We’ve all been through some significant life adjustments in the months of quarantine. Some of them difficult to assimilate.
And, there might be a couple that you found might suit you.
No matter where you are in your stance toward the pandemic, the reality is that things are starting to open up again (for now at least). This might be a relief in some ways and it can also bring up resistance.
The resistance is what I want to talk about today.
I notice people bringing up their observations of how others are adhering or not adhering to recommendations and guidelines. And, along with these observations, there is an undercurrent of the sentiment “people are just doing what they feel like doing”. Meaning: sometimes people demonstrate strict boundaries about what is allowed, but then are willing to bend those rules when it comes to something they want to do.
The nature of the virus itself lends itself to that.
The instructions have been to strictly stay at home, but go out if you have to. Or the virus can kill you OR you can have it and not know it. See how there is all kinds of space in there for your own interpretation or for your stance on it to change easily? That has lent to the uncertainty of these times, but also to the uncertainty of opening up again.
This can also be working beyond your own awareness and impacting your own decisions.
In some ways, if there have been aspects of being in quarantine that you kind of liked, there might be a temptation to use the Coronavirus as an excuse to do or not to do things. When, in reality, there might be an important change in your life that you actually want to implement that you may have felt was unacceptable or not doable in the past.
It will be less scary and work more smoothly to let these things come into your conscious awareness rather than maybe hiding behind the COVID situation.
Maybe you realized that working from home is better for your overall health and relationships.
And you want to keep things that way. It doesn’t mean you have to ask your boss to make changes right away since everything is still up in the air. But it might be a good time to reflect about how you want your work/life balance or commute to actually be going forward. This way you can have some clarity and build up your courage to communicate about the changes you would like to see with your work.
Maybe you realized that you actually don’t need to be going all the places and doing all the things, but you had been swept away into the culture of being busy all the time.
So, now would be a good time to reflect on: what is the balance that feels good to me and my family for having plans and having unscheduled time? How can I communicate that directly to others without hiding behind the skirt of the Coronavirus? Maybe it’s saying: thanks so much for the invite, but we’re going to enjoy some unscheduled time this weekend. If we end up going to the park, do you want me to text you?
Maybe you find that you actually love cooking and you don’t prefer to go out to eat as often.
Talk with your family or partner about what that might look like. Maybe you want to invest in some cooking classes to up your game or you want to have more dinner parties instead of meeting out. Maybe you want to shift your budget to include more locally sourced or high quality foods. It might seem obvious, but just owning it can create excitement or reset expectations and reduce conflict that can come up on the spot when the occasion to go out comes up.
Maybe you found there are certain relationships that fill you up and others that drain you.
You might decide you want to invest your time differently across your relationships. It doesn’t mean you have to tell someone directly: you drain me. But, it might mean you don’t reach out to those who are not a source of love or energy out of obligation to keep up the friendship. You might just let it be instead and acknowledge that consciously. This will support you in avoiding the trap of obligation.
Maybe you decided you like your new sleep schedule and you want to figure out a way to keep that going with the people who live in your house.
Go for it. Waking up at 5am is no more noble than waking up at 10am. Do what works for your body, your quality of life and your household.
Whatever you are finding out about yourself, bring it to your conscious awareness, acknowledge it and find a way to communicate what you need to communicate so you can live your life in a way that is in greater alignment with you.
Otherwise, you might find yourself being super judgmental toward others and getting angry about how other people or organizations are handling this situation.
Focus that energy on bringing your life into alignment instead of wasting it on trying to control what’s outside of your control.
That energy will be better spent and your life will be happier.
What have you found out about yourself that you might want to bring into your daily life going forward?
If you need support seeing, implementing or communicating through some of these changes that you are ready to own, we’d love to support you. Contact us.
