do I feel when you think that thought?
What is it costing me to believe that thought?
Who would I be without that thought or belief?
Do pay attention
The opposite of uncertainty is not certainty; it’s presence. Instead of imagining an unknown future, we can bring our attention to our breath. From there, we can check in with ourselves. Every time we wash our hands, for example, we could ask ourselves: How am I doing right now? Notice what emotions you are feeling.
Even when it feels like everything is out of our control, we can still control what we pay attention to.
We can turn off our alerts to keep the news or social media from hijacking our awareness. We can drop our ruminations and negative fantasies by attending to what’s actually happening in our inner world, right now, here in the present.
Attending to what is happening within us at any given moment keeps a crappy external reality from determining our inner truth. It allows us to cultivate calm, open-mindedness, and non-reactivity.
So, don’t hide under the duvet waiting for all of it to be over. Small shifts in your thinking, and small changes in your energy, can lead to massive transformations in your life experience.
Committed to keeping your vibrations high and here to move you, inspire you, and amplify your power.
Let the light in - have a magical weekend! ✨
With love,
Dare to believe the whispers in your ear, that you might be special, that you might be meaningful, that one day you might change the world. It's us you see, the ones who listen, that will change everything. – Atticus
Rising Above ☁️