Lockdown happened fast. Treating us all with a dose of harsh love it swooped in and took over the world. People everywhere are trying to find comfort in the fact that they are not alone facing the fear of the unknown.
The truth is that regardless of the circumstances, we never really know what will come next. Not being very skilled at facing that fact, somewhere down the line we’ve decided to believe that as long as we have plans we also have control over our future.
Life doesn’t like to play that game. Life is full of uncertainties, challenges and sudden shifts. We can’t always control our environment but we can be greater than the circumstance we happen to be in. Right in this moment, we have a chance at shaping what our world will look like post lockdown, and who we will become once the new normal emerges.
Planning for the future doesn’t guarantee results, but taking action in the now, exactly where you are gives you a very tangible reason to trust that you can influence your life in the new world.
Take that in your stride and decide today to take responsibility for yourself. Although you can’t change the life impacting decisions governments around the globe are making, what you can do is open your heart to the possibility that everything will be just fine and do the best you can to grow into the role of someone ready for the next challenge.
So, where do you start ? Right here, with a new routine, new commitment, a new take on personal responsibility. What it will give you will reach far beyond what’s discussed in this article, but that is for you to discover as the journey unravels.
Here are a few examples of what will start changing almost immediately when you commit to a consistent change.
1. It will allow you to take yor power back
In the current situation, as you are told what to do, where to go and when to shop it is very easy to fall into a dark place of not being able to see the point in organising your life. There is so much that can still happen, there are people you might have to say goodbye to. It might end up being really tough.
Being stripped of your basic rights and privileges can breed a feeling of powerlessness and make you feel like shutting the blinds and waiting it all out in the dark is a strategy worth considering. It’s easier not to know, it’s easier to not listen because we are so scared to admit that we aren’t really sure if there is any more space in our hearts to take on the current reality.
Choose one new routine you can start right away. It can be anything from exercising, to reading 20 pages of your book each day, to getting up earlier and having some time alone before the kids invade the house. And do it consistently – every day, after day, after day, until you start looking forward to it, until it becomes something you cherish so much that you can’t wait to start.
It will bring back the sensation of being in charge and making decisions based on your own values. Amongst the things you cannot control you will rediscover that your power was never lost, that you can still make the life that is currently standing on its head, feel like it belongs to you.
2. It will support you in calming down your emotions
Emotions are powerful beasts. They are famous for taking over and controlling our response to what happens around us, or as we like to think – to us. It is hard to slow down the thoughts marching through our heads every minute, the worries, the fears and the constant voice telling us we are screwed.
Carving out time for a new routine, introducing a challenge that you slowly start to master as your practice continues, you will start feeling calmer, more focused and a little less lost in the whirlwind of the recent unexpected changes.
As you take a deep breath before your meditation practice or exercise you will notice that there is microsecond before the breath runs out where you can slow down and realise that not all is lost just yet. The house is a mess, the kids drive you bonkers, but you still have you and you can grow very quickly to become a new version of a masterpiece in progress. You don’t have control over everything but you are in charge of this. And that is enough to bring about the sweet feeling of peace and possibility.
3. There is no limit to how far you can go
The new habits will stay with you past the lockdown and past the fear. They will do more than that actually as you lean into the progress you are making. They will empower you not only to believe that you can still influence what will happen to you personally in the newly reopened world, but also that you are capable of taking up new challenges and following through.
This is a gift that so few ever unwrap. Whatever routine you start doing right now will still be there carrying you through the emotional ups and downs when the world opens up again and the new wave of fear is ready to dictate the first steps you will take in it.
You will have something to lean into, something to use as a reminder that you have control over yourself, your outcomes and how you react to the events around you.
You will have become an empowered person.
And from now on you will always remember that the point is not to control the circumstances, but to go as far as you can on your personal journey, regardless of them.