The rug got pulled out from a lot of us this last week or so. Between the lack of toilet paper in grocery stores, losing a job or having to become a virtual employee, educator, etc, and even someone close to us contracting COVID-19, there's been a lot we've had to deal with as a society and it all happened suddenly. Dudes, dudettes, and everyone in-between, it's tough. It's really tough. Nobody knows what the afternoon, let alone tomorrow or the next couple of weeks looks like. Nobody knows how long we'll be inside, how much food we truly have to stock up on, when the pandemic will subside. All this to say that we do have things we can control in our little bubbles and it's time (if you haven't already) to start recognizing this and wholeheartedly pursuing it! Before all this started, I was on the very structured schedule of a teacher's assistant. Wake up at 5:30, at school by 7:30, morning care then in the classroom until lunch at 12:30, hang out in the teacher's lounge until 1:00, afternoon classes until 3:20, then pack up the room and go to the gym by 4:00pm, home by 5:30pm, dinner, shower, T.V., and bed by 9:30pm (repeat until Saturday). Not only that, but I made major strides toward my future. I got a salaried job at a gym, we were apartment hunting for May 1, and I felt like my life was getting so.much.better. Then, COVID-19 hit, and the rug was pulled out from under me and I decided to lay on the ground for the most part.
Sure, nothing is perfect at the moment and it's totally okay to have been blindsided by everything that's going on in the world. What's not ok is giving up. Two weeks ago, I had been saying that I wished I had more time to focus on my business and my brand. Now here I am with ample time and I'm spending the majority of it in bed crying into a large stuffed dinosaur named Salad or giving up on my workouts because everything is, "Just too hard." Now, I'm not saying to bottle up your feelings or to suck it up--that's the complete opposite of what needs to happen. Feel your feelings, appreciate that this is a really weird situation (for lack of a better word), then move along. It's better to keep moving in some direction than to be stationary. I've been on the "it's easier said than done" mindset for a few days now. I've also been in the "it's pointless" mindset. I stopped moving. Yes, me. The person who posts lullabies on Facebook every night, the person making chocolate croissants, providing others with in-home workouts. Although I've kept busy for the most part, I haven't provided myself with any positivity or structure. That is, until now. Today I picked up my book on the "Happiness Advantage," I made a schedule for today, and I decided that enough was enough. Now, I'm sitting across from my fiancé at our small dining room table for two, my belly full of coffee and croissant, doing something to fuel my soul and my personal brand, and I'm relishing in the fact that I have ample time to create, inspire, and do what I love. Sure, this is scary. It's new, it's different, it's literally a pandemic. But you decide what your daily life looks like. You decide if you're going to act on fear and hide out, or if you're going to pause, take a breath, recognize the fear, and redirect it toward something positive and productive. So here's what I recommend going forward: 1) Get enough sleep. 2) Make a daily schedule for yourself. Time when you're going to do the dishes, do some work, chat with someone, work out, etc. Keep it as close as possible to what was your "normal." 3) Make time for the "abnormal." Take your dog on that walk in the middle of the day, enjoy the extra time around your kids, read a book in the morning, wake up a little later or earlier, do yoga during what would have been your usual lunch break, knit a penguin--the possibilities are endless. 4) Acknowledge your feelings but don't get distracted by them for long. 5) Give the person, the pet, the people staying in with you an extra hug or two--we all need it. I hope you have a happy, healthy, and positive week ahead! ~E
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June 2020
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