COVID-19 Perspective

Perspective - Looking Back on our COVID-19 Experience

I have done significant exploration around this idea of perspective; how to shift my perspective so it serves me and then live a life holding onto this idea that everything that happens, happens for me.

When we received the results of our COVID-19 test results, I managed my fear and anxiety by frequently addressing these questions and ideas:

• What do I know to be true?
• What can I control?
• We would not be given anything we could not handle.
• I am right where I am meant to be.

I used these questions and statements as a way to ground myself during quarantine and I continue to use them in the uncertainty of this pandemic, during this season of significant change and during a time that feels chaotic.

After the initial shock of COVID-19, I let go of this perspective of “this is happening to us” and was able to quickly shift into a state of “for whatever reason, this is happening for us.” Now that we are through it, now that we are back to work, daycare and school and even during our time of quarantine, I could and can clearly see why COVID-19 was for us.
 
During this time together, the two weeks in our home, just the four of us, we shared the most special, sweet and memorable experiences. The extra snuggles, the laughs, the scavenger hunts, the scarecrow making, the paper airplane races, the games, the movies, the arts and crafts, the playing outside mid-day, the swinging on the swings, the going to sleep knowing that we’d all wake up in the morning and get to spend another day together without having to leave. For some, the idea of not being able to leave might feel and sound suffocating, but for me, it was liberating. The idea of not having to rush out the door first thing in the morning, the idea that we could stay a little longer under the fuzzy blanket with Curious George on the TV and the idea that I could drink a hot cup of coffee a bit more slowly were the most comforting thoughts and feelings. In those moments, we were right where we were meant to be - with each other.

I am not discrediting the fact that my family is healthy. I am not discrediting the fact that we are blessed enough to have a home and to have food on the table. I am not discrediting the fact that this tag-line to this email could be triggering for some. If you have lost a loved one to COVID-19, I hold your family and the loss you experienced closely to my heart. 

What I want to say is this: even in times of stress, even in times of overwhelm, even in times of fear there is ALWAYS a reason for whatever you are experiencing. It may take years to figure out how a tragic event was for you or how a serious illness was for you, but if you can give yourself space, time, trust and freedom to be open to the idea that this is meant for you, you will be serving yourself and cultivating a life of hope and openness.
 
Choose to look for the good because you will always find it.
 
If you are dealing with something hard, if you find yourself ill or unwell, if you are facing change, if you are struggling with fear and anxiety...ask yourself, how is this situation, feeling and/or challenge for me? It’s okay if you can’t find the answer right now, but I hope you can find some comfort in knowing that you would not be given anything you could not handle and you, my friend, are right where you are meant to be.