The very week the COVID-19 pandemic broke in the U.S., I started seeing messages online about seizing this opportunity and finishing quarantine with something to show for it.
On the one hand, I get it.
It feels good to give a bit of purpose to this bewildering time. And I personally would appreciate the feeling of knowing that—when all of this is said and done—I finally got that family photo book made or decluttered my kids’ closets.
Maybe you’re a go-getter and you want to use this season to write a book, start a podcast, get abs (NOT happening here! 😂), or train for and run a virtual marathon.
Big goals are beautiful, and I will always, always support yours.
But if you’re more like me…
If your sensitive soul feels heavy…
If you’re more in survival mode than thriving mode…
If you keep wondering where this “extra time” is that everyone’s talking about…
Please know that you don’t need to have anything TANGIBLE to show for this time. Maybe the things you’ll take away from this will be the INTANGIBLES.
Simple, home-based memories with your spouse and kids.
Deepened compassion for your neighbors—and mankind.
Physical, mental, and emotional rest.
More trust in divine guidance.
New, healthier patterns for coping with stress and anxiety (after all, this pandemic is giving us plenty of practice!).
Appreciation for simple joys you used to take for granted.
A clearer vision of your values, your priorities, and the pace you want for your life.
And maybe best of all, more confidence in yourself, as you look back on this time and see that you got. through. it.
Tangibles are great, but in the long run, I believe it’s the intangibles that will stay with us.
Carry on, friend!
xo,
On the Struggle Bus?
These silver linings are beautiful, but they don’t negate that this time is also HARD. If you’re an introverted mom (maybe one who just went from having time to herself every day to having absolutely NONE), you may be struggling. I am too!
But I have some tricks up my sleeve that will make this season of your life so much more manageable—and even help you enjoy it.
PS. If you have an extra second, leave a comment sharing one intangible you’ll take away from this time. ❤️
The calm of not rushing to be here or there.
I agree, but I really feel much better when I focus on good productivity 🙂
I love the calm of confinement, the time with my children and my husband, the reduction of pollution in major cities, the help between neighboors… I was exhausted beyond words when the confinement started. I don’t miss the morning traffic, the crazy rush of working-parenting-never sleeping enough-repeat or the excessive consumerism. I don’t want to go back to the way things were before. I want to go to a healthier, greener world.
Thank you for this. I have oscillated between the two camps since lockdown in my area started. I want to get things done, but it is challenging without access to external resources and routine. I’m so focused on keeping food inventories managed and working and cleaning…there isn’t a lot of time for huge new projects.
I take away a most wonderful intangible. I have ruminated too much over things my entire life. I really worked on strategies to overcome this overthinking which would spiral down into emotional unrest. In the slow pace of things, I have been able to focus more on strategies to shift the overthinking to more positive activities, such as praying, exercising, meditating, calling a friend, dancing to upbeat music in my living room. This has been a time for self-reflection and letting go of old habits and paths that no longer serve me. I begin a new path and new journey refreshed, and I am thankful to God, for helping me through these challenging days. “I do not understand the mystery of grace — only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.” Ann Lamott